22/10/2021

Changing the month’s name on the Links

From now on the Links month name will be the same as the month we are in. Therefore the next Links will be called November. I will rename the previous ones to avoid confusion – if you are not confused already. I’ll also put the date of the latest posting at the top of the page.

Admission Notice for 2022/2023

Dear Parents we are now taking applications for Junior Infants and other classes for 2022/2023. Please click on this link to see our Admission Notice and click here to order an Admission (Enrolment) form.

Debating Win for SnB

Congratulations to the school debating team, who won their debate today, Wednesday 20th of October, 2021, against Timoleague National School. It was conduction via Zoom. The team consisted of Richard Hancock, Harry Ellis and Adam Lucey. Many thanks to their teacher Ms. Niamh Mac Auley and to teacher Mrs. Marie Hayes for coaching the boys. Photos and more news later in the day.

Good News from 6th class 

This morning we were all ready and prepared for our first debate against Timoleague  national school. The motion being debated was “shopping local must become the new normal”  The chairperson ( Richard Kennedy) set us off by welcoming the adjudicator and Timoleague N.S. and  the teams.  First off our Captain Harry Ellis gave a very persuasive speech about why it’s better quality food and all the money stays in the town if we shop more locally. Then our second speaker Richard Hancock told us about why you should talk to your parents like he talked to his and shop locally for the best produced foods. Thirdly Adam Lucy talked about how you put the money back into your local economy if you shop more locally. To put the cherry on top Harry again recapped what his teammate’s points. In the end it was all down to only 3 points and lucky us the motion was carried that “Shopping local must become the new normal”. So in short WE WON!!!!!! We were all so happy that we ran around the running track like there was no tomorrow. We would like to thank  Mrs. Hayes for introducing us to debating back in 4th and her help in picking the team and practicing zoom sessions. To  Mrs. Connolly who  tutored the main team  helping them to perfect their presentation. We would like to thank Mr. Harrington for making this possible.  We would like to say a big thank you to our second team for challenging us in our mock debate that we held over Zoom with Rang 4. We look forward to the next round.   Sincerely 6th class!     

Dates for your Diary

• Enrolling for next year (2022/2023): is currently underway. Please see above.
• Parent Information meetings: see below.
• Hallowe’en Fancy Dress Parade: POSTPONED
• Parent’s Association AGM: Thursday 18th of November, 2021.
• Parent/Teacher meetings : the proposed date is Thursday 18th of November. However in reality the meetings usually take place over a few days. The meetings will not be held face to face but by telephone or Zoom. After the mid term break (after our staff meeting on the 3rd of November) we will organise appointments via Aladdin. Parents can then book the slot that suits them. More details later.
• Inservice Day for teachers: Monday 29th of November. School will be closed. This is now confirmed.
• GAA Christmas Mass – Thursday 2nd of December @ 7.30 p.m. in the Parish Church.
• Carol Service – outdoors – (proposed date) Tuesday 14th of December @ 7.00 p.m. for all classes.
• Christmas Holidays: Boys will get their holidays on the 22nd of December at 12.00 p.m. Return 5th Jan.
• February Mid-Term Break: 24th and 25th.
• St. Patrick’s Day and ..: Wednesday 17th March and Friday the 18th of March
• Easter Holidays: Friday 8th of April at 12.00 p.m.. Return Monday 25th of April.
• School Closed: Monday 2nd of May.
• School Closed: Friday 3rd and Monday 6th of June.
• Summer Musical: 15th, 16th and 17th of June or the following week.
• Summer Holidays: Tuesday 28th June @ 12.00 p.m.
• Sixth Class Party: to be decided.

Below you can see the most up to date calendar with the swimming changes included also.

