Dear Parents/Guardians,

♦iNet safety Talk: Ger Brick will be holding a workshop for parents/ guardians in the school on the 11^th December at 7pm. As part of our curriculum we will be teaching specific lessons on Internet Safety. Attendance at this workshop is strongly advised in order to keep our children safe online. I look forward to seeing a representative from each family there.

♦ Hallwe’en Spellathon: We raised a grand total of €3,603.65. Thank you to everyone who helped in raising these funds for gymnastics and drama for the girls in our school.

♦Parents Association: Next meeting will take place on 14^th January @7.30pm. All are welcome.

♦ Payment of money: There are still a number of outstanding book bills in the school. All money owed to the Office (photocopying, art & craft, book rental, swimming, etc.) should be placed in an envelope labelled with your child’s name, class, what it is for and the amount.

♦Heritage Schools: Lorraine O’ Sullivan from Heritage Schools came to visit the girls in Junior- 1^st class on the 19^th November. We learned lots about Irish Wildlife. Thank you to the PA for this.

♦Reminder: Please ensure your daughter is wearing the correct uniform/ tracksuit on the given days. Black footwear is to be worn with the school uniform.

♦St. Vincent De Paul Sale: This will take place on Thursday, 5^th December in the school hall for the girls in the school only. If you would like to donate any baked goods, these will also be welcomed (please write your name on any containers sent in). All the money raised will go towards St. Vincent De Paul. Don’t forget to bring a carrier bag for anything you buy on the day!

♦ Christmas Show Box Appeal: Thank you to all those who kindly donated.

♦ Christmas Elf and Snowman: A huge thank you to Mary Rooney and Susan Brennan for their kind donation of knitted elves and snowmen. These will be on sale in the office for €2 with any remaining elves and snowmen being sold on the day of the concert.

♦Athletics: Athletics for the girls from 4^th-6^th has finished. It will begin for the girls in 1^st and 2^nd class sometime in the new year. More details to follow!

♦Boxing/ Mixed Marital Arts: There will be no class on Friday 6^th Dec (this week). There will be one more class on the 13^th Dec, this is the last class. Thank you to Tullow Boxing Club.

♦Traffic: Please do not park your car or stop to drop off your daughter at the bus stop outside the school gate. This area is particularly busy in the morning and your support is vital in order to ensure that children both come and go to school safely each morning. This area is for the bus only.

♦ Board of Management: A huge thank you to the nominees on the outgoing Board of Management, particularly Aine Gahan, Tim Healy and Catherine Rooney.

New Board of Management

Chairperson: Gearoid Connolly                    Secretary to the Board/ Principal: Marie Coen

Teacher Nominee: Rebecca Kennedy           Patron Nominee: Mary Mc Quinn

Community Nominee: Pat O’ Toole              Community Nominee: Jacinta O’ Toole

Parent Nominee: Helena Hunt                      Parent Nominee: Keith Purdy

Tuesday 17^th December @ 9.45am: 1^st, Junior Infants, 3^rd and 5^th

1^st Class: The Night Before Christmas

A musical about Christmas Eve where the children are excited about the presents they will receive; the toys are scared that they will become old news.

Junior Infants: Christmas Show

A delightful medley of Christmas songs and poetry will be on offer from our youngest performers.

3rd Class: Sleeping Beauty

3rd class are performing a short play called ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, which is a dramatisation of the well-known fairytale.

5^th Class: Stable Manners

5th class will be performing Stable Manners; a Christmas nativity play with a difference! Telling the story of the birth of Christ through the eyes of the animals present that night, Stable Manners is packed full of song, dance and Christmas spirit

Wednesday 18^th December @9.45am: Senior Infants, 2^nd class, 4^th and 6^th

2^nd class: Big Bad Ben

This is the story of the most mischievous boy in Bethlehem. His name was Ben, but most people called him ‘Big Bad Ben of Bethlehem’

Senior Infants: Whoops- A- Daisy- Angel

Whoops-A-Daisy-Angel is the delightful story of an angel who is different from the rest. She makes mistakes, is forgetful, clumsy and dresses untidily. Because she is not as perfect as all the other angels she only gets simple and monotonous jobs to do. She has, however, a heart of gold and never complains, so one day she is given a very important job to do, and manages to do it perfectly

4^th Class: Christmas songs and Carols

4^th will be entertaining us all with a variety of Christmas songs and Carols. The girls will also be performing for the Sonas residents to help everyone get into the Christmas spirit!

