MILFORD NATIONAL SCHOOL – 19th DECEMBER 2017
EMERALD ADVENTURES WITH PETER PAN: It is difficult to find superlatives to adequately describe the wonderful entertainment and atmosphere which we experienced recently at our 35th anniversary celebrations in the University Concert Hall. It is with great pride that we can say that all available children from the school were given the opportunity to perform, and they really enjoyed themselves.
A great debt of gratitude is due to all who helped out in any way, co-operating in a very cohesive and organised manner. A particular thank you to Nicola Twomey and Jean Flannery for organising and coordinating the incredibly dedicated team of parents who were working in various capacities throughout the concert hall on the two nights of the show, stage-managing, supervising, pinning and tucking costumes, selling raffle tickets, DVDs & programmes, setting up the Concert Hall and for helping to bring everything back to ‘headquarters’ at 10:30pm after the final show. Most of this was unseen by the audience but is very much appreciated. This is, of course, further to the traipsing around Castletroy and its environs to elicit sponsorship and spot prizes and the incredible amount of work that went into the programme production – sincere thanks here to Dave Williams for the enormous effort in coordinating this area. A big thank you to the entire staff of Milford National School, the teachers and special needs assistants, Rose our secretary and Joe, our caretaker, for their spirit of generosity in the way they embraced the concept of staging of the Peter Pan show from the initial plans to the elaborate performance in the UCH. A huge thank you to you, our parents, for your support, cooperation and positive feedback regarding the show. When we all pull together the sky‘s the limit for our children.
A detailed account of the expenditure incurred in staging the shows, together with details of the revenue raised, will be forwarded to you in January 2018. With a few bills left to come in, a rough estimate is a profit in excess of €12,000 for the school gym fund. We wish to sincerely thank everyone who purchased tickets for the shows, those who bought raffle tickets, DVDs & programmes and the many companies who took out advertising space in the programme and provided spot prizes.
SPORTING NEWS: Congratulations to all our fantastic football teams who trained and competed in matches this autumn. Sincere thanks to all the teacher coaches for their hard work with all teams who took part in competitions this autumn.
Sarsfield Cup: Well done to our pupils, Mark Field and Paddy Hussey, who were selected to play for the City Football Team to contest the Sarsfield Cup 2017. It is a wonderful achievement to play in this competition, as it pitches the most talented footballers in the county against each other. We are delighted to report that the City Team emerged victorious over their Sarsfield Cup opponents under lights in the Gaelic Grounds. Well done boys! We are very proud of your achievements.
The Fitzpatrick Cup
To honour the memory of our former colleague Mr. George Fitzpatrick, the school holds a Gaelic games competition each January. This annual event is known as The Fitzpatrick Cup. This competition will commence again as soon as the children return after the Christmas Holidays. 81 boys and girls from 4th to 6th classes have signed up to take part and they are eagerly waiting for the ball to be thrown in on Tuesday, January 9th, 3-4pm on the old astro-turf facility in UL. This year the code will be hurling/camogie. (Last year it was football). All matches will be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays during January, 3-4pm. Hopefully the weather will allow us to complete the entire series before the end of January. Please feel free to come along to the astro-turf to cheer for your star/starlet if the mood takes you. All fixtures and league tables will be posted on the school website.
SCRATCH: SCRATCH will begin on Wednesday January 10th after school for 5th and 6th class pupils. SCRATCH is an online visual programming language aimed at introducing children to coding skills. SCRATCH Jr. will be offered to second class pupils in class next term. Please contact Ms. Moloney for details.
ART CLUB: Art club will begin on Friday January 12th after school for 3rd and 4th class pupils. Please contact Ms. Moloney for details.
DEBATE TEAM: The Debate team’s first competitive debate was away against Castleconnell N.S. on Tuesday, 12th December. Well done to all the children involved and many thanks to Ms. Larkin and Ms O’Meara for leading our debate team.
BUMP NOTES: When a pupil receives a bump to their head it is part of school policy to inform the parents of the incident via a ‘Bump Note’. Up until now, we have have also informed parents about the bump via a phone call. Even though, many of the bumps are very minor in nature it is still critical that you the parents are informed about such injuries. At the request of parents, the school will send a text message instead of making a phone call to inform you about such injuries. This change in procedure will come into operation on January 8th 2018. As per usual, parents need to sign to the ‘Bump Note’ and return it to the class teacher.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Parents, please note that the school is legally obligated to report to the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) any child who misses more than 20 days in the school year. All absences must be explained in writing (absence note at the back of the homework diary will suffice) by parent/guardian. It is very important that children should not go to school when they’re contagious to others or when they’re too sick to learn.
PARENTS’ COUNCIL: The AGM of the Parents’ Council took place on Wednesday 8th November. A new committee was elected. A huge thank you to Nicola Twomey, who stepped down as Chairperson, to Lorna Mullane-Ndu, who stepped down as treasurer and to Valerie O’Hanlon, who stepped down as secretary. Their time and effort dedicated to to Parents’ Council Activities is very much appreciated. The new committee is as follows: Jean Flannery (Chairperson), Elaine Hickey (Treasurer) and Julianne Phelan (Secretary). Thank you all very much for taking up the baton from the previous committee.
ENROLMENTS 2018: The closing date for enrolments for Junior Infants for September 2018 is January 31st 2018. Even if you have already applied for a place for next year do please contact the office as soon as possible to make sure your child’s name is on the list.
NUT ALLERGY: Just a reminder that Milford N.S. is a nut-free zone. We request that you exclude all nuts or nut products from your child’s lunch.
LOTTO: Many thanks to everyone who plays the school lotto. The jackpot for our weekly lotto is now at €5,000. The next draw will take place on Thursday, December 21st.
BUILDINGS: We are delighted to announce that the school has received written approval from the DES to build a new classroom and a SEN room. Presently, we are preparing the necessary documentation to initiate the tendering process in order to employ a design team for the project. Many thanks to the parents who have been so helpful in getting the ball rolling on this project since before the summer holidays.
CONGRATULATIONS: Congratulations to Elaine & Aaron Gallagher on the birth of their beautiful baby daughter, Holly.
CHRISTMAS PANTO: Junior Infants to Second Class will enjoy the Christmas panto, Cinderella, in U.C.H. on Wednesday, December 20th. Details have been distributed to the children by their teachers.
MILFORD HOSPICE VISIT: A selection of children will entertain patients of Milford House and Hospice on Thursday, December 21st by performing a short Christmas Pageant for them.
CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS: All classes will be dismissed for the Christmas holidays on Friday 22nd December 2017 at 12 Noon. Uniforms are not compulsory on this day. Children may wear festive clothing if they wish and bring one treat to eat with their small lunch.
DATES TO NOTE:
- Christmas Closing – December 22nd at 12 Noon. School reopens on Monday, 8th January 2018.
- School closure – January 30th 2018 (Teacher Inservice)
- Confirmation: Thursday 19th April 2018
- First Holy Communion: Saturday May 12th 2018.
Go raibh síocháin na Nollag agus na Bliana Nua faoi shéan ‘s faoi shonas ort ‘s ar do mhuintir!
Diarmaid Moore
Principal
