SUMMER REPORT 2019
Summer
Another year
comes to a close…
Peter Mulcahy, Principal
As the school year for 2018-19 comes to an
end, we can all draw breadth after what was
a busy term and a busy year. On behalf of the
Board of Management, I’d like to wish all the
staff a lovely summer break and thank them
for the tremendous commitment and
dedication t0 the school this year. Our staff
are constantly seeking to better the school
for the children and this is evident by all the
initiatives undertaken during class and break
time.
I’d like to thank the Parents Association for
the support during the past year. The
fundraising is vital for the school, allowing us
to buy two interactive panels( over €7000)
and ongoing costs like pitch cutting, active
yard PE trolley, STEM resources, Aladdin
Connect and more. Thank you to the entire
parent body and wider school community for
your ongoing support.
And finally,thank you to the children for
always trying their best, having fun and
representing the school with distinction, no
matter what the occasion. It’s a pleasure to
teach you all and you deserve a good break
over the summer holidays!
May I wish our Deputy Principal, Siobhán
Looney a long and happy retirement.
Siobhán has been a driving force for progress
and kindness throughout the last 20 years
and she will be missed!
I am happy to announce the appointment of
Lisa Buckley as a new permanent member of
staff. Lisa will be taking over the Junior Infant
Class and has great experience with this class
level. We welcome Ms Buckley and look
forward to her becoming a member of our
Vicarstown School Community. Class
allocations are on the next page but there are
no other changes.
The Vicarstown Vision for 2022 will be
presented in September. Thanks to staff,
parents and pupils alike for their
contributions. We hope to have a clear
roadmap to continued success and progress
for the school.
May I wish all families a safe and happy
summer break.
Le Gach Dea Ghuí,
Peter Mulcahy
Report
2019
Email: office@vicarstownns.com
Tel: 0217332179
A Word from Mrs Looney, Rang Buí
We have had a great fun packed year in Junior Infants.
We all settled in very quickly and made new friends. For
our Christmas play “The Nativity” we told the story of
the birth of Jesus. We really enjoyed Aistear and
especially our Guest speakers and a visit to Hegarty’s
Farm. We had great fun hurling with Timmy and Colm
taught us a few great games too. We went on our
school tour to Milanos and made our very own pizzas
which we then ate! Yummy! We have learnt so much
since we started school and we are all looking forward to
next year.
A Word from Ms O’Connor, Rang Glas
Rang Glas have been very busy this last term. We have
been working hard on finishing our reading books for
homework and making sure we know our word box and
dolch words. To reinforce this, we have been playing a
game called ‘fast lips’ where two children go head to
head to call out the word they see- it was great fun!! In
maths we visited ‘Miss O’Connor’s Super Saver Shop’
where we used our coins to buy nice treats, we weighed
different items and even did some maths stations. We
completed our very own timeline so we could see how
much we have grown and we had a game of ‘Guess the
Baby’. We did lots of cool experiments- the firm
favourite was the melting chocolate! For the garden, we
made beautiful butterflies using recycled toilet rolls and
also worked collaboratively to make 2 giant butterflies
using different fabrics and fibre. Sprinkles continued to
pose a few problems when he visited homes but
hopefully next year he will behave better! In May, we
SUMMER REPORT 2019
enjoyed a brilliant trip to Hegarty’s Farm and more
recently to the Glen Resource Centre for our school tour.
We have worked very hard in Senior Infants this year but
have had lots of fun along the way!
A Word From Mrs O’Callaghan, Rang Dearg
First and second class have had such a busy year! The
children worked really hard and enjoyed reading lots of
books during literacy lift off. We learned lots of new
math skills in our math stations. We had lots of fun on
our school tour to the Glen Resource Centre where we
did activities such as Moonwalkers and Snow Tubing!
The children showed great sportsmanship during our
sports day and we had great fun doing swimming,
tennis, football and hurling this year. Second class made
their Holy Communion in May and they really enjoyed
their day. We also took part in Feis Maitiú and the
children performed really well. I would like to thank
parents for all their help and support this year and to
wish everyone a lovely, restful summer break!
.
A word from Mr O’Brien, Rang Gorm
th th
Greetings from 5 & 6 class. We have had a
very busy year with our school work but also
had plenty of fun and laughter along the way.
Highlights from this year would be our
amazing school tour in West Cork Secret, the
VEX IQ programme and our various guest
speakers. We completed large group
projects on the Titanic and countries of the
th
world. 6 class made their Confirmation in
April and also had an enjoyable graduation
ceremony earlier this week. We wish our
thirteen graduating students all the best as
they embark on a new chapter in their lives.
Go n-éirí an t-ádh libh go léir!
A Word From Rang Glas , Mrs.
O’Shaughnessy
rd th
3 & 4 class have been a great bunch all
year working hard and participating
enthusiastically in all activities. We worked
hard in class acquiring new knowledge and
skills. The children enjoyed working on their
projects on a country of their choice. They
presented their findings to the class, brought
in props and resources and even food from
their chosen country to taste. They took part
in Sciath na Scol, chess tournaments,
swimming and tennis lessons. We had a
fantastic talk from Pat Falvey about his great
adventures, encouraging us to use his
favourite saying “I have the power!”. The
children participated and did us proud in the
Cork City Sports, the Credit Union Quiz and
Feis Maitiu. I think they all deserve a great
summer holiday.
A Word from Rang Liath, Ms Golden
Our first year in Rang Liath has been a
fantastic success. All six children have made
superb progress and continue to blossom
each and every day. On behalf of all in Rang
Liath I would like to thank you all for the
support and generosity throughout the year.
We couldn't have done it without you. Happy
Holidays! Miss Golden
A Word from Rang Oráiste, Mrs O’Mahony
We had lots of fun in Rang Oráiste
throughout the year. We did our yoga poses,
aerobic exercises and relaxation activities
every day. We took part in drama activities in
class and we all enjoyed taking part in the
Christmas school play. We also had a great
time at the Opera house earlier in the year.
We had great fun building bridges and
landmarks. We had great fun making ‘ublek’
and playing with it. We had a little indoor
2
garden where we planted lettuce and onion
seeds. We made a variety of different objects
from clay and did lots of painting and really
enjoyed looking at and talking about some of
Kandinsky’s art. We worked really hard in
Maths, Reading and Writing and had great
fun drawing and guessing idioms. We are all
looking forward to our summer holidays now
and wish everyone happy holidays!
Last Thursday Note,
week ending 21st of
June, 2019
We had a very busy last week of school!
 Non Uniform day tomorrow for
Inniscarra Camogie( not the GAA as
on Aladdin Connect message).
Please bring donation.
 Thanks to Ms Looney for the lovely
treat of ice-creams to the whole
school!

