www.athymodelschool.ie/photo-gallery/

September Enrolment Applications are now being invited for September 2017 enrolment. Please call to the school office to fill in a Notification of Intention to Apply form (Stage One) on behalf of your child if you have not already done so. Application forms were sent to those who have completed Stage One forms at the end of January.

Tin Whistle   1^st, 2^nd,3^rd, 4^th,  5^th and 6^th classes started tin whistle lessons with Melanie Butler on Tuesday 17^th January. These will take place every Wednesday for seven weeks. Thank you to the Board of Management for supporting us in this.

Tag Rugby All classes from 1^st to 6^th will start Tag Rugby with Joey Carbury on Monday 6^th February . It will continue every Monday until  Monday 8^th May. The children really enjoy Joey’s instruction and get lots of exercise and fresh air during this time. We are so lucky to have the use of the campus Astro turf pitch which is a lovely surface for the children to play on.

Japanese students Our thanks to Richard Daly from Athy College who visited our school on Wednesday 18^th January with five host students from Japan. These young people had spent a number of weeks in Athy, attending Athy College and visiting places of interest including Glendalough, Wexford and Carlow. They spent a morning with our pupils throughout the school, teaching them Origami in small groups. The students were very pleasant and patient and our children really enjoyed the experience.

Wednesday Workout. As we enter week eight of “Wednesday Workout”, the attendance is averaging at more than ½   of the 3rd to 6th class pupils. The general reaction of the pupils (apart from the immediate calls of “you are killing us”) has been positive, with pupils enjoying both the exercise and the fun aspects of the 45 minute sessions. The effect of the various drills and activities has already become apparent and the commitment of the pupils has shown dividends.  The clock stands at the moment at more than 7km with plenty more to come (including a non-stop kilometre run).     Conor MacGabhann

Build a Bank-  A group of 6 students from Athy College visited 5^th and 6^th class on Friday 20^th January to talk to the class about banking and saving. The students from Athy College named their bank ‘Once Upon a Bank’ and they came wonderfully  dressed as fairy tale characters.  We wish the bank manager Rebecca and her team of bankers the best of luck in the “Build a Bank” national completion.

The Annual Athy Model School Table Quiz takes place on Friday 24^th March at 8 pm in Athy Golf Club. This is always a very enjoyable evening and we would welcome everyone’s support on the night. Tickets can be purchased beforehand from the Parent Association or at the Golf Club on the night.

Mid Term Break School will close on Friday 17^th February at the usual time for Mid Term Break and will reopen on Monday 27^th February.

World Book Day. World Book Day is Thursday 2^nd March and we will be having a dress up day on Friday 3^rd March to celebrate it.

Wednesday Workout

Please note in your diaries that the West Glendalough Children’s Choral Festival and Sports Day will take place this year in Dunlavin on Friday 9th June. As is usual, there will be a church service in the morning, followed by refreshments in the parish hall. Races for pupils from the following schools: Blessington, Athy, Donoughmore and Dunlavin, will then  held. Further details for parents will follow closer to the time.

We are looking for volunteers for guided reading which is resuming this  month on 28^th February for a six week session. Please give your name to Karyn Cole if you are available to help out. If anyone is available to help out with the Word Wasp spelling sessions, we would be delighted to have you on board too!

Table Quiz

Green Schools

We are continuing to work towards earning our Energy flag this year, while also maintaining our work on recycling. The Green Schools committee are organising an ‘Energy Free Day’ during the summer term as our Day of Action. We have reminded each class of the importance of conserving energy in our classrooms and we have appointed power rangers who will be in charge of monitoring and implementing this.

We will be introducing a second motto of ‘LOLO- Last out, Lights Out!’ This is alongside our competition winning, energy saving motto ‘Do the earth a favour, be a power saver.’

We are also reminding children to make sure they bring home all their rubbish from school and recycle when possible. 1st and 2nd class are constructing robots out of recycled materials as part of this. There are battery recycling containers in each classroom, if you have batteries which need recycling at home please send them in! Ruth Armstrong and the Green Schools’ Committee.

Dress Up Day  was  on 28^th October  and €129 was raised by the pupils and staff for the Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice. Thank you to everyone who supported this. The pupils were dressed in a very colourful array of costumes -a lot of time, creativity and effort went into many of the outfits-well done, children-and parents!

