Scoil Mhuire News
www.scoilmhuireoranmore.scoilnet.ie
| Tel. 091-794184
Issue 2
Nov./Dec. 2012
Principal’s Message and Welcome
Welcome to our second issue of ‘Scoil Mhuire News’. The winter season has begun and Scoil Mhuire is a hive of
activity as we are busy preparing for our Christmas celebration to be held in the hall of Calasanctius College on 5th
and 6th December 2012 at 7:30pm. The concert gives the children an opportunity to showcase their talents for
their parents and it’s also an opportunity to raise much-needed funds to purchase new resources and replace old
ones for the benefit of all the children. We thank you wholeheartedly in advance for your support and cooperation and hope you enjoy the show. On a personal note I would also like to wish you all peace and happiness
for Christmas and the New Year. Nollaig Shona agus athbhliain suaimhneach daoibh go léir.
Le gach dea ghuí,
Edel Carney
Child Protection
Star of Bethlehem
“For we have seen His star in the East and have
come to worship Him”. Matthew 2:2
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Minister for Education
The visit of Minister for Education Mr. Ruairí Quinn,
Special Advisor to the Minister for Education and
Skills Mr. John Walsh, Mr. Derek Nolan T.D. and
Senator Healy Eames on October 19th 2012 was a
resounding success. The Minister praised the
positive atmosphere of Scoil Mhuire and the “real
sense of learning in a secure and happy
environment.” The President Michael D. Higgins is
next on the guest list!
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Assembly Time
Each month we have a different theme at assembly where
we focus on different values and ideals that can influence
the children’s behaviour and attitude in a positive, holistic
way. This month a Presentation Day service hosted by 4th
class was held in Scoil Mhuire on Wednesday November
21st 2012 in honour of Nano Nagle (1718-1784) the
foundress of the Presentation Order of Nuns. The
message from our service was Nano Nagle’s motto “Not
words, but deeds”. The children have been encouraged to
speak and act in a way that is in keeping with the ethos of
Nano and the Presentation Order.
All staff members have received training this school
year with regards to Child Protection. Referrals in
relation to neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse
and sexual abuse are made to Ms. E. Carney
(Designated Liaison Person). From Monday
December 3rd 2012 parents must sign a sign-out
book in the secretary’s office and collect a Scoil
Mhuire Permission Pass if removing a child from the
school building during school hours. Parents must
give this pass to the class teacher when collecting
their child from their classroom. This is in the
interest of child safety, welfare and protection.
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Parent Teacher Meetings
Parent teacher meetings are now completed. Please make
an appointment for any additional meetings that are
required. Scoil Mhuire discourages the practice of
incidental visits as this infringes on preparation and
teaching time.
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Lift off to Literacy
The Literacy Lift-Off Programme is up and running and our
three senior infant classes are reaping the rewards in
reading, writing, oral language, word attack skills and
phonetic awareness. The aim is to have children read a
variety of texts using a range of flexible strategies over
the course of the school year. Sister Helen Diviney
(Regional Coordinator for reading) from the Galway
Education Centre will visit Scoil Mhuire in the near future.
A special thanks to Ms. Ber Keane (School Coordinator)
and all the teachers involved: Ms. Moloney, Ms. B.
Murray, Ms. Conway, Ms. Bourke, Ms. A. Carney, Ms.
Holohan, Mr. Burke, Ms. Ryan, Ms. M. Murray and Ms.
Cosgrove. An information evening for parents of our
senior infant students held in the school on October 25th
2012 was well attended and the response to this literacy
initiative has been very positive.
Important Dates to Remember!
Parents’ Association
The Parents’ Association (PA) held a meeting on
November 13th 2012 in the staff room of Scoil
Mhuire.
Subscriptions
The PA would like to thank all those who have
submitted subscriptions to date. Teachers will
continue to accept subscriptions throughout the
school year.
Letter to Parents of Junior Infants
A letter has been circulated to Parents of Junior
Infants in the interest of creating a Class List with the
option to give email/telephone number. This list
would prove helpful if parents needed to contact
each other regarding birthday invitations, playdates
etc.
€5 Birthday Gifts
While each child’s birthday is a very special occasion
and deserves to be celebrated the cost to parents of
their child attending a number of parties over the
year has steadily increased. The PA would once again
like to encourage the parents arranging the party to
request “No presents please, €5 in card if desired”.