6^th Class: Titanic

When the Titanic house band falls ill Sixth Class from Scoil Mhuire Lourdes must step up to provide alternative entertainment. Can their musical contributions change the course of History?

In order to ensure the smooth running of the day we would ask that parents/ guardians be seated for 9.40am promptly on the day of the concert that you are coming to as we will begin at 9.45am.

Le meas,

Marie Coen (Principal)

______________________________

Dear Parents/Guardians,

♦ Reminder: School will be closed from Friday October 25^th to Friday 1^st November. School reopens on Monday 4^th November. Wishing everyone in our school family and enjoyable and relaxing midterm break.

♦ Hallwe’en Spellathon: Our Halloween fun day takes place on Friday 25^th October. The girls may come to school dressed up in their costume. Please leave magic wands, brooms etc at home. All the money collected will go towards gymnastics and drama for the girls.

♦Parents Association AGM: Takes place on Tuesday 12^th November @ 7pm. All parents are welcome. The new Parents Association for the year 2019-2020 will be formulated at this meeting.

♦ Payment of money: All money owed to the Office (photocopying, art & craft, book rental, swimming, etc.) should be placed in an envelope labelled with your child’s name and class teacher.

♦Heritage Schools: Lorraine Doyle will be in to talk to Junior Infants- 1^st class on Tuesday 19^th November. The aim of her visit is to instil in kids a greater appreciation and awareness of the wonderful diversity of wildlife that surrounds us in our local environment. Thank you to the PA for funding this.  

♦Mindfulness: Every Thursday at 12.30 Scoil Mhuire Lourdes is taking a few moments to become mindful. It is going great so far and something which could also be done at home.

♦Dogs Trust: Thank you to Dawn who brought in her adopted rescue dog Piper to visit us. We learned some great skills about looking after dogs and how to greet them when out and about. Looking forward to their next visit.

♦Pupil of the Month: Every month in our school we are aiming to pick one girl from each class to be crowned ‘The Pupil of the Month’. This is a girl who has made an extra special effort in her class or in school. The winners will be pictured on the school website with their prize.  www.smltullow.ie

♦Tullow Boxing Club: Will take place every Friday in the hall from 1.50-2.50pm for Junior and Senior Infants, along with a class at 3-4pm for 1^st-3rd class. Boxing starts on Friday 8^th November. Classes cost €3. If you are interested please put €3 in an envelope with your name, class and ‘Boxing’ on the front for the instructor. More classes to follow.

♦ Christmas Show Box Appeal: Please return Christmas shoeboxes by Tuesday 5^th November. These boxes will bring lots of happiness and joy to children all around the world this Christmas so I urge you to consider donating a box.

♦Christmas Cards: Your daughter may have told you that she was doing a Christmas Card in class recently even though it is October. We are involved in the ‘Christmas Cards for Schools’ initiative. In November each girl will be given a sample of the Christmas card that she made to take home. If parents/guardians so wish, packs of cards may be bought. A percentage of the charge goes to the school and the rest to the company who supply the cards.

♦Music Generation Update: Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1st Class have been working on beat, rhythm, pitch, form, speech, song, movement and dance in their Thursday music sessions with Ali. 1st Class learned a circle dance called ‘Good Morning to You’, while Junior and Senior Infants created soundscapes to represent the rain for their poem ‘Rain on the Rooftops’. You might like to ask your child to sing ‘Fly, Fly Witchy’ for you, our new Halloween song using scarves to make broomsticks, owls and goblins!

