Holidays - School will close for the summer holidays on Tuesday 26th June. We open again on Monday 3rd September.
Copies of videos- Several people have requested copies of the concert video and the wedding video. Could I please ask that if you want a copy, please either ring Cathrena or email/send a note into school? I am going to be away for the next few weeks but will make copies when I get back. I also hope there will be a copy of the End of Year Show too. As always, a small contribution to school funds to cover the cost of DVDs would be appreciated.
Book Rental - I would like to remind those remaining few families about Book Rental Money. The ability to provide the school books at a low price is dependent on every family contributing.
Teddy Bears' Picnic- We will be holding a whole school Teddy Bears' Picnic on Monday 25th June. All fluffy friends are invited.
End of Year Show - Thank you for your support of the End of Year Show. You were a great audience. We also thank the children for their hard work in preparing for it, especially as much of the cast had been struck down with a vomiting bug during the week. It was also unfortunate that several of our younger children were unfortunate enough to catch chickenpox. We hope they feel better soon and we look forward to seeing them perform on many more occasions.
Recipe Books - A huge thank you to Jayne Wallace who has just managed to see her 100th copy of our Recipe Book. Thank you!
Barbecue/Fun Evening - A barbecue in aid of the trip to Uganda will be help in school on Tuesday 26th June at 6 p.m. Please come along and support.
Green Flag and Fun Walk - Despite the weather, we managed to raise our Green Flag and raise €250 for school funds. Our sincere thanks to Kieran McAree for his help with our music, Samantha McElhinney for her help with our dancing, Stephen McElhinney for his music on the bagpipes and Mr Barnett for raising the flag. Thank you also to everyone who braved the rain to help and take part in the walk, those who helped with the refreshments/clearing up and those who helped with donations of food.
End of Year Show - This year's End of Year Show will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday 21st June.
Green Flag Ceremony - Our Green Flag Ceremony will be held at school on Thursday 14th June. Mr Barnett has kindly agreed to raise our flag this time. We hope to go on our Fun Walk and Cycle after the ceremony.
Junior Infants - Our new Junior Infants will visit school on Wednesday 13th June. We look forward to meeting them.
Board of Management - A Board of Management Meeting will be held in school at 7 p.m. on Monday 11th June.
School Tours - Despite the inclement weather, we had great fun on our tours. Thank you to the children for their excellent behaviour, the staff who took care of them all day and the staff of the Arigna Mines, Eagles Flying and Lurgybrack Farm who looked after us so well.
Concert thanks - Thank you to everyone involved in the organisation of the concert. Our current total is just over €4000.
Thank you to those who helped with the refreshments, ticket selling, sourcing refreshments and raffle prizes, erecting signs, contacting press, setting up the Community Centre, tidying up afterwards and especially the members of the P.T.A.
Thank you to all those who participated in the concert. All the acts were fantastic.
Thank you to Cathrena, who helped with so many things it would be impossible to list them all.
Our thanks to those who helped backstage at the concert – to Ezra and Jonathan Mitchell, to William Hamilton for his help with the sound system and in particular, Paul Gallagher who not only had the onerous task of managing everything on the night but had also helped with props, scenery etc. and many other things in the months before the concert.
Thank you to the Committee of the Ballintra Community Centre for their help.
Thank you to all the sponsors of our raffle prizes and refreshments.
Thank you to Ms Niamh Currid for her help with the music.
Thank you also to everyone who came along and supported the event.
And finally, thank you for your help in ensuring the children were so well prepared and well presented on the night. I hope you were as proud of them as we were.
Thank you to Nigel for the following photographs.
Discover Science - We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded our 7th Discover Science and Maths Award. We thank Miss Henderson for her work on this project and invite you to have a look at the Learning Log in the school foyer.
Uniform - Please note that school will not be selling uniform at all this year. Uniform can now be bought from the Victor Company and the Uniform Shop in Donegal Town.
P.T.A. Meeting - A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Tuesday 22nd May.
Concert Arrangements - Children will need to be at the Community Centre at 7.45 p.m. on Friday 4th May. Children should wear burgundy uniform/black shoes. The smaller children will be supervised by the class teachers until the break. After the break they will go and sit with parents. The older children will be remaining at the front as they are needed on the stage at the end of the concert.
If you are happy to help during the break, please let us know. Help with the teas/tuck shop and ticket selling for the raffle would be much appreciated.
Community Centre - Your help at the Community Centre on Thursday 3rd May at 8.00 p.m. would be much appreciated.
Concert Help - It is not long now until the fundraising concert and we would be very grateful for additional help. If you can help with the refreshments, ticket selling, distributing flyers and posters etc. please let us know. The PTA will be meeting next week (date to follow). We will also be needing help on the evening of Thursday 3rd May to set up the Community Centre. Please try to keep this date free and come along to help.
School Tour- The Senior School Tour will take place on Thursday 7th June. More details to follow.
Green Flag - We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in our application for our second Green Flag. We especially congratulate the children on the Green School Committee.
Get well wishes - We would like to pass on our best wishes to Mrs Barnett who is recovering in hospital after a fall. We hope she will be back at home soon. At this busy and worrying time, we thank Mr Barnett for continuing to help us in the school garden.