Art Competition. Well done to Beverley Colton in 6^th class and Jayden Gaffney in senior infants who were both picked as finalists in the Conlan’s Family  Centra Healthy Eating Competition.  We wish them the best of luck in the final.

5th and 6th class went on a barge trip on the River Barrow on Monday 14th November, along with their teacher Dave Mc Inerney and student teacher Cheyenne Holmes. After the barge trip they went on a tour of the Heritage Centre where they got to meet and talk to the Norwegian Ambassador. They really enjoyed their  visit and learned many interesting facts about Norway and wildlife in Athy! They  have since completed projects under the guidance of Miss Holmes. A big thank you to Cheyenne for her hard work during her time with us.

Parents Association Christmas Trips We are really looking forward to our Christmas trips. Infants, 1^st and 2^nd class are going to see ‘The Curious Case of the Christmas Lights’ in the Visual Theatre in Carlow on Wednesday 7^th December. 3^rd to 6^th class are travelling to Dublin on 8^th December to see’ A Christmas Carol’ in the Ark Theatre, Temple Bar, Dublin. Thank you to the Parents Association committee for organising both trips.

Green Schools The Green School’s Committee members this year are Mya McAleenan, Kate Burns, Cian Cobbe, Beverley Colton,  Cayden Gray and Brendan-Fredric Lynch. We extend a warm welcome to our new members from 1^st and 2^nd class, Cayden Gray and Brendan-Fredric Lynch.

We held our parent teacher meetings after school during November for all classes.

We welcome a new pupil, David Certeza to Junior Infants. David has come to us from St. David’s N.S. in Naas.

Swimming The last swimming session for infants, 3^rd and 4^th will be Monday  12^th December.

We will be having  a school practice for the carol service on Thursday 15^th December and school will be held in the Parish Centre that day.

A reminder that our School Carol Service will take place on Sunday 18^th December in St. Michael’s Church at 11 am.

Christmas Holidays School will close on Thursday 22^nd December at 12 noon for Christmas holidays and will reopen on Monday  9^th January.

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Christmas from all of us in the Model School.

The Parents Association AGM took place on Monday 10th October. We welcome the following new members onto the committee: Maeve Reeves, Adrienne Kavanagh, Setanta Mellor, Sinead Kelly and Tracey Dowling and look forward to working together. We wish to thank the outgoing members:  Chris Bradshaw, (chairperson) for his hard work, commitment and support during his term on the P.A.

Our Book Fair was very well supported and we earned nearly €350 worth of books for our school. Thank you so much to pupils and parents for your support.

We had an incidental school inspection on Thursday 29th September where an inspector from the DES spent the day with us. She spent time in various classrooms. The day went well and she was very pleased overall.

A Board of Management meeting took place on Wednesday 12th October.

6th class attended the annual Diocesan Schools Service in Christchurch Cathedral on Thurs 13th October . They visited Dublinia the Viking exhibition, as well as a stopping at Mc Donald’s on the way home afterwards. Our pupils behaved exceptionally well on the day. Well done to the whole class- Liam Yek, Beverley Colton, Charlene Pere, Mischa Adeniranye and Henry Alabi who performed their drumming piece so well in front of a very large congregation. Well done, all and thanks to Rev. Olive for recording it and showing it to us all in assembly. We would like to thank the Board of Management who paid for the bus to Dublin .

We had a Dress Up Day on Friday 28th October in support of the LauraLynn House Children’s Hospice. Well done to everyone who dressed up and supported this.

Our Guided Reading sessions have finished until February. We sincerely thank the parishioners,  parents and grandparents who gave up their time to listen to our pupils reading in small groups. We really appreciate your input.

Word Wasp sessions are continuing on Tuesday, Wednesday  and Thursday  mornings. Again, thank you to the volunteers who work with the children on this. We are very fortunate to have so many people willing to give their time and assistance to our pupils. If you are interested in helping with Word Wasp  or with Guided Reading in February, please let us know.

Parent teacher meetings will take place in the afternoons, after school, beginning the week of Monday 14th November

The Christmas Trips organised by the P.A. this year are as follows: The Junior Christmas trip will take place on Wednesday 7th December to the Visual in Carlow while the Senior trip will be on Thursday 8th December to The Ark in Dublin. Many thanks to Dolores Delaney, P.A. secretary, for organising these trips which promise to be very enjoyable.

