Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School RMDSNEWS

LEARNING AND LIVING IN THE WORLD TOGETHER
SUMMER 2014
RMDSNEWS
Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School
From The Principal’s Desk:
It seems like no time
since last September…
and we were setting out our stall for
the year and now it is at an end! As I am
writing this we have had a wonderful
day celebrating our second Green Flag
and doing our bit for the environment
and the future of our world. Our thanks
to Duncan Stewart, environmental
activist and former parent who really
made it a special day for the pupils,
as you can see from the photos
in this newsletter…
From The Principal’s Desk:
Junior Infants
On behalf of all the pupils and the staff, I want to thank you all for
your support of the many and varied activities that go on over
the course of a school year. Particular thanks to those of you
who have served on the various school committees over the
year. It simply would not be possible to run our school without
the voluntary support of parents and families and for that we are
most grateful. Together with your continued financial support of
the school, we are a thriving and vibrant school community.
This time of year brings goodbyes. Sixth class leave us next
week to go their various ways. We wish them every happiness and
success and all our good wishes for the future. Congratulations to
all of the children in the class who graduate with distinction – and
special congratulations to Róisín, who was awarded a scholarship
to Sandford Park School. We say goodbye to Ben (R3) and
Sam (SI) who are moving house to Monkstown and temporary
goodbyes to Max (JI) and Tadhg (R5). We wish Louise Ormiston all
the best for the birth of her first baby during the summer.
We say a fond farewell to Padraic McGinley who retires from
RMDS this year. Padraic has been teaching with us here for the
past fifteen years. Prior to coming here, he taught in Tallaght
for many years. He is a person of knowledge and integrity,
dependable and direct, with an original and quirky sense of
humour that was much appreciated by his pupils (and his
colleagues) over the years. He had a particular interest in teaching
drama and held posts of responsibility for Gaeilge, drama and
science in the school. He was for many years our trade union
representative. He was also a parent here in RMDS, as both his
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RMDS SUMMER 2014
children, Neil and Clodagh went to school here. So to Padraic and
Paula, his wife, enjoy this next phase of your lives! We wish you all
the very best of good health and happiness for the future.
As usual, school reports are enclosed with this newsletter.
The Me as Learner sheet is an opportunity for the children to talk
to you about their assessment of their year. There are different
views on whether the actual report should be shared with the
children – they are written for parents, not pupils, so this might
be a suitable way to discuss with your child their year here in
RMDS. Rang 6 have a different pupil sheet this year – we are trying
out some of the new Education Passport materials. These will
become a mandatory part of the transition to post primary from
next September. Please contact the class teachers if you have
any queries or need clarification on anything in the reports. Review
sheets are also enclosed and we welcome any comments or
suggestions on how the year went for you and your children.
Finally may I extend to those of you who have suffered
bereavement and ill health over the course of this year the
thoughts and good wishes of everyone here in RMDS.
Have a relaxing summer
and see you all safe and well
in September!
In September we all met
for the first time in Junior
Infants. We started to get
to know one another, day by
day. By now we have made
lots of friends and have been
to lots of birthday parties!
We’ve had lots of fun in
school this year.
This term we went on our school tour to Glenroe Farm in
County Wicklow . It was a great day out and we loved travelling
together by bus. We loved the climbing frame on Sport for all
Day and we really loved learning how to play Unihoc. Go team
Junior Infants !
Some Mums and Dads helped us a lot coming on trips
during the year and with art and other activities .We really
appreciated them giving their time so a big ‘Thank you ‘ to
you all.
Our buddies are leaving the school at the end of this
term and we’ll certainly miss them . We hope they have a
really good time in Secondary school. If they want to see
us again they know where we’ll be… .in Senior Infants and
they’ll be welcome to visit !
That’s all from Junior Infants
for now. We’re going to have
the best summer ever and hope
you all do too!
Our Grandparents are coming to see us in our classroom
on Tuesday 24th and it will be a great day too!
We loved when Duncan Stewart visited us in the
classroom for the Green Flag celebration ! He liked our
classroom with all our art on the walls. He said he wished he
could be five years old like us again!
RMDS SUMMER 2014
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Senior Infants
We had a lot of fun in Senior
Infants this year. Mr. Teddy
Bear has had a brilliant year
also and really enjoyed his
travels. Thanks everyone
who looked after him for us.
He is looking forward to his
Summer holidays in Cork.
We have had a fantastic time in forest schools this
last term. We loved exploring and learning in the outdoor
environment. We got to build nests and dens while having so
much fun together. In class we did experiments with magnets
and water and also got to sow and grow seeds.