This will greatly reduce the expense of accepting an
invitation to a party.
Christmas Concert Raffle
The PA is organising a school fund-raising raffle to
raise much needed school funds during the interval
at the Christmas concert. Prizes include: Voucher for
Renvyle House Hotel, hamper from Supervalu, gift
vouchers from Mc Inerney Sports and from local
businesses. The PA will have tea/coffee and
confectionery available for purchase in the foyer of
Calasanctius College during the interval. Please
support your PA in both.
Tesco Bag Pack
The PA are organising a Tesco Bag Pack day on
December 21st and 22nd in aid of Scoil Mhuire.
Parents are needed to volunteer their time. Please
contact Regina Cannon at reginacannon@gmail.com
or Emma Ekoma at odaro14reall@yahoo.com for
further details.
Tuesday December 4th: Christmas Concert Matinee
(during school hours for Scoil Iósaif Naofa and Scoil
Mhuire).
Wednesday December 5th and Thursday December
6th: Christmas Concert in Calasanctius College at
7:30pm.
Friday December 7th: School closes at 12 noon to
allow staff to participate in Whole School
Development Planning (P.E.).
Saturday December 8th: 5th and 6th class will be carol
singing in Oranmore Community Centre at 4pm.
Friday December 14th: VIP guest will visit our school!
Saturday December 15th: 6th class will be choral
singing in Shop Street at 11am in aid of ‘Voices for
Galway’ which provide speech therapy services for
children with Down Syndrome.
Monday December 17th: 5th and 6th classes will visit a
local nursing home and sing Christmas carols.
Friday December 21st: School closes at 12 noon for
Christmas break.
Friday December 21st and Saturday December 22nd:
Tesco Bag Pack Day in Oranmore.
Monday January 21st: Cross Border Choir Workshop
in Leisureland for 6th class at 12:30pm-2:00pm.
Sunday February 10th: Rehearsal concert for Cross
Border Choir with orchestra in NUI Galway,
Kingfisher Hall 5:00pm-6:00pm, 7:00pm-9:40pm.
Tickets available at www.cboi.ie
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Oranmore/Maree Feis Committee
Geri Hackett has retired from the Oranmore/Maree
Feis Committee. Sincerest thanks to Geri Hackett for
the contribution she made on behalf of Scoil Mhuire
over the years. Two parent’s representatives
positions from Scoil Mhuire now need to be filled for
the Oranmore/Maree Feis Committee. If you are
interested in a role on behalf of our school please
contact Ms. E. Carney (Principal) for further details.
Hallowe’en Fancy Dress
We are very pleased to announce that the
Hallowe’en Fancy Dress Day on October 26th raised
an amazing €639 for Scoil Mhuire. €14 of this money
was donated to the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox
Appeal.
Science Week
Cúpla Focail Gaeilge
As part of Science Week Ms. Mullen’s,
Ms. O’Donoghue’s, Mr. Walsh’s and Ms. Jordan’s
class had a visit from Scientist Jane McLoughlin who
demonstrated a number of experiments
in each classroom.
Why not use the ‘cúpla focail’ at home. Below you
can find some useful phrases for this season!
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Green-School
In Scoil Mhuire, we greatly care about the
environment and as a result we are part of An
Taisce’s Green-Schools programme. Green-Schools is
an international environmental education
programme, environmental management system
and award scheme that promotes and acknowledges
long-term, whole school action for the environment.
The aim is to make environmental awareness and
action an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of the
school. We have started working toward the first
Green Flag which examines the impact of litter and
waste and explores means for reducing and
minimising the amount of litter and waste produced
by the school. We held our first committee meeting
on November 19th where we discussed the areas that
have room for improvement and received great
ideas from the pupils.
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Medtronic Healthy Living Project
Scoil Mhuire will take part in Medtronic Healthy
Living Project (2012-2013). The Medtronic Healthy
Living Project builds on the successful relationship
established between Medtronic Vascular Galway,
the Medtronic Foundation and the Galway Education
Centre. The key aim of the Medtronic Healthy Living
Program is to introduce the Science of Healthy Living
to students in Galway primary schools.
An geimhreadh atá ann. = It is winter.
