KILMACANOGUE NATIONAL SCHOOL
WEDNESDAY NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 16th 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians, Boys and Girls,
The Christmas Holidays for 2020 are suddenly upon us and this is the final Wednesday Newsletter of 2020.
School will close on Tuesday December 22nd with the Junior Classes from Junior Infants up to and including 2nd classes to be collected PROMPTLY at 11:50am. Then at noon, when the coast is clear so to speak, the Senior Classes from 3rd up to and including 6th will leave at 12 noon. School will reopen on Wednesday January 6th 2021.
This year 2020, has been very different and has caused so much worry and stress for each of us in various ways. The reopening of the school was a major concern for obvious reasons. It is a great testament to everyone, that we have had no cases of COVID in the school and that the school has kept its doors open and maintained a safe and healthy environment through out these months enabling the children to be happy and secure returning to school to be with their friends.
This last newsletter of 2020 therefore has to be about THANKS!
THANKS to our wonderful Parents’ Association of the past year or so especially Lisa Dempsey, Sonia Draper, Liz Cafferkey, Liz Driver and Linda Giles as well as Lisa Gaskin, Kim Farrell, Paula Morris, Suzanne Carr and Melanie Lee for all the great work they have done and the support they have given to the school during these difficult days.
THANKS to our Board of Management and especially to its chairperson, Judy O’Toole who worked tirelessly throughout the summer months getting the school fitted out with all the necessary PPE equipment/devices/procedures ensuring that the children returned to a safe school that was following all the HSE and gov.ie guidelines. Our school has never looked so clean and safe and fit for purpose and the children’s hands have never looked so gleaming!!
THANKS to all our highly talented and caring SNAs, Eva Hogan, Roisin Thorpe, Nadine O’Neill and Rachel Dunne who mind all our children throughout the school and who are always on hand to help no matter what.
THANKS to our cheerful, warm hearted and caring school secretaries Siobhan and Fiona for all the great work they do manning the phones, opening the doors, and welcoming everyone into the school (in line with HSE and gov.ie procedures of course) and carrying out all the busy secretarial work.
THANKS to Brian our caretaker who lets all the children in through the school gate at 9:10am each morning and who looks after the school so well, maintaining it inside and out.
THANKS to Colm and Ann and Amy for always keeping the school clean and tidy and fresh looking, and who have had to work doubly hard this year making sure that all surfaces are free from the COVID-19 virus.
THANKS to all our teachers who work so hard every single day and who go above and beyond the call of duty to provide the very best education possible to all the children in the school as was acknowledged last year by the Inspectors from the Department of Education in our excellent Whole School Evaluation Report. The laughter and joy I hear coming from all the classes would lift anyone’s spirits and I know that the teachers create atmospheres of joy in their classrooms which focus on the wellbeing and happiness of the children which are so important especially during these worrying times.
THANKS to all our wonderful parents who have always been so supportive and most especially during the days when school was reopening and there were staggered entry times and new ways of coming and going to the school with, alas, no face to face meetings all of which had to be put in place in line with HSE and gov.ie guidelines. You were all magnificent in the manner in which you supported the school as we all had to learn new systems and see which worked best.
A HUGE THANKS to the most fabulous children in the world………the boys and girls of Kilmacanaogue National School. You are what everything is about here in Kilmacanogue National School. You are at the heart of every single thing we do in the school. You are the inspiration which drives us all on as we do our very best for you so that you can be happy and safe and healthy and well-educated and confident and exciting and innovative and creative………IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU, BOYS AND GIRLS, BECAUSE YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!
The children had a very special visitor via ZOOM on Tuesday when Santa Claus paid a visit to every single class in the school and the children got to talk to him and to ask him questions. I don’t know how Lisa Dempsey and the P/A Committee organised this but apparently Lisa has a secret connection with one of the elves in the school who when talking to Santa mentioned that the P/A would love it if Santa visited the children of Kilmacanogue National School. Santa also wrote a letter to the children which was read out to the children of Junior Infants and Senior Infants and 1st Class. Santa Claus definitely has a soft spot for the boys and girls of Kilmacanogue National School!!
I know that the children have been very involved in rehearsing and performing their various Christmas Plays which have been recorded or are in the process of being recorded for all their parents to watch and enjoy when the teachers email them to their parents (mindful of GDPR considerations) The Junior Infants put on a really lovely performance singing lots of songs as well as reciting some Gaeilge in front of the school Nativity Scene. All the Mums and Dads can be very proud of their children in Junior Infants…….they have matured so much, I think that they are nearly ready for 2nd Class at this stage!! ????
Eva Hogan, our incredibly talented SNA/Artiste in residence, has been organising ‘Structured Play Classes’ for lots of children throughout the school which the children have loved and she has managed to make lots of scenery for the various productions taking place as well of course as having designed and made the beautiful Nativity Scene for the school as appeared on last week’s newsletter.
And now Christmas joke time, the final jokes for 2020!
What do you call a reindeer with bad manners?…………RUDE – olph!!
What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire??……….Frostbite!!!
HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.
Niamh
Niamh Murray
(Principal)
