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Rathmichael Parish National School - Newsletter October 2011

Dates For Your Diary
19th October - School Harvest Assembly - Children should bring in packets of biscuits, tea, coffee, home made biscuits, fruit cake etc. These will be brought to the Old Folks Home in Shankill where they are always greatly appreciated.

21st October - “Mind Your Own Business” Coffee Morning – a note has been sent home about this – see below for details.

27th October – Dress up Day – the children may dress up in a costume of their choice (however it should not restrict their ability to do their school work as normal). Please give them €2 to bring in. All money collected will go towards helping to support Yunusu's third level education.

31st October to 4th November – Mid term break. School will close at the normal time (Games as usual) on Friday 28th October and reopen for a normal school day on Monday 7th November.

14th December – Art and Wine Evening – advance notice – more details to follow closer to the date.

PTA Committee 2011/2012
Co-Chairpeople         - Janice Roche/Keith Garland
Secretary                - Garret O'Keeffe
Treasurer                - Robert Carter
Principal/B.O.M. Representative    - Caroline Senior
Teachers’ representative              - Joy Gallagher
New Members            - Kate Desigar, Corinna Dolan, Brian Kenny,David Simmons
Parents' Reps on Board of Mgt    - Nicola Ralph, Mark Kenny

Mind Your Own Business - Coffee Morning
This will be held in the Burton Hall in School on Friday 21st October from 9.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon. All parents are welcome and if you have a small business or cottage industry or a talent as a musician or singer and would like to advertise to other parents, this is your opening. If you would like to come along just for a coffee or to advertise your business, please contact Janice Roche on the PTA at 087 2504858 or janicegroche@gmail.com This is a great opportunity to support our own local businesses within the school and to get to know a few more people along the way. No sales or purchases required. Just come and see. Coffee morning €5 including tea/coffee, pastries etc. plus raffle.

Food Dudes
Thanks to all the children for trying out the fruit and vegetables that have been sent in as part of the Food Dudes programme. From Monday 24th October the children will be asked to bring in their own fruit and vegatables each day and this will be monitored on a weekly and monthly basis. All home diaries should be returned to school by 24th October.

Sponsored Walk
Our Sponsored Walk took place on 25th September this year in Carrigolligan Woods. The reaction to moving the Walk to a Sunday afternoon was positive and there was a good turnout, despite getting caught in rain showers. It was wonderful to see so many of the new parents and children taking part. As last year we opted for the healthy option when giving out goodies. The children
were sponsored and so far we have raised €1,563.83. This is always a fun event and one which the children look forward to. Many thanks go to the PTA who played a huge part in the organisation of this event and to the parents who acted as marshals along the route. Please ensure all monies collected are sent in.

Enrolment for September 2011/12 Junior Infants
Please note that the first two weeks of November this year (7th to 21st ) have been set aside as dates when prospective Junior Infant parents should call into the Office and collect an Application form. This applies to children with siblings already in the school also.

Tidy Towns School Award
We were delighted to be presented with honours in Pioneering for a Clean Environment in the Tidy Towns Competition for Schools at the recent awards ceremony. We received a voucher for €75. Many thanks to the Cullen family and Dalyan Hanley for representing the school at the ceremony.

Parent/Teacher Meetings
These will be held during November (except Junior Infants which will take place in the Spring Term, when the children are well settled in). Details will follow nearer the date.

School Bills
These will be issued shortly and prompt payment of same would be much appreciated. For the first time parents will have the facility to make payments directly to the Bank via Easy Payments Plus (EPP). Just log on to our website, click on the link and follow the instructions. Those families with more than one child in the school will also be sent revenue forms to complete in respect of the general maintenance contributions given every term. If you are a PAYE tax payer, returning this form enables the school to reclaim monies from Revenue based on any contributions of €250 or more donated in any tax year. We would really appreciate if you would return these to the Office as soon as possible (they will be sent in to Revenue in January 2012) as we have received sizeable cheques in respect of both the 2009 and 2010 tax years.

Necessitous Pupils' Grant
A small grant is available for single parent families, unemployed parents etc. Please submit your request for this grant by 21st October. Your share of the grant will be deducted from the 1st term's bills.

2012 Desk Diary
This will be launched in November and a limited number of copies will be available.

Uniforms
Thank you to everyone for making such an effort with the uniform. The children look so well in them. I am continuing to monitor pupils to check that uniforms continue to be worn and have asked the teaching staff to be equally vigilant. As last year letters will be sent home should children consistently arrive into school without their uniform. Uniforms may be ordered directly from the Office.

Garda Vetting Forms
If any parent still has a Garda Vetting form would you please drop it into the Office.


Caroline Senior
Principal
17th October 2011

Principal's Report the PTA AGM 2011

Weddings and Births
In July this year Ms. Wendy Hayes got married and is now Mrs. Sloan. We wish her the very best for the future. Mrs Gillian Bourne had a baby boy, Ryan, in April while Ms. Caroline Dowd had a baby boy, Liam in May. Both are thriving. Mrs Bourne returns to us in December whilst Ms. Dowd returns for the third term.

