May 2017 Newsletter

Dear Parent/Guardian,
I want to bring the following items to your attention in this May Newsletter:
School News and Achievements
First Holy Communion: Congratulations to the children in Ms. Behan and Mr. Griffins class who received
the sacrament of First Holy Communion on Saturday last and many thanks to all the staff who helped with
the ceremony. Thanks to Fr. Tom and our excellent choir and musicians who helped to make the ceremony a
holy and meaningful occasion for the Communion class and their families and friends.
Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP): 5th class took part in the JEP this year. Their business venture was
Easter baskets and the sales were a big success. The programme concluded with a function in the West
County hotel on April 25th, where they presented their business venture and they were highly commended
for their fantastic work.
Donation of Musical Instruments: Councillor Mary Howard donated musical instruments to our school
band which she sourced from students in Coliste Muire and Rice College. To mark this presentation of
instruments the school band performed a special concert for Councillor Howard and invited guests.
Hurling, Camogie & Gaelic Football: We recently had visits from the two local GAA clubs, Banner GAA
and ire g. They take boys and girls from Under 6 upwards and we encourage as many children as possible
to attend either of these excellent clubs. The main contact for Banner GAA is John Casey (087 2785876) and
for ire g please see www.facebook.com/eireog-inisgaa. We have a great tradition of Gaelic Games in our
school and one of our past pupils David Reidy is a having a great season with the Clare Hurlers.

Split the Pot Fundraiser

Our weekly Split the Pot draw continues for 2 more weeks until Thursday June 1st. Each week we also give out a
second prize of 20 to a pupil. For our final draw on June 1st we will have lots of extra prizes. The draw has been a
fantastic success. Good luck!

Skipaton Fundraiser
The Skipaton is a very popular event each year in our school and it will be taking place on June 8th. Mr Griffin will
be sending home letters this week about the Skipaton, which will be a fun, healthy and active fundraiser for our
school. The skipaton is always an enjoyable day for the children and they are asked to sell lines on their sponsorship
card before June 8th. Please try and sell as many lines as you can on your Skipaton card. All monies raised will be
going towards our new school project.
Our Parents Association are holding a cake sale during the day of the Skipathon on June 8th. Please see letter
attached about the Cake Sale and hopefully you can support.

Attendance and arriving at school on time

So far this year we have an excellent average attendance of 94.2 % across the whole school. Children who have
full attendance for this Term (April 24th to June 30th) will receive a special prize at our final Assembly in June. Also
at our end of year Assembly we will be presenting Trophies, Gold and Silver medals for pupils that have missed no
day, 1 day or 2 days in the whole school year.

We are going into the final term of school now and I remind all parents that the children must be in school on time
for the 9.00 a.m. bell. We dont want the children to be missing out on important school work which starts every
morning at 9.00. Also the children in Junior and Senior Infants must be collected at 1.40 p.m. and the rest of the
school children must be collected at 2.40 p.m. sharp.

Internet Safety Talk for Parents

Dr. Maureen Griffin, who is a former past pupil of our school and a forensic psychologist will deliver a very
important presentation to parents/guardians "Social Media: Challenges for Parents". The presentation will take
place in our school hall on Tuesday June 27th @ 7p.m.
The presentation will cover what is currently popular among Irish pupils; what the potential dangers are and offer
practical advice on how to protect children online. Issues such as social networking sites; social messaging /chatting
apps; video streaming sites; searching online; mobile device safety; cyberbullying will be addressed. We would
encourage parents to attend and thank you to our Parents Association who are paying for this very important
presentation. Dr. Maureen Griffin is the Director of MGMS Training Limited and her website is
www.mgmstraining.ie.

HSCL News
Science for Fun in 1st class got off to a great start! We were delighted to see so many parents join us in the
classroom. During Science for Fun parents came in to do some fun experiments with the children. The first
part of the morning was spent preparing the experiments in our Parents Room & after this parents went into
1st class to do the experiments with groups of children. If you would like to get involved in this over the
next 3 weeks please feel free to contact me on 087-6461836.
Science for Fun will begin in 6th class for 4 weeks beginning Friday June 2nd. Further information on this
will be sent home in due course.
We have had a great response to our Adult Yoga classes this term. We are very fortunate to have Zara Kent
Yoga Instructor with us on Wednesdays for Adult Yoga & Yoga in the Classroom with 1st & 2nd classes. If
you would like to join us on Wednesdays at 11:15 for an Adult Yoga class please feel free to contact Ms
OConnor.
Please keep a close eye out for future courses & events which you can get involved in on our Facebook
Page Scoil Chrost R HSCL Activities and our Parents Noticeboard here in school.

If there is a particular course or class you may be interested in or if you need advice/support on any school related
issues please do not hesitate to call me (Ms OConnor) on 087-6461836.
Ms OConnor

Dates for your diary

Monday June 5th & Tuesday June 6th: School closed for June Bank Holiday weekend.
Thursday June 8th: Skipaton & Parents Association Cake Sale.
Thursday June 22nd: Sports Day & Barbecue.
Tuesday June 27th: Dr. Maureen Griffin - Internet Safety Talk for Parents @ 7p.m.
Friday June 30th: School closes at 12.00 for Summer Holidays.

Thank you for your continued support and best wishes for the final 6 weeks of the school year!

Yours sincerely

Gearid Roughan, Principal