MILFORD NATIONAL SCHOOL – 23rd October 2018
Dear Parents,
We hope your child is well settled back to school by now and looking forward to the Mid-Term break. Welcome to all our new pupils and we hope you are enjoying life in Milford School.
Enrolments 2019: Please check to ensure your child’s name is down for 2019 if he/she qualifies under the sibling rule.
Cyber Safety: A Parent Information evening on Anti-Cyberbullying / Internet Safety will be held on Tuesday 23rd October 2018 7pm-9pm in Milford N.S. Parents of all pupils in the school are encouraged to attend. Our guest speaker, Ger Brick, has 20+ years’ experience working on the Internet and has delivered workshops to over 20,000 primary school children throughout Ireland. Ger will also deliver workshops during the day to the children in Classes 3rd to 6th.
Referendum & Election – October 26th: The school has been requisitioned for use as a polling station for the forthcoming referendum on Friday, October 26th. There will be no school for children on that day.
Aladdin Connect App: We are encouraging parents to validate their mobile numbers on the Aladdin Connect App. At the moment, 69% of families in our school have validated a mobile number on the app. The cost of text messages to the school are significantly less depending on how many people have installed the app and who have validated their number. Mobile validation means that this number will receive an app message instead of a text message. Please keep in mind that a family may still receive a text message if there are other unvalidated numbers stored in the students profile.
GAA: Last Thursday was a wonderful day of celebration in the school. Congratulations to the u11 Girls, u13 Girls and our u11 Boys on winning their respective league finals in the Gaelic Grounds. Best wishes to the u13 girls will now advance to the County Semi-Final which will be played after the mid-term break. Best wishes also to the u13 Boys who will contest the City Shield Final in the Gaelic Grounds. Many thanks to the many parents who provided transport to all the matches and to the teachers, Maggie Moloney, Celine Munnelly, Hannah O’Sullivan, John Nelligan, Sarah Spicer, Conor O’Brien, Denis O’Connor, Aaron Gallagher, Brian Kelly and Áine Fitzpatrick, who coached the boys and girls this year in the skills of gaelic football.
Congratulations also to Ellie Madden, Aoife O’Brien, Bella Collins, Grace Field, Matthew Fitzgerald and Jack Lavelle who have been selected for the Limerick City Primary Schools’ Gaelic Football Teams in the Larkin Shield (girls) and Spillane Cup (boys). The pupils had to attend three or four trials before being selected from a group of the city’s best Gaelic Footballers to represent Limerick City in the upcoming Divisional Competition.
Swimming – Munster Schools Gala: Congratulations to our pupils who swam in the Munster Swimming Championships. Daragh Horgan, Jack O’Connor, Michael Flannery and Rian Horgan swam in the Under 12 front-crawl relay and came 6th in Munster. Daragh, Jack, Michael and Jordi Ward swam individual medley relay and also came 6th. Daragh Horgan won a gold and silver in the individual events and qualified for the National School Swimming Championships. Sophie Keane won a silver and finished 7th in individual events and also qualified for Nationals! It really was a great day for Milford and the children who participated in the races.
Maths Week October 15th to 23rd: There were lots of activities taking place throughout the school for Maths week, with the emphasis on “Maths for All”. Classes from Junior Infants up to Sixth engaged in fun and practical Maths activities and challenges. Many thanks, Ms. Doody and the Numeracy Team for coordinating the activities.
Parents’ Council :
- Book Fair Update 2018: There was quite a buzz around Milford NS last week as the children got the opportunity to visit and buy books if they wished. The success of the Book Fair was guaranteed by the wonderful team of Parents Council members who acted as stewards, librarians, stocktakers and accountants throughout the week. A special word of thanks to Jean Flannery who liaised and coordinated throughout. Our Book Fair total spend was €6,502.17 which earns us a whopping €3,900 approximately to spend on literacy and numeracy resources: library books, reading kits, guided readers, maths kits literacy and numeracy equipment. We are very grateful for your support and look forward to the arrival of our new resources.
