Trick or Treat for Templestreet
Our annual fundraiser for Templestreet Children’s Hospital takes place this Friday at the school. Children can wear fancy dress or their own clothes. A donation would be most welcome for this worthy cause, (€2 per child or whatever you can afford). Children can bring a treat in their lunchboxes as it is a very special day at Kilruane NS. Please remember we are a NUT FREE ZONE. All money raised will go to the Isobel and Tess Duff Memorial Foundation at Templestreet.
Footpath to/from church
You will have noticed that the County Council installed a new footpath to/from the church in September. We are delighted that we now have a safer journey to/from the church for our children, when practicing for liturgical events in particular. This footpath also provides an option for parents to walk to the school gate to collect their child, using the church carpark as a place to park. The BOM would like to take this opportunity to encourage parents to consider this option when collecting children at hometime.
Computer Classes 3rd to 6th
We are delighted to be in a position to offer computer classes for our senior classes, 3rd to 6th after Christmas. Smaller Primary schools do not have the financial resources to set up a purpose built computer lab or to provide laptops for every child. Whizzkids is an Irish company who have designed an in-school programme that will offer schools an easier and more cost effective solution. The programme consists of the delivery of an 8 week technology course during school, where each class will receive an hour of training. Whizzkids will come to our school, provide a laptop for every child, a qualified and experienced instructor and will teach a technology programme based on department guidelines, including Microsoft word and computer programming such as SCRATCH. Class teachers will be present in a supporting role. We hope to run the programme yearly going forward, so all children will avail of Whizzkids as they make their way through the school. There will be a small financial outlay for parents, we are currently looking at subsidising this cost together with our Parents Association and Board of Management. Approximate subsidised cost will be 16 to 20 euro in total, for all 8 classes. More details to follow.
Cross Country 2017
Well done to all the boys and girls who performed so admirably at the Primary Schools Cross Country event held in Thurles recently. It was a fantastic day out and we were delighted with how the children cheered their team mates on as they made their way through the course. A special mention for Jennifer O Leary who came first in her race and the 3rd/4th class boys team who came third. A big thank you to Ms. Maguire, who trained our team so well.
Vex Robotics
Vex Robotics is a fun, exciting programme for senior classes, where students design, build and programme their own robot, with a view to competing with their class robot against other schools in a spectacular regional competition, to be held in the New Year. Children will learn skills in STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) design and build, programming, leadership, teamwork, marketing, PR, critical thinking, strategy and much more. Our robot kit has been kindly sponsored by Dell Limerick and we would like to thank parents Joe Correia and Fran Farrell (Dell employees) for bringing this exciting new venture to our attention. Ms. Maguire and Ms. Lawlor will lead this initiative at our school and it is open to 5th and 6th class students. Both Joe and Fran have kindly made themselves available to guide us through the process and we thank them for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us.
Friendship/Stay Safe
In line with our revised anti-Bullying policy, the children are currently enjoying ‘Friendship Weeks ‘, at the school (weeks before and after the mid-term). The central theme for our friendship weeks is our school motto – ‘Kind Hands, Kind Feet and Kind Words’. The teachers will teach formal lessons from the Stay Safe programme and in addition, the children will hear stories, make posters and write poetry based on the themes of friendship and bullying awareness.
Dromineer Literary Arts Festival
Congratulations to 4th class pupil Jennifer O Leary and 6th class pupil Órna Daly who won first prize in both Junior and Senior Primary School Poetry Competition run by The Dromineer Literary Arts Festival Committee in September. Both Jennifer and Órna were presented with certificates and prizes at an event held recently at the Yacht Club in Dromineer. Well done to Ellie J. Farrell, Conal Daly and Orlagh White whose poems were highly commended in the same competitions.
Payments to the Office
We kindly ask that you settle any outstanding payments, book rental, insurance, swimming etc. immediately following the mid-term break, as the school needs to settle accounts. If you have any query in relation to your payments please contact the office.
Christmas Concert Dates
We will be beginning our preparation for our Christmas concerts in the coming weeks. Concerts for the younger classes will take place during lunchtime (Approx 1:15 to 2pm) and concerts for senior classes will take place in evenings at 7:30pm. All concerts will take place in the school hall. More details to follow nearer the time.
- Mrs. Kennedy’s Class Wednesday 13th December 1:15pm
- Ms. Carr’s Class Thursday 14th December 1:15pm
- Ms. Maguire’s Class Wednesday 13th December 7:30pm
- Ms. Lawlor’s Class Thursday 14th December 7:30pm
Mid-term break
We close this Friday, 27th October, (usual home times please), for the mid-term break. The school will re-open on Monday, 6th November. Enjoy the break everybody!