We loved problem solving, playing with money and using
the weight balances during math tasks. Circle time and
mindfulness was a lovely time to talk and listen to each other
while playing octopus in the yard was always very exciting.
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RMDS SUMMER 2014
Rang a hAon
During the year we all worked hard and have gotten so
good at reading and writing. We can now read bigger words
and write longer sentences. We have had great fun playing
Deir O’Grádaigh and Bingó and now have lots of new words as
Gaeilge. We can’t wait to learn more Gaeilge next year.
We were very lucky to go on school trips during the year. We
had a great time at the puppet show, Imaginosity and the zoo.
We had a fantastic time preparing for the Christmas Concert.
We learnt all about Rama and Sita. We hope you enjoyed our
performance on stage!
We have had a brilliant year and
have gotten much taller too!
We are all looking forward to
first class and meeting our new
teacher in September.
Have a nice Summer from all in
Senior Infants.
We have had a very busy term
here in Rang a hAon. We have
learnt lots of new things…
to the Ark during Dublin Writer’s Festival and we found the
missing story! We are all reading harder books too. We practice
our ocarinas every week and we know lots of songs.
We love going to PE in Mount Pleasant and we really like
GAA with Michael. We had a great time on Sport for All Day. In
Core Curriculum we found out about the lives of children just
like us from around the world. We did a draw for the FIFA World
Cup and each of us got a bookmark for our team.
In Maths we can now add with carrying tens and we can do
much harder subtraction. We have learnt about some famous
artists and we had great fun doing scissors drawings like Henri
Matisse. We painted in the style of Paul Klee and we also looked Our favourite trip this year so far was to the Leprechaun
at Kandinsky’s circles. Last week we went on a trip to the
museum-it was great fun! We are really looking forward to going
National Art Gallery and saw lots of very interesting paintings.
to Fort Lucan, hopefully the sun will shine.
In Science we studied mini beasts and the life cycle of
the butterfly. We also did experiments to find out what
floats and sinks.
We wrote poems and we had a great time writing our own
books. Ms. Ryan says we are all authors now! We loved our trip
We will be sad to leave Rang 1 but
look forward to coming back to
visit when we are in Rang 2
RMDS SUMMER 2014
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Rang a Dó
Rang a Trí
We wrote a poem
to say goodbye to Mr McGinley
— thank you Ms Farley for your help!
Farewell Mr McGinley
The time has come to say farewell
But first we have a few tales to tell!
We are your last (and best) class ever
These are the memories we hope you’ll treasure.
Every Friday a climb to Pleasant Mountain
Nobody knows who’s going to captain.
We loved the art, painting, drawing, cutting and clay,
10 minutes PE every day (Féach thar gualainn amháin go mall) said as an aside
‘Tógaigí amach an Bun go Barr’
We have been such a busy
class all year.
Some of the highlights for our class were being the gardening
team for the year, going swimming every Thursday, taking
part in Forest schools in the 2nd term, our trips to Smock
Alley Theatre and The Ark, and of course our very latest trip to
Causey Farm in Co. Meath.
We loved having Ms. Hanney, teaching along with Ms.
Brennan, for 4 weeks this term. She taught us all about the
seas and oceans of the world. We did cool art work where
we worked in groups, creating a sea painting. She put up any
“Fintastic Work!” that she noticed on display in our classroom.
We did experiments to prove whether something was
waterproof or not.
Last Friday the whole class participated in Sport for All
Day, which was so much fun. But the highlight of this term
Since Easter we have learned a lot about treating each
was definitely our trip to Causey Farm. After a tractor and
other well and we made our class a “No nasty name-calling
trailer ride to the bog we had such fun jumping in the soft,
“zone. We really enjoyed having some more GAA lessons and
squelchy 3000 year old peat! We got very, very muddy! After
worked at improving our skills. We’re looking forward to taking
we changed we went on a farm tour and saw little puppies and
part in the Blitz Peil next week where we will play against Lios Na a pig which was pregnant.
nÓg and Scoil Bhríde.
We learned how to sing “Rocky Mountain” in two parts and
also a great song about the fate of the Titanic. Speaking of the
Titanic, we are now experts on this topic as we focused on the
story of what happened to it in almost every subject!
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RMDS SUMMER 2014
We are looking forward to next
year because we will be having
two teachers!