Technology
This year with the IT Grant we bought cameras for each of the teachers as they are constantly being used within the school. We worked with Camera a company which revamps computers for use in schools and Africa. We got Laptops for the teachers which can be use with the whiteboards when required. The bulk of the money went towards a new system in the computer room which links all the computers to one monitor. The teacher can see straight away what is being done on every computer. A screen can be projected onto a large wall screen for everyone to see. This will be a great teaching tool.
Last year the three schools joined together to form a website with resources from all three schools. This is primarily for the teachers to use and will be constantly updated. I have found the connection between the three schools to be invaluable and a great support to us all.

Charity work and Community Spirit
As part of our charitable efforts for the year we joined with the parish to fill hampers for St Vincent de Paul. This was very successful, filling 100 hampers for this cause and 15 for The Bray Women's Refuge.
We had a National Spex Day, to raise funds for people with sight loss. The children coloured in cardboard spectacles and brought in €2 each. There was one prize in every class for the best decorated specs. We were given seeds for our new sensory garden. These we planted. Our sensory garden has since won a prize.
We held a Harvest Assembly and accompanied by some pupils from 2nd Class, I brought all the goodies to the Old Folks' Centre in Shankill.
In March we joined with the two other schools, Scoil Mhuire and St. Annes. We went to Dorney Court Wood with some children to learn about trees and plant some. This was for National Tree Week. We also received some trees which we planted in the school.
In May we had our Second hand School Book Sale. This was to reduce the cost of books to parents for next year.
We had a no uniform day in June to sponsor June Lawless who does so much for the school.

The Principals of the three schools and the church leaders met to form a Community Action Group. This was also attended by interested parties from the community, including two representatives of the Garda Síochana, and it is hoped to develop this into a forum where talks on various community related issues can be given to parents.

Tours
5th and 6th Classes went to the Knockree Adventure Centre. 4th Class went to Lullymore and the Tutankamen Exhibition. 3rd class went to the Tutankhamen exhibition, Airfield and the Dublinia and Viking Splash tour.1st and 2nd Classes went to the Zoo and on a school trip to Cabinteely park and Zoom in Greystones whilst the Infant classes went on their tour to Coolmine Play Centre.

Green Schools
A new school garden has been started. We are planting vegetables, growing our own bedding plants and have a sensory garden. Our insects have also been taken care of.
The garden is coming on. However we did have a set back over the cold snap. The birds had nothing to eat when we were closed and took to stripping back our cabbages. Still onwards and upwards we go and we will strive to do better with our next batch.
In the summer we produced peas, turnips, lettuce, potatoes, rhubarb, strawberries and tomatoes. Much more successful. The children have a sense of pride in the garden and really enjoy working in it. Fourth class have made a scarecrow for it whilst 5th and 6th classes decorated it with colourful butterflies.

The children get actively involved in keeping the grounds tidy. We enter the Tidy Schools competition every year. The children sweep the grounds, weed and plant bedding plants around the school. This all helped with our Green Flag achievement. We were awarded our 7th Green Flag for Green Homes. This is a huge achievement for the school. We invited Paddy Madden to raise our flag in May in a school celebration. He spoke with all the classes and encouraged us all to continue our good work.

We achieved 3rd place in the Tidy Schools competition in June 2010 and a prize of €300.

We were short-listed for the Green Awards however we were not awarded the overall prize for schools.

We entered our School Garden for the Community Awards. Pupils from various classes gave presentations on the aspects of the garden's development that they had been involved in. We received highly commended in these awards.

As I said before our Sensory Garden also won it's own prize. We received several bags of compost and bark for our garden.

This has given us great encouragement to continue. Other teachers have completed courses in the garden over the summer so I hope this work will continue and the garden will be a place everyone wants to visit.

Staff Development

In October, Hayley Appelbe and myself attended a Biodiversity Course in Shanganagh Park and this was followed up by Biodiversity Workshops for 4th, 6th and Junior Infants.

Wendy Hayes and Gillian Bourne attended a course on Autism in February. Wendy is in Learning Support / Resource Teaching and these courses help to keep our teachers up to date on new teachings.

In April the whole staff had a talk on Challenging Behaviours in the school. A lecturer for the SESS (Special Education Support System) came for two hours and the staff found it very informative and helpful.

Most of the teachers have attended courses during the summer. The teachers like to keep themselves updated and enthusiastic about various topics in the curriculum.

Music and The Arts
This year we held auditions for a new joint venture – to form an orchestra with 3rd to 6th class pupils from the three Shankill schools under the guidance of Daithí Mac Aodhagáin. Daithi has the musical skills required to work with the children and comes highly recommended. He is training to be a paramedic at night and also volunteers as a fireman. As a result of the auditions, 7 pupils from Rathmichael were chosen to participate. All of these have different talents to offer. Each week Daithi came to each school to work with the children. They worked hard and progressed well. They performed in a variety show in Bray and at our Open day in June. We hope this will continue.

