Newsletter March/April 2019 Important Community Message As you may be aware, a defibrillator was recently installed in a coded box on the external wall of the hall in Kilruane. Kilruane Community Alert Group would like to ensure that the code is known locally. Please contact Lenny Gaynor, Dave Carroll or any member of Kilruane Community Alert Group and they will be more than willing to share the 4 digit code with you.   Road Safety Talk Our Community Guard, Garda Maureen Finnerty, organised a visit to our school from the Road Safety Authority before Easter. Catherine from the RSA spent the day at the school, visiting all classes to chat about general road safety topics and the importance of belting up. A big thank you  to Garda Maureen, for organising such a worthwhile event.   Safer Cycling Training Our school is currently running a course in safer cycle training for 5^th and 6^th classes. National ‘Cycle Right’ coaches, Richard Clarke and Leroy Kulczynski are providing this training on school grounds, over a 2 week period. All bicycles and helmets are provided for the children. It is our sixth year to run this training at Kilruane NS. The BOM would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to An Taisce and Tipperary County Council who came up trumps by co-funding this venture at our school. Sports Day 2019 Date for your diary! Our annual Sports day will take place during Active week, on Wednesday 19^th of June. As this day is so dependent on the weather, we will be keeping a close eye on the forecast, however, we may have to reschedule, closer to the time. As always, we will do our very best to stick with this date.  More information to follow.   Dance Classes We welcomed Claire Nealon back to Kilruane NS this week. Claire will run a weekly workshop in Irish and Modern Dance, for all classes, over a 5 week period. Our Parents Association have kindly funded the classes so there will be no cost to parents. We thank the PA for their continued support.   Playground A new playground is currently under construction to the rear of the school. If you are a frequent visitor to the school, you will have noticed the picket fencing and our newly installed sandboxes.      In the coming weeks, we will be adding some additional outdoor play equipment, to include a Mud Kitchen, wooden shop/stall and play house. We hope in time, that our younger classes in particular will able to enjoy outdoor Aistear classes. Well done to Ms. Hannigans 4^th class, who raised over 150 euro in their class Readathon, to help fund our new play house.       Ger’s Mobile Farm One of our most memorable days at the school every year is when Ger comes to visit with his collection of farm animals and household pets. This year was no exception and the children had another wonderful day. Rabbits, hens, lambs and goats roamed our school yard throughout the day and every child had ample time to hold and pet the animals. Another day to remember! Heritage in Schools Expert Donna Gilligan is a museum archaeologist who works with the Heritage in Schools Scheme. This scheme provides a panel of heritage experts who visit primary schools all over Ireland, to help generate a greater awareness, respect, interest and appreciation of our heritage by encouraging hands on, interactive and meaningful learning experiences. Donna will visit 2^nd to 4^th classes at Kilruane NS on Thursday 9^th May. Her visit will include visual presentations, opportunities for class discussions and interactive hands on activities. She will outline the work of an archaeologist, how they interpret evidence from the past and she will also highlight change and continuity between the past and present. Children will also be given the opportunity to handle artefacts and to do practical activities such as sandbox excavations and Stone Age art and pottery. We are very much looking forward to Donna’s visit.   Hurling and Camogie at Kilruane NS Ms Lawlor’s class recently enjoyed a trip to Kilcolman for a hurling/ camogie Blitz organised by An Garda Siochána. In addition, the girls from 4^th to 6^th have been invited to attend a Camogie blitz later in the month. This blitz will take place at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh, more information to follow.   We also extend the very best of luck to our u13 hurling team, who face Ballinahinch in the next next round of the u13 Championship. They beat Kildangan in their first match, just before the Easter break. A huge congrats to our u11 team, who beat Kilsheelan NS in their County Semi Final in The Ragg yesterday. We wish them the best of luck, as they go forward to represent North Tipperary in the Cumann na mBunscol County Finals in Thurles. We will be asking as many parents as possible to make the trip to Thurles for the Final, it has always been a very proud day for our school. More details to follow when Cumann na mBunscol finalise the Thurles dates. School Closures We wish to advise you of two additional school closures. The school will be closed to pupils on Tuesday 21^st May, as staff have inservice training based on the New Primary Language Curriculum. This closure is department approved.  In addition, the school will be closed on the day of the Local Elections, Friday 24^th May. As the school is used as a polling station, we are not permitted to open.