Many Thanks.
All further correspondences will be on the News 2020/21 page from now on as we hope that the school will be fully open on August 31st 2020. We will keep you undated and informed of any developments on that page.
Many Thanks. We have reached the day of the holidays and I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our families for your support all year and particularly during the Covid 19 closure. Every household rose to the challenge of distance learning as best they could and we were cognisant of the fact that everybody's circumstances were different. Please be assured that each class will be given ample opportunity for revision and reinforcement in Term 1.
A big farewell to our 6th class pupils who move on to the next chapter of their education. We know that the last few months have been very disappointing for you and you have missed out on big events that are important milestones in 6th class-School Tour, Matches, Sports day, last day in school ...all the things that mean so much for you. However, what you have lost in these moments you have gained in strength, patience, resilience and courage.You have taken the next steps towards your future as young adults that we are very proud of. We had hoped to be able to bring you together as a group and meet up one last time in the school before you left but unfortunately Health and Safety guidelines prevented us from doing so. We will look forward to seeing you on your Confirmation Day later in the summer. Congratulations to each and every one of the class of 2020. We look forward to seeing all other pupils and our new Junior Infants on August 31st at 9:00am. In the meantime have a safe, happy and relaxing summer. Fr Jones has been liaising with Mrs Long regarding the re scheduling of the sacraments. Confirmation will now take place for the pupils from our school on July 25th 2020 . Ms. Mc Loughlin will communicate the arrangements which take into account public health advice directly with the parents.
Fr Jones hopes to hold the First Communion ceremony for children in 2nd class and their families in October. Once we have a date Ms. Quigley will communicate it directly to the parents. As we end another year, we say goodbye to Shauna, Conor, Áine, Lily, Diarmaid, Ronan, Caelebh, Rena, Jack and Kayla. Have a look back at some of the many activities you were involved in during your time in Burgess N.S. It has been a privilege to get to know you all and to work with you over the years and we wish you the very best of luck in your Secondary Schools and beyond. The future is bright for you all. Follow your dreams! The doors will open on August 31st to welcome for the first time our new Junior Infants for 2020/2021. Unfortunately we were unable to allow you to visit the school, meet Ms Costello, see your classroom and meet the Senior Infants who will be working and playing with you next year. We are so looking forward to meeting you all and we say Céad Míle Fáilte to you and your parents to Burgess N.S. Please find information letter from Ms Costello below with a copy of the Booklist for 2020/21. We are also attaching some resources below that may be helpful to parents as they prepare their children for the transition to 'Big School' The government have prepared a number of resources at the link below to support parents and children as they get ready to return to education https://www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/1e8a3-lets-get-ready/?referrer=http://www.gov.ie/letsgetready/ The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment have published transitiion inofrmation especaiiluy for this year to help parents. See Mo Scéal file below for an information sheet providing links to videos and tip sheets with some practical advice for parents. https://ncca.ie/en/resources/mo-sc%C3%A9al-moving-from-preschool-to-primary-resources
President Michael D Higgins has delivered a special message to the 70, 000 6th class pupils In Ireland , paying tribute to them for the way they have risen to the challenges of recent months.
The president sends his best wishes to the pupils who were not able to share the final months of primary school together and the rituals that go with it. Click on the link below to see the video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8hxeIRu1U School rental books (including library books) can be returned this week on Wednesday June 17th . For the safety of all we ask that you put books to be returned into a plastic bag and please write child's name clearly on the outside of the bag and drop off in the hall.
You may collect Art folders /any ancillary materials belonging to your child from the school on that day also.They are bagged and ready for collection in class groups. The staff will be on hand to collect and distribute. We ask that you enter through the hall door on a one-in one-out basis as before in line with health and safety guidelines. You can exit through the door on opposite side of the hall. Coats and hats left found in the school cloakrooms will be left in the hall for collection also. Any unclaimed items of clothing will be put in clothes collection over the summer. Staff will be in the school from 10 am-3 pm on Wednesday. Many thanks for your co-operation 6th class are about to embark on the next stage of their education. While secondary school holds many changes it is filled with exciting opportunities to learn about new things, meet new friends, enjoy many new experiences and relish the sense of independence.
Pupils might like to look at the prompt box below and chat to an adult about their thoughts and feelings about the next stage of their journey. Each June Sports Day is a much anticipated event in the school calendar that many children look forward to. With ears peeled to Met Eireann for the week before there is usually also some cloud watching going on the morning of the Sports Day to add to the sense of anticipation! Coupled with the usual array of tights, spoons, potatoes, sacks and red sweaty faces (that's just the teachers!) it is a day out of the classroom filled with mayhem and fun. Last year we had the highlight of the ice-cream van at the end of the day.
This year families may like to hold their own Sports Day at home on a sunny day of your choice. Thanks to Sligo Education Centre who provided the resource below listing all the materials, resources, activities and even a music play list that you might need to host your own Sports Day in the garden, turning that fun end of year sports day into a reality for the children. Plan for a fun-filled family day that your children will remember for a long time to come. Click on the link below to access the Virtual Sports Day hosted by Sligo Education Centre. https://sites.google.com/holyangelsns.ie/virtualsportsday/home Copyright Sligo Education Centre 2020. https://president.ie/en/explore-visit/interactive-tour
Here children can take a virtual tour of some rooms in the Áras. https://president.ie/en/childrens-section There is a lovely Children's section on the website (link above) where they can click on each of the guides in the children's to learn more about the President, where he lives and the Phoenix Park. There is a quiz for children to take to to see what they can remember from the virtual tour. Check out wildearth.tv to be transported onto the back of a safari vehicle to go on a free , live and interactive safari experience. For 45 minutes you can tour some of the most iconic wildlife areas in the world. Look out for elephants, lions, cheetahs, giraffes and hippos. Marvel at the birds and appreciate the beautiful landscapes in the parks you will visit.
