April 2016 Newsletter

Dear Parent/Guardian,
I want to bring the following to your attention in this April Newsletter:

School News

Hurling- G.A.A. coach John Condon will return to Kilkishen N.S. this term coaching pupils from
infants to 6th class fundamental movement, hurling and camogie skills. Thank you to Ger
Moroney and the local G.A.A club for coordinating and supporting the coaching initiative.

Soccer- Boys and Girls will participate for the first time in the SPAR FAI Primary School 5s this
month. The events will take place at Lees Road on April 13th and 14th 2016. Mr. Walsh has
taken training at lunch times on Tuesdays and Thursdays for pupils from 4 th-6th interested in
taking part. Panels are limited to 8 players for the event. Best of luck to both teams.

Camogie- Congratulations to the girls in 5th & 6th class that qualified for the county I.N.T.O.
minis sevens finals on April 7th/8th. Kilkishen girls defeated Clonlara, Broadford, Parteen, and
Killaloe in the group blitz last month. Best of luck to the girls in this weeks finals.

Basketball The girls basketball team will compete in the Marion Keane Memorial Cup on
April 18 in Gurteen Hall. Kilkishen will take on Tulla, Doora, Inch, Crusheen, and Corofin in the
group stages. Martina OHagan and Richard Greaves have a lot of preparation carried out with
the team culminating in the school Basketball league finals and the school coaching programme.
Best of luck to the team in the competition.

Junior Entrepreneur Programme- During April The Smoothie Kings will be making and
selling delicious smoothies for pupils and parents in the school. Pupils have been busy compiling
their smoothie recipes, advertising, pricing lists and sourcing ingredients recently. Each class in
the school will be invited to place an order for their nutritious smoothie. Your support is greatly
appreciated.

Proclamation Day 2016- Tuesday March 15th 2016 was Proclamation Day. Thank you to
everyone that attended on the day and helped celebrate the commemorations in the school. For
anyone that was unable to attend there will be a video of the ceremony on the website shortly
showcasing the activities carried out by the pupils and special guests on the day. The pupils that
recited the proclamation at Glenwood in January and on March 15, have been invited to perform
at Clares official commemorative event of 1916. An unveiling of a special remembrance
monument at the Club Bridge in Ennis on May 22 organized by Clare County Council will take
place and pupils from Kilkishen will recite the proclamation. Well done to these pupils on
receiving this honorable and prestigious invitation.

Spelling Bee- An in school competition will be held in 5th and 6th class to select a pupil to
represent our school at the county Spelling Bee finals to be held in April.

Confirmation Class Trip- 6th Class will travel to Esker in Co. Galway on Thursday April 28 for
a retreat in preparation for confirmation. Pupils from Kilkishen and OCallaghans Mills will
attend the retreat which has been organized by Fr. Donal Dwyer.

Parents Association
The Parents Association of Kilkishen N.S. held their AGM at Kilkishen Cultural Centre on March 2 at
6.45pm. At the meeting it was decided the Parents Association Committee in the future would be
comprised of a selected parent from each class and both parent nominees from the Board of Management.
Voting for the Parents Association Committee has concluded and parents with the highest number of votes
are being contacted to sit on the committee. Once parents have confirmed their availability to sit on the
committee, representatives from each class will be announced. The committee will meet and select a
chairperson, treasurer and secretary. Various sub-committees will also be formed. All parents of pupils in
the school are eligible to sit on sub-committees of the Parents Association. I am looking forward to
working closely with the Parents Association with a common goal of working together for the betterment
of the school.

Building
The Building subcommittee of the Board of Management, have selected Procad Engineering Services to
design and oversee the planned construction of a new extension at Kilkishen N.S. The extension is at
initial design stage at present. During this month drawings will be presented and agreed upon. Procad will
then apply for planning permission and carryout a tendering process to select a construction firm to build
the extension.

Appointment and Staffing for September 2016

From September 2016 Kilkishen N.S. have been allocated an additional mainstream class teacher. This
will result in a reduction in the pupil/teacher ratio for next year. There will be a single stream junior infant
class from September and a new split arrangement, Seniors/1 st and 1st/2nd. This arrangement will ensure
pupils at the junior end of the school will be in classes of under 25 pupils. Details of teacher allocation
and pupil lists will be finalized during this term.
I would like to congratulate Declan Walsh on his appointment to a permanent position in Kilkishen N.S.
and wish him well in his teaching career in the school. A new temporary teacher will be appointed for
Sept 2016.

Website
A new Useful websites tab has been added to our school website www.kilkishen.weebly.com. This
section has hundreds of age appropriate online resources to help pupils across the curriculum. These
websites are educational and fun, supporting the teaching and learning that occurs in school.
A reminder the school closes Monday April 11 at 2 p.m. to facilitate termly staff meeting
Yours sincerely,
Conor Harrison
Principal Kilkishen N.S.