Baboró 2017

1st and 2nd Class attended 'What Does Red Do on Thursday?' in the Taibhearc Theatre in Galway City. Despite the very wet day, we really enjoyed our trip to the theatre to see the show. When we arrived at the theatre, we listened carefully to two stories. Then the show began with the artist  painting a small red dot, on a transparent screen and from that created a wonderful world of animals, flowers, shapes, colours and design. We had to use our imagination to decide what we saw in this magical kingdom.

Re: Baboró/ Information regarding Hurricane Ophelia

16^th October 2017
Dear Parents,
Due to the impact of Hurricane Ophelia, Baboró have cancelled many school performances, including the ‘Tom Chapin Show’, which the Junior & Senior Infants were due to attend tomorrow morning. Baboró will do their very best to reschedule this event. We hope this posting finds you safe and that the impact of Ophelia was minimal on you and your family. We urge you to keep safe and please remember ‘after every storm the sun will smile’ .  

 

Baboro International Arts Festival For Children 2017

15^th October 2017

Dear Parents,

As you are aware, Junior & Senior Infants will be attending the Baboró Festival on Tuesday. We would like to remind you to please ensure that your child is dressed in full school uniform (no school tracksuits). Please note that your child’s photograph may be taken by Baboró during the show. If you do not wish your child’s photograph to be taken, please let us know before our departure on Tuesday morning. Your child is not required to bring any money/additional food. The usual lunch will suffice. We are really looking forward to what promises to be a great day out!
Kind Regards,
Infant Teachers.

Christmas Shoebox Appeal 2017

'The Team Hope - Christmas Shoebox Appeal ‘has been launched in our school. We are inviting anyone that’s interested to support this very worthy cause. Please remember, the lids of the shoeboxes must be covered separately to the shoebox. Prepared shoeboxes may be brought into your child’s classroom anytime from now. The closing date for collecting shoeboxes will be the week after our Hallowe’en Mid-Term Break.

 

 

 

 

World Mental Health Day 2017

World Mental Health Day 2017 took place on Tuesday 10^th of October. This provided us with an opportunity to reflect upon how we can look after our wellbeing. We explored various feelings and identified things that help us to feel happy.

 

Extra Curricular Activities 2017/18  

Scoil Padraig Naofa, Cregmore.

 

Hurling / Camogie	Mr Madden.	Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday	12.30pm – 1pm.	Senior Infants to Rang 6.
Hurling / Camogie	Ger Moran	Tuesday.	1pm to 2.30pm	Rang 3 / 4.Classes vary each term.
Hurling / Camogie	Mr Madden	Tuesday	2.30pm to 3.15pm.	Rang 3 to Rang 6.
Camogie	Lorraine Ryan	Friday	2.30pm to 3.30pm.	Rang 3 to Rang 6
Gaelic Football	GAA Coach	Thursday	1pm to 2.30pm.	Rang 5 and Rang 6. Classes vary each term.
Gaelic Football	Paul Connell	Thursday and Friday	12.30pm to 1pm	Thursday Rang 4, 5, 6. Friday Rang 1,2,3
Olympic Handball	Paul Connell	Friday.(when football finishes)	12.30pm to 1pm	Rang 3 and Rang 4.
Soccer League	Pupils from Rang 6.	Commencing after Halloween.	12.30pm to 1pm	Rang 3 to Rang 6
Keep Fit and Fun Games.	Breda and Caroline	Monday	12.30pm to 1pm	Junior and Senior Infants.
Basketball	Anna Marie and Laura	Monday	2.30pm 3.15pm	Rang 3, 4, 5 and 6. *alternate every second week. Boys and Girls
Rugby	Connacht Rugby.	Tuesday	9.15am to 10.15am	All classes. Pupils will be informed.
*Table Tennis	Table Tennis Ireland	Thursday	9am to 2.30pm.	Rang 2 to Rang 6. €2 per pupil.
Table Tennis.  In School League	Shona	Monday	12.30pm to 1pm.	Rang 1 to Rang 6.
Irish Dancing	Susan	Wednesday	1.30pm Infants 2.30pm All Senior classes	Open to all pupils
Speech and Drama	Michelle O Grady	Thursdays.	1.30pm Infants 2.30pm All Senior classes	*Commencing after Halloween
Music	Music Teachers	Wednesday	9am to 2.30pm.	Open to all “paid” pupils from Rang 1
Music. Trad. Sessions	Rita	Wednesday and Thursday	12.30pm to 1pm	All pupils welcome.
French	Aine	Thursday	1.30pm Infants 2.30pm All Senior classes	Open to all “paid” pupils.
Swimming	I.W.S.A	Friday	Rang 3	*Commences after Easter
Chess and Draughts	All class teachers	T.B D.	Rang 1 to Rang 6	*Commences after Xmas

