Míle Buíochas

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to everyone in our community, Board of Management, Staff, Parents and Children who have worked so hard to ensure Kilglass National School was a place of joyful learning.

The contribution of many people, working together to create and sustain places of belonging, of care and of shared interest and experience has enabled Kilglass National School to thrive over the past academic year.

Day of Celebration & 6^th Class Graduation

• On Monday 26^th June, we will have a Day of Celebration to mark some of the great projects and successes during the 2022/2023 academic year. As a number of invited guests will contribute to various aspects of the day an approximate outline of the day will be as follows:
• 12.00p.m. 6^th Class Graduation Mass in Church of the Holy Family
• Tea / Coffee Reception in the school to follow
• 1.30p.m. Raising of the Green School Flag
• Cumann na mBunscol Maura Galvin Fair Play Award
• Unveiling of the BLAST Mural
• 2.30p.m. 6^th Class Video, Cake etc.
• Please note the above itinerary is subject to change depending on the arrival of guest speakers, weather etc. We would be delighted to see you on the day.

Making Memories

• Congratulations to all the boys and girls in Mrs Meeneghan’s Class who made their First Holy Communion.
• It is great to see the children heading off on school tours to Blacksod, Rooskey and Westport and filling them with memories full of fun and enjoyment.
• Cycle Right, Concern Debates, Christmas Shoe Box Appeal, Music Generation with Róisín Kilgannon, Food Dudes Award, Hurling Skills with Daragh Cox and Football with Alan Duffy were some of the programmes which were thoroughly enjoyed by many of the classes across the school.
• This year we had a fantastic Sports Day in Kilglass N.S. A big thank you to all the teachers and team of coaches from Sligo GAA who made it an event not to forget – full of fun activities, skills challenges and games for all involved.

Cumann na mBunscol

• Well Done to the Kilglass N.S. Boys Football team who reached the semi-final of the Mini-7 Cumann na mBunscol competition.
• Congratulations to the Kilglass N.S. Girls football team who were runners up in the Plate Final in this year’s Cumann na mBunscol against Ardkeeran N.S.
• Comhghairdeas to the Kilglass N.S. Boys football team on their great, resilient final and replay display against Moylough N.S. in the 5 to 7 teacher school category in Markievicz Park. While not victorious, this is a day for this group of boys to treasure and look back on in years to come. Thank you to all the teachers, parents, grandparents, siblings and classmates who brought massive support over the two days.
• Congratulations to the Kilglass N.S. Boys football team, Mrs Lynott and Alan Duffy (CDO) on winning the ‘Maura Galvin Fair Play’ Award. The ‘Maura Galvin Fair Play’ award, is given to the school whose players, mentors and supporters displayed the highest level of sportsman-ship on county finals day.

Green Schools News

• We are delighted to announce that Kilglass National School has been awarded a renewal of our Green School Flag. Congratulations to the whole school community, and in particular Mrs Mulhern and the Green School Committee who have worked tirelessly over the last two years to achieve this award. Our Green School theme was Global Citizenship Marine Environment.
• It was great for First and Second Class to have a visit from the Sligo Leitrim Beekeepers Association. Well Done to Róisin Donegan who entered the PinkLady Art Competition on the school’s behalf and won this great prize for her class.
• The Edible Landscape Project in conjunction with Taragh Cosgrave, First and Second Class, Fifth Class and Mrs Mulhern involving the planting of an apple tree and herb garden is a lovely added feature to our School Garden.
• Mrs Lynott’s Fifth Class had a lovely visit to Easkey River as part of the Something Fishy River Project.

Community Links

• Thank you to Eva Murphy and Darren Bourke who sponsored a set of football jerseys and shorts for the school.
• Thank you to Sinéad Jones, Enniscrone Men’s Shed and the Fifth and Sixth Class children under the direction of Ms Brogan and Mrs Lynott for the lovely Christmas Baubles which added some extra Christmas sparkle around the village this year.
• Thank you to Lorraine Battle for involving the children in the creation of many marvellous constructions for the Scary Woods Walk in Kilglass House at Halloween.

