Rathmichael School

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mrs. Senior's diary 30th September 2009





Our Sponsored walk took place on Saturday last, 26th September, up in Carraigolligan Wood. I went along with my dog and was delighted to see how well attended it was. I must say it is one event I look forward to. It's great to see the children in a different setting. They all seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves and some get very competitive about how many times they can complete the course.
Many just enjoy the hotdogs and refreshments which the PTA very kindly supply at a nominal cost. Others just come for the chat and social interaction which is plentiful. Indeed everyone stayed longer than expected which is a good sign. The weather was fantastic and added to the atmosphere. It's so lovely to see everyone outside of the school building.

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Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Mrs. Senior's diary 23rd September 2009

This week most of the whole class meetings will take place. The teachers will get the opportunity to speak with the parents and inform them of their expectations for the class. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions. These meetings are generally very informative. I suggest that these meetings are important and would reccommend that all attend.

Last Thursday, 17th Sept we received a certificate for joint third place in the Schools Tidy Towns Awards.We were delighted to have been placed once again and hope to continue this practice as best we can. There are certainly areas we can improve upon and will as ever strive to do our best in this endeavour.

Our annual visit from the photographer happened on 22nd Sept. The children arrived all spruced up and presentable, combs and brushes in their pockets. It's quite amazing how they change from year to year. Certainly to compare the photographs taken in Junior Infants to the ones captured in Sixth
Class is a wonder in itself. The faces might change but the personalities don't.
Teachers also got ready for their photo. Not met with such eagar enthusiasm I might add. It is interesting for many to see the changes in staff over the years.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Mrs. Senior's diary 16th September 2009

Good news good news!
Last Friday saw the installation of two new Interactive Whiteboards into the 3rd and 6th Class classrooms.It is very exciting to see these new resources appear. Certainly there are two very excited and nervous teachers on the staff with goodness knows what at their fingertips! This is the day and age of technology. How much time we spend on our computers everyday! I don't know how many sets of encyclopedia we have been offered, and turned away. The need to look up a book to find some information seems to be dwindling. With the touch of a button most information can be acquired without fuss. Now maps, music, sounds of all kinds, pictures etc. can be brought straight into the classroom without a huge amount of preparation.We must move with the times and progress. We now have four boards in the school and are working towards our fifth with the collection of mobile phones.So keep collecting, we need about 100 more.

The past two weeks have seen the school undertaking reading and maths testing. These are invaluable to the teachers as they help the staff to assess where best their attentions are needed. The results of these tests vary as children progress. They are only used as a guide as children do not always perform well under these circumstances. The teacher would already have begun to form her own opinion of the pupil especially having spoken with the previous teacher.

This week launched our new adventure on the PTA. We are busily trying to gather together the makings of a new cookbook. Our last cookbook , seven years ago now, was very popular. Monday evening saw a whole school homework where recipes of all kinds were gathered in. A bit daunting for our new committee members but old hat to our experienced few! We'll be looking out for sponsorship to allay costs as much as possible. Keep an eye out for various competitions as we look out for a suitable cover.

Onwards and upwards we go.

Welcome back from Mrs. Senior

Back to the grind, parents, children, teachers.It doesn't take long for us to settle back and feel as though we were never away.Last week saw a huge community effort with the annual fete. Both school and church working together. It created a great buzz and with the adrenalin flowing we set too and managed to make a phenomenal €35,000. It's hard to believe that such amounts of cash were wandering around the school grounds on Saturday. Whatever about the amount raised, the community spirit and camaraderie that was about surpassed any other. Everyone who took part, I believe, was proud to be there and many I have spoken too are keen to be back next year. What does that tell me? It tells me that this is something that works and works well.Projects which involve both the church and the school are to be encouraged and I hope Canon Appelbe and myself will continue to combine the two wherever possible.During the summer the outside of the school was painted and is now looking very well. The Crawford concourse was also painted. You may think it is rather bare but we await several new noticeboards before putting up any work. Unfortunately we have found that blutack has had a rather adverse affect on our walls and we want to avoid that in future.Planning permission has come through for our building work upstairs which will provide us with a new learning support and resource room. Unfortunately we await red tape before we can begin. It won't be long until you see the first signs of development.We welcome back all the staff who remain the same although their names may have changed. Ms. Storey became Mrs. Bourne whilst Ms. Levis became Mrs. Crammond. I wish them happiness with their new husbands.Till next time