January Newsletter 2017

School Self Evaluation
• The children have been working on the First Steps in Writing programme and displays of their “Writing to Socialise” can be seen in the halla and in their classrooms. This term the genre is “Persuasive Writing” which will be taught throughout the school.
• Senior Infants have started the Literacy Lift Off programme. This is an intensive programme of reading and writing. Ms Hogan, along with Ms D’Arcy, Mrs Maher, Mrs O Meara, Ms Kinsella and Ms Wyer work with a small group of children for 45 minutes four times a week. The pupils read lots of books at their own level of competency and develop new strategies and reading skills. This increases the complexity of what the pupils can do in both reading and writing. First Class completed the Literacy Lift Off programme before Christmas and it has proved to be extremely beneficial. Certificates were presented to First Class children at assembly last week.

Sixth Class Take Part in Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition
We in Sixth Class had a great day at the RDS Primary Science fair on Thursday the 19th January. Our project was based on whether a background colour change would affect how well you could read or try and remember words in a list. We tested all 3 of the primary colours red, blue and yellow as well as white which is the colour we usually read on. Surprisingly our research showed that white was the second worst of these to read from with blue being the best for children and yellow being the best for adults. As well as displaying our project there were a number of shows to watch and all were great fun and really interesting. Overall it was a very long day but a very enjoyable day for everyone – Cian Doran, 6th Class.

Green Schools
The date for our assessment for our Green Flag is fast approaching. The theme for this flag is Global Citizenship Litter and Waste. One of our last tasks is to create a Green Code and all entries have now been completed. Judging will take place this week and the Green School Committee will have a difficult job as there are many excellent entries. We are also looking for a suitable date for our annual cycle and we will update closer to the date.

Credit Union Quiz
Well done to our U13 team of Aaron and Aoife from 6th Class along with Clodagh and Robert from 5th Class and our U11 team of Aoife from 5th Class and Abbie, Alison and Olivia who competed in the Credit Union Quiz this week. Unfortunately, it was not our year but both teams did us proud. Our U13 team finished in third place only one point behind the team that came second. All the children enjoyed the night.

School Activities
• Hip hop dancing continues each Friday with Lisa Hogan. The children really enjoy showing their moves and upping the standard each week.
• Under the Music Generation programme keyboard lessons with Ms Kelly continue each Thursday for the pupils in 5th and 6th Class.

Catholic Schools Week and Grandparents Day
• Almost fifty pupils attended mass in St Cronan’s Church Roscrea on Tuesday morning for Catholic Schools week. The group comprised of our school choir and some pupils from each class. Thank you to Mrs O Meara and Mr Garrod for accompanying our choir.
• Following this mass our school chaplin Fr Harding came to the school for Grandparents Day. The children of First and Fifth Class extended a warm welcome to their grandparents, showing them their work and listening to stories from the older generation. This was followed by refreshments in the school hall. We think the highlight of the day for both children and grandparents was getting their photographs taken in the “frame”. Thank you to all the grandparents who made the time and effort to join their grandchildren in the school, some even travelling long distances.
The photographs will be up on our website in the coming days and will also be on our facebook page.

Christmas Sale
Following on from last month’s newsletter a total of €1435 was raised at the Christmas Sale by 6th Class – well done to all. Three hundred euro of this will be lodged straight away for the education of Veronica in Uganda with the remainder being distributed during the year.

Sr Essie
Sr Essie from the Diocesan Office visited us last Thursday and Friday. She was impressed with all the classes and complimented the pupils on their knowledge and singing.

Indoor Hurling League
Following on from our last newsletter the indoor hurling league finished the day we got Christmas holidays. Interestingly both semi finals went to extra time and penalty shootouts. Antrim and Galway came through with Antrim winning the final on a score line of two goals to one.

