Athy Model School

December 2014 Newsletter

Enrolment:  Our Open Evening was held on 6^th November. It was a great opportunity to meet some prospective parents. Thank you to those on the PA who provided tea and coffee on the night.  If you are planning to send your child to us next September, please call to the office for a Stage One form, if you haven’t already completed one. Application forms will be sent out in the New Year.

Tin Whistle We welcome back Melanie Butler, who is giving tin whistle lessons to 3^rd and 4^th class at present. Melanie will be teaching 1^st, 2^nd, 5^th and 6^th classes the tin whistle in the New Year. We would like to thank the Board of Management for helping to make these lessons possible.

Dress Up Day Eileen Mc Donnell from St. Brigid’s Hospice on the Curragh came to Assembly on 14^th Nov to accept €165 which was raised by the pupils and staff on our recent Dress Up Day. Thank you to everyone who supported this.

Carol Service Practice is underway for our School Carol Service, which will take place on Sun 14^th December at 11 a.m. in St. Michael’s Church.

Athy Library   1^st and 2^nd class took part in an excellent Science Workshop on Dinosaurs in Athy Library on 17^th Nov. This was really hands-on, with the children making ‘dinosaur teeth’ and digging for ‘dinosaur bones’. Thank you to the parents who accompanied us on our walk to the library and back.

5^th and 6^th class attended presentations on Ernest Shackleton and the History of the Grand Canal on Mon 10^th Nov, along with their teacher Dave Mc Inerney and student teacher Ruth Armstrong. They really enjoyed the visit and have since completed projects on these topics, along with ones on Agriculture, under the guidance of Miss Armstrong. A big thank you to Ruth for her hard work during her time with us.

Guided Reading A big thank you to all who helped with our Guided Reading initiative. This is over for now but we plan to resume in February.

Parents Association Christmas Trips We are really looking forward to our Christmas trips. Infants, 1^st and 2^nd class are going to see ‘A Most Peculiar Wintry Thing’ in the Riverbank Theatre in Newbridge on 11^th Dec. 3^rd to 6^th class are travelling to Dublin on 16^th Dec to see’ Peter Pan’ in the Gaiety Theatre. Thank you to the Parents Association committee for organising both trips.

School will close on Friday 19th December for Christmas holidays and will reopen on Monday 5^th January. Best wishes for the Christmas season from all of us in the Model School.

Green Schools The Green School’s Committee members this year are Mya McAleenan, Kate Burns, Cian Cobbe, Beverley Colton, Clare Cole, Owen Dowling, Evelyn Kenny and Hugh Perry. We extend a warm welcome to our new members, Mya and Owen.

We have compiled our results for September and October. In September we collected 5 buckets of biodegradable waste for the compost bin and we recycled 7 bags of recyclable materials compared to 4 ½ bags of non-recyclable materials.

In October we collected 5 ¼ buckets of biodegradable waste and we recycled 7 bags of recyclable materials. We only had 3 bags of non-recyclable waste.

3^rd and 4^th Class enjoyed making musical instruments from recyclable materials on a ‘Musical Monday’. We will make Christmas decorations from recyclable materials during ‘Decorative December’.

We would like to thank everyone for all their hard work in making our school greener.

Coffee Morning Liz and Geoff Deane are holding a coffee morning in aid of Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in their home at Clonoragh, Ballytore on Saturday 13^th December from 10.00am – 1.00pm. All are welcome.