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December 2014
Inside this issue:
Halloween in
Monaleen
4th Green
Flag
Enrolment
Ceremony
Handwriting
Competition
Lá Gaelach
Science
Week
U11 Boys
& Girls
U13 Boys
& Girls
UL Students
Staff
Celebrations
Book Fair
Dear Parents/Guardians,
On behalf of everybody in Monaleen National School, I wish to express
our sincere best wishes to you all for a happy, peaceful Christmas and a
healthy and prosperous 2015.
Monaleen School is, as always, a hive of activity with upcoming Christmas
celebrations and events, as well as the eagerly awaited Christmas
Concerts.
The Junior Infants will have their Christmas shows on the mornings of
16th/17th December at 9.15am. First/Third and Fifth classes, will have
their concerts on the nights of the same dates starting at 7pm.
As regards the overall development of the school, the Board of Management is waiting on a suggested development from the D.E.S. in relation to
developing the school into a 32 mainstream classroom school. Regretfully,
the Board of Management cannot appoint a design team or apply for
planning permission until the overall development plan is agreed and
approved. The Board of Management will write to you in the new year and
keep you informed of any developments in this regard.
Our sincere gratitude for all your generosity and support throughout the
year and we look forward to meeting and working with you throughout
the New Year.
With sincere best wishes
Tony Cahill (Principal)
Halloween in Monaleen!
The day of the Halloween holidays, was a fun day at
school in aid of 'Trick of Treat for Temple Street'! The
children were asked to bring in €2 and encouraged to
dress up for Halloween & hold a Halloween party or
watch a DVD in aid of Temple Street Children's
Hospital. Thanks to all the boys and girls for supporting
a great cause!
4th Green Flag
In October, we raised our 4th green flag for Travel. It takes
two years to get a flag, so this flag is the result of a huge
amount of work by Ms. Hickey, Ellen O'Sullivan (Green Schools
Travel Officer), the Green Schools Commitee (past and present
pupils), all the boys and girls & also the staff. Flag raising day
was a no uniform day and the boys and girls wore green to mark
the occasion. We were absolutely delighted to have the Mayor of
Limerick, Michael Sheahan, with us, to raise the flag. Monaleen
NS is now working towards its 5th green flag, which is based on the theme of Biodiversity.
By Rachel Shinners
Enrolment Ceremony
The Enrolment Ceremony is the first in a series of ceremonies, which lead up to the pupils
of second class making their First Holy Communion. This ceremony took place in October
in the Halla of Monaleen National School. Throughout the ceremony, the children did
readings, offertory processions and sang hymns. The children were then presented with
certificates. The First Confession will take place in the church in February. Ms. Casey and
Ms. Hurley’s class will make their First Holy Communion on Saturday 9th May with Mr.
Stack and Ms. Nelligan’s classes making their’s on Saturday 23rd May.
By Juliette Pinson
Handwriting Competition
Monaleen National School held a handwriting competition
for Halloween. Entries were displayed outside each
classroom door before the mid-term break. Ms. Nelligan
chose the winner from each class and she made her
decision based on the handwriting and not the actual story.
There will be a prize for the winners!
By Sarah Cleary
Lá Gaelach
Bhí Lá Gaelach sa scoil ar 24 Meán Fomhair. Rinne gach
duine iarracht speisialta Gaeilge a labhairt ar an lá.
Chan na páistí ó rang na naíonán go rang 6 amhráin sa
halla. Léigh na múinteoirí scéalta Gaeilge agus leabhair
leabharlainne do na páistí ó rang 3 ar aghaidh as
Gaeilge. Bhí Tráth na gCeist i ngach rang ó rang 3 ar a
aghaidh freisin.
Ó Tómás Mac Carthaigh
Science Week
On the 12th December, Mr. Flanagan’s 6th class went
to UL for science week. We saw lots of experiments
as part of a circuit show put on by LIT science students. The students had booths all around a large hall
and each booth had a different experiment. In groups
of four we visited each one.
The first experiment was a mini hovercraft made
from a CD, a sports bottle cap and a balloon. They
opened up the bottle cap and pushed the CD and it
started gliding around the table, it showed air pressure.