School News: In Sixth Class we have done a lot of research on World War 2 lately. We all completed projects and we watched the movie “I Am David” which told the story of a 12 year old concentration camp escapee. It was really informative. It made us all appreciate how lucky we are to be in a safe country.…….Fifth Class go to our Fallon Library each week and pick a book. We even have our own librarian………..Fourth Class made cups and trophies in Art last week. We were very excited to receive pen pal letters from a school in Wexford and have just written back…….. In Third Class as a reward for winning Gaeilgeoirí na Coicíse before Christmas we had a great afternoon playing games with pie-face being a huge, messy hit! We have had a long wait for our pen pal letters but they finally arrived. We are looking forward to getting to know more about our new friends with our next reply. The post has never brought such excitement!……In Second Class we are busy practicing our writing for the INTO Handwriting Competition……First Class had great fun learning all about the rainforest and the animals who live there. We learned all about jaguars, toucans, chameleons and panthers………Senior Infants had a very busy start to the New Year learning all about electricity in Science. We investigated what life was like before electricity – it was so different back then! We also performed the story of “Farmer Duck” on stage. We had great fun practising and everyone in our class was involved. We love acting on the stage………Junior Infants have been learning all about the weather over the last few weeks. In Aistear, we composed, practiced and recorded our very own weather forecasts in groups. Each group had directors, camera people, meteorologists and presenters. The classroom will turn into a cinema this Friday as the class view each group’s hard work!…..Aoibhneas are enjoying our social club on a Wednesday. Some Transition Year students from Colaiste Phobal join us each week. Last week we had fantastic fun playing board games. We plan to go on a Spring woodland walk soon.

Dates for your Diary
• Mid term break (usual finishing time): Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th February
• First Confession: Wednesday 1st March @ 7 30 pm
• Peace Proms Concert in UL Concert Hall – Sunday 5th March, 2 00 pm
• Drama Show: Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th March at 7 00 pm

We thank all who came to the show, especially those who had travelled long distances. Thanks also to Anne Marie O Meara and her helpers from 6th Class who painted the fabulous backdrop for the show.

Board of Management
• The Board would like to thank everyone who supported our Christmas Raffle. We congratulate the five prize winners: Cassidy Kennedy, Eilish Ahearne, Aoife Davey, Luke Walsh and Alison O Sullivan. We would also like to thank the parents who sold tickets over three weekends. In particular, we would like to thank BoM member Enda Dooley who brought in and collected the trailer each weekend, and is in the process of organising the delivery of the loads to the prize winners. A total of €3,800 was raised from the raffle with €1,500 going to the Parents Association and the remainder going to offset the cost of the necessary work carried out in the car park last Summer.
• We wish pupils, parents and staff a safe and Happy Christmas and New Year.

School Self Evaluation
• Literacy Lift Off has been completed in First Class. All the children enjoyed the sessions and certificates will be presented in the New Year. The programme will commence in Senior Infants in the New Year.
• Maths for Fun has concluded also for the pupils in Fourth Class – thank you to the parents who came in to help.

Cake Decoration
Sincerest thanks to Katrina Bradley (Jamie’s mum) who visited the school on Monday last to give a cake decorating class to the pupils of Aoibhneas, Junior and Senior Infants and First and Second Class. Katrina kindly sponsored the ingredients for the icing and the containers the boys and girls brought home their buns in. Each child iced their cup cake with green icing in the shape of a Christmas Tree and put on smarties, chocolate stars and skittles to decorate the tree. Their second bun was iced as a Snowman with white icing and coconut as the base with eyes and mouth made with chocolate bits and an orange smartie for the nose. These were simple ideas but extremely effective. Katrina was assisted by her sister Amanda. Thank you both – the children really enjoyed the day!

Sixth Class Christmas Sale
The annual Sixth Class Christmas Sale took place today. Sixth Class really rose to the challenge of organising a great event, with lots of bargains. There was a great bake sale, toy and book sale, and lots of organised games for the rest of the pupils to take part in. As with other years the children made Christmas logs which they sold at the Christmas show. The charities that benefitted from last year’s sale were Riding for the Disabled, Uganda Mission Fund, The Peter McVerry Trust Fund and Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association. We will let you know the amount raised in the next newsletter. Thank you to the Parents Association for sponsoring the doll, drinks and selection boxes.
Lunchtime Hurling League
The boys from 4th, 5th and 6th Class and girls from 5th and 6th Class really enjoyed the lunchtime indoor hurling league. We had six teams – comprising of pupils from each of the classes and the teams played each other four times. We have reached the semi final stage where Antrim will play Wicklow and Offaly will play Galway. The semi finals and finals will be played on Thursday morning.

Santa’s Visit
Santa made his annual visit on Thursday morning last on his usual mode of transport (for school anyway) – the Fire Engine accompanied by the Gardaí. He brought sweets for us all – Thank you Santa, Siobhan from the Credit Union, the firemen and Gardaí.

Green Schools
We will be picking our slogan for our next Green Flag after the Christmas holidays. Perhaps the boys and girls would put on their thinking caps over the holidays to come up with a unique and catchy slogan. The theme for this flag will be Global Citizenship Litter and Waste. We will make our application for this flag in March.

