Competitions
Congratulations and well done to Kaja Letowska from 6th Class who received a Commendation Prize for her entry in the Mullingar Credit Union Art Competition (11-13 yrs Category).
Parent/Guardian Association
The staff of Presentation Senior School are very pleased that our parent/guardian body has formed a new active and committed Parent/Guardian Association. The committee worked hard with Ms. Shaw to organise the Christmas raffle which was exceptionally well supported by parents/guardians and children. The committee is organising an anti-bullying talk for parents/guardians to be held before the February mid-term break. We hope that one parent/guardian from each family will be available to attend.
Comenius
Four teachers from the Junior and Senior Schools, along with two children from the Senior School, travelled to Italy in December to meet and work with our Comenius partners. Teachers and children from Slovakia, France, Spain, Poland and Italy will visit the Presentation Junior and Senior Schools from Wednesday 26th March to Sunday 30th March.
Attendance and Punctuality
We have made fantastic progress in relation to improving school attendance and punctuality. Our average attendance has increased from 90% to 97%. We are extremely grateful to all parents/guardians who ensure their children attend school punctually every day.
School Uniform
Since September, we have received exceptionally positive feedback from parents/guardians in relation to changes made to the school uniform in the last term of the 2012/2013 school year. We are exceptionally grateful to all parents/guardians for supporting our uniform policy by helping their children to wear a full school uniform with pride every day.
All schools are required by the Department of Education and Skills to survey parents/guardians in relation to school uniforms before February 2014. The survey is available on the front page of our school website for parents/guardians who wish to complete it.
ICT Classes
The children attending the ICT classes after school on Mondays and Thursdays have worked very hard this term. We have focused on the development of ICT skills the children will need for the new Post-Primary Junior Cycle Programme (www.juniorcycle.ie).
Tin Whistle
Tin Whistle lessons for all classes in Presentation Senior commenced with Mr. Enda Seery on Monday, the 11th of November. Mr. Seery is an experienced musician and teacher of traditional Irish music. He is also the coordinator of the Comhaltas Schools Outreach Programme in Westmeath. We are delighted that Mr. Seery is coming in to teach us tin whistle over the next number of weeks. We are learning lots of new tunes ranging from traditional Irish music to Christmas carols. Well done to our tin whistle group from 5th class who performed very well at our recent carol service in the cathedral.
Sport
Presentation Senior School has been very busy in the sports department this term. Our 3rd classes have completed their swimming lessons in Mullingar Swimming Pool, as well as their dancing classes with Siobhan Murphy. Many thanks to Evan Mc Cormack who coached our 5th and 6th class girls in GAA skills. Hopefully we will see some of these skills in action on the football field in the near future. Ms. Daly’s and Ms. Moore’s classes have really enjoyed their gymnastic classes with specialist tutor Aoife Mc Ardle. The boys and girls from Room 14 are thoroughly enjoying their horse riding lessons every Monday morning in the Mullingar Equestrian Centre.
There was great excitement recently when some players from the victorious St. Loman’s visited the school with the Flanagan Cup. Even though our own school Gaelic team has played very well this term we unfortunately have not made it to the Cumann na mBunscoil finals. Well done to all the children who have trained so hard. We look forward to a great sporting year in 2014. Keep up the great work!
Maths
Well done to all of the students using Mathletics every week. Our school now has 228 certificates so far this year. Don’t forget to log on at home over Christmas. If you are lucky enough to get a new phone or tablet for Christmas you can access Mathletics on an iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or on an iPad or Android device. Enjoy!
Choir
Hallelujah Young Voices Concert
The Presentation Senior School choir participated in the Hallelujah Young Voices Concert in Citywest Dublin on the 8th of December. We sang with 3000 other children from all over Ireland. We had been rehearsing the songs since September and learning all the dance moves. They had lots of guest stars like Tabby Callaghan from XFactor in 2004 and Connie Talbot from Britain’s Got Talent! Everybody had a brilliant day.
By Taylor Clinton Gorman and Ruby Akpan