First Term Report - 3rd and 4th Class

3^rd and 4^th class have been very busy in the first term.  Cormac has recounted all the happenings of the class:

“When we came back from the summer holidays we started training for cross country.  At the end of September we went to Thurles to do cross country.  In September, we also did lines in art, we learned about the Stone Age, the counties and big numbers.

At the start of October we went on to multiplication, the Bronze Age and patterns in art.  The end of October was very busy.  We were baking Halloween creatures, we started swimming, did cross country in Clonmel and had a Halloween party. 

After the Halloween Holidays we started division, fractions, Greek Myths and paint.  We did more swimming lessons and we made board games.  We also started clay, knitting and tin whistle.  We grew plants and were learning about food chains.  We started measuring the temperature with thermometers.

Coming up to Christmas we started length and 3-D shapes, making shapes out of pipe cleaners and cardboard.  We started electricity in Science and made our own circuit quizzes.  We also make lots of different Christmas Art and created our own Christmas Haikus.”

Christmas Nativity

Mrs Egan's Junior and Senior Infants put on, not one, but two performances of their Nativity play this afternoon. The first glimpse of the eagerly awaited play was afforded to the students of all the other classes. And they loved it!

At half past one it was the parents' turn to enjoy the delightful performance. Well done to Mrs Egan and all her young actors.

Christmas Salt Dough Shapes

Miss O'Connor and her charges were hard at work making salt dough Christmas decorations. If you fancy having a go at making some yourself, Jack Treacy has kindly written out the instructions for you.

Christmas Art - First and Second Class

The talented artists in First and Second Class had their fingerprints all over this one!

Christmas in Ballingarry - A Poetry Selection

A selection of poems on the theme of Christmas in Ballingarry
Christmas in Ballingarry by Lee Lyons (6th Class) It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, The baby is in bed, Mam’s cooking dinner, I race down to get my sled. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, The dogs are excited The turkey is ready We’re all delighted. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, Our family is together We’re all eating dinner Dad’s complaining about the weather. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, The presents are open We’re all outside There is no one in Tobin’s. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, The baby awakes We’re standing outside Looking at the frozen lakes.	Christmas in Ballingarry by James Egan (5th Class) It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, The Santa letters are sent. People are looking forward To the end of Advent. On Christmas Eve Santa’s halfway across the world Delivering presents To every boy and girl. The lights are glowing nicely And everyone is still Until they see a small red dot Flying across Slieveardagh hills Everyone’s asleep, When Santa’s on the roof Until someone hears The banging of a hoof. Christmas is over in Ballingarry, I hope that you had fun There’s one last thing to say ‘Happy New Year to everyone!’
Christmas in Ballingarry by Tadhg O’Brien It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, Snow is falling, soft and light. Windows are aglow. Santa’s coming tonight. But we also must remember, A baby, so they say. It’s Jesus Christ our Saviour Who was born on Christmas Day. Santa has brought us his gifts But children must remember The Blessed Jesus Christ, Who was born in late December. Excitement fills the air. Children dance around Santa has filled their stockings Love and hope abounds.	Christmas in Ballingarry by Rory O’Brien (6th Class) It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, And everyone’s at Mass People are excited The dinner will taste class. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, Snowballs are being flung, Everybody’s happy, Baubles are being hung. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, The village is so bright, Children cannot wait Santa’s coming tonight. It’s Christmas in Ballingarry, Decorations have been hung, Snowmen are being built While Carols are being sung.
Christmas in Ballingarry by Grace Egan (5th Class) It’s Christmas in Ballingarry The chimney needs a sweep. Poor Santa could get stuck But hey, we’ll be asleep! The church is all full For Christmas Mass, I’ll go to bed quickly And hope time will pass. I’ve got carrots for Rudolph And cookies for Santa And I’ve even left out A big bottle of Fanta. It’s Christmas morning, I open my eyes But there are gifts for my brother Surprise, surprise!