Class News: Sixth Class recently had a fantastic trip to Supermacs in Roscrea where we took part in a pizza making class. We made our own pizza from scratch and got to choose our toppings. We found this really interesting and of course very delicious. Well done to Alannah who won this opportunity for us in a recent colouring competition………………Fifth Class are enjoying shared reading with Senior Infants. We help the Junior Infants with words and ask them to read. Senior Infants on the other hand really enjoy having a new person to read to them and enjoy reading a new book every week…………… In Fourth Class we wrote letters to pupils from a school in Kilkenny and we can’t wait to get letters back. We also made our own cribs, two of which were edible! On Tuesday the class performed Nativity Plays which we wrote ourselves……………………. Third Class have been hard at work on their Irish and we are very proud to say our time has finally come – the boys and girls of Third Class are the Christmas title-holders of ‘Gaeilgeoirí na Coicíse’. Our writing to socialise genre has brought some interesting work with notes about forgotten homework, text messages to Santa and new pen pals in Third Class at Scoil Chormaic CNS, Dublin. We have posted letters and handmade Christmas cards to our new friends and are looking forward to hearing from them in the New Year………………. Second Class have worked very hard during the month of December making stables and cribs! They are fantastic – huge effort has gone into making them! Everyone said well done to us and thanks to those who helped us at home! The Junior Classes came to see them and they were very impressed! …………… First Class made our very own town with lots of shops. We were delighted to make angels from paper plates and hang them on the Christmas Tree in the reception area………Junior and Senior Infants thoroughly enjoyed the part we played in the school nativity. Ms Kelly taught us all the songs which we performed excellently with actions and feeling! We sang songs such as Nativity Rock and Happy Christmas (War is Over). Well done to the narrators from our classes and indeed all the children!……………In Aoibhneas we completed our six weeks of water safety and swimming by going for a Christmas treat to McDonalds. We enjoyed our pottery sessions with Fin and concluded by making a large sculpture to be wall mounted after it is fired. We made lots of different seasonal decorations and pictures whilst learning about this special season of Advent and Christmas. Big thanks to Katrina Bradley for showing us how to decorate Christmas cupcakes. We had great fun this week making Elf Yourself Videos, copies of which have been sent to our parents.
We wish all our pupils and their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
See you all on the 9th January 2017

School Self Evaluation
• The Maths for Fun programme is continuing at the moment. The pupils in Fourth Class are delighted with the sessions and once again we are witnessing the competitive streak coming out in some of the children. A sincere thank you to the parents who have so kindly given up their time to become involved. There will be another set of Maths for Fun sessions after Easter for Senior Infants.
• Literacy Lift Off finished today for the pupils of First Class. Senior Infants will begin Literacy Lift Off in the New Year.
• The children have been working on the First Steps in Writing programme and displays of their Procedural writing can be seen in the halla and in their classrooms. We are now focusing on the Writing to Socialise genre which is currently being taught throughout the school.

Christmas Show
Preparations are now well underway for our Christmas Show “Nativity Rock” on the 16th of December. There will be two shows on the day – one at 12 noon and the other at 7 pm (the show will be approximately 40 minutes in duration). Admission will be free and all are welcome – spread the word!

School Choir
• The choir will be singing carols at the Taste of Roscrea festival on Saturday next from 3 pm to 4 pm in the Castle yard. Why not come along and support the children and perhaps join in the festive atmosphere.
• The school choir are busy practising for the Peace Proms Concert in the Concert Hall in Limerick in March. The choir will have a rehearsal in February in Limerick.
• Next week will be the last week for choir rehearsal – it will resume after Christmas.

Green Schools
• On Friday the 25th of November, a visitor came to 4th and 5th Class as part of our Green schools programme. Her name was Michéle Castiaux. She gave a very informative workshop on ways we should recycle. Both classes watched a short film about the making of polyester clothing out of plastic bottles! With the help of Michéle, we decided it would be best to buy fruit and vegetables grown in Ireland, where possible! Michéle explained how recycling is good for the environment, but reducing how much we use is even better. We hope to see a fifth green flag on our flag pole soon!
• A new committee has been elected and the members are as follows: 6th Class: Cian, Aoife, 5th Class: Robbie, Aoife, 4th Class: Emma, Caragh, Jack, 3rd Class: Aaron and Rachael. Mrs Maher, Deirdre Bergin and Tommy Carroll remain on the committee.