   Hurling, Football and Camogie training will cease until Spring 2018 once the pitches become unplayable due to excessive rain.

   Each class has a designated Physical Education Class weekly

  *Table Tennis continues to Christmas, to be followed by a 10 week Dance Lesson to be followed by a 10 week Gymnastic lesson.     

   Open to all pupils

Tree Day 2017 - 'Our Planet, Our Choice'.

National Tree Day took place on the 5^th of October 2017. The spotlight this year was on the oak tree. The special day was celebrated in various ways by all pupils throughout the school. On the build-up & on the day itself, pupils were given adequate opportunities to explore such wonderful woody perennials. Some of the activities that took place included: poetry, writing, music, song, crosswords & art. Some pupils enjoyed some barking mad tree jokes which had them in knots!!! It’s important to remember the words of Alexander Smith “Trees are your best antiques” . We should always look after and care for these forest friends.

Silver Circle Draw
Our first Silver Circle Draw of the 2017/2018 school year was a great success. Thank you all so much for your ongoing support and commitment to our school. Thanks also to Rang 6 for their performance on the day. They were spectacular.
The following are the winners:
1st Prize  E150 - Noreen Casey
2nd Prize E100 - Sarah Cronin
3rd Prize  E50  -  Emily Wall
Seller's Prizes
(Which included two signed hurls and three training tops by Galway players and school pens):
Evie McSharry
Clara Samuels
Zara Bratzen
Ethan Holland
Ciara Murphy
Leah Forde
Patrick O'Dea
Ava O'Mahony
Matthew Collins
Eoin Casserly

Beginning Of Year Note 2017/2018

                      September 12^TH 2017

Dear Parents,

Cēad Mīle Fāilte ar ais ar scoil roimh gach aon duine…………….

On behalf of the Board of Management, the teaching staff and myself, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all our pupils, (and in particular our  new pupils), to Scoil Pādraig Naofa, for another school year. We hope all our pupils will enjoy the year ahead and achieve their full potential in a caring, safe, comfortable and supportive environment.

I would also like to welcome our new school secretary, Mrs Margaret Keith and Ms Eimear Dolan who replaces Ms Cairtiona Lennon.

At the beginning of each school year it is common practice to circulate a general note to all our families, and while the vast majority of the information is repetitive annually, it is important that all parents read it, and in particular the parents of the 36 new pupils who have joined us this year.

*Healthy Eating. Remember that we encourage a Healthy Eating Policy here in the school. Children should not take fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate or sweets to school.  Each child should get into the habit of taking a piece of fruit / vegetable to school daily and a juice / water. If per chance some little boy or girl forgets their lunch, please do not worry as we always have ample food in our staffroom to share.

*Infant Collection. The infant teachers have asked me to remind you that all children are to be collected on time and from the main drop off zone only. (Car Park). While I appreciate that some parents continue to collect their children from the Grange Road, can I please ask that all other children be collected from the general car park and drop off area and not from the entrance / exit area to the teachers car park.

In fact, no child should ever be dropped off nor collected from this area. (Teachers car park).

