News

Circus

We had a brilliant afternoon of entertainment on Friday 27th in our school hall from members of the Mc Cormack family from Corvinni Circus! The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the entertainers, what a talented family!

BLAST

On Wednesday 11th we started our dancing lessons with Aimee Mac Manus. We are going to be making a creative dance project over the coming weeks with the BLAST Arts programme! We were very fortunate to be chosen to take part and are looking forward to getting stuck in. The children have chosen the theme, sport. They’ve begun a dance centred around basketball and look forward to the process of coming up with a new unique dance.

Music Generation

Music Generation continues to take place every Monday with Paul Shanagher. Pupils from 1st-6th are learning to play the ukulele. Junior & Senior Infants play the tongue drums as well as a variety of other instruments from their music bag! Please bring in instruments every Monday.

Sports training

• Hurling continues to take place every Monday with Proinsias, weather permitting.

• Swimming commenced on Thursday 12th January & takes place between 11:00 – 12:00 in Roscommon Leisure Centre. There will be a total of 6 swimming lessons. Fees have yet to be finalised.

Afterschool Club continues to take place from 3-4:30pm at €5 per day with Teresa. We ask that afterschool club fees be paid every Monday to Ms. Watson.

French Lessons: 2nd - 6th class pupils started learning French with our tutor Lesa Rice on Monday 16th through our Primary Languages Initiative. The children are getting a fantastic opportunity to sample a new language & their cultures. They look forward to learning all about France. Well done to all children for the super effort and research that they carried out for their French projects.

Cash for Clobber: We have another Cash for Clobber Collection on Thursday 9th of February. We are currently collecting bags of unwanted clothes, paired shoes, handbags, towels, curtains and bedding. NO duvets or pillows please. These will be taken away by Cookstown Textile Recyclers and will be re-used and recycled. The school will receive money for these bags based on weight. Your support is greatly appreciated! Bags can be left in our school shelter from Monday 6th of February.

Religion

All pupils attended mass on Friday 6th January in Rahara Church to celebrate the Epiphany of our Lord. Catholic Schools week took place on Sunday 23rd to Friday 27th of January. The theme for the week was “Walking together in Faith and Love”. Rahara NS was filled with excitement on Thursday 26th of January when we celebrated Grandparents Day. Thank you to all grandparents for playing such a special role in the lives of our pupils and well done to the children for all their preparations for such a special day.

Parent’s Association

A Parent’s Association meeting was held in Rahara N.S. on Monday 16th of January.

PLC School Closure

There will be no half day school closure this term for the Primary Language Curriculum. School will be closed on Monday 15th May for all pupils to facilitate staff training for the New Curriculum.

Bricks 4 Kidz

LEGO Bricks 4 Kidz facilitated two workshops with all pupils on Wednesday 11th of January. The children learned all about engineering and applied their skills and talents to building projects using science, technology, engineering & maths through LEGO. The children built motorised LEGO technic models of bulldozers & windmills. A great day was enjoyed by all.

Dates for your diary

• Monday 6 th February – School closed for Bank Holiday

• Thursday 16th & Friday 17th February – School closed for mid-term

• Thursday 2nd March – World Book Day – pupils may dress as a character from a book. They can also bring in some of their favourite books – There will be lots of exciting activities on the day!

• Wednesday 15th March – First Confessions in St. John’s Church at 19:30

• Friday 17th March – School closed for St. Patrick’s Day

• Friday 31st March – School closes at 12:00 for the Easter Holidays

• Monday 17th April – School reopens for term 3

• Monday 1st May – School closed for Bank Holiday

• Sunday 14th May – First Holy Communion at 10:00 in Rahara Church

• Monday 15th May – School closed to facilitate staff training.

Note from Principal

I wish to express our appreciation to all the parents who have helped and supported us with our enrolment. I am especially grateful to the parents who have helped with posters, flyers & sharing our Facebook posts. Thank you!

Christmas Holidays

School closes for the Christmas Holidays at 12:00 on Wednesday 21st December and re-opens on Thursday 5th January 2022

Parent Teacher Meetings

I wish to thank all parents/guardians and staff for your co-operation during our recent Parent/Teaching meetings in November.

Book Bills

Thank you to all parents who have paid their book bills.

Swimming Lessons will commence on Thursday 12th of January between 11:00-11:50 in Roscommon pool for 7 weeks. More information on fees will be communicated in the New Year.

Bricks 4 Kidz will visit our school to carry out two Lego workshops with the children at 9:30 on Wednesday 11th January.

Advent calendar

This year’s Advent Calendar was a great success which included lots of fun and treats. Some of the activities that took place: pyjamas day, pizza making, no homework, cookie decorating, art all day, Christmas annuals, boom whackers, Christmas jumper day, hot chocolate, extra break time, no Friday test, Mc Donald’s and a ‘Great Big Christmas Quiz’ hosted by Mr. Connaughton!

Mass

All pupils attended mass in Rahara Church on 8th of December to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. All staff & pupils will attend 10:00 mass in Rahara on Friday 6th of January 2023.

