Scoil na hEaglaise

Eglish National School

“Work together, do our best, respect each other”

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Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege,
than the raising of the next generation.
-C. Everet Koop, M.D.

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NEWSLETTER

March 2013

Dear Parent / Guardian,

Happy Easter to you all. Here is an update on what has been happening since January in our school.

Friendship Week: During Friendship Week at the beginning of February, the school raised €90 for Amnesty International from the sale of wrist bands with empowering, friendship slogans.

Cyberbullying: Many thanks to Ballinasloe Gardaí for coming to our school to give a talk and presentation to the students of our Senior Room on the very important topic of ‘Cyberbullying’

Pancake Tuesday: Thank you to parents and staff who helped to make pancakes for our students on this day. All students were involved in preparing the batter. Delicious!!

Scoil Drámaíocht: Congratulations to the students of 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th Classes who, under the direction of Ms. Rourke and Mrs. Murphy took part in the Scoil Drámaíocht competition in Inverin on March 1^st with their version of Rumplestiltskin in Irish. They won 1^st place in their category and also received an additional award for the all-inclusive make-up of their cast. Laura Glynn in 3^rd Class won the Best Actress award. Well done to all!

Engineering Workshop at Galway Aquarium: On March 1^st, all the students from The Middle and Senior Rooms took part in a 2-hour Engineering Workshop in Galway Aquarium. They engaged in a range of hands-on experiments.

Seachtain na Gaeilge: The motto for our Seachtain na Gaeilge this year was ‘Bain Trial as agus Bain Taitneamh as’ and we did just that.. On March 6^th, in the company of parents and members of the community we enjoyed an evening celebration of ‘The Best of Irish’ in our school. The students sang, recited, danced and played traditional music. It was an opportunity for the students also to put on their Irish play for their parents. €170 was raised on the night from donations and raffle ticket sales. Many thanks to all who contributed and thanks to Rose Lyons and Liz Mulry for donating the raffle prizes.

We were delighted to welcome Caroline Ní Mhórdha, a native Irish speaker from the Kerry Gaeltacht into our school during Seachtain na Gaeilge to speak to our students about what life was like growing up in the Gaeltacht. Caroline, who told us that her father is a famous seanchaoi, was amazed at the talent of our own seanchaoi, Liam Mc Donnell.

Mini-Sevens: Congratulations to the boys from 3^rd to 6^th Class who did themselves and the school proud during their recent outing for the Mini-Sevens Hurling in Ahascragh. On March 11^th, a freezing day, they won one match, lost the next and missed out on going through to the next round by just one point. Well done on putting in a great team performance!

Retreat and Sacraments: Our seven 6^th Class students attended a Retreat in preparation for their Confirmation in Knock on the 12^th of March. They are busy preparing for their Confirmation which will take place on April 15^th. Our 2^nd Class students have also been busy working with their teacher Mrs. Murphy and Fr. Reynolds on the ‘In Memory of Me’ Programme. They received First Confessions on the 20^th of March and will receive First Holy Communion on May 4^th.

Community Games Winners: Congratulations to Daniel Cosgrove, Pat Corcoran, Laura Glynn, Katie Fitzgerald, Ciara Cusack and Mary Mc Donnell who won medals in the local Community Games competitions in Handwriting and Model Making. Students from our school will also take part in the Community Games Talent Competition this Sunday in Clarinbridge. We wish them the best of luck. Enjoy it and do your best!

St. Patrick’s Day Parade: Hats off to everyone who took part in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and to all who spent the last few months putting their hat creations together. It was a lot of fun and a great learning experience. We won 1^st place in the Education category of the Ahascragh Parade.

Tidy Towns Speaker: Mark Molloy from Galway County Council gave a very worthwhile talk to our students on March 21^st on ‘Waste Management in the Home’ and ‘Tidy Towns’. Our students are doing very well in terms of maintaining their Green Flag Efforts.

Circuit Training: Mrs. Devine and Ms. Rourke continue to give freely of their time and expertise to provide Circuit Training classes for our students every Monday evening from 3-4pm. This activity is part of our Active Flag initiative.

Easter Egg Hunt and Open Day: We are looking forward to welcoming you and your children into the school this Sunday from 12-2pm for an Easter Egg hunt and some fun Easter activities. If you know of any friends or family who are thinking of enrolling their children in the near future, please invite them along.

Blue Star Programme and a Special Visitor: Because of our involvement with the Blue Star Programme, a programme aimed at cultivating a greater awareness of the EU in Primary School Children, we will be receiving a visit from Lucinda Creighton, the Minister of State for European Affairs, to our school on Monday, April 8^th. She will be visiting our school at 10am. A text with further details will follow. Parents are very welcome to attend.

Please be reminded, your child’s happiness and all-round educational development is our priority here in Eglish School. If you have any concerns in relation to this, please do not hesitate to let us know. To ensure that these concerns can be dealt with efficiently and in a dignified manner, please follow the steps as outlined in the Complaints Procedure Policy, a copy of which was sent home in September. Research shows that children perform best where there is a close link between home and school.

Many thanks for your ongoing support,

Le meas

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Siobhán Fitzgerald, M.Ed (Principal)