Míle
Buíochas
Breda Galvin wishes to express her gratitude to the parents, teachers
and pupils of the school for the memorable tribute on her retirement.
The beautiful singing and music at the Harvest Celebration greatly enriched
the occasion. She acknowledges the wonderful art display in the hall and
the time and dedication given by teachers and pupils to its preparation.
A special thanks to Nicola Barnes-Goodman for her contribution to the
art display. Mrs. Galvin also appreciates the tremendous dedication of
the ladies who prepared and organised such an exceptional variety of delicious
food on the night.
Enrolment Ceremonies
An Enrolment Mass for First Holy
Communion 2009 took place in Crusheen Church on the 23rd of November.
The following pupils were enrolled: Mollie Copley, Joseph Copley, Eanna
McMahon, Ciara Liddy, Johnny Broderick, Tara O’Grady, Sara McMahon,
Emma O’Brien, Cian Ketelaar, Ana Goodman, Ian O’Brien, Senan
Redmond, Cian O’Callaghan, Sinéad Mullins, Niamh Turner,
Aoife Stankard, and Eirin Hogan.
The
next Mass of the ‘Do This in Memory’ programme will take
place on Sunday 21st December 2008.
An
enrolment Mass for Confirmation candidates and their families was held
on Sunday 9th November in St. Cronan’s Church Crusheen. The following
candidates were enrolled: Kim Daffy, Caoimhe Horner, Hannah Leonard,
Lesley-Anne McMahon, Niamh Moloney, Sarah O’Connor and Chloe Slattery.
A
sincere thank you to Fr. Ger Nash, Ms. Wylde, Mr. Gantley, parents and
everyone involved.
Ceolchoirm na Nollag
You are cordially invited to our school Christmas concert which will
be held in Crusheen Community Centre on Wednesday 17th December at 7.00
p.m. This is a special night for parents, grandparents, family and friends.
An admission charge of €5 for all over twelve years will be collected
by members of the Parents’ Association, monies collected will
be used to fund additional activities for the children during the coming
year.
Prior
to the concert night the pupils will have seen each others’ plays
at dress rehearsal. Due to logistics, when not on stage the children
will be supervised in their classrooms. All pupils are requested to
be in their classrooms by 6.30 p.m. Children from Ms. Brady’s
and Ms. Wylde’s classes are asked to come dressed in their costumes.
After the concert the children may be collected from their classrooms.
We look forward to seeing you all on the night.
Operation Christmas Child 2008
The children and their parents are to be congratulated once again on
their very generous response to the Operation Christmas Child Appeal.
Your support will help relieve the suffering of children abroad who
are homeless, live in orphanages or are without family support. In all
75 boxes were collected in the school. Well done to all !!!
Parents’ Association Report
On Monday night 24th November, representatives from the Parents’
Association, J Kearney, L McNamara and C Mulligan met with Orla Brady
and Anne Cleary to liaise on a number of school/parent issues. Items
for discussion included the Christmas concert and Green Schools. Several
policies related to home/school links were also reviewed. In future,
communication from the Parents’ Association may be viewed on our
new notice board situated in the main school foyer.
We
would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continuing
support and look forward to working with all parents and the school
in the coming year.
J. Kearney (Chairperson)
Dalta
na Seachtaine
Every Monday, the school holds an assembly where a selection of pupils
representing all the classes is awarded with a ‘Dalta na Seachtaine’
(pupil of the week) certificate. This initiative is focused towards
encouraging and rewarding positive behaviour. The emphasis is also on
fairness as the teachers ensure that every child has an opportunity
to receive the award.
Mo
Cheol Thú!
Well done to Ciara Mulligan who entertained the whole school at this
week’s assembly with a polka on the piano. We look forward to
other children showcasing their talents during the year.
Ennis
Bookshop Art Competition
Children in first and second classes recently took part in a colouring
competition organised by the Ennis Bookshop. Cora Scanlan came in second
place in her category and she won a €7 book voucher. Well done
Cora!!!
WOW
Reading Challenge
Our pupils have started reading as part of the WOW Reading Challenge.
The project involves thousands of children from Clare, Nova Scotia,
London and the US who ‘compete’ with one another to become
the best readers in the world, in order to reduce crime through increased
literacy.
The
initiative forms part of the ‘Adopt-A-Library Literacy Programme’
developed by Clare County Library in 2006 in partnership with An Garda
Síochana , National Schools in Clare, Pictou Antigonish Regional
Library (Nova Scotia, Canada) and The Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Adopt-A-Library
works by connecting policing agencies with libraries. Police act as
the bridge between the community and the library and, in return, the
library develops programmes and activities that directly impact on literacy
amongst children. Primary school children are asked to take up the challenge
to read as much as they can during the year.
