20th October 2015

Dear Parents & Guardians,

Please find below a list of recent and upcoming events.
Official Opening of the School Extension:

After four years of hard work the ribbon was finally cut officially opening our new school extension. It was a memorable occasion, the highlight being the performances of the children during the ceremony. A huge effort was put into the ceremony and there are a number of people I would like to thank – the parents who helped to clean the school on the weekend prior to the day, also all the parents who were involved in providing the refreshments. Your efforts were very much appreciated. To all the members of the staff for the wonderful displays on the walls. A special word of thanks to Bryan Keely and Mary Kelly for co-ordinating our wonderful choir and musicians. To the children, I want to say well done for making the occasion so special. Finally, to our special guests, Bishop Martin Drennan, Ciaran Cannon T.D. and David Burke.

Sliabh Aughty Challenge:
On behalf of the whole school community I would once again like to congratulate the organising committee for a wonderful event. As you are aware the proceeds of the event are being donated to our school this year. A very generous sum of €1,000 was presented to the school by Kevin Cunningham last Friday. Our sincere thanks to everyone involved for this kind gesture.

Parents Representatives to the new Board of Management
Following on from the nominations meeting recently, we have our parents representatives elected for the new Board of Management which will begin on the 1st December 2015. Caroline Niland (1st class parent) has been elected as the mother’s representative on the board and Vinny Mooney (senior Infant and 5th class parent) has been elected as the father’s representative to the Board. We welcome them both and thank them for agreeing to become members.

Parent-Teacher Meetings:
This years parent-teacher meetings are on Tuesday 24th November. Children will go home at 12.30pm and busses will run as normal on the day.
Mid-Term Break.
School will be closing on Friday 23rd October for mid-term break. We will be re-opening on Monday 2nd November.

Halloween:
The children will be allowed to wear Halloween costumes if they have them this Friday 23rd October.
Shoe Box Appeal: The leaflets for this year’s Christmas show box appeal are being sent out. The last day for returning the boxes is Friday 13th November.

School Visit by Rescue Services:
The children have been learning about the Rescue Services this month. Our thanks to Junior Infant parent, Conor Devine, for arranging a visit to the school by members of the rescue services on Tuesday 20th October.

Mini -7’s:
Boys and girls represented the school in the hurling and camogie mini-7’s recently. Well done to the children, they performed very well, with the boys getting to the final.

School Book Fair:
This year’s Book Fair will take place on the week starting Monday 23rd November. Parents will be able to view the books on the day of the Parent-Teacher meetings (Tuesday 24th November). As always a percentage of the money spent can be used by the school to purchase new books for the school library.

Congratulations:
Our congratulations to Ms. Keely and her husband Paddy on the birth of their second child, Niall.

S.E.S.E. Trail:
3rd to 6th classes will be going on their termly S.E.S.E. trail. This term we are going up Sliabh Aughty on Friday 23rd October. Gerry Daly will be accompanying us on the day.

If you have any queries in relation to any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Francis O’Connor
Principal.