MILFORD NATIONAL SCHOOL – 5th September 2018
Dear Parents,
Fáilte is fiche roimh gach duine. You are all very welcome back to Milford after the long summer holidays, and a special welcome to you if it is your first journey through the school. Here are a few notices as we start the new school year.
Opening and Closing Times: The school is open to receive pupils from 8.45 a.m. The school office is open from 8:55 a.m. The yard will be supervised from 8.50 a.m. No responsibility is accepted for pupils arriving before 8.50 a.m. Classes will commence each day at 9.00 a.m. No pupil should arrive later than 8.55 a.m. Pupils who need to use the toilet in the mornings may use the toilet facilities in the gym. Pupils who need to drop off their musical instruments may store them in the After-School Facility and then proceed to the yard.
Classes for the children in Junior Infants and Senior Infants end at 1.40 p.m.(children in Junior Infants will begin going home at this time from Monday, 17th September). Parents of these children are aware of their meeting point for collecting their child from the teacher. Classes will end each day at 2.40 p.m. for children in classes from First to Sixth. Parents who wish to collect their children should make arrangements to have them met at the end of the school path or car-park.
The School Welcome Sign is the designated area for parents who need to collect their child from a Special Needs Assistant. The person meeting the child(ren) should be at the school no later than 2.40 p.m. as the school cannot accept responsibility for children after that time.
All-Ireland Champions: It was a wonderful summer for Limerick hurling as the County Senior Hurling Team won the Liam McCarthy Cup for the first time in 45 years. We are extremely proud to have a number of past pupils involved in this historic victory. A huge congratulations to Gearóid Hegarty (player), Brian Geary (selector) and Paul Kinnerk (selector & coach). Everyone in Milford NS is eagerly looking forward to welcoming Gearóid, Brian and Paul back to their Alma Mater with the Liam McCarthy Cup. Luimneach Abú!
Lunches: Almost 20 years ago, in consultation with parents at the time, we initiated a Healthy Eating Policy in our school. Indeed, at the time, we were one of the very first schools to do so and many other schools have followed our lead since then. We thank you the parents for your ongoing support of this Healthy Eating Policy and we congratulate you on the nutritious contents of the children’s lunchboxes! In recognition of the efforts that parents are putting into the Healthy Eating Policy, we have focused on the issue much more in recent times. This week, the children are being given five minutes extra each day to eat their lunches in the classrooms. Teachers spoke to their classes about the importance of eating all of their lunch. They have also highlighted the fact that children have always been encouraged to take any unfinished lunch out to the yard with them, during both breaks, to finish eating it outside. It is important to realise that Lunch Break lasts from 12:30 pm to 1pm and that children may use all of this entire half hour to eat if they choose. Similarly, children may use the entire morning break to eat a substantial portion of their lunch while they are out on the yard if they choose to do so. Hopefully, we have managed to raise the children’s awareness of these matters and hopefully they are now more aware of the importance of finishing a healthy lunch each day at school. We are also encouraging the children to put all their wrappers/cling film/tin foil/bags back into their lunchboxes so that you can see exactly what your child is eating/not eating each day.
Church Car-Park: Please advise the person collecting your child in the afternoons to use only the designated spaces in the church carparks. Only vehicles displaying a Milford National School Parking Permit should advance past the church. Parents collecting children should not park in front of the Salesian Hostel, The problem with parking has been largely alleviated due to the cooperation of our parent body and the enforcing of rules re unauthorised personnel etc. Unauthorised cars will be clamped as the safe passage of our pupils to and from school is of paramount importance to the school management body.
Medication: Parents, please advise the school if your child has any medical issues about which you need to alert the school and for which indemnity and information forms will need to be filled out. I would also remind parents that medication already in the school may be out-of-date and may need to be replaced.
Nut Free Zone: As several of our children suffer from a nut allergy, please remember that Milford NS is a nut free zone. We ask that you do not send nuts / nut extracts or nut products in any form to school in your child’s lunch box and especially on treat days. This would include, amongst many others, products such as Nutella, peanut butter, chocolate spreads that contain nuts, cereal bars with nuts, etc. If you are unsure, please check the food label as ingredients can change and are not always obvious in the main packaging description. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
School Car-Park: Parents, please be advised that children need to follow the path around by the fence when entering and exiting the school. Please cross the car-park at the safety crossing only. Please do not cycle or walk through the staff carpark. Even when accompanying your child into or out of the school do please observe this important safety requirement to encourage good safety habits in your child. We would appreciate your co-operation with this important safety issue.