Christmas Clay

Some Christmas clay figures from the Senior Room.

Bertie the Bunny

We had a very special visitor to our school during December. Tadhg O'Brien tells us more!

Today Bertie and Emma from Maxi Zoo visited the school. Emma taught us lots about animals. She taught us how to look after our pets. She told us about the 'Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare'.

At the end we got to rub Bertie the Bunny. He is four months old and is a Lionhead Rabbit.

Writers of the Month - November 2018

Well done to this crew of super scribes who won the 'Writer of the Month' awards for the month of November. 

Class of the Month - November 2018

Mrs. Egan's class are setting the early pace in the 'Class of the Year' competition. They secured November's 'Class of the Month' which is their second award of the year.

Telling Tales!

The eager young authors in the Senior Room got an opportunity to showcase their writing talents recently when they read their original stories to the students of the Junior Room. The Juniors were very impressed with  the stories and were delighted to be able to chat with the authors afterwards.

Writers of the Month - October 2018

Here they are, the October 'Writers of the Month'. Well done one and all and keep up the good work!

Class of the Month - October 2018

A hearty congratulations to First and Second Class for winning Class of the Month for October.

Our Successful Artists

Well done to Sophie Hayes of First Class who won a prize in the recent Credit Union art competition.

Have a look at her beautiful drawing below. It is based on the theme 'Forces of Nature'

Fifth Class student Colin Murray was delighted to see his picture featured on an episode of News2Day. He, along with his classmates, entered an art competition in a bid to win the opportunity to turn on the Christmas lights at the RTE students. Unfortunately Colin didn't win but seeing his wonderful picture on TV was a pleasant surprise for us all.

Wrapping Up For Winter

Even Florrie is feeling the cold this winter. Don't forget to wear your coat to school every day.

Newsletter - November 2018

Thursday, November 8^th 2018

Dear Parents/Guardians

Thank you

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all parents, students and staff for their wonderful hard work during our busy first half term in Our lady’s N.S.

• Sponsored Walk raised €1150 and huge thanks to all for your support.
• The Halloween costumes for our Dress-up Day were amazing. A great day of game playing, modelling and fun was had by all.  We raised €405.00

Book Fair

·       Due to the success of our Book Fair on October 15^th – 18^th, we received €900   worth of beautiful good quality books for our school library.  Many thanks again to all families for supporting the book fair and helping your school with this exciting initiative.

·        GOAL Jersey Day

Goal Jersey Day was held on Friday 12^th October, the children looked fabulous in their jerseys.  We raised €190 for GOAL.

Christmas Activities

• Christmas Shoe Box Appeal

We organised 20 shoe boxes for the Shoebox Appeal and children made a huge effort to make the boxes very exciting for all the children receiving them.  This was much appreciated.  No doubt they will put a smile on many faces on Christmas morning!

• Thinking of Others:

As it is near the season of goodwill and a special time for thinking of others we have once again decided to organise a food collection for the “less well off” in our community and present it to a St Vincent De Paul member at our Christmas Mass on Thursday Dec 20^th at 11am.   One contribution per family will suffice.  Every little helps but please don’t feel under pressure at this time of year.        

                        

·        Christmas Cards in Our Lady’s N.S.

This year we would once again encourage children not to bring in a Christmas Card for every child in their class.  Instead each class is going to have a “Christmas Card Kris Krindle”.  Each child will be given plain card and an envelope to bring home to make a card for a friend, whose name they pulled out of a hat.  They must put this in the “Class Post Box” before Monday December 17^th and they will be “delivered” in time for Christmas holidays.

  

·        Christmas Mass/Raffle

This year our Bumper Raffle will take place on Thursday 20^th December after the Christmas Mass.  As always we have a huge array of fabulous prizes.  Tickets will go home to all families on Monday, December 3^rd.  All parents welcome to attend. 

• Christmas Annuals

Christmas Annuals are available to order through the school for €3.

