Holy Family National School

Newsletter March 1998

New Board of Management

A new Board of Management has been put in place for Holy Family National School. They replace the previous board who did such sterling work for the last four years.

The members of the new Board are as follows:

Mary Rooney - Chairperson,

Mary Harte - Secretary

Joe Freeland - Treasurer

Christy Kenny

Evelyn McNelis

Martin Hoban

John Purcell

Sheila Gaynor

The new Board took up office in December and hold office for the next three years. We wish them well in their work.

New Parents' Association

To coincide with the turnover in Board of Management, a new Parents Association Committee was elected at a meeting in the school hall.

The Parents Association Committee are as follows:

Bernie Meenagh - Chairperson

Chris Kenny - Secretary

Jackie Larkin - Treasurer

Sheila Gaynor

Nuala Ryan

Hilary Behan

Colette Kenny

Noreen Rohan

Marie Keogh

The committee have already held a number of meetings and are at present drawing up plans for their term of office. Their first initiative was to collect the annual voluntary contribution before Easter and they plan a sponsored walk in early June. The committee thank those who have paid their annual voluntary contribution and urge others to do so before Easter.

A draw for Easter Eggs will be held on Wednesday April 8th for those who have paid by that date.

We know there are many demands on your money but this contribution is absolutely essential for the day to day running of the school.

Gaelic Games

Football and Hurling:

Pride of place in Gaelic Games must go to the girls' senior football team who won the Cumann na mBunscol football final in Croke Park and took back to the school Corn an Chladaigh. The girls won all their games up to the final by huge margins. In the final after a tentative first half the girls went on to win by 7 - 5 to 0 - 2. A special word of thanks to Mrs McNelis for coaching the girls so successfully and also to the parents who helped out week after week providing transport.

For the record the team was:

Ciara Crinion (Capt.), Una Murray, Laura Burns, Jane Connolly, Crystal Daly, Anne Meenagh, Eimear Walsh, Emma Redmond, Amanda Farrell, Yvonne Coyne, Laura Byrne, Emma McNelis, Ruth Brennan.

Gaelic Football and Hurling coaching continues each week under Christina McGinty, a coach appointed by the Dublin County Board. During the winter Christina organised an indoor hurling league among the schools where she is coaching and while the emphasis was on participation, the boys and girls from 4th class in our school emerged as overall winners. Well done and again thanks to the parents who provided transport every week. Indeed parents providing transport for school teams is absolutely essential as the cost of hiring a minibus is prohibitive.

Hurling training has commenced for the senior hurling team and league matches start in early April.

French Classes

A group of sixteen children from 6th class are at present half way through a series of lessons in French which takes place each Wednesday after school hours. The idea of the course is to give children an introduction to French before they enter secondary school. The emphasis in the course is on oral french. Their teacher is Christina Quinn.

Vouchers for Computers

Many thanks to the children who have brought in their Tesco vouchers for school computers. To date over 2500 have been collected. The scheme ends on 12th April so we would urge all children to make a special effort to get as many as possible in before Easter.

N.B. ESSO Tiger Tokens are also acceptable.

Dogs in the Schoolyard

We have an ongoing problem of dogs straying into the yard especially in the morning when the children are playing in the yard. While many of the dogs are very friendly, there have been incidents where they have made an attempt to bite. This is very dangerous. Where dogs have been identified, the owners have been contacted and warned about keeping their pets under control. Remember it is illegal to allow a dog roam free without a lead. If the problem continues more drastic measures will have to be taken.

Enrolments for September 1998

If you have not enrolled your child in the Junior Infants class for September 1998, it is vital that you do so immediately. Enrolment forms can be got from the secretary in the office.

Upcoming Dates to Note

Easter Holidays 8th - 20th April

First Confession - 28th March

First Holy Communion - 9th May

Confirmation - 26th May