Inspectorate Visit

Our assigned Inspector visited our school on Thursday 8th of December. Well done to all staff and pupils for representing Rahara N.S. during this full day Incidental Inspection and we are thrilled with the positive feedback that we received.

Absences

We are obliged to inform (TUSLA) the statutory Educational Welfare services of the child and family agency if a child has missed 20 days or more in the school year. If your child cannot attend school please provide the school with a written note or email outlining the reason for the absence. For further information see www.tusla.ie. Thank you to all parents for filling in the absence record sheet. These record sheets will be sent home with each pupil for the remainder of the school year to record all absences.

BLAST Artist in Residency

We are delighted that our school has been awarded a fully funded 20-hour BLAST Artist in Residency programme. We are thrilled to have choreographer & dance teacher, Aimee Mac Manus, who will start in Rahara N.S. on Wednesday 11th January at 13:00.

Music Generation

Paul Shanagher from Music Generation continues to visit our school every Monday at 09:30. Each classroom gets a 45-minute music lesson. All pupils may bring their instruments home to practice them. Please make sure that they are brought back into school every Monday. Thank you.

Athletics

All pupils attended their final athletics training session in Athlone TUS on Wednesday 14th of December. Afterwards the children were treated to a Mc Donald’s.

French Lessons

We are delighted to be taking part in the ‘Say Yes to Languages’ primary language programme commencing in term two. Pupils in the senior room will be learning French with French tutor Lesa Rice starting on Monday 16th January.

The HSE Nurse visited our school on Tuesday 6th December to carry out school health screening with pupils in junior infants and all new entrants. If you have any concerns about your child, the nurses contact details can be obtained through the school

School Uniforms

Please ensure that your child wears their uniform to school every day in the New Year. The Uniform is as follows: Crested navy jumper, grey pinafore/skirt/trousers & blue t-shirt. On PE days pupils may wear plain navy tracksuit bottoms (No logos, stripes, hoodies or zip up jumpers/hoodies) Please label all items of the uniform to avoid confusion

PLC School Closure

There will be one half day school closure during term two to facilitate teacher training for the new primary language curriculum. The date for this will be communicated with you in the coming weeks.

After School Club

After School Club will resume with Teresa Nally on Monday 9th January. Please ensure that if your child attends After School that they are collected @ 4:30 sharp. All After School club fees are to be paid to Ms. Watson at the start of each week. Please ensure your child brings a healthy snack for After School Club as this is part of our schools Healthy Eating Policy.

Rahara Tidy Towns Committee

Well done to Rahara Tidy Towns Committee & all involved who did an amazing job lighting up Rahara as well as the fantastic work that they have done in the community over the past year.

 We wish you all a very Happy, Peaceful & Healthy Christmas & New Year and thank you for your continued support

Music Generation

Music Generation continues to take place every Monday with Paul Shanagher. Pupils from 1st-6th are learning to play the ukulele. Junior & Senior Infants play the tongue drums as well as a variety of other instruments from their music bag! Please bring in instruments every Monday.

Sports training

• Hurling continues to take place every Monday with Proinsias, weather permitting.

• All pupils have been attending Athletics in Athlone TUS every Wednesday since midterm.

• There will be no athletics on Wednesday 7th December and our final session will be on Wednesday 14th December.

Afterschool continues to take place from 3-4:30pm at €5 per day with Teresa. We ask

that afterschool club fees be paid every Monday to Ms. Watson.

Parent/Teacher meetings

Parent Teacher Meetings took place on Tuesday 15th of November in school for Ms. Watson & Ms. Mc Gowan.

Science Week

Science Week took place on the week beginning Monday 14th November. Michéal Coughlan carried out a biodiversity and biology workshop, which was facilitated by Roscommon County Council, with all classes on Wednesday 16th November. All pupils enjoyed doing lots of science experiments during the week and they also attended Say Cheese, an online webinar hosted by An Taisce.

Roscommon School Library Van visited our school on Tuesday 15th of November. We are delighted that this service has resumed, and the children were thrilled to be able to take a book to bring home.

Cash for Clobber: Thank you for all the donations for our Cash for Clobber collection. We raised €320.

Religion

All pupils will attend mass on Thursday 8th December in Rahara Church to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. All staff will be present on this day. Those who do not attend mass will be supervised in school

Confessions for children in 3rd - 6th class will take place on Wednesday 14th of December.

Parent’s Association

The first Parent’s Association meeting was held on Wednesday 23rd of November in Rahara N.S. The National Parents Council facilitated this first meeting. The committee of the Parent’s Association is as follows:

Chairperson – Michael Beattie Treasurer – Giselle Hartenthal Secretary – Joanne Beattie

Thank you to all Parents Association members for attending. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 7th December

PLC School Closure

School closed at 12:00 for all pupils on Thursday 24th November to facilitate teacher training for the new primary language curriculum. There was no Afterschool on this day.