Junior/Senior Infants – Carnival   -    1^st / 2^nd Class – Fairground

3^rd / 4^th Class – Parade                   -   5^th / 6^th Class – Festival

Money needs to be in by Friday 7^th December.

Reminders:

• Please ensure that infants are collected promptly at 2pm
• As per our school rules students must wear full uniform to school except on gym days where they are obliged to wear the school tracksuit and appropriate runners for health and safety reasons.
• Homework: Homework is given to all pupils on a regular basis.  We ask you to ensure that it is done carefully and the child’s journal signed (1^st – 6^th) each night.
• Requisites Reminder: If anyone has overlooked payment of requisites, €21 for 1^st – 6^th and €15 for infants, please forward to the school at your earliest convenience.

• School Lunches

Please check Carambola website for updates/menu changes on school lunches.  Please talk

to your child and change their menu choices regularly online.  We encourage all children to eat their healthy lunches in school.

• Dog Fouling

On Health & Safety grounds we are deeply concerned that some dog owners are entering school grounds and allowing their dogs to foul.  This is extremely worrying as children can pick up various infections/diseases from dog faeces.

We would strongly urge all dog owners not to allow their dogs onto school grounds and to keep their dogs on a leash when walking past the school..

Upcoming Events

DATE	EVENT
Tues Nov 13th	Taster Day – Presentation Convent for 5th & 6th Class
Tues 13th & Wed 14th Nov	Parent/Teacher meetings - all Classes
Mon Dec 3rd	Hearing & Vision Screening –Jnr Infants
Friday 18th Dec	Final swimming lessons for 3rd to 6th Class students
Thursday, December 20th at 11am	Christmas Mass Celebration in School Library Bumper Christmas Raffle
Friday, December 21st	Christmas Holidays – 12noon
Monday, January 7th 2019	Return to school

 

Board of Management

The following is the Agreed Report from Board meeting held on Thurs 25^th October.

• The Board is delighted to have 101 pupils in Our Lady’s N.S. this year and would like to take the opportunity to wish children, staff and parents a successful school year. 

• The Board wishes Mrs Meagher well on her retirement.

• The Board congratulated the school on the Standardised Test reports.

• The Board wishes to thank Parents Council, Parents, Pupils and Staff on recent fundraising

Ø  Sponsored Walk - €1150.00

Ø  Halloween Dress Up Day - €405

Ø  Book Fair - €900 worth of free books for the School Library

Ø  GOAl Jersey Day - €190

Your invaluable support is much appreciated and all monies raised will be put to good use for our school this year.

• The Board congratulated our 3^rd to 6^th class students on their recent participation

and success in Athletics and wishes to thank Ms Mason and Mr Gleeson for their help in preparing them.

• The Board is glad to announce the upcoming investment in the schools I.T.  Two Mi Touch Interactive LED Multitouch Screen will be installed in the Junior Room and Mrs O’ Dea’s Room.  Further investment will be made over the coming years

• The Board wishes to express gratitude to all members of our School Community who helped to have our school looking so well on our return in September.  Thanks to Pat our Caretaker, Evelyn our Cleaner and Michael Kavanagh who is in charge of the grass and Willie McGrath our “Safety Officer” who stored our benches over the Summer break

• The Board thanked Catriona Geeves for her service to the B.O.M over the past three years and wished her and her family well.   Áine McGrath who received the next highest number of votes at election time is willing to take over the role for the remaining year of the current Boards tenure.

          The Board welcomed Áine on board!                  

          Thanking you once again for your continued support.

         

          ____________________________

          Sheila O’ Sullivan (Principal)

_________________________________________________________________________­­____________________

Members of Board:

Fr Derry Quirke                Sheila O’ Sullivan              Deirdre Egan          Áine McGrath

Anne Croke                      Willie McGrath                  Tom Butler               Tadhg Vaughan

Happy Halloween!