- Many thanks to everyone who helped out with our recent clothing recycle event. The total raised was €263.20
- A Cake Sale will take place on Thursday, October 25th. All donations of cakes, buns and treats can be left into the staffroom on the morning of Thursday, 25th. Please remember that we are a NUT FREE ZONE. Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
Well done and thank you to Chairperson, Ms. Jean Flannery and her team, and to you, the parents, for your support of all these ventures. The Parents’ Council are always happy to meet new parents who would like to help out at these events.
Medical Issue: If your child has a medical issue about which we need to be informed please call to the office to collect the necessary documentation.
WOW Day: Walk on Wednesday (WOW) day generally takes place on Wednesdays from Unigolf and is proving very popular with children and parents alike. Hopefully more children & parents will regularly walk some or all of the way to school. Supervision of children on their way to school remains the responsibility of each individual parent. Parents are expected to walk with their own children as this is a parent led initiative.
Milford Gazette: The October edition of the Milford Gazette is on www.milfordns.ie. Many thanks to Ms. Rael and the editors!
Environmental: Our Wildlife expert, Geoff Hunt has been in residence for 5 days this term and has explored the themes of “Trees, Seeds and Habitats”. The weather has been exceptionally kind and the pupils have had great experiences exploring the trees of our surrounding environment. Geoff will return in the summer term.
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. Congratulations and well done to the children who recently received certificates for 100% attendance last year. See www.milfordns.ie for the photos.
Meeting the Teacher: We always encourage and welcome parents to come and talk to your child’s teacher if you have any concerns or issues you would like to discuss. However do make sure to make an appointment beforehand, preferably outside of class time, so that the teacher can give you and your concerns undivided and considered attention. An appointment may be made by contacting the office at 061 339123.
Communion and Confirmation Preparations: Congratulations to our Second classes who were formally enrolled for their First Holy Communion at the Children’s Mass on Sunday October 7th. On Wednesday, 24th October at 2:00pm, our Sixth classes will take part in the Ceremony of Light in preparation for their Confirmation.
Car Park: Please park in the designated spaces only in the church car park as the irresponsible car parking by a minority of parents is causing serious concern for the health and safety of our children. In the interest of Health & Safety, please refrain from walking or cycling through the staff car park.
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. Hopefully, the centre will be open in January. Further details and information will be published in our November newsletter.
Student Council: MNS Student Council 2018/2019 is underway and have already started their first project of the school year. The student Council are promoting and organizing this years Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal. We encourage all pupils to take part in this very worthy cause. Shoeboxes will be collected mid November so you have plenty of time to start putting one together. Last year, Milford National School collected over 300 shoeboxes which was a huge achievement. Well done to the Student Council for committing themselves to this appeal, and many thanks to the pupils and parents for taking part.
Board of Management: At its next meeting, Wednesday, October 24th, in compliance with DES directives, the Board of Management of Milford NS will conduct its annual review of the Child Protection Policy and Anti-Bullying Policy.
Garda Visit: Our Community Gardaí are scheduled to visit Milford NS to talk to the Senior Classes in relation to the dangers associated with Halloween (Pranks, bangers, fireworks, bonfires, etc).
Congratulations: Congratulations to Ms. Emma Dolphin on the recent birth of her beautiful baby boy.
Important Dates:
- Hallowe’en Events: Children may wear Halloween costumes to school on Thursday, October 25th. There will also be a cake sale that day. School will close at the usual times of 1.40pm and 2.40pm on Thursday. The following week, October 29th to November 2nd the school will be closed for mid-term. School will re-open on November 5th.
- Parent / Teacher Meetings: The designated date for these will be Monday, November 19th. However parents may be accommodated on other days outside of this date if necessary. Bookings Slots will be made available via the Aladdin App after the mid-term break.
- Christmas Choral Night: Tuesday, December 11th
- Christmas Pageants for Infant and Junior Classes : December 13th and 14th
- Confirmation: Thursday, April 4th 2019 at 10:30am
- First Holy Communion: Saturday May 18th 2019 at 11am.
Le gach dea-ghuí
Diarmaid Moore
Principal
