Athy Model School

We had an enjoyable day, despite the rain, at the West Glendalough Children’s Choral Festival and Sports in Blessington on Friday 10th June.
Congratulations to Ben Leahy for winning the Boys Championship, to Jordan Coyle for winning the Girl’s Championship and to Lisa Badakin, Ben Leahy and Jordan Coyle for winning the Clergy Cup Relay Race. Well done to everyone who won medals and to all those who came along and took part- it was great to see everyone participating, encouraging others and showing great sportsmanship.
Congratulations to Blessington No. 1 School for winning the Overall Cup and a big thank you to them for hosting such a well organised and enjoyable day.

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