November Newsletter 2019

November has been a very busy month in Milford National School. Our Parent / Teacher Meetings have recently concluded, all our classes have participated in STEAM Week & Friendship Week activities, and all our pupils are preparing for their Christmas performances. We are doing our best to reduce the amount of paper notices that we send home with your children. This is our first newsletter to be published solely in a digital format. We hope you enjoy reading all the news. Please check www. milfordns.ie, and our school twitter feed for additional news updates, photographs and movie clips.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Diarmaid

Enrolments 2020

The closing date for enrolments for Junior Infants for September 2020 is 3pm, January 31st 2020. Even if you have already applied for a place for next year do please contact the office as soon as possible to make sure your child’s name is on the list.

Rainbows

We are excited to announce that the new Rainbows programme will begin in December. Rainbows is a peer support group. This term the programme is specifically aimed towards children experiencing parental separation. There are still some places in this group, if you are interested in having your child attend Rainbows please contact Maggie Kinnerk, Hannah O’ Sullivan or Áine Fitzpatrick on (061) 339 123 or simply email rainbows@milfordns.ie if you would like more information.

Medical Issue

If your child has a medical issue about which we need to be informed please call to the office to collect the necessary documentation.

Attendance Policy

Parents, please note that the school is legally obligated to report to the National Education Welfare Board (NEWB) any child who misses more than 20 days in the school year. All absences must be explained in writing (absence note at the back of the homework diary will suffice) by parent/guardian. Congratulations and well done to the children who recently received certificates for 100% attendance last year. See www.milfordns.ie for the photos.

Rise and Shine Morning Club

Spaces are still available for the Rise and Shine Morning Club. The purpose of this club is to facilitate parents who require morning care facilities for their children. Supervision begins in the Afterschool facility at 7:45am and children will be brought to their class lines at 8:45am. If you have any queries you can contact Ms. Emma Dolphin at emma.dolphin@milfordns.ie or Ms. Geraldine Mitchell at geraldine.mitchell@milfordns.ie.

WOW & COW DAYS

Pupils are encouraged to walk, cycle or scoot to school every Wednesday and should be accompanied by parents. There are two starting points allocated, the car park at the Maguires Pitches and outside La Cucina where pupils and parents may gather at 8:30am. A few parents at each starting point will suffice. Parents are encouraged to wear a high-vis vest if possible. Many thanks to the parents for organising our weekly WOW & COW Days.

New Board of Management

Every 4 years, all schools begin a new term of Boards of Management. The Board manages the school on behalf of the Patron (the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Limerick Diocese) and is accountable to the Patron and the Minister. The Board must uphold the characteristic spirit (ethos) of the school and is accountable to the Patron for so doing. The new Board of Management for our school will come into operation on 1st December 2019. A huge 'thank you' to the following people who have accepted a position on our new Board:

Chairperson: Mr. Liam de Búrca, Patron’s Nominee: Fr. Koenraad Van Gucht, Principal/Secretary BoM: Mr. Diarmaid Moore, Teacher Nominee: Ms. Louise Hill, Community Nominees: Mr. John Field & Ms. Eileen Morrissey, Parent Nominees: Mr. David Maher & Ms. Siobhán Buckley

Gaeilge i Scoil Áth a’ Mhuilinn

The children have been embracing our “Comhrá le Chéile”, “Dánta Deasa” and “Amhráin Deasa” initiatives at school. The aim of these initiatives is to promote spoken Irish at school in an informal way. We have seen a wonderful improvement in their spoken Irish throughout 2018-2109 and into this academic year as part of Milford NS School Improvement Plan for Gaeilge. The children have reported that they are motivated, engaged and enjoying communicating with each other. They are having lots of fun along the way. Maith sibh!

We welcome feedback on your child's learning "as Gaeilge," and will be providing more support to the parent community who wish to further their own skills in spoken Irish, through the school website in the coming months.

We now wish to reach out to support our ongoing initiatives, to encourage you to speak “cúpla focail” with your child at home in an informal way, and reinforce the positive attitude towards Gaeilge in Milford N.S.

