Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Headlice Reminder: Our first headlice reminder of the year went out this week. Please check your child’s hair over the weekend.

Swimming: Our first session of swimming took place today at Clonmel pool for Rg 5/6. This will continue for the next 5 Fridays. Our local coaches Ronan and Anthony were on site for football coaching with Rg 3/4 and will also be with us until Halloween. 

Start of Year Mass: This will take place on Wed 27^th Sept at 10 am in FMW.

P.A.: AGM is scheduled for Tues 26^th Sept at 7:30 pm

Free Book Scheme: As indicated, earlier this summer, I include a short 3 question survey on the rollout of the book scheme. We would appreciate if families took the time to participate. Free Book Scheme Survey

Today marks the autumn solstice, signifying equal day and equal night.

Tonight, marks culture night in Ireland. If you or your family have anything planned, please enjoy.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Frankie Connolly. We pay our respects to Nuala and the extended Connolly family of Knockacoola, Ballymacarbry on the death of her husband and their father / grandfather. Frankie worked at this school as a caretaker in the past and was liked by one and all. Frankie died on Sunday last and was buried in Fourmilewater on Wednesday. In his memory, we made a donation to the Cardiac Care Unit of Tipperary University Hospital as per the wishes of his family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh sé. 

Temp Secretary: Bridget Landers will deputise for us these next few weeks in the absence of Rose, to whom we wish a speedy recovery.

Behaviour on Bus: Could I please ask parents to convey to children the importance of behaving on the bus

i.e. manners, the wearing of seatbelts, remaining in the seat, respectful of others and their property and the cooperation with the bus driver. This is in everyone’s best interests.

Insurance: Thanks to those who have paid this fee, only a few remain outstanding.

DVD: The concert DVD’s were distributed this afternoon by Kay. Please check bags. Happy viewing. Thanks to Ger McGrath for filming, Seamus Hennessy for production, the pupils for participation, the staff for direction and you the families for supporting.

Swimming: This will commence on Friday next for those in Rg 5/6. Please refer to specific email I sent on Monday last in relation to same.  

Parents’ Association. This year’s AGM is scheduled for Tues 26^th Sept at 7:30 pm in the school.

Start of Year Mass: This will take place on Wed 27^th Sept at 10am FMW.

Secondary School Visits: That time of year again when secondary schools start visiting our Rg 6 students. This will happen over these next few weeks. We already have two booked in.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’Ryan Principal

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Insurance. Thanks to all of those who have paid the €20 so far. This covers your child in case of on accident 24/7 and the remainder covers arts and craft costs for the year.

DVD. A call out to anyone who has prebooked a DVD of January’s School Concert to forward €10 to us at your earliest convenience. We may have spare copies for those who did not order online over the summer but have given in money.

Swimming. This will take place for Rg 5 & Rg 6 from Friday 22^nd Sept until Halloween. I will send a note to relevant families early next week. As we are in the middle of organising transport, we are unsure of final costs, but the fee last year was €45 per child.

Academic Calendar. A hard copy of the current academic year has been distributed this week. It was also attached to last week’s email and is also available on our website and on your child’s Homework Journal Rg 3-Rg 6. Please keep safe until an updated one is published in January 2024.

Tables & Chairs. We have additional white (Age 4-6) and red tables (Age 6-8) for sale at a small fee if any more families are interested. Please contact us immediately.

Family Quiz. Following the success of the ‘Family Quiz’ held in Nov 2022, it is our intention to hold another such event on Thurs 26^th Oct at the Community Centre. This will be an on-screen visual quiz and tables will be comprised of teams of four, two of whom must attend our school. Entry fee on the night will be €12. We will open pre-booking in October on a first come – first serve basis.

Start of Year Mass. This is penciled in for Wed 27^th Sept at 10am FMW. Fr Michael hopes to be in a position to announce parish Sacramental Dates for 2024, before Halloween.

Parents’ Association. The annual AGM is scheduled for Tues 26^th Sept at 7:30 pm in the school.

Infant home Time. Home time for new Junior Infants will move to 2pm from Monday 11^th Sept next.

Enrollment – People wishing to enroll their child / children for Sept 2024 may do so from 1^st Oct 2023.

Rugby World Cup. Best wishes to Ireland in France and against Romania this weekend. Some classes are using the opportunity to integrate the experience with cross curricular areas. Vive L’Irlande!

Convalescing. Last but by no means least, best wishes to Rose, our secretary who had an accident at school last week. We wish her well in her recuperation.

Is mise,

Michael J.O’Ryan

Principal

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

We welcome back all our pupils and staff, especially our 22 new junior infants, their parents and families.

