Togher N.S.

May 2007
Summer Fun

The sun may not be shining every day, but Summer’s on its way. We know this, because life is hectic, crazy and fun, as it always is in our Summer Term!! The children are blossoming, just like the garden. And they’re oh so busy, just like the bees!!
It’s that exciting time of year, where we prepare to say good-bye to our wonderful 6th Class pupils, and hello to our equally wonderful new arrivals.
Well done to everyone at school, children, teachers and parents, for all the hard work and dedication of the last year. It’s been a good one! And it’s not over yet!! The next 6 weeks are going to be very busy.
We are all busy at the moment finishing off various aspects of the curriculum. We are also revising and preparing for little Summer tests, before moving to new classes in September! There’s also FIS, Sciath na Scol, School Tour, Sports Day, to mention just a few of the other things going on. We’ll all need a holiday at the end of that!!!

A Word of Appreciation

Thanks once again to all the Parents who give so willingly of their time, and help us by their voluntary work. We are truly grateful. Thank you also for providing us with some excelleny costumes and props for our film!! From the Staff & Pupils

Pre-School Children

A play group for the new Junior Infants began on Friday the 11th of May, and will run every Friday until the 15th of June, from 9.30am to 11am.
Welcome to our first new arrivals! Their first day at school was a great fun!
Please let any other parents you know, who may have up and coming Junior Infants.

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Heritage in Schools
Environmental Ed Waterways

On June the 6th, Streamscapes will visit the school. This will involve a field trip to the local stream, where children will identify water invertebrates, plants and birds.
The emphasis is to promote an understanding of all life being part of a cycle and how each part of a cycle affects the rest.

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Derrinacahara Sports Day

On Friday 1st of June, we will be hosting a Sports fun for all Day with Derrinacahara NS. We’re planning to have football, soccer, cricket, relay races, sack races, obstacle courses, etc, etc, etc!! There will be lots of fun, non-competitive activities for all ages.

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Environmental Awareness

On June 12th, we will be visited by a rep from ENFO—The Environmental Forum—who will run some workshops on environmental awareness. For the younger children, she will look at Air or Water. The older children have expressed an interest in Climate Change, so that will be the subject of their workshop

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SuperValu Sports Equipment

Many thanks to all the families who sent in their SuperValu tokens! We were able to order a huge pack of fun sports equipment, that has something for everyone, no matter their abilities.

Quiz & Celebration Night

A date for your diary ….
Thursday 22nd June, 7.30pm
All are welcome to attend this End of Year Celebration, where we say goodbye to 6th Class, and award the medals for sporting achievements. (There are lots of those!!)
We also have a lot of fun with our table quiz, 2 adults and 2 children per team. 6th Class are swotting up already!!!!
This year we will also have an Art Exhibition, where each child will have 2 of their paintings framed and on display, and of course, on sale to their families and fans!!
There will be more details about this nearer the time.

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Art Competition-5th & 6th Class

Congratulations to one of our 5th Class artists, who won First Prize in the recent AIB Art Competition. We certainly do have some very talented people in this school

Bonjour From Our French Language Assistant

The French classes have been very successful. The children have learned all the essential expressions in French. I hope that 6th Class, who will be studying French next year in Secondary school, won’t forget the classes!! For now, we have worked so hard, we deserve a break! So let’s make it revision from now own, so they’ll be ready for the next big step.

Merci to Our French Language Assistant

We are all grateful to our language assistant for all her hard work. She is constantly working, devising games and work cards, to teach us French. At present, we are revising the vocabulary learned earlier in the year.
She has also created many lovely charts and teaching aids. She has a great interest in Ireland, and soon we think she will be “more Irish than the Irish themselves”!!!

Films In Schools

Lights, Camera and Action!!

It really is all “action” at school these days! There are actors and actresses in various stages of makeup, showing off their latest posh costumes. There are wolves, pigs, princesses, princes, witches, lions, starlets and even wellies, popping up all over the place.
There are camera crews and sound technicians catching the drama on film. There’s even a crazy donkey getting in on the act!!
Oh yes, and there are several directors giving instructions. The children are loving it, but the staff may be on the verge of nervous exhaustion!!
Well done to everyone! There is so much hard work going on.

School Achievement Awards
FIS Celebration

On the 27th of April, representatives of the School attended a celebration and award ceremony in the Education Centre in Dunmanway. It was in celebration and recognition of the outstanding achievements of all the West Cork schools who took part in ICT projects over the past year, including last year’s FIS project.
Mícheál Martin, TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment was in attendance to present the awards.
Three of our pupils attended. One gave a short and informative talk on what the school had achieved, and one received the award from the Minister. The award itself was for : “The innovative use of ICT in teaching and learning.” Congratulations to everyone, and especially to Ms O’Connell, our resident expert in technology!