St. Dominics

Congratulations to Ms. Watson and the St. Dominics Camogie team who won the Roscommon Senior Camogie Championship and went onto the Connacht Intermediate final but unfortunately lost out to Castlegar. The team will now compete in the Junior All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday the 10th of December. The Intermediate mens football Club Championship Connacht final takes place Saturday 3rd of December at 13:30 in St. Brigid’s Kiltoom. Tickets are still available if you would like to support them.

Toy Show Treats

Thank you to Ms. Watson for organising Toy Show treats for all children. We hope they enjoyed the show!

Antibullying Week

Antibullying week was held in Rahara on the week beginning 21st November. All classes designed posters to demonstrate what they have learned during the week and to promote antibully/kindness. Well done to all pupils especially Grace and Blake who were the winners of the competition in the junior and senior room and the runners up, Eva and Dylan.

Derryglad Folk Museum

All pupils visited the Derryglad Folk Museum on Wednesday 30th November before Athletics. It was a fantastic experience for all children.

Updated policies

Please see our website for updated policies. Most notably, Anti-bullying and Use of school Hall/Facilities. Thank you

Vomiting Bug and Chicken Pox

Please follow the advice from the HSE on staying at home if you have the vomiting bug or chicken pox

Music Generation

Music Generation continues to take place every Monday with Paul Shanagher. Pupils from 1st-6th are learning to play the ukulele. Junior & Senior Infants play the tongue drums as well as a variety of other instruments from their music bag! The children enjoy seeing all the unusual instruments that Paul brings to school every week.

Goal Jersey Day

GOAL Jersey Day took place on Friday 14th October. We raised €100 for GOAL. Thank you for your donations.

Sports training

• We will have one more Gaelic training session with Eugen after the midterm break and there will be no more training until Spring.

• Hurling will continue with Proinsias, weather permitting.

Athletics All pupils will attend Athletics in Athlone TUS commencing on Wednesday 9th of November for 5 weeks.

Afterschool

Afterschool continues to take place from 3-4:30pm at €5 per day with Teresa. We ask that afterschool club fees be paid every Monday to Ms. Watson.

County Photos

All forms have now been collected by County Photos. Photographs will be distributed after the mid term break. Photographs can still be ordered online if you wish to purchase them.

Parent/Teacher meetings

Parent Teacher Meetings will take place on Tuesday 15th of November in school for Ms. Watson & Ms. Mc Gowan. Times will be communicated with you after the midterm break.

Maths Week All pupils took part in Maths week activities during the month of October.

Food Dudes week took place on Monday 3rd of October. Well done to all pupils for making a fantastic effort to eat fruit and vegetables.

Cash for Clobber: Thank you for all the donations for our Cash for Clobber collection. We collected a total of 800kg!

World Food Day was celebrated in Rahara on 10th of October. Pupils in the senior room completed projects on various countries around the world. Pupils in both classrooms brought in food from their chosen countries and we had lots of fun sampling food from different nationalities!

Midterm Break

School will close at 3pm on Friday 28th October for Halloween. Pupils can wear Halloween costumes to school on that day. School will re-open on Monday 7th November.

Parent and Toddler Group continues to take place in our school hall every Friday from 10-12 during school time. Please spread the word with parents, grandparents, and childminders.

Parent’s Association

Thank you to all parents for returning the Parent Association forms. The National Parents Council (NPC) will be in touch with our school shortly to facilitate a Parents Association information session. This will be a one-off information evening and the date and time has yet to be confirmed.

PLC School Closure

School will close at 12:00 for all pupils on Thursday 24th November to facilitate teacher training for the new primary language curriculum. There will be no Afterschool on this day.

St. Dominics

Best of luck to all involved in the finals this weekend, especially our very own star player, Ms. Watson. We look forward to seeing the cup after the break! Congratulations to Emily and Giovanni who won the Gaelic footballs that were kindly donated to our school by St. Dominics and well done to all the children for making a super effort to wear the Dominics colours on jersey day.

Wishing you all a safe and happy midterm break.

On behalf of all school staff, I wish to welcome all pupils back to school for the school year 2022/2023. A special welcome to our new Junior Infants and new entrants to other classes. We wish you many happy days with us, in Rahara National School.

Staff: Ms. Aoife Mc Gowan – Principal & Junior Room teacher

Ms. Niamh Watson – Deputy Principal & Senior Room teacher

Ms. Kathy Dolan – Shared Special Education teacher (SET)

Mr. Oliver Connaughton – Covers Principal Admin Days (every Friday in the junior room)

Mr. Padraig Lohan – Caretaker

Ms. Lynda Pearce - Secretary

Board of Management: Fr. Ray Milton P.P., Ms. Breege Kenny, Ms. Marie Moran, Mr. Tom Carney, Mr. Laurence Fallon, Ms. Niamh Watson Ms. Aoife Mc Gowan.