P.E. / Soccer Timetable

Class	Soccer	P.E.
Junior Infants (Mrs. Marie Forristal)	Not applicable	Mondays and Thursdays
Senior Infants (Ms. Gillian Galvin)	Fridays	Wednesdays and Fridays
Senior Infants / Rang 1 (Ms. Michelle O’Neill)	Fridays for Seniors Tuesdays and Thursdays for 1st	Tuesdays and Thursdays
Rang 1 (Ms. Kathryn O’Shea / Ms. Karen O’Regan	Tuesdays and Thursdays	Tuesdays and Fridays
Rang 2 (Mr. Paul Carmody)	Mondays and Wednesdays	Mondays and Thursdays
Rang 2 / 3 (Ms. Carol Ann O’Donovan / Ms. Laura Connolly)	Mondays	Mondays and Fridays
Rang 4 (Mrs. Marie Hayes)	Tuesdays	Tuesdays & Wednesdays
Rang 5 A (Ms. Marguerite Bradshaw)	Wednesdays	Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Rang 5 B (Mr. Seán Daly)	Wednesdays	Mondays and Fridays
Rang 6 (Ms. Niamh Mac Auley)	Thursdays	Tuesdays and Thursdays

Parent / Teacher Meetings

Parent/Teacher meetings : the proposed date is Thursday 18th of November. However in reality the meetings usually take place over a few days. The meetings will not be held face to face but by telephone or Zoom. After the mid term break (after our staff meeting on the 3rd of November) we will organise appointments via Aladdin. Parents can then book the slot that suits them. More details later.

Ancient Greece Projects – Rang 4

Monster Art – Rang 1

Senior Infants / 1st Activities

Making Jam Sandwiches in Seniors

Sandwiches in Senior Infants Senior Infants have been busy making jam sandwiches and really enjoyed eating them. Before they made their sandwiches, they sequenced the steps involved in making a jam sandwich. Some of the boys cut the sandwiches into spooky shapes for Halloween! After all that, they wrote up the steps to take to make a sandwich. 

Parent’s Information Meetings

On Thursday the 14th of October @ 7.30 p.m. the following Information Meetings will be held via Zoom:

• Junior Infants Information Meeting (Ms. Marie Forristal). This meeting is for new parents to the school also, or you may prefer to go to your class teacher’s meeting. At the meeting, Ms. Marie Forristal (Class teacher), Ms. Orla O’Keeffe (SEN teacher), Ms. Niamh Whelton (SNA), Mr. Mark Griffin (Parent’s Association Chairperson?) and Mr. Barth Harrington will speak.
• Senior Infants Meeting (Ms. Gillian Galvin)
• Rang 1 (Ms. Kathryn O’Shea / Ms. Karen O’Regan)
• Rang 2 (Mr. Paul Carmody)
• Rang 2/3 (Ms. Laura Connolly)
• Rang 4 (Mrs. Marie Hayes) postponed untl Thursday 21st of October.
• Rang 5 A & B (Mr. Seán Daly and Ms. Marguerite Bradshaw)
• Special Class Meetings (Miss Therese Crowley / Ms. Rachel Hodnett)

Seniors / 1st Meeting is on Tuesday 13th of October @ 7.00 p.m. via Zoom – please note change of time and date. Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this error.

Rang 6 Parent’s Information Meeting will be held on Thursday 4th of November @ 7.30 p.m. via Zoom. This meeting is being held later than the others as we are awaiting news of the restarting of Sciath na Scol and Orienteering. We won’t know until the 22nd of October.

Parent’s Association AGM will be held in October. Thursday 18th of November. On the night we will also choose a parent – this time a mother – as a member of the Board of Management, as Mrs. Eileen Collins left the Board in June – as her son Michael went to Secondary School.

A Noticeboard Message will be sent out shortly before the meetings.  Soon after the meetings start – they will be locked – for security purposes.

For new parents and those not familiar with Zoom.  Please download Zoom (it’s free) on your computer / tablet or phone well in advance of the meeting.  Once you get the link then on Aladdin Noticeboard, just click the link and Zoom will open up.

Hallowe’en Fancy Dress Parade POSTPONED

Our Annual Fancy Dress Parade was due to be held Thursday the 21st of October. Howver due to the high numbers of Covid in the school, this parade is being postponed until after mid term break, when hopefully numbers will settle down. We are also holding a fundraising event for the Mercy Hospital – Heroes. You can contribute to this via Aladdin payments. €753.00 has been raised so far!