Competition Winners
• Credit Union Colouring Competition: We had terrific success at the recent Credit Union Colouring competition with many prize winners coming from our school. The winners attended Roscrea Credit Union on Tuesday last to receive their prizes from Sean Hogan. Winners: 11 -13 category Oisin in 6th Class won 1st prize and Ciara in Fifth was 2nd, 8-10 age category Abbie in 4th Class won 1st and Emma also in 4th Class came 2nd, 7 and under category Keeva in Second Class came 1st and Emer also from Second Class came 3rd. Well done everyone.
• GAA Quiz: Last Sunday Aoife , Aaron and Bill from 6th Class took part in a North Tipperary GAA quiz in Cloughjordan. Even though we were missing one player we still managed to get a score of 63 points out of 72 questions. We really enjoyed our night – Aoife, Sixth Class
• Supermacs Colouring Competition: Well done to Alannah who won the Supermacs Colouring Competition recently. Alannah along with her classmates will go to Supermacs on Tuesday next for a make and bake event. Enjoy the day everyone.

Science Week
• On Thursday 17th November Fifth and Sixth Class held a Science Fair to celebrate Science Week. The pupils did a marvellous job completing and displaying their experiments. Many of the parents came in to see the experiments and really enjoyed them. We learned a lot and had very interesting experiments like volcanic eruptions, how fire can’t burn without oxygen, lava lamps and many more. Well done to all – Kelsey, 6th Class
• Senior Infants held a Science Fair in our classroom to celebrate National Science week. We worked in groups organising our different experiments. We discovered how plants drink water, what objects are magnetic and used mirrors to investigate reflections. That’s just to mention a few of our experiments!! We wrote out our experiments and were delighted to welcome our families into our classroom to join in the fun! Science is one of our favourite subjects in Senior Infants and there are definitely some future Scientists in our class!

Sixth Class Debating
Last Friday 25th November, the Sixth Class debating team – Alannah, Cian and Saoirse travelled to Birr Library to debate against Rathcabbin National School on the motion ‘Social Media is a Bad Influence on Children’. Our team did extremely well and made very good points in opposition to the motion. Unfortunately, it was not to be our day but we were congratulated for speaking very well and representing the school excellently. – By Alannah Dunford, 6th Class

School News
• Pottery with Fin O Hara has finished for the pupils of Junior and Senior Infants, First, Third and Fifth but continues for Aoibhneas pupils.
• Sixth Class pupils were delighted to attend the musical “The Wizard of Oz” performed by Colaiste Phobal’s Transition Year pupils. We congratulate all our past pupils who took part and we were delighted to see many of them play lead roles.

Christmas Sale
The annual Christmas Sale of Work will take place on Wednesday 21st December. This event is organised every year by the 6th Class pupils and has become a rite of passage for these pupils while being eagerly anticipated by all. This is the only time during the year we make a monetary collection for charity and the funds raised are distributed when we get requests from charities during the year. The charities that benefitted from last year’s sale were: Uganda Mission Fund, Riding for the Disabled, Peter McVerry Trust, Motor Neuron Disease and The Laurels. Used toys, books etc in good condition will be accepted on Monday 19th, Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st only. Decorated Christmas Logs will be on sale at the Christmas Show and Christmas Sale.

Dates for your Diary
• December 16th – Christmas Show at 12 noon and 7 00 pm
• December 21st – 6th Class Christmas Sale
• December 22nd – Christmas Holidays

Have a lovely Christmas and New Year
School re-opens on Monday 9th January 2017

€2 per line or 3 for €5

Tickets available in the school

School Self Evaluation
• First Steps in Writing: The genre in the First Steps in Writing programme after Halloween is Writing to Socialise. Examples of the children’s writing will be on display in the halla.
• Maths for Fun will continue in Fourth Class after the Halloween break. Any parents/grandparents who would like to help would be most welcome. Please contact the office if you are available to help.

Junior Infants 2016

Unfortunately, due to a technical hitch we were unable to insert the photograph of our new Junior Infants in last month’s issue so the boys and girls feature in this issue instead! Missing from the photograph are Aoife and Kaylon.

Uganda Mission Fund
As you are all aware we make regular donations to this worthy cause. However, as we believe education opens up vast opportunities for children we have committed to sponsoring one child’s education in Coloma Primary School in Uganda. The yearly cost will come from our 6th Class Christmas Sale Charity Fund each year. The child which has been selected for us is Veronica Chegem. Veronica is making great progress and is learning the melodica this year. Sr Mona Maher who is the co-ordinator will update us yearly on Veronica’s progress.