School Day: Junior & Senior Infants 9.20 - 2.00; 1st to 6th 9.20 - 3.00

Afterschool: Monday – Thursday 3:15-4:30

Absenteeism / Attendance: In the event of your child being absent please telephone (090) 66623393 or email [email protected] All pupils will be sent home with a form on their return to school after an absence to be filled in & returned to the class teacher once it has been filled in. We are obliged to inform (TUSLA) the statutory education Welfare services of the child and family agency if a child has missed 20 days or more in a school year. For further information, see www.tusla.ie

Communication: The school uses the Aladdin online text service facility to communicate important messages to parents. Accordingly, it is especially important that we have an up-to-date mobile number for you. Our text facility does not allow for replies so please email or phone the school (090) 6623393 if you wish to contact us. An emergency contact number should also be written in your child’s journal. Please let us know if your home / email address has changed.

Seesaw: The teachers will use the Seesaw, or school email for communicating with you. You can also message the teacher (Monday to Friday) via Seesaw

School Website: The school website www.rahara.com contains a lot of useful information. The school calendar is also on it, and it is regularly updated with key events.

Safety: Children must wait inside the school grounds until their parent/guardian comes to the gate/front wall to collect them. Pupils are not allowed to swing/climb on the bars in front of the school front door.

Allergies / Lunch: We have children with severe food allergies. In the interest of these children’s well-being, parents are asked not to include nuts in their child’s lunch. The school has a healthy lunch policy. Children should bring their own drinks to school i.e., water, milk. One small treat is allowed on Friday’s. Teachers will bring in a tray bake for pupils’ birthdays that fall during school time. We ask parents not to send in extra buns/sweets and to adhere to our healthy eating policy.

Pupils attending Afterschool may avail of kitchen facilities after 3:00 only. Rahara N.S participates in the Green Schools Initiative, and we encourage families to cut down on single-use plastics such as cling film etc. All pupils must bring home their daily food/waste/packaging from their lunches.

Food Dudes: We are continuing with the Food Dudes healthy eating programme. Pupils will continue to receive stickers and certificates when they eat a portion of fruit and vegetables.

Music Generation: Music Generation will take place every Monday at 9:30 for all classes. Please bring instruments to school every Monday.

School Uniform: Our school uniform should be worn at all times and consists of the following: Navy crested jumper/cardigan available at www.myschooljumper.ie , grey pinafore/skirt/pants & blue t-shirt. On PE days pupils may wear plain navy tracksuit bottoms, plain navy, or crested round-necked sweater with a short-sleeved blue polo shirt underneath (No Logos/brands/stripes). Please label all items of the uniform to avoid confusion. All pupils must have a mouth guard/gum shield for football (Please ensure it is correctly fitted and moulded before they bring it to school). Please note that the following items of clothing are not allowed – hoody; branded top/bottom; football jersey.

Photographs / Videos: During the year photographs & videos of children involved in school activities e.g., sport, music etc. may appear on the class dojo, school website or in the local newspaper. If you have any reservations, please contact the school.

County Photos: County Photos will visit our school on Monday 26th of September. Please wear full school uniform on this day and bring P.E. clothes to change into for hurling. Thank you

Hurling:

Hurling lessons will commence for all pupils on Monday 26th September from 11:30-12:30. Please wear P.E. uniform every Monday & Wednesday.

Football training

Football training takes place every Wednesday until the October midterm. Pupils must wear gum shields. Please ensure that these have been ‘moulded’ before you bring them to school and that the box/container is clearly marked with your child’s name to prevent confusion.

School Closures

School will close at 15:00 on Friday 28th October for the mid-term break and re-open on Monday 7th of November. There will be three half day school closures to facilitate teacher training for the new Primary Language Curriculum. One half day closure in term 1 (November/December), a second in term 2 and our final one in term 3. Dates will be communicated with parents closer to the time.

Cash For Clobber

Please start collecting any old clothing, shoes, household textiles and handbags (no duvets or pillows) We hope to exchange the above for cash. This is a wonderful way to fundraise for our school whilst raising awareness of textile recycling amongst children. Please do not send in clobber until we have been notified of a collection date--- so get collecting!

Headlice

Please check your child’s hair for headlice. If there is lice present, please treat and comb your child’s hair. If you ever find headlice please inform the staff, asap and we will ask parents to check their child’s hair.

Bus transport

The cost of hiring buses is ever increasing and is one of the biggest expenses in our school budget. We are asking parents to contribute towards bus trips.

Beauty & the Beast

All pupils will attend Roscommon Arts Centre on Wednesday 28th of September at 11:45 to watch Roscommon Community College’s production of Beauty and the Beast. There will be no Gaelic training on this day and all pupils must wear their full school uniform. We hope to attend Roscommon Fire station before the show. Times have yet to be finalised.

Sacraments

First Confession will take place on Wednesday 15th March at 19:30 for Rahara N.S. and Glanduff N.S. in St. John’s Church, Lecarrow.

First Holy Communion will take place on Sunday 14th May at 10:00 mass for Rahara N.S. in the Church of Mary Immaculate, Rahara.

Summer Holidays

School will close on Wednesday 22nd of June for the summer holidays and re-open on Wednesday 31st of August for the new school year.