This we’ll never here no more
You are so funny, you make us laugh
We know you are always cracking up the staff
You clapped your hands and sang
‘There’s only one John Heavey’
Your sneezes go off with a very loud bang (everybody sneezes)
(this is the best room in the school to sneeze!) said as an aside?
Doing Maths is lots of fun, challenging Maths is No. 1
We went to the museum and Lullymore, they were the very best school tours.
We went with you to forest schools, there we learnt all the survival rules
The rain came down we nearly drowned but thanks to you we came back safe and sound
Remember when we did the Christmas play
We had to practice every day.
Katie said ‘I love you’ but you decided to your wife to be true.
You jumped on the Budda bag and shouted with glee
‘I have to be me!’
Have a great summer from
all in Rang a Trí !
RMDS SUMMER 2014
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Rang a Ceathair
School Tours
This year, we went on many trips. Here is a bit about them…
We went to The Botanic Gardens, Hugh Lane, the Jewish
museum, Dublinia, and we are going to Clara Lara and Croke
Park! We’re not sure what our favourite is yet. Rosie thought
Dvblinia was interesting we learned a lot about Vikings. Zainb said
she liked the Botanic Gardens especially the ‘Venus Fly Traps’.
Rachel liked Hugh Lane, Francis Bacon’s studio was so messy...
Síofra liked the Jewish Museum, it might be because we got
cakes in the kosher bakery after it!
In The Botanic Gardens we went in to a green house that
looked like a jungle! We also saw lots or Orchids. In the Hugh Lane
we saw lots of art, sculptures and stained glass. In the Jewish
museum we saw Jewish things and learned about Jewish people.
In Dublinia we learned about Vikings! and we saw wax models.
On Thursday 19th we are going to Croke Park and on the last
week of school we are going to Clara Lara! We are all very exited
about Clara Lara. So over all this year has had lots of good tours :)
By Sadhbh and Rosie :)
Baking
We baked pancakes during Seachtain na Gaelige. Everybody
made them. We put lemon, sugar and nutella on them. Ms Farley
and Mr Fairbrother helped us. Thank you.
We all made Challah bread as part of our Jewish project. It
was very nice and very filling. We put butter and jam on them. At
the end of the day we brought home a small loaf of bread.
Every week, some people in the class get a chance to go
baking. Not everyone got a chance so once Alex taught a group
how to make cookies and we got to eat them.
By Tom, Chris and Cian
Gaeilge
We made lego movies for ‘Seachtain na Gaeilge’ which was great
fun. A lego movie is where you make an animation movie out of
lots of pictures of lego.
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RMDS SUMMER 2014
Rang a Cúig
We brought in our own lego and cameras. Sometimes,
we didn’t use lego! We also used Playmobile pieces and
sandwiches! After each shot we moved the lego men a small bit,
to make it look like they were walking, fighting and other things.
After the céilí we showed them to the school in the hall. It took a
long time but we had great fun.
We wrote our Christmas play as Gaeilge. Mr Fairbrother
was very proud of us. We learned the cup song and Pompeii as
Gaeilge too. Bhí Gaeilge go maith i mbliana.
Le Ellen, Naoise agus Rosa.
P.E
This year in P.E we did athletics, cricket, gymnastics and many
more.
Cricket was very pleasant this year because we learned a lot
about bowling, fielding and batting and at the end we played a
cricket blitz in Leinster Cricket club.
In athletics we went to Mount Pleasant and Dartmouth for
relays and laps. We also did Santry where everyone did their
best and under 10 girls won silver and bronze.
In gymnastics we had to jump over a horse and do
handstands and cartwheels. We also had to do tumbles.
One of the most recent activities was hurling which was
great fun. Sports for all day was great fun too. We learned gaelic
skills too and Sam Maguire came to visit.
By Aidan and Charlie
Projects
We have worked on lots of projects this year. Some were about
rivers, Judaism, Buddhism pilgrimages and our most recent one
was about the GAA. We had lots of fun making the projects. One
of our favourites was the rivers project. We had lots of fun making
projects this year and hopefully we will get to make more next year.
Our main tour this year was to
Baltinglass where we enjoyed
a lot new of experiences…
such as archery, rock wall climbing, kayaking and orienteering.
Let’s not forget to mention our trip to leisureplex where we
did bowling and quazar. The quazar was the definite favourite
among our classmates. We also went to the Irish Aid Centre
on O’Connell Street and learnt about poverty in over 100
countries around the globe and got to dress in khangas
(native African dress) and experiment with lots of musical
instruments.
