Newsletter November 20th 2013

NEWSLETTER 20/11/13

parent teacher meeting

PARENT/TEACHER MEETINGS:
The annual meetings will be held on Wednesday November 29th & Wednesday December 4th
(3.15 pm. – 5.45 pm.). As usual the times will be allocated alphabetically (surname) to facilitate parents who need to see more than one teacher. If it is not possible to attend at the indicated time please contact the class teacher to rearrange.

Wednesday Nov. 27th.
A/B            3.15 – 3.45
C/D/E        3.45 – 4.15
F/G/H       4.15 – 4.45
I/J/K         4.45 – 5.15

Wednesday Dec. 4th.
L/M           3.15 – 3.45
N/O           3.45 – 4.15
P/Q/R      4.15 – 4.45
S / W        4.45 – 5.15
*The arrangement does not apply to 5th Class (Ms. Farrell) as parents had the opportunity to meet Ms. Hayden before she left. Meetings can be arranged at a later date.

HOMEWORK CLUB:
The club is going from strength to strength. New members always welcome.

COMMUNITY NOTICES:

BALLYLINAN G.A.A. JUVENILE FOOTBALL CLUB:
Books required for Christmas Book Stall – all books welcome. The books will be collected at the School Bus drop-off area on Friday at
2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

IRISH BOOK AWARDS:
Niamh Boyce, a parent at the school and local librarian has been nominated for the Irish Book Awards in the ‘Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year category.’ The winner will be decided by public vote, so your support will be much appreciated. Vote at http://www.irishbookawards.ie/vote/

PLAYGROUND:
Ballylinan Community Council are organising a Cabaret Night to raise funds for a toilet at the playground. They have asked us to send home (2) tickets to each family. If you wish to support the night, but will not be attending, the money can be sent in to the school. Your name will be put on the ticket for the raffle.

the park

NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 13th 2013

NEWSLETTER 13/11/13

SACRAMENTS:
First Communion – Sunday May 18th @ 11.30 am.
Confirmation – Saturday April 5th @ 11.30 am.
1st Penance – To be confirmed

FOOTBALL:
It seems a long time ago now but congratulations to the girls for their great performance in the Cumann na mBunscol final played before Halloween. Well done to Lisa Walsh who received the ‘fair play award’. Thanks to Ms. Mulhare and Mrs. Connolly for all their work throughout the competition and special ‘thank you’ to the teachers who covered while they were away at matches.

HALLOWEEN:

We had some very impressive costumes for our fundraiser at Halloween! The event raised €354 for the Parents Association. At a meeting held last night it was decided that the money would be donated to UNICEF for flood relief in The Philipines.

STAFF CHANGE:
Ms. Hayden has left on maternity leave and has been replaced by Ms. Tara Farrell.

PANTO:

Rehearsals have begun for ‘Aladdin’ which goes on stage Tuesday December 17th and Thursday December 19th in St. Anne’s Hall.
It’s looking good !

PARKING:
Thanks to everyone for their co-operation especially in the mornings. The message is – if you need to leave your car – park it. Keep the drop-off areas clear.

CALENDAR:
Class photos for the calendar will be taken next Monday or Tuesday (18th & 19th). Please have children in FULL SCHOOL UNIFORM. (See Parents Association News).

GREEN SCHOOLS NEWS:
Slogan Competition winner – Sadhbh Brennan (6th Class) –
“Don’t Say No to Saving H2O”.
Name Our Mascot winner – Ella Keightly Kindregan (1st Class) – “Uisce”.

SCHOOL WEBSITE:
Thanks to James Eustace for all his time and work in upgrading the school website. Visit www.ballylinannationalschool.com to keep in touch.

PARENTS ASSOCIATION NEWS:
This year the Parents Association are producing a school calendar to mark the first Christmas in our new school. The Calendar will be made up of Class photographs (1 per month) and other school groups/teams, etc. The sample is very impressive and it will be practical as well as a keepsake.

Parents who have businesses may wish to advertise in the calendar.

Contact Secretary, Isobel Brady (085 2259256) by November 20th if interested in placing an advertisement..
Price: ½ strip (5.5” x 2”) = €25; full strip (11.5” x 2”) = €40.

COMMUNITY NEWS
Cabaret Night in Fleming’s Bar on Saturday 30th November to raise money to construct toilet facilities at the Park.
Admission €5.   Music by Back in Business.

 

 

 

Newsletter 17/10/13

Communion/Confirmation Timetable of Events

23rd October – Meeting with parents of Eucharist and Confirmation candidates in Arles

Communion
Communion

Community Hall.

  • 7pm – for parents of Eucharist candidates
  • 8pm – for parents of Confirmation candidates (6th class only)

This is a very important meeting for all parents of children due to receive sacraments in 2014.

Halloween

At the recent A.G.M. of our Parents Association a number of fund-raising ideas were discussed.  Next Friday, October 25th we are “dressing up” for Halloween!  A few rules – no masks and no one piece costumes for infants!  The cost will be €2 per child or €3 per family.

Fireworks

We have spoken to classes about the dangers associated with Halloween and we have all seen the horrific injuries suffered by children at this time of year.  We hope that our children will have an enjoyable and injury free celebration.

Budget

Thanks to all parents who signed and returned the “Protect Primary Education” cards leading up to the budget.  It was a very good outcome for our school and the benefit will be obvious next September when we will have an additional teacher.

Swimming

After we return from our mid-term break the arrangements for swimming will be as follows:
4th Class – Portlaoise – Thursday or Friday
3rd Class – Portlaoise – Thursday or Friday
2nd Class – Athy – Wednesdays

Panto News

This year’s panto is “Aladdin” and will go on stage before Christmas.  More details to follow.