Afterschool Club

Afterschool Club continues to be a big success and we are delighted with our tutor, Teresa Nally. We thank you all for your co-operation and continued support of the excellent service.

Food Dudes

All children took part in the Food Dudes Healthy Eating Programme to help increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables. We will continue with the Food Dudes programme in September and the children will be encouraged to bring in their own fruit and vegetables to eat from home.

Discover Primary Science and Maths Award

Congratulations to all the pupils and co-ordinator, Ms. Watson as Rahara N.S. was awardedanother SFI Discover Science and Maths Award, Plaque of STEM. A great achievement for the school.

Green Schools

Michael Bell, Heritage in Schools Expert visited our school on Friday 6th May and carried out workshops with all children. They created leaf rubbings, identified native birds and wildlife, went on a minibeast hunt and even got to hold animal skulls which included the rib and vertebrae bone of a 20m Fin whale. All pupils planted wildflower seeds in our front garden and they also planted sunflowers from seeds that were gifted to us from Rahara Tidy towns and Development. We sowed the seeds in pots in the classroom and then planted them beside the Old Church on Monday 20th June. The children also took part in a summer clean up on Thursday 16th June and did great work to ensure our lovely village is looking neat and tidy for the summer!

Sports Day

Our sports day took place on Tuesday 14th June. The rained stayed away and we had a fantastic day. The teachers collected a Supermacs at Casey’s garage in Roscommon and to reward pupils for all the good behaviour throughout the year the Board of Management oragnised inflatables to make the day extra special and fun.

Fun Day

On Tuesday 21st June we held a ‘Fun Day’ for all pupils in our school. This was our first time to hold this event. The children had an enjoyable time brainstorming ideas and activities for the day. We tie dyed t-shirts, decorated cookies, had a hair & nail salon, got our faces painted by Mrs. Dolan, danced and had great fun with slime and Oobleck!

Cumann na mBunscol

Well done to pupils in the senior room who received silver medals for their super efforts in hurling. Unfortunately we lost out at the semi-final stage in Gaelic football after topping our group in the first stage. The children have been amazing representatives for our school.

Standardised Tests

Standardised tests were administered to all pupils from 1st -6th class at the end of May/beginning of June. The results of these were recorded in your child’s school report and sent home on Thursday 16th June.

Parent’s Association

There will be a Zoom meeting for our new parent’s association in early September facilitated by the National Parent’s Council to aid us in setting up a Parent’s Association for our school. It will be held in the evening time and we will communicate the day and time closer to the date.

Primary Language Curriculum (PLC)

School closed early on Wednesday 9th June to facilitate teacher training for the new primary language curriculum. Please note: There may be half day closures during the year associated with the implementation of the upcoming new English/Maths curriculum. We will let you know in advance of school closures.

Music Generation

Cian Cunniffe from Music Generation Roscommon came to our school every Tuesday for the year to do music lessons with pupils in both the junior and senior classroom. We had our final lesson on Tuesday 21st June.

Gaelic

All pupils attended Gaelic football lessons with coach Eugen every Monday in term 3.

School Tour

Pupils from junior infants to 6th class had an amazing day on our school tour in Shannon River Adventure, Roosky on Friday 27th May. Activities included archery, rock climbing, tug of war, assault courses, pier jumping, mud slides and kayaking.

Retirement

Our school secretary of 13 years, Patricia Finneran, had her final day in Rahara N.S. on Wednesday 22nd June 2022. The Board of Management and staff would like to express our thanks to Patricia for her dedication, commitment and contribution that she has made to our school while allowing our office to run like clockwork! We wish Patricia a wonderful retirement and hope that she enjoys this new chapter of her life and that it’s filled with good health, relaxation and fun!

Staff for 2022

Aoife Mc Gowan – Principal and Junior Room teacher

Niamh Watson – Deputy Principal and Senior room teacher

Kathy Dolan – Shared Special Education Teacher (SET)

Olliver Connaughton – Principal Release cover

*Mrs. Mc Gowan will take her Principal Release Days every Friday in the new academic year.

* Mrs. Dolan will continue to visit our school every Tuesday & Thursday

Graduation

Sixth class graduation dinner party took place in the school hall on Friday 17th June. Good luck to our graduates, Keeva, John, Bláthín, Emma & Aideen on their transition to post-primary school this year.

Communication

Please check out our website www.rahara.com for regular updates as well as our Facebookpage

Note from Principal

I wish to express our appreciation to all the parents who have helped and suported us all year. I am especially grateful to the parents who have been available to help with lifts to/from matches during Term 3. Thank you! I wish to thank the B.O.M. for their loyalty, dedication and hard work.

Finally I would like to express my appreciation to all the staff, both teaching and non-teaching, for all their work and dedication. I know they work tirelessly for the happiness, safety & education of all the pupils in Rahara NS.

We wish you all a safe & happy Summer Holidays!

Swimming Lessons

Swimming lessons took place every Monday until Mid-Term break. On our final swimming lesson all pupils went to Supermacs for a treat lunch! Thank you to all parents for payment of swimming fees.