Sports Activities: The autumn sporting season has commenced and football training started last week. Many thanks to our very dedicated teachers who give voluntarily of their time and expertise to coach and organise teams, and accompany children to matches at this very busy time of the year.
Organisation of the teams is as follows:
u/10 Boys: Denis O’Connor Aaron Gallagher
u/11 Boys: Diarmaid Moore
u/13 Boys: Brian Kelly Áine Fitzpatrick
u/11 Girls: John Nelligan Hannah O’Sullivan
u/13 Girls: Celine Munnelly Maggie Moloney
Basketball training with Ms. Quinlan, will take place in Milford School Gym from October, day to be decided.
After-School Activities: There will be a wide variety of extra-curricular activities available after school, too numerous to list here. The teachers who are involved in these activities will communicate with children regarding days, times, venues etc.
Enrolments: There is a large number of applications on file for the Junior Infant classes for September 2019 and there will be only 60 places available. Priority will be given to siblings of children already in Milford. Please notify the school, immediately, if your child qualifies under the sibling rule to make sure he/she is on the list for 2019.
Gym Bookings : Many activities are available for children and adults in the school gym and also in the school hall. Yoga, Pilates, Taek-Wan-Do, Gymnastics, Irish Dancing, Frontline Stage school, are all on offer, to name but a few. Check out the available activities on our school website. Contact details for the various activities may be found on www.milfordns.ie
Lotto: The lotto draw will re-commence shortly. Many thanks for your loyal support of this vital fund-raising activity. The Lotto is a valuable contribution to the financings of the new gymnasium which will give your children endless hours of pleasure over the coming years. Thank you, parents, who have contributed so generously over the past year. A very special thanks also to the parents who give so generously to the gym fund through the voluntary contribution.
Geoff Hunt: Geoff Hunt will be visiting our school again this year, resuming his hugely enjoyable classes and trips to educate our pupils on the local area and environment. Details will be communicated to the relevant classes shortly.
School Uniform Reminder: The uniform consists of a brown crested school jumper or cardigan, cream shirt or blouse and brown gymslip, skirt or trousers. Black or brown shoes should be worn with the brown school uniform (no Ugg boots please). This uniform is worn from 1st to 6th. Under no circumstances should runners be worn under skirts or trousers. The school track-suit is worn on PE days. It is dark blue with a pale blue stripe and is crested. A light blue polo shirt may be worn underneath. Runners may be worn with the track-suit. If possible, runners with a light-coloured sole should be worn to prevent marking of the gym floor. The track-suit is the only uniform necessary for Junior and Senior Infants.
School Closures 2018/2019: Information on school closures for the coming year has already been sent home in June. This information is also posted on the school website.
Update Contact Details: If your contact details (landline, mobile, email, address) have changed in the last year please contact the school as soon as possible with the correct information. You can also update your contact details via the Aladdin Connect App.
School Mass: Beginning of Year Mass will be celebrated on Friday 5th October at 11.30am. The Enrolment Ceremony for 2nd Class (First Holy Communion Class) will take place during the Children’s Mass on Sunday, 7th Oct at 10.30am.
Swimming: Swimming has commenced this week for classes from Senior Infants to 6th, depending on the 8-week timetable rota. Swimming is an important and mandatory element of the P.E. curriculum and we are most fortunate to have a world-class swimming pool on our doorstep. I would ask you to please make sure your child avails of this rare facility which we can offer all year round in this school. Please note that swimming is a compulsory component of the Revised Curriculum for Primary Schools. Please refer to the Swimming Policy available on www.milfordns.ie for more information on arrangements, procedures etc.
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.
School Choir: Choir will recommence on Thursday 13th September. Choir takes place in the staffroom each week from 2:45-3:45pm. The choir is for children from 4th to 6th class. Members of the choir are asked to bring a cushion for sitting on, a black A4 folder with plastic pockets for storing music sheets and a bottle of water if required. We look forward to seeing current members of the choir, as well as the new members who auditioned in June.
The Milford Gazette: Our online school newspaper, The Milford Gazette, returns every second Wednesday 2.40pm-3.30pm from 19th September in Room 14 with Ms. Rael. Any pupils from 5th & 6th Class who would like to join the news team should inquire with Ms. Rael for further details.
