St. Kevin’s Girls’ National School,
Kilnamanagh.
Spring News Bulletin
2017
Spring Newsletter
It is uplifting to see the signs of Spring around us when we are out and about. New growth is appearing and the first Spring flowers are peeping up in our pots and planters.
Parents’ Association
A sincere thanks to the Parents’ Association who kindly provided and served the tea and coffee after the Carol Service in December. Thank you most sincerely.
School Incubator Education Workshop
Nore Valley Farm recently delivered an educational workshop in St. Kevin’s on the life cycle of the chicken. They gave us an incubator with fertile eggs in it. They explained how the egg changes and what happens during the hatching process. After the eggs hatch they will be left in the school for a few days and the pupils will be shown how to look after them. Then they will return to Nore Farm.We are very excited about the project.
New Student Council
We thank our newly formed Student Council for the wonderful work they did last term.
The student council are very active and have made some very good suggestions as to how to create a more caring and active school. Each term the members change. The new members of the council are Faye Farrelly, Leah Coughlan, Ella Smyth, Robyn O Reilly, Bronagh Mc Evoy, Dara Jean Finlay, Martyna Siewert, Aoife Carroll, Rebecca O Reilly and Avril Quinn. The lead members are Abigail O Melia and Francesca Callanta.
The local conference of St Vincent De Paul gratefully acknowledged the receipt of the donation from the Student Council for their Christmas Appeal. The donation was used in the local area and it was much appreciated.
Credit Union Quiz
The school was very proud of our under 11 and under 13 teams who competed in the first round of the 26th All Ireland Credit Union Schools’ Quiz. Stage one took place on Sunday 29 th January. An enjoyable day was had by all the students. The school received a €100 for its’ involment.
Debating Competition
The Sixth Class debating team members Laura Fitzpatrick, Amy Carruth (Captain) and Orla Dunne took part in the first round of the Concern debating competition. They represented the school very ably and were the proud winners of the debate entitled Food Waste should be Illegal.
The second round of the debating competition will take place in St Kevin’s School on Thursday the 16th February. The title of the debate is There Should be an Hour of Exercise Each Day in School. St Kevin’s debating team will be opposing the motion.The team members are Amy Carruth, Orla Dunne and Francesca Callanata.We wish them well.
Catholic Schools’ Week
A beautiful prayer service was held to celebrate Catholic Schools’ Week. We were very honoured that Fr. Michael and Ms. Sealy (Chairperson B.O.M.) joined us for the celebration. The theme this year is Caring for Our Common Home.
Green Schools
Congratulations to all the classes who participated in the travel competition and well done to all the students in the school who endeavour to travel in a sustainable manner. It makes a difference. By making good choices you are ensuring that the future of our planet is safe.
The winners were Ms O Flaherty’s Second Class.
94% of your overall travelling was sustainable.
Ms Norton: 6th Class
Ms Monahan: 3rd Class
You both tied in the competition.
92% of your overall travelling was sustainable.
Ms. Collins: 5th Class
88% of your overall travelling was sustainable.
Ms. Forde: 4th Class
77% of your overall travelling was sustainable.
Some Interesting Statistics
Ms O Flaherty’s 2nd class had the highest percentage of walkers at 42%.
Ms Monahan 3rd Class had the highest percentage of Park’n’Striders at 46%.
Ms Norton’s 6th Class had the highest percentage of car poolers at 14%.
Ms Crimmins 3rd Class had the highest percentage of Bus/Luas travellers 11%.
Ms Norton’s 6th Class had the highest percentage of cyclists at 3%.
The next competition will run from January until March 2017.
Many thanks to all involved in the Green Schools’ Committee for their interest and enthusiasm.
Shortly Ms. Forde will be allocating seeds to each class and we will be growing a variety of vegetables and flowers.
Donation for Syrian Children
Ms Crimmins’ third class pupils collected €100 for children who have come to Ireland from Syria. We commend them on their kindness and generosity.
Cake Sale
The Parents’ Association organised a cake sale on Tuesday, 14th February. There was a Cake/cupcake Competition on the day. Many thanks to all the members for their continuous involvement and hard work.
Peace Proms
The Dublin Peace Proms took place in the RDS Arena on Sunday, the 5th February. Our fifth class pupils were delighted to sing with 2,000 other pupils in this charity fundraiser. It was a most enjoyable performance. We were also delighted that so many parents attended. As usual our pupils displayed exceptionally good behaviour and we congratulate them for both their performance and their behaviour. Well done girls and sincere thanks to your tutor Ms Collins.
Writing Genres
Pupils in all classes have completed narratives on a variety of topics. They are gaining experience writing in all genres and their work is on display on the writing noticeboard. They will begin report writing shortly.
Problem Solving in Maths
Pupils are developing their mathematical skills regarding problem solving and we hope that these skills will enable the pupils to problem- solve more competently.
Gaeilge Neamh Fhoirmiúil
‘Fógraí an Lae’ is a daily occurance in our school. Our pupils enjoy outlining events which are taking place in the school and they also send birthday wishes to fellow pupils.
Kilmainham Gaol
Both Ms. Crimmins’ and Ms Monahan’s third classes have received a free tour of Kilmainham Gaol. They hope to visit there on the 21st of February. They will be preparing for the visit by doing some history classes based on this historic building . They are looking forward to the event.