Thanks to those who worked at our school during the summer, staff and contractors alike, especially Tina and Majella our cleaners and Jim our caretaker.

Condolences to the families of both the Clonmel and Cashel, road traffic accident victims in the last week. Many of our past pupils would have been friendly with either Nicole, Grace, Zoey & Luke. Aoibhneas na bhFlaitheas go raibh acu.

Ballymacarbry Breakfast Club & After School Service is up and running again. If you have childcare needs for your school-going children, please contact Helen on 083 2028749. Helen and Kayleigh are the staff responsible for your children. We thank Julia and Yvonne for their work with our pupils in the past.

We welcome Ms Melissa Walsh to our staff on a permanent basis and are glad to retain the services of both Miss Clodagh Kelly and Miss Muireann Boyce. We are in the process of recruiting an additional staff member to cover an upcoming maternity leave.

We are glad to report that the Free Book Scheme is up and running and that all children have received their books for the year. We ask you as parents, to encourage your children to mind these books as they will be passed on next June. We will issue a survey later this month on the operation of the scheme and possible improvements.

Thanks to those families who have paid for the Insurance / Arts & Crafts monies for the year ahead. This entitles your child to full 24/7 insurance cover for; in school, school related and outside school activities. Please ensure that this money is paid in the week ahead, if at all possible.

If you ordered a DVD of our School Concert earlier this year, please send €10 to Rose, or your child’s class teacher ASAP. We hope to have them for distribution next week.

Thanks to Cartamundi (formerly MB & Hasbro) Waterford on its kind donation of Board Games and card decks to our school. Much appreciated.

I attach the provisional Academic Calendar to this e-mail. Changes to this will be notified to parents as soon as possible. A hard copy will issue to families next week. It can also be found at https://www.ballymacns.com

We wish Fourmilewater Hurling Club the very best of luck in the County Senior Hurling Championship Semi Final this Saturday against Ballygunner in Dungarvan at 6:30 pm. Caisleán Cuanach abú!

Is mise,

Michael J. O’Ryan – Principal

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

School Reports – Hopefully all families received their respective reports earlier this week. If you didn’t, please contact the school at ballymacns@gmail.com

School Concert DVD – Thanks to those who have expressed an interest in purchasing a DVD. The following link is a last call to see who is interested in same. If there is enough demand and prices are reasonable, we will proceed to DVD, with the kind permission of Ger McGrath, who filmed both performances. No compulsion.

School Concert Interest Survey

Aladdin Connect – It is hoped to up our school administration package from ‘Aladdin’ to ‘Aladdin Connect’ to allow parents the opportunity of contacting the school in advance of planned pupil absences or following absences. This will reduce to need for absence slips and telephone calls. Parents can also check the days missed. We will email families before recommencement with further instructions. This will be in the form of an ‘App’ which can be downloaded for free.

Booklists – The vast majority of textbooks, workbooks and copies have been acquired by the school and are in the process of being covered etc. There is no onus on any parent to purchase any of the above in advance of our return to school. A list of what is required by each pupil is attached to the End of Year School Report. Please keep safe. These stationery lists are also published on our website in class order.

Insurance Change – We are asking for €20 per pupil to cover Arts & Crafts, Photocopying and Insurance for the upcoming year. This will include 24/7 insurance for each pupil when paid, which is a step up from our current pupil insurance, which only covered school activities heretofore.

Last Week of Term. – Again, a very busy week was had at our school. Rg 6 went to the lakes on Tuesday as a final excursion for their class grouping. Fr Michael said our End of Year Mass on Wednesday morning, followed by the Annual Bake sale organised by Miss Kelly and Rg 5. With the help of our families, they raised a whopping €1,105 for the C-Saw charity. Graduation took place on Wednesday night and an enjoyable night was has at the school, courtesy of Mrs Byrne, Fiona and Rg 6. Refreshments were served afterwards by members of the PA. Staff participated in teacher in-service at both ends of the week, on the Primary Language Curriculum and the incoming Primary Curriculum Framework. Thanks to all who helped in any way during the week and indeed throughout the year, too numerous to mention, but all part of the analogy of it ‘taking a community’ to raise a child. Our facebook page has many photos of recent events.

Back to School Allowance – Citizens Information Website

Uniform Exchange – The P.A. will hold another uniform exchange at the Community Centre on the first week end in July. This will take place over Saturday and Sunday from morning to evening where people are free to leave and take items. We have published some photos of items of clothing on our facebook page which have been unclaimed as at year end.

Slán – We include our new cohort of families with junior infant pupils into our weekly email and say ‘slán’ to our ten families, who leave us along with their Rg 6 pupil.

Bain taitneamh as na laethanta saoire, tabhair aire agus tóg go bog é.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal