Monthly Archives: December 2016

  • -

Carol Singing and Christmas Jumper Day 2016

3rd to 6th Classes performed a medley of Christmas favourites on the week of the holidays in a variety of venues.  On Monday 19th they visited the Bank of Ireland, Tuesday 20th they performed in Supervalu and Wednesday the 21st they appeared in Allied Irish Bank, Kenmare. 

All proceeds collected are to be donated to Cork Simon Community which works in solidarity with men and women who are homeless in Cork, offering housing and support in their journey back to independent living. 

Our carolers also performed for Kenmare Community Hospital and got everyone into the Christmas spirit! 

Christmas Jumper Day was held on Thursday, 22nd December when, instead of uniform jumpers, children dressed up in their Christmas finest.  We had Snowmen, Santas and Reindeer all day as the school was transformed into a colourful array of Christmas cheer!  All money raised will be donated to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.  Thank you for your support!

And finally, on behalf of all the staff and pupils of St. John’s National School, we would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year!  See you all in 2017!


  • -

Santa visits St. Johns 2016

Tuesday the 20th was a very exciting day in St Johns when we got a visit from the one and only Santa Claus!  The children waited in anticipation for Santa and sang Christmas songs pending his arrival!  Santa was as jolly as ever and his elves gave sweets to all the children.  We would like to thank the Parents Association for organising Santa’s visit and of course a big thank you to Santa Claus for calling to see us during his busy schedule!  It was a lovely treat as the children wait eagerly for the 25th!

We would like to take this opportunity also to thank all those who purchased Christmas cards from the school.  It allowed us to raise a total of €1137 which will contribute towards the new Autism playground and Sensory Garden at St. Johns.  A huge thank you to Lorraine McCloskey and Mary Murphy from the Parent’s Association who accepted the cheque along with Mr. Denis Courtney, Principal and Santa Claus.  Well done to the committee and all involved!


  • -

Christmas Concerts 2016

On Friday, December 16th, pupils from Junior Infants to Second Class performed a range of Christmas Concerts for their families.  The children have been practicing for weeks and put on great performances.  All their hard work paid off and all shows were a great success. 

Well done to all the pupils and their teachers for the hard work and dedication that went into the shows.  They had great fun performing!


  • -

December 2016 Newsletter

December 2016 Newsletter

Upcoming School Closures:

Closing:  Thursday, December 22nd for Christmas Holidays at

11.45 a.m. for Infant pupils and 12 noon for pupils from 1st to 6th Class.

Re-opening:  Monday, January 9th 2017 at 9.20 a.m.

Closed: Monday, February 6th for Teacher In-service – Primary Language Curriculum.

Closed:  Thursday, February 23rd and Friday, February 24th – Midterm break.

Carol Singing:

Please support Carol singers from St. John’s N.S. who will perform a medley of Christmas  favourites  on Monday, December 19th  in Bank of Ireland, Kenmare from 10.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

Tuesday, December 20th in SuperValu, Kenmare from 1.00 p.m. – 2.30 p.m.

Wednesday, December 21st in Allied Irish Bank, Kenmare from 10.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

All proceeds collected will be donated to Cork Simon Community.

Carol singing entertainment will also be provided for Kenmare Community Hospital during next week.

Setanta Book Club:

Sincere thanks to all parents who purchased books from Setanta book club. By buying the books, not only have you assisted us in promoting reading in the school we also have received book rewards to the value of €326.  

Books purchased with these vouchers have stocked a class library.

Many thanks again and Happy Reading.

M.S. Readathon:

Well done to all our pupils in 1st and 4th classes who took part in the recent M.S. Readathon. The final amount collected was €1,765 and 10% of this is retained by the school and will go towards funding of class reading resources.

This was an exceptional amount in view of the present financial climate. Many thanks to all! Pupils who collected money will be receiving prizes in the near future and the school will also be entered for prizes in a nationwide draw. Many thanks to school co-ordinator Evelyn Curtis, to everyone who contributed money and, of course, to the pupils for reading hundreds of books. This has its own benefits and we hope that the reading will continue into the future. We encourage you, your friends and relatives to give books as presents this Christmas.

Parents Association:

The Parents Association are currently distributing pupil designed Christmas Cards which they have organised throughout the school.

Well done on all the hard work to the committee.

The Parents Association have also organised for Santa to visit all our classrooms on Tuesday, December 20th.

During 2017 the Association have plans to hold a Table Quiz in January and a Fun Walk / Run in March.

All fundraising this year will contribute to the new Autism playground and Sensory Garden.

Autism Playground and Sensory Garden:

St. John’s N.S. is in the process of making an application to the Department of Education for funding to develop an all-weather Autism playground and sensory garden.  As the overall aim of our autism facility is to integrate the pupils into mainstream as much as possible, this proposed playground and garden will give all pupils the opportunity to use the facility and benefit from it.  Further information on this new and exciting project will be available in the New Year.

Credit Union Poster Competition: 

Well done to all our pupils who participated in the Credit Union Poster Competition.  Entries this year were of a very high standard and the following pupils from St. John’s N.S. were prize winners:

1st – U7 – Chloe Kidney – lst Class

2nd – U7 – Lillian O’Sullivan – 1st Class

2nd – 8/10 years – Oriana Pautrel – 4th Class

3rd – 8/10 years – Dora Chen – 3rd Class

3rd – 11/13 years – Daniel O’Reilly – 6th Class

Congratulations and well done to all our winners!

Christmas Concerts:

Christmas Concert items will be presented on this coming Friday, December 16th in St. John’s N.S.

10.00 a.m. – Performance from pupils of Junior and Senior Infants.

11.15 a.m. – Performance from pupils of 1st and 2nd classes.

Looking forward to welcoming you to the show!

Christmas Jumper Day:

Thursday, December 22nd is designated as Non-uniform Day when instead of uniform pupils can wear a Christmas Jumper, T-shirt or Christmas colours.  By wearing your festive wear to school you can help sick children in Our Lady’s’ Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, so please support this worthy cause by giving €2 to class teacher on December 22nd.

On behalf of all the staff and pupils of St. John’s N.S. we would like to wish you a Happy, Holy and Peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Many thanks for your co-operation during 2016.                                      

Denis Courtney,

Principal & Staff           

                                                                               

 

 

 

 

 


  • -

All Ireland Minor Cups visit St. Johns

Friday 9th of December was a very exciting day in St. Johns when we had a visit from four Kerry Minor players and the Minor Cups!  Seán O’Sheá, Kerry Minor football captain and Kerry Minor hurlers Christopher Creedon, Gearóid Fennessy and Michéal McCarthy were accompanied by Andy O’Sullivan, Chairperson of Kenmare Shamrocks.  They were greeted on arrival by Seán O’Sullivan and Andrew Doheny, pupils at St. Johns.  They brought with them the Tommy Markham All Ireland Football Cup, the Peadar O’Liathain All Ireland Minor B Cup and the Kerry Coiste na nÓg Club of the year.  We were delighted to hear all about the wins and hope we will have a few pupils joining them in a few years!  Well done to both teams and their wonderful achievements and a big thank you for sharing the success with us!