Dear Parents Issue: 05 December 9th 2022
Best wishes to Miss Feeney and her husband on their wedding this weekend. The whole school community would like to wish them Health & Happiness in their future life together!
Best Attendance:
- Congratulations to Mr Hanley’s 1st class on having the Best Attendance for the month of November.
Infections & Illness:
- There has been a large increase in general viral infections among children & young people this winter. This is because children are mixing together more. In previous years social contact was much reduced, which lead to reduced rates of routine infection.
- Please, if your child is unwell, keep them at home.
- The measures that we got used to with Covid-19 are still important. They should be encouraged for everyone. These measures help stop the spread of lots of different infections:
- Cover coughs & sneezes
- Keep hands clean
- Avoid close contact with people who have cold or flu symptoms
Band & Lighting of Christmas Tree:
- Heartfelt congratulations to all the girls who performed in the band on Friday December 2nd, for the ceremony to turn on the Athenry Town Christmas lights!
- We were so proud of the girls – they performed & behaved so well!
- Sincere thanks also to all the staff who taught the girls their tunes and to everyone who helped to co-ordinate the logistics of getting 140 pupils to and from the market square safely on the night.
- It was a very proud day for us after the Covid hiatus. Not only did it help celebrate the lighting of the Christmas tree as it always does in the town, but this year in particular it also marked that we had prevailed as a community through a few very difficult years.
Christmas:
- We’d appreciate it if the magic of the season could be preserved for all the children in the school. Staff will certainly play their part. It is a special time in particular for primary school children. We’d like to ensure it remains that way. We thank you for playing your part
- Thursday December 15th will be the last night that the pupils will get homework for this term.
- Pupils in Junior infants up to 2nd class will be hosting a Carol Service on Wednesday December 14th.
- All children are to wear a Christmas jumper and / or a Christmas hat, if they have one, on the day
- All family members are invited to attend (Note: siblings in the school will not be released from class to watch the performance as they will get to view the video of the whole show with their class later in the week).
- The carol services will take place in the hall:
- 9:15am–9:40am: Ms Tyrrell’s &, Mrs Duffy’s Jun Infs and Miss Dolan’s Jun/Sen Infs
- 9:50am–10:20am: Mrs Murray’s Sen Infs and Mr McDonalds’s Sen Infs
- 11:15am-11.40am: Mr Hanley’s 1st class and Ms O’Byrne’s 1st class
- 11:50am–12:20pm: Ms McSpadden’s 1st / 2nd class and Miss Feeney’s 2nd class
- Parents who are coming to watch their child’s performance should enter the hall at the appropriate time using the Purple door at the front of the school.
- Once the performance is over, parents should exit the hall into the yard using the Blue door
- We would kindly ask that you observe these arrangements as best you can, so that all the performances can run smoothly and all parents get the opportunity to see their child’s class
| Class | Entry Time (Purple Door) | Performance Time | Exit Time (Blue Door) |
| Ms Tyrrell Mrs Duffy Miss Dolan | 9:10am | 9:15am – 9:40am | 9:45am |
| Mrs Murray Mr McDonald | 9:45am | 9:50am – 10:20am | 10:25am |
| SMALL BREAK | SMALL BREAK | SMALL BREAK | |
| Mr Hanley Ms O’Byrne | 11:10am | 11:15am – 11:40am | 11:45am |
| Ms McSpadden Miss Feeney | 11:45am | 11:50am – 12:20pm | 12:25pm |
| LUNCH | LUNCH | LUNCH |
- All the performances will be recorded and collated into a Christmas iMovie. All classes in the school will get to view this iMovie and the link will also be sent to all parents.
- We are expecting a visit from Santa on Thursday December 15th
- All the children will receive a Christmas annual courtesy of the Parents Council this year. These are fun & educational Christmas-themed activity books.
- The school will hold a Christmas Jumper fundraiser on Wednesday December 21st in aid of the Athenry Christmas lights committee. This will be a non-uniform day. The children may come to school wearing a Christmas jumper, hat etc., if they wish. We ask for a donation of €2 for this privilege, which will be given to the Athenry Christmas Lights committee.
- The school will close at 11.45am on Wednesday December 21st for the Christmas holidays and will re-open on Thursday January 5th at 8.40am (with class starting @ 8.50am sharp)
Internet Safety Talk:
- Jeremy Pagden from School Websites.ie will hold a talk relating to Online Safety for the girls in 5th & 6th classes on January 12th 2023
- He will put special emphasis on the downsides of spending too much time on devices. We are noticing that a number of children in the senior classes are coming to school with very low concentration spans
- There will be a separate talk for parents at 7pm on Thurs Jan 12th, which will be delivered by webinar.
Languages Connect:
- The Department are funding the provision of Irish Sign Language classes for pupils in the school
- The classes will run for 8 weeks, starting in January and will take place after school.
- The classes will be offered to pupils in Ms Alani’s 3rd class, Mrs Monson’s 3rd / 4th class, Mrs Greally’s 4th class, Ms Murray’s 5th / 6th class and Mr Kelly’s 5th / 6th class.
- Parents must sign a consent form to give permission for their child to stay on after school for the extra hour on the given day. These forms will be distributed after the Christmas holidays.
- The classes will be given by Mrs Trehy
School Developments:
- We are delighted to announce that the Department have sanctioned the replacement of the windows in all 10 of the classrooms in the main school building, as well as the four doors which all lead into the school hall.
- These windows & doors are over 40 years old and well past their “sell by dates”!
- We applied to the department for these upgrades under the “Emergency Works scheme”, as it will possibly be a period of time before our new building will be ready for us.
- We have also been given permission to get a new prefab. This will probably be placed at the front of the school.
Dates for Diary:
- Wednesday February 1st: Grandparents day
- Monday February 6th: St Brigid’s day bank holiday
- Thursday February 16th & Friday February 17th: February Mid-term break
- Tuesday March 22nd: School Photographer
- Thursday Mar 23rd: Staff Webinar Term 2 – all the children will go home at 1.15pm
- Monday April 3rd to Friday April 16th: Easter Holidays (school closes at 11.45am on Fri Mar 31st)
- Monday May 1st to Friday May 5th: May Mid-term break
- Thursday May 18th: Confirmation for 6th class girls
- Saturday May 20th: First Communion for 2nd class girls at 2.30pm
Appreciation:
The staff and Board of Management wish to thank our parent body for all their support always.
2022 has been another eventful year! It’s been a pleasure working with you and your children.
Nollaig shona agus bliain nua mhaith!
Fergal Naughton
Príomhoide