U.C.C.’s Lifetime Lab Visit

On the 19th of April, 5th & 6th classes visited Lifetime Lab, on a science field trip. The children were given the opportunity to carry out a number of experiments. Our budding Scientists built various simple vehicles, and devised ways to move them, using magnets and compressed air. They launched balloon rockets, created a pulley using wind power, and examined the effects of friction on moving objects.
While the “Scientists” played in the playground, the science behind each piece of equipment was demonstrated and explained. Working on the interactive whiteboard was the highlight for most of the pupils. The Togher Scientists demonstrated their knowledge of Science, by achieving one of the highest scores in the quiz ever recorded in the lab!!! Well done all of you.
It was an amazing day, enjoyed by children and teachers alike, and has definitely been put in the diary as a “must do” activity every year!!

Report on the Learning of Irish

A Primary School and a Secondary School Inspector, from the Department of Education and Science recently visited 5th & 6th Class. They came to observe the teaching and learning of Irish, with an emphasis on oral language in Senior Classes of a Primary School. They were particularly impressed by the children’s use of pair work, games and drama to develop their oral ability. An account of the children’s brilliant efforts, and accompanying photographs, will be published in a Dept. of Ed. & Science Report on Good Practice in the Learning of Irish next year! Well done everyone!

Holy Communion

Holy Communion took place for four of the children in 2nd Class on 20th May. Several of the other children from school attended the Mass, to sing and play the tin whistle. They all had a very happy day.

Sports News

Sciath na Scol - We’re In The Final!!!!!

The play-off for the Sciath na Scol final took place on Friday 4th May, at the GAA pitch in Dunmanway. The excitement was at fever pitch—and that was just the fans!!!! It was an amazing day for both the boys’ and girls’ teams. Despite the heat of the day, and the tough (not to mention very large, in some cases) opposition, both teams played their hearts’ out, and gained places in the final, which will take place on Thursday 31st of May.
It would be impossible to pick out any one player for praise. They all played brilliantly! There were goals and points aplenty, and some pretty nifty footwork on show. Well done to everyone of you! As our cheerleaders on the day said …...
Two, Four, Six, Eight, Who do we appreciate?
Not the King, Not the Queen. Only Togher Football Team!!!!

County Chess
Champions!!

At the end of April, our chess players became County Chess Champions. Well done boys!! And well done to teacher for all the driving! She has more to do, for on June 5th, she will be taking the team to Limerick, where they will play last year’s champions in the Munster Provincial Championship. Best of luck lads!!!
Last month, a group of children went to M.I.C.C., so that they could practice their skills against chess players in M.I.C.C. Great fun was had by all, and the Togher Chess Players won on the day!!

Cricket News

Cricket season is upon us again. Earlier this month, a team of boys and girls played Middleton College. They played well, and put on a good show, but unfortunately they didn’t win … this time!
Some coaching in cricket is organised for this term.

Cork City Sports

Time Trials were held in school last week for Cork City Sports, and 23 children have qualified, and will represent the school on June 13th.
Further details will be sent to the parents of participating children in the near future.
We wish them all the best of luck on the day.

Parents Association News

Help on Sports Day

The school is holding a fun sports day with Derrinacahera on Friday 1st June. The PA will be providing refreshments for the visiting teachers and parents, as well as helping out with some of the activities.

Savings Scheme

Unfortunately, we will no longer be running the savings scheme after this term. The demand has dropped significantly since An Post told us each child had to have their own account. Well done to the PA members who organised this for all their hard work.

New Committee

The current Parents’ Association Committee are coming to the end of their tenure, with 4 of the main officers all having served 3 years. It will be imperative that we have some new members come September. If you are interested, why not come along to the next meeting, on Tuesday June 8th, to see what it’s all about!!

Health Promoting School

Things are going really well with our HPS programme. Lots of work in the garden going on. So far, the children have planted potatoes, onions, broad beans, peas, chard, lettuce, leeks, cabbage, parsley, calendula, radishes, swede, sunflowers, kale!!!! Healthy eating, here we come. The Health Board are so impressed by the work going on, they asked us to write an article about it for their Ár Sláinte magazine! Here is the article we submitted :

“When we surveyed our school community, at the outset of our HPS Programme, children, parents and staff all had very strong views on what makes a healthy school environment, an environment where everyone flourishes and grows.

These are some of the things they told us were important to them :

Healthy eating and lifestyle choices,
Children working together in groups, helping each other,
More nature-related projects,
The environment
Physical activity,
And fun!!!!

We already have much at Togher N.S. that supports these priorities, but for the Health Promoting Schools Programme, we wanted a project that would encapsulate all of these ideals. We came up with The School Garden.

The School Garden is an organic vegetable garden, where the children are working, and learning, at every stage of the process. They helped the parents’ working group to dig the beds at the start of this year; they are planting all the seeds; and, in groups, they tend the garden. They will nurture their crops till harvest, then they’ll eat their own-grown, organic vegetables! The whole cycle of life is there, and the children participate in every step.

The School Garden is about more than just growing vegetables! It’s studying science and nature and our environment, hands-on. It’s healthy, physical, outdoor, group activities, that all children, no matter their abilities, can take part in. It’s a partnership between children, staff and parents. It’s making healthy choices about the food we eat. Oh! And it’s lots of fun!!”