June 2018 Newsletter

NEWSLETTER – JUNE 2018

UPCOMING SCHOOL CLOSING

Closing for Summer Holidays:                     Thursday, June 28^th at 12 noon.

School re-opening:                                       Thursday, August 30^th at 9.20a.m.

Calendar for School year 2018/19 accompanying this Newsletter.      

CLASS GROUPINGS 2018/2019

The sixteen class groupings and teacher for 2018/19 are as follows:

Class 1        Junior Infants                –        Mr. Tadhg Morley

Class 2        Junior Infants                –        Ms. Cashman

Class 3        Senior Infants                –        Mrs. Cremin

Class 4        Senior Infants                –        Ms.  Doyle

Class 5        First Class                     –        Ms. O’Neill

Class 6        First Class                     –        Ms. O’Connor

Class 7        Second Class                 –        Ms. Downing

Class 8        Second Class                 –        Ms. O’Dwyer

Class 9        Third Class                    –        Mrs. O’Connell

Class 10      Third Class                    –        Ms. Laffey

Class 11      Fourth Class                  –        Ms. Healy

Class 12      Fourth Class                  –        Ms. Spillane

Class 13      Fifth Class                     –        Mr. O’Sullivan

Class 14      Fifth Class                     –        Mrs. Lucey

Class 15      Sixth Class                    –        Mr. Hussey

Class 16      Sixth Class                    –        Mr. Devane

REPORT CARDS

Parents will shortly be receiving a Report Card giving details of their child’s progress during the school year 2017/18.

BOOK LISTS/RENTAL SCHEME

Following a lot of work and planning a comprehensive Book Rental Scheme is now operating in St John’s N.S. and a large number of books are available for rent.

Each book can be rented for €3 – €5 per year and is then returned to the school at the end of the school year in June. We encourage you to participate in this Rental Scheme as it will serve to reduce the overall back to school costs. You will have received your child /children’s Booklist for the school year 2018/19 during the past few days. Class Booklists will also be available on our website www.stjohnskenmare.ie Once you have decided on books you wish to rent please put all Book Rental Money in an envelope marked “Book Rental” and give to class teacher.

Please include name of child and books you wish to rent.

Please note lost or damaged rented books or library books will incur a fee.

ARTS / CRAFTS / PHOTOCOPYING / INSURANCE

The school fee for Arts, Crafts, Photocopying and Insurance will be collected by the class teacher in September.   

A family fee structure is in place and charges of €25 for 1 pupil, €40 for families with 2 pupils, €55 for families with 3 pupils and €65 for families with 4 or more pupils.

UNIFORM  

By now all the uniform order forms are being processed and will be available for you to collect on distribution day Thursday, August 16^th  and Friday, August 17th from 12.00 noon – 5.00p.m. in Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine.

Please note shirts, trousers, skirts and pinafores are now available in the main department stores at competitive prices.

Please be conscious of our Uniform Policy when purchasing school footwear during the summer period.  On designated P.E. days, pupils are allowed to wear their school tracksuit and regular runners.

On all other school days, pupils are expected to wear their full school uniform with black/dark footwear.  We kindly ask you to respect this policy in the interest of uniformity and an effort to minimise competitiveness in relation to coloured/ designer sports footwear. As the majority of schools operate this policy Department Stores are offering competitive prices on regular school and sports footwear.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Congratulations to teachers, Fiona O’Mahony, Grace Healy, Joanne Cashman and Mona Cremin on the birth of their new babies during the school year 2017/18.

SUMMER CAMP

St. John’s N.S. Summer Camp runs from 2^nd to 6^th July 2018 catering for pupils from

2^nd – 6^th class. Activities include Basketball, Badminton, Boules, Futsal Soccer, Tennis, Pitch and Putt, Rounders, Rugby, Spike ball, Table Tennis, Cycling, Orienteering, Arts and Crafts and Science Activities.

The cost is €60 per week. Reductions for families.

Application forms available from the school with further information on Facebook page: St John’s Summer Camp.

ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME

We are currently coming to the end of our two year Erasmus+ Project entitled ‘Euro Trading, Young Entrepreneurs on the Move’.  The project was a great success and upskilled our students in the areas of entrepreneurship and creativity.  Throughout the two years, the children were given the opportunity to travel to our five partner countries, Spain, Greece, Germany, England and Poland as well as forming Pen Pal relationships with children of these Nationalities.  They also came to visit St. John’s National School in March where we taught them about our customs and traditions.  We were proud to show off the beautiful landscape of Kenmare as well as showcasing performances from our many talented students at our school concert.

As the Project comes to a close, we reflect upon the many positive skills that we learned throughout the Programme.  Our pupils developed creative skills and entrepreneurial abilities as well as learning how to research, discuss, negotiate and make decisions.  ICT Skills were enhanced and opportunities for communication between partner countries was encouraged.  Life long friendships were made while learning first hand what is involved in setting up and running a business.

The project was a great success thanks to our wonderful students, helpful parents and supportive Community.

DISCOVERY PRIMARY SCIENCE AND MATHS

St. John’s N.S. has been awarded the Discovery Primary Science and Maths Award of (STEM) Excellence 2018.  Pupils in each class engaged in STEM activities and workshops throughout the year, which contributed to the improvement of skills including critical thinking, analyzing, estimating, measuring, fair testing and recording.  This is a great achievement for our school.  Congratulations to all!

WEBSITE / FACEBOOK PAGE

We hope that we have been keeping you well updated with happenings in St. John’s N.S. on our new look website and Facebook page.  Keep an eye especially on our recent events section which give details of events as they happen including photos.  A special word of thanks to our website coordinator, Roisín O’Sullivan for all her hard work in recording and uploading all the information and photos.

PARENTS ASSOCIATION

The Parents Association would like to thank all the parents who so kindly donated toys and books to the school.  These items were very appreciated and will be of huge benefit to the school for our wet day playboxes and our school libraries.

TEXT-a-PARENT

We would appreciate if any new or changed numbers are forwarded to the school for ‘text-a-parent’ purposes.

Best wishes to the 42 – 6^th Class girls and boys who are leaving us.

On behalf of all the Staff, I wish you all a safe, healthy and enjoyable summer.

Thank you all once again for your help and co-operation.

Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.

Denis Courtney,

Principal & Staff.