Test Week - We will be doing our standardised testing between 24th May and 1st June. Your help in ensuring there are no absences or appointments during this time would be very much appreciated. It is not always possible to delay and postpone tests and it can be unsettling for children to take tests on their own at other times.
Book Fair - Thank you for your support of the Book Fair. A total of approximately €710 was spent. This meant that the school was able to purchase books to the value of almost €300 for the classroom libraries.
Congratulations - We were pleased to hear that there was a very special delivery in the Dinsmore house on Easter Sunday. Congratulations to Gary and Charlotte and all the family on the arrival of baby Ella.
Thank you - We would like to thank Ezra for all the work done in school over the holidays. You may have noticed that the small entrance hall has been repainted. Many of the chairs have also had their plastic feet replaced - a tedious and time consuming job! All of this work has been done in a voluntary capacity so we pass on our thanks.
Athletics - Jackie Harvey has returned to us this term and will be doing athletics training each Tuesday afternoon..
Highland Dancing - Sam will be joining us in school on Thursdays for the next few weeks to teach the children some basic Highland Dances.
Open Day - We will be holding our annual Open Day next Thursday afternoon from 2.00 p.m. until 3.00 p.m. A warm welcome is extended to all our new Junior Infants and also to families with pre-school children who would like to have a look around the school.
Book Fair - The Book Fair will be in school for the next week. Parents, relatives and friends are welcome to visit before and after school. Perhaps some of you might consider buying books this year instead of Easter Eggs.
Concert - Tickets are now available in school. Adult tickets cost €10 and children's cost €5. If anyone needs extra tickets, let us know. We also have flyers and posters if anyone would like to take some to give out or display.
Congratulations - We are delighted to hear of the safe arrival of baby Will, a second son for Corrie and Jonathon and a baby brother for Drew and Elise. We send our congratulations and hope to see him in school soon.
Welcome - We extend a warm welcome to Jack who has joined us in 5th Class. We hope Jack and his parents, John and Joan will enjoy being part of our school community.
Science Event - We had the pleasure of hosting the children from Kilbarron School on Wednesday morning. All of the classes demonstrated experiments and activities to the visitors. It was great fun and we thank Mrs Leslie and Miss Anderson for bringing the children along and we thank the children for their interest and enthusiasm. Hopefully, they will return in the not too distant future.
Golf Thanks - We thank Leslie Robinson and Murvagh Golf Club for providing the children with golf lessons over the past few weeks. We hope that many of the children will take up the offer of the free sample lessons.
P.T.A. Meeting - Please note that the meeting to organise the concert will now take place on Wednesday 14th March at 7 p.m.
Book Fair - The Book Fair will be in school from Monday 26th March until Friday 30th March.
Protest March - A Protest March against the Government's cuts to Education will take place in Letterkenny on Saturday 10th March, meeting at Letterkenny Institute of Technology at 2 p.m.
Heart to Hand - Thank you for your generous response to the annual 'Heart to Hand' appeal.
Quiz Team - Well done to Jessica, Grace, Victorjoe and Katherine on a good performance at the Garda Quiz last Thursday night.
Recipe Book - We have managed to sell many of our cookery books but are still eager to sell more. Please contact the office if you have not yet purchased one.
Killaghtee Football - Well done to the girls' team who came second in the Killaghtee Football competition this year.
Policy Review - As part of the School's Development Plan, the staff and Board of Management have been reviewing some of the school's policies. You will already have read most of these but in the interests of the environment and saving paper and ink, I will not be sending a printed copy of each one home. There will of course be copies in the school office and they are also available online. If you would like a printed copy, please let me know. I would like to draw your attention to the recently developed Supervision Policy. We will be discussing this at the next Board Meeting so if you have any comments on this or any other school policy, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Golf - The children in the Senior room will be enjoying golf lessons with Leslie Robinson in the next few weeks. It is great to have Leslie back with us again.
Pancakes - As always, the children thoroughly enjoyed their pancakes (some enjoyed them too much!). Thank you to Nicola and her helpers, LeeAnn, Amy and Tanya. A total of €145 was raised for the Children's Hospital in Tallaght. Photographs to follow.
Personal Thank You - I would like to say thank you for the many kind words, messages and enquiries I have received over the past two months following my father’s accident. Your thoughtfulness has been very much appreciated by myself, my mother and especially my father. I am pleased to say that, although not fully recovered yet, my father was discharged from hospital at the end of last week and is making excellent progress.
Fundraising Concert - We have had to change the date of the fundraising concert. It will now be held at 8.00 p.m. on Friday 4th May. We are very grateful to all those who have offered to perform and to help. We are still seeking help (we promise not to ask you to go on stage unless you really want to!).
Help is needed with many things e.g. ticket selling, the tuck shop, refreshments, costumes etc. so please let us know what you can help with.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th March at 7.00 p.m. Please come along if you can.
Adult Craft Classes - Please contact Leah Love if you are interested in attending a series of 6 Craft Classes which will be held in school. Crafts will include: card making, beading, leather work, making use of recycled materials amongst other things. Leah can be contacted directly or via school.
Visiting Author - The children’s author Maddie Stewart will be in school for a workshop on Tuesday 28th February.
