October Newsletter
Dear Parents and Guardians, below is a little update on some of the things we have had going on over the past few weeks:
Welcome new pupils and their families:
Welcome to our new Junior Infants. They have had a great start. Their first few weeks have seen them play at the funfair in Aistear, get to know each other on yard and take such an interest in their work in class. Mrs. O’ Regan and Ms. Louth are so proud of them and are really enjoying getting to know them.
Our Early Years ASD class welcomed 3 new pupils and from walks in the Nuns Garden to daily circle time they are always busy and a smiley addition to our school.
Some children also joined the older classes and we are delighted to have them and their families join our school community. You are all very welcome and we hope you have a wonderful time with us.
Maths Week:
Maths week took place this week and saw our classes become a hive of activity with trails, challenges and puzzles. The children were challenged to think outside the box and to put their maths skills to work in different ways. From describing themselves in number in third class to cooking in Junior Infants and lots more in between, the week was a great success.
Safe Routes to school:
Thank you to everyone who is helping to keep our School Zone at the front gate safe. The children can now come and go safely in the morning and evenings. Please remember to only stop at the stop drop and go zone and to turn further up the hill away from the gate. Together our efforts are working. Well done!!
Environment Scientist Ellen Murphy from An Taisce joined our senior assembly on the 11th October to talk to the children about ways we can travel safely and in a more sustainable manner. Ellen will continue to work with our school in the next phase of the Safe Routes to School Programme and we hope to see lots of progress made. Our school is the first school in Co Cork to engage with this scheme and we were chosen out of almost 1000 schools so let’s work together to ensure it’s a success!!
Cycle Sense
Our fifth class pupils took part in cycling sessions in school over the past few weeks. The Cycle Sense programme sees a full class set of bikes and helmets arrive at school each week and the children learn the rules of the road and how to cycle safely. When ready, they were then guided in small groups to practice their skills on the road. A great programme that will teach them the skills to travel safely in a sustainable manner.
Author Visit:
The Mayor of the County of Cork, Gillian Coughlan and Dublin based Author Shane Hegarty joined the children in our senior classrooms via Zoom yesterday to launch the Children’s Book Festival. This Festival, which takes place nationwide, has moved online this year and we were thrilled to be the school to take part in the launch with such wonderful guests. Mayor Gillian Coughlan told us about the chain she wears on official business and told us about the places in Bandon that she would use if she were to write a book. Shane spoke to the children about his books and about the writing process. He was incredibly impressed when children told him about stories and books they were writing. We have so many budding writers in our school and this was a fantastic opportunity for them to meet a famous author. The children asked some great questions but I am not sure how I felt about one student, who shall remain nameless, suggesting he might sacrifice his principal if the school were to be attacked by a Minotaur!!!!
Sports Complex:
We are delighted to have such a great resource shared between the two schools and this term is certainly seeing it being put to good use. The children started this term with GAA training on Thursdays and we are very grateful to Bandon GAA who provided a trainer for this. There is lots more to come for the children as we continue to deliver activities for all in this space.
Dyslexia Association
We have welcomed the Dyslexia Association of Ireland to our school this term. They have weekly workshops in our school on Thursday afternoons. If your child has a diagnosis and would like to take part in the workshops please go to the DAI website and download the form as applications for extra places are being taken at present.
EAL
The West Cork Development Partnership are working with our school to support children from new communities for whom English is an Additional Language. The English classes programme that was piloted with our school last year and was a great success has been expanded this year to see WCDP assign our school a teacher for 19 hours a week to help these children. Claire O’ Callaghan is working with our school’s EAL teacher, Mr. Aherne, to give additional support to these children to make sure they feel part of our school and develop their spoke English which helps them make friends and take part in play in a more meaningful way.
Aistear:
Our Infant teachers have been creative and ensured that our Aistear curriculum is being implemented despite Covid restrictions. This initiative, with a focus on play and language development, is so important for the Infants. This term they went to the funfair and learned all about Hallowe’en and after midterm will be moving on to The Post Office.
Bandon Poetry Town:
September saw poetry sweep through the town and our school did not miss out. We had Odes and Limericks and all sorts of poetry being created. A poetry workshop for the Senior Classes with former and much loved teacher Mary Murphy had to be postponed due to weather/Covid restrictions but watch this space for a little anthology of poetry from the children in our school.
We were also thrilled to provide a venue for an adult poetry session in our school hall during the week. The organisations and groups in our town are a huge help to our school and it was lovely to help with such a great event.
Dress up Day:
As we celebrated the Hallowe’en break, the children dressed up today in their scariest outfits and enjoyed a day of fun and games. A fancy dress parade, in class party and Golden Time made for a great Friday to end the first half term of our school year.
Thank you to everyone who contributed so generously to our collection for the Family Resource Centre. This Centre is a huge support to families in our town and we were glad to support such a great local organisation.
Picker Pals
In another first, our school has been selected to launch the Picker Pals initiative as it is rolled out across the country. This was piloted in several schools in Dublin last year and 1200 classes are joining this year. Representatives from the initiative travelled from Dublin to visit our school today to chat to the children in Second Class and give them starter packs for the programme. The Mayor of the County of Cork, Gillian Coughlan, joined us again to officially launch the programme and meet the children.
We continue to work with the children to develop a sense of responsible citizenship. As with anything, the more practical you can make things, the more effective the learning. With this in mind, the great litter picking sessions that the older children took part in last year will continue this year. Mr. O’ Regan’s class started on Thursday with a visit to the Town Park. We are so grateful to the Trustees of the park who give permission to our school to use the facilities so it was our first port of call. Mr. Elphick’s class will do a session when we return with 3rd & 4th classes following later in the year. Each class will target a different area as we help the Tidy Towns Committee and other great organisations who help keep our wonderful town looking its best.
Sacraments
The children in this year’s third class celebrated their First Holy Communion this half term in the Parish Church. The sun shone and we were so proud of them on their special day. We also welcomed back last year’s Sixth class to help them celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was great to chat to them about their new schools and life in Secondary School. As expected, they have settled in very well.
I wish to extend a thank you to Canon Kingston and all in Bandon Parish who helped to organise and celebrate the ceremonies and to you as parents who were so patient as we waited for these special days to take place. I would like to thank the staff of the school who contributed in lots of different ways to prepare for these Sacraments. Lastly, thanks to the children who took part so prayerfully.
PA
Our school is so lucky to have such a wonderfully supportive and active Parents’ Association. Covid restrictions put a stop to some of the activities they engage in but they hope to get up and running soon again. Some of the longstanding members of the committee will have children leaving our school this year and we would love to see some new parents join. They are a very welcoming bunch and I always enjoy a chat with them when I get to attend meetings. I would love to see some more parents join so think on it and we will send contact details after the break.
Covid 19
Thank you to all our parents and guardians who have been so vigilant about Covid symptoms over the past two months. You have been cautious and kept children at home if unwell and your efforts have kept everyone in our school community safe. We understand this is not easy as organising to have children minded during the week can be difficult. We really appreciate you being so understanding and cooperative. You have been a huge help to us as we continue to live with Covid 19 and I hope that all our efforts will see an end to this as soon as possible.
As you can see, we have had a busy term and it has been a pleasure to see the children learning in so many different ways. Have a look on our Facebook page for pictures of some of the activities mentioned. We hope you all have a lovely midterm break and we look forward to seeing everyone again on the 1st of November.
Take care,
Méabh & all the staff of Scoil Phádraig Naofa