Easter Holidays

School will close at 12:00 on Friday 8th April for the Easter holidays.

This will be a non-uniform day.

School will close on Wednesday 22nd of June for the summer holidays and re-open on Wednesday 31st of August for the new school year.

Afterschool Club

Homework Club continues to be a big success and we are delighted with our tutor, Teresa Nally. Please ensure that if your child attends Homework Club that they are collected, on time, at 4:30pm. We thank you all for your co-operation and continued support of the excellent service. Please pay all fees to Ms. Watson every Monday.

Chinese New Year

All pupils enjoyed celebrating the Chinese New Year and learning about the year that they were born. We had our own Chinese Restaurant in our school hall where the pupils had the opportunity to sample some Chinese cuisine and had some fun with fortune cookies!

Confirmation

Pupils making their Confirmation attended a Retreat in Knock with Ballymurray N.S on Tuesday 15th February. Well done to Bláthín Moran who won the Knock Quiz and was delighted with the prizes that she received. Congratulations to Luke, Emma, Keeva and Bláthín who celebrated the sacrament of confirmation on Friday 1st April in Knockcroghery. We had a lovely celebration in school and thank you to Ms. Watson for organising the fabulous biscuit cake from ‘Occasional Treats’

Religious Education (RE)

Catholic Schools Week took place from the 24th-28th of January. Teachers delivered lessons and placed an emphasis on the theme ‘Living life to the full’.

Thank you to Eugen who carried out an interactive lesson and games for all classes on Wednesday 5th April for Holy Week. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed it and Eugen always has lovely games, images, puppets and songs that make them fun and engage all children. Eugen also told the children about The Dead Sea and showed them artefacts from Jericho.

Coding

Pupils in the senior room completed their coding lessons with Liz Clinton before midterm. They all received their Hour of Code certificates and have enjoyed using apps such as Scratch, Code.org and Kahoot on our school ipads.

Green Schools

Dale Treadwell visited our school on 28th January and carried out interactive lessons with both classrooms. We went on a minibeast hunt (Dale also brought some into school), listened to stories, played games and went back in time to learn about Dinosaurs and other cretaceous creatures.

We have another workshop with Michael Bell through the Heritage in Schools scheme on Friday 6th May.

We are installing a water butt, extending our wildflower and biodiversity garden over the next month and we hope to sow native wildflower seeds in our window baskets and window boxes after Easter to help look after bees and our pollinators. We also hope to revamp our bug hotel, replace our butterfly and bee boxes and place a bird house in our garden.

All pupils took part in the ‘National Spring Clean’ on Thursday 6th April. We hope to a few more outings as the weather warms up. Hopefully there won’t be as much litter the next time!

Transition Year Work Experience

Transition Year pupil Michael completed his work experience with us on 16th March. Transition Year pupil Amy completed her work experience with on Wednesday 6th April. Both Michael and Amy have been a great asset to our school and we wish them all the best.

Engineers Week

Engineers Week is a week long programme of nationwide events celebrating engineering in Ireland. The aim of the week is to create a positive awareness & spark enthusiasm about the engineering profession to people of various ages with little or no engineering background. International Women’s Day was also celebrated during Engineers Week and pupils enjoyed learning about famous and inspiring women engineers and inventors. Well done to all the boys for making it an extra special day and allowing the girls to have a little extra rest and relaxation! Pupils in the senior room attended a webinar to hear all about the work of software engineers in Ericsson, Athlone. Children also took part in various webinars and shows throughout the week, built bridges, peeled a raw egg and designed their own inventions to keep a raw egg from cracking while falling from a height.

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day took place on Tuesday 8th February. All classes learned about internet safety. Protecting and empowering young people online is so important- now more than ever. Classes engaged in safer internet quizzes games and a colouring competition to promote internet safety. Check out www.webwise.ie for more information for parents.

World Book Day

Pupils dressed up as characters from their favourite books and brought some of their most treasured books into school for show and tell. We continue to have 10 minutes of DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time after small break every day. We are continuing with our ‘Reading Awareness Month’ until Friday 8th April so please make sure to return all the ‘tickets’ with your name, book you’ve read and signature for the raffle!

Fair trade Fortnight

Fairtrade fortnight began on Monday 28th February. Did you know Rahara NS is Fairtrade school? During Fairtrade fortnight pupils learned about the Fairtrade mark, investigated products that contain the Fairtrade mark and we also held a Fairtrade café in our hall for Pancake Tuesday!

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Seachtain na Gaeilge took place during the week of 14th March. The speaking of Irish was greatly encouraged in the school. Pupils participated in table quizzes, played games “as gaeilge”, learned some ceilé dancing and participated in a school show! All pupils dressed in green for ‘Lá Glas’. A “Gaelageoir na Seachtaine” was chosen from each room and a prizes were awarded.

Parent’s Association

Thank you to everyone for returning your Parent’s Association forms. There will be a Zoom meeting after the Easter break facilitated by the National Parent’s Council to aid us in setting up a Parent’s Association for our school. It will be held in the evening time and we will communicate the day and time closer to the date.

