Notes from the Principal’s Desk ……. (October 2017)

Welcome to our second newsletter of the school year 2017/2018. The Summer holidays seem like a really long time ago, as the festivals of Harvest and Halloween approach. This year we are working with the children on the festival of Harvest and we will have another whole school Assembly. Our Junior Infants were the stars of our last Assembly. The theme was The Golden Rules followed by some whole school singing, which is always uplifting.

I am delighted to announce that our staff has decided to apply for The Active School Flag Award. This entails quite a bit of work but we feel it will really be of benefit to the whole school community. It does require the support and involvement of the Board of Management, Parent Teacher Association, Pupils and Staff to try reach the required standard for success. We will communicate with you regularly via notes, texts, and our website. Any parents with an interest in areas of sport/activity please get in touch with Adrienne or Rita or any member of the teaching staff.

The term has been busy with information meetings. The importance of the parent teacher partnership is emphasised at the meetings and the importance of play was discussed at the Junior Infant meetings.

Recent surveys indicate that 74% of children are now less active than the prison population and spend an average of 6.5 hours on screens each day! 7 out of 10 children also think their parents spend too long using technology so we need to lead by example!! When your child is on screen they are also very mentally stimulated which can lead to them becoming “tired and wired” affecting sleep patterns and concentration levels.

So, I hope you spend mid -term outside in the fresh air and active away from the screens enjoying some family time together.

On behalf of the staff I’d like to wish you all a very enjoyable mid- term, and Happy Halloween to those of you who will be celebrating it. See you all back on Monday November 6th @8.40.am.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY Coffee Mornings – Our coffee morning for parents of our 6th Class takes place on

Friday 10th November and for our Outreach Classes on the Friday 17th November, from 10.45 – 12 noon on both days.

Swimming Lessons – Advance notice. Swimming lessons for Arlene’s Senior Infants will commence on Tuesday 5th December for five weeks, followed by Cathy’s Senior Infant class.

2nd Class Musical – Thursday 15th March 2018

Parent-Teacher meetings will take place on Friday 2nd February and Thursday 8th February 2017. These meetings will be held after school hours on both days. You will be notified of your appointed time approximately two weeks before either of the above dates.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE GROUP (SRG)Elections were held recently among the children in 3rd to 6th classes to elect two pupils from each class to represent them on the SRG until February 2018. The result is as follows:3rd: Grace Duffy and Ewan O’Flynn4th: Adam Creighton and Alannah Morley5th: Laragh Martin and Cian McNamara6th: Maisy Brady and Ruthvik ChavaWell done to everyone!

HEALTHY LUNCHESSpot checks do occur from time to time to ensure that lunches are in keeping with our Healthy Lunch Policy. Please do not send in bags of sweets on treat day – one small treat is all that is needed.

ENROLMENTSEnrolments are taken on a first come first served basis, so please remember to tell your friends, relatives, neighbours etc. to enrol their children as soon as possible after birth. Siblings do not get first preference. We already have enrolments for 2022.

INFORMATION MEETINGSInformation Meetings for classes have taken place for this school year. As for the last number of years the meetings are held for both Junior Infant classes, 1st, 3rd and 5th and our combined RSE and information meeting for 6th class. The curricula in Senior Infants, 2nd and 4th are basically an extension of the previous year’s work and guidelines on homework and behaviour are standard in the years in between.

Our Information Meeting for parents of Junior Infants was held on Thursday 21st

September. The meeting was very well attended and parents were given comprehensive talks on the curriculum and the importance of play.

Our thanks to all the parents who attended the various information nights, and to the teachers for their input. We hope you found them beneficial.

STAY SAFE MEETINGSenior Infant parents attended an information meeting on the Stay Safe Programme. Sean O’Casaide, a representative from the Child Abuse Prevention Programme explained how it is taught in the school and the importance of parental input in the programme.

