Welcome to our January 2017 newsletter. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very happy New Year.

Titanic Centre Trip for P5 - P7 – The re-arranged Titanic Centre, Belfast trip for P5-P7 pupils will take place on Monday 16th January. The bus will leave at 8.30am sharp and return to school at approximately 3.15pm. School uniform should be worn. The Breakfast Club will open from 8.00am if you want your child to have breakfast (£1.00 for P5/P6/P7 children going on the trip). Children are welcome to bring with them spending money for the gift shop.

Choir Practice – Mrs D. Wilson will be out with the P5-P7 pupils on Monday 16th January. Therefore there will be no choir practice. Choir practice will resume on Monday 23rd January.

Visit by the Minister of Education – The Minister of Education for Northern Ireland, Mr Peter Weir MLA will be visiting Donaghey Primary School on Wednesday 18th January, 2.15pm – 3.15pm. He will be given a tour of the school, meeting with pupils and staff and he will also be involved in discussions with governors and parents from the DPA.

September 2017 P1 intake – Sixteen pupils have applied to be enrolled into P1 for September 2017. Although the official Department of Education closing date for applications has passed, we are still in a position to accept applications. If you know of

any parent who might be interested in enrolling their child at Donaghey Primary School,please encourage them to contact me. I will be writing to parents before the Easter break to update you on class arrangements for September 2017.

Donaghey Parents’ Association (DPA) news - Thank you to those parents who helped organise our movie night in December. It proved to be a very enjoyable evening. The next DPA meeting will take place on Thursday 2nd February at 8.00pm in the school staffroom. The focus for this meeting will be to arrange future events for terms two and three. I will be in a position to forward the DPA’s bank account balance after this meeting.

Eco News – The Eco Committee has arranged a Cash for Clobber collection to take place on Tuesday 24th January. Please leave any old clothing including shoes, bags, hats, belts, towels and bed linen in the mobile classroom from Monday 23rd January. All proceeds will go to school funds and there will be a prize for the class who brings in the most clobber.

The Eco Committee wish to remind everyone about the recycling point in the main corridor. There are bins to recycle old mobile phones, batteries and old used computer cartridges. Please help us reduce our waste by recycling as much as possible, helping to improve our environment.

January Birthdays - Happy Birthday to the following children:

Jacob Blower, Daniel Brodison, Daniel Kelso and Maddison Badger.

Fund Raising - Friends of Africa Missionary Endeavour (FAME) - £285.00 from parent donations and Save the Children from the Christmas postage service - £30.00.

Screens Before Bedtime Causes Sleep Disruption Reminder – You might remember last year I wrote to you how the use of ‘tablets’ and other electronic devices prior to going to bed can disrupt children’s sleep – indeed adults’ sleep. Small screens emit what is known as ‘blue light’ leading to sleep disruption because the blue light awakens the brain. Exciting games just before bedtime are not a good idea and current research is promoting a daily two hour maximum use of screens of any type for our children of primary school age. Electronic devices should be switched off at least an hour and a half before bedtime to give our mind time to relax and unwind and prepare for the physically vital time of sleep.

General News -

  • Don’t forget to forward unused P4-P7 reading books for our Accelerated Reader library Thank you to those parents and Mrs Hardy who came into school on Tuesday evening past to help organise books.
  • Transfer class preparation fees to be forwarded by Friday 20th January.
  • Please return Belfast Marathon entries to your child’s teacher for Monday 16th January.
  • Post-Primary transfer forms will be issued to parents on Friday 27th January.
  • Our Stars of the Month Assembly for January will take place on Friday 27th January, 1.10pm. Parents and friends of Donaghey Primary School are very welcome to come along. This will also be a non-uniform day – no theme. £1.00 per pupil with money going to the DPA.
  • The Scholastic Book Fair will take place in the school assembly hall from Monday 6th February to Wednesday 8th February. Pupils and parents will have the opportunity to purchase books during this time. There will be some musical entertainment as part of the fair on Tuesday afternoon. More details to follow.
  • The EA music tuition balance should be forwarded to your child’s teacher by Friday 20th January 2017.
  • Parent – teacher interviews will take place from Monday 20th February to Thursday 23rd February commencing at 1.30pm. All children will go home at 1.00pm on those days. More details to follow.
  • Extra-Curricular Activities – Zumba has commenced for P4 – P7 children (last session is Thursday 9th February). Tag rugby will commence after Zumba has concluded. Netball finishes on Wednesday 18th January. More details regarding after school football for P4-P7 children will be forwarded next week. After school tennis and hockey for P4-P7 children has been arranged for term 3. Furthermore after school tag rugby has been organised for P2-P7 children in term 3 (P2/P3 – 1.45pm – 2.45pm and P4 - P7 2.45pm – 3.45pm). More details to follow.

Thank you for all your support.

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