Visitors to the School
• Once again in conjunction with the Slieve Bloom Story Telling Festival we were delighted to have storyteller Jimmy Maher visit the school on Thursday 13th October. Jimmy had the children from 2nd, 3rd and 4th Class in stitches with his tales.
• Colm and Mark from Birr Fire Brigade visited 3rd Class on Friday last to speak to the children about fire safety. Each pupil got a fire safety pack with a checklist to ensure that each houses has a plan in the event of a fire.
• Offaly Junior Camogie champions Naomh Bríd visited the school recently. Members of the panel including past pupils Amy Ryan, Claire and Valerie Meagher joined our own Ms Higgins on the stage along with trainer Stephen Corcoran. They were very impressed with the boys and girls singing GoNoodle classic Pop See Ko led by Sixth Class. The pupils were delighted with the drinks, crisps and bars the club brought with them. Hopefully they will be back next year with the Senior Cup.
• Fr Laurence and Niamh visited the pupils on Monday 24th to talk about the parish mission which is running this week. They encouraged the children to come to the mission and bring the information back to their parents.
• Garda Declan Ganley visited 5th and 6th Class on Tuesday to speak with them about the dangers over the Halloween period.

Sport in School
• Hurling: Third, Fourth and Fifth Class really enjoyed the coaching sessions with Hughie Hannon. Hughie will return to the school in the Spring to coach the younger classes.
• Football: The boys took part in the Cumann na mBunscol football competition over the last number of weeks. They played three matches beating Tullamore Gaelscoil, and losing to both St Rynaghs and Birr. Though unsuccessful in the campaign the boys enjoyed both the training and matches and would like to thank to Mr Brislane who coached the team.
• Rugby: The sessions under the guidance of Mark Lown are coming to an end. The pupils in Sixth Class really enjoyed the rugby and had great fun participating.
• Sixth Class took part in the hurling blitz organised by Colaiste Phobal on Tuesday 18th October. The boys and girls put in a great performance winning the group stages, and the semi-final. However, it was not to be our day and unfortunately we lost out in the final. All the pupils had a great day.
• Athletics: On Friday 30th September thirty two pupils from the school travelled to Tullamore to take part in the Offaly Cross Country Championship. It was a very successful day for the school winning nine individual medals and three team medals. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day. Well done everyone!

Parents Association
The Parent Association would like to thank all the parents and children who turned out to support our recent family walk. The weather stayed on our side and the walk was thoroughly enjoyed by all as were the refreshments afterward. After its success we will definitely look to organising another. We will be in touch with details of upcoming fundraisers and also more social events in the coming weeks.

Choir
The school choir has recommenced practices on Thursday afternoons with Ms Ailbhe Kelly. The children will participate in the Peace Proms Concert again this year but the performance will be in the Concert Hall in UL in March. We will also have a workshop for the Peace Proms in the New Year. We will be performing carol singing in Roscrea during the Christmas period.

Aoibhneas Request
We would be grateful if parents would consider donating any tricycles, tractors, scooters etc that are no longer being used to Aoibhneas. The children would get much enjoyment from them and we would just ask that the items are in good condition.

Team Hope
This year we are again participating in the Team Hope Christmas Shoe Box Appeal. Co-ordinator Marie O Brien asked that we remind people that it would be great if each box could contain something to write with, something to wash with – soap or toothbrush and toothpaste, something to wear and something to play with. She encourages us to look at home and see what we can donate (please make sure any clothing or soft toys have been washed). Boxes can be returned to the school on Tuesday 8th and Wednesday 9th November.

Dates for your Diary
• Parent/Teacher Meetings – Monday 21st November at 3 30 pm
• Christmas Show – Friday 16th December 11 30 am and 7 00 pm
Enjoy the Halloween Break – See you all on 7th November 2016

Team Medals:
Third Class girls – Bronze
Fifth Class girls – Gold
Sixth Class girls – Gold

Teams:
3rd Class: Millie, Emma, Rachael, Ally, Dara, Seamie, Matt and Aaron
4th Class: Emma, Aoibhe, Erin, Caragh, Daithí, Ben, Jack and Aaron
5th Class: Ciara, Keisha, Leah, Alison, Marc, Rugi, Robbie and Conor
6th Class: Alannah, Kelsey, Orlagh, Saoirse, Josh, Alex, Michael and Scott

Well done everyone!

