December

Mí na Nollag

December Newsletter 2025

Dear Parents,

First term is coming to a close and we are looking forward to our Christmas holidays. School will close for the Christmas holidays on Friday, 19th December at 12 Noon.

It will be busier than other school days at collection time this Friday as all classes are being dismissed at the same time. If you wish to collect your child a little earlier on this day please remember to sign your child out on Aladdin and contact the school office on arrival at our school.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Go raibh síocháin na Nollag agus na Bliana Nua faoi shéan ‘s faoi shonas ort ‘s ar do mhuintir!

Diarmaid

Some reminders...

Enrolments 2026

The closing date for enrolments for Junior Infants for September 2026 is 2pm, January 12th 2026.

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. It is very important that children should not go to school when they're contagious to others or when they're too sick to learn.

Lost & Found

Our school Lost and Found box is overflowing with uniform items, coats, water bottles and hats. All items in the box are not labelled, which makes it impossible to return items to pupils. If your child is missing an item, please come into the box, stationed inside the main door of the school and retrieve the item you need for your child.

Important Dates for Term 2

5th January 2026 - School reopens
19th January - Commencement of School Meals
2nd February - School Closure - St. Brigid's Day
12th February - Parents' Council Fashion Show
19th & 20th February - School Closure - Midterm break
7th March - Peace Proms Concert for 6th Class pupils
13th March - Confirmation for 6th Class pupils
16th & 17th March - School Closure - St. Patrick's Day
18th March - School Closure - Staff Inservice Day
27th March - Easter Closing at 12 Noon

Recent news...

Christmas Panto

Junior Infants to Fourth Class enjoyed the Christmas Panto, Cinderella, in U.C.H. on Wednesday of this week. A big thank you to Ms. Olive Doody for coordinating the Panto bookings for our school. It was lovely seeing the pupils' excitement as they headed off to the Concert Hall!

Christmas Pageants

Junior and Senior Infants performed their nativity pageant in the church on the 11th December. 1st and 2nd Class performed their pageant the following day. The children sang beautifully, telling the Christmas story so clearly. The school band accompanied and played the repertoire brilliantly. A huge thank you to all the teachers, special needs assistants and, of course, to you, Mums and Dads, for all your hard work and help to make the Junior Pageants such beautiful events this year.

Football

Congratulations Milford School Girls team that played in Allianz Cumann na mBunscol I.N.T.O. / G.A.A. mini sevens girls football competition. A big thank you Ms. Caoimhe O'Neill and Ms. Sarah O'Carroll for coordinating the training and matches with the U13 Girls' Team.

A big thank you to Mr. John Nelligan for coaching the Girls' U11 footballers and also to Mr. Aaron Gallagher and Mr. Kevin Daly for training the U11 & U13 boys during Term 1.

Cyber Safety Presentation

A big thank you to Ms. Emma Dolphin for organising Cyber Safety Expert, Ger Brick, to work with our classes (3rd - 6th). Ger also facilitated a parents’ workshop online. Thank you to all our parents and guardians who have signed up to support our Gen Free Charter.

christmas_shoebox_2025_v1.mp4

TEAM Hope Shoebox Appeal

A huge thank you to everyone who donated a shoe box to this year’s Team Hope Appeal. We received over 250 shoe boxes in total which have now been collected and are on their way to needy children in Eastern Europe and Africa. Thank you to the Student Council who undertook such a worthy cause and also to Ms. Orla Murray who coordinates all our Student Council activities.

Paediatric Society at UL

A big thank you to Natasha Girdharry and Janaya Bader Medical Students and members of the Paediatric Society at UL who visited our school on Wednesday 19th November. Our staff and pupils really enjoyed the workshops with the trainee doctors, who were amazed by the pupils' high level of questioning.

Fair Trade Christmas Card

Congratulations to Aoibh Oyewumi, Brinda Gosh & Chloe O'Sullivan whose Christmas Card designs won prizes in the Fair Trade Christmas Christmas Card Competition 2025. Well done to all the children in our school who entered the competition this year.

Biodiversity Workshops

Geoff Hunt has completed nature workshops with classes in October and November. Many thanks to Mr. Aaron Gallagher for coordinating the visits.

Christmas Tree Initiative

A big thank you to Ms. Geraldine Mitchell for organising the Team Limerick Clean-Up Christmas Tree initiative in our school. The festive creations are on display in the Crescent Shopping Centre throughout December.

Milford Hospice Visit

Ms. Doody's 2nd Class entertained the patients of Milford House and Hospice on Monday, December 15th by performing a short Christmas Pageant for them. The children received a lovely welcome from everyone at the hospice and were treated to 'Goodie Bags' & delicious treats. Many thanks to Ms. Angela Reidy for coordinating the visit and for presenting Milford Hospice with a cheque from our charity fundraising efforts for this school year.

Christmas Choral Night

Children from 3rd to 5th participated in a beautiful choral performance on Wednesday, December 17th in the church. Many thanks to the classroom teachers and special needs assistants for preparing the children so well for their performance. Sincere thanks also to Matty Ring and past pupils Seán O’Meara & Ceiline O'Meara for playing in our band on the evening. They were ably assisted by Linda O’Meara, Angela Reidy, Áine Fitzpatrick, Deirdre Taylor, Caoimhe O'Neill and Lilly Glynn. Special thanks to Orla Murray (choir conductor), Angela Reidy, Deirdre Taylor and Linda O’Meara for coordinating the concert.

