Term 3 2012:

• Upcoming events in our school…First Holy Communion (May 19th), Plassey Sports Day (May 22nd), School Sports Day, School Tours, 3rd Green Flag presentation, Artist in Residence, Sixth Class Graduation and their show “Hoodwinked”.
• School Closure Reminders:
  ~ Monaleen N.S. will be closed on Monday, May 7th
  ~ June Week (June 4th to 8th inclusive). School will reopen on Monday, June 11th.
• Monaleen N.S. has been awarded its third Green Flag. Well done to Ms. Hickey, Green School Committee, staff and pupils.
• The school choir performed in the Milk Market on Sunday, April 22nd for Earth Day. Ms. Kennedy and pupils from 4th,5th and 6th classes sang a selection of songs. They finished off the concert with the Recycle Rap. Well done everybody on representing your school so well.
• Storyteller: Niall De Burca enchanted the children with ancient Irish myths and legends. Thanks to Ms. O’Brien for organising the above event.
• Artist in residence for 2012. The two sixth classes will be participating in the Programme “Reinvention”. Gráinne Glynn will be the Artist in Residence. Check out our Art tab in the curriculum section for more updates.
• Our school sports teams are busy playing in lots of leagues and tournaments. Check out our sports section for more details.
• Monaleen Cancer Support Walk took place on March 25th. Our school population and the Castletroy community turned out in great numbers. Well done to everybody for supporting this important local event.
• Our school fashion show was a great success! The Monaleen Parents Association estimates around €10,000 was raised. Great credit is due to the wonderful Parents Association for organising the above event. A great night was had by all.

• Spring Clean Monaleen: On Wednesday, March 14th all students participated in a clean up in our community. The event was organised by Ms. Hickey. Keep up the good work everybody and let’s keep our area as tidy as we can.
• Disney Cake Competition: Ms. Nelligan’s 6th class entered a competition to win a trip to Disneyland Paris. The class made a spectacular cake out of chocolate sponge cake, icing and sweets.
• An ICT Talk took place in our school on March 16th. Margaret McGrath spoke to 4th – 6th classes about the importance of internet safety.
• Remember to check out our curriculum sections and subject tabs for more information.

Term 2 2012:

• Féile Luimnigh took place in our school on March 2nd and 3rd. Please go to our Curriculum section to see the list of Féile winners. The Córvéarsaíocht competition was held in our school halla on Tuesday, March 6th. Comhghairdeas! Coiméad suas é!
• Seachtain na Gaeilge (March 5th to 9th) Many activities were held in our school. Refer to our Gaeilge section for more news.
• EBS/INTO Handwriting competition winners were announced.
• The “Junior Librarian” system is now up and running. The children can issue and return books to their own accounts electronically.
• World Book Day was a fun filled day for pupils and teachers in our school. Mrs. Holland organised many fun activities on this special day. Please check out our English section for more details and photos.
• Monaleen N.S. has launched its first ever electronic magazine. Monaleen E-Links is produced by 6th class pupils with the help of some teachers. Well done to everybody involved. Check out the magazine in our archive section. If you have not yet signed up to receive the magazine…please send your e-mail address to monaleenns.ias@eircom.net.
• The Board of Management is currently in consultation with an architect in relation to the upgrading and development of the school.
• Rainbows meetings have started in our school. Please refer to our SPHE section for more details.
• Fisheries Board visit to Ms. Hickey’s 4th class. Marcus McMahon spoke to the children about the many fish that can be found in Irish seas and rivers. It was very informative and the children really enjoyed it.
• Áine Ní Fhlatharta from Irish Seedsavers Association came to help our school tidy up our garden. She was aided in her work by some of our senior pupils and James (School caretaker) and Mary Murphy (Parents Association). The space is looking very well now and we look forward to seeing lots of plants and flowers in full bloom this Summer.
• Pat Broderick from Heritage in Schools Scheme visited our school again this year. Please go to our SESE page to see photos from the educational workshop.
• Healthy eating and lifestyle week highlighted the importance of living a healthy life. Children had a fruit and vegetable tasting session in the halla. The Parents Association organised the above event. Teachers were busy teaching lessons about healthy eating and exercise. Ms. Kennedy’s class took inspiration from the show Operation Transformation and have started doing five minutes of exercise daily. The class love getting out and everybody is trying their best to improve their fitness.
  Healthy mind = Healthy body.
• On Monday, March 5th we had assembly where a dietician came and spoke to the pupils about the importance of eating healthy foods. Ms. Hickey announced winners of the healthy lunch competition. The list of winners can be located in the SPHE tab of our curriculum section.
• Dental Hygiene: The boys and girls listened to a presentation given by dentist, Aiden Higgins. The dental nurse showed everybody how to brush their teeth properly. Each child was given an information booklet and a free tube of toothpaste.

• Wednesday is walk or cycle day to school. All the school population are making a great effort to be healthy and they are also playing their part in protecting our environment by reducing their carbon footprint.
• Be Safe! Be Seen! By the Road Safety Authority. The Parents Association handed out high visibility vests to each child for walks/cycles on Wednesdays. All classes have covered the strand of Road Safety and the Safe cross code song is a real hit in our school.

Listen to us sing the song.

