Scoil Bhionnáin Naofa, Baile Scadán

Notice Board

Sacraments

Second Class

First Confession on Monday 12th March, 2012 at 7pm.

First Holy Communion on Saturday 28th April 2012 at 11.30am.

Sixth Class

Parents/Guardians Information meeting on Wednesday 8th February at 7pm.

Ceremony of Commitment on Tuesday 28th February at 7pm.

Ceremony of Light and Promise on Wednesday 14th March at 7pm.

Confirmation on Wednesday 16th May at 11.30am.

Visitors to the school

In the interests of Child Protection all parents and guardians calling to the school should firstly call to the office. If your child is leaving school early you will need to sign out your child from the office. The same applies to those who arrive to school during the school day after a medical/dental appointment, i.e. you will have to sign in your child.

School Absences

We would ask that all parents/guardians would send in a note to explain all absences from school. This note can be written in your child’s homework journal or on a separate piece of paper. The note should be sent to the classroom teacher on the next day your child is in school. The school is obliged to report unexplained absences to the National Education Welfare Board, if there is no written explanation.

Junior Infants

Ms McGonigle, Ms Gaughan and Philomena are working with junior infants on their language development. They are using the LDA Chatterbox programme to develop the oral language skills of the class. The themes they are exploring at the moment include clothes, household objects and things that go together.

Senior Infants

Ms Laird’s Senior Infants enjoyed Science Week. They worked as scientist and carried out various experiments in their classroom. They had great fun testing out their sense of smell. They smelt curry, onion, orange perfume and vineagar.

First class

Ms Ginty’s 1^st class are now Seatbelt Sheriffs! They have earned their badge and a certificate. 1^st class have opened a recycling centre in their class. They are lookinf forward to finding out what fun things they can make! Well done to Daniel Synnott, Lauren Farrell, Seánie Whelan, Joe Meehan and Holly O’Neill on becoming Stars of the Week during the months of October and November.

Second Class

Ms Meehan’s 2^nd class went to the V&W Recycling Centre in Drogheda and Balrath wood in Co. Meath. The children really enjoyed the trip and learned lots of tips about recycling and care for the environment. We are currently doing a project on the Human Body and the children are being encouraged to bring in any books from the library or at home.

Third Class

Ms Watters’ 3^rd class would like to thank Andrew Colins (Justin’s brother) for bringing in his birds. We learned a lot about them. They eat broccoli to keep their feathers bright and healthy!. For Science Week 3^rd class experimented with dry ice. There were plenty of bubbles and even a pop (film can explosion!). On Thursday 17^th November all work in the class came to a halt when Harry Hedgehog walked by our classroom!

Fourth Class

Ms Falvey’s 4^th class are starting to learn the tin whistle. We would like to thank Ms Murray for sharing some of her dry ice during Science Week. We really enjoyed the experiments.

Fifth Class

Ms Murray’s 5^th class are doing a science project on fitness and a healthy heart. They are also involved in an etwinning video project with a school in Sweden.

Science Week

Thanks to Ms Murray for all her work on National Science Week. Ms Murray organised the Science Live workshop on ‘Water in our World’ for 5^th and 6^th classes. She also ordered the Dry Ice (solid carbon dioxide) which was shared around 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th classes who did experiments on the characteristics of solids, liquids and gases.

Garda talk on safety

The Gardaí came in on 26^th October to speak to 5^th class about safety. This annual talk is always beneficial to the children’s safety at this time of year.

6^th Class

Ms Donnelly’s 6^th class learn a proverb of the week every week, Seanfhocal na Seachtaine. This week’s   is ‘Is binn béal ina thost’. 6^th class performed a dance to ‘Thriller’ for the school during Halloween week, well done! As part of the World War II theme that they are exploring at the moment, the pupils of 6^th class are studying the novel ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’.

Gaelic Football

The children from 4^th, 5^th and 6^th classes enjoyed their recent inter-class football league organised by Ms Donnelly and Ms Falvey. We are now all set for the Fingal Schools’ League training that will commence after Christmas. Congratulations to all who took part.

School Choir

The school choir are singing every lunch time in preparation for our Christmas concert. We decided not to do the Hallelujah Concert this year for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the cost of the audience tickets and secondly the programme of music is very long and we wanted to try to devise a programme of our own this year. Ms McGonigle is delighted to report a huge turnout for the choir despite the change.

Car Free Zone Days

Ms McGonigle can report that our Car Free Zone Day was a great success on 26^th October, with only 18 children arriving at the school gates by car. That’s over 200 pupils travelling in a sustainable way! Our Action Day for the Travel Flag is 30^th November, so we’re hoping to have no cars whatsoever driving to the gates. The arrangements will be the same as the 26^th, with two Walking Buses at 8.35am and 8.45am.

School Choir

The choir will perform at 8.00pm on Wednesday 14^th December and Thursday 15^th December. Children must be available for both nights.

Walk to School

Ms Donnelly will continue with our Walk to School every morning at 8.30am and we encourage all children to come along, in particular for our WOW days on Wednesdays.

Standardised Testing

Standardised testing, in the areas of Reading and Maths, of the children in classes 1^st- 6^th took place during the month of November. The results will be discussed at the Parent-Teacher meetings after Christmas. However, if a teacher has particular concerns about your child you will be contacted earlier.

Parent-teacher Meetings

Parent-teacher meetings will take place on 25^th and 26^th January, 2012. These meetings will take place outside of school time.

Book Fair

There will be a Book Fair in the school on 1^st and 2^nd of December from 9.00am-3.30pm on each of those days. Thank you for your responses to the questionnaires which helped use to choose a time of year that suited the majority of parents. Parents are welcome to come in and browse the books in their own time.

The Big Good Wolf

The school will have a visit from children’s author and storyteller Liam Farrell (as seen on RTÉ television) on Thursday 24^th November. He will tell the true story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf! We will do a writing workshop with the older classes. This event is made possible by the Voluntary Contribution made by parents last year.

Severe Weather Sub-Committee

Thanks to all those parents who volunteered to be on the Severe Weather Sub-Committee. This group of parents will be on hand, in the event of severe weather conditions, to make every effort to keep the school open and safe.  In the event of inclement weather parents/guardians will be informed through our Textaparent service of any unexpected closures. Information will also be available on the school website.

 Cúpla Focail ó Ms Faulkner

I would like to congratulate the Parents’ Association for their fundraising efforts in regard to the Synnott Wing. Over many years I have seen first hand the drive, commitment and dedication of various members who have served on the Association. Their hard work has proved enormously beneficial for all children attending the school. I would like to thank them for their courtesy to me personally over the years and making me welcome at their meetings. Also I appreciate their good wishes extended to me for my future retirement. I wish them well in the coming years ahead. Go raibh mile maith agaibh!

Ms Faulkner’s Retirement

We will celebrate the retirement of Ms Faulkner on the second evening of the Christmas choir performances, Thursday 15^th December at 8.00pm. The Parents’ Association will provide refreshments following the presentations and speeches at the end of the choir performance.

Vincent de Paul Food Collection

The annual VdeP food collection will take place in the school. We will be accepting all types of non-perishables. Food will be collected every morning by the sixth class leaders. The collection will continue from now until the week before the Christmas holidays.

After School Activities

There is after-school soccer run by NDSL coach Ian Courage (085-1443912) on Friday evenings 2.45-3.45 on the school grounds. You can call Ian if you have any queries. The school would invite expressions of interest in running an after-school class in the areas of drama, music, crafts etc. Please call the school on 01-8412579 or email us on balscadden.ias@eircom.net.

Swimming Lessons for 3^rd Class