Engineering Week - As part of our on-going science work, the older children will be visiting the Abbey Centre in Ballyshannon on Friday 2nd March for a science show.
Killaghtee Football Competition - This year’s competition will take place in Inver Community Centre on Saturday 25th February.
Fish - Regular visitors to school may have noticed that our fish tank has been replenished. We thank Paul Gallagher and Ezra Mitchell for their visit to the pet shop and for purchasing our five new goldfish.
Green Flag Visit - Well done to the Green School Committee for the way in which they presented themselves during our Green Flag interview/visit last Monday. They were able to give a detailed and informative account of our ongoing work in school. All of our visitor's questions were answered with clarity and knowledge. We thank our Committeee for the mature and responsible way in which they have approached their duties this year. In the next few weeks we will be holding an 'Energy' linked science day and then will formally apply for our flag. We hope that our application will be successful.
Variety Concert - We are holding a meeting in school on Wednesday 8th February at 7.00 p.m. to organise the fundraising concert and we need as much help as possible. Next year we are going to lose approximately €7000 in funding. If you are unable to make it to the meeting but can help in any way, please let us know. If you know of any local group or performer who might like a chance to show off their talent, please let them know.
Congratulations - We were delighted to hear of the safe arrival of baby Katie McGuinness. We send our warmest congratulations to Aveen, Fergus and the big sisters.
Board of Management - A meeting of the Board of Management will take place in school on Thursday 9th February at 7.00 p.m.
Uganda Visit - Mark Mahon, Nigel Morrow and Wayne McGrath will be talking about their recent trip to Uganda on two occasions over the next few weeks. They will be talking in school on Tuesday 7th February at 8 p.m. and also in Rossnowlagh Church Hall on Wednesday 15th February at 8 p.m. Everyone is very welcome.
Green Flag - A representative from 'An Taisce' will be visiting us on Monday 30th January to evaluate our work towards our second Green Flag. We wish the Green School Committee well for this visit.
6th Class Visit - 6th Class will be visiting Coláiste Cholmchille on Tuesday 31st January for an Open Day.
Fundraising Variety Concert- We hope to organise a fundraising concert on Friday 20th April (date to be confirmed). As this is a variety concert, we are seeking a variety of acts. If anyone has any suggestions of local acts/talent or indeed is happy to volunteer themselves, we would be delighted to include them. Any act will be considered, so please let us know as soon as possible. We thank Paul Gallagher for coming to our last P.T.A. meeting and for his help with this event.
French - We are pleased to be able to resume our French lessons in the Senior room. We welcome Ms Wendy Breslin to our school. French is taught for one hour every Monday.
Energy Workshop - As part of our work for our Green Flag, the children will be taking part in a workshop on Wednesday 25th January. This workshop will focus on saving energy and is organised by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.
Congratulations - We would like to congratulate Miss Bustard who has just announced her engagement to Richard. We wish them both a very long and happy future together.
Christmas Party - Thank you to all those who helped organise and supervise the Christmas Party this year.
Happy New Year - We hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday and we wish everyone a very happy New Year.
Table Quiz thanks - We would like to thank the members of Hilltown L.O.L for their donation of €700 to school funds - part of the proceeds of the recent Table Quiz. We are very grateful for this boost to our funds, especially as our main Grant has been cut again by another 2%.
Carol Service - The Carol Service will take place at 7 p.m on Thursday 15th December. Items for the refreshments should be dropped off in school by 6.45 p.m. We would appreciate help with setting up tables in the hall on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Millennium Forum Trip - Please let me know as soon as possible if your children are not going to the Theatre as I need to organise the transport to Derry.
Photograph Money - Please make sure your photograph money is returned by Thursday 8th December. We have tried to extend this deadline but the photographer has been unwilling to change it. After this date, all photographs will have to be returned directly to Country Photographs.
Carol Singing and Christmas Lights - The Christmas Lights will be switched on in Ballintra onThursday night at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday 8th December. The children have been asked to join in the Carol Singing.
Author - The author/storyteller, Joe Brennan, will be in school on Friday 9th December for a writing workshop with the senior classes.
French - We are pleased to have resumed French lessons in the Senior Room. We welcome, Ms Wendy Breslin to our school.
P.T.A. - A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Wednesday 30th November at 7 p.m. Everyone welcome.
Joe Kennedy - You may have heard the children chatting about Joe who visits on Friday mornings. Joe Kennedy is a regular visitor now (he even makes his own tea) and on Friday mornings if you are passing, you will hear the children singing along happily to his guitar. The children also hear Bible stories, learn Bible verses and get far too excited about his quizes! We warmly welcome him to our school.
Photographer - The photographer will visit school on Monday 28th November. This year we hope to also have a whole school photograph taken. (The last one of these was taken in 2006!) Please ensure the children are in correct uniform - no trainers or tracksuits please.
As the photographs will be taken after lunch, please try not to include messy things for lunch (especially yogurt!)
Parent Teacher Interviews - Thank you everyone for the excellent turn out at the parent teacher interviews. I hope you found them as helpful and informative as we did. Please remember that if you have a concern or a question at any other time, we are always happy to talk to you.
Science Week - As part of Science Week activities, the children in the Senior Room will be travelling to Letterkenny on Monday 14th November to take part in a 'Magic Science' workshop.