• We have lots of sport news so please go the section on the curriculum to find out all the details.
• School choir is performing once a month at Monaleen Church. We will also be performing at the upcoming school fashion show.
• The Students Council is made up of ten students from 5th and 6th classes. The role of the committee is to improve our school and communicate the thoughts of the students. Mr. Cahill is the coordinator of the Students’ Council.
• Defibrillator for Monaleen N.S. Munster Medics gave Occupational First Aid and C.P.R. training to the whole staff and both sixth classes recently. If our school collects 250 old mobile phones we will receive a free defibrillator from Heartsafety Solutions.

Term 1 2012:

• Welcome back to all staff and students. We hope everybody enjoyed the summer holidays. We now look forward to the productive academic year ahead.
• School Colours day took place on Friday, October 7th in aid of Diabetes Centre Crumlin Hospital. Many thanks to teachers and pupils for supporting the event so generously. Well done to the Lane family for organising the non-uniform day. 
• Parents/Guardians are reminded to park safely when dropping off children to school. Please do not park on double yellow lines or block the school gates. This is a serious safety issue and we ask you to be mindful of the above.
• Please use the footpaths provided in the grounds of Monaleen N.S. Parents/Guardians and pupils should never cut through the car park. This is a major concern for staff members. Please respect this rule for your own safety and that of your child. 
• Children/Teenagers in the Yard: Please be aware that Monaleen N.S. is private property and that no children or teenagers should be on the school premises in the evenings or at weekends.  The Gardaí monitor the situation regularly.
• A Cake Sale took place in school on Friday, September 30th. It was organised by pupils from Ms. Kiely’s 5th class (picture below). They raised over €600. All proceeds go to the Monaleen Cancer Support Group. Well done to everybody involved.

• To celebrate the start of the new school year mass was celebrated on Wednesday, September 21st in the school halla with Monsignor Dan. Neenan and Fr. Michael O’Shea.
• Could parent(s) or guardian(s) please donate old tracksuits or uniforms to our school. Mrs. Ryan would be delighted to accept any wearable school uniforms or tracksuits. These can be dropped directly into Mrs. Ryan’s prefab or they can be left in the learner support room off the halla. Many thanks.  
• Well done to Ms. O’Sullivan on completing her Diploma in June 2010.
• The Léargas project has now concluded. Mr. Cahill, Ms. Stokes, Ms. O’Meara, Ms. Higgins and Ms. O’Sullivan visited Durham, England in June. They attended the final meeting and completed the final report. Many thanks to the committee (Principal, Ms. Stokes, Ms. Mulcahy, Ms. Kennedy and Ms. Quain) for all their hard work over the last two years.  
• Congratulations to Ms. MacGrath, Ms. Ní Thiarnaí, Ms. Hurley and Brónagh Smith on the births of their beautiful babies.  
• Best wishes to Ms. Higgins and Mr. O’Shea who were married during the summer holidays. Ms. Higgins currently teaches in our school and Mr. O’Shea was a member of staff here for several years. He is currently on sabbatical. We hope they will have a very happy and long life together.   
• Congratulations to Ms. Quain who also got married in July. We bid Ms. Quain farewell as she starts married life in Dublin. We hope she will be very happy in her new school.  
• Good luck to Ms. Duffy as she starts her new job in another school.   
• Ms. Mee retired during September. A new school principal and vice principal will be appointed in the not too distant future.
• We extend a warm and generous welcome to our newer members of staff. 
• Ms. A. Brennan (Junior Infants)
• Ms. C. Brennan (1st Class)
• Ms. McSwiney (2nd Class)
• Mr. Keogh (3rd Class)
• Ms. Kiely (5th Class)
• Ms. B. McCarthy

Attendance:

• It is vital for your child's success and progress at Monaleen N.S. to attend school regularly. Punctuality is equally important. 
• All absences should be explained in writing to the pupil’s teacher.
• If you need to withdraw your son/daughter during the school day you will need to sign in with the school secretary and present the class teacher with a sign out card. 
• The National Educational Welfare Service is notified in the event of a child being absent for 20 days or more in the course of any one school year.

Healthy Lunch Policy:

• Monaleen N.S. operates a healthy lunch policy.
• Each child should have a lunch that is healthy in nature.
• Small treats such as chocolate biscuits and mini bars should only be given on Fridays.
• Students should take all of their lunch-time waste home with them.

Homework:

• Formal homework is given each evening from 1st class upwards.
• Spellings and Tables should be learned each night.
• Reading Homework is not always assigned, but it is expected that students will read from a library book / novel nightly.
• Often "learning" or "study" work is given. Although this is not necessarily written homework, it is deemed just as important, and adequate time should be spent on these learning tasks.
• All homework given is prepared and discussed in class.
• If your child is experiencing difficulty with their homework, please sign his/her homework journal to inform the teacher that this is the case.
• Homework Journals will be checked on a regular basis.
• If a student doesn’t have any homework done from the previous night, the class teacher will give an appropriate reprimand.
• Parent(s)/ Guardian(s) please sign your child’s journal every night.

Uniform:

• In the interest of the overall appearance of the children, individually and collectively all pupils are requested to wear the proper school uniform every day except P.E. days.
• On P.E. days the children should wear their school tracksuit, a white polo t-shirt, trainers/runners. School shorts, with a white polo t-shirt may be worn in warm weather.
• All items of clothing and equipment should be clearly marked with your child’s name.

Website co-ordinator: Aoife Kennedy