KILMACANOGUE NATIONAL SCHOOL
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
October 16th 2021 Deireadh Fόmhair
Dear Parents/Guardians/Families and Staff, Dia dhaoibh!
We are very excited about our new aquarium at the school. Jemima Ellis, Cillian Shortt and Laoise Flynn from 4th Class have contributed the following lines about the Neon Tetra which now inhabit it:
Neon Tetra are tropical fish. The tank temperature is set between 21 and 26 degrees. They originally come from the Amazon river in South America, where they live in deep dark water among the roots of trees that reach down into the water to great depths.
In the tank the tetra seem to be playing hide and seek in the bottom left corner where there is more shade from plants placed there. They dart about very quickly when they are looking for food. (Cillian is doing a fantastic job feeding the fish). They eat flake food and blood worms.
They are a non-aggressive fish that live in shoals.
We are very happy with our fishy friends: George, Brian, Ted, Wiggles and Killian (spelled with a ‘K’).
If you have any name suggestions for the remaining five fish, please let your teachers know and they can pass the information on to the head keeper of the aquarium in the hall.
Deepest gratitude is extended to all of you and the children for your generosity in our fundraiser for Pieta House last week with the Jersey Day. Together we raised €370! Well done! Altruism is, indeed, a powerful source of meaning.
Enrolments are now taking place at Kilmacanogue National School, until 1st November which is the deadline for the receipt of applications. We have advertised this in the Newsletter over many weeks now, as well as in the Bray People newspaper, on the local Facebook Forum and in the Parish Link Newsletter. All of the information on our Admissions Policy is on the school website www.kilmacschool.ie.
Please call Siobhán or Fiona in the school office at 01-2861934 with any queries.
The First Penance/Reconciliation and First Holy Communion ceremonies will take place on Saturday next weekend, 23rd October. The first of the Communion ceremonies for Third Class Orange is at 10a.m. and the second ceremony for Third Class Green is at 12 midday in St. Mocheanόg’s Church in Kilmacanogue. We will be bringing the two classes to the church for a practice run on Thursday morning. The Confirmation ceremony will follow at 11a.m. on 6th November in St. Mocheanog’s Church also. We thank the Parish Team and the Parents Association, the teachers, SNAs and the children themselves who have been so thoughtful in all of the preparations associated with these sacramental ceremonies, both of a spiritual and practical nature.
Covid-19: To dispel any confusion, let us be clear:
(1) If a member of your household has been fully vaccinated and has not got symptoms of Covid-19, then that person is fine to go about their business.
(2) If a member of your household has already contracted Covid-19 in the past nine months, and has no symptoms, then that person is allowed to circulate in the community; if this is a child of the household, YES, he/she is supposed to attend school, even if their sibling/s have Covid and are at home restricting their movements. In some cases, a contact tracer may ask you to restrict your movements if you are a close contact of a variant of concern. Always follow their advice.
(3) If a member of your household is fully vaccinated, but develops symptoms of Covid-19, then YES, they need to restrict their movements and get a Covid-19 PCR test, then follow advice of HSE/gov.ie
(4) If a member of your household is NOT fully vaccinated, but develops symptoms of Covid-19, then YES, they need to self-isolate and get a Covid-19 PCR test and follow advice of HSE/gov.ie
(5) If a member of your household is awaiting results of a Covid test, follow the HSE advice at the test centre.
(6) If you are travelling abroad during the mid-term break, advice is available from the Department of Foreign Affairs website and gov.ie. Please follow all gov.ie guidelines in relation to returning to school after the mid-term break.
The KNS Gardening Team would like to update us on progress in the school garden and ‘The Secret Garden’. Eva has made some beautiful solid timber flowerbeds and provided tractor tyres for the School Garden. Judy O’Toole organised the delivery of two tonnes of topsoil to fill them. Gardening teams from 5th and 6th class spent some of their SESE time during the week
filling the beds under the watchful eye of our garden Robin, who is delighted with all the digging that’s going on!
Earlier in the week the children planted a ‘host’ of daffodils in the raised beds in ‘The Secret Garden’.
Clearing and weeding has been going on for the last few weeks and it’s been a pleasure to watch the children getting so enthusiastic about their gardening endeavours.
All of this preparation by the Senior Classes means that the Junior Classes will be able to get involved in gardening projects in the Springtime.
‘Team work makes the dream work’!
A reminder to 5th and 6th Class families to send in a pair of gardening gloves for your child. Thank you to those who have already done so.
If anyone has over bought Spring bulbs and would like to donate any surplus to the school garden project, we would be very grateful.
Thank you!
We will remind you again next week that the children may, if they wish, wear fancy dress to school on Friday 22nd October. Each child is asked to donate €2 to the Parents’ Association fundraising initiative for the school. The PA has also organised fundraising through the designacard Christmas Cards for the school. The children have produced beautiful and original work for their cards which will be completed by Monday, 18th October in each classroom. We are truly grateful to the Parents’ Association for all their fundraising for the school. It allows greater opportunity for learning for all of the children when resources are needed to enhance teaching and learning throughout the school, across all curricular areas. Our new Samsung Galaxy Tablets are ready for use after the Hallowe’en break, once again, made possible by our hardworking and innovative Parents’ Association. Thank you all!
PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ABSOLUTELY NO FOOD CONTAINING NUTS IS TO BE BROUGHT INTO SCHOOL DUE TO SEVERE NUT ALLERGIES. Thank you.
Warmest best wishes,
Ann Marie
Ann Marie Bourke
(Acting Principal)
