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Clinstown N.S. December Newsletter 2017
Green School Amber Flag School Junior Entrepreneur School Digital School of Distinction
Football and Hurling
Congratulations to the girl’s football team who had a fantastic win over Freshford in the final of the Roinn D schools football league. They had been knocking on the door for the past few season and produced a magnificent performance in the final to finally get over the line. Well done to all the players and management team for their commitment during the year.
Hurling will startthe end of January and is available for children from 3rd to 6th class. If your child is interested in hurling for the schools’ team please contact Mr. Dermody or Mr. Kinsella.
Christmas Cookbook
This year we produced a cookbook from the senior room. The children researched all the recipes from their parents/grandparents, they typed and edited all the pages, illustrated all the pages and sent it for print. It was a great effort and tied in with procedural writing in English. All profits from selling the cookbook are going to the local St. Vincent de Paul.
Christmas Show
The Christmas show took place in Conahy Church on Wednesday 20thDecember. We had a nativity play, a tin whistle performance and an original piece where children acted out their Christmas memories from the point of view of the toy or object in the memory. There are pictures of the evening on the school Facebook page @clinstownns. Thanks to everyone involved for putting in such a huge effort on making the evening so special.
Maths
We are continuing to implement our school improvement plan for maths. As part of that we are completing station teaching every week. This has a particular focus on the measure strand. In January we will be studying Money.
“20 Minutes or 20 Pages” Reading Initiative
Our reading initiative is still up and running. Well done to all who are participating in it. We will be giving out certificates and prizes to everyone who read for 20 minutes or read 20 pages every day from Halloween to Christmas (holidays and weekends included!!)
English
All children in our school are focusing on PersuasiveWriting for January. We are also focusing on Making Connections as the main comprehension strategy for Januarythis year. Senior Infants, 1st class and 2nd class are using the literacy lift off programme whilethe senior room are using a graded reading scheme.
Aistear
We are implementing the Aistear programme in the junior room. In January we will be looking at the story of Elmer which is about being unique, and celebrating everyone’s individuality. Details on the Aistear programme can be found at ncca.ie
Castlecomer Discovery Park
In November this year we visited Castlecomer Discovery Park as part of our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) initiative in the school. We took part in the coal mining experience and did the maths trail. It was a very educational and enjoyable experience.
Debating
We have taken part in two debates already this year with the children performing very well in both debates. Our first debate proposing the motion that schools should be closed because of Hurricane Ophelia and for our second debate we were opposing the motion that live animals should be prohibited in the circus. Debating is a very worthwhile activity and the children have been very persuasive and confident in the delivery of their arguments.
Credit Union
The Credit Union is run in the school every Friday morning. Children bring in their money and lodge it into their accounts. We are delighted to have so many children saving! A special thanks to Gemma, Breda and Brigid for volunteering their time to run the Credit Union. For information on joining the Credit Union please call into the school on any Friday morning.
Zumba
Thanks to Rachel Dunne for visiting our school to teach Zumba dancing to the children for 6 weeks after Halloween. We had a Christmas Show in the school this week where the children showed off their dance moves. It was a very enjoyable occasion.
Swimming
Swimming starts after Christmas and takes place in the Watershed in Kilkenny from 12.15 pm to 1.00pm every Friday. The bus will leave the school at 11.30 am for swimming. Those travelling by car need to be collected before this time. Please remember to keep the lay by area clear at all times for buses.
Team Hope Shoebox Appeal
Well done to all the parents and children who contributed to the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox appeal. We gave 77 shoeboxes this year which is an amazing show of generosity from the families in our school. Well done to all!!
Board of Management
At our latest Board of Management meeting our Code of Behaviour was reviewed and ratified by the board. We also updated our whole school plan for History, Geography and Science. The board would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff in the school for providing such great opportunities for the children in St. Joseph’s N.S.. The board would also like to thank all the parents for their continued support for the school and to wish the whole school community a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.
Santa Visit
We were delighted to welcome Santa to our school on Friday. We sang some Christmas songs for him and he stayed for a picture with every class. We raised over €200 for Temple Street Hospital in the process so well done to everybody for their support!!
Enrolment
We are now accepting enrolments for September 2018.
Parents Association News
The Parents Association would like to thank all those who supported the very successful school raffle. We look forward to a very prosperous 2018.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish everybody a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas and to thank everybody involved in the school for all their help and support during the year. It really helped in making 2017 such a successful year for our school and is much appreciated.
John Dermody (Principal)
St. Joseph’s National School (18607 O) Clinstown, Jenkinstown, Co. KilkennyPhone: 056 7767490
Email:website: clinstownns.com twitter: @clinstownnsFacebook: @clinstownns