ARTS EVENTSSchool got off to a great start for our 5th and 6th classes when they took part in a ‘SARI’ workshop held in the school on the 26th October. SARI is the abbreviation for ‘Sports Against Racism in Ireland’, which is a very important message to give to children and adults alike.

GO RAIBH MAITH AGAIBH….. Items donated to the school

Games – Sinead Keogh

Parental Involvement Thanks to Sonya Harnett who gave yoga lesson to 3rd class on Friday 20th October.

Our Junior Infant class gardens were given a great clean up and weeding by a number of Jnr. Inf. parents since school re-opened. Thanks to Jean Walsh, Cindy Turner and baby Hannah, Jennie Wong, Lily Meehan, Ying Wong (Grandparent), Aisling Lee McBride, Elaine Morris, Duncan Murtagh and Sarah Kelly. If we have omitted anyone, our apologies!

Thanks to Fiona Kyle, Helena McMahon and Terri O’Brien – members of our Garden Group, for overseeing our garden work.

COFFEE MORNINGThanks to the parents who were able to come to our Coffee Mornings. We hope

you enjoyed getting to know each other or getting re-acquainted. 6th class and our Outreach classes will have their coffee mornings after the mid-term break. Thanks to the PTA for assisting us with this.

LABEL, LABEL, LABEL!!!!We would ask parents to please label everything belonging to your child, particularly coats, hats, scarves, gloves, school sweatshirt and bottoms. Despite a text-alert being sent to parents about this, there are significant amounts of clothing in our Lost Property with no labels so we cannot trace the owners.

GREEN NEWSIn keeping with our Green School Status, we are very conscious of the need to “Reuse, Recycle and Reduce” waste and it is our aim in the school that the children leave here with an environmentally friendly attitude. Please encourage your child to become a leader in your home for recycling cans, batteries, glass etc. To assist you with some of your recycling efforts, please remember that we have a Clothes Recycling Bank situated just inside our main gate, a Mobile Phone Recycling Bank and a Battery Recycling Box, – all situated at the ‘Green’ Noticeboard. Our Mobile Phone recycling Bank is no longer for MeningitisTrust, as they have stopped taking mobile phones. However, we are glad to state that Bees for Battens do – but can only take smart mobile phones and their chargers – so please feel free to bring along any unused mobile phone equipment that you have at home. Bees for Battens is a childhood illness.

October is Resuse Month and we have included in this newsletter details from Kildare County Council on an Reuse/Upcycle event taking place in the Celbridge Mill Centre on the 28th October from 10am – 4pm.

____________________________________________________________________________________________BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

COMMUNICATIONWe would like to remind parents of our Communication Policy in the school. If you have any queries, problems or concerns re: your child, or any other issues please contact your child’s teacher to arrange to meet with them. She/he will arrange a time where they can give you the time and privacy you may need. In addition, if there is a change in home circumstances (e.g. illness, separation or anything you feel may affect your child, it is important to let us know). We can assure you of the utmost confidence. Should you have a complaint to make, the school procedure is as follows:-

(a) Approach the class teacher with a view to resolving the complaint(b) Where the parent/guardian is unable to resolve the complaint with the class teacher, she/he should approach the Principal with

a view to resolving it, and(c) If the complaint is still unresolved the parent/guardian should raise the matter with the Chairperson of the Board of

Management with a view to resolving it.(d) If the complaint is still unresolved the matter will be brought to the full Board as a formal complaint.

STAFF CHANGESThe Board of Management would like to welcome Kelly Murphy our 4th class teacher to the staff. We hope you’ll enjoy being part of the N.K.E.T.N.S. team.

P.T.A. UPDATEFollowing the summer holidays the PTA committee met in September. We kick started the new school year with an evening with story teller Niall de Búrca on 4th October, which raised over €600 for the school. This was followed by the stationary cycle outside SuperValu on Saturday 7th October, which raised over €1,000. Thanks to all our cycling volunteers.

If you are doing a bit of spring cleaning please hold onto your clean unwanted re-usable clothes, bed linen, towels, curtains, shoes, bags, belts and soft toys, as there will be a clothes recycling event in November. You can bring your donations to the school between Thursday 23rd and Tuesday 28th November.