This term Tadhg left us to go to America because his
grandfather sadly passed away but we were glad when he
returned to us for the month of June. Laura who used to be in our
class came in on Friday the 30th of May. It was good to see her.
We have also read a lot of books this year including Hunger
Games “Catching Fire”, “Under the Hawthorn Tree” and the
“Breadwinner” and Ms. Ormiston read aloud to us The Wild
Flower Girl” and the “Hunger Games 1” .
We learnt about Hinduism; here’s a fun fact for you; when
Hindu people get married they take seven steps away and take
seven towards each other to represent food, strength, wealth,
good luck, children, the seasons and lasting friendship.
We were lucky enough to participate in a six week cycling
programme AND do six cricket sessions – it was great to have
so many sport classes in the Summer term . We did cycling in
Linear Park and cricket in the Leinster Cricket Grounds. Cycling
took place on Thursdays and cricket on Fridays.
As mentioned in previous newsletters, other highlights of
the year included our visit to RCSI where we performed cool
experiments. In February, we went to the Jeanie Johnson; it
was an awful day weather wise and some of us did not like the
rocking – it was too realistic!
Have a lovely summer and
special wishes to
Ms Ormiston!
By Harry and Max
RMDS SUMMER 2014
9
Rang a Sé
an amusement park and a trip to Aran Mór island. In the
evenings we went back to the college where we would have
our evening event such as, a quiz, disco, céilí or talent show.
The whole trip was loads of fun.
In History we learnt a lot about the 1916 rising. We
watched videos about each of the seven signatories of the
proclamation. We also did a small project on different topics
within the 1916 Rising. We also went to Kilmainham Gaol,
where we saw where the leaders were all executed.
One of the parents in the school, Ivana Bacik, very
kindly organised a trip to the Dáil for us. We were brought
around by one the 58 ushers working in the buildings. He told
us all about the history of the Dáil and what happens there
nowadays. The Dáil wasn’t sitting that day, so we got an even
longer tour.
This year, some members of our class took part in the
Morton’s Cup and won it. They beat KPS in the final. Well
done to everyone on the team.
Recently we have been doing cricket in Leinster Cricket
Club. On our last day of cricket, we had a tournament with
fifth, fourth and our class, we really enjoyed ourselves.
Last week “Sports for all Day” took place. We did loads
of fun activities such as tennis, cricket, games in Linear
Park and used the climbing frame. It was a really fun day. It
has been a very successful eight years in RMDS and we are
very sad to be leaving. We are looking forward to starting
secondary school, in September.
Goodbye from Rang 6!
At the start of the year, each
member of our class got
paired up with a buddy from
Junior Infants. Over the year
we have done lots of fun things
with them and we are really
going to miss them next year.
We had a visit from Stuart Milk, the nephew of Harvey Milk who
was the first gay man elected to Public office in California. Stuart
was a very nice man and dedicated some of his time to talk to us
about LGBT issues.
Throughout the year we read some novels in class, “The
River Boy”, “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” and now we are in
the middle of “Kensuke’s Kingdom”.
10 RMDS SUMMER 2014
School Council
In RMDS we have a school
council. Two members from
Rang 6 are chosen to go forward
as delegates to Comhairle
na nÓg , a mini parliament
organised by Dublin City Council
each Autumn.
These two members chair the school council each year with
Ms Whelan. In addition two pupils from each of the classes
from Rang 3 to Rang 6 represent the views of the pupils.
The two representatives are chosen each half term by their
teachers - the idea is to give everyone at least one chance to
represent the class. We meet weekly from October to May .
This year we organised the Christmas raffle and the
Easter raffle with the Executive. We did the Spring Clean
up in April with the Parents Association. Our main work
this year was helping to organise the pupils idea’s for
improvements to the linear park. We were delighted to
meet Maria and Jimi, from TTT, the designers who have
produced the draft plans for the park. They showed us
their ideas for the play areas. We organised the Forts
competition with the Green School committee this year
too. Congratulations to Erasmus, Ben, Róisín, Anabel and
Madeline who won prizes. We really hope that the work
starts soon, so that we can enjoy the park at break times
and also in the afternoons after school.
Before the Easter break we worked very hard on preparing
for the musical. We did “The Wizard of Oz”. Everyone got a role
and we all enjoyed taking part. Fifth class accompanied us by
singing all the songs with us. It was very successful.
We would like to say thank you to all the classes who
listened to our reports each week and made suggestions
and asked questions. We hope you all have a lovely Summer
and we say goodbye and good luck to Rang 6.
In Core Curriculum, we focused on Irish Aid. We worked
in groups. We later visited the Irish Aid Centre on O’ Connell
Street. We watched a short film about a girl living in Malawi and
in the other half of the tour we learnt about Tanzania. We got
to play the Bongos and dress up in the traditional Tanzanian
clothing. It was lots of fun.
The School Council
Also, Ellen Sides from the Humanist Society came in to
talk to us about Humanist beliefs. It was very interesting.
In the last week of May we headed off to Donegal for our
Gaeltacht trip. We got the bus up and stopped off in Monaghan.
Mr Fairbrother came along with us. The name of the college was
Coláiste na Rosann. We stayed in houses, where our Bean an
Tí looked after us. Each morning we went to class from 10 till 1
and then headed home before an afternoon full of activities.
Some of the activities we did included, going to the beach,
RMDS SUMMER 2014
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Home and school working together
— how Technology can help
“Many attempts have been
made to harness the appeal
of video games to encourage
mathematical learning,
particularly amongst young
people. The great challenge
is to make games designed
to teach mathematics
engage young people in
the same way as regular,
recreational video games.”
Dr Marcus Du Sautoy OBE
Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford
The above gives a sense of why RMDS has invested in
a subscription to Mangahigh.com). We are working hard to
encourage our pupils to develop a love of maths and an ease
with key mathematical skills, particularly problem solving.
One of the great developments of recent years has been the
increased use of technology as a tool in teaching maths. Our
school has tried to harness this by subscribing to a website
called ‘Mangahigh.com’
www.mangahigh.com/myschool/ranelaghmds
Music
Children in RMDS from Rang 1 up to Rang 6 have been learning
an instrument , ocarina and/or descant recorder, as part of
the music curriculum. Learning an instrument involves and
develops many different skills which can be a rewarding,
though challenging process for all involved. As many of us
probably recall from our own experience, there is a direct
relationship between regular practice and the successful
acquisition of key skills, particularly in the case of instrumental
music. It can often be a torturous experience for both the
learner and the listener.
We found that a website with a free programme called
‘Joytunes Recorder Master’ provides skills practice through fun
and games. (You will need to register on the site www.joytunes.
com/game.php) and create password etc in order to use it. (It
is also available as an app for tablets.)
It is particularly useful in encouraging and motivating
children to practice recorder fingering, play tunes rhythmically,
and develop accuracy. This is all done through games in a fun
way. There are also ear training exercises integrated into the
different levels. The children in Rang 3 in particular, have made
great strides with it this year, but it is appropriate for all children
in senior classes. Try it out and let us know what you think!
Mary Clare Pigott
From the PA
Childcare
The Parents Association
had a very busy term.
Our Cinema night was a great success and enjoyed by
parents and children alike, and raised lots of funds for the
garden project. Our coffee mornings were very well attended
and raised funds for the Irish Cancer society We had a
fantastic Sports day, with the usual competitive edge, lots of
fun, and plenty of memories
Our AGM will be held in September, and we would love
to see more parents joining the committee, and getting
involved as in as much that suits you
The PA aim to:
— Promote the active involvement of parents in enriching
children’s experience of school life,
— Provide a forum for discussion of issues of common
interest to parents and a channel for the communication
of these issues to the Principal and Board of Management,
— Support parents in developing in their role as parents and
in contributing to the school community,
— Provide a social forum for parents.
If anyone would like to join the committee or discuss any
ideas, please contact any of the committee
Caroline Walsh (Chair)
Melissa Darmody
Stephanie Horgan (Treasurer)
Dori Kelly
Conor Smyth
Deirdre Whelan (Secretary)
Grainne McAleer
Clodagh Moran
Avril Whelan
David Quinn
Ashling Daly
Anne Harrington
Their team include graphic designers and mathematicians
who have come together to design maths video games for
children, which develop essential mathematical skills.
On behalf of the PA I would like to wish everyone a fantastic
summer.
As stated on their website “our aim is to dispel the fear
of Mathematics and motivate the students to embark on a
learning trajectory that goes beyond the boundaries set in a
traditional pedagogic environment.”
Chairperson
Caroline Walsh
It is our 8th year running
the childcare facility and
we would like to thank all
who have supported us
along the way.
We said goodbye to Inga who went back to Lithuania to be with
her family and Siobhan who moved to England.
We would like to thank Shauna and Amal for all their help
with the running of the childcare. Amal will be leaving us at the
end of July to pursue his teaching career and we wish him the
best of luck.
