St.Francis Xavier National Schools

PARENTS ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER

Spring 2009

Edited By Janet Mitten & Caroline Reddy

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Welcome back everyone and we hope you all had a great Christmas. We have plenty of news for you and we will have another newsletter after Easter to keep you up to date with any more events or newsworthy information.
PARENT CONTRIBUTION FUND DRAW 2008/2009
From the Junior School we offer many congratulations to the Magee Family from Ms Medlar’s class, and in the Senior School, we congratulate the Moloney Family from Ms Brennan’s class. Both families won a €100 voucher each for Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
A huge thanks to all the families who donated to the Parent Contribution Fund this year. However, if it has slipped your mind, please feel free to drop in an envelope at any time, to either of the school secretaries, and don’t forget, YOUR CHILD benefits from ALL the monies received.
WINNERS OF CHRISTMAS DECORATION COMPETITION
Junior Infants:Joseph Maguire,Naim Dankar,Alex Tuohy.Eve Kinane.
Senior Infants:Rachel Brennan,Hannah Holohan
Kate Feehily.
First Class:David Jolley, Abbey O Brien,
Sean Mc Cullagh.
Second Class;Daisy O’Connor, Niall Wade,
Paul Russell.
Third Class:Thomas Conroy, Finlay Sharpe, Mary Jolley, Nicole Mongey, Sean Mitten.
Fourth Class:Adele Brazil,Ellie Mc Donagh, Luke Ward, Ross Keating.
Fifth Class:Bradley Hand, Matthew O’ Leary,
Lucy Fitzpatrick, Sarah Murphy, Katie Doherty.
As you might notice we have lots of winners and no set first second or third prizes. The judge, (a teacher from a different school) felt the standard was excellent and that all the winners were first prize winners. We hope to hold this competition again next year as the response was great and the decorations on display for the Xmas Fair really brightened the place up.
Congratulations to all our winners and all those who entered.

A very special “Thank You” to everyone who sponsored items for our recent Xmas Fair. If you organized outside sponsorship and the names of those who helped out do not appear on list, please pass on or sincerest thanks and appreciation. Without this help and support our Fair would not be the success it continues to be.
VJ’s GYM EQUIPMENT, DOMUS FURNITURE, COOLMINE DÉCOR, OFFEX STATIONARY,
MARKS & SPENCERS, HAPPY EVENTS(TOMMY,S), SONY CENTRE, MC GUIRKS GOLF SHOP,
TIERNEYS GIFT STORE,
MC CABES PHARMACY, IMAGINARIUM,
CREST ALUMINIUM, BLANCHARDSTOWN MIRROR & GLASS, MCDONALDS,THE CAMERA SHOP,
THE HEALTH STORE, MC QUILLANS TOOL STORE, THE PET STORE, EMAGINE HAIR SALON Clonee, CRYSTAL JEWELLERS, C & C DRINKS ,
SHAMROCK FOODS, ODLUMS,
ELM GREEN GOLF CLUB,
THE BARBER SHOP SINGERS,
WESTMANSTOWN GOLF CLUB,
CASTLEKNOCK GOLF CLUB,
CAPITAL MIRRORS &GLASS CO.,
LEISUREPLEX, SMYTHS TOYS,
HOME STORE AND MORE, UCI B'TOWN,
PENNY’S, VERO MODA,
TONY QUINN HEALTH STORE,
THE JEAN SCENE, NEWBRIDGE STORE,
DUNNES STORES, HAIR TODAY,
MAIREAD O ‘LEARY OPTICIANS,
ONGAR FLOWER SHOP, THE BLANCHARDSTOWN
CENTRE MGT, THE ROSELAWN INN, ROSELAWN
HARDWARE, GLEESON’S BUTCHERS
BOOTS , ROSELAWN NEWSAGENTS
“SAMIE”, HAIR CREATION, TONY FASS-
NIDGE SHOES, FOTHERGILLS, NOEL REIDS
, ROSELAWN DRY CLEANERS, NEWS READ
Blanchardstown, THE GREYHOUND LIQUOR STORE,
SPAR Carpenterstown, UNICARE Carpenterstown,
ANNE’S DESIGN IN HAIR Clonsilla.
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EDITORS CHOICE
Carolines Mud Pie
Thought I would give you a little recipe for a treat to make and share with your Children. And relax you can’t go wrong. You don’t even need the instructions for your oven!!!
Ingredients you will need:
225g of Digestive Biscuits, 55g glace cherries(optional), 175g Butter(any type), 1 tablespoon of drinking chocolate, 115 g of Caster Sugar, 115g of mixed dried fruit or sultanas, 115g of milk chocolate.
Break biscuits into small pieces. Wash and chop the cherries. Melt the butter in a pot. Add the drinking chocolate and sugar and mix together with a spoon. Add the dried fruit, broken biscuits and the cherries. Mix them together well. Put into a loose bottom tin (normally used for baking, this will help for you to get Pie out when set.) Press the mixture down well with the back of a spoon. Put it in the fridge for a couple of hours. When set, melt the chocolate over a pan of hot water or in the microwave. Pour hot chocolate over the cold mixture. Allow to set in the fridge again for a couple of hours. Pop out of tin and cut up into Small or Large pieces. Enjoy.!!!
FREE LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT;

