April Newsletter 2022

Dear Parents,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support, continuous encouragement, cheerful friendliness, co-operation and commitment to the school at all times. Without your help and support all the activities and facilities we enjoy here in Milford School would just not be possible.

I hope that you and your family have a safe and relaxing Easter holiday.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Diarmaid

Important Dates

• School closing on Friday, 8th April at 12pm. Classes will be dismissed as follows:

  1. 1. Junior Infants, 1st, 3rd & 5th will be dismissed at 11:50am

     2. Senior Infants, 2nd, 4th & 6th will be dismissed at 12pm

• School reopening on Monday 25th April

• First Holy Communion - Saturday, 14th May

• Confirmation - Friday, 27th May

• End of Year Pupil Reports published on Monday, 13th June

• Summer Closing on Thursday, 23rd June

School Uniform

• As a result of the lower temperatures in the classrooms this year many pupils wore extra layers of clothing to school. Earlier this school year, we temporarily relaxed our Uniform Policy to allow parents to choose what uniform for their child(ren) to wear to school each day. Parents reported that it was easier for the children to wear the base layers with the school tracksuit. Hopefully, with the rising temperatures and summer months approaching, pupils will no longer need to wear base layers to school. From Monday, 25th April we will revert to our original school Uniform Policy (please see below).

• The uniform consists of a brown crested school jumper or cardigan, cream shirt or blouse and brown gymslip, skirt or trousers. Black or brown shoes should be worn with the brown school uniform. This uniform is worn from 1st to 6th. Under no circumstances should runners be worn under skirts or trousers. The school track-suit is worn on PE days. It is dark blue with a pale blue stripe and is crested. A light blue polo shirt may be worn underneath. Runners may be worn with the track-suit. If possible, runners with a light-coloured sole should be worn to prevent marking of the gym floor. The track-suit is the only uniform necessary for Junior and Senior infants.

• Traditionally, pupils are given permission to wear a summer uniform during the month of June. This uniform consists of navy short pants & blue polo shirt (PE shirt and top). This decision will be based on the weather getting warmer. We will let you know via Aladdin in June of any changes to the wearing of the summer uniform.

Seachtain na Gaeilge agus Lá Glas (1^st – 17^th March)

Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Language Week) is an International Irish Language Festival, celebrating our Native Language and Culture. Pupils enjoyed celebrating our Irish Culture through music, song, poetry, quizzes, dance, art and most importantly, through the spoken word.

Lá Glas was held in the school on Wednesday, 16th March. Children enjoyed marching and practising their Irish dancing in the yard. Luckily, the sun shone that day. The children looked wonderful all dressed in green. We were thrilled to welcome Philip Doran, who plays the bagpipes with the City of Limerick Pipe Band, play some Irish music for the children during Lá Glas.

Gaelach agus Bródúil!

Choir

Choir is back for 4th - 6th classes, starting on Thursday, 7th April from 2:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. in the school gym. New members are encouraged to join our choir. We look forward to welcoming back our old members too. It is very exciting starting the Milford School Choir again! Many thanks to teachers Linda O’ Meara, Laura Hynes, Hannah O’ Sullivan and Angela Reidy for coordinating the choir activities.

Internet Safety Workshops

Many thanks to Linda O’ Meara for coordinating the recent cyber safety workshops. Jackie O'Regan (Zeeko) visited the school for two days and worked with the pupils in 3rd - 6th Class. Jackie also facilitated an online Zoom workshop for parents. From her experience, she reported that Snapchat is regularly linked with bullying behaviour, over 70% of the content on TikTok is not approriate for children to view, Grand Theft Auto is an over 18s game that contains highly offensive/inapproriate content and it is very important for parents to monitor and to limit children's access to the internet. A sincere thank you to everyone who could make it to the Zoom workshop.

Neville Cup

Congratulations to Layla S, Alanna O'C and Anna R-M who played in the Neville Cup Schools Camogie competition. The girls were part of the City team who were narrowly beaten in the Semi Final by West Limerick. It was a great honour for the girls to be representing Milford NS and their respective clubs!

Swimming

The pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th Classs have recently completed their block of swimming lessons for this school year. We will circulate information in relation to swimming for the next school year in September 2022.

Music Generation

Music Generation:Music Generation is a Music network initiative. The programme directly links with the National Music Curriculum areas and requirements. The three term structure corresponds with the Music Curriculum divisions – listening/ responding, composition and performing.

Band members from Music Generation visited our school on Wednesday, 30th March. Pupils from 3rd - 6th Classes enjoyed a performance from the band, followed by an interactive workshop. It was a very worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience for the children. We were delighted to see Daniel Lanham, a past pupil, who works with Music Generation, back in Milford NS.

'Neurons and our Brain'

The pupils in all our classes were treated to two 40 minute workshops recently as part of an outreach programme entitled ‘Neurons and our Brain’. The programme focused on educating children on what is going on inside our heads, teaching basic biological principles and promoting an interest in medicine and science through activities and a presentation. Neuroscience is a fascinating subject and the UL Medical School Students were keen to spread this passion to the scientists of the future!

A huge thank you to Lucy Dockery of the UL Medical School Paediatric Society for coordinating the visit. A sincere thank you also to all the volunteers (UL medical school students) for taking the time away from their studies to share their expertise with our pupils.

Engineers' Week

The pupils had a wonderful time during Engineers' Week. Some of the activities in the senior classes included 4th Class building a zipline and 6th Class pupils organising a Ski Olympics. The activities in Junior and Senior Infants included constructions with Giant Polydrons and Lego!

School Closures for the School Year 2022/23

We are publishing our holidays dates at this time of the year to give parents an opportunity to book holidays, time off, etc. at an advanced stage. The dates will be available to view on our school calendar (Aladdin App & School Website) in advance of the Easter holidays.

School Garden

Mr. Aaron Gallagher and his team of volunteers have been very busy recently preparing the vegetable garden for planting. The garden has been dug, rotavated, raked, fertilised and the raised beds have been repaired. The children have already begun planting vegetable seeds and plants. Many thanks to Mr. Gallagher and all the pupils & teachers who have helped out. Hopefully, we will have a bumper harvest this year!

History Live

History expert, Mike Moylan from History Live, visited our school this week. The pupils in Infants heard stories from long ago in a storytelling workshop. 3rd Class pupils learnt about World War 2 and pupils in 4th Class learnt about daily life during ancient times. Many thanks to Mr. Kelly for coordinating the workshops.

Football - U13 Boys

The U13 Boys are turning out in great numbers for training. They have played four matches and have reached the semi-final of their competition. The boys are scheduled to play St. Nessan's NS in the City semi final on Tuesday, 26th April. We wish them the very best of luck! A big thank you to Mr. Kieran Daly for managing the team.

Primary Game

Congratulations to our pupils Anna R-M and Rory O'D who have been selected for their respective Primary Game teams. The Primary Game is played at half-time during the County Senior GAA fixtures throughout the summer. We are very proud of Anna and Rory and wish them every success in their matches.

Limerick Primary School Sports

The annual Primary Schools’ Sports in Plassey will take place on Wednesday, May 18^th at the UL Arena Running Track. Many thanks to Ms. Doody and Mr. Gallagher for coordinating the athletics activities in our school.