See photos of last year’s parade below:

Debating practice in Rang 6

This year 6th class are taking part in the inter schools debating competition. First of all we were told that  we were going to do debating and we were going  to be playing against the Timoleague. We were  all assigned to do a captain’s speech.  Ms.Mac Auley and Mrs. Hayes were the  adjudicators and they listened to all of our  debates then we were told who made the  team.The people who made the main team team were Harry, Richard H ,Adam, Patrick, Cullen and Paulos. Also the sub team are Richard K, Marwan, Isaac, Josh and Yousef. Then the real work started. The main team Richard,Harry and Adam had to all make a few rebuttals to see who was going to be the debating captain. The result was down to 1 point so the winner was Harry Ellis so let’s just say Harry had huge shoes to fill.On the 12th of October the main team will have a mock debate against Listellick School in Kerry on Zoom to prepare for the real debate against Timoleague which is taking place on the 20th of October. We all wish the debaters the best of Luck.

Sincerely 6th class   ZinZan Llewellwyn & Tony O’Keeffe

Rang 6 working in the garden

Enrolment | Community College dates

Please find below email from the Community College wrt 6th class pupils.

We are emailing you to explain our 1^st year enrolment for your 6^th class pupils for 2022-2023. We have taken the decision to hold our Open Night remotely this year on November 18^th @ 7pm. A link will go live on our website at that time which we will also forward to you after the Open Night.

For now, here are the key dates for incoming 1^st years 2022-2023:

8th November 2021	Application process  opens on www.clonakiltycc.ie
18th November 2021	Open Night ON LINE Nov 18th 2021 @ 7pm
29th November  2021	Application Process closes @ 4pm
20th  December 2021	E mail offering a place in College by 20-12-2021
10th January 2022	Confirmation of acceptance of offer
Feb 2022	Assessment Process to be confirmed

We are currently updating our website to reflect our beautiful new building. The Year Head for next year is Denise Mc Carthy Walsh  and can be contacted on DMcCarthyWalsh@clonakiltycc.ie·  Supporting pupils with Educational Needs Co-ordinator  is Patricia O Connor – poconnor@clonakiltycc.ie. Our Annual Admissions Notice, Admissions Policy and Code of Behaviour are all available on  https://www.clonakiltycc.ie/applications.php

Orienteering update

Orienteering We have no updates on the school league yet. However Bishops town Orienteering club are organising family orienteering days and there are two coming up close to Clonakilty. The dates and link to the events are listed below in case any of the boys are interested. 1. Kilbrittain Woods on 17/10/2021. Starts at 10.30 am and the course is open until 1pm. They can just turn up and pay the entry fee and have a go at orientering. The link is below. https://www.orienteering.ie/fixtures/kilbrittain-wood-7/

2. Inchydoney Beach / Sand Hills – 25/10/2021. Starts at 10.30 am and the course is open until 1pm. They can just turn up and pay the entry fee and have a go at orientering. The link is below. https://www.orienteering.ie/fixtures/inchydoney-sand-hills/

Trying out new Yard Games

Rang 6 trying out new yard games.

GAA Prize Winners – U6 and U7

Chess starts again

Chess has started again for Rang 4 and Rang 5 A. Later in the year, Rang 5 B and Rang 6 will have their chance.

In Rang 4, 32 boys (out of 34) are doing chess. Many thanks to Ms. Gillian Galvin and Ms. Niamh Mac Auley for staying behind after school to teach chess to the boys.

JEP- Presentation to Ms. O’Regan

Hello everyone in Scoil na mBuachaillÍ we would like to tell you about our award in JEP. JEP is a programme for students to come together and make a mini company. Classes from all over Ireland would make loads of Ideas and then they would narrow it down to 4. Then the whole school would vote which is the number 1 business and of course for us the number 1 project was Celtic Clash. After a lot of thinking and head scratching we finally were ready. After multiple days of hard work we got a profit of €295 but thanks to Ms O’Regan she put in a fiver to make it €300 and it may not seem a lot but for us it’s millions. We all had so much fun doing JEP and we hope you do too. And remember rainy days will never be the same again….

