23
Jan 17
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Concern Primary Debating Competition Jan 2017

On Friday the 20^th January, St. Johns N.S. made their debut in the Concern Primary Debating Competition held in Tralee Education Centre. The team of six 6^th class pupils was captained by Jack Downing, with Clara McElligott and Grace Roberts-White also debating on the day. They were ably assisted by further team members Éabha Ó Connor, Mairéad McCarthy and Jack McDermott.

The motion being debated was ‘The school day should be made shorter’ and the opposition on the day was SN an Leana Mhor, Ballylongford. Our team of debaters were nervous ahead of their first ever formal debate, but they performed superbly on the day and their hard work paid off as they were crowned the winners after an excellent debate. They now go forward to the next round of the competition in a few weeks. Well done to all!

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20
Jan 17
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Lambs visit St. Johns Jan 2017

On Thursday, 19th January 2017, we had a lovely surprise visit from twin lambs Billy and Milly! The children were very excited to see the baby lambs who were only 10 days old. The lambs were very interested in the classrooms and went exploring. Some thought they might like to stay for the day and learn a few things!

A big thank you to Brian Gallivan for bringing the lambs to see us. It was a lovely treat for the children!

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20
Jan 17
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Gymnastics 2016/2017

We are very fortunate to have Danny Farkas and his very talented team coaching us for Gymnastics again this year. Gymnastics is a very important strand in our P.E. Curriculum and the children learned a variety of movements such as jumping, balancing, forward rolls, handstands and cartwheels as well as how to control and manage these movements. Gymnastics can help improve overall fitness, balance and body control as well as helping to improve focus and concentration, flexibility, co-ordination and social interaction.

We would like to thank Danny and his team for their hard work and their ability to make the sessions fun and exciting for the children. Gymnastics classes will still continue after school. Here are some pictures of our very talented students!

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22
Dec 16
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Carol Singing and Christmas Jumper Day 2016

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

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Christmas Jumper Day was held on Thursday, 22^nd 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!

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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!

21
Dec 16
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Santa visits St. Johns 2016

Tuesday the 20^th 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 25^th!

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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!

20
Dec 16
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Christmas Concerts 2016

On Friday, December 16^th, 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!

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13
Dec 16
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December 2016 Newsletter

Upcoming School Closures:

Closing: Thursday, December 22^ndfor Christmas Holidays at

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

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

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

Closed: Thursday, February 23^rd and Friday, February 24^th – 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 19^th in Bank of Ireland, Kenmare from 10.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m.

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

Wednesday, December 21^st 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 1^st and 4^th 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 20^th.

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:

1^st – U7 – Chloe Kidney – lst Class

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

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

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

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

Congratulations and well done to all our winners!

Christmas Concerts:

Christmas Concert items will be presented on this coming Friday, December 16^th 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 1^st and 2^nd classes.

Looking forward to welcoming you to the show!

Christmas Jumper Day:

Thursday, December 22^nd 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 22^nd.

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

10
Dec 16
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All Ireland Minor Cups visit St. Johns

Friday 9^th 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!

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30
Nov 16
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Protecting Our Children in the Digital Age

Accessibility to the Internet is much more freely available to children in modern times. In order to make parents aware of the potential dangers and appropriate security measures to take in order to protect our young people, our Parent’s Association kindly organised and part-funded a talk for parents on November 28^th by Jason O’Mahony from ‘Children of the Digital Age’. The presentation was a great success with nearly 50 parents in attendance and explored the world of the online predator and the harm that it can cause. An internet safety input was also given to pupils from 1^st to 4^th class which highlighted the importance of their Digital Footprint and putting personal information on the internet as well as an awareness of online games, social media and cyberbullying. Children were encouraged to sign an internet pledge and they took home the code to discuss with their parents. We received a lot of positive feedback on the talks and we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those involved. For more information and advice please click here http://childrenofthedigitalage.com

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25
Nov 16
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Erasmus+ Project November 2016

Euro Trading, Young Entrepreneurs on the move

The EU funded Erasmus+ Project entitled ‘Euro Trading, Young Entrepreneurs on the Move’ is a two year programme from 2016 to 2018 which recently got underway in St. John’s when the Principal and two of our teachers travelled to Immingham in England for a transitional meeting to organise the next two years and to meet other project members from the five partner schools – England, Germany, Poland, Greece and Spain.

They were met by the Mayor of Immingham, Councillor Stewart Swinburn and the Mayoress Karen Swinburn at Coomb Briggs Primary School in Immingham where the teachers exchanged good practice and discussed similar projects from their own towns for example the Tidy Towns Project. The visit was a great success and a great opportunity for teachers to exchange ideas. They were very impressed with the town, the school and its facilities and the quality of teaching and learning and brought back stories and pictures to share with the school.