Athbhliain faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise daoibh uile. Welcome back: we are all looking forward to a fruitful 2013 full of friendship and cooperation. Special welcome to Ms Murray who we share with Scoil na Mainistreach and who teaches here every morning.
There are many exciting events planned for this term
-Swimming for 3rd class—already underway
-National Children’s Choir -this is the first year that Kildare will facilitate its own regional choir—almost 700 children coming together for 2 nights of recitals in the City West complex in May.
-Green Flag activities—Our Green Committee is planning to sow a hedge as soon as the weather gets a bit warmer.
– Art and Craft -We have been selected by Kildare Education Centre to participate in a Craft Project.
Training for nominated parents/leaders will take place on Thursday 17th Jan. The children will attend on following Thursdays in Scoil Uí Riada 7.30-9.30pm
Jan 17th Theme-Belonging
Jan 31st Theme-Believing
Feb 7th Theme-Being
Feb 21st Theme-Becoming
Mar 21st in St Coca’s Church @ 7.30 Theme-Beginning Again
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Mid term Break TERM 2: Thursday and Friday 14th and 15th Feb
Public Holiday Monday 18th March
Easter Holidays: school closes at 12 noon Friday 22 March for 2 weeks
Junior Infant Parent/teacher meetings will take place this term—arrangement will be notified later.
Sixth Class Service of Light Feb 28th @ 7.30pm (Bring candle)
Confirmation Saturday 9th March @ 11.00am
The Parents Association of Scoil Choca will shortly affiliate with the National Parents Council. The NPC invites our parent to be members of association to forward names of parents who would like to attend Special Interest Group Meetings. If you have a child with Special Needs, or are a member of a Migrant Community, of the Travelling Community or Minority Religion Group and would like to represent us please contact me.
Playing with your child
Many of the new school programmes emphasise the value of PLAY in the development of your child’s social skills, language, maths concepts, confidence, etc. Kildare VEC will be facilitating a course over a number of weeks for parents in Scoil Choca Naofa on playing with your child. More information re dates and times will be on Parents Notice Board
FAMILY MASS
As you are aware, the parish has been holding a family mass once a month. The children really enjoy participation. The parish is now looking for 2 parents from this school to assist with the school piece each month.
Dates of family masses from now to June:
Feb 2, Mar 2, Apr 6, May 4, June 1.
Contact: Eimear 0872077669
POLICY REVIEWS
The Board of Management is currently reviewing some school policies in consultation with staff and parents: Child Protection, Health and Safety, Use of the Internet; Commercial Goods;
There have also been some queries about our policy on School Uniform. This has been discussed at parents’ Association Meetings and at Staff meetings and the consensus if that parents are very happy with the present uniform/tracksuit. Some suggest that children should wear warm tights and/or leggings in the cold weather.
Weight of school bags is of concern to some parents—can you please check what is in the schoolbag. I recently examined a bag that contained 5 VERY FULL pencil cases, 3 bottles of water, change of clothes for going to friend’s house, 2 very large lunch boxes and books. The empty bag itself was also very heavy. It might be a good idea for parents to check the contents of bags. We will also discuss books for homework at next staff meeting.
You are welcome to send in your suggestions about any of the above and we will make a decision before the end of January.
Policies are posted on our WEB PAGE. Policies for review may have been removed temporarily.
SOME INTERNET/mobile phone SAFETY INFORMATION
I have been asked for some information on this topic:
Facebook is designed for children aged OVER 13—if your child has an account make sure the settings are private and know who their “friends” are. Also check you child’s date of birth online!!!!!. See http://www.facebook.com.safety
If you want to know about child-friendly search engines see http://google.ie/familysafety
Access parental controls on your child’s mobile phone—you can download a booklet on the many features of mobile phones from http://www.ispai.ie/docs/mobgd08.pdf
Remember cyber bullying is BEHAVIOUR issue not a technology problem. We should behave online as we do in real life with both respect and responsibility.
See http://www.o2online.ie/o2about-o2/content.php?cid=95
for information on bully using the phone;
See http://www.internetsafety.ie for info on internet bullying
Thank you to everyone for your support following the recent death of my brother. Mass has been offered for your intentions—B Fay
Ms Conlon’s dancers will put on a display of their dance routines on WEDNESDAY Feb 7th between 4 and 5.30. The children will have a more detailed timetable before the date.
GREEN COMMITTEE NEWS-OUR 5th GREEN FLAG
The committee is very busy this term preparing for inspection for our next GREEN FLAG on BIODIVERSITY. Work for this flag has been on-going since the new school opened in Sep 2011 and we are involved in many interesting projects on recycling (Batteries, Paper, stamps, etc) litter (tidy towns, litter free school, etc) transport (walking to school, cycling) composting. The newer initiatives on BIODIVERSITY include out vegetable garden, our willow garden, our wild flower space, a proposed hedgerow, —these will all allow us to see first hand the life cycles and interdependence of various species of birds, insects, etc.
Inspection Date: 26th February
Collection of clothes
As part of our recycling programme, we organise a collection of clothes for Liberties Training and Development Organisation. Bags will be distributed in next few days. Instructions for filling them will be attached. Please return to the school for COLLECTION on WEDNESDAY 30th Jan
Last Friday of the Month
January Theme – Back to Front Day
February Theme – Valentine Day
March Theme – Green Day
April Theme – Fancy Hats
May Theme – Summer
June Theme – Shades and Shorts
Reminders will be posted on Parents Notice Board