Latest Newsletter 2022

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are keeping well.   It's hard to believe we are so close to the end of the school year.

June is going to be a very busy time with school assessments, reporting, school tours and Sports' Days.  Your child's teacher will communicate to you on Aladdin in greater detail in relation to these events.

It has been lovely to hear the sound of music and singing in the corridors and to see so many children enjoying the after school activities again. 

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Diarmaid

Important Dates

• School closing on Friday, 3rd June 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

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

• 6th Class Graduation ceremony  will take place on Monday, 20th June.

• Summer Closing on Thursday, 23rd June (Noon closing)

Families intending to Leave

If you think that your child may not be returning to Milford N.S. in September 2022, please let us know as soon as possible.   It helps us to have early notice to help plan for the following year.  Thank you very much.

Church Carpark

Please advise the person dropping/collecting your child to use only the designated spaces in the church carparks. Only vehicles displaying a Milford National School Parking Permit should advance past the church. Parents dropping/collecting children should not park in front of the Salesian Hostel.

Also, please observe the carpark signage in relaton to the carpark protocols.  To help ensure the health and saftey of our pupils we are highlighting the following carpark notices:

• Only park in designated parking spaces

• Follow the oneway system

• Drop pupils off at the designated drop-off zone

• Exit the carpark adjacent to the school field via the Credit Union road. 

Summer Uniform

Pupils may wear their summer uniform from next week onwards until the end of the year.   The summer uniform consists of plain navy shorts or school games shorts (no denim), the school PE t-shirt and track suit top.  Children should only wear this uniform when the weather is forecast to be warm.  On less favourable days, children should wear their school tracksuit or brown uniform.  The summer uniform is a third option of clothing for them to wear to school.  

Limerick Primary School Sports

The annual Primary Schools’ Sports in Plassey took place on Wednesday, May 18th. The Girls Team finished in 2nd place and the Boys Team finished in 1st place in the A-Division.  Many thanks to the coaches, Ms. Doody, Ms. Larkin and Mr. Gallagher who helped to train the teams each week after school.    It was wonderful to see the children returning to school with smiles and happy faces after a wonderful day at the UL track.

G.A.A. Skills Competition

Well done to our pupils Conor, Ava, Daithi, Darragh, Sophie and Rory who competed in the recent Primary Schools Skills competition.  We wish our football skills winners the very best of luck in the  County Finals which are scheduled to take place this week.  Many thanks to Mr. Kelly for managing the Team.

Confirmation & First Holy Communion

Congratulations to the 6th Class pupils who made their Confirmation last Friday and to our 2nd Class pupils who celebrated their First Holy Communion in May. The ceremonies were beautiful and all who took part are to be commended on their excellence.  Many thanks to our 2nd Class teachers, Ms. Claire Quinlan, Ms. Maggie Kinnerk and Mr. Cathal Kenny for helping the pupils to prepare for their Communion and also to our 6th Class teachers, Ms. O'Meara, Ms. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Gallagher for preparing the pupils for their Confirmation.  A sincere thank you also to our school band leaders, Ms. Angela Reidy, Ms. Áine Fitzpatrick, Ms. Laura Hynes, Ms. Deirdre Taylor, Ms. Caoimhe O'Neill, Ms. Hannah O'Sullivan and Ms. Linda O'Meara, for sharing their musical expertise with the congregration throughout the ceremonies.  

Art Club

The Milford NS Art Club is up and running again!  The children in 3rd and 4th classes are enjoying the weekly class with Ms Sarah Hayes.  A big thank you to Ms Hayes for coordinating the classes after school.

Standardised Assessments

Standardised tests in Literacy and Numeracy are taking place at the moment in classes 1st to 6th.  These tests do not define your child but simply give additional information that we can use to help them to learn.  Along with this information, teachers in our school also use student portfolios, teacher-designed tests and checklists, documented observations and curriculum profiles to help us to get a picture of your child’s progress and to help inform our teaching going forward.  

The results of these assessments will be communicated to you in our end of year reports.   The school is obliged to report a summary of these results annually to the Department of Education for classes 2nd, 4th and 6th.  Please click here to view an information sheet in relation to standardised testing from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

Reopening Plans for September

The changes that we adopted as a result of the pandemic restrictions are being reviewed at the moment.    We will publish our reopening plans for the autumn term before the school closes for the summer holidays.

Class Allocation 2022/23

For the next school year, we will continue our practice of mixing classes dependent on needs of the school and children and to ensure that:

• There are opportunities for children to learn and play with a wider variety of peers

• To enable greater social interaction between children as they move through the school

• To ensure that the classes remain balanced in response to pupil transfer

• To promote a greater sense of community

• To prepare children for the transition to secondary school.

Class Structures for 2022/23 will be as follows:

• The 19th Classroom teacher will be deployed in 6th class next year.  The present 5th class  will have the benefit of a reduced pupil/teacher ratio for their final year in primary school - three classes of 20 pupils.  

• The present Junior Infant Classes will remain in the same class structures in Senior Infants. 

• The  present three Senior Infant classes will merge into two 1st classes.

• The present 1st classes will remain in the same class structures in 2nd Class. 

• The present 2nd Classes will remain in the same class structures in 3rd Class. 

• The present 3rd Classes will be mixed into two new 4th class formations

• The present fourth classes will remain in the same class structures in 5th Class.  Hopefully, they will get the opportunity to have three smaller classes in 6th class for the school year 2023/24.

Your child’s class, teacher, room number and booklist will be communicated to you in the next few weeks,  as part of the end of year arrangements. 

U13 Camogie and Hurling

The U13 Boys and Girls are turning out in great numbers for training.  The girls have qualified for the semi-final of their competition.  The boys have played three matches and have reached the a playoff blitz qualifier to reach the semi-final of their competition.   We wish both teams the very best of luck! A big thank you to Ms. Yvonne Newman, Ms Sarah Hayes and Mr. Kieran Daly for managing the teams.  

Football -  U11 Boys and Girls

It is great to see the 3rd and 4th classes training in afternoons after school.  A big thank you to Mr Kelly for training the boys and to Ms O'Sullivan & Mr Nelligan for dedicating their time after school to train the girls.

Primary Game

Congratulations to our pupils Anna R-M,  Rory O'D and Adi O'M who played in 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's, Rory's and Adi's achievements.

Junior Infant Meeting 

Parents who have a child starting school in September 2022 should note that the Junior Infant meeting will take place tonight, Wednesday June 1st at 7 pm.  The meeting is an information meeting for the parents of the Junior Infant pupils who will be starting school in September. 

Environment Workshops 

Geoff Hunt, our environmental expert, was back in Milford NS this week and will return again in June.  Junior Infants and Fourth Class pupils will have the opportunity to study our local flowers and butterflies in the environs of UL and under the microscope in the classrooms.

School Tours

Tours have been organised to take place  in June.  The teachers have circulated information in relation to this on Aladdin already.   Hopefully, the weather will be kind for this fun day for the pupils.  It makes such a difference!