Walkability Report

A big thank you to Aaron Gallagher for coordinating the Walkability Survey Report for our school. The report has been shared with our Mayor and local politicians.

Con Mór

Sixth class really enjoyed their trip to King John's Castle in November to view Con Mór, the Giant. In line with our focus on sustainability this year the pupils took the 304 bus from UL to the City Centre and back again. The children had the experience of purchasing their ticket on board (90 cent) and had the fun of travelling into the city with their classmates. A big thank you to Ms. Mitchell, Ms. Kavanagh and Mr. Gallagher for organising the excursion for our pupils.

Rowing

Fifth and Sixth Class are really enjoying the rowing workshops that take place in our school gym each Monday. A big thank you to Ms. Olive Doody for coordinating the workshops with the leaders in Limerick Sports Partnership.

Parents' Council

The Parents’ Council held their AGM on 5th November. A big thank you to John Nelligan for liaising with the Parents’ Council committee members. A big thank you also to the parents who were elected to the committee. Chairperson: James O’Shaughnessy, Secretary: Nuala Dooly and Treasurer: Maria Sheehan. A big thank you also to Keith Murray for his efforts as treasurer. Keith has decided to stand down from the role and has been very helpful in passing the baton to Maria.

A big thank you to all of our parents who so gladly helped out at our recent Christmas bag packing event in Dunnes Stores, Childers Road on Sunday 14th December. The total raised from this fundraiser was €2000 which will go towards the purchase of new chromebooks for our pupils to use.

Sensory Garden

A big thank you to Ms. Geraldine Mitchell for all her efforts in developing a sensory garden space for our pupils. A landscaper needs to carry out the finishing touches in terms of planting of sensory plants and hedging. We are extremely grateful for all the donations received to make this project possible. We intend to have an official opening in the springtime when the weather may be more favourable to such an event.

Parents' Council

A big thank you to James O'Shaughnessy, Chairperson of our Parents' Council, who recently presented our school with a cheque of €7000, which was accumulated from fundraising efforts in 2023 & 2024. Our school is extremely grateful of all the hard work and efforts of our Parents' Council and for the generosity of the many people who supported the Parents' Council fundraising efforts. The money raised will go towards the purchase of new chromebooks for our pupils to use.

Christmas Jumper Swap Shop

A big thank you to Mr. Gallagher and the members of our Green Schools Committee for organising the Christmas Jumper Swap Shop on Tuesday, 2nd December.

Throughout the day, each class was brought to the gym where pupils had the opportunity to choose a “new-to-them” Christmas jumper. This was a fun and sustainable way to reduce waste and encourage reusing clothing.

J.P. McManus Scholarships

It was a privilege and a very proud moment to witness past pupil Alexandr Arbuzov receive a J.P. McManus Scholarship to assist him in his studies in 3rd level education.

Alexandr has very fond memories of his time in our school which he described as being great fun, where there were frequent concerts, events and group tasks. With its proximity to UL, Alexandr really enjoyed the weekly swimming trips to the Sports Arena.

After Milford NS, Alexandr attended Coláiste Mhichíl where each of the top eight Leaving Certificate students in a given year receives a scholarship from the McManus family to the value of €27,000.

We wish Alexandr the very best in his studies in UL.

Upcoming events...

Swimming

Swimming will begin in 2026 for 1st to 6th class pupils. Swimming is an important and mandatory element of the P.E. curriculum and we are most fortunate to have a world-class swimming pool on our doorstep. Please note that swimming is a compulsory component of the Revised Curriculum for Primary Schools. The pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th classes will be timetabled to commence their lessons in January for an eight week block. The pupils in 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes will begin their eight week block of lessons in March. A timetable of the dates that your child will be swimming has been published on Aladdin.

The Fitpatrick 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. This competition will commence again as soon as the children return after the Christmas Holidays. Over 70 boys and girls from 5th and 6th Class have signed up to take part and they are eagerly waiting for the ball to be thrown in on Tuesday, January 6th, 3-4pm on the old astro-turf facility in UL. This year the code will be football. (Last year it was hurling). All matches will be played on Tuesdays and Thursdays during January, 3-4pm. Hopefully the weather will allow us to complete the entire series before the end of January. Please feel free to come along to the astro-turf to cheer for your star/starlet if the mood takes you. All fixtures and league tables will be posted on the school website.

Shakin' with Shakespeare Club

Ms. Murray’s after school club will re-commence in February 2026, on Tuesday afternoons, when the Fitzpatrick Cup Tournament is completed. New members from 5th and 6th classes are welcome to join Ms. Murray and the existing group. Any pupil who is interested in joining is invited to call to room 3, in the New Year for more information.

School Meals

A big thank you to our School Meals Committee members (Sandra Price, Jennifer Gallagher, Sarah Meehan, Finola Fitzgerald, Orla Murray, Elaine Gallagher and John Nelligan) for the significant amount of time and efforts that they have dedicated to our school in helping us to select the food supplier for our pupils’ meals. The call for tenders was advertised on eTenders. Gourmet Foods Ltd., Limerick company based in Raheen, has been deemed the successful tenderer. Contracts have been signed and an application for funding has been submitted to the Department of Welfare. The commencement date for lunches arriving on site is Monday, 19th January 2026. Further details will be shared with our parents during the first week back in January.

Parents' Council Message

Save The Date:

The Parents’ Council are also organising a fashion show fundraiser to take place on Thursday, 12th February 2026. Further details will be shared with you in January.

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