Fundraising Recipe Book - We are hoping to produce a fundraising recipe book and would appreciate any contributions. Please forward to school as soon as possible. Please include your name and address.
P.T.A. - A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Wednesday 9th November at 7.00 p.m. We would very much appreciate your help and support this year. This year is going to be particularly difficult financially as one of our largest grants (Minor Works) may not be paid this year due to the current cuts to educational services. This represents a cut of approximately 40% of our funding.
Congratulations - We send our warmest congratulations to the McKee and Russell families on the birth of baby Hannah.
Parent Teacher Meetings - We will be organising Parent Teacher Meetings in November. More dates and details will follow soon.
Green Flag - Work for our second flag is ongoing. We recently completed work on the Building Energy Rating of our school. The Display Certificate can be seen on the Green Flag Notice Board. Our school was rated as B2 which is very good and indicative of the hard work being done by everyone in the building to be as energy efficient as possible.
Mid-Term Break - School will close on Friday 28th October at 3.30 p.m. and will open again on Monday 7th November.
Hallowe'en - We are holding a non-uniform day on Friday 28th October. Children may wear a costume or own clothes for a donation of €2 to school funds. No scary masks please.
Oysters - Thank you to Mrs Valerie Moore who brought in oysters to show and talk to the children about. The children thoroughly enjoyed seeing and touching them.
Board of Management - A Board of Management meeting will be held in the Rectory on Wednesday 26th October at 7.00 p.m. This will probably be the final meeting of the current Board of Management and we thank all those who have served the school community so well over the past four years. More details of the new Board of Management will follow soon.
Unihoc - The total raised so far is approximately €850. We thank everyone who has returned their sponsor money. We would also like to thank Muriel and Ezra for organising the event and also everyone who helped on the night or supplied refreshments.
Congratulations - We send our warmest congratulations to the Griffiths family on the safe arrival of baby Tia. Hopefully she will make a visit to school soon.
Unihoc - The annual sponsored Unihoc will be held in the Community Centre on Wednesday 5th October. We look forward to seeing you there.
Welcome and thank you - We welcome Mrs Margaret Carty who is teaching French to the older children. We also welcome Mrs Russell who is working on the story of 'Jonah' with the older children. We are also very grateful to Jackie McGlinchey who has returned to help out on a voluntary basis. Miss Johnson has now completed her teaching practice and we thank her very much for her hard work over the past three weeks. The children have completed some lovely work so if you have the time, please drop in and have a look at some of their displays. We wish Miss Johnston every success with the remainder of her course.
Rugby Blitz - As part of the older children's tag rubgy sessions, 4th, 5th and 6th class will be taking part in a Rigby blitz in Donegal Town on Wednesday 12th October.
Adventures of Phoenix - You may have read in the Donegal Times or have heard from the children that Miss Johnston's sister has written a book about the adventures of Phoenix the dog. We have been lucky enough to have seen and read from the book in school. It is beautifully written and illustrated and would make a lovely present. All proceeds will go to the Guide Dogs' Charity. Please contact us before Thursday if you would like a copy, as a representative from the Guide Dogs' charity will visit us in school on Friday 7th October and will hopefully be bringing a trainee dog and some copies of the book.
Wheelchair Association - Small activity packs are on sale in school. They cost €2 and all proceeds will go to the Wheelchair Association.
Belleek Pottery - As part of Science and Art work on 'Materials', the children in 4th, 5th and 6th Class will be visiting Belleek Pottery on Tuesday 4th October.
Pencil Cases - Thank you all very much for your generous response to the pencil case appeal. These have been forwarded to the volunteers who are travelling to Uganda. We wish all of those travelling out to Uganda this year a safe journey.
Harvesting - Thank you to Mr Barnett for all his work in the garden. The children have been helping to harvest all the vegetables. Click here for a look. More photos to come later.
Green Flag Work - The theme for our second flag is energy. Over the next few weeks, the chidren in the Senior Room will be working on creating an Energy Certificate for the school. The Greeen School Committee will also be looking at ways to conserve energy during the school day.
Staff- We are delighted to have Mrs McMahon back with us this for the foreseeable future.
We will be hosting a student teacher in school over the next four weeeks. Miss Lorraine Johnson will be working in Miss Bustard's room. We extend a warm welcome to her and hope she enjoys her time with us.
Welcome back letter (September 2011) - Word Version Pdf Version
Junior Infants - The photographers have been in this week so be sure to look in the newspapers over the coming days.
Welcome - A very warm welcome is extended to our 8 new Junior Infants. We especially welcome those families who are new to us. We hope they will quickly feel very much at home and we look forward to seeing them at all our school events and meetings.
The Junior Infants will be going home at 12.30 p.m. until September 9th and then at 2.00 p.m.
Thank you - On behalf of everyone in school, I would like to thank Noel Given and John Barnett for their continued work in the school over the summer holidays. The school grounds look fantastic and have done all summer. Our thanks also to Ezra and Muriel for all the work carried out in the building during the summer.
Last year's news - Click here
Get well soon - We send our best wishes to Mrs Russell as she recovers after a recent operation. We look forward to having her work with us again soon.
6th Class - Good luck to all of our 6th Class children starting their new schools. We know that all of them will do well and we look forward to hearing how they are getting on.