Creative Arts

• BLAST is an artist in residency scheme funded by both the Department of Education and Skills and Creative Ireland. Under Ms. Brogan guidance’s Third and Fourth Class worked with artist Anna Vahey in creating a wonderful seashell mural influenced by the legend of Queen Maeve, the Story of the Brown Bull and Knocknarae.  They have completed a superb project which is showcased on the school wall.
• We continued our great work this year in the exciting, innovative project involving our Creative Cluster of Excellence in conjunction with the Department of Education and our neighbouring schools of Leaffoney N.S., Stokane N.S., Rathlee N.S. and Killeenduff N.S. This culminated in our spectacular light instillation art exhibition on Enniscrone Beach entitled “Lóchrainn na Rónta”.  Sincere thanks to artist Tom Meskell for guiding the children to create these wonderful Selkies, Rocks, Lighthouse, Starfish and lanterns. Thank you Rossa Ó Snodaigh for facilitating the workshops to create the soundscape for the event.  Kilglass N.S. were lead-school of this project, a big thank you to Ms Brogan for co-ordinating and pioneering this project and we look forward to our new Creative Cluster commencing in September 2023.
• It was great to see the return of our Christmas Plays this year. “Santa’s Hat”, “Following the Star”, “An Garbhán”, “The Ghost of the Tree” and “Alas in Blunderland” were the productions which showcased the talent of all the boys and girls in the school.

Aladdin Connect

• We would ask you to follow the registration link which has been provided to you and download the Aladdin Connect App for the school. This will give you access to messages from the school, report cards, etc. It will allow you to inform the school in relation to issues such as student absences, permissions etc.  Thank you for your cooperation.

Book Rental Scheme

• From September, the Free Primary Schoolbooks Scheme in primary schools will remove the cost from families of funding schoolbooks for children enrolled in primary schools. Parents will no longer be required to make any contribution towards the cost of schoolbooks, including the cost of any workbooks and copybooks. These books will be on loan to children and returned at the end of the year.

School Development and Maintenance

• Thank you to the BoM who facilitate many projects which continue to maintain and develop the school making it a lovely learning environment for all the children.

Parent Association

• Thank you to Kilglass Parent Association for the various ways that they supported the school during the year including:
• The Christmas Raffle
• Supporting the purchase of Prim-Ed Math Boxes from Junior Infants to Sixth Class
• 6^th Class Hoodies
• First Communion Reception
• Cake Sale at the Easter Egg Hunt
• Contribution towards the buses for the School Tours
• Ice-Cream Van

Slán le Rang a Sé

• We send our very best wishes to all of the children in Sixth Class. Kilglass National School is where you have been making friends, working together in teams, discovering your talents and developing them to the best of your ability.  You have shown a great sense of community as a class, by being kind, supportive and generous.  As you now say goodbye to your primary years, and look forward to your first year in secondary school, we wish each and every one of you every happiness as you continue your educational journey.  This year marks the end of a chapter for the two Bourke, Egan, Feeney, Hastings, Hayes and Murphy family who are finishing their association with Kilglass National School after a long number of years. I would like to thank them for their support and wish them well.  Beir beannacht d’on todchaí.

New Junior Infants

• On Tuesday 20^th June we had an induction day for all our new Junior Infants between 10.00a.m. and 12.30p.m. It was great for the children to meet each other and acclimatise to their new surroundings in a safe and reassuring way before the new academic year.

Blúiríní / Snippets

• A big thank you to Mrs McAnearney for all her commitment to the school over the years. We wish her well in her new role in Killenummery N.S. and look forward to her return to Kilglass N.S.
• The school calendar for 2023/2024 is available to view on our school’s website.
• School for the academic year 2022-2023 will re-open for children on Wednesday 30^th

Finally

Thank you once again to all our parents for your ongoing support, cooperation and understanding over the last academic year.  We wish everyone a safe, restful and fun summer.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Jarlath Brennan (Príomhoide)