performed really well.

Thanks to the
teachers for teaching the girls the
St. Philomena’s N.S. songs and dance moves and for looking
Convent Road, Tullamore.
after them so well in Dublin.
February Newsletter, 2018.
Dear Parents/Guardians,
5th February: Antoinette Shaw, the Catechist for our school, visited
I hope everyone had a lovely time playing in the snow over the past
all the classes and was very impressed by the girls’ knowledge of the
few days!
Religion curriculum. She was fascinated by their inquiring minds and
Artist/Architect, Alan Meredith is currently working on an eight week enjoyed their beautiful singing.
project with the girls in Ms. Brophy’s room. They are looking at
6th February: The Confirmation girls went on a
buildings in the locality and making models of them. This is a
retreat in the Day Chapel. This was an
Teacher/Artist Partnership Residency Programme very kindly funded
opportunity for them to reflect on the very
by Laois Education Centre and Offaly County Council.
important sacrament that they will be receiving
We held a Reading Month during February, where many on April 21st. The retreat was very kindly
reading activities took place. Each class chose a novel to organised by Sr. Genny.
read and took part in DEAR time each day. Two authors
6th February: Well done to our two quiz teams who
visited the school this month, the girls in 5th and 6th
took part in the Credit Union Quiz in the Tullamore
Class had a visit from Alan Early and the girls in 3 rd and 4th Class had a
Court Hotel: Aisling, Alexandria, Ashanti, Lillian
visit from Oisín McGann. Thanks to Ms. Marron and Ms. Corrigan for
and Shauna were on the Senior Team and Aoibh,
organising the visits and to Ms. Higgins for designing our Reading
Alannah, Emma, Niamh and Sarah were on the
Bookshelf noticeboard.
Junior Team. They practised so hard over the past few weeks and did
3rd February: The girls travelled to the RDS in Dublin to join with over their school proud on the night. Many thanks to all the teachers for
2000 children in forming the Peace Proms choir. It was an amazing giving so freely of their time to help them with their preparations.
experience for the girls to sing their songs accompanied by a full
orchestra. The girls had spent many weeks practising and they
12th February: The Parent's Association would like to sincerely thank
everyone for their support in
the recent cake
sale. Especially those who took
the time to bake. There were
fabulous cakes and buns to
choose from. Also a special thanks to the parents who donated raffle
prizes themselves or managed to have prizes donated for the raffle.
The cake sale and raffle raised an impressive €765. This money will be
used to buy literacy materials to benefit all of the children. I know all
of our children will benefit from the money raised. A special thank you
to all the parent volunteers both on the day and in the organising of
the event, Ms. Gaffey and the 6th class girls who did a fabulous job.
And everyone in the school community for being so enthusiastic.
Anne Doheny, Chairperson, Parent's Association.
19th February: Ronan Scully from Self Help Africa spoke to all the
girls about the charity work the group does.
During Lent, we are collecting money for the
charity to go towards helping malnourished
children. The girls may bring in any spare
coins they have and the amount raised will be
donated to Ronan at the end of Lent.
23rd February: Ms. Gaffey organised a trip to the Zoology Dept. of
NUIG for the winners of the animal projects. The standard was
extremely high and there were a huge number of entries. After a
difficult decision making process, Kadie S., Nandana, Sarah D., Ellie L.,
Paige K., Serene, Emilie McG., Sarah R., Phoebe, Alveena, Emma D. and
Flavia were announced as the winners. They had a most enjoyable day
in Galway. Thanks to Ms. Gaffey and Ms. O’ Meara for bringing the
girls.
27th February: Well done to Abbie Maunsell from Ms.
Marron’s class for representing the school at the
Offaly round of the Spelling Bee. The standard was
very high and Abbie did very well keeping her cool
throughout and spelling some very difficult words.
Points to Note
Wednesday, February 14th was the beginning of Lent and in the
interest of healthy eating, we are asking that all sweets and treats be
left at home so that the school can be a sweet free zone. Thank you
for your co-operation.
Please ensure that we have your correct phone number, as we regularly
send text messages or may need to contact you in case of emergency.
A draft copy of our SEN Policy is on the home page of our website
www.stphilomenasns.ie. If you have any comments or suggestions,
please contact the school by March 12th.
Many thanks to all the parents that responded to our Oral Language
questionnaire. We are currently collating the responses and these will
form an important part of our School Self Evaluation.
Kind regards, Bridget Clear.