June 2017 -BOM Newsletter.
Achievements, School Extension, Internet Safety, Talent Show, Quiz, Swimming, Literacy & Numeracy, Attendance , Parents Association, Board of Management , Policy updates…Stay Safe.. Calendar...…Staffing.
Communion Classes
Both Second Classes made their First Holy Communion last Saturday. They were a credit to their teachers Ms Nestor and Ms Gallenwho along with Ms Siobhan Tuohy, Caroline Barrett and Fr Mc Cormack were presented with tokens of gratitude from the parents of both classes. Our thanks to our parents who did a lot of hard work at the weekend preparing for the reception in the hall and again this Monday.Communion Parents will be asked to help next year !
Confirmation.
Both 6th Classes will be making their confirmation last Saturday 13th May in the Church of The Holy Rosary. Our confirmation ceremony always takes place in Castlebar along with the other country schools. Well done to their teachers Ms Skeffington and Mr Murphy with the preparations and to Mr Scott who will conduct the choir on the big day.
Waltons Music for Schools Competition All Ireland Success.
Congratulations to the children and teachers involved in "GanTeorainn". They were selected as one of the six finalists to compete in the very prestigious Walton’s Music for Schools Competition. There was unbelievable excitement in the school when the announcement was made by Liz Nolan on RTE lyric FM. The finalist groups performed at the National Concert Hall on Tuesday, May 2nd.
The teachers involved are Ms Thornton, MsGallen and Mr Ed Scott. Their entry can be watched on Youtube-/ The Walton’s Music Competition 2017. (approx. 22 mins into clip)
There was great excitement when it was announced that we won second prize worth €1500.
Sarah Cashinand Ms Gallenwere presented with the prize and accepted it on behalf of the school.
It was a wonderful experience for all involved in the process, from creating the entry to rehearsals after school to performing in The National Concert Hall.
The Judges were Bill Whelan renowned composer of Riverdance fame and Deirdre Kelleher,Director of The Royal Irish Academy of Music.
The Competition’s objective is to promote the enormous benefits of creative music making for young people and to provide Finalists with the opportunity to perform their finished works at a prestigious national venue. The open nature of the Competition, now in its sixth year, offers schools the opportunity to think and work creatively with any combination of students, developing a creative and original musical project that has learning potential at every stage of the process.
This was an experience that our pupils will never forget -rehearsing and performing in a prestigious venue such as The National Concert Hall. It was a pressured day with a tight time schedule for sound checks and a rehearsal. Family members were there to support the group and share in their success.
Our school performed exceptionally well for the competition and were duly rewarded with their prize. Pupils in Breaffy School and family members at home watched the live webcast of their performance and the prize-giving ceremony and there was a great cheer of delight at their success.
We got home that evening to a reception in Breaffy House Hotel and performed for our school again the next morning.
Internet Safety
Recent press reports highlight internet safety concerns for all when a bill is being introduced in DáilEireann in to minimise unfettered access by children under 14 to internet access and smart phones.
We, in our school are very pleased to announce that we have hosted a talk on Cyber Bullying and Internet Safety for Parents, here in the school on Thursday 4th May at 8 pm . As teachers and parents we have a fundamental duty of care for our children, and unfortunately that means getting a grasp of the things that our children are experiencing on line. The talk was delivered to all pupils in 3rd to 6th class. This was arranged by Mairead Murphy
The talk was delivered last Thursday by Jeremy Pagden, the Managing Director of Schools Websites. Jeremy has been travelling all over the country delivering Internet Safety talks to both Parents and children alike. All parents are reminded of our Acceptable Use Policy on our website and the importance of being vigilant at all times. An Internet Safety Pledge will be sent home to pupils from 3rd Class up in the coming days to be returned to school. Our Board of Management sees this as an important element of our Acceptable Use Policy in our school. Jeremy advised parents to use this opportunity to raise knowledge and awareness at home. Our BOM has includes an Internet Safety Pledge as part of its Acceptable Use Policy for parents of 3rd to 6th Class.
Soccer
Well done to our boys and girls who did extremely well in the County Final recently and competed in the Connaught Final on May 4th. They were coached by Mr Hennelly and Mr Moran.
National Children’s Choir Concert in Breaffy House
500 pupils from 10 schools in Mayo came together on Thurs April 6th to perform together as members of the National Children's Choir. They performed a wide repertoire of songs under conductor, Kathy Quinn, including the Hallelujah Chorus, Panis Angelicus, Don't Stop Me Now, Nella Fantasia and lots more in joyful harmony. Our school was represented by both our fourth classes. The choral work was taught by Ms Fergus, Ms Thornton and Mr Canny. They were accompanied by an orchestra and performed to an audience of 1400 people who gave them a standing ovation at the grand finale. Later on a small number of these pupils will perform with pupils from all over Ireland in The National Concert Hall.
There is a lot of footage on You Tube of this fantastic event and it is well worth viewingto appreciate that great work accomplished.
A number of pupils auditioned last Friday to get one of seven places available to pupils from the choir to rehearse in Longford and perform with other pupils from all over the country in The National Concert Hall on May 27th and were well prepared to sing in the National Concert Hall .
Breaffy's Got Talent 2017
6th Class organised our annual talent show on Wednesday, March 29th.
SeachtainnaGaeilge 2017.
We celebrated SeachtainnaGaeilge with lovely musical performances in the school hall. We also enjoyed watching and listening to our School Band as they did their final rehearsal ahead of St. Patrick's Day Parade.
After School Clubs.
An After -School Club Gaeilge has been run for a number of classes by Mrs McNea and Siobhan Doherty. This has been a great success. D’eirighgo h-an mhaith leis narangannaseo.
