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Holy Family National SchoolNewsletter January 2008 |
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| First of all, on behalf of the staff and Board of Management I wish you all a Happy New Year. I hope you all had a nice relaxing Christmas break and we look forward to a good year ahead in 2008. | |
| New Board of Management | |
| A new Board of Management came into
office on 1st December 2007 and the members will serve for four years up to
2011. I wish to thank on your behalf each of the Board members for agreeing to
take on this important duty for the good of the children in our school.
The members of the board are: Mr. J. Walsh - Patron's Nominee and Chairperson of the Board Mrs. F. Martin - Patron's Nominee Mrs. Anita Mansfield - Parents' Representative Mr. David Hennessy - Parents' Representative Mr. D. Manning - Teachers' Representative and Treasurer of the Board Mr. M. Hoban - Principal and Secretary of the Board Mr. D. McHugh - Community Representative Mrs. M. Herlihy - Community Representative |
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| New Parents' Association | |
| At a general meeting of parents in
the school hall on 22nd October 2007 a new Parents' Association was established
and they took up office on 1st December to coincide with the term of office of
the new Board of Management. I would like to thank the outgoing parents association for their dedication and hard work over the last four years. They had an important role in the running of the school. They contributed significantly to the development of school policies; they were involved in all the major events of the school particularly First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Most of all they carried many fund raising events, the proceeds of which were used to provide extra curricular activities for the children, transport for school trips and educational materials for classrooms. In total that Parents' Association raised in excess of € 110,000 and € 102,000 was spent on a variety of projects in the school as listed above. There is no doubt that the Parents' Association made a very significant contribution to the education of the children in our school. It is heartening to see that many of the outgoing committee have stayed on for the next four years. The members of the new Parents' Association are: Anita Mansfield - Chairperson Diane Begley - Treasurer Susan Rowe - Secretary Ann Dixon Ann O'Brien Sandra Dolan Heidi Winston Helen Kilgallon Matt O'Sullivan Arlene Hennessy Marion Bolger David Hennessy Paul Caverly Edyta Slowinski Denise Perlin Deborah MacDermott Elaine Devoy Margaret Courtney. I am glad to say that the committee are already up and running with the running of the Christmas Raffle which realised a profit in excess of € 3000. This was a fantastic sum of money to raise in such a short time. Many thanks to parents and children for buying and selling tickets and also to those parents who donated prizes. Other fund raising events planned for this year include a Sponsored Walk on 18th May and a Golf Classic on 13th June. More about those events at a later date. |
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| Important Dates | |
| First Confession: Monday 4th February
@ 7.30 p.m. Mid-term Break: Thursday & Friday 14th & 15th February. Easter Holidays: Monday 17th March - Friday 28th March (2 weeks) Confirmation: Wednesday 14th May @ 11.00 a.m. First Holy Communion: Saturday 24th May @ 11.00 a.m. Mid-term Break: Monday 5th May - Friday 9th May (1 week) Summer Holidays: Monday 30th June. |
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| Homework | |
| Homework is given on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and Thursday but not on Friday unless it has been neglected during
the week. Homework will regularly contain reading, spellings, tables, written work, pieces to be "learned by heart", drawing/colouring etc. The following are guidelines for time spent at homework. Differences in ability will be taken into account - different children will complete the same homework in different lengths of time. Children experiencing difficulties in English reading and spellings will not be given Irish spellings. It is important to remember that it is the quality and not the quantity of homework that matters. The following are general guidelines only: Junior & Senior Infants ...... 10 minutes Rang I & 2 .......................... 20 to 30 minutes Rang 3 & 4 ......................... c.45 minutes Rang 5 & 6 ......................... c.1 hour |
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| School Development | |
| The Board of Management last year submitted an application to the Building Unit of the Department of Education for 4 mainstream classrooms, 3 Learning Support rooms and other ancillary works to cater for increased enrolments in 2008 and 2009. The Department is at the moment examining the application and when there are further developments we will keep you informed. | |
| Enrolments | |
| I am taking this opportunity once more to inform you that the closing date for enrolments of children for September 2008 is 29th February 2008. After that date places will be allocated in line with our enrolment policy. The enrolment policy is available at any time from the school or it can be viewed on our website. Please check with the school secretary if you have any doubt about your application for enrolment. | |
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