♦Retirements: It is with great reluctance that the Board of Management have accepted Ms. Murphy and Ms Finnerty’s retirement letters. Both teachers have been part of our school family for a number of years and have taught in a variety of classes. Ms. Murphy and Ms. Finnerty will be sorely missed by everyone. On behalf of the whole school community we would like to thank both Ann and Ita for their work, dedication, and passion for teaching, throughout their time in our school. We wish you a long and happy retirement after Christmas as you begin this new exciting chapter in your lives!

Signed:

_________________

Marie Coen (Principal)

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back to everyone in our school family! We hope you all had a lovely Summer and are ready for another school year.

♦ Thank you: To all those from Tullow Marathon Runners for their kind donation of €500 to our school. We really appreciate your continued support.

♦ Bag Pack: Than you to the PA and all the volunteers from Tullow Community School who kindly gave their time to help in the recent bag pack in SuperValu in Tullow. We are very grateful for your continued support. A total of €1073 was raised.

♦Opening Times: Supervision and access to the premises is from 9am on. Children will be supervised from this time onwards only.

♦PA Meeting: Takes place Tuesday 8^th October @ 7pm. If you would like to volunteer for specific Parents Association activities without joining the actual committee e.g. volunteer to help with a specific fundraiser, please leave your name with Fiona

♦Thank you to all the teachers and staff who have volunteered to run the variety of school activities. These activities give the children wonderful experiences and we are very grateful to the teachers involved. Remember these are optional classes but a great way to make friends, keep fit and have fun!

♦Athletics with Ms. Kennedy and Regina: Will be taking place every Monday for the girls in 4^th-6^th class initially from 2.50-4pm. Be sure to bring comfy clothes to change into, runners and a snack. Further training for other girls in the school will follow. Well done to the girls from 4^th-6^th who took part in Cross Country races on Monday 30^th September. You did us proud!

♦ Basketball with Ms. Wall and Ms. Byrne: Training for the girls in 3^rd– 6^th class initially every Wednesday from 2.50pm-3.45pm. Bring suitable clothes, extra water and a snack!

♦ Football with Lorcan O’ Toole, Mr. Kavanagh and Ms. Coen: Well done to all the panel who have been taking part in football matches over the past number of weeks- keep up the great work! Training takes place on Thursdays from 3-4pm in the Community school. New players from 3^rd -6^th are always welcome. Permission slips are available from Ms. Coen

♦ Student Council: Thank you to all those who sent in an application for this year’s student council. All applications will be processed. The successful pupils will be announced on Friday 4^th October.

♦ Payment of money: All money owed to the Office (photocopying, art & craft, book rental, swimming, etc.) should be placed in an envelope labelled with your child’s name and class teacher. Payment can be in cash or by cheque. If any family is having financial difficulty with any of these payments, please speak to the Principal in confidence.

♦Dogs & smoking: Please be aware that dogs are not allowed on school premises. Also by law, smoking and vaping is illegal in school grounds.

♦ Changes to details: If any of your details have changed since last year’s Private & Confidential form (mobile number, address, email, etc.) please inform Fiona immediately. It is most important that you include an emergency contact number that is operable, in the event of an accident or illness.

♦ Art with Ala: Takes place every Monday up until Halloween in the Art room for Junior-2nd class. It is going great! Don’t forget your €6 for the class in an envelope.

♦Tullow Boxing Club: Will take place every Friday in the hall from 1.50-2.50pm for Junior and Senior Infants, along with a class at 3-4pm for 1^st-6^th class. Classes cost €3. Interested please put €3 in an envelope with your name, class and ‘Boxing’ on the front for the instructor.

♦ Skipping Workshop: Mark Mc Cabe, a professional instructor will come to the school on Friday 11^th October to do a workshop with each class. The cost of the workshop is €2. This must be paid to the school by Thursday 10^th October in order to take part in the workshop.

♦AED/Defibrillator: Remember we have a defibrillator on site & it is located at Ms. Coen’s office.