*Appointment with Teachers.  Parents who may wish to speak with individual teachers, including Learning Support and Resource teachers, may do so only by appointment. Teachers are more than willing to meet with parents before school starts at 8.50am or after school finishes at 2.30pm. Please respect the fact that teachers should not have to leave their class-rooms and pupils unsupervised. Should you wish to speak with any member of staff, you are most welcome, but please do so by appointment, either by phone (091-799037), or note.

*Starting Time. I wish to remind you once again that our school officially opens at 8.50am each day.

However, staff will be on hand to accept children from 8.40am. The Board of Management (on the instruction of our insurance company and the Dept. of Education and Skills) will not take responsibility for children’s welfare and safety that are in the school grounds before 8.40am.

The school office opens daily at 8.40am and our secretary, Margaret will be available to take calls and answer / deal with school related queries until 1pm daily.

*Early to Bed and a good Breakfast; Please ensure that children are in bed at a reasonable time during the school week and that they have a full and proper breakfast before coming to school each morning.

*Homework; The homework notebooks must be signed every night by parent/guardian when homework has been fully completed and properly checked.

Also, we cannot stress the importance of reading to and with your child every night….. and we are blessed with a wealth of school library books should you wish to borrow some.

*Rules of the School; these are written inside the cover of each homework notebook, (provided to Rang 1 - Rang 6) and should be read through and signed by parents and pupils.  Also, should a child be absent from school there is an appropriate section to sign and present to the class teacher.  Infants should also bring a note of explanation if missing from school.  Remember, we are obliged under The Education and Welfare Act to inform the relevant authorities should a pupil be absent from school for 20 days or more.

I have also been asked by staff members to remind you that we don’t allow children to distribute birthday invitations at school. This can only be done outside school please.

*Uniforms and P.E. gear. All children are obliged to wear their full uniforms each day at school … the only exception being P.E. days. Last year we became aware that there was a huge discrepancy in the style of PE uniforms worn by some children. We request children to wear black tracksuit leggings, (as any other colour is unacceptable) white polo shirt and red sweat shirt. Football / soccer jerseys are not to be worn to school.

The timetable of PE days are as follows.

Monday, Mr. Madden, Ms Coyne.

Tuesday, Ms O' Carroll. Mr Connell

Wednesday, Mrs O Dea.

Thursday, Ms. Crehan

Friday, Mrs Coyle, Ms Walsh and Ms. McCormack.

Only the proper school P.E uniform should be worn on P.E days. (No football / soccer jerseys etc.)

Labelling. Lost property. Please clearly mark all items of clothing, hurleys, helmets, books, copies etc. 

All books should be covered and each child should have a little basket at school to keep their books neatly in from Rang 1 up. There is a “lost property bin” beside the entrance to Rang 2 and Rang 3 classrooms.

After School Activities; As per the norm, we will commence organising “After School Activities” in the very near future, including hurling, football, basketball and athletics.

I want to sincerely thank our dedicated staff who assist in the coaching and co-ordination of these activities.

In addition, you can contact Susan should you wish to participate in Irish Dancing 087-2999479, and Alaine for French Lessons, 087-7438810.

Music; As you are aware, we have a very proud tradition of music here in our school and let me take this opportunity to congratulate all our pupils and past pupils who did so well at the annual Fleadh held recently in Ennis. Maith sibh.

Music lessons will recommence on the week beginning Monday, Sept 18^th. (Actual timetable to be verified at a later date). Sincere thanks to Rita for coordinating the music here in our school.

All correspondence regarding music, including the payment of music fees MUST be done through Rita and NOT through the school office and no pupil will be allocated a place until the fee is paid in full as there is huge cost in setting up the scheme.

*School Fees and School Contribution; Thank you  so much for sending in the “class fees” and ‘beginning of the school year contribution’. I genuinely appreciate your commitment to the school, while also appreciating how difficult it is to keep all these payments / contributions made. I also want to stress that while the school fees are mandatory (as they account for payments already made by the school such as Art and Craft materials, Photocopying, Laminating pouches, Printing material, P.E equipment, 24 hour Personal Pupil Insurance, Homework journals, Novels, Text a parent, music resources, update our I.T equipment, computers, laptops, new school I Pads…… etc…….. that the school contribution is voluntary.

