School Tour 09
The whole school went on tour together this year to 'Lets Go' Camp in Kilcullen, Co.
Kildare on Monday, 22nd June. The children participated in a wide range
of sports activities ranging from KMX carts and bouncy castles to
Bungee Trampolines. A great day was had by all!
Primary Science Award! 
We are very pleased to report that we have
recently received a very prestigious award for science excellence. This was one of our main objectives this year
in the area of science and everyone has been working really hard to achieve it. The children participated in many different
activities throughout the year. Some of
which included designing, making and carrying ouy experiments in class, the green
school initiative, the incredible edibles, the knex engineering challenge, our
annual science fair and visits to science shows.
The children kept detailed logs of all the
activities and a selection of pupils from Ms. Moores & Mr. Brownes classes
gathered and sorted all the information and displayed it in a lovely scrap book
under the guidance of SNA Maeve Maher. Many thanks to Mr. Browne, Ms. Moore and
Maeve for continued great work. The
scrap book is available for parents to view at the school.
We have also applied for a DIGITAL SCHOOLS
AWARD which is in the area of computers and IT. With the recent addition of Interactive
Whiteboards in all our classrooms we are confident of receiving this
prestigious award also is the coming weeks.
Communion Day 10th May
| First Holy Communion took place on Sunday
May 10th in Rathoe Church. It
was a very special morning for 2nd class and their parents. They impressed us all with how well prepared
they were. Many thanks to Mr. Folan for
all the work that went into their preparation.
Thanks also to Ms. Finnegan and Ms. Moore for their assistance with art
displays and choir and to all the children who made up the choir. They did us proud as usual. Special word of thanks to Frances Slattery
who provided musical accompaniment . Thanks to the Do This In Memory Parents
Group for assisting with preparation of the children, and to the Parents
Association who provided the refreshments in the hall after Mass.
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Science Fair 09
Science Fair Awards
3rd & 4th Class
1st Prize: Making salt and sugar crystals - Ryan, Dylan, Stewart, Conor, Darragh & Adam
2nd Prize: Making Chocolate Eggs - Megan B, Megan D, Laurna, Kirstie & Jessica
3rd Prize: The Frog - Robyn, Billy, Danielle & Gary
5th & 6th Class
1st Prize: Weapons from the Past- Aidan, Eoin & Jason.
2nd Prize: Making Butter- Anna, Laura, Chloe & Natalie
3rd Prize: Food & Taste- Elizabeth, Seánna, Jessica & Niamh.
Well done to everyone!
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First Penance Ceremony
2nd
Class received their First Confession on Tuesday night, 31st March. The
ceremony was performed by Fr. Howard, P.P. It was a lovely intimate
ceremony with the children and their parents. Thanks to the 3rd &
4th Class choir for their assistance on the night. Special thanks goes
to Mr. Folan for all his hard work preparing the children.
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Puppet Show
Junior
infants to 2nd Class had a big treat on Wednesday, April 1st
when Kids Party Club Educational performed a lively,
fun puppet show addressing the issue of bullying through
the use of a wonderful band of lively characters.
The show was very interactive and they all enjoyed the experience.
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Cumann na
mBunscoil
The boys and girls from
3rd – 6th participated in the Cumann na mBunscoil mini 7's competition recently. Congratulations to the girls who overcame stiff opposition on the day and made it to the semi-finals in
Tinryland. They played Bennekerry in the semi final and put up a
great performance but were narrowly defeated. Equally the boys did very
well and were narrowly defeated. Both teams did
very well this year despite moving up to a higher division because of
the growth in size of the school. Thanks to Mr. Browne
for all his continued hard work.
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Science News
3rd to 6th
class are busy preparing for our Annual Science Fair. The Fair will take place
on Thursday, April 23rd. All parents are welcome to attend the
Science Fair.
On Monday 23rd March, the children attended an SEI
workshop in Carlow. This was an interesting and informative day for the
children and they learned about reducing our carbon emissions, the effects of
global warming, and renewable and non renewable energy sources. Then they took
part in a selection of fun experiments, making and observing energy in action.