RMDS CHILDCARE
SUMMER NEWSLETTER
We have 35 places in our 1 hour session and we have
just filled these places for September 2014. We also cater for
the afternoon session 1.10-6pm and 2.10-6pm, if you require
a place drop us an email at [email protected] and we will forward on an application form.
We are now running a camp in July 8.30-2pm and childcare in
the afternoon 2-5pm. Limited
available.
Anna places
and Christopher
enjoying their time at one of our
camps.
Enjoy your Summer Holidays.
Caroline Carroll
Welcome to RMDS Childcare Summer Newsletter
2014. We are now into our 8 year running the childcare facility and we would like to thank all who have
supported us along the way. We said goodbye to Inga
who went back to Lithuania to be with her family
and Siobhan who moved to England. The childcare would like to thank Shauna and
Amal for all their help with the running of the childcare. Amal will be leaving us at the
end of July to pursue his teaching career and we wish him the best of luck in his future
career.
In our school, we are using Mangahigh from 2nd up to 6th
classes. (The incoming second class will be given passwords
in September) Accessing the site is easy, children have their
own individual passwords and have practiced using them
in their classes . We would like to see the children in those
classes take full advantage of the facility over the year,
(including the holidays). By using the facilities at Mangahigh.
com we hope that our students will get more pleasure from
doing mathematics. This should improve their confidence and
nurture a positive relationship with the subject. Enjoy!
12 RMDS SUMMER 2014
Above is a picture taken with Juniors and Seniors Infants, try and see can you spot
your child :)
RMDS SUMMER 2014
13
We have 35 places in our 1 hour session and we have just filled these places for
September 2014. We also cater for the afternoon session 1.10-6pm and 2.10-6pm,
From the Board of Management
The normal day-to-day management of the school involves
appointing staff, enrolment, curriculum, collecting voluntary
contributions, managing finances, childcare service, school
insurance, extra-curricular activities, rental of the hall, safety and
maintenance, meeting with representatives of the Executive and
the PA, and ongoing policy review. Here are some highlights of the
Board’s activities this year.
We collected €40,000 in voluntary contributions. Many thanks
to all who contributed so generously this year to your school.
Thanks to the many of you who completed the new tax certificates
which will allow the school claim a tax refund of up to 44% in respect
of a contribution of more than €250 in any one year. These tax
forms are effective for the next five years so thankfully we won’t
have to bother many of you again for some time. If you haven’t yet
completed a tax form you can download it from www.revenue.ie/
en/tax/it/forms/chy3cert-charity.pdf. Completed forms should be
dropped into the office for the attention of Ciaran Fallon.
Voluntary contributions enabled us to support additional
classroom resources, to enhance children’s school experience
through various activities and programmes, to purchase additional
music, PE and IT equipment, and to rent additional space for sports
as well as enabling us to meet the costs of ongoing minor repairs
and maintenance. In addition €23,500 passed to the patron body,
the RMDS Association who help pay for the cost of the school
building and its long term maintenance. The BoM accounts are now
available from the office.
One of the most important aspects of the Board’s work is
direction of the School Self Evaluation (SSE) process of internal
school review. This year, following on from last year’s work on
numeracy the principal and teachers, in consultation with parents
and pupils, have engaged in a reflective enquiry into the teaching
of literacy. We would like to thank all those who took the time to
complete the school’s literacy survey. We received a remarkable
150 responses — meaning that the vast majority of families in the
school took the opportunity to participate. The survey was designed
to capture the input of parents and guardians into the school’s self
evaluation of its teaching of literacy. Earlier both staff and pupils had
provided their views on the subject. Before the end of term we will be
publishing the results of the evaluation together with the school’s plan
for enhancing the teaching of literacy over the coming years together
with an update on our improvement plan for numeracy. We were also
pleased to launch the Anti Bullying policy in the final term.
The school continues to run a vibrant, successful and
constantly evolving set of extra-curricular activities. Last year
we added chess, squash and French to the range of activities on
offer and we are currently exploring some new activities for next
year, including a science club The Board would like to thank all the
providers of the classes and all those who took part. It is great to see
so many parents encouraging and supporting their children in this
way. We would welcome any comments or feedback that you may
have on any of the classes.
During its 4 year term the Board is focusing particular attention
on enhancing learning in two ways. The first is through greater
use of outdoor learning. The Forest School initiative is the result
of this. Following is successful pilot in Rang 2 last year it has been
extended this year to Rang 3 and to senior infants. The second way
we were are looking to enhance learning is through greater use of IT
resources. This year the Board has agreed a multi-year programme
to maintain and enhance the school’s IT infrastructure including
its laptops, wireless network, projectors and other devices. The
robustness of this infrastructure has now become critical as more
and more teachers are taking advantage of online learning tools and
techniques.