Please note that our School Carol Service will take place on Sunday 18th December in St. Michael’s Church at 11 am.

School is closed from Monday 31st October  to Friday 4th November for midterm break. The school will be closed on Wednesday 9th November for staff training in the new language curriculum. We wish everyone a well-earned rest!

We also welcome Ruth Armstrong who is teaching 1st and 2nd Class and Conor MacGabhann who is teaching 3rd and 4th  to the Model School.

Swimming is up and running again for 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th classes until the Halloween break, and for infants, 3rd and 4th classes for six weeks after Halloween.

5th and 6th class  attended the Athy College Open Day on Friday 23rd September. Many thanks to Richard Daly and his staff for his hospitality.

Student Placement We would like to welcome Cheyenne Holmes and Eva Cullen to the school. Cheyenne is a 3rd  year student in CICE and will be joining Mr. McInerney, in 5th  and 6th class, on observation in October, and on student placement for three weeks in November. Eva is a first year student in Frobel College in Maynooth and will be joining Mrs. Cole on observation from October to December and she will do a three week placement in January 2017.

We are hosting the Scholastic Book Fair this year and it will be open after school for parents and children, from Thursday 6th October to Tuesday 11th October as well as on the night of the Parents’ Association A.G.M. Scholastic has a great range of books at reasonable prices and the school earns books from monies raised so please come along, browse and buy! More details will follow.

PA AGM The Parents Association AGM will take place on Monday 10th October at 7.30 pm. We strongly urge all parents to attend the AGM. It is a great opportunity to learn about the work the P.A. does as well as any recent developments in our school.

Christchurch Diocesan Service will be taking place on Thursday 13th October and pupils from 6th class will be in attendance.

We will start guided reading and the ‘word wasp spelling programme ’ soon and we are looking for volunteers. Please contact Karyn Cole on 086 6033972 if you are available to help out.

We will be having a Dress Up Day on Friday 28th October.

A reminder that school will be closed for midterm break from Mon 31st  October to Friday 4th November and we will be closed on Wednesday 9th November to facilitate a staff  training day in the new language curriculum.

School reopens on Tuesday 30^th August at 8.40 am and pupils will go home at 12 noon (Junior Infants at 11.30 am) on the first morning to facilitate a staff meeting.

New parents’ coffee morning on first day A reminder that new parents are invited to meet in the Bay Tree restaurant on the first morning of school, Tues 30^th August, for coffee and to get to know one other. This has been organised by the PA committee.

6^th Class Sale

A total of €2,104 was raised at the 6^th Class Sale on Friday 24^th June. This is a fantastic result and 6^th class pupils, parents and staff, particularly Dave Mc Inerney and Concepta Davidson, deserve huge credit for the amount of hard work involved in achieving it. A total of €1500 will be donated to the Kildare and West Wicklow Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The remaining €604 will be spent on extra resources for the Aistear Room. Thank you to everyone who supported the sale.

Upcoming dates for the first term: Swimming for 1^st, 2^nd, 5^th and 6^th classes starts on Monday 19^th September.

The Parents Association A.G.M. will take place on Monday 10^th October. The Book Fair will be open on the night.

The 6^th Class trip to the Diocesan Schools Service in Christchurch Cathedral will be on Thursday 13^th October.

Further details about these events will be given to parents closer to the time.

Yvonne Griffin

Infant Induction Afternoon It was great to meet our new Junior Infants for next year along with their parents on Monday 13th June. The children spent time with their new teacher Mrs Cole and had a lovely time playing together. They got to spend some time upstairs in the Aistear room which was very exciting for them!
School Tours The infants, 1st and 2nd class had a fantastic time on their school tour in Castlecomer Discovery Park on 14th June. They took part in an assault course and paddled in the river (safely!) searching for all sorts of tiny river bugs. They also had time to play in the playground. All arrived home quite grubby, damp, tired but happy after a very active day!! Thank you to our parents Liz, Laken, Tracy and Anna, who helped us on the day.
The Senior Tour was a great hit too. 3rd to 6th class travelled to the Jump Zone in Sandyford on 15th June. The Jump Zone has over 14,000 sq feet of trampolines so the pupils spent the day literally bouncing off the walls!
Willow Weaving 3rd to 6th class enjoyed learning the art of willow weaving with Beth Murphy, on 14th June. This was under the ‘If I had an Artist for a Day’ scheme for schools. Thank you to the PA for supporting this venture.
Drumming Workshops The children had a great time drumming with David Day on 8th June in what is now an annual visit to our school.

