Nuacht 18/12/2017
Dates for your diary:
21.12.2017: Christmas jumper day, please bring in €2 for school fundraising
22.12.2017: We will have a visitor at 10am and school closes at 12:00.
08.01.2018: School re-opens at 9am
17.01.2018: Vaccinations for junior infants
19.02.2018: School closed for staff training – Primary Language Curriculum Day
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As 2017 draws to a close I pass on what a staff member recently said ‘there is no better place than to be working in a primary school before Christmas.’ Hopefully you also enjoyed the concerts and shows that make this time of year so special. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Concert and show time
Well done to all children, parents and staff involved in preparing the annual concerts and shows. You were brilliant and hopefully the orchestra and the choir will continue to go from strength to strength. (No pressure, Romey, Karen, Peter and David, but without your energy, patience and vision it wouldn’t be the same!)
The weekly corridor sessions of infant songs, junior songs, middle songs and senior songs really show their benefits. We hope you enjoyed the performances. Here is a video of the junior songs concert.
Mini scientists update
Hello, this is Jack, Conor, Charlie and Rhys and we are part of the "How polluted is your school commute?" INTEL group. We were lucky enough to get through to the INTEL Regional Finals last Friday 8th December in the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown. We had a great day and we decided to share it with you. We loved learning about other projects and showing off ours to the judges!!
Unfortunately, in the end we did not get into the top 20 science groups. But, we enjoyed the learning experience anyway. And had a great time with a top notch scientist called "Scientific Sue" from Belfast, introducing us to the bubble theory. We are so grateful to get through to the Regional Finals and had a great day.
International Hour of Code
Many of our classes participated in this year’s International Hour of Code, joining tens of millions of students using 45 languages in 180+ countries. This global movement promotes computer science and aims to equip young people with computational thinking and problem-solving skills to succeed in an increasingly digital world.
We really enjoyed learning how to write code to complete levels of increasingly difficult challenges. https://hourofcode.com/ie
Student Council reminders
Inner City Homeless Shoebox Appeal until December 20th
Shoeboxes are arriving in, but we need more: Get a shoebox, mark it male or female and fill it with items such as: scarves, gloves, underwear, socks, chocolate/sweets, roll on deodorants, tooth brush/paste, soap, gift vouchers or a Christmas card. If you would like to do a Shoebox for a child please mark it Male/Female and specify the age group it is for.
St Vincent de Paul food appeal: Please bring your non-perishable food items in and give to your student council representative to bring to the trolley in the reception area.
Christmas Jumper Day appeal: Please bring in €2 & wear your Christmas jumper on this school fundraiser day. 50% of the monies will be donated to the Rohingya Appeal Medecins Sans Frontieres https://www.msf.ie/article/rohingya-refugee-emergency-appeal?gclid=CjwKCAiA693RBRAwEiwALCc3u3rP1pSjviV-oJ3IKU5WVpGwVJhWUp6txxDDg3XVRSWWZ1nmUgV5MhoCX7gQAvD_BwE
Pat’s Outreach Class Visit to Santa
On Friday 15th December Pat’s Outreach class went to see Santa in Kildare Farm Foods Open Farm and Shop. WOW! It was spectacular!
We arrived there at 10.30 and it was magical from the word go! The facilities are wonderful, from the amazing food store and restaurant, to the train that departs from the restaurant that brings you on a tour of the facilities, to the animals in the open farm and of course the visit to the main man himself. The staff treated our pupils, parents and staff with the utmost courtesy and kindness. We had a great time feeding the animals, greedy camels and emus, an energetic nubian goat, various types of chickens, some indifferent sheep and alpacas, a greedy sow and two piglets, some sleepy wallabies, a honking goose and of course two very plump turkeys (Gulp!) to name but a few! The parents, children and staff had a wonderful day.
Kildare Farm Foods Open Farm and Shop is located 45min away just off the M7 at Junction 13 and is well worth a visit for a lovely family day out and caters well for anyone with children with special needs. See details here https://www.kildarefarmfoods.com/
Green Team reminder:
Batteries for Barretstown: Reminder to bring in any old batteries and put them in the relevant boxes beside the staff room/at reception We got new battery recycling boxes from Barrettstown where we can collect old batteries so the important chemicals and resources in them can be taken out & recovered and used to make new batteries or in other products. Thereby, we are raising funds for Barrettstown camps for children and their families living with a serious illness. Please see this video for more information.
Christmas Tree: Thanks to Anne for our beautifully decorated real Christmas tree in the foyer which is in keeping with our Green School commitment.
During your holidays, why not watch some interesting marine life documentaries with your family? ‘Blue Planet’ season 1 & 2 explore different aspects of marine life and are narrated by Sir David Attenborough. Marine pollution is very well explained in Blue Planet 2 Episode 7 entitled ‘Our Blue Planet’. ‘Chasing the Coral’ is on Netflix and documents the disappearing of the world’s coral reefs. Remember we as individuals can take action to reduce marine pollution and save our blue planet. We can choose to reduce our use of plastic, avoid products with microbeads and to recycle all the plastics we do have.
Parent Teacher Association
The officers for the 2017-18 PTA Committee were elected last week. The new chairperson is Tonya Leonard, Secretary is Leisha McDonald and Treaurer is Sarah O'Reilly.
The last coffee morning of 2017 will be held this Friday after drop off in The 12th Lock. Looking forward to seeing some of you there.
Community News
Castleknock Celtic are holding open days for boys & girls wishing to play with the club in New Season 2018. Venue: NAC Sports Pitches, Abbotstown. Date 6th January. Times on website www.castleknockceltic.com. Also information available by texting 083-4111721
Beir bua,
Aedín and Andreas