Board of Management
• The Board welcomes back Ms Louise Hickey and Ms Mary Wyer for the year. We wish Ms Crowley well in her new position with the SESS and welcome Ms Clodagh Lalor who is replacing Ms Crowley for the year.
• Over the Summer we engaged a tree surgeon to make safe a number of trees in the car park. The timber from the trees will be used as raffle prizes before Christmas.
• The development of the hurling wall is still delayed. ESB Networks have been in contact and work on moving the power lines will prove too disruptive during school time. It would mean the field could not be used for a number of months. Therefore we as a Board have made a decision to postpone the work until next Summer.

School Self Evaluation
The directive from the INTO of non participation in the School Self Evaluation process is still in place. However, as outlined in last Summer’s newsletter the following will continue:
• Literacy Lift Off has resumed in First Class and will take place in Senior Infants later in the year
• The genre in the First Steps in Writing programme this term is Procedural Writing. Examples of the childrens writing will be on display in the halla.
• As part of our Numeracy strategy we will continue with a “Problem of the Week” board in the school halla. Two different problems will be introduced each week at assembly – one for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class, and another for 4th, 5th and 6th Class. The problems will be discussed on a Monday with the problems being solved on Thursday morning.
• The Maths for Fun initiative will continue again this year. Details will follow in our next newsletter.

School Mass
Our school chaplin Fr Michael Harding came to school today to celebrate mass for the beginning of the school year. Once again the children were delighted when Fr Harding suggested that if the children were good during mass he would encourage Mr Hanamy to go easy on the homework. Needless to say the pupils were thrilled when Mr Hanamy decided the children had behaved excellently and deserved a night off homework. Due to drama, homework club etc Mr Hanamy has nominated Monday next as no homework night.

Upcoming Events
• Friendship Week takes place next week. Each class has organised a number of activities to coincide with this and assembly each morning will incorporate the theme of friendship. The “Random Act of Kindness” nomination box is in the school reception. Those nominated for their acts of kindness are in with a chance of winning a prize over the coming weeks.
• Thirty two boys and girls will go to Tullamore Harriers Stadium tomorrow to take part in the Offaly Cross Country Championship. Good luck to all.
• Slieve Bloom Storytellers will visit the school in two weeks time as part of their annual storytelling festival.
School Activities
• Hughie Hannon has recommenced the GAA coaching with the pupils in 3rd and 4th and 5th Class.
• Rugby coaching for 6th Class pupils under the guidance of Mark Lown will start next Monday.
• Our footballers played their first match on Tuesday against St Rynaghs. Although the boys put in a sterling performance unfortunately is wasn’t to be our day. Our next match is against Birr next week. The girls in 5th and 6th Class have started football training under the expert eye of Ms Hickey and hope to play a number of challenge matches in the coming weeks.
• Choir has will resume with the pupils of 4th, 5th and 6th Class. Pupils are welcome and encouraged to join the choir.
• Pottery sessions for the pupils in Senior Infants, 1st, 3rd and 5th Class are ongoing with potter Fin O Hara while Junior Infants will start their sessions in two weeks time.

Class News
In 6th Class we had the honour of being the first class to perform in assembly for this school year. We really wanted to kick things off on a lively note so we got everyone involved in our own version of the GoNoodle classic Pop See Ko. We loved leading everyone in this catchy dance/rap. Well done to our 6 classmates who led each verse. We can’t wait to get everyone dancing again soon……..Fifth Class performed an uplifting rendition of the pop classic ‘Reach’ by S Club 7. It got the whole school up and dancing to the wonderful choreography and really set us up for the weekend. Maith sibh!…….Well done to all the children in 4th Class who each created their own miniature garden……..In Third Class, we are off to a great start. Tá an-chuid obair ar siúl le Gaeilge sa rang agus tá súil againn go mbeidh an bua againn sa chomórtas “Gaeilgeoirí na Coicíse” go luath. We are lucky enough to have Mr Hanamy joining our team during Maths time……. For the month of September Second Class have been busy learning playground games in PE class. We have learned some playground games which our parents may have played when they were in school such as ‘In and Out the Dusty Windows’, ‘Four Corners’ and ‘Flush the Toilet’! The children even made up their own games……In First Class we are learning all about pirates – we love singing pirate songs, making masks and writing about parrots. We are also busy looking at and recording the signs of Autumn…….What a busy month it’s been in Senior Infants! Our theme this month is Autumn and we have been learning all about the life cycle of the apple tree in Science. We created our own class graph in Maths to find out what our favourite colour apple is. We cut apples in half and printed them. The most popular apple by far was the red apple! Yummy! We listened to the story of ‘Johnny Appleseed’ and created our own ‘Johnny Appleseed’ in Art. ……Junior Infants have been learning all about their school this week. They toured the building, talked to teachers and interviewed the secretary. This really helped the children to get into character during role play, where they took on the roles of teacher, principal, caretaker and secretary! They printed patterns using the school colours and built beautiful school buildings using blocks, one even had a staffroom!! In Aoibhneas Class 1 we had our first social play group gathering this week and really enjoyed lego construction with Aoibhneas Class 2. Our new Junior Infants have really settled in their new class and are enjoying exploring, discovering and creating. We are starting our cookery class on Friday and can’t wait to get “stuck in”.