Copies of videos- Several people have requested copies of the concert video and the wedding video. Could I please ask that if you want a copy, please either ring Cathrena or email/send a note into school? I am going to be away for the next few weeks but will make copies when I get back. I also hope there will be a copy of the End of Year Show too. As always, a small contribution to school funds to cover the cost of DVDs would be appreciated.
Book Rental - I would like to remind those remaining few families about Book Rental Money. The ability to provide the school books at a low price is dependent on every family contributing.
Teddy Bears' Picnic- We will be holding a whole school Teddy Bears' Picnic on Monday 25th June. All fluffy friends are invited.
End of Year Show - Thank you for your support of the End of Year Show. You were a great audience. We also thank the children for their hard work in preparing for it, especially as much of the cast had been struck down with a vomiting bug during the week. It was also unfortunate that several of our younger children were unfortunate enough to catch chickenpox. We hope they feel better soon and we look forward to seeing them perform on many more occasions.
Recipe Books - A huge thank you to Jayne Wallace who has just managed to see her 100th copy of our Recipe Book. Thank you!
Barbecue/Fun Evening - A barbecue in aid of the trip to Uganda will be help in school on Tuesday 26th June at 6 p.m. Please come along and support.
Green Flag and Fun Walk - Despite the weather, we managed to raise our Green Flag and raise €250 for school funds. Our sincere thanks to Kieran McAree for his help with our music, Samantha McElhinney for her help with our dancing, Stephen McElhinney for his music on the bagpipes and Mr Barnett for raising the flag. Thank you also to everyone who braved the rain to help and take part in the walk, those who helped with the refreshments/clearing up and those who helped with donations of food.
End of Year Show - This year's End of Year Show will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday 21st June.
Green Flag Ceremony - Our Green Flag Ceremony will be held at school on Thursday 14th June. Mr Barnett has kindly agreed to raise our flag this time. We hope to go on our Fun Walk and Cycle after the ceremony.
Junior Infants - Our new Junior Infants will visit school on Wednesday 13th June. We look forward to meeting them.
Board of Management - A Board of Management Meeting will be held in school at 7 p.m. on Monday 11th June.
School Tours - Despite the inclement weather, we had great fun on our tours. Thank you to the children for their excellent behaviour, the staff who took care of them all day and the staff of the Arigna Mines, Eagles Flying and Lurgybrack Farm who looked after us so well.
Concert thanks - Thank you to everyone involved in the organisation of the concert. Our current total is just over €4000.
Thank you to those who helped with the refreshments, ticket selling, sourcing refreshments and raffle prizes, erecting signs, contacting press, setting up the Community Centre, tidying up afterwards and especially the members of the P.T.A.
Thank you to all those who participated in the concert. All the acts were fantastic.
Thank you to Cathrena, who helped with so many things it would be impossible to list them all.
Our thanks to those who helped backstage at the concert – to Ezra and Jonathan Mitchell, to William Hamilton for his help with the sound system and in particular, Paul Gallagher who not only had the onerous task of managing everything on the night but had also helped with props, scenery etc. and many other things in the months before the concert.
Thank you to the Committee of the Ballintra Community Centre for their help.
Thank you to all the sponsors of our raffle prizes and refreshments.
Thank you to Ms Niamh Currid for her help with the music.
Thank you also to everyone who came along and supported the event.
And finally, thank you for your help in ensuring the children were so well prepared and well presented on the night. I hope you were as proud of them as we were.
Thank you to Nigel for the following photographs.
Discover Science - We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded our 7th Discover Science and Maths Award. We thank Miss Henderson for her work on this project and invite you to have a look at the Learning Log in the school foyer.
Uniform - Please note that school will not be selling uniform at all this year. Uniform can now be bought from the Victor Company and the Uniform Shop in Donegal Town.
P.T.A. Meeting - A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Tuesday 22nd May.
Concert Arrangements - Children will need to be at the Community Centre at 7.45 p.m. on Friday 4th May. Children should wear burgundy uniform/black shoes. The smaller children will be supervised by the class teachers until the break. After the break they will go and sit with parents. The older children will be remaining at the front as they are needed on the stage at the end of the concert.
If you are happy to help during the break, please let us know. Help with the teas/tuck shop and ticket selling for the raffle would be much appreciated.
Community Centre - Your help at the Community Centre on Thursday 3rd May at 8.00 p.m. would be much appreciated.
Concert Help - It is not long now until the fundraising concert and we would be very grateful for additional help. If you can help with the refreshments, ticket selling, distributing flyers and posters etc. please let us know. The PTA will be meeting next week (date to follow). We will also be needing help on the evening of Thursday 3rd May to set up the Community Centre. Please try to keep this date free and come along to help.
School Tour- The Senior School Tour will take place on Thursday 7th June. More details to follow.
Green Flag - We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in our application for our second Green Flag. We especially congratulate the children on the Green School Committee.
Get well wishes - We would like to pass on our best wishes to Mrs Barnett who is recovering in hospital after a fall. We hope she will be back at home soon. At this busy and worrying time, we thank Mr Barnett for continuing to help us in the school garden.