Lenrec Recycling: A Lenrec clothes recycling event has been organised by our Parents’ Council – collection date is Friday, 19th October.
New Buildings: While we await the building of our new rooms, Classroom 19 and an extra SEN room, will be housed in temporary accommodation. The temporary accommodation presently on site will be replaced with a custom made structure during the mid-term break. The permanent building is at the design stage.
Shakin’ with Shakespeare: Shakin’ with Shakespeare club will recommence on Tuesday, September 11th in Room 3. In this club, the children learn some of William Shakespeare plays through the use of drama, video clips and discussion. Interested pupils from 5th and 6th classes can join the group, which will run each week for a 10 week block from 2:45- 3:45pm. Please contact Ms. Murray for more information.
Meitheal: A Meitheal was traditionally when neighbours came together to help each other. In the same spirit, we hope to organise a Meitheal in Milford N.S. sometime during the school year. Parents have always been a wonderful support to our school. Cake sales, book fairs, school shows, fund raising events, swimming helpers, garden helpers, walk to school volunteers are but a few of the events that parents have helped out with in the past. If you have a skill or trade or area of expertise that you would like to offer to our school please let us know either by email (office@milfordns.ie) or phone call (061-339123).
Meeting the Teacher: Parents can arrange an appointment to meet their class teacher (or SEN teacher) through the school secretary (061-339123), by writing to the teacher, via email at office@milfordns.ie or by mentioning it to the teacher when collecting their child.
Aladdin Communication App: Over 90% of families have signed in to our school parent portal called Aladdin. End of Year Reports and Standardised Scores are available to view on the portal either through the internet (link on school website) or via the Aladdin App (free to download). In excess of 80% of families have validated a mobile number on the app. Mobile validation means that this number will receive an app message (which are free) instead of a text message. Keep in mind the family may still receive a text message if there are other unvalidated numbers stored in the students Mobile text number(s) field.
Anti-Cyberbullying / Internet Safety Workshop: Our guest speaker Ger Brick will be delivering a 90 minute Anti-Cyberbullying / Internet Safety Workshop to pupils of 3rd to 6th Class in October (date to be confirmed). Formally an IT Manager with Microsoft Ireland for 17 years, Ger Brick has 20+ years’ experience working on the Internet and has delivered workshops to over 20,000 primary school children throughout Ireland. He delivered a workshop to our school community two years ago. It received wonderful feedback and we are looking forward to welcoming Ger back to Milford NS in October. A Parent Information evening will be held at 7.00pm on an evening to be confirmed during the same week. Parents of all pupils in the school are asked to attend. Full details regarding the workshops will be posted in our October Newsletter, on www.milfordns.ie and via the Aladdin App.
Book Fair: A Book Fair by Scholastic Publications has been organised for our school for the 10th – 17th October. During the week, we will be inviting children to come and view the books on sale. They will have opportunity to purchase books, if they wish, at the time allocated to their class. At Milford N.S. we aim to promote The Love of Reading and are keen to provide suitable reading material at all levels. We hope, through this year’s Book Fair, to continue to heighten the profile of “Reading for Pleasure” throughout the school. Running this Book Fair also affords us the opportunity to increase and renew Library Stock in the Class libraries as the school will receive 60% of the Total Sales in Book Commission. We have earned in excess of €25,000 worth of book stock and classroom resources since the first Book Fair in Milford NS in 1997! Members of the Parents Council will preview all books/stationery to determine suitability and value for money.
Bliain na Gaeilge 2018: 2018 is officially Bliain na Gaeilge, with our native language being celebrated at home and all around the world. We have decided to make the school year 2018/19 our Bliain na Gaeilge. We aim to promote the Irish language throughout the year through visual displays, movies, dramas and special events. Our school themes for this month are ‘Mé Féin’ (myself) and ‘Ar Scoil’ (at school).
Other News: Welcome to Ms. Sarah Spicer who has joined our school teaching staff. Ms. Spicer will be based in First Class (Room 9) this year, working alongside Ms. Munnelly. Welcome back also to Ms. Fitzpatrick (Sixth Class), Ms. O’Sullivan (Fifth Class), Mr. O’Brien (Second Class) and Ms. Murray (Junior Infants).
Parents, please refer to the school website for most school information – www.milfordns.ie.
As we all look forward to the new school year I want to once again thank you for your continued support, cooperation and dedication.
Le gach dea-ghuí
Diarmaid Moore
Principal