Dates for your Diary
• Parent / Teacher Meetings – Monday 21st November
• First Confession – Wednesday 1st March at 7 30
• Confirmation – Saturday 25th March 2017 at 11 00 am
• First Communion – Saturday 13th May at 2 00 pm

Choir Perform at Peace Proms Concert
The pupils in our choir went to The Hub in Kilkenny on Wednesday 10th February for a practice for the upcoming Cross Border Peace Proms Concert. The pupils performed beautifully on the day singing Uptown Funk and Shake it Off among others. The concert will take place on Sunday next at 2 00 pm. Good luck to all involved. Thank you to Music teacher Ms Kelly, Mr Hanamy and Mrs Maher who will accompany the choir on Sunday.

School Proclamation and Flag Raising Ceremony
Tuesday 15th March has been designated “Proclamation Day” for all schools in Ireland. As part of our school celebration 4th Class will perform the play “Triumph of All Sorts” which is based on the events of 1916. We will also be unveiling and reading our own school Proclamation and we will have a flag raising ceremony.
Parents and members of the wider school community are invited to our school Proclamation Day celebrations which will be held in the school hall at 11 45 am on Tuesday 15th March. Light refreshments will be served following the Flag raising. We look forward to seeing you on the day.

Grandparents Day
Wednesday 3rd February saw many grandparents come to the school to join with their grandchildren from First and Sixth Class to celebrate Grandparents Day. Some had travelled great distances to be with us and we were honoured each and every one of them had given their time to be with us. Fr Harding led the celebration with a few words of welcome in the hall. The grandparents went to the children’s classes – some grandparents had children in both classes and had to visit both.
• In Sixth Class the pupils traced the Family Tree with their grandparents and looked for any links to the Easter Rising, we also played cards and draughts.
• In First Class we learned what school was like in our grandparents time, we did lots of artwork incorporating photographs of our grandparents, we sang an Irish song for them and we put up photographs of our grandparents which are still up – we like to look at them each day.

Religious Ceremonies
• Fr Harding and Fr Deeley visited the school on 3rd February to our throats for the Feast of St Blaise.
• Fr Harding returned on 10th February to bless the children with ashes on Ash Wednesday.
• Second Class went into St Cronan’s Church on Tuesday to practice for their First Confession Ceremony which takes place tonight Wednesday 2nd March at 7 30.
• Sixth Class are preparing for their Confirmation which takes place on Saturday 16th April. The children will be well prepared as the boys and girls will attend the De La Salle centre in Castletown on 4th April for a retreat.
• For Catholic Schools Week our school choir, along with representatives from the senior classes attended the 10 00 am mass in St Cronan’s. The choir sang beautifully and we were delighted to see so many parents and grandparents join with us in the church.

Annual Drama Show “Once Upon a Time”
Over the past few months, in the small townsland of Dromakeenan, the pupils of Scoil Chrónáin Naofa have been preparing their 2016 drama show “Once Upon a Time” under the direction of Jared Madden. With some of the pupils from Junior Infants to 6th Class taking part, rehearsals have been taking place every Thursday over the past few months. All of the actors and actresses have learned all their lines and stage directions and full dress rehearsals are due to take place (next week). The show ‘Once Upon a Time’ is based on the life of the big bad wolf, played by Liam Murphy a 6th Class student. When the big bad wolf is accused of crimes he claims not to have committed, all spotlights zoom in on the courtroom, where the big bad wolf will be tried by Judge Justin Case. Trying to prove his innocence, despite what his rivals the three little pigs say, could prove to be quite a challenge for Mr Alexander Wolf, but can he possibly prove himself innocent? Come and join the pupils from Scoil Chrónáin Naofa on the 9th and 10th of March at 7:30pm. It is a show not to be missed! Admission is €5 and all are welcome – spread the word!
(Drama synopsis written by Coaimhe 6th Class)

Hurling Skills Competition
Well done to Sean Delaney and Robyn O Brien who won the hurling and camogie skills competition in 6th Class. Both pupils took part in the Offaly County Skills Competition in Banagher yesterday and did the school proud.

