Scoil Náisiúnta Seanbhaile

Wednesday 13 October 2010

Dear Parents,


Further days on which we will be closing early,

October 22 at 11.45 am for Junior & Senior Infants (plus their siblings) and 12 noon for the rest of the school to accommodate a Staff Talk on Dyspraxia.
November 24 & 25 (as above) to facilitate parent/teacher meetings.
November 26 (as above) to facilitate a Staff meeting.
December 23 (as above) as it is the day of the Christmas Holidays.

Our Board Game Playing Day is on Friday 22 October. Children usually bring in €2 on the day to raise money for worthy causes. This year the money raised will go to support literacy in the school. Children can bring in a board game that is easily played. Junior Infants might like to bring in a jigsaw. Please make sure games/jigsaws are labelled to avoid confusion on the day.



This autumn the school has invested hugely (to the tune of €2,500) in a Literacy Lift Off Programme commencing with Senior Infants. During the course of the programme the children will develop and improve their literacy skills through small group teaching. Four adults will facilitate this programme for thirty minutes four days a week in the class. During each session the children will have time to practice literacy in a fun way in their groups; they will read a new book, do some writing, practice sight words and learn to recognise and put together the different sounds in the English language. The greatest aspect of the programme is that every child in the class will benefit from it. We hope the programme will be successful and eventually rolled out to other classes.


S.A.L.T. programme
Commencing in November, after the mid-term break, your child’s class will be doing the S.A.L.T. Programme which is a Conflict Resolution Programme. Your child will learn the following:
Good self esteem
How to manage anger
How to speak clearly and calmly
Listening skills
How to recognise feelings in others
How to ask good questions
How to talk respectfully with others
How to recognise conflict
How to talk about how we feel when we are in conflict

The whole class will be learning a conflict resolution process to help them resolve their own playground rows. The four steps they will be asked to remember are:

Stop- cool down, Remember to use the ‘I’ statement. Speak clearly and calmly.
Ask- ask the other person what is wrong?
Listen -to what they say
Talk – about what happened. ‘Can we work this out?’

Conflict is part of life and it is important to learn how to deal with it. This programme will help your child develop new skills and gain confidence in dealing with every day fights and rows that can happen in the playground. If you have any questions please contact your child’s class teacher.




This is our newly revised Schoolyard Safety & Behaviour Plan for your information.

Scoil Náisiúnta Seanbhaile
Schoolyard Safety & Behaviour

General: Play together
Respect each other
Spread your friendship
Enjoy!
Morning

The rule is “Walk and Talk”. This means no running, no games or chasing, relax and chat before school begins. Parents- don’t deny your child this important part of the day by being late!!
Lunch Breaks

1. Paths and Steps are only for WALKING- marked as ‘yellow line’ zones
2. Use toilets in the main building only- ask permission from the adult on yard supervision please.
3. No ‘chasing’ games allowed.
4. Wednesday is a ‘no ball’ day (in order to promote alternative ways of playing, which includes all children).
5. All issues/ problems/ accidents to be reported immediately to the nearest adult on yard supervision please.
6. Absolutely no rough play allowed.
7. No climbing over/ under or through railings.
8. Grass area in front of the school may be used occasionally for games, weather permitting and with permission from teacher on yard duty.
9. When the bell rings, WALK to the line.
10. Stand in roll order in your line in a calm manner.
After School

a) Children waiting to be collected must stand outside the front door area. Do not block passageway/ steps with bags etc. Children can ‘Walk and Talk’ and not engage in any games, chasing, running whatsoever while waiting to be collected.
b) The Yard Access Rota will be displayed in the main building and in every classroom. (Not every class has access to the yard every break and some classes are ‘floating’ i.e. Walking and Talking around the school)
These guidelines are for the Safety and Happiness of all!!

Annual School Book Fair Week: 29 days left to the arrival of The Book Fair on Tuesday 10 November. We benefit from this in the form of books for use throughout the school.

Puffin Book Club: These have gone out to children. Please note that for every euro we order we get the equivalent back in the form of books for class libraries.

