The First Daffodils Are in Bloom in the School Courtyard and Birds Are Checking out The

FEBRUARY 2017

The first daffodils are in bloom in the school courtyard and birds are checking out the nesting boxes. ‘Spring has sprung’ and the school is a busy hive of activities.

Wonderful World of Nature

The ‘Wonderful World of Nature’ is a ‘whole school’ display and once again the pupils have produced fantastic artwork and 3D models of wildlife habitats and experiments. The creativity of each individual project is fantastic.

Thank you to parents for their help in researching project ideas and helping pupils with their projects. Do call in and visit our ‘Wonderful World of Nature’ in the front hall of the school.

Doodle4Google

Congratulations to D. R. 6th Class on being selected as a semi-finalist in this years Doodle4Google competition.

Primary School Debate

The debating team continues to go from strength to strength with their recent win in St. Patrick’s N.S. Lurgybrack. The final school debate for this school year will be hosted by our school. We look forward to welcoming our neighbouring school Letterkenny Educate Together N.S. on Thursday 6th April. Well done to Ms McMullan and MrsMcArt for all their good work with the team.

Debate News

On Thursday, 2ndFebruary, 2017, 6th Class pupils travelled to St.Patrick's N.S. Lurgybrack where a very topical debate was held.
St.Patrick'sLurgybrack proposed the motion, arguing the harmful effects of the internet on young people's lives, the inaccurate information that can be found online and the amount of time people actually spend on the internet.
Ballyraine N.S. argued that there is a wealth of information to be found online, the convenience of online college courses and the advantages of the internet when setting up new businesses.
Both teams put forward very strong, persuasive arguments. The result could have gone either way but after a lengthy deliberation, the pupils from Ballyraine N.S. were declared the winners.

Ms McMullan (6th Class)

Wellington Boots

Our ‘School Farm’ helpers have been doing great work looking after the hens this term. There are a lot of wellington boots in the store room which pupils have brought into school during their week on the school farm rota. Despite some gentle reminders, the number of ‘unclaimed’ wellington boots in the store continues to grow! If your child is involved with the Farm Project, please check if they have forgotton to take their wellington boots home at the end of their week on the duty rota.

School Enrolment

The Board of Management ratified our revised Enrolment Policy on 18th October 2016. There are a number of key changes in the new policy document.

• Parents seeking enrolment for their child must complete Stage 1. Notification of ‘Intention toEnrol’ form. This form is available in the school office and on the school website This form can be completed and forwarded to the school any time from birth onwards or when seeking an enrolment throughout the school year.
• Completed forms should be returned no later than the end of September prior to the year ofproposed enrolment.
• All applicants for Junior Infants class must be 4 by the 1st day of May in the year of admission.

It is very important that all parents who had previously contacted the school before the revised enrolment process was introduced should now complete a ‘Notification of Intention to Enrol’ form.

Our enrolment process for September 2017 is now complete. However if you know of any family member or friend seeking enrolment for their child please ask them to contact the school for relevant forms.

Garda Vetting

We are currently updating our list of parent helpers in the school. Parent helpers come into school to help with special events, school tours and ‘After School’ clubs.

Would you like to join our ‘Parent Helper’ list?

If you are available to help, please contact the school office for an ‘Invitation for Garda Vetting’ form. All completed forms will be forwarded to ‘Church of Ireland House’ who will then send out an ‘online’ vetting form for completion. We would encourage parents to apply for Garda vetting to ensur we have additional helpers for our school tours in Term 3.

Credit Union Quiz 2017

On Monday, 30thJanuary, 2017, some pupils from 6thClass entered the annual Credit Union Quiz. Prior to the quiz, Miss McMullan did several quizzes in class with us to help us on the night. It was held in The Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny at8pm. Our teacher entered four teams this year. Sixty nine teams entered the quiz in total (276 children). There were two categories, u-11 and u-13. All of our class were in the u-13 category. Our table number was 17. There were twelve rounds of questions, six questions in each round. My team was made up of L., P., E. and I. Some of the questions were quite difficult and some of the questions were easy. The quiz lasted for about two hours. One of the teams from Kilmacrennan N.S. got the highest score in the u-13 category. They received 60 points! Although we didn’t win anything on the night, I still really enjoyed taking part!

S. M.

Míle Buíochas!

Thank you for you very generous support this year for our various ‘Charity’ collections. So far this year we have ……

• Collected shoeboxes for the Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal.
• Raised €375 for Crumlin Childrens Hospital ‘Christmas Jumper’ appeal.
• Raised €400 with the School Choir carol singing for Letterkenny St. Vincent de Paul.
• Supported Letterkenny Food Bank.

Ballyraine N.S. Choir

I have loved being a part of our school choir! When I was in 2ndClass, Mr Oliver asked me to sing at a few events. I wasn’t a part of the choir then but I still got the opportunity to perform. I officially joined the junior choir in 3rdClass with the rest of my classmates. We were very new to the choir so I was quite nervous about singing in front of a crowd of people. But I soon got used to it and have now become part of the senior choir.

