NEWSLETTER
WALSHESTOWN N.S. PARENTS COUNCIL
NEWSLETTER
SUMMER 2000
Believe it or not the school year is nearly over. It has been a good one and we would like to salute the year gone by and to look forward to the future.
Congratulations
On Sunday, 28th May, Mr. Griffen's 1st class made their First Holy Communion. It was a great occasion. Seven children received communion and all the girls looked beautiful, complimented by three handsome, smartly dressed boys. Well done to Sarah, Megan M-B, Megan L., Sinead, Liam, Emmet and Patrick.
The ceremony was inspiring and the choir performed wonderfully. Congratulations to Mr. Griffen (his first year preparing the children for communion) and to Mrs. Sharkey (who's influence was obvious!).
It was also very pleasant to have so many parents and friends come back to the school to share a cup of tea and a biscuit, laid on the Parents Committee. This will be the last First Communion until 2002, as children will have to be in second class in future.
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DID YOU WIN ?
we had two Draws during the year; one at Halloween and one at Easter. Such raffles are the main source of income for the committee and it is always amazing the level of support they get. Where possible we look for sponsors for the prizes and we were pleased to receive a cheque from Glen Dimplex for £100 which went towards the October draw. At Easter we had a Spring Lamb as the main prize and we have to thank Gerard and Eithne Murphy for providing the prize. Their children are long gone from the school but they still lend us great support.
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PANTOMIME
For the past two years we have been fortunate to be 'given' a performance of the Drogheda Pantomime's production. This means that we are given the proceeds from this performance. We get the tickets to sell and together with Callystown school we never have any problem filling the Parochial Centre. It is a great boost to our funds and for that we are very grateful.
Did you notice the garden lately? Joe McCullough again succeeded in having it 'just right' for the Communion day. The flowers were glorious and the lawns perfectly manicured. There was also a touch of new paint and four lovely hanging baskets. Well done and thanks to you Joe!
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GOAL....
You would have to wonder sometimes where Mr. Griffen gets the time, not to mention the energy, to do so much. Jim can be very proud of the success the Gaelic football team had this year. The school team won the Inter Schools 7-A-Side competition earlier this year and were also very successful with the 9-A-Sides reaching the Louth Final. The boys did well under Jim's management.
Mr. Griffen congratulates all the boys on the Gaelic team and especially mentions Mary McCullough and Margaret McCann, who provided the transport to and from the games. Indeed, Jim would like to thank all parents who gave support.
A final plea from Mr. Griffen.... WE NEED A SET OF JERSEYS....so if there is anyone out there who help provide a new kit and a couple of footballs he would be eternally grateful.
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SO WHAT'S NEW ?
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
you may all know by now that the Dept. of Education has given the go ahead to build an extension to the school. The plans have been drawn up and will be submitted to the Dept. soon. All going well building work should begin around this time next year with a view to being in use late 2001. You know what that means......yes, you've guessed it..... it will be a busy year all round. The Parent's Council will have their work cut out for them planning ways to raise funds to provide new "bits and pieces" for the school. There will several new rooms and an all purpose hall, which will be very useful. The old school at Murray's Cross was sold with agreement of the Dept. of Education. The money raised from the sale will cover the local contribution payable for the building work. This eases the burden on the committee, but there will be other expenses to provide for. We know we can look forward to your support, as usual, in all the committee's endeavours.
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RESOURCE TEACHER.
It has been the proud tradition of Walshestown N.S. to encourage children with special needs to be integrated into main stream education. It is thought that by doing this it serves these children well and also benefits the other pupils by accepting those who may be a little different. As we are lucky to have a few special children, and hope to welcome more in the future, the Dept. of Education has agreed that we need another teacher in the school to give them any extra tuition they might need. It is hoped the Resource teacher will spend about 11 hours per week in this endeavour, thus ensuring minimum disruption to all. The future looks very bright for the school. These things help to strengthen the already special atmosphere which makes our school unique.
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CONGRATULATIONS.
...to Walshestown F.C. on their great success in the local football league and cup competitions. They won the cup recently in the U-8's, U-9's and U-12's divisions. The nines and twelves also won their respective leagues. There are quite a few boys from the school who play for these teams and others at the club. We also wish the Walshestown F.C. every success with their expansion plans. They fulfil a very important role within the community and deserve our support.
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THEY'RE LEAVING......
This year we say goodbye to 9 children. Sixth class are a very friendly lot who enjoy a close bond with each other. Six of them will remain together as they head for Scoil Ui Mhuire ... Simone, Adam, Andrew, Luke, Patrick and Philip will storm Dunleer in September. Labhoise heads for the Sacred Heart School and keeping her company in Drogheda will be Jack, who will be attending St. Oliver's, and Ian, who will be adding to the numbers in St. Joseph's.