On Wednesday, 25th March, the children visited the “Extreme Engineering Show” which is
run as part of the Knex Steps to Engineering Competition that we have entered this year. Ms. Moore’s class had
a visit from an Engineer from Carlow I.T. on Friday last who told them about
the work he does and judged their Knex challenge.
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Céilí mór í Ráth Thuaidh
There
was plenty of fun for everyone in Rathoe NS on Fri 13th March when
pupils from Junior infants to 6th class showed off their
Céilí dancing skills for their parents. As part of
Seachtain na Gaeilge and with St. Patricks Day just around the corner,
the children, dressed up in their green attire, danced The Walls of Limerick and The
Siege of Ennis. Thanks to our senior girls Orlagh O Byrne, Ashley
Larkin, Elaine Aughney & Ciara Kirwan for all their help in
preparing the classes for the event.
Mr. Ciarán Kelly on behalf of the Fighting Cocks GAA club,
presented Mr. Browne with some new football equipment on the day. We
wish to thank the Fighting Cocks for their kind donation to the school.
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Rugby
The 5th & 6th Class attended a one day rugby blitz in Tullow Rugby Club on Wed, 18th March.
They played against some of the other local schools in the Carlow
area and did themselves and their school proud on the day. Well done to
all involved!
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Interactive Whiteboards
Rathoe NS is making giant leaps in
21st century technological advancement & revolutionising the way the entire
school learns. Over
the Christmas break, we installed Promethean interactive
white-boards in all our classrooms. The investment has been
achieved through a major fundraising event co-ordinated by the
staff and assisted by the Parents Association last
October when the school celebrated its 40th Anniversary.
We
are very committed to using ICT as a teaching methodology in all
subjects of the primary curriculum & understand the potential
it brings to our classrooms. Staff have been given on
site training by a Promethean instructor in using the boards
and are now fully up to speed with the new technology. Research shows
IWBs boost pupil concentration and make learning more fun. The
children can learn by 'doing' & have the internet at their
fingertips. The large durable, interactive boards connect to
the class computer & displays the information on the
computer screen onto the board to an entire
class. They resemble traditional white-boards and are used
similarly but are completely internet-ready and include a host of
attractive, hi-tech features.
The boards are proving
to be a very worthwhile and successful aid in
learning and children and staff alike are thrilled with
them. Thanks to all who contributed in any way in our quest to
provide these
wonderful additions to our school.
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Christmas 08
Our pupils put on a great performance last Thursday night, 18th
December when they entertained the community with a carol service
in St. Patricks Church in Rathoe. The children from Junior infants to
2nd class put on a lovely play accompanied by Billy Kirwan on
accordian, while the 3rd to 6th Class did a rendition of their
favourite songs from the Hallelujah concert. Both
groups joined together for the finale to sing a selection of
Christmas carols.
Well done to everyone!
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Glendale
Nursing Home Visit
Glendale
Nursing Home residents were so impressed with the warmth and
friendliness of our pupils last time that they invited us
back for another visit on Thursday December 18th.
The group was made up of
Ms. Moore's 3rd & 4th Class and a group of our
Irish dancers. It was a great success and the Nursing Home residents and children enjoyed the experience.
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Congratulations
and well done to all 33 children from 3rd to 6th class in
Rathoe N.S. who were part of a 3000 strong choir who sang in the RDS Dublin
last Saturday night. The excitement was terrific on the night and the children
thoroughly enjoyed it, as did the parents who attended. Many hours of hard work
went into preparing the children and great credit is due to Mr. Folan and Mrs.
Moore for their dedication and commitment to this project since September.
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MS
Readathon
Pupils from 1st class to 6th
took part in the Readathon again this year. It was month long
affair this year and turned out to be a great success with the
children between them reading hundreds of books and raising much needed
funds for Multiple Sclerosis.
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Swimming
Classes for Junior Infants continue on Tuesdays in Mount Wolseley.