We attend numerous events each year, especially around Christmas time. We have sung at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Donegal Hospice, Letterkenny Shopping Centre, Artisan Market and the Leavers’ Ceremony for 6thClass.

Being a part of the choir here in school is a fantastic thing! It has been really enjoyable and rewarding. I love being able to perform in front of people and to make them smile!

This year, we raised €400 for St. Vincent de Paul after singing for one hour in the shopping centre. What an achievement!

We’ve had a very busy year so far and I hope that we will get a chance to launch our choir CD before I leave for secondary school.

K. M.

New Pupils Fáilte

We have welcomed a number of new pupils to our school recently from Egypt and Croatia. It is always a rewarding experience to welcome new children to our constantly growing multi-cultural tapestry and global village in Ballyraine N.S. ‘Dobrodosli’ and ‘ahlan wa sahlan’ to our new pupils.

Parent Contributions

Parents are reminded that the Parent Contribution €60 is now due for payment.

Thankyou to all the parents who have already sent their Parent Contribution to the school office.

Sporting Achievements

A number of pupils have enjoyed sporting success recently:

Well done to S. A., 6th Class who won ‘U14Player of the Year’ with Bonagee United. Also well done I. M. who was awarded U12 Most Improved Player at Bonagee United and C. L., I. and Z. M. who won the 2016 Community Shield.

Congratulation s to C. R. 5th Class who won a silver medal in the U12 100m relay team at the Northern Ireland and Ulster Championship.

Art Competition

A big ‘well done’ to M. R., 1st Class who was a winner in the ‘Guide Dogs for the Blind’ National Art Competition. M. won her own ‘bag of goodies’ including a lovely ‘Guide Dog for the Blind’ mascot. Well done M.!

Stress Control

Bill Vaughan who was last year’s facilitator with the ‘Roots of Empathy’ programme in 3rd Class is currently facilitating ‘Stress Control’ classes in Letterkenny Rugby Club on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm (Men Only) and Letterkenny Public Services Office, Neil T Blaney Road on Thursdays at 5.30pm.

Topics include controlling your thoughts, What is stress? Getting a good night’s sleep and Controlling panic feelings.

Transfer to Secondary School

5th and 6th Class have been busy this term visiting secondary schools in their locality. During their visits, the pupils have been invited to visit classrooms, take part in different subject activities and to meet some new teachers. In addition to the excellent ‘Open Day’ activities, school principals and Home/School liason teachers have visited 6th Class to provide information to the pupils and to answer the long list of questions about life in secondary school.

We are very grateful to all these schools who have invested a lot of time and energy to ensure that our pupils enjoy a positive transition to secondary school in September.

The Royal & Prior Comprehensive School Open Day

On Friday, 20thJanuary, 2017, The Royal & Prior Comprehensive School in Raphoe held their annual open day. Both parents and children could attend.

When I arrived at the school, it was nearly11:00a.m.When we walked into the school, we realised that a tour was about to start so we joined some other children and their parents. Two girls showed us around. They were transition year students.

The first class we visited was English. While there, we talked about ourselves and the teacher discussed topics that she covers in 1styear. Next, we went to Religion class. The teacher was very friendly and told us about herself. After that, we seen the new computer room – it was amazing!

Then, the girls led us to a room with a projector – this is where all the talks and presentations are held. Following this, we listened to a girl play the piano in the Music room.

The girls showed us the lockers and explained a bit about them but we are well used to these now as we have them in 6thClass.

During our visit to the Science room, we watched students carry out a few experiments and I held a lamb’s heart (with gloves on of course!)

When we visited the Home Economics room, I saw a past pupil from Ballyraine N.S, E R.

Before the day ended, we also visited the Woodwork, Metalwork and Computer Graphics rooms.

While there, I had a snack in the canteen, a rice crispy brownie – it was delicious!

After the open day had finished, I went to Derry and got home around6:00p.m.ThatFridaywas lots of fun but very busy!

P A

Loreto Community School Milford Holds Open Night

On Tuesday, 31stJanuary, it was the open night of Loreto Community School, Milford. Everyone assembled at the reception. We were separated into groups of ten or twelve. J, A and I were in the same group. The first room we visited was the Spanish room. We were tested on our Spanish vocabulary. We managed to get them right! This was followed by French. Once again, we were tested on the vocabulary. The next room was Business. We were tested on our knowledge of logos. Our team got seventeen out of twenty. The final room on the tour was the library. We got the opportunity to create a lego figure. There were some fantastic ideas and books in there! After the tour, J, A and I met up with A.M. and explored. First, we went to the gym/games hall and played some ping pong. After that, we went to see J.’s Dad in TG (Technical Graphics). A student there had just finished his project. He made a logo for his company. Then, we went to the metalwork and woodwork room. The last rooms we visited were the Music and Art rooms.