♦Pupil Absence: Under the Education Welfare Act 2000, children must not be absent from school for 20 days or more. We understand that children may be ill or a family emergency can occur. Therefore, it is imperative that you send a note in explaining all absences. This will be kept on file should there be a query from the NEWB Welfare Officer. It is our policy here, to send you a reminder letter when your child has missed 14 days or more. This is for your information and is standard for all children. If you are taking your child out on holidays during term time, it is courteous to let us know beforehand in writing.

♦Music Generation: This has begun again with Ali and Marion Gaynor in the hall. We look forward to seeing what the girls produce this year and the process along the way.

♦ School website: Don’t forget to keep up to date with all the activities and events that the girls are doing in school by checking out the school website on www.smltullow.ie. Information about school events, tips and tricks for homework and lots more are located here.

♦ Parents of Junior Infants: Thank you to all those who came to our meeting on Wednesday 25^th September at 2pm in the Junior Infant Room. If you did not get to make the meeting and wish to learn more about the Jolly Phonics programme, please visit the school website or make an appointment or see Ms. Ryan.

♦ New Staff: I want to take this opportunity to welcome Ms. Cullen, Ms. Byrne, and Mr. Kavanagh who join us in permanent positions. Welcome also to Mr. O’ Flaherty who will be teaching 6^th class this year and Ms. Hennessy who joins us in place of Ms. Dillon whilst she is on leave.

Signed:

_________________

Marie Coen (Principal)

Dear Parents/Guardians,

♦ Lent: Lent starts on Wednesday, March 6th. 1st – 5th class will attend mass on Wednesday @9.30am (Ash Wednesday). As is usual during Lent we will again be urging the pupils to donate a small amount of their own money to the Trócaire and Bóthar Lenten Campaign.

♦ World Book Day Activities: Author visit and dress up: Thursday, March 7th is World Book Day. We will have a visit from the well-known author Jackie Burke, on March 6th to the girls in 3rd and 4th class. In addition, all the children are invited to dress up as their favourite character from a book on Friday 8th March. We kindly ask for a €1 donation from each child to go towards the school.

♦ Puppet Performance: Moon and Six Pence Puppet theatre will be here on Friday 1st March to perform ‘Little Red Riding hood’ for the girls from Junior Infants to Second Class. They will perform ‘Over the Rainbow’ for the girls from 3rd -6th class. The Parents Association have kindly donated money towards this event but ask for a €1 from each girl for this wonderful puppet performance.

♦ Lego VEX Competition: Good luck to the girls from 5th class who will be attending Carlow I.T for the Lego VEX competition on Friday 8th March. They have been working hard on their robot ‘Eve’ to have her ready.

♦ Watergate Visit: The girls from 6th will be attending the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny on the 6th March to see the play ‘Boy with a Suitcase’. Bus leaves at 8.30am sharp from the church and will return before the end of the school day.

♦ Book bills: There are still a number of outstanding book bills in the school. I strongly urge you to pay for outstanding bills as soon as possible. If you wish to start paying for the book bill for next year, you are welcome to do so by calling into Fiona in the office.

♦ County Photos: School photos will be taken on the 11th March in the school. Full uniform on this day please, no tracksuits.

♦ School Closure: Reminder the school will be closed on Monday 18th March (St. Patrick’s Day weekend)

♦ Aldi Stickers: We are collecting! Please send in any you might have, they would be greatly appreciated.

♦ Welcome: We warmly welcome Ms. Ann Marie Wall to our staff. She will be joining the Special Education team here in the school. We wish you well in your new role.

Signed:
_________________
Marie Coen
Principal

Scoil Mhuire Lourdes

Tullow, Co.Carlow

tullowgns.wordpress.com

14 June 2017

Dear Parents/Guardians,

♦ On behalf of the Board of Management I happy to inform you that the school has been granted an extra support teacher.  This will bring the total teaching staff to 12 from the start of the new school year.