The next experiment was to do with sound and vibrations. They had four wine glasses laid
out, each with a different level of water. They asked us to dip our index finger into the
water and to rub our finger around the brim of the glass. It started to make a noise
because of the vibration in the water.
The next experiment was a makeshift missile launcher made from a 2 litre bottle and a
bicycle tube taped on top. They used rolled up paper for ammunition. They placed a paper
rocket on top and got us to hit the bottle. The paper rocket flew up quite high.
Finally, we went to ’Archimedies Pulley’!. Archimedies
was an inventor and mathematician, specialising in geometry. With the pulley, a person can pull three times
their weight.
They also had experiments on light, forces, the
environment and recycling. It was a great learning
experience and was enjoyed by all.
By Peter Mitchell
U13 Football
The U13 boys football team faced St.
Nessan’s in the first match of the
competition. It was a tough match and it
ended in a draw. They played Chríost Rí in
the second match and thankfully Monaleen
cruised to victory. Their third match was
against a very strong
Milford team.
Milford were the better team and
unfortunately beat us by a fine margin. In
the semi final, we faced Milford again.
Ironically Monaleen beat them by 5 points and progressed to the final. Monaleen faced
St. Nessans in the final and unfortunately we lost by 3 points. It was a disappointing day
for the boys of Monaleen! Big thanks to Mr. Flanagan and Mr.Keane, who coached the U13
boys team.
By Eoghan O’Drioscoll
The U13 girls trained on Thursdays and
some Tuesdays. They were coached by
Mr. Mc Craith, Ms. Caulfield and Ms.
Hickey. There are 28 girls in the squad
from 5th and 6th classes. The first
match was against Milford. Milford got a
big lead in the first half but the girls
showed great spirit in the second half
and in the end they won by 4 points! The
girls won their second match against St.Nessans. Winning both of their matches meant
the team went straight into the final. The big day came on October 21st when all classes
from 3rd to 6th, went to support Monaleen in the final. However, we were beaten on the
day by a mere 2 points.
By Laura Donaghey
U11 Football
The U11 boys team trained every Tuesday with
Ms. Nelligan, Ms. Casey and Mr. McAuliffe. They
played 3 matches before reaching the finals.
They played against the Gaelscoil, and St.
Nessans. In the semi-final, the girls against the
Gaelscoil again, The girls won their match and
went through to the finals, where they met
St.Nessans again. Unfortunately St. Nessans proved too strong on the day.
The U11 girls team trained every Tuesday with Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Mc Carthy. They
played 3 matches before reaching the finals. Their first game was against St. Nessans
which they won in marvellous style! They lost their next match to Críost Rí. In the semifinal, the girls played against the Gaelscoil again, The girls won their match and went
through to the finals, where they met St.Nessans again. Unfortunately St. Nessans
proved too strong on the day.
By Laura Burke.
U.L. Students
This year we are delighted to welcome back the U.L. students with their P.E. program.
Third and Fourth class pupils have 1st year, U.L. students for 5 weeks and the focus of
these sessions are games. Fifth and Sixth class pupils will receive 3 weeks of athletic
coaching from 3rd year U.L. students.
Staff Celebrations
Huge congratulations to Ms. Annette Casey who
got married on October 25th and Ms. Mairead
Cronin who got married on October 31st. We wish
them all the best in their married lives.
‘
Book Fair
Our annual Book Fair took place on Sunday, 30th November from
2-5pm. To celebrate this event, we held a poster competition in the
school. A winner was chosen from each class and their prize was a
free book! The winners were Kate Lavin, Gabija Mickute, Bob He,
Caoimhe Owen, Aoibhinn Kitson, Calum Gavin, Ciara Brown, Chloe
Hussey, Daniel Zarinovs, Aimee Wheelan, Paulina Kwiatawska, Zuzanna, Rory Walsh, Barry Griffin, David Brennan, Emma Mc Grath,
Freya Keane, Chiara Cedrone, Dominik Kwiecien, Sinead Gorman,
Emma O Flaherty, Emilia Danila, Jane O Brien, Emma Rea, Rachel
Shinners. Congratulations to all!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for
supporting the Book Fair. €6,500 worth of books were
sold. The school will receive €3,900 (60%) worth of books
from Scholastic (The Book Fair company) in the New Year.
The raffle and sweet shop generated €1,245. This money will
go towards buying classroom resources.