Test Week - We will be doing our standardised testing between 24th May and 1st June. Your help in ensuring there are no absences or appointments during this time would be very much appreciated. It is not always possible to delay and postpone tests and it can be unsettling for children to take tests on their own at other times.
Book Fair - Thank you for your support of the Book Fair. A total of approximately €710 was spent. This meant that the school was able to purchase books to the value of almost €300 for the classroom libraries.
Congratulations - We were pleased to hear that there was a very special delivery in the Dinsmore house on Easter Sunday. Congratulations to Gary and Charlotte and all the family on the arrival of baby Ella.
Thank you - We would like to thank Ezra for all the work done in school over the holidays. You may have noticed that the small entrance hall has been repainted. Many of the chairs have also had their plastic feet replaced - a tedious and time consuming job! All of this work has been done in a voluntary capacity so we pass on our thanks.
Athletics - Jackie Harvey has returned to us this term and will be doing athletics training each Tuesday afternoon..
Highland Dancing - Sam will be joining us in school on Thursdays for the next few weeks to teach the children some basic Highland Dances.
Open Day - We will be holding our annual Open Day next Thursday afternoon from 2.00 p.m. until 3.00 p.m. A warm welcome is extended to all our new Junior Infants and also to families with pre-school children who would like to have a look around the school.
Book Fair - The Book Fair will be in school for the next week. Parents, relatives and friends are welcome to visit before and after school. Perhaps some of you might consider buying books this year instead of Easter Eggs.
Concert - Tickets are now available in school. Adult tickets cost €10 and children's cost €5. If anyone needs extra tickets, let us know. We also have flyers and posters if anyone would like to take some to give out or display.
Congratulations - We are delighted to hear of the safe arrival of baby Will, a second son for Corrie and Jonathon and a baby brother for Drew and Elise. We send our congratulations and hope to see him in school soon.
Welcome - We extend a warm welcome to Jack who has joined us in 5th Class. We hope Jack and his parents, John and Joan will enjoy being part of our school community.
Science Event - We had the pleasure of hosting the children from Kilbarron School on Wednesday morning. All of the classes demonstrated experiments and activities to the visitors. It was great fun and we thank Mrs Leslie and Miss Anderson for bringing the children along and we thank the children for their interest and enthusiasm. Hopefully, they will return in the not too distant future.
Golf Thanks - We thank Leslie Robinson and Murvagh Golf Club for providing the children with golf lessons over the past few weeks. We hope that many of the children will take up the offer of the free sample lessons.
P.T.A. Meeting - Please note that the meeting to organise the concert will now take place on Wednesday 14th March at 7 p.m.
Book Fair - The Book Fair will be in school from Monday 26th March until Friday 30th March.
Protest March - A Protest March against the Government's cuts to Education will take place in Letterkenny on Saturday 10th March, meeting at Letterkenny Institute of Technology at 2 p.m.
Heart to Hand - Thank you for your generous response to the annual 'Heart to Hand' appeal.
Quiz Team - Well done to Jessica, Grace, Victorjoe and Katherine on a good performance at the Garda Quiz last Thursday night.
Recipe Book - We have managed to sell many of our cookery books but are still eager to sell more. Please contact the office if you have not yet purchased one.
Killaghtee Football - Well done to the girls' team who came second in the Killaghtee Football competition this year.
Policy Review - As part of the School's Development Plan, the staff and Board of Management have been reviewing some of the school's policies. You will already have read most of these but in the interests of the environment and saving paper and ink, I will not be sending a printed copy of each one home. There will of course be copies in the school office and they are also available online. If you would like a printed copy, please let me know. I would like to draw your attention to the recently developed Supervision Policy. We will be discussing this at the next Board Meeting so if you have any comments on this or any other school policy, please don't hesitate to let me know.
Golf - The children in the Senior room will be enjoying golf lessons with Leslie Robinson in the next few weeks. It is great to have Leslie back with us again.
Pancakes - As always, the children thoroughly enjoyed their pancakes (some enjoyed them too much!). Thank you to Nicola and her helpers, LeeAnn, Amy and Tanya. A total of €145 was raised for the Children's Hospital in Tallaght. Photographs to follow.
Personal Thank You - I would like to say thank you for the many kind words, messages and enquiries I have received over the past two months following my father’s accident. Your thoughtfulness has been very much appreciated by myself, my mother and especially my father. I am pleased to say that, although not fully recovered yet, my father was discharged from hospital at the end of last week and is making excellent progress.
Fundraising Concert - We have had to change the date of the fundraising concert. It will now be held at 8.00 p.m. on Friday 4th May. We are very grateful to all those who have offered to perform and to help. We are still seeking help (we promise not to ask you to go on stage unless you really want to!).
Help is needed with many things e.g. ticket selling, the tuck shop, refreshments, costumes etc. so please let us know what you can help with.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday 13th March at 7.00 p.m. Please come along if you can.
Adult Craft Classes - Please contact Leah Love if you are interested in attending a series of 6 Craft Classes which will be held in school. Crafts will include: card making, beading, leather work, making use of recycled materials amongst other things. Leah can be contacted directly or via school.
Visiting Author - The children’s author Maddie Stewart will be in school for a workshop on Tuesday 28th February.
Engineering Week - As part of our on-going science work, the older children will be visiting the Abbey Centre in Ballyshannon on Friday 2nd March for a science show.