Bíonn an aimsir go dona sa gheimhreadh. = The
weather is terrible in winter.
Tá an Nollaig ag teacht. = Christmas is coming.
Beidh San Nioclás ag teacht le bronntanaisí! = Santa
Claus will be coming with presents!
SEANFHOCAL:
Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí.
Praise the young and they will flourish.
Christmas Shoebox Appeal
A big thank you to all pupils who participated in the
Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal. A total of
120 boxes were donated to this very worthy cause. It
is a reflection of Scoil Mhuire pupils putting into
action, ‘not words but deeds’. Although they will not
see who receives their presents during Christmas,
they can feel very proud and thankful that they are
in a position to give so generously.
Other
Tesco Halloween Colouring Competition:
Congratulations to Ruby Comer and Rachel King
Awuah who won the Tesco Halloween Colouring
Competition. Special thanks to Geraldine Maloney
who is the community representative for Tesco
Ireland for supporting our school.
Debating:
6th class availed of two debating sessions recently
under the direction of Margaret Martin and
thoroughly enjoyed this invaluable experience.
Drama Workshop:
Ms. Costelloe’s, Ms. O’Donoghue’s, Mr. Walsh’s and Mrs.
Jennings class had a visit from Drama Lecturer Fiona
McDonagh from the Department of Arts Education and
Physical Education in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.
It is a fantastic opportunity for the children to be
introduced to many different and exciting drama
methodologies.
Reaching Out in Difficult Times
New Year Resolution
We request that all parents make a special effort to
have their children in school on time. Latecomers
miss out on valuable class time and cause a lot of
disruption to those already settled at their work.
They are also often marked absent as they have
missed Roll call.
In recent weeks Scoil Mhuire has extended the hand
of friendship to St. Rose of Lima School in New York
who were affected by Hurricane Sandy. St. Rose of
Lima School has a very similar profile to Scoil
Mhuire. It is a Catholic school, founded in 1966 and
consists of a diverse population of 437 students. It
has a large Irish-American student population and in
light of recent tragic events we felt the need to
reach out to this school and have subsequently
corresponded with them by sending messages of
goodwill and photos from Scoil Mhuire. We look
forward to remaining in touch with St. Rose of Lima
School and wish them courage and success as they
try to move forward.
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Activity Corner
Lily Mae Appeal
Emily Macken, Juliette Macken, Holly Comer and
Laoise Claffey sing on the C.D. ‘Tiny Dancer’ which is
available to buy from Scoil Mhuire at a cost of €2. All
profits will be donated to the Sunni-Mae Trust
Neuroblastoma Society. Lily Mae has touched all our
hearts and is in our thoughts and prayers.
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Extracurricular
Art Lessons: Ms. Moloney and Ms. Costelloe teach
art after school. Tues. Junior and Senior Infants;
Wed. 1st-6th classes. Tel: 086-1580096 or 0872899652.
Speech &drama: Tuesdays with Ailbhe Garvey. Tel:
087-2832091.
Piano lessons: Mondays and Fridays in the hall with
Aisling McCarthy. Tel: 085-1540346.
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Sports
Skipping: Skipping stations have been set up in the yard at
big break times to encourage the children to develop a
healthy lifestyle.
Irish dancing: Every Monday with Christina and Celine.
Swimming: This is currently catering for pupils from 6th
classes and will continue throughout the year for 4th-6th
classes.
Tennis: Senior Infant classes have completed their tennis
training. Tennis classes for first class will commence this
week. Jonathan Klampe coaches in our school every
Thursday.
Camogie: Camogie training continues for 2nd and 3rd
classes on Tuesdays until February. Special thanks to
Damien and Angela from Oranmore/Maree Camogie Club
who coach the children in a volunteer capacity.
Athletics:
Two teams from Scoil Mhuire participated in the Cross
Country event on November 15th 2012 in Renmore Park.
Congratulations to the following participants: Jade
Greaney, Olivia Cannon, Sophie Walsh, Mahayla Commin,
Finola Kelly, Maeve Cannon, Laoise Claffey, Leeann
Lynohe, Amy O’Neill and Fiona Cannon. Congratulations
to Finola Kelly who came in 1st place in the girls 1000
metres. Special thanks to Deirdre Kelly (parent) and Ms.
Costelloe for accompanying the teams.