Our End of Year service took place in St. Michael’s Church on Sunday 19th June at 11am. During this service, we said a fond farewell to all our 6th class pupils who will soon be starting secondary school-Clare Cole, Lisa Badakin, Jordan Coyle, Liam Mc Donnell, Dylan Rowan, Dearbhla Bradshaw, Ellen Burns, Tyrone Adeniranye, Ben Leahy, Eoin Cobbe, Ivanka Manase, Anna-Mart Mielmann, Jemimah Famose, George King, Daniel Kashchenko, Leila Phoenix-Spratt, Owen Dowling, Sam Massey and Quincy Macharia.

All of 6th class received autograph books, certificates, photo stories of their time in the Model and book tokens. Congratulations to: Ellen Burns who was awarded the Loftus Warren Cup for effort and progress, to Clare Cole who was awarded the Scripture Prize, to Cayden Gray who received the William Ashmore Plaque for effort and progress in 1st class, and to the following who received certificates and book tokens for full attendance in the school year to date-Harry Cole, Maita Phairah, Taz Chinamasa, Kahlen Gaffney, Darragh Lazenby, Caitlin Kenny, Ryan Cooke, Kia Forde, Lauryn Cole, Eleanor Delaney, Clare Cole and Jayden Gaffney.
Well done to the following who missed just one day this year: William Delaney, Clare Kingston, Jack Monks, Emmanuella Badakin, Saoirse Rourke, Ivanka Manase, Tom Cole and Oli Adido.
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Concepta Davidson, our SNA, who has been with us for nearly eighteen years. Concepta has been a wonderful colleague: efficient, kind and caring to all children, and a valued member of staff. We wish Concepta happiness in the future. A presentation of gifts and flowers were made to Concepta on behalf of the Board of Management, pupils and staff during the service.
Tennis We’d like to give you an update on how we’ve put funds raised at last year’s table quiz to use. The children will receive tennis coaching from a Tennis Ireland coach for six weeks in the summer term next year. We have also purchased mini nets, rackets and balls and look forward to using them during P.E. sessions to practise our tennis skills. Thank you to everyone who supported the Table Quiz in March and made this possible.

Our Annual 6th Class Sale took place in the school on Fri 24th June. Proceeds raised this year went to Kildare and West Wicklow S.P.C.A, as requested by 6th class. This was very well organised by Dave Mc Inerney, Concepta and the 6th class pupils and was a great success. Thank you to the 6th class pupils and parents, who worked tirelessly on the day. Thank you to everyone who supported the sale, whether by donating raffle prizes, helping or coming along on the day.
Thank You On behalf of our staff, pupils and parents, I wish to thank the Board of Management and the Parents Association committee for their hard work and support throughout the last school year.
Thank you to Rev. Olive for her weekly assemblies which we all enjoy.

School closes on Weds 29th June at 12 noon.
School will reopen on Tues 30th August and will close at 12 noon, (11.30 for junior infants) to facilitate a staff meeting.

New Parents 2016-17 A reminder that new parents are invited to meet in the Bay Tree restaurant on the first morning of school, Tues 30th August, for coffee and to get to know each other. This has been organised by the PA committee.

We wish everyone a restful and enjoyable summer.
Yvonne Griffin

• Refreshments will be held in the school hall after the service.(Take the road to Dublin out of the town and, on the outskirts, turn left at the Maxol garage. Drive straight down this road through two small roundabouts; the school is in a cul de sac at the bottom of the road .)

• Races will be held in the GAA grounds after refreshments. The grounds are adjacent to the school.

• Children must be supervised by their parents/guardians at all times.

• Children must wear runners . Spiked running shoes are not allowed and children must not run in their bare feet.

• Each family is asked to bring a cake /biscuits/tray bakes for the teas. These will be collected outside the church before service.

• Each child will need to bring a tie for the three legged race.

• For health and safety reasons, all children must wear runners.

• Each child needs to bring a tie for the 3 legged races.

• Sacks will be provided for the sack races.

• There will be a collection during the service.
This is always a very enjoyable day and all children and their families are encouraged to attend.
Kind regards
Yvonne Griffin
Principal