The school contribution helps in the day to day running of the school, maintenance, cleaning, heating, electricity, and part repayment of our building loan.

It will be February 2018 before we receive the first financial contribution from the Department of Education for this school year, 2017 / 2018.

We are also running our monthly Silver Circle Draw, and we encourage each family to take a card which has 5 lines at a cost of €2 per line per month. The first draw takes place on Friday, September 29^th.

*Staff Meeting. Please note that we will  be closing on Friday next, September 15^th at 12.30pm to facilitate a staff meeting. This is also the last day that the new infant children will be going home at 12.30pm.

As of Monday, September 18^th the new Junior infants will revert back to the actual school time of 1.30pm.

*Text a Parent; We now use this system a lot in order to communicate messages / news / updates to parents.

On Monday morning next, September 18^th we will text all our families at 10am. Should you have NOT received a text from the school by 12pm, please contact Margaret in the office. 091-799037.

Summer Works. Over the Summer months we carried out a lot of work here in the school. New adult toilets, male and female, were built. The hall building was painted internally, plumbing maintenance was carried out on the old part of the school, and finally, much to our delight, we finally built and furnished a Sensory Room. This room is invaluable to our children, and offers a beautiful space of calmness, relaxation, exploration and learning. We intend to also have a silent library / reading room adjacent to our Sensory room, and this is a room where all classes could visit to simply read. I would like to have mats on the floor and cushions and bean bags for the children to sit on. If you have any rugs, mats, bean bags or cushions surplus to requirement, would you please consider donating them to the school. I am also looking for a basic music system to play CD’s. Thank you..

Finally, I wish to thank each and every one of you who continue to support our school in so many different ways.

 

 

We were very touched by the number of letters, cards and calls of appreciation received at the end of the last school year. Please accept this as a general “thank you” from myself and all the staff.

We promise to provide a modern, clean, comfortable school for our children …. a school that our community can be proud of.  I want to thank all our staff also who continue to work so diligently and give such commitment to the school and its pupils at all times.

I want to thank our Caretaker Arthur and Maintenance man Gerry who had the school gleaming for us upon return and our most efficient school secretary Margaret.

I would also like to thank Mr. Odhran O Mahoney and all the members of our Board of Management, Aoife Connolly and members of our Parents Association and our great friend, Fr. Des. Together we work for the good of our school and especially our pupils.

I want it to be known that we are blessed to have such beautiful children come through the school gates each morning. They are a credit to you their parents and to their community. I cannot stress enough how important it is that we as adults encourage good manners and a level of respect.

Should any parent / group of parents wish to become involved in any school sporting activity, or indeed any activity that would enhance the lives of our children, we would be delighted to facilitate you. The school hall is available for use anytime.

Finally, we congratulate both the Galway Minor and Senior hurling teams on their recent historic achievements and we sincerely thank Francis Forde who along with team captain David Burke, past pupil Ronan Burke and several other members of the panel, visited us last Thursday. It was a most memorable occasion. Gaillimh Abu.

I wish you all well……..I hope we all have a very safe, healthy, enjoyable and memorable school year ahead.

Yours sincerely,

Joe Kennelly. Principal.

 

First Clothing Collection of 2017/2018 - Please Support

The first clothing collection of 2017/2018, in aid of Cancer Care West, will take place on Tuesday, 26^th September 2017. This provides us all with a wonderful opportunity to de-clutter after the summer season. Any old, unused or unwanted items of footwear, clothing or accessories may be dropped off at our school on the morning of, or before, the above mentioned date. Please ensure that all items for recycling are placed in a durable plastic sack and placed inside the main school gates. Many thanks for always supporting this  very worthy cause.