As usual, Halloween was a terrifying experience at Our Lady's N.S. The children made a huge effort with their costumes again this year. Mrs. Egan's pumpkin soup went down a treat and the 'Fashion Parade' was as popular as always.

Scholastic Book Fair

The annual Scholastic Book Fair is a great way to get children excited about reading. It also helps the school to earn free books for the library. Thanks to everyone who supported the book fair again this year.

Maths Week

5th and 6th Class enjoyed their Maths Trail as part of Maths Week 2018.

Cross Country Running

On Wednesday, October 24th. our 3rd to 6th Class athletes travelled to Marlfield to compete in the South Tipperary Primary Schools Cross Country Championships. They did exceptionally well. Both of our girls' teams secured silver medals while both of our boys' teams won gold. On top of that our boys won the Bill Hyland Perpetual Shield for the 'Best Boys Medium School Gp 1' competition.

There were individual medals for Jack Treacy (1st) and Eoin Boylan (2nd) in the 3rd/4th Class Boys race. Elizabeth Tye won a bronze medal in the 5th/6th Class Girls race. Ben Ivors (1st) and Tommy McGrath (2nd) won medals in the 5th/6th Class Boys race.

Well done to all our young athletes.

Swimming

Our Lady’s N.S.                               

Ballingarry, Thurles, Co Tipperary.                                             

Tel/Fax:           052 9154533

Email:              ourladysns@gmail.com

Blog:               ourladysns.blogspot.ie

Charity No: 20167202

Wednesday 17^th October 2018

Dear Parents/Guardians

As part of our P.E. Curriculum we are pleased to offer swimming lessons again this year.   Lessons for 3^rd to 6^th class only will commence on Tuesday next 23^rd October.

Buses will leave the school promptly at 9.45am. 

Swimming lessons will cost €6 per week or can be paid in full.  If paying weekly we ask that €6 be paid in advance of the swimming session each week.

Please ensure your child has the following for swimming classes:

1.      Swimming togs (one piece swimming suit for girls- no bikinis)

2.      I large towel

3.      Swimming hat (children are not allowed in the pool without a hat)

4.      Plastic bag for wet things

5.      Spare pair of socks

6.      Underwear! Children may wear their swimsuits under their tracksuits in the morning so don’t forget to pack the undies

7.      A bag for all gear

8.      Verruca shoes are optional – available in most sports shops

9.      Could the girls with long hair have it tied up please

10. No spray deodorant – roll-on only

11. No hair products inc shampoo, gels mousse etc

*Below is the list of swimming dates for 3^rd – 6^th class:  (6  Fridays + 2 Tuesdays)

(There are two swimming lessons in one week so as to have session completed before Christmas.)

1	Tues, 23rd Oct	5	Fri 30th Nov
2	Fri 9th Nov	6	Fri 7th Dec
3	Fr 16th Nov	7	Tues 11th Dec
4	Fri 23rd Nov	8	Fri 14th Dec

Thanking you for your co-operation

Yours sincerely

Ms O’ Sullivan

Ms S O’ Sullivan – Principal

_________________________________________________________________________­­____________________

Members of Board:

Fr Derry Quirke                Sheila O’ Sullivan              Deirdre Egan          Catriona Geeves

Anne Croke                      Willie McGrath                  Tom Butler               Tadhg Vaughan

Sponsored Walk

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to attend our annual sponsored walk this morning (Sunday, September 26th.). Thanks also to everyone who sponsored a walker too. This event is one of our main fundraisers so all your support is very much appreciated.

Thanks also to the Parents' Council for providing the refreshments and to Willie McGrath for ensuring that we were safe on the road.

Writers of the Month - September 2018

These boys and girls have started off the new school year in positive fashion and impressed Ms O'Sullivan with their presentation and penmanship. Well done to our latest writers of the month.

Class of the Month - September 2018

Mrs Egan's class picked up the first Class of the Month award of the new school year. And well deserved it was too. Well done Infants and enjoy your two nights off homework.