Killaghtee Football Competition - This year’s competition will take place in Inver Community Centre on Saturday 25th February.
Fish - Regular visitors to school may have noticed that our fish tank has been replenished. We thank Paul Gallagher and Ezra Mitchell for their visit to the pet shop and for purchasing our five new goldfish.
Green Flag Visit - Well done to the Green School Committee for the way in which they presented themselves during our Green Flag interview/visit last Monday. They were able to give a detailed and informative account of our ongoing work in school. All of our visitor's questions were answered with clarity and knowledge. We thank our Committeee for the mature and responsible way in which they have approached their duties this year. In the next few weeks we will be holding an 'Energy' linked science day and then will formally apply for our flag. We hope that our application will be successful.
Variety Concert - We are holding a meeting in school on Wednesday 8th February at 7.00 p.m. to organise the fundraising concert and we need as much help as possible. Next year we are going to lose approximately €7000 in funding. If you are unable to make it to the meeting but can help in any way, please let us know. If you know of any local group or performer who might like a chance to show off their talent, please let them know.
Congratulations - We were delighted to hear of the safe arrival of baby Katie McGuinness. We send our warmest congratulations to Aveen, Fergus and the big sisters.
Board of Management - A meeting of the Board of Management will take place in school on Thursday 9th February at 7.00 p.m.
Uganda Visit - Mark Mahon, Nigel Morrow and Wayne McGrath will be talking about their recent trip to Uganda on two occasions over the next few weeks. They will be talking in school on Tuesday 7th February at 8 p.m. and also in Rossnowlagh Church Hall on Wednesday 15th February at 8 p.m. Everyone is very welcome.
Green Flag - A representative from 'An Taisce' will be visiting us on Monday 30th January to evaluate our work towards our second Green Flag. We wish the Green School Committee well for this visit.
6th Class Visit - 6th Class will be visiting Coláiste Cholmchille on Tuesday 31st January for an Open Day.
Fundraising Variety Concert- We hope to organise a fundraising concert on Friday 20th April (date to be confirmed). As this is a variety concert, we are seeking a variety of acts. If anyone has any suggestions of local acts/talent or indeed is happy to volunteer themselves, we would be delighted to include them. Any act will be considered, so please let us know as soon as possible. We thank Paul Gallagher for coming to our last P.T.A. meeting and for his help with this event.
French - We are pleased to be able to resume our French lessons in the Senior room. We welcome Ms Wendy Breslin to our school. French is taught for one hour every Monday.
Energy Workshop - As part of our work for our Green Flag, the children will be taking part in a workshop on Wednesday 25th January. This workshop will focus on saving energy and is organised by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.
Congratulations - We would like to congratulate Miss Bustard who has just announced her engagement to Richard. We wish them both a very long and happy future together.
Christmas Party - Thank you to all those who helped organise and supervise the Christmas Party this year.
Happy New Year - We hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday and we wish everyone a very happy New Year.
Table Quiz thanks - We would like to thank the members of Hilltown L.O.L for their donation of €700 to school funds - part of the proceeds of the recent Table Quiz. We are very grateful for this boost to our funds, especially as our main Grant has been cut again by another 2%.
Carol Service - The Carol Service will take place at 7 p.m on Thursday 15th December. Items for the refreshments should be dropped off in school by 6.45 p.m. We would appreciate help with setting up tables in the hall on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Millennium Forum Trip - Please let me know as soon as possible if your children are not going to the Theatre as I need to organise the transport to Derry.
Photograph Money - Please make sure your photograph money is returned by Thursday 8th December. We have tried to extend this deadline but the photographer has been unwilling to change it. After this date, all photographs will have to be returned directly to Country Photographs.
Carol Singing and Christmas Lights - The Christmas Lights will be switched on in Ballintra onThursday night at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday 8th December. The children have been asked to join in the Carol Singing.
Author - The author/storyteller, Joe Brennan, will be in school on Friday 9th December for a writing workshop with the senior classes.
French - We are pleased to have resumed French lessons in the Senior Room. We welcome, Ms Wendy Breslin to our school.
P.T.A. - A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Wednesday 30th November at 7 p.m. Everyone welcome.
Joe Kennedy - You may have heard the children chatting about Joe who visits on Friday mornings. Joe Kennedy is a regular visitor now (he even makes his own tea) and on Friday mornings if you are passing, you will hear the children singing along happily to his guitar. The children also hear Bible stories, learn Bible verses and get far too excited about his quizes! We warmly welcome him to our school.
Photographer - The photographer will visit school on Monday 28th November. This year we hope to also have a whole school photograph taken. (The last one of these was taken in 2006!) Please ensure the children are in correct uniform - no trainers or tracksuits please.
As the photographs will be taken after lunch, please try not to include messy things for lunch (especially yogurt!)
Parent Teacher Interviews - Thank you everyone for the excellent turn out at the parent teacher interviews. I hope you found them as helpful and informative as we did. Please remember that if you have a concern or a question at any other time, we are always happy to talk to you.
Science Week - As part of Science Week activities, the children in the Senior Room will be travelling to Letterkenny on Monday 14th November to take part in a 'Magic Science' workshop.