Green Schools
• An upcycling workshop had been arranged for the Sixth Class pupils for 29th February but unfortunately Joanne, who was giving the workshop hurt her back and the workshop had to be postponed. It will be rescheduled after the Easter Holidays
• Plans are underway for our annual 5k cycle – a date has to be confirmed
• A whole school clean up will be held in April to coincide with National Spring Clean Up Week – date for this to be confirmed too!

Offaly Badminton
Well done to the two teams who took part in the Offaly Badminton Association on Sunday last in Clonaslee, Co Laois. Our U13 team won the championship while the U10’s won the plate.
U10: Aoife, Clodagh, Conall and Harry from 4th Class
U13: James and Scott from 5th Class and Sam from 4th Class

Class News:
6th Class are making 1916 workbooks and concentrating on the role children had in the Rising……….5th Class are finished their yoga sessions with Suzanne – the calmness that descended the classroom following the session was amazing…….4th Class will visit Gloster woods on Friday next……3rd Class made pictures inspired by the artist Archimoldo using fruit and vegetables…….2nd Class pupils were carefully writing their passages for the ESB Handwriting Competition – we hope some of us win this competition…….1st Class and Junior Infants had great fun when Faye’s (1st Class) and Jack’s (Junior Infants) dad brought in two lambs to visit the classes……Senior Infants made robots using cardboard boxes……Aoibhneas pupils made delicious pancakes on Shrove Tuesday.

Dates for your Diary
• First Confession: Wednesday 2nd March at 7 30 pm
• Drama Show: 9th and 10th March at 7 30 pm in the school hall
• Proclamation Day: Tuesday 15th March at 11 45 am
• Easter Holidays: Wednesday 16th March returning on Monday 4th April

Junior Infants learned all about St Brigid today. They listened to the story of St. Brigid and her cloak and sang St. Brigid’s song. A huge thank you to Tom’s mum, Ann who made a St. Brigid’s cross for every boy and girl in Junior Infants!!!

Junior Infants

Senior Infants:

First Class:

Second Class:

Third Class:

Fourth Class:

Fifth Class:

Sixth Class:

Imagine how cool it would be to build a robot that could grasp a ball or pick something up?  This was something our class wanted to investigate.  In our robotics engineering project, our objective was to create working hands from everyday craft materials that demonstrates how real working hands work.  We began by studying the anatomy of the human hand using this information to guide us in building our robotic hands.  We used materials that are readily available in our classroom such as cardboard, string and straws and busily go to work on a series of designs to help build our hands.  After much testing we finally created a design that functioned as a robotic hand would function.  Our design can pick up and grab objects.  We were very excited with our results.

Although it is not a competition for the primary schools, each project is visited by a judge who questions the class on their work.  The judge then gives a written report based on this questioning.  Our judge seemed really impressed and gave us a fantastic report commenting on the students’ knowledge and enthusiasm for the project.

Sixth Class really enjoyed visiting both the other primary school and secondary school projects.  They saw an amazing 3D space show and visited the “World of Robots” to see the amazing robot Titan.  Overall, a fantastic day was had by all.

Pictured are Kiesha, Emma, Amelie and Ciara with some of the boxes.

 Caroline with Kate, Jack and Cillian

 Outgoing PA Chairperson Michelle Ryan enjoying being on the receiving end of the hospitality for a change!

  Martin Dooley, Angela Mulvey, Emma Wing and Eilish Aherne

  Shauna Walsh, Shane and Mary Mulrooney and Aileen Hoyne

 Incoming PA Chairperson Ray Kennedy

The Phelans – Nevin, Sarah, Richie and Miriam

 PA Representatives Ray Kennedy, Tom Deegan and Aileen Hoyne

Ray Kennedy

The nomination box remains in the school lobby for the foreseeable future.

4th Class – Christopher                                   3rd Class – Aoibhe                                           Junior Infants – Chloe

Great friends Conor and James                   Second Class – Ava                                          Second Class – Meadhbh

Third Class – Ben                                               Third Class – Sean                                             Fifth Class – Sam                                           Sixth Class – Aisling