THANK YOU!

Thank you all so much for the phenomenal response to this fundraising activity.  At last count (and there is still a little more money to come in), the children had raised just over €450 for their evening's work.

As soon as we have a final total and have decided which charity to pass the money to, we will let you know.  

Please pass on our thanks to everyone who 'sponsored' a job.  As well as raising such a large amount of money, it was just lovely to see the proud little faces handing over their hard-earned money and announcing all the jobs they had done to earn it....one of the nicest mornings I have ever had in school.

Well done to all the children for their effort and hard work.


Engineer's Visit


4th, 5th & 6th Class enjoyed a visit from engineer Donal Clancy on Thursday 28th November. The children explored how changing slopes and gradients affected the distance travelled by different objects.  They were also able to ask questions about what an engineer does and the different types of engineering.

In school, we consider it very important that the children often have opportunities to talk about and think about people less fortunate than themselves.  As we begin to talk about Christmas,  we would like you to help us reinforce the message that this Christmas there will be many people without access to basic needs like water, food and shelter.  

This Thursday (28th November), in return for a night without homework, we are asking the children to try to raise some money for the Philippines Disaster Fund.  We are asking them to do this by 'working' and 'offering to do jobs' at home e.g. washing the dishes, sorting washing, dusting, hoovering etc. in return for a euro or two.  

Please encourage the children in their efforts.  By earning the money and donating it to others we hope the children will feel not only a sense of pride, but also the pleasure that helping others gives, especially when they themselves will receive so much at Christmas


"It came without ribbons!  It came without tags!  It came without packages, boxes or bags!"... 
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! 
 "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.  
Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!"  
~Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Table Quiz

Thank you to Nan Leslie and all those who helped to organise and run Saturday night's fundraising Table Quiz.  Thank you also to those parents and children from school who came along to take part and help make the evening such a success.  

Congratulations

We send our warmest congratulations to Charlene, Timmy, Cameron and Baileigh on the safe arrival of their newest family member, TJ.  We hope he is soon able to visit us in school. 

P.T.A. Meeting

A meeting of the P.T.A. will be held in school on Tuesday 26th November at 7.00 p.m. All parents are automatically members of the P.T.A. and are most welcome to come along.  

Thank you

We thank Corrie and her father, Charlie Moore for a most entertaining and informative visit on Friday. The children enjoyed hearing about different types of trees, planting four new rowan trees and playing a tree game in the playground. Pictures to follow soon in the Gallery.

Tree Talk

We look forward to welcoming Drew's grandfather, Mr Charlie Moore to school on Friday 22nd October to talk to us about trees and seeds.

Engineer's Visit

The children in the Senior room are also looking forward to a visit by Mr Donal Clancy on Thursday 28th November.  Mr Clancy will be talking to the children about his job as an engineer.

Roots of Empathy

Today was the first visit to school by baby Jessica and her mum Josephine.  Jessica was extremely well behaved and being so cute, was an instant hit with the children.  We look forward to welcoming mum and baby back to school again in a few week's time.

Mrs Patterson has been very busy updating her class page.  Please take time to have a look at the new photographs there and also in the Gallery.

The fundraising Table Quiz has been rearranged for Saturday 23rd November at 8 p.m in Ballintra DIstrict Hall.  Your support would be much appreciated.

Thank you so much to Dr. Frances Lucy at the Institute of Technology in Sligo for hosting the Senior Room's visit for Science Week and for all the information she gave us for our project.  We spent a wonderful few hours using the equipment in the laboratory and have made a great start to our Science Fair project.  
Thank you also to Paul for not only organising and helping with our visit but also for buying the chips!

Cold Weather
Hopefully there will be no disruptive weather this year, but as a precaution please take time to read the following.  We will make every effort to ensure that school is open for the children, regardless of the severity of the weather. Please assume that school will be open unless you are informed otherwise.  

• Text messaging will be the main point of contact with parents but please also keep an eye on the school website and listen to local radio.  Please make sure that we have an up to date mobile number for you.  
• It may be necessary to delay the opening time for school - you will be notified by text message as early as possible if this is the case.  
• Most staff members have long journeys to make in the mornings and may be delayed by the weather too, so please make sure that someone is in school before leaving children at the gate.
• I have no input with regard to the school buses.  The decision not to drive is made by the drivers themselves. McGloin's hope to make contact with myself and Aveen McGuinness if the bus is not running.  If you are unable to make the journey safely at your normal time, please let us know.  I am keen that every effort will be made to get children to school, albeit later than normal.
• Please make sure that the children are bringing warm coats, hats and gloves to school. The playground can be very cold.

School Photographs

Please return school photograph money by Friday 22nd November.  After this date, all photographs will have to be returned directly to County Photographs.

Folens Annuals

If you would like to order a Christmas Annual, please return your order and money by Friday 22nd November.

Dates

• Wednesday 18th December – Carol Service at 7.00 p.m.
• Friday 20th December – Last day of term
• Monday 6th January – School reopens at 9.20 a.m.

Roots of Empathy

From now until the end of the academic year, the children in Mrs Patterson’s room will be taking part in a programme called ‘Roots of Empathy’ (ROE). This program teaches children about feelings- their own feelings and the feelings of others.  Once every three weeks, baby Jessica and her mum will visit the classroom.  A trained ROE instructor will lead the programme and together they will follow the baby’s progress. 

You can find out how the children and baby Jessica are getting on by looking at the notice board in the main hall and by reading updates on Mrs Patterson’s web page and the school news section on the website.

We thank Josephine (Jessica's mum) for agreeing to help with this project and for kindly agreeing to come into school to visit us.

We're going to the R.D.S. to this year's Primary Science Fair

The children in the Senior Room are delighted with the news that they have been selected to exhibit their Science Work at this year's Science Fair in the R.D.S. in Dublin in January.  This is a wonderful opportunity for us as only 120 Primary Schools across the country have been lucky enough to be selected. 

As part of our project, the children will be visiting a science laboratory in Sligo Institute of Technology on Thursday 14th November to begin their science work.  You can read more about our project over the next few weeks on our class blog.  

For more details about the Science Fair and participating schools, please click here.

The fundraising Table Quiz due to be held on Saturday 9th November in Ballintra District Hall has been cancelled.

A wonderful gesture!

We are very proud of one of our students who had a very important haircut this week.  Following her cousin's great example earlier in the year, she had her 13" ponytail cut off yesterday and will now donate it to the Rapunzel Foundation which makes wigs for those who have suffered hair loss as a result of cancer treatment or illness.  It has taken her a long time to grow her ponytail and we think this selfless and very considerate act deserves much praise.  Well done!

Mark, Robert and Wayne

We send our thoughts and best wishes to Mark, Robert and Wayne as they begin their travels to Niger on Friday.

Shoebox Appeal

To date we have received 31 filled shoeboxes.  Thank you to all those families who donated to the appeal this year.

Table Quiz and Quiz Sheets

Thank you all for the many finished sheets and for the effort put into selling them.  They have now been passed on to Nan Leslie and the winners will be picked on Saturday 9th November at the Table Quiz.  The Quiz starts at 8 p.m. and your support for those raising money on our behalf would be much appreciated.

Carol Service Date

Please note that the date for this year's Carol Service has now changed to Wednesday 18th December at 7 p.m.