From
Monday 24th November 2008 to Friday 24th April 2009, children will record
all books (including magazines) read in a special reading log. Each
month the total number of books read in the school will be tallied and
reported on the Adopt-a-Library website. During the programme library
staff and members of An Garda Síochana will visit the school.
We also hope to visit our local library as part of this project.
When
we last undertook the challenge in 2006-2007 the pupils read an average
of 30 books each. We hope to do even better this time. We will keep
you posted on our progress.
T.V.
Stars
Pupils from first and second classes were featured on RTE’s Seoige
Programme on Wednesday November 12th. If you missed it the programme
can currently be downloaded from the RTE website: www.rte.ie
Green School
We are busy working towards our fifth green flag. The topic for this
flag is ‘Transport’. Roisín Ní Gharbhaith
(Clare County Council and the Department of Transport) visited the school
last week to discuss various initiatives which we might employ. She
hopes to visit again in the new year to discuss with parents and pupils
ways of reducing our carbon footprint.
We
are still recycling cards, batteries and stamps. Thank you to all who
contribute. If anyone would like some shredded paper for animal bedding
please contact Ms. Cleary.
There
has been a substantial increase in the number of yoghurt pots, cartons
etc. from childrens’ lunches. We have found that our waste bin
is overloaded every week and the school has had to incur the additional
cost of disposing of this waste. In an effort to alleviate this problem
we are asking children to bring home all wrappers/cartons etc. in their
lunchboxes every day. Your support in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Text-a-Parent
In an effort to improve home/school communication we hope to introduce
‘Text-a-Parent’ in the new year. If anyone has experience
of setting up this or a similar system, we would appreciate your help.
Please contact Ms. Cleary.
School
Opening Hours/Supervision
Just a reminder that children are supervised in the playground in the
morning from 9.10 a.m. until school starts at 9.20 a.m., and again after
school until 3.10 p.m. Children arriving at school prior to 9.10 a.m.
are not supervised.
Halloween
Party Photos
Photos of the recent Halloween party held in Ballinruan can be viewed
on the following website; www.flickr.com/photos/clonmoher.
Pupil
Attendance
September 2008 - 96.4%
October 2008 - 97.5%
Pupil attendance for September and October was higher than the national
average. Well done to all pupils for excellent attendance.
Camogie
Player of the Year
We would like to express our congratulations to one of our past pupils
and current camogie skills coach, Carina Roseingrave. Carina was named
‘Camogie Young Player of the Year 2008’ in Dublin recently.
This award adds to her All-Ireland junior and Munster minor camogie
medals won earlier in the year. Well done Carina!
Fire
Drill
As part of our Health and Safety procedures we have conducted two fire
drills this term. All pupils now understand how to vacate the school
building in a controlled and safe manner.
Birthday
List November
Cillein Mullins
Teresa Hurley
Kailey Arcainia
Aoife Burke
Tara O’Grady
Ana-Lia Goodman
Ian O’Brien
Maeve Stankard
School
Uniform/Tracksuit
Reminder – All pupils are encouraged to wear their full school
uniform to school and their school tracksuit on P.E. days. Uniforms/tracksuits
can be purchased from ‘Make Your Mark’ in Gort, Co. Galway.
Hurleys
and Helmets
Hurleys and helmets will be on sale at school next Monday. The helmets
range in price from €50 (small/medium) to €55 (large size)
INTO
Campaign
The INTO has been staging regional protest rallies against the education
cutbacks for the last number of weeks around the country. We are hoping
that Clare will be well represented in the National Protest march in
Dublin on Saturday December 6th. The assembly place will be Parnell
Square at 12.30 p.m.
Christmas
Tree Decoration Competition
Once again Clare County Council has challenged the children to make
a Christmas tree decoration out of household recycled materials such
as .... old egg boxes, eggshells, cardboard, newspapers, bottles, cans,
bottle corks, paper, broken toys, pizza boxes, but most importantly
your IMAGINATION. A winner will be selected from each class and an overall
winner will be chosen to represent the school at county level. Closing
date for receipt of all entries is Monday December 8th. We look forward
to viewing the children’s exciting creations.
Mrs.
Quinn’s Charity Shop
Donations of unwanted clothes can be left in the portacabin for collection
by a representative from Mrs. Quinn’s shop. Please place the clothes
in black polythene sacks. Date for collection is Wednesday morning 3rd
December. Bags of clothing can be left in the foyer of the portacabin
on or before this date.
December
the 8th – Feast Day
We will be bringing the children to Mass on Monday 8th December to celebrate
the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Please
ensure that children wear coats going to school on that day.
Energy
saving Tip
Wait for the dishwasher to be full before you switch it on – a
half-full wash uses the same energy as a full one.
Christmas
Holidays
School will close for the Christmas break on Tuesday 23rd December at
12.30 p.m. and re-open on Wednesday morning January 7th.
Our
thanks to all who contributed to this newsletter.