I am particularly interested in this school because it has all of my favourite things: soccer, gaelic, musicals, social clubs and acoustic guitar lessons. That is why I have chosen to go to Loreto Milford.

O.McG.

Operation Transformation ‘10@10’

There was no standing still last Friday at 10.00am! There were ‘Go Noodle’ Dances, Keep Fit Exercise routines and Road Race round the school. It was all part of our ‘Health Promoting School’ programme linked to RTE’s ‘Operation Transformation’.

Don’t forget: Ballyraine N.S. 5K Thursday 8th June @ 7.30p.m.

Farewell

We say thank you and farewell to Rev. Stewart Wright as he retires from Conwal Parish. Rev. Wright has served on the Board of Management and has been a frequent visitor at many of our school events over the years. Stewart also helped with school assemblies beginning with his familiar ‘G’day mates’ and ending with the loudest ‘Amen’ the children could manage!

Rev. Wright was always encouraging staff and pupils to support ‘Fair Trade’ and he also set up a ‘Fair Trade’ shop in our staff room. The children always looked forward to Rev Wright’s visits and particularly the ‘wee chats’ on their way out of assembly.

The staff and pupils would like to say a big ‘thank you’ to Rev. Wright and to wish him health and happiness in his retirement.

We also say farewell to Mr Christy Murray who has taught tin whistle in Ballyraine N.S. for the past 14 years. The pupils enjoyed learning new tunes and Christy’s enthusiasm and love of music ensured that the pupils experienced a wide range of musical instruments during music lessons.

We wish Christy well with his continued music projects and thank him for his dedication to music classes in our school over the past 14 years.

Opportunity Knocks!

Congratulations to A. M. and O. McG. who were successful in their recent auditions for ‘Opportunity Knocks’ Talent competition in Donegal Town.

Both A. and O. will take part in this week’s round of the competition. ‘Opportunity Knocks’ will take place in the Central Hotel, Donegal Town on Saturday 18th February at 8pm.

O. and A. would really appreciate your support on the night so Donegal Town is the place to be this weekend! Good luck O. and A.

'Coding' Class

We (4th Class) went to the LYIT to take part in an ‘Hour of Code’. There werehundreds of games to play and choose from, including Minecraft, Star Wars and Flappy Bird. I only played Minecraft because I really enjoy playing it. Some of the levels were hard. When I got used to it, the levels became easier to solve. We input instructions in order to solve the maze and move on to the next level. I wish we could go back. The whole class really enjoyed it.

T. O S.

Farming Video

4th Class entered a competition on the topic of 'The Science of Farming'. Farmer Fantastic had a dream and travelled around our schoolgrounds, meeting talking carrots, flowers, scarecrows and hens. It also starred three enthusiastic green team members, a new principal, two cool teachers, and of course, our own Farmer Fantastic. We had the craziest time but it was really fun!!

E. R. and O..S

Note: We are hoping to put the video on our school website in the near future so stay tuned and enjoy watching the hard work all pupils in 4th class put in.

Discover Science Programme:

All classes have been really busy in terms of carrying out lessons for our Discover Science and Maths programme. 4th Class are currently working hard preparing for the annual Science Fair, with lots of cool experiments on show. Junior Infants went on a maths trail around the school, accompanied by 4th class pupils. Both classes really enjoyed working together. In the coming weeks, 3rd class will visit a fun interactive Science/Engineering Show in LYIT entitled 'It's All Done with Mirrors'. A local engineer will visit 4th class, while 6th class will be making a trip to Glenveagh National Park. A busy few weeks ahead, which will undoubtedly prove enjoyable for all involved.

Some News from 2nd Class

We have been very busy in 2nd Class since the New Year. We have been learning about electricity in Science, doing hurling in PE, singing Bird songs in Music and had a great pottery lesson in Art. My favourite was when we got free time on the computers. My favourite website is called friv. The two games that I like playing are ‘Bad Ice creams’ and ‘Spy car’.

J. A.

My favourite thing was making my hair messy. I used a balloon to do it. We were doing a Science experiment on static electricity.

B. H.

My favourite was playing hurley. I like hurley because it makes you fit and it is fun and exciting.

H. P.

My favourite was the pottery lesson. It was great fun because our hands got very messy.

Z. L.

Games from the Past

Last month in first class we were learning about games from the past in our history lessons. As part of this parents and grandparents were invited to come into the school and teach the children a game they used to play. We had a great response and the children learned how to play polo, 1,2,3, Red Lights, tiddly winks, Chinese jump rope, chain tag, a Chinese throwing game, a game using string and doctors and nurses. The children had a super day and had lots of fun learning the games. We would like to thank all the parents and grandparents involved who took time to come in and join us.

Dates for your Diary

Term 2