Examples :

• Éirigí a pháistí!
• Scuab do fiacla.
• Ar mhaith leat ubh/bainne/tósta don bricfeasta?
• Tar isteach/Cuir ort do chóta/Bain díot do chóta/Croch suas do chóta.
• Brostaigh ort/Fan noiméad/Slán.
• Tá an dinnéar réidh.
• An maith leat ___?
• Cá bhfuil do mhála scoile/geansaí/stocaí/bróga?
• An bhfuil do obair bhaile déanta?
• Maith thú/sibh!
• Suas an staighre le do thoil!
• Oíche mhaith.

These are a few everyday phrases you could use on a regular basis to engage with your child trí Ghaeilge….. Bainigí Triail As!!

Friendship Week

Milford N.S. Student Council (Alanna, Ruairi, Adi, Jojo, Rhea, Juliette, Vinzel, Martyna, Ryan, Eloise, Jordi, Neasa, Abbie and Greg), organised our annual Friendship Week which ran throughout the first week of November. Children celebrated friendship, solidarity and human rights, reinforcing our anti-bullying lessons and promoting kindness in our community. They also participated in Friendship activities throughout the week and promoted our Code of Conduct and Anti-Bullying Policy both in the classroom and in the yard. Well done to everyone involved! Many thanks to Ms. Laura Hynes and the Student Council for organising all the events for this week.

Under 10 Footballers

Science Week

Science week 11th - 15th November was fun-packed! Each class was given a Science Week Folder compiled by Olive Doody, STEAM Co-ordinator, which contained Science Experiment guidelines and suggestions. Throughout the week, classes engaged with Science experiments, attended science workshops in UL and coordinated a STEAM Day with their class groupings. Many thanks to Ms. Doody and the STEAM TEAM for coordinating the activities.

Basketball

Ms. Hynes and Ms. Quinlan are coaching basketball for 6th class girls on Tuesday evenings in the gym between the times of 2:40pm and 3:40pm. All are welcome.

Limerick City Primary Schools’ Gaelic Football Teams

Congratulations also to Grace , Orlaith , Kate , Lily, Abby and Marcus who were selected for the Limerick City Primary Schools’ Gaelic Football Teams. The pupils had to attend trials before being selected from a group of the city’s best Gaelic Footballers to represent Limerick City in the Divisional Competition. The girls' team lost out narrowly while Marcus' team were successful in the Final and were deemed County Champions 2019. Well done to everyone. It is a wonderful achievement to play with your City Team in the Gaelic Grounds.

Cyber Safety Presentation

A Parent Information evening on Anti-Cyberbullying / Internet Safety will be held on Thursday 5th December 2019 7pm-9pm in Milford N.S. Parents of all pupils in the school are encouraged to attend. Our guest speaker, Ger Brick, has 20+ years’ experience working on the Internet and has delivered workshops to over 20,000 primary school children throughout Ireland. Ger will also deliver workshops during the day to the children in Classes 3rd to 6th.

Milford National School Christmas Choral Night

Children from 3rd to 5th will participate in this choral performance on Tuesday, December 10th at 7.30pm in the church. Doors open at 7:10pm.

Junior Pageant

On Thursday 12th December and Friday, 13th December, children from Juniors to Second Class will perform their pageants in the church at 1pm. Junior and Senior Infants will perform on the Thursday. First and Second Classes will perform on the Friday. Many thanks to their teachers, special needs assistants and, of course, to you Mums and Dads, for all your hard work and help to make this rendition of the Christmas Nativity such a beautiful event.

Christmas Panto

Junior Infants to Fourth Class will enjoy the Christmas panto, Aladdin, in U.C.H. on Monday, December 16th (3rd & 4th Class) and Tuesday, December 17th (1st & 2nd Class and Junior & Senior Infants). Details have been distributed to the children by their teachers.

Fitzpatrick Cup

To honour the memory of our former colleague Mr. George Fitzpatrick, the school holds a Gaelic games competition each January. This annual event is known as The Fitzpatrick Cup. Selections will take place shortly for the Fitzpatrick Cup competition, which starts on Tuesday January 7th and will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays through January between 3pm and 4pm on the Astro-Turf in U.L.