Volume 3, Issue 1 September 13 th 2012 Principal: Ms C Ní Chianáin Deputy Principal: Mr O’Donnell Welcome Back to Scoil Colm 2011/2012 Welcome Back to Scoil Colm 2012/2013 Welcome back to all our pupils, staff and friends for the school year I would like to especially welcome our new second class pupils who have settled in very well to Scoil Colm. We are all looking forward to another great year for our school. Once again this year, we will be making a special effort to maximise the amount of teaching time that our pupils receive. We would like to keep all classroom interruptions to a minimum. Parents/visitors can help us with this by making appointments to meet teachers outside of school hours where necessary. Communication between parents and school staff is a very important part of each child’s education and we actively encourage this. Appointments can be made through the office or a note in the homework journal. Some of our out-of-school activities have now begun, such as GAA football for fifth and sixth classes, homework club, breakfast club and orchestra. If you are interested in your son joining any of these activities, please contact the school. We would also like to remind you that to help ensure the safety of our pupils, please ensure that they are not in the yard area before 8.40am. I look forward to meeting all of you throughout the school year. Claire Ní Chianáin SCHOOL HOLIDAYS/CLOSURES 2012/13 August:School opens on Thursday, 30th. October:Closed on 29th, 30th and 31st. November:Closed on the 1st and 2nd. December:Closed on 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th & 31st. January:Closed on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. February:Closed on the 14th and 15th. March:Closed on Mon the 18th. Closed on 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th & 29th. AprilClosed on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th. MayClosed on the 6th, 7th and 8th. June :Closed on the 3rd, 4th and 5th. Fri. the 28th June, ’13 will be the last day of school. NEW DEPUTY PRINCIPAL Following the recent retirement of Mr Maune, Mr O’Donnell has been appointed as the new Deputy Principal. We would like to wish him every success in his new role. PLEASE KEEP OUR PUPILS SAFE Parking / Car Park: Parking in the school car park is for staff cars only. This measure is taken to limit the number of cars driving in the car park for the safety of our pupils. We ask parents/visitors to please help us to keep our pupils safe by not driving in to the staff car park or parking on the footpath directly outside the front of the school. Thank you. Notice: On behalf of the whole school community, we would like to welcome our new teacher, Ms Rattigan, to our school.

Page 2 of 4 Students’ Page Scoil Colm Newsletter The new second class settle into Scoil Colm. Cheque for the Zambian Immersion Project presented to the boys of St Mary's Portlaoise. Attendance / Early Collection of Pupils The time that your son spends in school is valuable learning time. As parents and teachers, we want the best for the boys and don’t want them to miss a minute of their education. Please remember that your son should not be taken out of school unless it is absolutely necessary. Parents can support us in this by requesting hospital/doctor/dental appointments outside of school hours where possible. Should you need to collect your son early from school for any reason, please remember to sign him in/out in the school office. This is for safety and security reasons. Fundraiser in Dunnes Stores, Ashleaf Scoil Colm are running a Bag-Packing event on the evenings of September 27th & 28th. Dunnes Stores in the Ashleaf are kindly facilitating our fundraiser and we hope you can come and support this event.

Page 3 of 4 Students’ Page Scoil Colm Newsletter Athlete of the Year Robert Taaffe Pupil of the Year Congratulations to Martin Byrne, 6th Class Pupil 2011/12, who was awarded Pupil of the Year at the Merit Award Ceremony in June First Communion First Communion will take place on 11th May Further details will follow in due course. Confirmation We do not yet have a confirmed date for Confirmation. As soon as we receive it, we will notify parents.

Page 4 of 4 Parents Page Scoil Colm Newsletter Parental Permission Form: Thank you to those who have returned the Parental Permission Form. If you have not yet returned the form, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you. Book Rental Thank you to those who have already paid. Our Book Rental fee also covers the cost of photocopying/ handouts, art materials, text-a-parent, etc. We wish to remind some parents that the fee is still outstanding. Books, photocopying, etc., are very expensive and the rental fee is designed to reduce this cost for parents/guardians. Please ensure payment is made as soon as possible or arrange with the office to pay by instalments over a period of weeks. School Uniform / Tracksuit / School Jacket All pupils are expected to wear their full school uniform every day except on PE days. Uniforms, tracksuits and jackets are available from the Parents’ Room in the school between 9.15am and 9.45am each morning. School Shop Copies, pencils, pens, journals, etc. can be purchased from the school shop every morning. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! If you have some spare time, even a half an hour, why not give it to our school? Call to the office or contact Ms Devaney on COFFEE MORNING The Parents’ Association are holding a free coffee morning to welcome all parents back to school. It will take place in the Parents’ Room in Scoil Colm at 9.00am on Friday, 14th September. All are welcome!! INFORMATION FOR PARENTS: As a result of the Croke Park Agreement, we would like to keep you updated with the following information. During the last school year, our school staff engaged in over forty hours of meetings outside of school hours, which included:  Staff meetings  School Development Planning  Continuing Professional Development  Induction  Parent-Teacher meetings I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, parents and other members of the community at Scoil Colm for the many additional hours of their own time which they give voluntarily to activities that enhance school life for our pupils, such as training teams, supervising pupils, after-school programmes and clubs, accompanying pupils to events/matches, attending training courses, etc. Their contribution is very much appreciated. Trócaire Lenten Donation We have received a letter and a Thank You certificate from the Director of Trócaire to the pupils of Scoil Colm and their families who raised €262 this year.