School note February 28th

 

28-2-2019

Dear parents,

                    Progress on the building work on the school extension is excellent  with the weather greatly in our favour. A completion date of late July is promised. The Board of Management wishes to thank the members of the Community Alert who have helped with traffic and stewarding. They have been invaluable.

                     Tomorrow, the school will play in the INTO Mini Sevens in both hurling and camogie in Mungret GAA Grounds.

                     A team from Sixth Class consisting of Rory Murphy, David Byrnes and Tommy Lynch will represent the school in the Analog Devices Primary Schools Robotics competition on Saturday March 2nd. This team were winners of the activities organised during the workshop held in the school last week.

                  E payments are up and running again after a few technical hitches.

                    It has been brought to my attention that some children have become distressed by stories of the MOMO online game. Webwise provides excellent advice

https://www.webwise.ie/trending/top-10-tips-for-parents/

 Parents are advised to monitor your child's online activity closely.

MPCC Credit Union will visit the school on Friday March 8th.

                Attendance: In the event of any pupil reaching a total of 20 days absence from school in a school year, the school is required by law to make a report to Tusla,  the National Education Welfare Board. Parents are advised to be aware of this and to be mindful of their child's attendance record.

                                    Please check the school website www.ballybrownns.ie or follow us on Twitter @BallybrownNS to keep yourself informed on school news. 

           

Parents Association News: 

28^th February – Steve Goode from the National Parents Association will hold an introductory talk on "How to support all aspects of setting up and running a Parents Association in your school"  tonight at 19.30. All parents are welcome to attend. 

1^st March - Community Clothing Recycle event tomorrow Friday 1^st March. Drop off time from 8.45am – 09.30 am at St Joseph's National School at the gate nearest to the Resource Centre. All clean clothing and paired shoes, suitable for re-use welcome. All monies raised from the event goes towards school activities and resources. 

27^th April - There is a school bag packing day organised in Dunnes Stores in the Jetland Shopping Centre on the 27^th April from 10am to 4pm. We need your help to cover around 10 tills for a 2 hour slot during the day. Would you please phone or text Caroline Sheehan on 087-9276776 to let her know your availability. Your help would be very much appreciated. All funds raised go to school activities.

An information session on transition from pre school to primary school takes place on Tuesday 5th March in the Woodlands House Hotel Adare at 7pm 

Gach dea-ghuí,

 

J. Lyons

Principal

 

 

School Note Feb 20th

20-2-2019

Dear parents,

                    Building work is due to commence tomorrow on the extension to the school. As conveyed in yesterday's note, from Monday February 25th, all  children will assemble in the Senior Yard each morning. Children are supervised from 9 a.m. to 9.15 a.m. each morning. Parents are requested not to bring children to school prior to 9 a.m. as the school will not be responsible for them. As all children will be assembling in the same yard, children will merely line up in readiness for school. This is not playtime.

                 We are fortunate that there is room for parking in the Church grounds and Resource Centre carparks. There are two buses and three minibus/taxis servicing the school each day and these must also be accommodated. The area directly in front of the school gate must be kept clear as clearly indicated by the yellow box. 

                It is vitally important that minders, grandparents etc are made aware of these arrangements and I ask parents to inform them of these new procedures.

               I know I can rely on your co operation for the duration of the work.

              Meanwhile, school life goes on. Yesterday,  Learn It personnel travelled from Cork to give a day long Robotics workshop to children in Sixth Class. This was a great opportunity. The children were divided into teams of three. Two teams qualified to represent the school in a Robotics event in Analog Devices on March 2nd.

             Mr Barry brought a team to play in a hurling blitz in St Clement's College yesterday. The boys did very well. Next week, the school will play in the INTO Mini Sevens in Mungret GAA grounds in hurling and camogie.

                Parents Association News: Dear Parents, a  meeting with Principal Joe Lyons in attendance, will be held on Tuesday 26^th February at 8pm in the school hall to discuss forming a fundraising committee to help with raising the projected shortfall of €23K for the school playground. Your attendance would be greatly appreciated and your input would be very welcome. 

                          Thursday 28^th February – Steve Goode from the National Parents Association will hold an introductory talk on how to support all aspects of setting up and running a Parents Association in the school on 28^th February at 7.30 p.m. 

                      1^st March - Community Clothing Recycle event on the 1^st March drop off time from 8. 45am – 09.30 am at St Joseph's National School. All clean clothing and paired shoes, suitable for re-use welcome.. All monies raised from the event goes towards school activities and resources. 

          - There is a school bag packing day organised in Dunnes Stores in the Jetland Shopping Centre on Saturday 27^th April from 10am to 4pm. We need your help to cover around 10 tills for a 2 hour slot during the day. Please phone or text Caroline Sheehan on 087-9276776 to let her know your availability. Your help would be very much appreciated. All funds raised go to school activities.

Gach dea-ghuí, 

J. Lyons

Principal

 

 

School note February 14th

14-2-2019

 

Dear parents,

                     I wish to bring the following to your attention.

                      Work on the extension to the school is due to commence on Thursday February 21st and is expected to be completed by the end of July. The new classroom and two Special Education rooms will be ready for use when school reopens for the new school year. While work is ongoing, there will be no parking in the bus areas as the builders will be using this area for access. Traffic management and parking are just two items that will cause some temporary inconvenience.  A special note will issue next week on the topic of arrangements while building is ongoing.