We had an amazing JEP last year.  I remember when my pod and I were filming the first ad for Celtic Clash, We All Had so much fun, Not as much fun as We had during the entire JEP experience though. All Of us from 6th class want to send a huge Thank You, For Investing your own hard earned money, for setting up all the zoom classes including The Zoom We had with the girl school, The Zoom we had with business parents, The zoom with the Person From JEP

Vicki And the most important Zoom Call, Dragons Den. Thank You for not forgetting About our wages as well. We would also like to thank Mr. Harrington, Mrs. Connolly and all the other teachers who helped us through the amazing experience of JEP. Best Of Luck To The New 5th Class. 

-Cian Kelly O’Connell, Harry Ellis, Zinzan Llewellyn, Richard Kennedy, Paulos White and aAll of 6th Class.

First Holy Communion Ceremony

Many thanks to everyone who made the day such a great success – Monsignor O’Driscoll, Fr. Fergus Tuohy, Ms. Laura Connolly, Mrs. Elaine Connolly, Mr. Seán Daly, Mrs. Eileen O’Donovan and Ms. Regina Fitzgerald. Thanks to Jack Allen for looking after the sound and to Fionn McCarthy and Arab Tafazzal for setting it up.

Thanks to Mark Griffin and the Parent’s Association for presenting presents to the staff involved in the Communion.

Ice Cream for the boys

Many thanks to Mrs. Deirdre Allen who sponsored ice cream for the Holy Communion boys on the Friday before their big day. It was very much appreciated.

Mr. Tadhg O’Driscoll retires

Mr. O’Driscoll started here on the 3^rd of September, 1981 and he is finishing, this Sunday – on the 3^rd of October 2021 – exactly 40 years, 1 month teaching – all in SnB.

Over the years Mr. O’Driscoll taught 2^nd/3^rd, then 3^rd class before moving into the SEN setting.  He has been in Resource, on a full-time basis since 1996.  In fact Mr. O’Driscoll was one on the very first Resource teachers in West Cork – if not the first!  Initially in the school we had one shared Learning Support teacher – with the convent and Mr. O’Driscoll, who was shared with Knockskeagh, Dararra and the Convent. 

Mr. O’Driscoll, being the first Resource teacher, had may visitors to the school – teachers and inspectors – all wanting to learn how to do the job.  He became chairperson of the West Cork Special Educational group.  He also travelled far and wide speaking about the Resource teacher’s job. Mr. O’Driscoll has been in charge of the Junior School Warden team for many years and has helped the children of SnB cross the road safely. He was also in charge of World Book Day in SnB. We wish him well in his retirement.

Junior Infants – Parachutes and Bulbs

The Junior Infant boys have been very busy this month. Here are some photos of the boys having fun with the parachute and planting some bulbs for Spring.

Rang 4 start Ukulele lessons

Many thanks to Mrs. Marie Hayes who has started ukulele lessons with Rang 4 this year. The school purchased 18 ukuleles during the summer and are going to purchase 5 more left hand ukuleles for the lefties in the class.

Conan coaches G.A.A.

Many thanks to Conan O’Donovan and Clonakilty GAA for their help with GAA coaching again this year.

Source to Sea – Art Winner

Congratulations to Jim Darren La Madrid who recently was one of the “Source to Sea” Art Competition Winners. Well done Jim! Many thanks to his teacher Mrs. Marie Hayes and to Ms. Orla O’Keeffe.

Basketball starts in SnB

Thanks to Mr. Seán Daly and Mr. Paul Carmody for training Rang 5 in Basketball each Tuesday after school. There are 38 pupils in Rang 5 participating in the Basketball league and 21 pupils from Rang 6.

Guinea Pigs’ Party

Making Guinea Pig masks in first class.This week some of the boys in first class were learning all about guinea pigs. They made guinea pigs masks and held a guinea pig birthday party with Ms. Fitzmaurice. Noah was out news reporter and reported about the party on the RTE news!We had great fun. 

Adverts – Emmet Hotel and Batemans Footwear

Facts of the Month

Gentleman & PenMan of the Month

Advertising

If you would like to book an ad for the coming school year 2021 – 2022 please let Noreen know as soon as possible.  The number of ads is limited.  Our Links goes to all parents in the school – 10 times a year – at the beginning of each month. Now due to the fact that it’s online many more people will view the Links. The cost is €20 per issue or at a discount of €150 for the entire year!  Please ring 8834487 if you are interested.

