Scoil Mhuire na Dea Chomhairle Phone 061 367289

Kilkishen Email:kilkishennationalschool@gmail.com
Co. Clare Website: kilkishen.weebly.com
Roll Number: 13870E Twitter: @kilkishenns

October 2023 Newsletter

Dear Parents/Guardians,

I would like to bring the following announcements to your attention:

 Walk To School Week Oct 2-6: Pupils are invited to celebrate “Walk To School Week 2023” every
morning from Monday October 2-6. A walking bus will gather at Kilkishen G.A.A. Clubhouse at
8:25am each morning departing at 8:30am. Pupils are invited to join us at the Clubhouse or join
us along the way. Over 140 pupils have joined the Walking Bus on Monday and Tuesday combined.

 East Clare Primary Schools Cross Country Running: On Thursday September 28, pupils from
Kilkishen N.S. competed in the East Clare Primary School cross-country u/8, u/10 and o/10 events
for boys and girls. Congratulations to all our competitors that represented the school so well. Special
mention our medalists Bronagh Shanahan, Seán Neville, Conor Donovan, Ewan McArthur, Gearóid
and John MacDonnchadh. Also very well done to our u/8 boys team that won gold and our u10 boys
team that claimed silver. We look forward to the Clare County cross country finals day on November
14.
 Hurling and Camogie Continues Every Friday: All classes from Junior Infants to 6th Class
continue working on fundamental movement and developing the basic hurling and camogie skills
each Friday. The boys and girls are making great progress and demonstrating great skills each week.
Pupils are required to wear school tracksuit, and have hurling gear every Friday.

 Cumann na mBunscol Autumn Equipment Sale: The Order form for Cumann na mBunscol
Equipment has been released and is attached with the October Newsletter. All prices and
descriptions are included in the order form. If you are interested in ordering equipment, please
complete the online summary form at this
address https://forms.gle/1dbdbQh3g2Z3WqFR9 by October 10. Money can paid using the Aladdin
Schools App or can be put in an envelope marked Cumann na mBunscol Equipment Order Form and
given to your child's teacher or delivered to the school office. Your order will be submitted to
Cumann na mBunscol an Chláir before the deadline of Monday October 23. Orders will be
delivered to Kilkishen N.S. on the week commencing Monday November 27.

 Cumann na mBunscol Boys and Girls Football Competitions: Kilkishen N.S. will compete in
Division 2 of both the boys and girls competitions this year. Games will be 13 a-side and 20 minutes
per half. We encourage all pupils from 5th and 6th classes to participate and have fun. The boys’ team
are grouped with Knockanean, Tulla, Lissycasey, and Kilrush. The girls will take on Clonlara,
Cratloe and Stonehall/Ballycar. The boys will play their first game v. Knockanean on Wednesday
October 4 at Kilkishen G.A.A. pitch throwing in at 12:30pm. The girls travel to Clonlara on Friday
October 13 commencing at 11am. Pupils must wear gum shields in order to play. Best of luck to
both teams taking part.

 Mobile Phones: Kilkishen N.S. has a strictly no mobile phones permitted at school policy. It is a
matter for all parents to decide on allowing your child access to mobile phones and social media apps
outside of school. Pupils are reminded that Class group chats and online social media groups are
not permitted. Pupils have been reminded to remove themselves from any groups that they may be
part of. Schools working together with parents must cooperate to ensure the safety of all pupils.
Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.

 School Parking: A reminder to all parents, please avoid parking in front of the school grounds at
collection times between both pedestrian crossings. There must be a clear line of sight for teachers
supervising road crossings to ensure all pupils leave the school and cross the road safely while traffic
is stopped. Cars parked in between both crossings put pupils’ safety at risk. It was brought to my
attention that a pupil had a narrow escape after school on Tuesday last, running from the playground
and crossing the road towards Shanahan’s without looking. Cars parked on footpaths around the
playground make it very difficult to see any child at collection times. Please do not park on footpaths
near the playground at collection times. We thank everyone for their cooperation with these
measures to ensure all pupils are safe at collection times.

Astro Turf Extension Update:

  Construction Update: Work which commenced at the beginning of September is on-going to
expand our existing Astro Turf and Ball Wall facility. The ground works and the foundation base
layers of the extension have been fully completed. We await the completion of laying the final stone
layers, shock pad, synthetic grass and security fencing. It is hoped this will be completed in the
coming weeks. Once completed this will be a wonderful facility available to all our pupils and
community groups for decades to come.
 Fundraiser: We are reaching out to businesses and the community for support to complete the
project debt free. We have had a fantastic response from businesses so far. Ei Electronics in Shannon
have pledged an incredible €5000. If you or members of the community are in a position to support
the Astro-Turf extension project, an online donation fundraiser has been set up to help raise funds to
complete the project. All donations are greatly appreciated which will help us reach our goal of
completing the project debt free. Please share the online fundraiser link with members of the
community who would consider supporting this community project. To donate go to the following
link https://www.idonate.ie/cause/kilkishennationalschool or scan the QR code attached which will
bring you to the idonate web page. Thank you for your support.

 Parents Association Committee: Elections held to nominate a Junior Infants/ First Class and Third
Class PAC representative has been held. Thank you to Noelle Donovan, Eimear Canny and Linda
Delohery for accepting their nominations and sitting on the PAC for the next two year term. A new
executive of the PAC has also been elected. The new executive is a s follows:
Chairperson: Noelle Donovan
Secretary: Sinéad Frost
Treasurer: Linda Delohery

Yours sincerely

Conor Harrison
Principal Kilkishen N.S.
 Kilkishen N.S. Calendar 2023-2024
2023-24 M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
August

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
September

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
October

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
November

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
December

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
January

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
February

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
March

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
April

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
May

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
June

School Reopens/Ends for Pupils School Holidays Bank Holidays Weekends Staff Return on Tuesday August 29