The
classes run for 5 weeks at a cost of €10 per child per
lesson. There will be bus transport to and from the pool.
We have secured Tuesdays for
Rathoe NS for the full school year, and we are very privileged to
have this arrangement. There will be 4 fully trained instructors
available to us.
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Christmas Shoe Box Appeal 2008
Every year the generous
children of Rathoe NS make up shoe boxes to send to less fortunate
children in foreign countries to open for Christmas. They fill these boxes with
toys, soaps, hats, scarves and other treats. The children get a great
sense of satisfaction knowing that these boxes will make other children happy at
Christmas. The school made up a total of 88 shoeboxes this year.
Well done to everyone involved!
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Annual Book Fair
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RATHOE N.S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS
There were lots of
celebrations in Rathoe on the 26th October when our pupils and teachers
gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the opening of our school.
The day began with Mass in St. Patricks Church concelebrated by
Very Rev. Brendan Howard PP, Fr. Edward Whelan, PE and Fr. Eddie
Aughney, a past pupil of Rathoe N.S The children's choir sang under the
direction of Pat Folan and was accompanied by Frances Slattery. Fr.
Howard gave a lovely homily bringing together the themes of nostalgia,
memories, commmunity and vision for the future. He spoke of all the
changes the past 40 years have brought and how October 26th 2008 would
hold great memories for the present generation of children in the
school.
Following mass,
children in fancy dress led a parade to the school grounds, where
guests were invited to begin their 'Walk Down Memory Lane'. Each room
in the school had a display of memorabilia, with old roll books, which
were very popular, old schoolbooks and copies and old photographs of
past students and teachers. There were also two nice power-point
presentations and a DVD showing a compilation of past communions and
confirmations, put together by Billy Kirwan.
Hundreds attended the event, with a constant stream of people through
the school over a three hour period. The children were entertained with
bouncy castles in the front of the school, a magician who gave two
performances and face painting which kept Jennifer Chapman and her team
busy for the whole afternoon! Refreshments were provided by the
Parents Association, while past pupils assisted with selling raffle
tickets and the Commerative magazine.
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It was on the the Killerig Resort Hotel then later that evening
for our Community Dinner Dance. the night was a resounding success, in
a friendly, warm and lively atmosphere. The band Studio 5 had everyone
on the dance floor for the night, and current parents, present staff,
past pupils and teachers mingled and enjoyed the chance to reminisce
and chat until the early hour.
Congratulations to the winners of our 40th Anniversary raffle:
1st Prize: Nintendo DS – Elaine 6th Class
2nd Prize: Boys Bicycle – Kyran, Junior Infants
3rd Prize: Girls Bicycle – Katie, 1st Class
Colouring Competition – Ciara, 1st Class
Mascot Competition – Anna, 5th Class
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Visit to Tullow
Library
Our pupils visited
Tullow Library in October and met with some well known authors of children's books. It was
a very positive experience for the children, and they all appeared to enjoy the
experience. Here's hoping it serves to inspire our budding writers of the
future!
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Tullow Show Winners 08
Congratulations to our 3 prizewinners for
the Tullow Show entries.
Handwriting: Ciaran,
1st Class
Art: Jessica, 3rd Class & Conor Duffy, Senior Infants
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GREEN SCHOOLS NEWS
We had a really
exciting year
last year and were awarded our very first Green Flag.
Representatives from the school travelled to Dublin for a ceremony in
An Taisce headquarters. Ms. O Brien and three committee members
Robyn (2nd Class), Eoin (4th Class) and
Clíona (5th Class) represented the school at the
ceremony.
Minister
for the Environment Mr. John Gormley TD performed the official
Green Flag Raising ceremony at our school on Monday, June 16th. Refreshments and a party for our students were provided by our Parents Association. A great day was had by all!
Sincere thanks is
due to all who helped to make our Green Flag ceremony such a
memorable occasion.
There was great support from parents, which sends
a very positive message to the children about the value of team work
in our school. Well
done to everyone!
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School News 