An After- School Reading Club has now commenced and is run by Mrs Mc Nea.
After School Craft Club
This year some of our 3rd, 4th, 5thand 6thclass pupils joined our after school craft club. They were very imaginative and made lots of skilful creations which involved designing, sewing, decoupaging, painting and upcycling.
After School Golf Club.
Mr Duffy will be sending out details about this.
Our School Band
Well done to the teachers involved this year with the preparations and presentation of our School Band.
We were unfortunate that the weather went against us on the first day but we had a great day at the rescheduled parade.
The Daily Mile Initiative – Well-being initiative.
The "Daily Mile" initiative in Breaffy N.S. in conjunction with Mayo Sports Partnership is proving to be a wonderful success. Each day the children in all classes run, jog of walk for 15 minutes, with total emphasis being on taking part, fun and enjoyment.
Once a month we do our "Daily Mile" as a whole school group together in Breaffy Woods.. As the months pass we get a chance to observe the changing face of the forest. We hope that this initiative will foster a lifelong positive attitude to being active and to looking after one's fitness, health and wellbeing among the children.All classes are involved in this activity.
Science Parachute Challenge
5th classes have been busy working on the Science Parachute Challenge. The children and teachers alike enjoyed the Science Parachute Challenge.
Christmas Toy Show
Well done to Bernard Lawrence who performed so well on the Christmas Toy Show programme. He did his family and our school very proud.
Saint Brigid’s Crosses
First Classes went to Turlough House to make St Brigid’s Crosses in February with their teachers Mrs Mc Nea and Mrs O Shea.
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School Extension!
Our school has been approved an extension of one classroom and three resource rooms. Taylor Architects Ltd has been appointed by the Board of Management following a tendering process. The building grant sanctioned is €261,000 including furniture and ICT equipment. This money has been ring fenced by the Department of Education and Skills for our project. The Architects are currently working on draft design possibilities for approval by the BOM and the Department.
Our sincere thanks to An Taoiseach Enda Kenny who made successful representations on our behalf.
It is our hope that this extra accommodation will improve our accommodation needs for the foreseeable future. When this project is complete we hope to have a library /computer room in our school and new resource rooms.
The next step is to bring our expected needs and associated costs to the Building Unit in The Department of Education for approval. We then intend to apply for planning permission and put the project out to tender.
ICT Grant
We have received an ICT Grant of €12000 approxthat our ICT team/BOMis planning to use for a Library/Computer Room when our new build is complete.
Preschool
Please note that preschool and an after -school service is available for pupils in our school. Contact Tracey at 087 1261996
Traffic Control
A committee representative of the Community and Board of Management has, following public consultation meetings in our school conducted a door to door survey petitioning a reduction in the speed limit through Breaffy. A decision has not yet been made by the relevant authority.
Village Enhancement
Mayo County Council is working on a village enhancement scheme to enhance the traffic control in the village around our school. This aims to make the area safer for drop off and parking. It will, if implemented, involve one-way traffic systems to improve traffic management, set down and parking .
Mayo County Council met with our committee recently and they will be holding public consultation on this draft development plan in the future.
School Policies & School Website
Please note the following policies on our school website: Health and Safety, Code of Behaviour, Enrolment, Child Protection and the agreed INTO /CPSMA Grievance Procedure. Parent Protocol and Anti-bullying Policy to be uploaded onto website shortly. In the past year our BOM has reviewed /adopted the following policies
1. Acceptable Use Policy
2. Parent Protocol
3. EAL ( English as an Additional Language )
4. Code of Behaviour
5. INTO/CPSMA Grievance Procedure
6. Child Protection
7. Enrolment (Review pending)
8. Deis Plan – Literacy, Numeracy, Attendance Parents as Partners and other agencies.
9. Health & Safety Policy
All parents have been given a hard copy of our Code of Behaviour. Other policies updated on school website.
Parents’ Association
Thanks to our Parents’ Association who organised the annual Easter Disco for pupils in our school.
Thanks to our Parents’ Association and also the parents who support the programmes for Holy Communion and Confirmation. The generous effort made by parents in organising the celebrations in the school hall afterwards is noted and appreciated every year.
The Principal shared recent policies with the Parents’ Association and gave a report on grants received by the school from the Department of Education and Skills.
The Parents’ Association also gave a report on their activities to the Board of Management. The Board of Management is appreciative of this report and also the work undertaken by the Parents’ Association to support the work of the school.
Attendance
Parents are reminded that they must always send in a note to their child’s teacher when they return from being absent evenif they have phoned the office. This is an obligation under The Education Welfare Act 2000. It is important that this regulation is followed on all occasions. We can’t stress enough the importance of goodattendance in school.
After-School Football Training
This has commenced for 3rd to 6th class pupils. It is important that pupils are collected on time.Well done to our Boys’ Gaelic Football Team who played an exhibition match at half time at the Mayo/Donegal match recently.
Extra CurricularSport Activities –
· After school Gaelic Football Training on Tuesdays for 3 rd – 6th Classes – Boys and Girls.
· Coaches in Rugby, Hurling and Gaelic Football have been visiting our school on a weekly basis working with various classes.
· 5 th& 6 th Classes took part in a Rugby Blitz held at the Castlebar Rugby Club (March)
· 4 th Class Boys and Girls took part in the Futsal (Indoor Soccer) Competition in Breaffy Arena. (January)
· Our lunchtime Gaelic Football Leagues are being co-ordinated by the Sixth Class children. The Finals will be held after Easter. Boys and Girls 8.