At the start of the year we welcomed William Connor, parent
of Jean in Senior Infants to the Board replacing Joe Hackett as one
of the two community representatives. Below you’ll see the names
and responsibilities of the current Board members. Finally we’d like
to take this opportunity to thank the staff, parents and pupils for all
their hard work and support this year.
We wish you all a great Summer.
Colm Healy (chair, ET liaison)
Joan Whelan (principal and secretary)
Geraldine Hall (treasurer)
William Connor (recording secretary, IT liaison)
Camilla Noonan (enrolment)
Paul Fairbrother (health & safety, maintenance)
Maeve Kinsella (extra-curricular activities, Childcare liaison)
Ciaran Fallon (voluntary contributions Insurance, Hall rental)
From the Patron
All Irish primary schools are required to have a patron. The patron
owns the school, provides a suitable premises, oversees activities
with in the school and develops and perpetuates the ethos of the
school. In Ireland, in most schools, this function is carried out by
religious institution. In the case of RMDS, the patron of the school
is a limited company, the Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School
Association (RMDSA). The executive committee and its members
serve as the directors of this company. In common with all other
limited companies, the RMDSA arranges an AGM every year and
elects an Executive Committee to discharge its functions. This
year’s AGM was held on the 4th of June.
The proposal is for the gates to remain permanently open to allow
pedestrians to flow though the park rather than down the main road.
There will be new signage of a historical nature and a bench or two
from which to enjoy the new layout. We also hope to install some
play equipment.. Another hope is that the imposing tennis club wall
will be improved or alternatively be turned into an art wall.
Projects and fund raising
Volunteers and Fund Raising
The Christmas fair or the Santa fest as it’s known in our
house, where do I start? A great day, a really nice atmosphere,
unfortunately a really long queue for the great man but hopefully
made bearable by some roving entertainers and a Santa in great
form. There was also a classroom full of magic, a hall full of toys and
a staff room full of deliciously donated food. Thanks and well done
to all those who succumbed to the intense pressure on the gate,
prepared food and brought it along or volunteered to help out. The
causality rate amongst Santa’s elves can be quite alarming.
The Council have been very supportive and while there is a
process to go through, we are hopeful of early funding. It will of
course require some finance although we hope to get significant
help from the council.
As the patron, a core obligation of the RMDSA is to provide a suitable
school premises. As we have no independent sources of finance, we
rely on fundraising events and the generosity of our parents to raise
finance for projects to maintain and enhance the existing site and
the buildings on it.
All fundraising events, building projects and efforts to improve
the school environment require a mix of skills, untold energy and
varying amounts of volunteer time to bring the many creative
ideas to fruition. In a community as small as ours, RMDS is an
Educate Together school remember, it is important that each
Sports day In conjunction with the PA, it was an epic scorching
family partakes in such events, no matter, in how small a capacity
day, Sunday, the 8th of June and enjoyed by all.
and we are always keen to hear of any ideas parents or their
We have been involved in the redesign of the RMDS website this more inspirational acquaintances may have for fundraising in the
year. The clouds, the colour blue, the balloon, all themes brought
future. On that note I’d like to thank all the volunteers and existing
forward from the previous design. More photographs and visual
members of the executive for all their hard work throughout the
content lift and partition areas of dense text making it easier to read. year and an ever so slightly smaller thank you to those sidling out
The navigation has been improved. which will make it easier for staff and planning on not coming back. I’d also like to thank Joan Whelan,
and committee members to add content to the site. Ambitiously
the principal and the teaching staff for all their hard work. From a
we even have a blog for each of the eight classes. We’ll see how they personal point of view, my children really love attending RMDS and
progress. When it’s actually finished there’ll be emails, there’ll be
the staff are a big part of the reason why.
texts and maybe even a paradoxical note in the school bag.
Building works due to start this summer The sound of fifty tiny
and not so tiny feet river dancing in the seomra spraoi make life
quite difficult for those in the rooms below. We aim to improve that.
We also aim to improve matters between the two resource rooms
on the ground floor beneath the seomra spraoi where air born noise
due to inadequate door and moving wall seals cause disruption
when both rooms are in use. In addition some double glazed panels
in the stairwell at the junior infants end of the school need a little
attention. Lastly, we had / have some leaks in the extension which
we hope to sort out, finally!