“Cent” Box – Thorntree Project

Nut Allergy – IMPORTANT!

Adverts: Old Brewery Montessori School & Clonakilty Park Cinema

Contact Numbers

If you have moved, changed phone/mobile numbers or changed doctor or emergency contact person or got a new email address – please update these details on the Aladdin App yourself so that we can contact you in case of emergency. You can do this yourself, there is no need to ring in, just change it on the App and we will be notified automatically.

We will no longer be sending texts to parents – we will just use the Aladdin app.

Recycling – Green Waste

Over the past few years we have tried – in vain – to recycle our Green Waste and unfortunately it hasn’t worked out, probably because the only waste was fruit.
The Recycling bins have being attracting visitors that we don’t want! Because of this we are asking boys to bring home their apple cores, banana skins (organic waste) etc from now on.

Tin foil and uneaten lunches will be brought home also. Many thanks for your cooperation.

NUTELLA OR PEANUTS are not permitted. This is for safety reasons. them. Thanks for your cooperation in this matter.

What’s going on? … in school and extra-curricular activities.

Basketball 21/22: Basketball training will start on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the end of September / early October. Thanks to Ms. Carol Anne O’Donovan / Seán Daly / Paul Carmody for assisting again with Basketball this year. This year it have to be run as last year – Tuesday will be for Rang 5 / Thursday will be for Rang 6.

Quizzard ‘21/22: will start in November. Classes from Rang 3 – Rang 6 will be participating. Last year we only managed to do a few rounds, outside in the yard but we are hoping to complete it in the coming year. Cillian Whooley and Pearse Nolan are in charge of the Quiz this year.

Chess: will start in September. Boys in Rang 4, Rang 5 and Rang 6 may participate. It will run on Tuesdays and Wednesday after school. We hope to start before the end of September and end before Easter.
Thanks to Ms. Niamh Mac Auley for her help with the players. Thanks to Ms. Gillian Galvin for her help with the Learners Chess Club.

Soccer Competitions

Senior Infants Soccer
Held on Fridays only
Rang 1
Held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Teams are on website.
Rang 2
Held on Mondays / Wednesday – depending on what team you are on. Teams are on the website.
Rang 2/3
Held on Mondays. Teams are on website.
Rang 4
Held on Tuesdays. Teams are on website.
Rang 5
Held on Wednesdays. Teams are on website.
Rang 6
Held on Thursdays. Teams are on website.

Multi-Media Authoring / Video Editing / Computer Lessons / Coderdojo – for Rang 2, Rang 3, Rang 4, Rang 5 and Rang 6 will hopefully start this year. Thanks to Mrs. Margaret Deegan for hopefully teaching Coder Dojo to Rang 2 each week.

Swimming: for Rang2/3 – starts on 4th of September until the 8th of October.

Wardens – every year Rang 6 act as School Wardens. This year we’re not sure what’s going to happen. We’ll keep you informed.

GAA – Conan O’Donovan on Wednesdays.
Rugby – Finbarr O’Mahony on Fridays. Finbarr is starting on September 3rd until the October break.

Sciath na Scol Competitions – we’re not sure what’s going to happen with Sciath na Scol this year. We’ll let you know as soon as we know.

Roots of Empathy

Roots of Empathy is an international, universal,  evidence-based, classroom programme that has shown dramatic effect in reducing aggression among school children while raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy. Barnardos was chosen as the lead agency to deliver the programme in Ireland in 2011.
The programme has been delivered in a hundred and thirty primary schools around Ireland with a small number of schools in Cork and Waterford already participating. As a result of support from the Tomar Trust, Barnardos is now in a position to roll out the programme in West Cork & Waterford schools. They are currently developing a three year plan to involve schools in Cork and Waterford in the Roots of Empathy programme. We have been chosen as one of the West Cork Schools and will be implementing the programme this coming year. Please note Covid-19 may change these plans.