May Newsletter
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The weeks are flying by - it’s hard to believe that we are now facing into the final weeks of the school year.
Welcome
We welcome Lillian (6th Class) who joined us recently. We are delighted to have you here with us Lillian!
Dates for your Diary
Thursday 25th May – Infant & 1st Class School Tour
Tuesday 30th May - 2nd & 3rd Class School Tour
Monday 5th June – Bank Holiday (school closed)
Thursday 8th June - Whole School First Aid Training
Wednesday 21st June - New Junior Infant "Open Day" at 1:45pm
Wednesday 21st June - 4th, 5th & 6th Class School Tour
Monday 26th June - End of Year Service
Tuesday 27th June - School closing for the holidays at 12 noon
Standardised Tests
Testing in Maths, Reading and Spelling for children from 1st to 6th class is currently underway and will be finalised in the coming weeks. Standardised tests are just one form of assessment used in primary schools. They are a snapshot of how a child performs in Maths and English on a specific day and should be interpreted with caution. As in other years, if a teacher has concerns, she will be in contact with you with advice as to how you can help your child. Results of your child’s standardised tests will be communicated on your child’s summer report, to be issued in June. This year, we will report on your child's Standard Score as well as the usual STen score. We feel that the Standard Score better reflects the child's overall performance. I have attached some information for your attention to help you better understand standard scores. If you have any questions when you receive your child's results, please let us know. Going forward, we will only report on Standard Scores in our report cards.
Next Year
It’s the time of the year when our attention turns to allocating next year’s classes. To that end, if you know your child will not be returning to our school after the summer (other than 6th class pupils), please let the office know as soon as possible.
First Holy Communion
Congratulations to the boys and girls from 2nd Class who received the sacrament of First Holy Communion in St. James’ Church on Saturday last. We hope you had a lovely day celebrating with your families. Our thanks to the school choir for giving of their time to attend on Saturday, to Seán for accompanying the children, and to the Parents’ Association for providing the children with some treats on Friday afternoon. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
6th Class Graduation/End-of-Year Service
Our end-of-year service will take place on Monday 26th June. We will confirm the time closer to the date. You are welcome to come along and celebrate the end of the school year with us and wish our 6th Class children well as they embark on their next chapter.
Open Day
We will have an "Open Day" for the incoming Junior Infants on Wednesday 21st June at 1:45pm. The children get the chance to spend some time in the school, meet the teachers and chat with all their new friends before they begin their "Big School" journey in September.
Time to Count
The Time to Count programme is well underway involving the children in 3rd Class. We are extremely grateful to Business in the Community Ireland and Fexco for their help and assistance with this programme. It’s such a lovely programme and the enthusiasm of the volunteers is lovely to see. A huge thank you to Eileen, Heather and our wonderful volunteers. The children will be going on a visit to Fexco in June as part of the programme.
School Tours
All classes will be going on an end-of-year school tour. Class teachers have already/will send more details directly to parents.
Junior Infants, Senior Infants & 1st Class – Thursday 25th May – Tralee Bay Wetlands / Kerry County Museum
2nd and 3rd Classes – Tuesday 30th May – Tralee Bay Wetlands / Kerry County Museum
4th, 5th & 6th Classes – Wednesday 21st June – Eclipse Activity Centre, Kenmare
Football
There has been a lot of activity on the football front recently!
Cumann na mBunscol Girls' Competition:
Our girls team took part in a Cumann na mBunscol Blitz in Cromane a couple of weeks ago playing Cullina N.S. and Réalt na Mara, Cromane. We topped the group and progressed to the County Quarter-Final where we met O'Brennan N.S. last week. The team performed fantastically on the day securing our spot in the Semi-Final which will be played tomorrow at 10am in Ballyrickard, Tralee. We wish the girls the very best of luck!
Primary Game:
Niamh Hassett & Darragh O'Reilly represented the school at the Primary Game trials. Well done to you both - two fantastic role models for the school!
Mid Kerry Skills:
Ciara Doherty, Emma Scott & Ruth O'Malley represented the school at the Mid Kerry Girls Skills competition while Daniel Fenton, Darragh O'Reilly & Billy Gannon attended the Mid Kerry Boys Skills competition. All performed very well in their respective competitions.
ISK Blitz:
6th Class were invited along to the ISK blitz held recently. The children had a great day. Our thanks to the TYs along with Mícheál O'Sé for having us.
Mid Kerry 5+ Teacher Competition:
We are underway in the Mid-Kerry competition with games already played against Cullina N.S. & Scoil Mhuire with further games against Réalt na Mara, Cromane and Nagle Rice, Milltown to come. We have found the move to 6 teacher on the football field rather difficult but we continue to try throughout every game! We wish all involved the very best of luck in the remaining games.
Aldi Play Rugby Competition
A big thank you to all our families for supporting the Aldi Play Rugby schools competition. We were able to fill 18 posters with all the stickers that have been sent in over the last few months, giving us more chances of winning some fantastic prizes and resources for the school. Now it's time to cross our fingers!
Junior Achievement Ireland
Mrs. Fleming’s 4th & 5th Class and Mrs. Galvin’s 5th & 6th Class recently completed their involvement in these wonderful programmes. Thanks to Anne from Junior Achievement Ireland as well as our volunteers, Breeda from Fexco and David from BNY Mellon, for taking part in the programme and for your constant support & assistance throughout the lessons.
Additional Accomodation Update
We are still awaiting confirmation from the Department of Education to allow us to proceed to construction. Our builders are ready and eager to get going - hopefully we will hear from the Department in the coming days.
Summer Uniform
The boys and girls are permitted to wear the summer uniform (navy school shorts) from now on, should they wish to do so. Let’s hope for continued fine weather!
Summer Holidays
We will close for our Summer Holidays on Tuesday 27th June at 12 noon.
Kind Regards,
Sinéad Pigott
Principal
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