Fundraising Recipe Book - We are hoping to produce a fundraising recipe book and would appreciate any contributions. Please forward to school as soon as possible. Please include your name and address.
P.T.A. - A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Wednesday 9th November at 7.00 p.m. We would very much appreciate your help and support this year. This year is going to be particularly difficult financially as one of our largest grants (Minor Works) may not be paid this year due to the current cuts to educational services. This represents a cut of approximately 40% of our funding.
Congratulations - We send our warmest congratulations to the McKee and Russell families on the birth of baby Hannah.
Parent Teacher Meetings - We will be organising Parent Teacher Meetings in November. More dates and details will follow soon.
Green Flag - Work for our second flag is ongoing. We recently completed work on the Building Energy Rating of our school. The Display Certificate can be seen on the Green Flag Notice Board. Our school was rated as B2 which is very good and indicative of the hard work being done by everyone in the building to be as energy efficient as possible.
Mid-Term Break - School will close on Friday 28th October at 3.30 p.m. and will open again on Monday 7th November.
Hallowe'en - We are holding a non-uniform day on Friday 28th October. Children may wear a costume or own clothes for a donation of €2 to school funds. No scary masks please.
Oysters - Thank you to Mrs Valerie Moore who brought in oysters to show and talk to the children about. The children thoroughly enjoyed seeing and touching them.
Board of Management - A Board of Management meeting will be held in the Rectory on Wednesday 26th October at 7.00 p.m. This will probably be the final meeting of the current Board of Management and we thank all those who have served the school community so well over the past four years. More details of the new Board of Management will follow soon.
Unihoc - The total raised so far is approximately €850. We thank everyone who has returned their sponsor money. We would also like to thank Muriel and Ezra for organising the event and also everyone who helped on the night or supplied refreshments.
Congratulations - We send our warmest congratulations to the Griffiths family on the safe arrival of baby Tia. Hopefully she will make a visit to school soon.
Unihoc - The annual sponsored Unihoc will be held in the Community Centre on Wednesday 5th October. We look forward to seeing you there.
Welcome and thank you - We welcome Mrs Margaret Carty who is teaching French to the older children. We also welcome Mrs Russell who is working on the story of 'Jonah' with the older children. We are also very grateful to Jackie McGlinchey who has returned to help out on a voluntary basis. Miss Johnson has now completed her teaching practice and we thank her very much for her hard work over the past three weeks. The children have completed some lovely work so if you have the time, please drop in and have a look at some of their displays. We wish Miss Johnston every success with the remainder of her course.
Rugby Blitz - As part of the older children's tag rubgy sessions, 4th, 5th and 6th class will be taking part in a Rigby blitz in Donegal Town on Wednesday 12th October.
Adventures of Phoenix - You may have read in the Donegal Times or have heard from the children that Miss Johnston's sister has written a book about the adventures of Phoenix the dog. We have been lucky enough to have seen and read from the book in school. It is beautifully written and illustrated and would make a lovely present. All proceeds will go to the Guide Dogs' Charity. Please contact us before Thursday if you would like a copy, as a representative from the Guide Dogs' charity will visit us in school on Friday 7th October and will hopefully be bringing a trainee dog and some copies of the book.
Wheelchair Association - Small activity packs are on sale in school. They cost €2 and all proceeds will go to the Wheelchair Association.
Belleek Pottery - As part of Science and Art work on 'Materials', the children in 4th, 5th and 6th Class will be visiting Belleek Pottery on Tuesday 4th October.
Pencil Cases - Thank you all very much for your generous response to the pencil case appeal. These have been forwarded to the volunteers who are travelling to Uganda. We wish all of those travelling out to Uganda this year a safe journey.
Harvesting - Thank you to Mr Barnett for all his work in the garden. The children have been helping to harvest all the vegetables. Click here for a look. More photos to come later.
Green Flag Work - The theme for our second flag is energy. Over the next few weeks, the chidren in the Senior Room will be working on creating an Energy Certificate for the school. The Greeen School Committee will also be looking at ways to conserve energy during the school day.
Staff- We are delighted to have Mrs McMahon back with us this for the foreseeable future.
We will be hosting a student teacher in school over the next four weeeks. Miss Lorraine Johnson will be working in Miss Bustard's room. We extend a warm welcome to her and hope she enjoys her time with us.
Welcome back letter (September 2011) - Word Version Pdf Version
Junior Infants - The photographers have been in this week so be sure to look in the newspapers over the coming days.
Welcome - A very warm welcome is extended to our 8 new Junior Infants. We especially welcome those families who are new to us. We hope they will quickly feel very much at home and we look forward to seeing them at all our school events and meetings.
The Junior Infants will be going home at 12.30 p.m. until September 9th and then at 2.00 p.m.
Thank you - On behalf of everyone in school, I would like to thank Noel Given and John Barnett for their continued work in the school over the summer holidays. The school grounds look fantastic and have done all summer. Our thanks also to Ezra and Muriel for all the work carried out in the building during the summer.
Last year's news - Click here
Get well soon - We send our best wishes to Mrs Russell as she recovers after a recent operation. We look forward to having her work with us again soon.
6th Class - Good luck to all of our 6th Class children starting their new schools. We know that all of them will do well and we look forward to hearing how they are getting on.