MILFORD NATIONAL SCHOOL – 19th December 2018
Dear Parents and Guardians,
CHRISTMAS CLOSING UPDATE: a large funeral mass will take place in Milford Church on Friday at 11am. Please take care on Friday at collection time as the carparks and roads near the school will be very busy. In the interest of health & safety the school has put the following arrangements in place: 1) Pupils may be collected early from their classrooms from 10:30am on Friday morning. 2) Pupils not collected before 12pm will be supervised in the the school gym up until 12:30pm. 3) All pupils must be signed out on Friday (either in the classroom or the gym). 4) The only exception to this is where a parent gives written permission for their child to walk or cycle home on Friday morning. 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. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
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. Over 80 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 8th, 3-4pm on the old astro-turf facility in UL. This year the code will be football. (Last year it was hurling). 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.
THE MILFORD GAZETTE: The Winter Edition of The Milford Gazette is now available online on our school website & Twitter page. Well done to all pupils from 4th-6th class who took part in this years Christmas Bauble art competition. Congratulations to Olivia Flannery (4th Class), Leah Fitzgibbon (5th Class) and Melissa Do (6th Class). Their winning designs are featured in the paper, along with some Christmas gift ideas, movie reviews and recipes. Well done to our editors Laurie, Kate, Julie and Sofie. Many thanks to Ms. Elaine Rael for leading the ‘Gazette Team’ each week.
DEBATE TEAM: The Debate team’s second competitive debate was against Feenagh N.S. on Monday 10th December. Well done to all the children involved and many thanks to Ms. Larkin and Ms O’Meara for leading our debate team.
GATEWAY TO EDUCATION LIMERICK: Gateway to Education Limerick run a homework club at Plassey Village Hall to help children to complete their homework with the help of student volunteers from the University of Limerick. The club caters for children ages 6-12. The club runs every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 4:30pm – 6:30pm. The club costs €12 per child. For further information please contact Limerick gateway via email limerickgateway@gmail.com or phone 061-481633.
COMMUNITY GAMES CHESS: The closing date for registration is the 16th of January. If parents are interested in having their children play for the U13 Community Games Chess competition, they can provide their names to Ronan Connolly, at 087 283 5569, or at ronan.connolly@gmail.com.
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.
HOMEWORK POLICY: Our Homework Policy has been updated and is available to view on our school website. Many thanks to all the parents who completed the online survey. Your feedback was very valuable in helping us to shape the revised policy.
ENROLMENTS 2019: The closing date for enrolments for Junior Infants for September 2019 is 3pm, Friday, January 25th 2019. 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.
SUZUKI VIOLIN: Term 2 will commence on Wednesday the 16th of January. Beginners welcome. Please contact Ms. Hynes for more details.
LOTTO: Many thanks to everyone who plays the school lotto. The jackpot for our weekly lotto is now at €7,300. The next draw will take place on Thursday, December 20th. There will also be a raffle for a laptop on this day.
RAINBOWS: Rainbows Ireland works to enable children and young people who have experienced a significant loss to access peer support. This support happens within their local communities as they seek to come to terms with their grief and loss. We are currently in the process of setting up a Rainbows Centre in Milford N.S. Ms. Sarah Spicer, Ms. Maggie Moloney, Ms. Hannah O’Sullivan and Ms. Áine Fitzpatrick are now fully trained as coordinators and facilitators. They hope to have a group up and running in the New Year.
BUILDINGS & REPAIRS: We are delighted to announce that the school has received written approval from the DES to carry out renovations to our school roof in the form of the replacement of 35 roof lights and repairs to the tiles. Presently, we are preparing the necessary documentation to initiate the tendering process in order to employ a consultant to coordinate the project.
MILFORD NATIONAL SCHOOL CHRISTMAS CHORAL NIGHT: Children from 3rd to 5th participated in a beautiful choral performance on Tuesday, December 11th at 7.30pm in the church. Many thanks to the classroom teachers, special needs assistants for preparing the children so well for their performance. Many thanks also to past pupils Celine O’Meara, Seán O’Meara & Saoirse Exton for playing in our band on the evening. They were ably assisted by Siobhan Fenton, Linda O’Meara, Áine Fitzpatrick, Hannah O’Sullivan and Laura Hynes. Special thanks to Orla Murray (choir conductor), Angela Reidy and Linda O’Meara for cordinating the concert. Sixth Class will stage their version of A Christmas Carol in the church on Thursday, 20th December.
CHRISTMAS PAGEANTS: On Thursday 13th December and Friday, 14th December, the children from Juniors to Second Class performed their pageants in the church at 1pm. Junior and Senior Infants performed on the Thursday. First and Second Classes performed on the Friday. Many thanks to their teachers, special needs assistants and, of course, to the Mums and Dads, for all their hard work in preparing the children for their big performances. Special thanks also to the Salesian Fathers for their support and cooperation in facilitating our school to rehearse and perform in their church.
CHRISTMAS PANTO: Junior Infants to Second Class enjoyed the Christmas panto, Snow White, in U.C.H. today, Wednesday, December 19th.
CONGRATULATIONS: Congratulations to Deirdre Taylor on the birth of her beautiful baby daughter, Cara. Congratulations also to Ms. Linda O’Meara who celebrated her wedding last weekend.
DATES TO NOTE:
- School reopens on Monday, 7th January 2019.
- School closure – 18th – 22nd February inclusive (Mid-Term Break)
- Fundraising Raffle – March 15th
- Confirmation: Thursday 4th April 2019 at 10:30am
- First Holy Communion: Saturday May 18th 2019 at 11am.
Go raibh síocháin na Nollag agus na Bliana Nua faoi shéan ‘s faoi shonas ort ‘s ar do mhuintir!
Diarmaid Moore
Principal