Primary Language Curriculum (PLC)

School closed early on Wednesday 23rd March to facilitate teacher training for the new primary language curriculum. Please note: There will be one more half day closure in term 3 for teacher training for the new primary language curriculum. The date of the half day closure has yet to be confirmed.

Music Generation

Music Generation is a national partnership programme whose mission is to create inspiring experiences for children and young people through music. Through Music Generation Roscommon, children in Rahara N.S. are getting the opportunity to learn the ukulele and the tongue drum. Cian, our music teacher will continue to visit every Tuesday.

Gaelic

Gaelic football will resume after the Easter holidays. It will take place every Monday so please make sure that your child has their gum shields in school on that day.

Easter Egg Hunt

Thank you to 6th class pupils for setting up our annual Easter egg hunt. The children had great fun collecting all the chocolate eggs and each child got to select a larger egg to bring home.

Beannachtaí na Cásca daoibh go léir!

COVID

The last three months have been very trying and difficult times for everyone. As a school community, we will continue to play our part in making our school as safe as possible for staff and pupils. Please continue to wear masks at all times when on school grounds and do not enter the school building to accompany your child to the classroom. Please socially distance when dropping/collecting your children. If you wish to speak to a member of staff you can do so by: email, phone call or ring the bell at the front door. Thank you for you co-operation.

We are extremely proud of all pupils in the senior room who continue to wear their face coverings every day. We know that it is not easy and congratulate them all on how well they have adapted to this new safety measure.

Friends for Life

Ms. Watson will begin the Friends for Life (anxiety & resilience) programme in the New Year with the senior room once teacher training has been completed. www.friendsresilience.org

Absences

We are obliged to inform (Tusla) the statutory Educational Welfare services of the child and family agency, if a child has missed 20 days or more in the school year. If your child cannot attend school please provide the school with a written note or email outlining the reason for the absence. For further information see www.tusla.ie

Christmas Holidays

School will close for the Christmas Holidays at 12:30 on Wednesday 22nd December and re-open on Thursday 6th January 2022

Parent Teacher Meetings

I wish to thank all parents/guardians and staff for your co-operation during our recent Parent/Teaching meetings.

County Photos

County Photos took place on Wednesday 24th November. Parents will be notified when they are ready to be ordered.

Book Bills

Thank you to all parents who have paid their book bills.

Swimming Lessons will take place on Mondays between 11:50-12:40 in Roscommon pool for 7 weeks. They will commence on Monday 10th January. More information on fees will be communicated in the New Year.

Music Generation

Cian Cunniffe from Music Generation will continue to visit our school every Tuesday for the rest of the academic year. Each room gets a 45 minute music lesson. Junior pupils have their own music bag with various instruments & senior pupils are learning to play the ukulele. All pupils may bring their instruments home to practice them. A recording of our Christmas programme took place on Friday 10th December and will be shared with parents when we receive the link.

Christmas Jumpers/Non-Uniform Day On Friday 10th December all pupils were allowed to wear their festive clothes/accessories and donate money in aid of Brain Tumour Research. Thank you to everyone who made a donation. So far we have raised €140 and donations are still being made! Pupils can wear their Christmas jumpers/clothes, if they wish from Friday 17th of December until the Christmas holidays. We look forward to seeing you in your festive gear!

School Uniforms

Please ensure that your child wears their uniform to school every day in the New Year. The Uniform is as follows:

Crested navy jumper, grey pinafore/skirt/trousers & blue t-shirt Boys:Navy jumper, grey pants, blue t-shirt. On PE days pupils may wear plain navy tracksuit bottoms (No logos or stripes)

Please label all items of the uniform to avoid confusion

Computer coding

Pupils in the senior room take part in computer coding every Tuesday from 2-3 with Liz Clinton. Pupils have had 7 classes to date and will have 4 more in the New Year. The children use our school ipads to create/code games on the Scratch App as well as Kahoot quizzes.

After School Club

After School Club is a big success this year and we are delighted that our tutor, Teresa Nally is continuing to provide this fantastic service. Please ensure that if your child attends Afterschool that they are collected @ 4:30 SHARP. All After School club fees are to be paid to Ms. Watson at the start of each week. Please ensure your child brings a healthy snack for After School Club as this is part of our schools Healthy Eating Policy.

Holy Days

All staff & pupils will attend 10:00 mass on Thursday 6th January.

We wish you all a very peaceful & Happy Christmas and thank you all for your continued support

First Holy Communion

First Holy Communion took place on Sunday 19th of September. Congratulations to Eva Rose and Simon. Thank you to Fr. Donnelly for the lovely ceremony and to the choir, teachers and all those who helped on the day. We had a lovely time in school on Monday 20th celebrating with Simon & Eva.

Music Generation

Music Generation takes place every Tuesday with Cian Cunniffe. All pupils participate in Music Generation. The fee for this term is included in the book bills. Pupils are allowed to bring the instruments home to practise. Please make sure to bring them in every Tuesday.

