Togher N.S.

Happy Halloween!!

Welcome back to another year in Togher NS!! We hope you all had a very enjoyable Summer Holiday. The children seemed to come back with boundless energy, which is a good thing, as we were straight into action when term started…. Swimming, cycling, musical visitors, trip to the library, Indian project, etc, etc!!
Not to mention lots of work, of course! Phew!! I think the half-term break will be very welcome.
Happy Halloween, watch out for the ghosts and witches! Let’s hope there are lots of treats and not too many tricks!!
As always a huge Thank You to all the Parents who have given so willingly of their time. We are truly grateful. We couldn’t do without you. Happy holidays to you all. From the Staff & Pupils

Congratulations to our past pupils who did so well in their exams! We are so proud of you and wish you the best in the future.
And best of luck to our old 6th Class in Secondary School. We miss you!

Heritage in Schools
Musical Instruments of Pre-History

Simon O’Dwyer, from Galway, visited us last month, and what a treat it was!!
He is Ireland’s foremost expert on music of pre-history, that is, musical instruments dating from the Stone Age, through to the Middle Ages.
The children were totally captivated by his talks, and the school was filled with the weird and wonderful sounds of stone age “flutes”, Medieval horns, the biggest horn ever made in Ireland, to mention a few!
Simon brought History to life with his music and his story-telling. We hope we can have him back again some time.
Many thanks to the Parents’ Association who helped to fund this visit.

Weaving and Spinning

The first week back after the mid-term break, we will be visited by Geraldine O’Sullivan, who will do weaving and spinning with the children. She has visited us in the past, and the children enjoyed her work. This year she hopes to make lots of box looms, to let the children make their own rag-rugs. So, if you have any wooden veg boxes (the kind tomatoes come in!), or brightly coloured cloth you could donate, it would be greatly appreciated.

West Cork Music
The Callino Quartet

There was another musical treat this term for the children, when the Callino Quartet visited. They played everything from Beethoven to the Simpsons’ Theme!! They discussed the String Quartet’s historical context in music and its relevance today. They also explained how each instrument works and then the children were given the chance to conduct these Classically trained musicians, and, boy, did they make them work hard!!
It was a truly memorable experience to hear such professional musicians. Thanks again to the Parents’ Association who funded this.

Panto Trip

This year’s panto trip will take place on Wednesday 19th December. It’s Cinderella this year (or is it “Cinder Fella”?!?!).
Because the cost has increased to €20 per child, the Parents Association has volunteered to pay the bulk of the transport costs.

Halloween Party for Infants

There will be a fancy dress party in the Infants Class on the last day of term! Bring in fancy dress if you have it!

Don Conroy
Library Visit

Earlier this month, 5th & 6th Classes had a wonderful treat when they went off to Dunmanway Library to listen to a talk by Don Conroy, one of Ireland’s foremost children’s authors. The children did some preparation, by reading, or re-reading, many of Don’s books, which we have here at school. They all came up with interesting questions for him, for instance, “Do you believe in Vampires?!?!” (Don has written several books on these mysterious creatures!). He kindly gave two sketches to the school, which he’d drawn during the visit.

“Puppet Power”

As part of the Development Education Programme, “Puppet Power”, aka Penny and Arran, are coming into school once a week for 6 weeks. Using Indian storytelling, puppet shows, drama, dance, art, etc, they aim to: “celebrate diversity; encourage respect for all people, a shared humanity; explore themes of inclusion and exclusion; increase awareness of global issues; promote the Millennium Development Goals; and link all of these to the school’s curriculum”.

Films In Schools

Congratulations!!!

Absolutely wonderful news ….. Our FÍS film was Runner Up in West Cork, in this year’s competition. All that hard work paid off.
“The Fairytale Oscars” has been chosen by The National Council of Technology in Education to receive a national award. This award ceremony will take place in The Helix in Dublin on Thursday 25th October. We are very honoured to be one of the 25 schools nationwide to be nominated for an award.
Following a meeting of the Parents Association and the teachers, it was decided to send two children and a teacher to accept this award.
The two children chosen will be from 5th and 6th Class. This will be decided by raffle.
As one of the organizers of the programme said : “It is heartening to see how everyone has progressed and become so confident and independent in the whole film making process. Congratulations to you and your pupils on producing such a high quality film”!!
It really was an amazing experience for the children, and the fact that “The Fairytale Oscars” is a national award winner just shows how much they have all learned, through this great project.
Well done to all the children and the teachers, who worked so hard. Particular thanks is due to Ms O’Connell who put in so many hours of hard work on this project. Her technical expertise was invaluable.

Sports News

Tag Rugby Training

Rugby fever has struck! Kayne Henderson, a Rugby coach from New Zealand (via Dunmanway Rugby club!), is coming in to school on Thursday afternoons to do Tag Rugby training. Could we have a few budding Ronan O’Garas or Brian O’Driscolls in our midst?!

Football Training

Football Training has also commenced, with Charlie coming down from Cork on Fridays. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to enter the Sciath na Scol competition next year again.

Table Tennis

Table Tennis classes have started again, on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

Parents Association News

Christmas Craft Fair

We must not, of course, rest on our laurels, despite our healthy bank balance! So once again, we are planning to hold the Christmas Craft Fair.
There is a problem, however, with St Patrick’s Hall, but we have been very lucky, because Martin Maybury of the Parkway Hotel has very kindly offered us the use of the hotel for the Craft Fair, at no charge. We are indebted to him for all the support he has given us over the years.
If you would like to help out, either with the planning stage or on the day, you’d be very welcome! A letter will be sent out soon, detailing how you can help.
As the Fair will be taking place in the Parkway, we will be unable to run our café, which is usually a big part of the fundraising effort. So, if you can come up with any other ideas or suggestions of things we could do on the day to raise more funds, please let a member of the committee know.
The next Parents Association meeting will be on Tuesday 23rd October at 8pm, and all are welcome.

Health Promoting School

The garden did well over the holidays. Thanks to the Murray Family for taking care of it. The children are busy harvesting their pumpkins for Halloween lanterns, and making pumpkin soup.
On the last day of the Summer Term, we all had a great treat, when the older children harvested their potatoes and cooked them all up. Everyone in school got a chance to taste them, including our visitor on that day, Father O’Leary! He declared them “delicious”, and said our garden was one of the best projects he’d seen in a school.
Liz is working on a report to be submitted to the HSE, after which we should hopefully get our Health Promoting School recognition.
If there is enough interest with the older children, we may run some yoga classes again after the mid-term break. If you have a child in 5th or 6th Class who would like to do yoga, please let Liz know.