Due to popular demand Chef Michael Swan will host a cookery demonstration on Thursday 30th November in the school hall. There will be lots of recipe ideas, tips and tasting on the night. If you are thinking of your Christmas shopping list already, you can add the school calendar to it. Michael Grubka will be in the school over the coming weeks to take the class photos for the calendars.

In June 2017 a survey was sent home asking parents for their view on school fundraising and the school newsletter. 50 surveys were completed and returned. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete and return the parent survey. You told us that:

You would be most likely to support multiple fundraising events.62 % (31) of parents preferred multiple events28 % (14) of parents preferred a single large event10 % (5) of parents said they would like a combination of both

Overall the events that are most popular are:Cake saleCinema clubSchool CalendarRaffles (Christmas, Easter, Summer)Cash clothes (clothing recycling drive)

There were lots of useful suggestions which will be discussed at the October PTA meeting and will help to guide the plans we make.

To increase the likelihood of reading the school newsletter we asked parents to tell us their top two choices for receiving the newsletter.

52% (26) of parents said their first choice is an email containing a link to the newsletter on the school website.38% (19) of parents said their first choice is a text reminder26% (13) of parents said their first choice is the paper copy of the newsletter(8 parents chose both email & text message as their first choice)

There were lots of useful suggestions about the newsletter which was reported back to Rita.

Thank you for your ongoing supportPTA Committee

October is Reuse Month!While the overall amount of waste produced in Ireland has increased over time, there has also been an increase in recognition of the economic and social potential of waste as a resource. National Reuse Month 2017 is aimed at highlighting this potential to individuals, families, communities, local and big businesses, schools and social enterprises. Reuse Month is part of a nationwide initiative to change attitudes towards old and disused objects, while encouraging people to repurpose, donate, sell or repair items and keep them out of landfill sites.

The principle behind Reuse Month is to promote reuse, repair and upcycling of products, in order to decrease the amount of materials going to landfill and extend the life of products before they are recycled.

Both the concept of reuse and practical examples of reuse will be promoted in Kildare throughout Reuse Month using a variety of activities and events. Kildare County Council and the Eastern-Regional Waste Management Office have organised a series of workshops and skills demonstrations to give practical examples of this, some with a Hallowe’en flavour! There is one scheduled for each of the five Municipal Districts in the county. See the attached listing for full details.

In addition to the workshops, Freetrade Ireland, the EMRW also wants to challenge people in Kildare to come up with the best example of reusing or upcycling. The Upcycle Challenge 2017 is how they hope to achieve this.It’s simple really. They are challenging everybody to unearth the creativity within and create something new out of something old…to breathe new life into an item or material that you source – and remember, there are bonus points if you find it on FreeTrade Ireland! So if you can find something old and renovate it or turn it into something completely different but still usable then they want to see it!

The competition is open to everyone and there is a €1,000 prizes up for grabs!

New for 2017, a created a national category especially for Men’s Sheds, where the best entry from a Men’s Sheds group will win €1,000!

The competition will close at 5pm on Monday the 16th of October. How to Enter

Source something old or unwanted Take a 'Before' photo Turn it into something new (whether that's cleaning it up and repainting it or repurposing it for a different use,

that's up to you) Take an 'After' photo Fill in the entry form, available at www.freetradeireland.ie Send to info@freetradeireland.ie

#upcyclechallenge17

Here is a summary of venues and times (detailed info further down)

 Saturday 7th October 8.45am to 3pm Venue: The Cottage Market in Newbridge Town Hall

 Saturday 14th October 10am to 4pm Venue: McAuley Place, Naas, www.mcauleyplace.ie

 Date: Friday 20th October 10am to 3.30pm (closed 1-2) Venue: Newbridge Library

 Saturday Oct 21st 1pm to 6pm Venue: Monasterevin Community Centre

Saturday October 28th 10am to 4pm Venue: Celbridge Mill Community Centre

Reimagine Halloween event theme

 10.00 Opening of event Information on the stalls, meet the stall holder, information on Sustainable Development Goals

 11.00 Dross Evolution Host a FreePlay waste awareness reuse art Halloween theme workshop and information on ReUse, Reimage, Repair and ReCycle with examples from Dross Evolution, salvaging factory floor waste with examples of make your own Halloween outfit & decorations.