♦ Teachers & Classes for September 2017

6th                          not yet known       Room 3

5th                          Ms. Madden          Room 8

4th                          Mrs. Murphy         Room 7

3rd                          Mrs. Finnerty        Room 6

2nd                          Mrs. Garahy          Room 5

1st                          not yet known       Room 2

Senior Infants       Ms. Turtle              St. Brigid’s Room 1

Senior Infants       Ms. Dillon             Room 1

Junior Infants        Ms. Coen              St. Brigid’s Room 2

Unfortunately, Mr. Carroll will not be with us next year.  We wish him every success in the future and thank him for the wonderful contribution he has made to Scoil Mhuire Lourdes.

♦ Bookbills:  Bookbills will be given out early next week.  If you wish to order your books through the school, you must pay before the holidays.  Otherwise you will have to purchase books yourself during the holidays.  The difference between availing of the school rental scheme and buying the books yourself can be great especially in the older classes.

Please note: All pupils must pay the school section of the bill, even if buying the books themselves.

♦ School reports will also be given out next week.  Please take time to read the report and take note of recommendations/comments by the teacher.  Your daughter’s teacher has worked with your child for the past year and has put a lot of time/effort into each report.

♦ Active School Week

Next week is our Active Schools week and we will be getting moving – tennis, games from the past, outdoor trails and orienteering, cycle training, walk-a-mile, skipathon and Summer Olympics!

We will be raising our Active Flag in recognition of achieving Active School Status.

The girls can wear their school P.E. gear or plain navy shorts all week and they will be getting ‘P.E. homework’.  We hope this will help encourage them to value and enjoy exercise and keep active for life.

♦ This is one of my last newsletters to you as I have decided to retire. I came to Scoil Mhuire Lourdes in 1977 as a class teacher.  I was very fortunate to have worked with three former Principals – Sr. Philomena, Sr. Betty and

Sr. Francesca.  I was then appointed Principal of the school in 2002.  During my time as Principal I was ably assisted by a dedicated Deputy Principal – Frances Cullen initially (now retired) and Mrs. Finnerty for the past year.  Great support was also given by post holders and Boards of Management.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all pupils and all parents/guardians for their co-operation over the past years.  Scoil Mhuire Lourdes is a very special place.  We have a very dedicated staff supported by co-operative, willing parents/guardians who encourage their children to be hardworking, helpful and respectful.  I am proud to be associated with such a wonderful place of learning and enthusiasm.  I wish my successor every success as he/she takes over at the end of August.  I know that you will support this person from the start to lead Scoil Mhuire Lourdes through the next years.

Signed:- Anne Kennelly

Principal

Scoil Mhuire Lourdes

Tullow, Co.Carlow

tullowgns.wordpress.com

31 May 2017

Dear Parents/Guardians,

♦ Swimming next year

Next year’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th class will be going swimming in September.  The cost of the bus, lessons and use of the pool with be €70 per child.  Any parent who wishes may start paying towards this cost from now.

♦ School Absence & Tusla

I would like to remind you that any child who has 20 days or more absence from school must be reported to Tusla (The Child and Family Agency).  Also, parents are obliged to inform the school the reason for any absence.  Currently, we have a high number of children who have missed more than 20 days.  Each day your child is absent from school is a missed opportunity.  Naturally, a child must stay home when she is genuinely sick.

♦ It is with great reluctance that the Board of Management has accepted Ms. Fitzgerald’s retirement letter.  Ms. Fitzgerald has taught here for a long number of years and has taught all class levels.  She will be sorely missed by pupils, staff, parents and Board of Management.  We say a huge “Míle Buíochas” to Ms. Fitzgerald for her work throughout her time here.  All partners wish her a long and happy retirement.

♦ Holidays/breaks for 17/18

Our holidays/breaks for the 17/18 school year will be posted on the school website tullowgns.wordpress.com later today.  School will reopen on Thursday, August 31st.

♦ Reminder

School will be closed on Friday 2nd, Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th June

(Public Holiday & School Holiday)

Signed:- Anne Kennelly

Principal