rd
Bonfire night party Sun 23 June 3-
6pm @Ballyanly. Kids go free.
 Cycle Safety Event, Friday June
th
28 @7pm in Ballyanly.
 Our School Sports day was a great
success. Great fun was had by all!
 Please Note: The new crested
uniform and new tracksuit are
compulsory. School shoes to be
worn with uniform and plain navy
pants with tracksuit. Contact
Murphy’s, Nth Main St to purchase
school uniform( or Academy Crests
to crest a generic navy v-neck
jumper) . Tracksuit available from
school.
SUMMER REPORT 2019
Mrs McCabe-Active Schools and Knitting .
Good luck to all our
At the beginning of this school year the children and  Teacher Allocation for 2019/20
school staff started working towards renewing the
award of Active School Flag. This initiative proved yet
Juniors-Ms Buckley 6th class students in
Seniors-Ms O’Connor
again to not only be great fun for the children, but a
fantastic opportunity for them to learn of the
st nd
1 /2 Class-Mrs O’Callaghan
rd th
their near and
importance of maintaining an active lifestyle. During
3 /4 Class- Mrs O’Shaughnessy
the year some of the activities and achievements of the
th th
5 /6 Class- Mr O’Brien distant future lives.
children included reaching the semi final of the Sciath na SEN: Mrs McCabe
Scol, hurling lessons, tennis lessons and Junior and SEN: Ms Mooney OH THE PLACES
Senior infants took part in a FUNdamental movement Rang Oráiste: Mrs O’Mahony
pilot programme. The children were delighted with Irish
dancing classes taught by Ms Mooney. Children in Rang
Rang Liath: Ms Golden YOU’LL GO!!
Oraiste and Rang Dearg successfully completed Land
PAWS training, which is a Water Safety Authority
initiative. We have had several Walk to School days in
the last few weeks also. An Active School week was held
in May and it was run along with Health Promotion
committee. The children and staff were enthralled and
inspired with stories from explorer Pat Falvey. We had
orienteering, Wake up Shake up and many other
activities during the year. Our application for a second
Active School Flag has been submitted and we expect to
have our inspection early in Term 1 of the next school
year.

Knitting classes were taught during big break this term,

and Ms Mooney taught the children how to knit Easter
chicks. The imagination and creativity of the children
was seen with a selection of headbands, blankets and
other beautiful items that were knit, even an action man
parachute was produced. Well done to all and have your
knitting needles ready for September.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY


nd
School opening on Monday 2
September 2019 (closing at 12
noon for staff meeting)
 Mid Term - Closing Friday 28th
October 2019 at 2.30pm – Re-
th
opening Monday 4 November
 Christmas Holidays - Closing
th
Friday December 20 2019 at
12 noon – Re-opening Monday
th
6 January 2020.

A Farewell Message from Ms Looney

I remember the warm welcome that I received the first

day that I arrived in Vicarstown NS over 19 years ago.

It has been a great honour and privilege to have been

involved in the education of the children of the school
since then. I am glad to say that I hold many happy
memories of golden moments with the children who
were entrusted to my care.

I want to sincerely thank all the people I met on my

journey during my happy time in the school.

Vicarstown National School will always hold a special

place in my heart. I send my best wishes to all involved
in the school for its bright future ahead.

Gura fada buan sibh

Siobhán Looney