 13.00 Yarnbomb Pop up Wool Workshop - sustainable craft and make your own household use cloths, clothes and toys with YarnBomber and ICA Member Angela Lane.

 Library of Things stall with nappy library and sling library items for young families.

 Film on the theme of Zero Waste.

 How to minimize food waste, new recipes for left over and community share options inspired by Food Cloud & take away information packs. Where to shop and reduce packaging pop up stall.

 Fridge Magnet- a pop up community fridge discussion on reducing our waste.

 Make your own cloths and cleaning products - live demos and give it a go opportunity.

 Upcycled Halloween costume and decorations waste awareness art workshop and host information on ReUse, Reimage, Repair and ReCycle.

 PopUp Exhibition on show of waste reduction and tips on doing so examples of reusable solutions versus disposable ones.

 Amnesty on old towels, wool, toys, cards to be reused on the day.

 Sustainable living and climate solutions popup from Shamrock Spring- bringing sustainable development goals to our communities.

 How to minimise food waste, new recipes for leftover food and community share options inspired by Food Cloud. Take away information packs, how to shop and reduce packaging.

 Cloth Nappy Library Ireland and Sling Library with a range of reusable nappies and slings to share.

Did you know that reusing items is a more environmentally-friendly way of dealing with waste than recycling! This is because it takes no resources to reuse something (other than maybe bringing the item to somebody) whereas recycling usually means transporting the item as well as usually transforming it into something else.- We can use the example of a simple object like a glass jam jar. To reuse it, we might simply rinse it out and use it for storing nuts and bolts or similar. To recycle it, we must bring it to the bottle bank (possibly by car). It is then removed (by large truck), brought to a depot, then crushed (using large machinery), then brought to recycling plant (truck), melted down into new jar (large furnace), transported to jam factory (truck), filled with jam then transported to shop (truck) and finally purchased by you and brought home!

Of course, this is still better than making new glass from raw materials- this uses ten times as much energy as melting down and recycling old glass. But the point is made that reusing items is a good idea. There are a number of websites for disposing of items for reuse:

www.freetradeireland.ie www.jumbletown.ie www.freebiesireland.com www.freecycle.org/group/IE/Ireland

The sites are normally divided into categories like furniture, electrical equipment, garden equipment and so forth- there is even a 'wanted' section if you are looking for something in particular. You can also search some of them by area so you don't have to drive to Cork to collect a couple of patio slabs! The only rule with these websites is that everything must be offered for free- you simply contact the person getting rid of the item and organise with them to collect the items. It couldn't be easier and these websites are becoming extremely popular. Of course, you can also choose to sell whatever it you do not need in any of the small ad/classified papers or websites.

PHELIA

Some items can be repaired first of course- nobody throws away their car because the battery is flat! There are lots of other items that should be fixed before replacing them- shoes can be re-soled and heeled, clothes can be altered and repaired and some electrical items can be fixed (always keep the receipts and warranties for these items as you frequently do not have to pay anything in the event of a fault).

Charity shops

Please note: charity shops are always looking for good quality clothes, books, toys and household items- items that can be readily sold to help support the charity. They are not looking for clothes in poor condition, broken toys or household items. Poor quality clothes should be left in recycling banks. The other items are not really reusable and should be disposed of in the refuse bin.

