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Wednesday Newsletter October 22nd 2021 Deireadh Fόmhair
KILMACANOGUE NATIONAL SCHOOL
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Suairceas san aer Is na spéartha gan cheo I bhfόmhar buí na gréine Is aoibhinn bheith beo
Tá iníní beaga ar imirce Ar sciathán, a stόr, Mar is é seo an séasúr Ar a dtugtar An Fόmhar.
October 22nd 2021 Deireadh Fόmhair
Under the October twilight the water mirrors a still sky (W.B. Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole)
Dear Parents/Guardians/Families and Staff, Dia dhaoibh!
It certainly is Deireadh Fόmhair (end of Autumn) with these lower temperatures. The feast of Samhain will soon be upon us as we break for the mid-term. Of course, the traditions of our rich heritage around Hallowe’en are deeply embedded in our collective Celtic psyche. It is no wonder, then, that our children have a fascination with all things spooky, strange and ghoulish at this time of year. Today, we welcomed some unusual characters through the doors of the classrooms, many of whom will be venturing out on Hallowe’en night. With this in mind, Garda Adam Nolan visited the school on Monday to speak to Fifth and Sixth Classes about
Halloween Safety. His talk to each class was very interesting and captured the attention of children and staff alike. Topics he covered included: Halloween Bonfires (illegal in Ireland), Fireworks (illegal in Ireland), keeping yourself safe if going out trick or treating on Hallowe’en evening by staying with an adult, staying in a group and wearing a high viz vest. He also
talked to us about keeping our pets safe on Hallowe’en night. There was time for a few questions at the end of each talk and the children got a chance to tell Garda Nolan what they were going to dress up as for Halloween.
DEADLINE FAST APPROACHING: Kilmacanogue National School is now enrolling 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.
Courtesy and civility guaranteed at all times… as John B. Keane once wrote!
Could I please appeal to all Parents and Guardians for courtesy and civility at all times in the car park! I understand that this has not been the case lately, resulting in dangerous situations arising for the children as they are collected from school. Please only park in allocated spaces so as to avoid obstruction to other users of the car parking area.
We were also alerted to the dangerous situation of children climbing a tree that overhangs the roadway at a considerable height (from the church grounds, right over the roadway close to the Stop sign at junction with Rockfield Park). In fact, some motorists were quite frightened at the sight and the imminent danger that could occur. Please supervise children carefully while in the church grounds. Thank you.
We are looking forward to the First Penance/Reconciliation and First Holy Communion ceremonies which will take place tomorrow 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. Both classes have been preparing steadfastly over recent weeks and their religious art work is a beautiful reflection of their spiritual awareness and of their faith formation. On behalf of the whole school community we wish them all the very best for their special day and spiritual journey. We will see them dressed in their Communion clothes at the school on the 1st November, when they will be involved in leading the School Assembly that morning.
As he left he wished each class a happy and safe
Halloween!
Garda Nolan will be coming back to visit us again to talk about internet safety and
the role of a Garda.
We would all like to thank him for his time and we are looking forward to
seeing him again later on in the school year.
The Confirmation ceremony takes place 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.
Thank you to all of the children for their donations of €2 today for the school fundraiser and for bringing fun and good cheer to us all with their lovely costumes. Thank you to the wonderful PA for organising the designacard Christmas Cards for the school. The children created beautiful cards and we look forward to seeing the published packs of cards closer to Christmas. I would also like to thank a particular family for a very large donation recently, which will help enormously towards the procurement of ICT equipment for the children. Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
I wish to thank all involved with the PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy) Study in which Fifth Class took part over the past few weeks. This is a major international research study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) with Boston College and the Education Research Centre at DCU/St. Patrick’s College (ERC). PIRLS gathers information about reading skills and experiences of children in Fourth Class in over 60 countries. This study was due to take place in Spring 2021, but was subsequently postponed due to Covid-19 lockdowns until Autumn 2021. Thank you all for completing the Home Questionnaire/Early Learning Survey and returning them so quickly to the school. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. McCormack for coordinating the project so seamlessly and for all the extra hours of work that Ms. Burnham and Ms. Quinn also expended with the process. The children who took part in the assessment were very enthused by the experience, especially when they thought of how their efforts would help children in the future to improve their literacy skills.
May you all have a lovely rest over the mid-term break and enjoy your beautiful children. We are all very privileged here at the school to know them and to spend so much time in their company every week. They truly are blessings in all of our lives and make our days really worthwhile. We learn so much from them. We look forward to welcoming them all back on Monday week, 1st November, All Saints Day.
Warmest best wishes, Le gach dea-ghuí,
Ann Marie
Ann Marie Bourke
(Acting Principal)