                   The children in Third Class completed a six week series of swimming lessons yesterday in the Arena Sports Centre in Askeaton.

                   Ballybrown NS entered two teams in the City Cumann na mBunscol indoor blitz in Old Christians GAA club on Tuesday. One of our teams was narrowly beaten by JFK  in the semi final. Both teams played really well. Today, it is the turn of the girls as Ms Keyes and Ms Hayes accompany two camogie teams to the same venue.

            Reminder: School will close for midterm on Thursday and Friday February 21st and 22nd. Reopen on Monday February 25th.

              Parents Association:  There is a school bag packing day organised in Dunnes Stores in the Jetland Shopping Centre on the 27^th April from 10am to 4pm.We need your help to cover around 10 tills for a 2 hour slot during the day. Would you please phone or text Caroline Sheehan on 087-9276776 to let her know your availability. Your help would be very much appreciated. All funds raised go to school activities.

Community Clothing Recycle event on the 1^st March drop off time at 8.45 am at St Joseph's National School. All clean clothing and paired shoes, suitable for re-use welcome. All monies raised from the event goes towards school activities and resources.

Gach dea-ghuí, 

J. Lyons

Principal

 

 

School news February 7th 2019

 

 

 

 

 

7-2-2019

Dear parents,

                     Yesterday, the children in Junior & Senior Infants enjoyed a trip to the Ballybrown NS Restaurant as part of Aistear. The Halla was transformed into a dining room with flowers on each table. Children studied the menu before making their choices and ordering from the waiting staff, Ms Keyes, Ms Fitzgerald, Mary and Ceara. Chef Ms Neville ensured all diners were catered for while Mr Costelloe on saxophone  provided the mood music.

                    Indoor hurling takes place in Old Christians on Tuesday Feb 12th while Indoor camogie  is in the same venue on Thursday 14th.                

                    Over 80 grandparents enjoyed Grandparents' Day in school last Thursday. Many travelled long distances to attend. Special thanks to Ms Gibbons and Mr Barry for planning a lovely event that spanned the generations.

Community Fundraiser: Tiny Sebastian and her family who moved to the Parish from India 7 years ago died unexpectedly  last month.  Tiny was a nurse, wife to Cyril and mother to Riyana aged 8 and Riyon aged 4. A fundraiser is being held by the community of Patrickswell/Ballybrown to help the family with funeral costs of repatriating the body back to India and to express our support to them at this traumatic time.  As part of the ongoing Community Fundraiser envelopes are now available through out the parish for donations and can be returned to any of the boxes at the back of the Churches, Parish Office, Resource Centres and School Office. A coffee morning will also take place after the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday next 10th February.

Ballybrown Church Choir:   Rehearsals for Saint Patrick's Day/Easter beginning next Tuesday 12^th February  at 8 pm in the church.  We welcome new singers at any time.  If you enjoy singing, why not sing with us?  For further information please contact Rosaleen Donovan 061 353600 / 087 2267647.

Children's Grief Centre are hosting a conference: 'Children and Loss' on Friday 14^th June, 2019 in The Millennium Theatre, Limerick Institute of Technology.  The Children's Grief Centre is a support service for school-aged children and young people affected by loss through death, separation and divorce. 'We would be delighted if you could join us on the day and in doing so help us to spread the message about our important work.'  The conference fee is €50 per attendee, which includes refreshments and a light lunch. Registration for the conference and workshops is through  Eventbrite.ie

 

Parents Association News: Dear Parents, As part of the school extension there is a new play area being built but unfortunately there is a shortfall of €23K to make it a soft surface play area which helps prevent accidents and protects against injuries. We are holding a meeting at 7.30 p.m. in the school hall on Wednesday 13^th February 2019.  Your attendance would be greatly appreciated and your input would be very welcome.

 

Ballybrown Camogie Club: registration for u 8s, 10s, 12s & 13s tomorrow Friday Feb 8th from 8 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. in Ballybrown GAA Clubhouse.

Credit Union returns to school tomorrow Friday February 8th.

 

Gach dea-ghuí, 

J. Lyons

Principal    

Children's Grief Centre

To celebrate our 10th anniversary we at the Children's Grief Centre are delighted to be hosting our first conference: 'Children and Loss' on Friday 14th June, 2019 in The Millennium Theatre, Limerick Institute of Technology.



The Children's Grief Centre is a support service for school-aged children and young people affected by loss through death, separation and divorce.


We would be delighted if you could join us on the day and in doing so help us to spread the message about our important work. The conference fee is €50 per attendee, which includes refreshments and a light lunch.

Registration for the conference and workshops is through Eventbrite.ie

Registration will open on Thursday 31st January, 2019.


The following are our two keynote speakers.



· Dr Elizabeth Nixon will discuss 'Current research on the effects of parental separation on children: What hurts and what helps.'



· The title of Daniel McConnell's talk is 'Can you hear me now? - Why is it important for children dealing with grief to be heard.'


We would be very grateful if you could display our attached poster. If you require further information, please feel free to contact us by phone or email.





Helen Culhane

Director

CHILDREN'S GRIEF CENTRE


Westbourne

Ashbourne Avenue

South Circular Road

Limerick

061 224627 087 9851733

www.childrensgriefcentre.ie