They put together a few thoughts on their lives at Walshestown N.S. and here are some of their memories.
Andy McCann will not only remember the first two weeks at school.....he says he cried all the time, but he will never forget the time he played Fr. Dougal in the school play and forgot his lines.... not like him to be stuck for words. The school play also evokes memories for Adam McCann - he says the worst time for him at St. Paul’s was when he had to dress up as Little Red Riding Hood. But the winning of the Cumman Na mBunscoile Cup will always stay with him.
In fact winning the Cup in Gaelic will be an abiding memory for most of the boys leaving this year. Philip Meegan will think often of the day the National League Cup, won by Louth this year, was brought to the school. It impressed him a lot. Patrick Connolly says he will never forget his first day in Mr. Breathnach’s class - it was a scary time going into the ‘Head Teacher’s Room’ - but he survived the ordeal and is now ready for secondary school. Like Patrick, Luke McDonnell joined the school in second class and says he will happily remember being in Mr. Griffen’s class and getting Maltesers for being good...I always wondered where he got his sweet tooth from. Jack Ledwith remembers the sports day when he was in first class and his team won the day. He played his part by winning two races,
Labhaoise Molony also remembers an incident at one of the school plays. She was playing Miss Piggy and one of the other girls forgot to say the next line, which caused them all to laugh. A voice from the audience said "someone forgot to learn their lines". The whole place erupted - she enjoyed that. The other lady in sixth class, Simone Lambe, is very proud of the fact that the school has won a big prize in the Irish Independant schools competition (more about that later). Ian Connell will never forget the friends he made while at St. Pauls and hopes they will not loose contact with each other.
Parents also say goodbye....
This year several families also sever their ties to the school. We bid farewell to Miriam and Sean Molony, Marie and Sean Connell, Geraldine and Vincent Meegan, Paula and Noel McDonnell and finally Margaret and Declan McCann. They have all given great support to the school over the years and we hope they will remember their association with the school fondly. Many of the parents have "done time" on the Parents Committee for which the school will always be grateful.
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THANK YOU !
Philomena Donnelly has been working in the school as secretary for the past two years. Her contract ended a while ago but she has offered her services to us until the end of term. For this and for much more we thank you Philomena. During her time with us she has been dedicated to the school and is very popular with the children.
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A NOTE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON..
This is my last year, not only as chairperson, but as Luke is moving on this year, I must too. It has been a privilege to have been associated with St. Pauls' over the past five years. There is a special ethos at the school. The children are a great bunch who seem to pull together and get on remarkably well, most of the time. Of course the teachers play a very important part in this and I would like to thank Chris, Jim and Declan for all the help they gave Luke and for their assistance in my role on the committee. I would also like to compliment and thank the committee members who served with me. It was a honour to work with them. On the whole we had a good time and I wish them every success in their future fund raising efforts and will be thinking of them fondly.
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HELLO !
As one lot leave we have to welcome the newcomers to St. Pauls. This year we have 10 new pupils coming into Junior Infants. We will be saying hello to Aisling, Grace, Eavan, Ruth, Layla, Allison, Stephen, Darren, Andrew, and Daniel and we hope they will enjoy their schooling here. We have seven new families joining us, as there are also two children coming into first class - twins no less. We would like to take this oportunity to invite the new parents to attend the A.G.M. in September and, if possible, to become involved with the parents committee at some stage. These days we, as parents, are encouraged to take an active part in our children's education and joining the parents committee is an ideal way to do this. So. we'll see you in September...?
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GET WELL SOON.....
We’re sorry to hear Mrs. Sharkey had an accident while out walking recently. Chris has broken her ankle rather badly and won’t be back at school before the holidays. We all hope you get better quickly and that your summer hasn’t been completely spoiled. We are thinking of you Chris and send all our best wishes.
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GREAT NEWS !
You will all remember that over the past months the children have been collecting the special tokens from the Independant Newspapers for the "Cash for Schools" competition. Well all the collecting paid off. Each school had to submit a project about their school to the competition, together with the tokens and Walshestown N.S. won the Louth prize.....a marvellous £2000, All the hard work was worth it.
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It is with a heavy heart that we mark the recent passing of Angela Thomas. It was a shock to all that someone so young could be taken so suddenly. Angela was a person generous of thought and action. Our thoughts and prayers are with Naomi, Charlie and Paul and also with her family and friends who grieve for her. May time be the healer. Rest in Peace Angela.
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SCHOOL CLOSES AT 12 NOON ON 23RD JUNE AND REOPENS ON MONDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER. WE HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY AND THAT WE GET THE WEATHER TO ENJOY IT.