The following list is what could be found from a directory and internet search. If you are aware of other charity shops dealing in secondhand goods or have further contact details for the one below, please contact the environment section at environ@kildarecoco.ie

Town Charity Address Tel.Athy SVP 2 William St. 059 8632132  Mrs. Quinns 31 Duke St. 087 1394320Celbridge Mrs. Quinns Lr. Main St. 087 0579479  St. Raphaels Main St. 01 6275416Clane Mrs. Quinns Main St. 087 1394378Kilcock St Brigid' Hospice Courtown Road    SVP Opp. St. Josephs Hall    Jack and Jill Site of old post office  Kilcullen SVP Main St. 045 480785Kildare town Mrs. Quinns Unit T3, Nugent St. Station Road 087 3194325  SVP   045 520200Maynooth Mrs. Quinns Achol House, The Square 087 7804982  SVP Greenfield Shopping Centre 01 6289643Naas Mrs. Quinns Corbans Lane 087 1394324  Jack and Jill (Jay Jays) Unit 1 Fairgreen 087 1632852Newbridge Mrs. Quinns Eyre St. 087 1394323  Sue Ryder Georges St. 045 433358

‘News’ from Emer Martin (Junior Infant Aoife’s class)

During an English lesson, 3rd class wrote essays on Storm Ophelia – Here are two from Moya Harnett and Ciaran O’Reilly

Two days ago a hurricane called Ophelia came to Ireland. The eye of the storm was in Mayo. Ophelia was really effecting Cork, Sligo and the UK. In the UK the sky was red because the wind was blowing the sand around the Sahara Desert. The night before the storm hit us I was worried like mad! I was afraid that the electricity would go out. In the morning I was putting every phone and table ton charge! The storm finally came around lunch time.

My Dad had to come home from work at lunch time. My parents had to move the cars away from the house because maybe one of the tiles may fall of the top of the house! I felt a bit under the weather with all the fuss about the storm. Did you know that Roald Dahl had a daughter called Ophelia? Oh look it’s a twister! Only joking here’s a twister (ice lolly!). Now IT’S IN SCOTLAND. The End.

P.S. I love school(Moya)

Storm Ophelia was a hurricane. It came to Ireland on Monday 16th October 2017. Me, my Dad, my Mammy, brother and my sister Aoife were at home. The hurricane Ophelia came into the west coast of Europe. The storm hit at 6.00am into Cork and Kerry. At about 2.00pm hurricane Ophelia came crashing into Dublin and Kildare. Then Ophelia started to leave Ireland at 8.00pm and headed to Scotland.

When the hurricane was at Kildare lots of trees fell down. Lots of electricity power was out, but where most of the damage was done was Sligo, Cork, Kerry, Galway and Derry. My estate’s electricity didn’t go out but other ones did.

(Ciaran)

Argentina facts – Jane McHugh (6th)

Argentina is the second biggest country in South America It’s borders are Chile, Bolivia, Paraquay, Uruguay and

Brazil. It is on the Atlantic Ocean. Tierra de Fuego is a place at the very bottom of Argentina. The national flag are blue and white stripes with the image

of the sun in the centre. The population is 40,276,000 The capital city if Buenos Aires. The name comes from the Latin word Argentum, which

means silver. Spanish is their national language. The currency is the Peso. Soccer is the most popular sport. The Argentinian football team have won the World Cup

twice, 1978 and 1986. Famous people from Argentina include soccer players like

Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Diego Maradonna, and Pope Francis.

Self Portrait – Keziah McKibbin (Jnr Inf. Orlaith)

‘Tessy O’Harley’ Scarecrow by Lauren Whelan (1st S)‘Lost’ Poster by Ashley Andrian (1st S)

Free writing by Edna Mudibu (1st L)

News writing ‘It is Autumn’ by Nathan Grubka (Jnr Inf G)

Hajj – Hannah Wollmer (6th)

Hajj is a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. They travel to Mecca. They make the trip once in their life. Pilgrims follow the first pilgrimage made by Prophet Abraham and the next pilgrimage made by Prophet Muhammed.

Abraham made the pilgrimage 4,000 years ago. The clothes they wear are called ihram. The clothes are white and everyone has to wear it because then they are equal whether they are rich or poor. The pilgrims visit the Kabah in Mecca and they walk around it seven times. Muslims believe that the Kabah was built by Prophet Abraham and his son, 4,000 years ago.

