December 2016 Newsletter

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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