WELCOME TO OUR OCTOBER P.A. NEWSLETTER…
After our last PA meeting we have the following to report:-
Item 1 THE HALLOWEEN CAKE SALE
As is tradition we are holding our first cake sale of the new school year to celebrate Halloween and are asking our wonderful Mums/Dads/Grandparents & Guardians to bake up a ‘spooky’ storm in the kitchen!! This will be held on Friday 23rd October in the Halla and all pupils will be able to dress up in fancy dress costume to add to the fun. (Please bring your cakes, cookies etc to the Halla on the Friday morning, thank you). Cakes cost 50c each.
Item 2 BINGO NIGHT AT THE FERRYBOAT INN RINGASKIDDY
Instead of our traditional Quiz night we are holding a Bingo night at the Ferryboat Inn, Ringaskiddy on Friday 6th November. There will be great prizes and mighty fun and we would love you all to attend to this great social evening.
Item 3 TEXTILE RECYCLING
We are organising a recycling company to call to the school. They will collect and pay for our old recyclables, such as clothing, bedding, handbags, soft toys etc. So if you’re planning a ‘clearout’ please bear this in mind as it’s a great way of raising funds for the school and making space in your wardrobes!! An added bonus is 10% is donated to the Laura Lynn foundation…. a win win for all!!! The proposed date for this is November 24th (to be confirmed)
Item 4 CHRISTMAS PANTO
The Parents Association normally organise a Panto to visit the school at Christmas time, but on speaking with both the teachers and pupils it has been agreed that this is something they no longer want, so we are looking into something totally different this Christmas… more information to follow shortly.
Item 5 THE CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
The proposed date for Christmas Bazaar is 29th November (to be confirmed) and this year’s Bazaar will have quite a few new twists!! We are hoping to erect a separate marquee which will house exhibits from the children for a whole new section of competitions, to include lego building models, baking, pictures, vegetable animals and much more, children will be encouraged to enter these competitions and they will be judged before the Bazzar opens with rosettes and prizes being awarded by guest judges. We have other activities planned and will be sending out a separate newsletter on this!!!.
Item 6 PARENTS ASSOCIATION COUNCIL OF IRELAND
Just to remind all parents especially our new Junior Infant parents that we are now members of the Parents Association Council of Ireland which gives us as parents many benefits, with lots of free talks, free useful leaflets and advice on their confidential helpline and numerous books on helpful topics to purchase. We would urge you to visit the website and am sure you will find it extremely helpful. www.npc.ie
Item 7 PLAYGROUND ACTIVITIES
Due to your fantastic efforts we have raised the money needed to re vamp the playgrounds. We are currently waiting for repairs to be done to areas of the concrete so can’t start the painting just yet, and we are in talks with the teachers and pupils to see exactly what they would like to have in terms of new activities and toys … watch this space as this will be underway very shortly.
Thank you…..
We had a fantastic response to our ‘call to arms’ for help needed on the Parents Association at our various fundraisers. Thank you to all who expressed an interest in helping out and we will be in touch shortly giving dates and venues which you may be able to help with.
And Finally
Most importantly all our fundraising has an aim. This year’s aim is to buy 16 ipads for the school so that each child will have the opportunity to use an iPad on their own instead of having to share with others. We hope you will agree this is a very worthy idea and one which should benefit all of our children. Please support all our events.
Aistear programme
Junior and Senior Infants are introducing the Aistear programme which involves learning through play. The classroom will be organised into 5 areas for Aistear time: drama, construction, small world, art and quiet Areas. Each area has an activity allowing the children to learn through play and the children will move round the 5 areas through the week. This style of learning needs a wide range of resources in order to give the children the widest possible experiences.
We are trying to avoid large expenditure for the school and whilst also trying to recycle we are hoping you may have some of the items needed and be happy to donate them to the school for this excellent new initiative.
Items required:
Dolls houses and doll house furniture
Dolls house people (eg Sylvanian Families)
Car Mat and small cars
Farm equipment, animals etc
Baby baths
Funnels, jugs
Graded containers
lunchbox type containers
Doctors & nurses playsets
Elf suits
Santa hats
Toy tools
Chef hats
Kitchen equipment mixing bowl, wooden spoons
Postman uniform
Astronaut suits
Cash register
If you have any of these things at home that you would like to donate to the school we would be very grateful. Any extras or duplicates will be sold at the Christmas Bazaar unless requested otherwise.
Please bring any items to the Halla or alternatively give them directly to a member of the committee.
Many thanks
Shanbally NS Parents Association