Dates to Remember
Confirmation will take place in St. Kevin’s Church, Kilnamanagh on April 4th and the school choir is busy preparing for the big day as indeed are all the candidates themselves. They are participating in the ‘You Shall be My Witness Programme’. This is taking place over four Tuesdays in the Girls’ school.
The Ceremony of Light will take place in St. Kevin’s Church on Tuesday 21st March at 8 p.m.
Confirmation photographs will be taken on Wednesday April 5th at 9 a.m.
First Communion will be on 13th May at 11 o clock.
First Communion Photographs will be taken on Wednesday 17th May at 9 a.m.
Lotto
Thank you all for your excellent support of the weekly lotto which has been the schools’ lifeline for the last number of years. The dedicated committee of The Friends of St. Kevin continue to do Trojan work week in week out, selling, counting, organising, providing prizes, attending on the night and much more. This is greatly appreciated by the entire school community. This week’s jackpot is €1,300!
National Children’s Choir
The Naonal Children’s Choir.
Work is progressing on the choir. The girls now know twelve songs, some in three part harmony. A
parcular favourite is Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. ‘The Halleluiah Chorus’ is a tough one to learn,
but the girls are ge’ng there and it will be very impressive when they sing it at their concert. Our
next group pracce will be on 28
th
February. It will take place in our school with three other schools.
The actual concert will be in the Naonal Basketball Arena at the end of March. The girls will perform
all /0een songs with /ve hundred children, an orchestra and guest soloists. It is a night not to be
missed, and a wonderful opportunity to support the girls. As soon as we have a de/nite date, we will
let you know.
Work is progressing on the choir. The girls now have twelve songs in their repetoire, some in three part harmony. A particular favourite is Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. ‘The Halleluiah Chorus’ is a tough one to learn, but the girls are getting there and it will be very impressive when they sing it at their concert. Our next group practice will be on 28th February. It will take place in our school with three other schools. The actual concert will be in the National Basketball Arena at the end of March. The girls will perform all fifteen songs with five hundred children, an orchestra and guest soloists. It is a night not to be missed and a wonderful opportunity to support the girls. As soon as we have a definite date, we will let you know.
The Naonal Children’s Choir.
Work is progressing on the choir. The girls now know twelve songs, some in three part harmony. A
parcular favourite is Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’. ‘The Halleluiah Chorus’ is a tough one to learn,
but the girls are ge’ng there and it will be very impressive when they sing it at their concert. Our
next group pracce will be on 28
th
February. It will take place in our school with three other schools.
The actual concert will be in the Naonal Basketball Arena at the end of March. The girls will perform
all /0een songs with /ve hundred children, an orchestra and guest soloists. It is a night not to be
missed, and a wonderful opportunity to support the girls. As soon as we have a de/nite date, we will
let you know.
Olympic Handball
The U11 team and U 13 handball squad are training extremely hard. In the first term we were very lucky to have two of our two past pupils Andrea Shattock and Shannon Conroy training the teams at lunchtime once a week. On 6th December both teams went to Gormanstown for their first league blitz. This was a fantastic day. The U13’s won both their matches and the U11’s won two matches and their last match was a draw. This blitz was a valuable experience for them. Everyone played extremely well. They displayed a high level of skill and teamwork in their matches. We are all so proud of them. Many thanks to Angela Smith, Andrea and Shannon for coming along on the day. We eagerly await the announcement of the date of our next league blitz.
South Dublin Inter Schools’ Cross Country Race
This annual event is taking place on Tuesday the 14th of March at 1p.m. The event will be held in St. Enda’s Park. Our pupils will be participating and they are busy training for the event.We wish them well.
Soccer
Our soccer coaches are organising a 5- a- side school blitz. The trials have concluded. The teams will be selected from the 4th, 5th and 6th classes. Thanks to our experienced coaches Paul Murray and Jim Crawford for their expertise.
10@10
St. Kevin’s Girls’ school took part in the largest group exercise session ever to take place in Ireland. They participated in a group exercise session for ten minutes on the 10th of February at 10 a.m. Every Primary School in Ireland were asked to participate. Each school could choose the activity. It was a most worthwhile experience. We hope to encourage more physical activity and increase active breaks in the classroom as they are of great benefit to the pupils.
Bronagh’s Recount about The Peace Proms
The Peace Proms was held last week at the R.D.S in Dublin. It was the 20th annual Peace Proms!
First of all, we went on the bus. I was Tyra’s partner. It took us a half an hour to get to the R.D.S.
Next, our bus pulled up outside our tunnel, a woman directed us underneath the seats and to our seats.
When the majority of people arrived, we began to practise some songs such as ‘Best Day of my Life, ‘Heal the World’, ‘Ireland’s Call’ and more. We went to the toilet and ate our lunch.
Then people came flooding into the arena. I began to feel very nervous but excited at the same time!
At 8:00 pm the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland began to play, they were amazing! We began to sing a few songs, the soloists sang and the orchestra played a few more songs. At 9:15 we had a break.
During the break, me and a few other girls and teacher went to the toilet. It was packed!
We made a train so no one would get lost in the heap of people!
When we finally got out of the toilet, we had to run back to the stage because the music was playing. When we got back to the stage, The Orchestra was playing a piece from ‘Star Wars’, that was one of my favourites!
We sang all of our songs and at 11p.m. the show finished up and my Mam collected me at the green block
Overall it was a great experience. I really enjoyed singing all of the songs!