The School Parents Association: Thank you to all the parents who put their names forward to represent their children’s classes. I hope they enjoy their time on the P.A. Some events are coming up shortly such as the Table Quiz and the Bazaar in November. Details attached re the Quiz.

Green Schools: A Committee has been formed for this initiative. It comprises Mr. Clifford, Ms. Ní Loingsigh, Mary O’Reilly from the Staff, Hilary Sipek to represent parents and 4 6th class pupils who volunteered to assist. The initial focus is on litter and waste.

Parents Contributions- to date we have received contributions from 81 families from the 155 families in the school. We appreciate any support you can give in these straitened economic times. Reduced amounts or instalments welcome.


Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research: This was a great success. Thank you to everyone who took part and to the P.A. and teachers who helped out on the day. Please bring in any money raised over the next few days. The school would like to thank Spar Shanbally for their contribution of refreshments on the day.



The recent Coffee Morning organised by the P.A. was a great success with €390 being raised on the day to go towards funds for the school. A big thank you to all those who baked and helped out, and especially to Eurospar Passage who donated some delicious apple cake.





If any parent(s) is interested in starting an after-school Chess Club, please give your name to the office. The Chess Club could run maybe 2.30pm to 3.30pm once a week or a fortnight. Some knowledge of Chess would be advantageous! The school are initially considering classes from third to sixth participating.

Our Enrolment Policy has been revised and will be available to view on the school website www.shanballyns.ie shortly. The revisions are to take account of the changing nature of the family unit in Ireland. This has had a knock-on effect on ….

our Policy on Liaison & Communication with Parents. This has also been revised and will be available to view shortly on our website. We have included a section dealing with circumstances where the family unit/parental arrangements have changed.

This year as in previous years we will participate in Christmas Shoe Boxes for those in Europe less fortunate than ourselves. These will be collected the week of November 1 to November 5 here in school. Leaflet enclosed. You will notice that these are now being organised by Team Hope, an Irish organisation. Their website is www.teamhope.ie . Additional envelopes available in the office.



Our school noticeboard is full of after school /local activities. Some of these include:


Irish Dancing with Kiely-Walsh Academy Enquiries to 4771924
Children’s Disco Dance Classes in Ringaskiddy Enquiries to 087-9844515
Speech & Drama Classes (6-12) with Moyra O’Hare Enquiries to 086-3354417
Shamrock Ladies Football (2 class up) Enquiries to Susan at 086-3680618
Tennis with Pat McCrann (after school in Shanbally) Enquiries to 087-2349022
Nicky’s Dance Studio (children & adults) Enquiries to 087-7746244
Carrigaline Rugby (boys & girls from 6 up) Enquiries to Vincent at 086-3967811
CTYI Classes www.dcu.ie/ctyi Information Meeting Cork’s Clarion Hotel Friday 15 October
Windmill Speech & Drama (5-13) Contact Paula at 086-3214178
Gymnastics (from 3 years to adults) Enquiries to Colm at 086-1556615
Carrigdhoun Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann- Trad. Music Classes Enquiries to 087-2246436
Children’s Taekwondo Classes (4-7 years) Contact Sandra at 086-8165346
Art classes with Monica Jones (after school in Shanbally) at 087-9535574
Piano lessons with Marian Early (during school). Contact Marian at 086-1067695

Other upcoming events/notices include:
Carrigaline Drug Awareness Evening in the Carrigaline Library on Wednesday October 13 @ 7.30 pm. Further information from Deirdre at 086-3837390
An organisation which aims to link families in the Carrigaline & surrounding areas with ASD in their family. It is run by parents for parents. Enquiries to Cal at 086-3758458
Down Syndrome Ireland (Cork Branch) Inaugural Fundraising Autumn Ball. George Hook guest speaker. Saturday 30 October.

We continue to collect mobile phones for the Jack & Jill Foundation. As it approaches Christmas and people sometimes change phones, please think of this worthwhile charity and drop your old phones in to the office. The school can also benefit from this with free IT equipment depending on how many phones are collected.



That’s all for now,

Go raibh maith agaibh.

____________________________
Liam Shanahan
Principal

Shanbally National School
Parents Association

Quiz Nite

Shamrock Bar
12 November 2010
8.30 pm

30 euro per team

Prizes Raffle