Mount Pleasant Square Park
Ethos
The Ranelagh Multi-Denominational School (RMDS) is an affiliated
Educate Together school based on the principles of the Educate
Together charter. This charter states that schools adhering to this
doctrine should be multi-denominational, child-centred, coeducational and democratically run. These principles form the basis
of our teaching practice, our code of behaviour, our school ethos
and all school activities, be they in the classroom, in the schoolyard,
in the staffroom or on our committees.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate
to contact any member of the Executive Committee, all of whom
are parents in the school. Email: [email protected]
During the last significant building work in the school, the yard was
Yours sincerely
out of action and the park across the way, was used by the school
Members of the Executive
during playtime. The school in conjunction with the residents of
the square, formulated a plan for redevelopment of the park. With
Katy Hanley
Aoileann Farley
this we have approached the council with an ambitious plan for
Niall Ó Donnchú
Kevin Hewston
redevelopment to further enhance this space. At the moment, it’s
Colum Gleeson
Kathryn Heslin
an L shaped space with a rudimentary tarmac path cutting through
Susan O’Connell
Vanessa Byrne
the middle. The plan proposes to dig up the existing path and
Naomi Masterson
Clare Mathews
meander a new one through the park and down to the bottom of the
L where it will encircle a green space. New plantings will abound and
it is hoped to improve the softer surfaces for year round use.
14 RMDS SUMMER 2014
Ivana Bacik
Colin Newman
Emma Lane Spollen
Margaret Bluett
Cormac Callinan
RMDS SUMMER 2014 15
Other info…
Second level schools
This year, Rang 6 move to the following
second level schools:
SECONDARY SCHOOL
BOYS
GIRLS
Muckross College
7
Sandford Park School
3
1
High School, Rathgar
2
2
Alexandra College
1
St Mary’s, Rathmines 3
St Louis, Rathmines
3
John Scotus School 1
St Killian’s, Clonskeagh
1
Loreto on the Green 2
Gonzaga College 2
Hansfield Community College
1
St Columba’s, Rathfarnham 1
CUS
1
Remember – Junior Infants
Junior Infants go home at 12.10pm for the first five
days. From Monday 8th September, normal closing
time of 1.10pm will apply.
Staffing 2014 – 2015
Class teachers:
Junior Infants: Maria Halpin
Senior Infants: New appointment
Rang 1: — Therese Coogan
Rang 2: — Rita Brennan
Rang 3: — Caroline O Dowd/Jilly Swain
Rang 4: — Assumpta Neylon
Rang 5: — Colette Desmond
Rang 6: — Marguerite Ryan/ Paul Fairbrother
Resource teachers:
Mary Clare Pigott
Aoileann Farley
Therese Curran
Mainstream Resource:
It is advisable to contact the second level schools
of your choice as soon as children start in primary
school, in order to be more informed about their
enrolment policies.
Padraic Mulholland – Deputy Principal
Dates for 2014 -15 (provisional)
Special Needs Assistants:
School reopens: Monday 1st September 2014
at 8.30am
October half term break: Monday 27th October to
Friday 31st October inclusive
Christmas holidays: School closes on Friday
19th December 2014 at 12 midday and reopens on
Monday 5th January 2015
February half term break: Monday 16th February
to Friday 20th February inclusive
Easter holidays: School closes on Friday 27th
March 2015 at 12 midday and reopens on Monday
13th April*
Public holidays: School will close for the following
public holidays:
Monday 17th March
Monday 4th May
Monday 1stJune
Summer vacation: School will close for the summer
vacation on Tuesday 30th June at 12 midday.
* Unless changes are required as part of contingency
arrangements to make up for time lost due to
unforeseen school closures, in which case the school
may reduce the length of the Easter break by remaining
open up to and including Wednesday 1st April 2015.
16 RMDS SUMMER 2014
Principal:
Joan Whelan
Christina Dowling
Anne McCullough
Ann Maguire
Joyce Cole
Classroom Assistant:
01.09.14
Shauna Maguire
Secretaries:
Mary Holder
Eleanor Murphy-White
Pre-enrolment
Pupils are accepted on a first come, first served
basis. This applies to all pupils, including siblings.
There is a significant demand for places, so please
put siblings names down on the pre-enrolment list
within weeks of their birth.
Newsletter Photography:
Special thanks to Michelle O’Sullivan,
Joe O’Keeffe, Kate Horgan, and Alice Clancy.