January Newsletter 2025

Dear Parents/Guardians,
I would like to wish you all a very Happy New Year and every blessing for the coming year. I hope that all of the boys and girls are well settled back in school at this point.
The start of our new term has been challenging with the recent cold-spell of weather, followed by Storm Eowyn. But thankfully the weather seems to have settled again and we can now look forward to the evenings getting brighter and longer. As always, the school is a hive of activity and this month has been no different, as you will see below.

1. School Attendance- Our attendance motto ‘Don’t be late, it’s going to be great!’
As you are aware as part of our DEIS plan, improving our overall attendance in the school remains a major priority for us. It is very important that when the children are feeling well that they are in school every day. If they are absent from school, absence reasons must be recorded by the parent on the Aladdin App. For December our overall attendance rate was 97.2% an increase of 2.3% on the previous year. Equally our overall Attendance for January was 93.9% an increase of 0.3% on the previous year. This is a fantastic improvement- well done to all & keep it up. Congratulations and well done to the boys and girls in 3rd & 4th Class who won Class of the Month for best attendance in December and 1st & 2nd Class who won class of the month for January! We are extremely proud of them & they will enjoy a night with no homework as a result.

2. Supervision
As the new term begins, the Board of Management would like to remind you that the school operates from 9.20am to 3pm. Infants finish at 2pm. To facilitate the children`s safe arrival to school, your child should arrive at school between 9:10am and 9:20am. There will be supervision in the yard in the morning between 9:10am and 9:20am. To Keep everyone safe, pupils are not permitted to enter the school grounds before 9:10am. Supervision will be provided until 3pm. However, the school accepts no responsibility for children before 9.10am or after 3pm.

3. Access and Road Safety
I wish to draw your attention to the following safety protocol regarding the children`s entry and exit from the school. In order to provide for the children’s safe entry to and exit from school, the following protocol is still in place. Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 1st and 2nd classes are to enter and leave the school grounds via the lower pathway on the village side. Senior children from 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes are required to use the upper pathway on the Aglish side.

4. Enrolment Ceremony for First Holy Communion
Congratulations and well done to the boys & girls in second class who had their enrolment ceremony on the 30th January. It was a lovely occasion enjoyed by all.

5. Extra- Curricular Activities

• Swimming
  3rd-6th Class will be starting a 6 week block of swimming lessons with Aura Youghal beginning on the 7th February. Subsequent lessons will be on the 10th, 17th, 24th February and the 3rd and 10th March.
• The Blast Programme
  We are delighted to have been successful in our application for The Blast Programme for the first time ever. The project is fully funded and has afforded Jnrs-2nd the opportunity to explore ceramics under the guidance of Artist Adele Stanley. The project will continue until the 13th March. We look forward to seeing the children`s wonderful creations once completed.
• Food Dudes
  10th-14th February. This is a wonderful programme that aims to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetable. We are greatly looking forward to this starting in school once again.
• Ficheall Chess Tournament
  For the first time ever, 5th and 6th class have entered for Ficheall Chess Tournament. We wish them the best of luck in their first tournament on the 12th February in Ballinameela. Go n-éirí libh a pháistí.
• GAA
  The children enjoyed 2 sessions of GAA with James Lacey and Barry Dunne recently.
• The Daily Mile
  The children are continuing with their daily mile each day & we look forward to a progress report in the next edition of our Newsletter.

6. Clashmore National School Parents` Association
Our wonderful Parents` Association are currently undertaking 2 fundraising events to fund new i-pads for the children. We would as always greatly appreciate your support with these endeavours.

• Clothes Collection– Bags of clothes can be dropped to the school daily until the 10th March.
• Quiz in Salmon`s pub on the 7th March. Registration is at 7pm & the Quiz begins at 7:30pm.

7. Open Day – Save the Date the 9th April!
I am delighted to announce that we will once again have an Open Day in the School on Wednesday the 9th of April from 6-7pm.

8. The Smart Phone Charter
In co-operation with our neighbouring schools Ballycurrane N.S, Kinsalebeg N.S & Grange N.S, we recently launched our Smart Phone Charter. Many thanks to all of the families that have signed up to this Charter. We have been delighted with the very positive response and uptake.

9. Reading Buddies
Reading for enjoyment is a particular focus of ours at present. To this end, we have run the Reading Buddies initiative once again. This initiative involves a younger child being paired up with an older child for the purposes of paired reading. It is a wonderful practice that allows authentic fluent reading to be modelled. We hope that the children are enjoying this initiative. As parents we would strongly recommend that you spend time reading with your child, as a love of reading can never be under-estimated.

10. Green Schools News
We are currently working towards our 7th Green School Flag- Global Citizenship-Energy. In doing so, it is a combined effort form the whole school and the school community to help create a more sustainable future for all. It is also a long-term student-led programme that empowers the children with the knowledge to make the right choices for our environment. The whole school has just completed a wonderful poster competition based on saving energy. All the entries can be viewed in our school corridor. Once the weather improves, our WOW (Walk on Wednesday) will resume again. In addition, we will be aiming to reduce our electricity usage by powering off all electricity on Friday afternoons. As well as that, each class now has an `Energy Saving Detective` whose job is to ensure that all lights and doors are closed.
Please help your child to become more aware of their energy usage by:

• Switching off lights and appliances
• Being more mindful of hot water usage
• Considering when and how you use your washing machine
• Trying to run the dishwasher one less time per week
• Unplugging your devices

11. Clashmore N.S. Return Bin
In keeping with the theme of sustainability and conserving our environment, the school has been given a return plastic recycling bin. We would greatly appreciate it if families could donate their plastic bottles/cans to the school. Funds recouped for these will go towards new P.E equipment for the children. Plastic bottles/cans can be sent in each Monday. Many thanks for supporting this endeavour.

12. Student Council News
The student Council have been busy since their return to school. They have created a suggestion box for the children that will be unveiled in the coming days for the children. They are also at present planning a `Wellness Week” for the children from the 10th-14th February. I would like to highly commend these the Student Council for their dedication and valiant efforts for the school- Well done & keep it up!

13. A Couple of Reminders

• A gentle reminder that Smart Watches are not permitted in the school as per our Internet Safety & Acceptable Usage policy.
• Please ensure that all of your child`s jumpers/coats are labelled with their name.
• Friday is treat Day. Treats are not permitted in the school from Monday-Thursday.

14. Enrolments for the 2025-2026 School Year
Please note that we are currently accepting enrolments for the coming school year.
Please contact our secretary Laura Barron for enrolment forms by email clashmorens19@gmail.com or by phone on 024-96404.

15. Important Dates for Your Diary

• Monday 3rd February Bank Holiday, the School is closed.
• Thursday 13th February, Enrolment & Commitment Service for 5th & 6th Class at 7pm in Clashmore Church.
• Friday 14th February, the school is closing at 12:00 to facilitate staff training in the New Anti-Bullying Procedures.
• Monday 17th March Bank Holiday, the school is closed.
• Monday 24th March at 10am Confirmation Ceremony in Clashmore Church, the school remains open on this day.
• First Holy Communion in Clashmore Church at 11am on the 10th May.

Le gach beannacht uaimse,
Yvonne Uí Fhlaithimhín
Principal of Clashmore National School