Sacramental Classes:
Below is a list of dates of masses coming up for the Sacramental Classes:
Sacrament of First Penance (for 1st and 2nd class) – Tuesday February 11th.Communion Preparation Masses (2nd class only) – Saturday February 15th, Saturday March 8th, Saturday April 5th. First Communion – Saturday May 17th at 11:00 in Muff Church.
Confirmation Preparation Masses – Saturday March 1st, Saturday March 29th. Confirmation Sunday May 25th.
We would also like to send our condolences to Fr. Gerry on the recent death of his mother.
Parking:
The situation with regard to the dropping off and picking up of children has improved over recent years. 95% of parents use the car park or park the car in a safe place. We spend a lot of time reminding the children to walk out to the school gate and to be aware of cars. Some parents engage in the excellent practice of walking to the school gate to drop off or pick up their children. There are however a small minority who continue to park in front of the school gate.
I would like to remind parents of the following points:
No parent should park either in front or directly across from school gate.Parents are encouraged to walk their children both to and from the school gate, particularly students from 1st – 3rd.
At 2:00, parents/guardians must come and meet their child on the school yard. No car should be driven up to the school yard at any time during school day.
All of the above is in the interest of pupil and parent safety. We would very much appreciate that all people who drive when picking up or dropping off children adhere to these guidelines.
Parents Association: Please find attached the latest newsletter from our PA.
Uniform Survey: We sent out a survey on the school uniform to all families. Many thanks to the 90% + who returned the form to the office. The overwhelming majority said that they liked the school uniform and said it was very good value for money. There were a number of different suggestions and comments made on them as well, many of which were very interesting. We are examining a number of these points as a school and will report back on any minor changes if any are made.
Credit Union Quiz:
Well done to our senior team who won the local section of the quiz last weekend. They now go on to the regional finals in Dundalk. The team was Aoife Reilly, Jake Gillen, Páidí Walsh, Jordan Curtis and James Martin. Our junior team of Orla Fleming, Mary Walsh, Eleanor Morris and Rachel Farrelly came a credible 6th place.
Junior Entrepreneur Project:
Our 5th and 6th class are currently engaged in a national Junior Entrepreneur Programme. This is a 10 week project that entails various activities and skills. At the moment they are conducting market research with their product which is going to be a history book of Muff and Kingscourt for children. We would very much appreciate the return of these surveys.
Sport:
Currently, Ms. Campbell’s class are benefiting from the coaching of Brendan McCormack. He will also be helping me out with after school football later in the year when the weather picks up. Swimming for classes from 1st to 6th will commence on the 31st March.
Green Flag:
The school is making tremendous progress in our efforts to obtain the Green Flag. In the recent counting of our in – school competition for recycling; 4th class came out on top in the inter – class event, while Lucy Fitzsimons was the individual winner. A special mention also to our Senior Infant class who came a close second.
We will be having a review of our progress on the 17th of February when a representative from Cavan County Council will come out to inspect how all the pupils are doing.
Calendar:
Below is a list of school closures for the coming year. Please note that some dates may be subject to change:
February Mid-Term Break – School Closed 20th & 21st Feb.
St. Patrick’s Day – Closed March 17th & 18th
Easter Break – Closed April 11th, re-opens April 28th
May Bank Holiday – school closed May 5th
June Bank Holiday – School closed Friday 30th May & Monday 2nd June
Summer Holidays – School closing Friday 27th June
Letter from The Parents Association.
Dear Parents,
Our pre-Christmas fundraisers were a great success. We would like to thank everyone who got involved and supported them. We would like to give a special word of thanks to Kevin Shiels, Gayle Madden and Joan Carolan for their donations and sponsorship to the Christmas Fair, and of course a BIG thank you to Fr. Gerry for naming our bear George.
Below is the confirmation of the profits made on each fundraiser:
Cash for Clothes: € 383 approx. (waiting to receive same from company)
Christmas Cards: € 585
Christmas fair: € 394
Cake Sale: € 313
While our fundraisers have been successful more money will need to be raised to help pay towards school tour buses, swimming, sports day etc. At our last meeting the following fundraising ideas were agreed on:
Family Bingo: A fun afternoon of Bingo for the whole family will be held on Sunday 23rd February in the Matt Talbot Hall @ 3pm. All Welcome
Cake Sale & Bric-a-Brac Sale: This will be held in the School Hall on Easter Saturday after mass. A great opportunity to get in the goodies for after Lent and to get rid of all your unwanted nic-nac’s around your house.
Mini Marathon: We are trying to gauge the level of interest in doing the Mini Marathon as a fundraiser again. If anyone would like to do this please contact Sonya @ 087 9815614
Pylons:
The Minister for Communication, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte has announced the setting up of an independent study into the possibility of putting the pylon wires underground. However the study will only take place in Munster and Connacht, meaning the possibility of undergrounding powerlines in Cavan and Monaghan will not be examined. Eirgrid are going to apply for planning permission with in the coming week. If Planning permission is granted it will have extreme health risk on our children. We would urge all parents and as many people as possible to e-mail Pat Rabbitte directly @ minister.rabbitte@dcenr.gov.ie to express our anger at being left out of the independent study and to voice our strong objection to the proposed pylons.
First Holy Communion:
As you may know First Holy Communion will take place on Saturday 17th May and like previous years, the Parents Association will host a small reception in the school for the students and their families. For anyone who has already experienced this you will know that it’s a lovely way for the kids to spend time with their class friends on their special day. We will require volunteers to help out with the teas, coffees etc. If anyone has a few hours to spare on the 17th May, please contact Laura @ 087 7554721.
Looking forward to seeing you all at one of our meeting
Kind Regards
The Parents Association.