5th Class performed “Cinderella Rockerfella” for the school and their parents in the first week of March. It was a roaring success and a lovely end to Ms Bourne's time teaching before her maternity leave. It was remarkable what was achieved in such a short space of time.
Fourth Class performed a play for the school and their parents in April. They performed Alice in Wonderland and it was enjoyed by everyone. Parents helped with directing, production and stage management. It was a superb community event. Great thanks to Lisa Cook and Vonla Griffin for this.

Neil Dowling from 'Drum Nature' came out to do percussion with 1st - 6th classes. He spent the day working with each class moving on from what they experienced last year.

Third Class went to the National Concert Hall in Feb. They got mentioned when they were there and this added to their excitement.

Talks / Visitors to the school
This year we had many visitors to the school. It is great to bring the wider community into the school. It provides new interest and really adds to the education within the school.

Our Safety Squad from 6th Class had a course on First aid with Siobhán Butler in September.

8 children in 2nd Class and 8 in 6th Class are being prepared for 1st Holy Communion and Confirmation, by Elaine Hogan, Pastoral Worker in St. Anne's Church.

The HSE sends in a team to do vision testing Vision Testing, hearing testing and vaccinations throughout the year. The Dental Nurse called to give Hygiene Talks to 1st , 3rd and 5th Classes.

Gillian Perdue, children's author, came to school. Gillian is a past pupil of Rathmichael and also taught in the school a number of years ago. Her readings of her novels were followed by drama and dance workshops and “Meeting the Author” really brought the books alive!

In November, Jim McMonagle of Dublin Zoo came into school, bringing with him exotic items of interest including an elephant's foot, a rhino horn and a leopard skin, which the children enjoyed looking at and touching. Jim gave us a brief history of Dublin Zoo and its development over the years up to the present day.

We had a visit from a Litter Warden from Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council. He talked to all of the classes about the problems of litter, how it effects our
environment, how it can cause harm to wildlife and the part that we all have to play in keeping our country " litter free". The children were all asked to design anti-litter posters with prizes for the best entries.

Dorothy Stewart from An Taisce came out to give the school talks on Water Conservation and Transport and Travel which is part of our Green Homes project. Each class undertook lessons on these subjects as part of our Green Flag.

We had an energy awareness workshop for 1st - 6th Classes. The children were able to produce their own energy and produce smoothies and light up bulbs. It was very interesting.

Two students from Froebel College taught dance to SI, 2nd,3rd, 5th and 6th Classes. This was for four weeks and both the teachers and the children enjoyed it.

Whitney Fisher , an American student, arrived in March. She worked with us for a month. She worked with Junior Infants to 3rd Class. This was interesting for the children as they all love a new face and new ideas.

In March Liam McGarry came in to speak about bees. He brought in a hive to show everyone and a honey comb with honey which they could taste. He returned in May with live bees to show the whole school. The children entered a competition in relation to this and some subsequently won prizes.

Andrew Fleming from 'Nature's Way' came out to give talks to third class and indeed to work with them in our garden. They made bird boxes.

Cricket training began for 5th and 6th Classes in May. This took place during school time and gave the children a taste for a different sport. Some of the children have since joined cricket clubs for the summer. We took part in the Leprechaun Cup against other schools in the area.

Sustainable Energy Ireland presented Guzzler to Sn. Inf to 2nd Classes in June. This taught them all about the need to conserve energy.

Renovations
Over the summer the office was redecorated as it had had no attention in 13 years. I think you will agree we are a walking advert for IKEA. I am delighted as is our well deserved secretary Trish O' Neil.
The two infant classrooms were painted also over the summer. A sound system was put in to Room 1.
10 new benches are dotted around our playground made out of recycled plastic. They are extremely heavy and durable. The children enjoy the extra seating. The garden is now equipped for a class to go out and have an outdoor lesson.
Thanks must go to Neil Bass who repainted the outside of the porch to the Burton Hall. Paint had come off during the snow and it was beginning to look shabby. He did an excellent job.
All the taps in the school have been replaced. Sensors have been placed in the bathrooms with urinals. It is to be hoped that these actions will help reduce our water consumption. We are metered for water and this can be very expensive.
The hedge by the lollypop lady on Stonebridge Road is to be removed very shortly. The bed is to be extended . This will hopefully widen the pavement slightly.

Thanks
Thank you to all parents who help around the school with trips, reading and activities. This really helps the school to run so smoothly. With the cutbacks in our SNAs it has become such a necessity to have help like this. Thank you all for your support.
Thank you to my Board of Management who have been a tremendous support to me throughout the past four years. They work silently in the background accomplishing so much and are the reason the school looks so well. I really do appreciate the work they do.
May I now take this opportunity to thank the PTA for the wonderful work they do. It is an asset to the school to have such a team. I find them always to be so agreeable giving up their time so willingly. I bid farewell to Neil, Shirley, Amanda and David. I hope to use you all on a consultancy basis in the future. Thank you so much for all you have achieved. I look forward to working with my new team.
Finally a huge thank you to my staff whom I find to be very supportive. Thank you for all the work you do for the school. We are lucky to have such a lovely environment to work in.