Upcoming School Closings:
Closed: Monday, October 31th – Friday, November 4th – Mid-term break.
Traffic Management / Safety:
Please familiarise yourself with new road markings in the set down area. Marking includes a new Zebra crossing at the entrance to the overflow car park, markings for school bus plus new road markings which splits the traffic going left and right on exit from the set down area.
We particularly ask you to be mindful of all children and pedestrians using the Zebra crossing points particularly at the very busy times at school opening and closing. At these busy times also we ask you to be conscious of drivers setting down or reversing from parking spaces. Your patience in this regard is appreciated. We remind you also that parents are not permitted to use the staff car park for set down and collection purposes or for entry and exit at opening and closing times.
CCTV in operation:
We wish to inform you that we have upgraded our school CCTV system both internally and externally to cover our new extensions and play areas.
We hope that this upgrade to our system will enhance the security of all our school community.
Supervised Homework Hour:
Accompanying this newsletter is an information sheet and application form for a proposed supervised homework hour for pupils from 2nd to 6th class due to commence in November 2016. If interested please complete the application form and return to class teacher before Wednesday, October 26th.
Halloween Dress up Day:
As is traditional to celebrate Halloween the children are being given the option of dressing up in their Halloween costume on Friday, October 28th. Children in Junior and Senior Infants may come to school dressed in costume while pupils in 1st – 6th class will get the opportunity to dress up at school.
Prizes will be given in each class grouping for the best costume with preference being given to costumes which are home-made. All pupils are asked to bring in €2 on the day which will be donated to Brú Columbanus which provides accommodation to relatives of patients in Cork hospital including the hospice and especially to relatives of sick children.
Erasmus +:
In 2012 – 14 St. John’s took part in a Comenius project entitled ‘Sharing Traditions Creating Unity’ with seven other European countries. In recent weeks we have received good news that we have been granted funding to take part in a new Erasmus project entitled ‘Euro Trading, Young Entrepreneurs on the move’.
We will be joined on the project by five of our original school partners from England, Germany, Spain, Poland and Greece. Pupils will begin working on the project in late November. Further detail on this project and others the school are currently involved in are available on our website at www.stjohnskenmare.ie
Cumann na mBunscoil:
Well done to the boys’ football team on their wins so far against Scoil Mhuire N.S. Killorglin and the Presentation Monastery N.S. Killarney. We wish them continued success in the remainder of the tournament.
MsReadathon:
Pupils in First and Fourth class are participating in the MsReadathon at present (October 8th – November 8th).
Children have sponsorship cards and all funds go to MS Ireland. Sponsorship cards and funds will be collected after mid-term break. Many thanks to all the children participating and also to parents and sponsors for all their support.
Dates for your Diary:
Confirmation will take place in Holy Cross Church, Kenmare on Wednesday, March 15th at 3.30p.m.
First Communion will take place on Saturday, May 6th at 10.30a.m. in Holy Cross Church, Kenmare.
Active Schools:
St. John’s N.S. are currently working on obtaining an Active Flag and becoming A Health Promoting School. Teachers from the school have recently attended workshops on what is involved in both these areas. The Active School Flag is awarded to schools who engage in a process of action planning and implementing projects in the school which encourage and develop physical activity in pupils and the school community. The Health Promoting Schools (HPS) Flag is presented by the HSE to schools as an acknowledgement of their work in improving the health of their school communities. The Health Promoting Schools programme supports schools to focus on health and wellbeing and involve all members of the school community.
Along with the regular physical activity such as P.E. classes, St. John’s N.S. offers a wide range of extra physical activity throughout the school year. Sports activities such as athletics, gymnastics and football are already up and running with all children doing very well. Spikeball will begin after Halloween with soccer and basketball beginning after Christmas. As part of being a Health Promoting School the children in the senior classes will partake in Mindfulness classes after Halloween. Pupils are encouraged to partake in physical activity during break times and internal competitions are run in a variety of activities. In the final school term the school will run an “Active School Week” during which we aim to show that physical activity is good for you but it is also fun and a great way to spend time with your friends. St. John’s also has strong links with a wide variety of local sporting community groups.
WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH ALL OUR PUPILS AND PARENTS A VERY HAPPY AND SAFE HALLOWEEN
Le gach dea ghuí,
Denis Courtney,
Principal & Staff.