May Update

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.

Congratulations

Many congratulations to Ms. Ann O’Shea who got married on Friday. Wishing you both a long and happy marriage.

Dates for your Diary

Friday 24th May – Junior Infants & Senior Infants School Tour
Wednesday 29th May - 1st, 2nd & 3rd Class School Tour
Monday 3rd June – Bank Holiday (school closed)
Friday 7th June – School in use as Polling Station (school closed)
Monday 10th June - Whole School First Aid Training
Tuesday 25th June - End of Year Service at 11:15am
Tuesday 25th 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. As usual, 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 we mentioned last year, we feel that the Standard Score better reflects the child's overall performance. I am re-attaching the information shared last year to help you better understand standard scores. If you have any questions when you receive your child's results, please contact your child’s class teacher.

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.

Confirmation

Congratulations to the children who received the sacrament of Confirmation on Friday 26th April. We hope you all had a special day with your friends and families. Our thanks to the children who took part in the choir on the evening and to Seán Treacy for his help. The choir and music really add to the occasion. We are very grateful for your help and support.

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 their support with the after-party. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

6th Class Graduation/End-of-Year Service

Our end-of-year service will take place on Tuesday 25th June at 11:15am. 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.

Relax Kids

Junior Infants are partaking in 6 sessions of "Relax Kids" with Sarah Cunningham of Sarah Rose Therapies. Classes are themed and cover mindfulness, relaxation, games, breathing exercises, stretching and self-massage. The classes help give the children life skills to deal with the different worries or anxieties they have. Thanks to South Kerry Development Partnership in helping us secure these vital sessions.

Swimming

The children from 3rd and 4th Class began their swimming lessons on April 25th in Killarney Sports & Leisure Centre. The children have two sessions left and are thoroughly enjoying their lessons each week. A huge thank you to our Parents' Association for contributing to the cost of the lessons, and in particular Wayne, for his help and assistance in organising the lessons as well as coming along to assist with supervision each week.

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

Junior Infants and Senior Infants – Friday 24th May – Kennedy’s Pet Farm

1st, 2nd and 3rd Classes – Wednesday 29th May – Active Kingdom, Tralee

4th, 5th & 6th Classes – Had a great trip to Ballyhass Adventure Centre in Mallow last week.

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 Killorglin last week where they played Caherciveen N.S., Scoil Mhuire agus Naomh Treasa, Currow, Scoil Realt na Mara, Cromane, and Castlegregory N.S. A great display of football in all games saw the team win 3 of their 4 games, finishing in second on the day. The girls now advance to the County Semi-Final where they will travel to Currow on Thursday to play Scoil Mhuire agus Naomh Teresa at 12 noon. Well done girls and good luck on Thursday!

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 Ó Sé for having us.

Mid Kerry 5+ Teacher Competition:

We are getting underway in the Mid-Kerry competition with games to play against Cullina N.S., Scoil Mhuire and Nagle Rice, Milltown. We wish all involved the very best of luck in these games.

Athletics

Best of luck to the children representing the school at the Mid Kerry School Sports on Thursday in Glenbeigh.

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 25th June at 12 noon.

Kind Regards,

Sinéad Pigott

Principal