Dear parents,
We’re in the middle of Advent at the moment and there are wonderful Christmas displays popping up all over the school. We lit the purple candles on our advent wreath last week as we prepare for Christmas. The boys and girls in second to sixth classes joined Fr. Joe online for mass on 8th of December to honour Mary, the mother of Jesus.
We are continuing with our digital assemblies each Friday and we are hearing about all the excellent work that the children are doing.
Fágáil Slán; A fond farewell to Florence
We learned recently that Florence Fennelly will retire from Emo National School at Christmas. The staff and Board of Management of Emo National School would sincerely like to congratulate Florence Fennelly on her retirement from teaching. Florence joined the staff of Emo National School from Mountmellick boys school in 2002 and became Deputy Principal in 2005. Florence contributed enormously to the school over that period of time. She was totally committed to improving all aspects of our school.
Parents will be only too aware of her dedicated work in supporting vulnerable and special needs children. This school will be indebted to Florence for the outstanding work she has done in this area and it has been through her persistence that many supports have been put in place for children. We know that Florence gave each student a positive experience in her room through her praise and encouragement of their efforts.
She was passionate about continuous professional development and was continually upskilling and sharing her expertise and knowledge with other staff members. She spearheaded and embraced many new challenges and adapted her teaching to the needs of her pupils.
Children who visited Florence’s room will miss her calm and gentle demeanour. They will no doubt also miss the many visits to the kitchen on a Friday helping her to cook or bake a well-deserved treat. Children would regularly emerge beaming from ear to ear after sampling the finished product.
Teaching duties apart, Florence served on the three Boards of Management and attended every other Parents Association meeting. It was apt that Florence was our religious co-ordinator and she prepared children so well for masses, instilling in children the confidence to speak in public.
Although devoted to her work and to the improvement of education in Emo National School she always found time to lend an attentive ear to her colleagues. It has been a privilege to work with Florence over the last 18 years. She has been a brilliant friend to us all and although delighted for her, we are sad to see her go. Rath Dé ort, a Florence.
Comhgairdeas; Congratulations
As we say goodbye to Florence we congratulate Mr. Costelloe who has been appointed as the new Deputy Principal of the school and will commence his role in January 2021. The Board of Management and staff would like to wish Noel the very best of luck in the new position.
Féilire na Scoile: School Calendar
The school closes on Tuesday 22nd December for the Christmas holidays at 12.30p.m. Please note that the school re-opens on Wednesday 6th January for all pupils.
Imeachtaí na Nollag: Christmas Activities
Our thanks to Christy Greene for setting up our school crib. We thank our teachers and SNA’s for the work they did in putting up the wonderful Christmas decorations around the school.
The Parents’ Association committee are very excited to announce that they are hosting the annual Christmas party for the children in the school on Thursday 17th December. We will be joined by special guest, Santa Claus, who arrives to the school that morning, with festive cheer. This year Santa will be outdoors only with safe procedures in place. The children and teachers have started guessing what mode of transport he will choose this year. Children may wear a Christmas jumper instead of a tracksuit top if they wish on the day.
Some of the school calendars have been distributed and look fantastic. Well done to all who helped with same. Copies of the calendar may still be purchased through the ALADDIN app.
Cruinnithe Tuismitheoirí/Múinteoirí : Meetings with Parents
We thank all parents for their attendance at the parent teacher meetings recently. Our teachers found the meetings very informative and we hope that you did too.
Rollaithe 2021/2022; Enrolment 2021/2022
Application and Decision Dates for admission to Junior Infants 2021/2022
The following are the dates applicable for admission to Junior Infants. Application forms will be posted on our website on the 6th January 2021.
| The school will commence accepting applications for admission on | 14thJanuary 2021 |
| The school shall cease accepting applications for admission on | 29th January 2021 |
| The date by which applicants will be notified of the decision on their application is : | 19th February 2021 |
| The period within which applicants must confirm acceptance of an offer of admission is | 26th February 2021 |
Curaclam na Scoile; School Curriculum
We are continuing to place an emphasis on reading and Maths at home. We are also implementing our school improvement plan for Science. Congratulations to the boys and girls who continue to work at their Mathletics and receive a certificate each week. Keep up the good work.
The computer classes with Ríomhairetech have now been completed. We would like to thank Sue Phelan for her excellent work with the children. We are now using iPads in all classes in the school. The PDST are running workshops for our teachers with a view to integrating technology in a positive way to the classroom.
Anti-Bullying ; Frithbhullaíocht
In this school we are welcoming and friendly to one another. We use gentle hands, gentle feet and kind words. We speak to the pupils regularly at assembly on Fridays about these key messages. Further to that we are focussing on the value of respect in the school and every day we witness plenty of examples of kindness and respect. Teachers are completing awareness raising lessons regarding anti-bullying at the moment. In the senior classes teachers will be discussing online bullying. However, the message remains the same. If a child is giving another child a NO feeling the teacher needs to hear about it. It is not the norm and children need to tell an adult. We encourage parents to read through our anti-bullying policy with your child. Many thanks for your co-operation in advance. https://emons.ie/school-policies/emo-national-school-anti-bullying-policy/
We will be speaking with the children in early January about a new code of behaviour for the school. We are seeking their input. We will then circulate the document to our Parents Association and finally to all parents and to the Board of Management.
Snippets; Blúiríní
- The children in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th continue with games and athletics on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Our thanks to Mr. Costelloe and Mr. Cushen who help out class teachers with same.
- Chess has begun for 3rd class and will continue each week.
Kind regards,
Cyril Duggan
Príomhoide