Recently it has come to our attention that local libraries and are under utilized. People do not take advantage of the services the offer. Most of these services are completely FREE of charge. We are lucky to have our Local “Blanchardstown” Library situated in the Town Centre near the Draiocht Theatre.
Amongst the FREE services they have you will find:
*They have unlimited books/videos/dvd’s to take home and return once you or you child has finished reading it. You can keep them for up to 3 weeks. You can re-new rental over the phone or on-line.
*You can stay and play jigsaws or games. Let your child colour in a picture when you visit the Library. No Booking Required.
*They have free internet access which you need to book in advance.
*The run regular children’s activity sessions eg; Story telling, arts and crafts, author visits.
*They have a Junior Chess and Scrabble Club.
*They also have Parent and Toddler mornings.
* Free English Classes for Adult Beginners.
For more information just call in or phone 8905563. All the staff are very helpful. The website address is very long so we recommend you “Google” Blanchardstown Library for easier access.
PS: It’s a nice warm place to bring children on a cold day. / NEW PUPIL ENROLEMENTS SEPTEMBER 2009
Parents intending to enrol their son/daughter in SFX Junior School for Sept. 2009 can do so DURING the month of Feb. Application Forms are available from the school and can be completed at the time or dropped back later. You will need your child’s Birth Certificate, Baptismal Cert.(if applicable), your child’s P.P.S number and a recent Utility Bill as proof of residence. If you know of anyone from the area who may not receive a copy of this newsletter please pass on this information.
PARENT/TEACHER MEETINGS JUNIOR SCHOOL
These meetings will take place on Thursday 12th Feb. starting @2.00pm. All of the children will be going home @1.40pm on that day. An appointment will be made for you and it is hoped that everyone will avail of this opportunity to meet the teacher and discuss your child’s progress.
SENIOR SCHOOL
FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT SUCCESS Four schools in the Dublin 15 area organized a football tournament in Tir na n’Og park. The games took place on Thursdays during October and November. St. Francis Xavier entered two teams. Around forty boys took part. The tournament was greatly assisted by the transition year students from Castleknock Community College who marked out the pitches, put up goal posts and refereed the games. SFX “A” team won their final. The “B” team put on a great display in their final. Medals were presented by Dublin Football Star Barry Cahill. The tournament was a great success and it is hoped to have a similar one for Hurling in the Spring / Summer 2009.
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Blanchardstown Child and Family Centre are holding an Information Evening for Parents in SFX Junior School Hall on Wed. Feb 25th @8.30 sharp. The meeting will focus on the well being of Children attending Primary School. It is hoped there will be a BIG attendance, as this is an opportunity for many parents to have concerns or worries addressed by experts. The school will provide more information closer to the date.

CHRISTMAS FAIR ROUND-UP
Hurray What a Success!! The support on the day was just fantastic. We are really a very lucky school to have such great enthusiasm for the event among our local community, parents and families of attending pupils ,past pupils and of course the Staff of both schools.
Everyone worked hard to make it a great day and we thank all our helpers young and old. Without these people we just couldn’t do it.
So remember if you have an idea for next year or you think you might like to help out, talk to one of us(or email) early next year and we will welcome all assistance and ideas. Remember ideas are great but we need the people to put them into practice.
WE SINCERELY THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR GENEROSITY.
As always we got huge amounts of Bric-a Brac and toys, Fantastic Baked products etc.
The Bottle Stalls, which are the one of the most popular attractions, really could have gone on forever, if we had more bottles to work with!!
The Wheel of Fortune brings great excitement and we thank all our sponsors and families who donated prizes.
Once again Marie Mitchell and her family ran the book stall. Well done Again and Thank you.
REMEMBER YOUR CHILD BENEFITS FROM ALL PROFITS MADE ON THIS DAY.
PRIZEWINNERS
MAIN RAFFLE:
32”LCD TV: Sarah Mc Guinness.
X BOX: Carol Mulvaney
HAMPER: Conor O’Leary
CASTLEKNOCK GREEN FEES
A member of the Mitchell Family
POST CHRISTMAS RECYCLING
There are recycling bins outside Room 8 in the Senior School. We encourage everyone to drop in used batteries and old mobile phones
BOOK FAIRS
Both Schools held a Book Fair before Christmas and once again they wish to thank the parents for their support and generosity. Thanks to all who assisted in making this a success and as a result the schools have some fantastic new books to add to our Libraries
A SPECIAL THANK YOU

A special thank you from the staff of the Senior School to all the parents and children who turned out in huge numbers for a really enjoyable sing-a- long Carol Service just before Christmas.
Once again we would like to pay tribute to the generosity of the parents and children of St. Francis Xavier Schools as €410 was donated to the new Young Persons Isolation Unit for transplant patients in Cappagh Hospital . To add to this we collected nine sacks of new toys at the Carol Service. These were delivered to Barnodos in Roselawn for distribution locally.
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DATES TO NOTE
PA Meeting THURS 22th JANUARY 8.30 pm Senior School. (for all members).
NB: The following is the most recent list of school breaks etc. There may be other days the schools may close early for meetings so keep an eye out for notes in the schoolbags.
February:
Thurs 12th Feb Parent / Teacher meetings. ALL JUNIOR SCHOOL CLASSES will FINISH @ 1.40pm.
BOTH Schools Closed Thurs.19th & Fri 20th Feb.Mid-Term
Junior School Hall 8.30 pm |WED 25th Parents Info Evening.
March:
Schools Closed Mon.16th and Tues 17thMarch(St Patricks Day).
April:
Confirmation Date; April 2nd.
Easter Break;
Schools Closed 12 NOON Fri.3rd April & re-opens Mon. 20th April (Easter Sunday 13th April)
May:
Communion Dates Sat 1st & Sat 16th May
Schools Closed Mon.4th and Tues 5th May
SPONSORED WALK SUNDAY 24th May
June:
Schools Closed Mon1st &Tues 2nd June
SUMMER HOLS Schools close 12 NOON Tues 30th June
August:
Schools re-open Monday 31st August