Hogar and her son, Ishmail, were left in a desert without any water and Ishmail dug his heels into the ground and water started springing out. They ran between two mountains called Safa and Marwa. They camped in Mina. All the pilgrims go to Arafat and after sunset they head off to Muzdalifah. Finally, thtey return back to Mecca to the Kabah and circle it seven times again. Once the pilgrims have completed everything, they are given a new title. A man is now Haggi and a woman, Hajja.

Free writing ‘Alice & Goldie’ by Cassie Finnegan (1st L)

continued

Children’s AchievementsWell done to the following children:

Some of our pupils were only too delighted to show off their medals and trophies that they received for a variety of achievements over the past number of weeks: Issac Sanders received a Turtle Certificate for Swimming Level 2 at Clondalkin Pool recently. James Smith came 3rd in an U18 5K Road Race organized by Celbridge Athletic ClubSome of our pupils are members of Clonfert Equestrian Centre and successfully took part in their Summer Camp. Lena Czerwinska was awarded a Certificate, Holly Bradley came 3rd place and Grace Walsh 2nd place. Well done girls!Katie Auden won a trophy for 3rd place on 24th September at the Celbridge Mill Duck Race.Leo Webster took part at a sports day held in Santry Stadium on 16 th September and he won two silver medals for Discus and Throwing Club and gold for running. Michelle Ennis was awarded a STAnley 4 Award for swimming on 4th October. Michelle also participated in the Summer Stars Library Reading Adventure held at Celbridge Library during the summer. She received a Certificate of Achievement.David McCann was another Summer Star Reader and got his Certificate of Achievement too.Congratulations to the U11 Celbridge Camogie Team who won the final of the league in June. Maeve Wollmer, Ella Corry, Aoife O’Reilly and Hannah Wollmer are members of the team and were awarded medals for their win. Aoife O’Reilly was named Player of the Week during September, in her Camogie team, at Celbridge GAAAisling O’Connor came 1st Place at horseriding at Sunnyside Equestrian Centre.

We are always delighted to hear of our pupils’ achievements, whatever their hobby is, so please do let us know for publication in our newsletters.

5th class have been learning about gender stereotypes and discrimination. Here are some quotes from 5th class;“I think that boys and girls, men and women are all the exact same as each other.”-Luca Clancy“Who said boys had to like blue? Who said girls had to play with dolls?”- Aidan Copeland“People should be allowed to do what they want no matter their gender or race. Always challenge stereotyping!” – Cian McNamara“We can make a difference if we treat people the same!”-Ava Corcoran

During their SPHE lesson Senior Infants looked at ‘Families’. Here is Jonasz Skurotwiz’s picture and writing (Snr.Inf. A)

Senior Infants looked at ‘Harvest’ during their Learn Together lesson. Below is Isla-Rose Kearns’ picture and writing (Snr.Inf. A)

Autumn Art by Aine’s Outreach class

2nd Class are reading their class novel ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ and complete worksheets from time to time. Here is Ceola Glasmacher’s drawing and description of Mr. Fox.

Senior Infants were learning about recycling. Sebastian Kelly (Snr.Inf. C) has written about the recycling we do in our classroom.

Shane’s Outreach class wrote some Harvest Acrostic Poems. Here are two samples from Aaron Cunningham and Adam Coldrick

Senior Infants looked at the shapes of the Mr. Men characters. Cillian Glennon-Boes painted Little Miss Sunshine and Sean Farrelly painted Little Miss Chatterbox (both from Snr.Inf. C)

4th Class Art by Kate Connolly 4th Class have been learning about the elements of art. The first element we learned about was the element of line. We experimented with lines. Then we traced our hands and feet and done the body in the background. We drew our body and face, so it was like we were falling back. We designed the feet with lines. Here is an example of my own drawing. We done a Halloween one too. The same except a Halloween version.