Tree Day 2021

We celebrated National Tree Day on Thursday 7th October. Pupils and staff participated in a nature walk to Longfield House.

Goal Jersey Day

GOAL Jersey Day took place on Friday 8th October. We raised €50 for GOAL. Thank you for your donations.

Sports training

• Gaelic training takes place on Wednesday, with Eugene. GUM-SHIELDS COMPULSORY!

• Please bring football boots/change of runners, to school on Wednesdays so your child can play sports on the pitch.

Homework Club

Homework club continues this term from 3-4:30pm at €5 per day with Teresa. We ask that homework club fees be paid every Monday to Ms. Watson.

Computer Programming

Pupils in the senior room started coding lessons with Liz Clinton & they will continue with classes every Tuesday until Christmas.

School Book Rental Scheme

Book bills have been sent to all families, please return monies to school as soon as possible.

County Photos

• County Photos will visit our school on Wednesday 24th of November. Please wear full school uniform on this day.

• Our navy school crested jumper is available to purchase on myschooljumper.ie

Green Schools

All pupils attended the online Green Schools Award Ceremony on 6th of October for our 9th Green Schools Flag; Global Citizenship Travel. In November we will begin working towards our 10th Green Schools Flag for Global Citizenship, Food and Biodiversity. All themes run over a two year cycle. We welcome any suggestions/ideas on how we could improve biodiversity within our school grounds (including pollinator friendly fruit, vegetables, plants and flowers) while being mindful to reduce, reuse and upcycle/recycle where possible.

Parent/Teacher meetings

We are in the process of organising the meetings for this term. Subject to Department of Education approval, we plan to hold face to face meetings. To avoid parents congregating on the corridors, there will be strict adherence to the allocated times for meetings i.e. 10 minutes. Face coverings must be worn and social distancing observed. There will be a one way system to enter and exit the building which will be communicated to you before the meetings take place. Teachers will sanitise the area between each meeting. Details will follow shortly.

Science and Maths

All pupils took part in Maths and Space week activities during the month of October.

Science Week begins on Monday 8th November and all pupils will be taking part in a number of interactive science lessons and workshops during this week.

Dear Parents, 

Welcome back and a special welcome to those who have enrolled children in Rahara N.S. for the first time.

Contact Details: 090 6623393/ [email protected]

Staff:

Mrs Aoife Mc Gowan - Principal & Junior Room Teacher

Ms. Niamh Watson - Deputy Principal & Senior Room Teacher

Mrs. Kathy Dolan - Special Education Teacher

Mr. Oliver Connaughton - Principal Administration Days (Teaches the Junior Room every Tuesday)

Board of Management:

Fr. Ray Milton

Aoife Mc Gowan

Niamh Watson

Breege Kenny

Laurence Fallon

Marie Moran

Noel Moran

Tom Carney

School Day

Junior & Senior Infants - 9:20 -2:00

1st – 6th Class – 9:20 – 3:00

Absenteeism: In the event of your child being absent please telephone 090 6623393 or email: [email protected] We are obliged to inform (TUSLA) the statutory education Welfare services of the child and family agency, if a child has missed 20 days or more in a school year. For further information see www.tusla.ie

Communication: The school uses the Aladdin “text” facility to communicate important messages to parents. Accordingly, it is very important that we have an up-to-date mobile number for you. Our text facility does not allow for replies so please email or phone the school if you wish to contact us. An emergency contact number should also be written in your child’s journal. Please let us know if you home/email address has changed.

See saw

Teachers will use the class See Saw platform for communicating with you (Monday-Friday). Due to teacher/class changes some previous accounts may need to be deleted and a new account will be set up.

Lunch

We have a strict healthy eating policy in place in Rahara N.S. This can be viewed on our website www.rahara.com. One small treat is allowed on Fridays only. Pupils attending Afterschool may avail of kitchen facilities after 3:00 only. Rahara N.S is involved in the Green Schools Initiative and we encourage families to cut down on single use plastics such as cling film etc. All pupils must bring home their daily waste/packaging from their lunches.

School Uniform

Please ensure that your child wears their uniform to school every day and that all items of clothing are marked clearly with your child’s name. The uniform is as follows:

• Navy school crested jumper, this will be available to purchase on myschooljumper.ie from Monday 13th of September, grey pinafore/skirt/trousers and blue t-shirt.

• On P.E. days pupils may wear crested jumper/plain navy round-neck sweater and plain navy tracksuit bottoms (No Logos; stripes; hoody; branded top/bottoms; football jersey).

County Photos

County Photos will visit our school on Wednesday 24th of November. Please wear full school uniform on this day.

Football training

Football training will commence on Wednesday 15th September until the October midterm. Pupils must wear gum shields. Please ensure that these have been ‘moulded’ before you bring them to school and that the box/container is clearly marked with your child’s name to prevent confusion.

School Closures

School will be closed for all pupils on Friday 1st of October to facilitate teacher planning/training for the new Primary Language Curriculum.

Please find attached an updated school calendar. Please note that school closes at 12:30 on Thursday 23rd June 2022 for the school holidays.