The latest school newsletter (January 2012) is now available on the Newsletters page. The previous newsletters from November-December 2011 are also now available.

A delegation from the Board of Management met with the Department of Education and Skills, Planning Section, Tullamore last Thursday, 19th of January 2012, to view the submissions received from building services providers in reply to the eTenders advertisement last month. The appointment process is progressing swiftly and it is hoped that a design team will be appointed within weeks.

Applications for enrollment of children in Junior Infants in September 2012 will be accepted by the school during the Month of February. Parents who have already pre-enrolled will be asked to submit a new application before the 29th February. These parents will receive an application form by post. The school’s enrollment policy is available here.

You can now order books online from Setanta Book Clubs. Click here for more details.

Muinteoir Caitriona

A number of representatives from Ghaelcoláiste Phort Láirge will present a talk in Gaelscoil Philib Barún at 7pm on Tuesday, 31 January 2012. The purpose of this informal Q&A session is to provide interested parents with information about potential options for Irish language education at Secondary Level.

On behalf of all parents from the school, the Parent’s Association would like to extend their profound gratitude and thanks to the teachers and staff of Gaelscoil Philib Barún for their efforts in preparing the School Concerts this year. Despite the lack of proper facilities for formal dress rehearsals they still managed to prepare the children and put on a terrific show.

Well done again and thank you!

The Parent’s Association would like to make a contribution towards subsidising some of the extra-curricular activities taking place in the school at present (e.g. Yoga, Speech & Drama) so that these are provided free of charge to all children, during school hours. However, to do so would require a significant increase in support for the fund-raising activities carried out by the association.

To this end, we would very much appreciate your support for the upcoming Food & Wine Tasting Evening next Wednesday, 14 December 2011. Tickets available in the school office (or at the door) for just €8.

We would also like to remind parents that the monthly Parent’s Association meetings are open to anyone to attend, and additional support in the form of volunteers for our various events is always very welcome. At present, there is only a small group of parents (less than 6) who regularly attend, but it would be far more preferable to have a larger pool of volunteers to call upon so that the same core group do not have to continually give their time to organise each and every event. So if you think you can help in an way at all, please feel free to contact us for additional information.

The annual Christmas Concerts will take place on Wednesday, 21 December 2011 and will be divided into two sessions (see below). Admission to all sessions is completely free this year but your continued support for the raffle in Session 2 would be most welcome.

Session 1 – Admission Free!

Junior & Senior Infants and Rang 1 shows will take place in Rang 4 (just inside main door) from 12pm – 2pm, as follows:

• Junior Infants: 12:00pm
• Senior Infants: 12:45pm
• First Class: 1:30pm

Session 2 – Admission Free!

Shows from Rang 2-6 will take place at Stella Maris Hall from 6:30pm – 8:30pm, as follows:

• Class 2: 6:30pm
• Class 3: 7:00pm
• Class 4: 7:20pm
• Class 5: 7:45pm
• Class 6: 8:00pm

Raffle

Tickets for the raffle will cost €3 per strip, or 2 strips for €5. The draw for the raffle will take place after the final show in Session 2.

The Board of Management and Parents Association are delighted to announce that the school’s building project has been posted on the Government Tendering website (the website for Irish public tenders) looking for suitable architects and engineers to progress the building of Gaelscoil Philib Barún through the design stage.

Sixth class recently held a cake sale in aid of school funds raising €344. The money was presented to Jim Heylin, Treasurer of the Parents Association.

Thank you,
Daithí