Continuing with our ideas on virtual school tours -this is one we would definitely not have been able to go on from school-a tour of heritage sites around the world but you can spin the globe to find 3D places of interes, read about them and explore them for yourself.
Link at World of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Go on an adventure in your garden in this lovely weather. Our younger pupils might like to print the Keelings Adventure Page below and circle how many items they can find today.
We studied and were awarded the Green Flag in Biodiversity 2 years ago. How would you like to create some art highlighting Ireland's Biodiversity. How exciting would it then be to see your piece of art turned into a postcard? This will happen for winning entries. If you would like to try your luck at this competition why not get designing and drawing something to reflect the plant and animal worlds and our dependence on one another? Click on the pdf link below for further details.
JK Rowling has surprised fans with the announcement of a brand new children's book, which she is publishing in daily instalments on her website for free.
The Ickabog is her first children's story not to be linked to Harry Potter. She wrote it over a decade ago for her own children and has now dusted it off. It's for "children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times", she said. Chapters of The Ickabog are being published daily until 10 July on The Ickabog website . . The author said she originally intended to release the story after the seventh and final Harry Potter novel came out in 2007. It was written to be read aloud, but is suitable to be read alone by children between seven and nine, she said. It will be published as an actual book in English in November, with all author royalties going "to help groups who've been particularly impacted by the pandemic". Illustration competitionShe has also asked young readers to draw their own illustrations, with the best pictures to be included in the published books. "I want to see imaginations run wild!" she wrote. "Creativity, inventiveness and effort are the most important things: we aren't necessarily looking for the most technical skill!" With many of our pupils missing the usual myriad of activities that would be based in Kilcolman during these long sunny evenings they might like to keep busy with some of the range of activity books produced by the GAA during the school closure. See GAA.ie for details or open the PDF files below to see which activity book you might like to print out and complete at home.
Oh, the Places You'll Go!
To celebrate the graduation of 6th class 2020 Sarah Webb, award winning author invited some remarkable writers, scientists, actors, sports people + activists to record a #Messagefor6thClass. To the heroic 6th class of 2020 - we all salute you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaO7mwdL0Ow Many of our pupils have enjoyed wonderful visits to the Hunt Museum Limerick over the years. The Education Department at the museum have some very interesting resources on their website for families who can't visit at this time. Click on the links below for 2 particularly interesting packs. The Walled Town Pack will be of particular interest to Senior classes as a nice way to recap and revise your history in June. The costume design pack will be of interest to our many talented and aspiring fashion designers out there.
It is so important to stay safe on the farm these days. Pleas download the PDF below to download a Jessy Smart Kids safety pack from Teagasc for lots of farm-safe fun tips.
Aldi Community Games Creative Communities is our way of celebrating creativity in our communities!
From Art to Music, from Recitation to Creative Writing.........the possibilities are endless! Aldi 8 competitions running from now until 29th May 2020 focusing on "Creative Communities". All winners will be announced on May 31st on our Facebook page There are some fantastic prizes to be won including a special commemorative medal for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place! As well as one lucky entrant (chosen randomly) will WIN A €300 Aldi voucher. Each participant will receive a digital certificate after the event ends We should be in School Tour Season at the moment so we are continuing with our information on Virtual tours that that children can explore from home. While it won't have the same appeal as a teacher head-splitting 3 hour bus trip there are some very interesting virtual tours available from very popular destinations. This time it's the turn of the TITANIC BELFAST.
They have put together an excellent tour with audio. You can pick and choose which sections you would like to focus on. This is probably more suitable for the senior classes and is very easy to navigate. Click here to check it out yourself. There are lots of fun activities and resources also included here . Tara and David along with their Mum and Dad have been busy gardening and have very kindly offered to share this great idea with you.Thank you Tara for the message below:
After watching a few videos on YouTube, we've discovered that you can actually grow many vegetables from leftovers/offcuts of the food you buy in the supermarket! By placing garlic cloves (older ones that have been kept in the fridge) in a glass of water and keeping them in a warm sunny spot, they sprout roots within a day or two and grow stems in 4 or 5 days! They can be planted in a deep pot when they're about 6 inches tall, and after a few months you'll have new garlic bulbs! By placing the stalk of a bunch of celery in a dish of water, again in a warm sunny spot, they sprout new roots after about a week, and once new stems emerge, they can be planted out in a pot, or vegetable patch! We took seeds from a butternut squash and dried them out in the sun for a few hours. Then we soaked them in a bowl of water. The fertile seeds will sink to the bottom. We planted 2 in normal compost about a week ago, and we have 2 new squash plants already! We took seeds from an apple core and kept them in wet kitchen paper in the fridge for a week. Once the seeds germinate in the fridge, we planted them in compost and they are growing well! We are chitting shop bought potatoes in an egg carton and will plant them in deep large pots over the next few days... we are probably a bit late in the season, but hoping to get even a few tubers from them to see how it works! Tara and David are so excited seeing roots sprout, and green stems emerging from the soil! Fabulous idea- we all have food in the fridge or vegetable basket that we could replant and start up the cycle of growth again. Around this time of the year we would be looking forward to our school tour. Since that can't happen this year our pupils might like to check out some exciting places to visit from the comfort and safety of our own homes.
We know it won't beat the endless renditions of Hit the Diff on the bus though!!!!!!! First up is Dublin Zoo who want to continue to deliver fun and educational experiences through a #dublinzoofun activity series. These activities range from workbooks which include colouring-in, word searches and much more to help teach you about the various animals at Dublin Zoo. The virtual tours of Dublin Zoo are particularly enjoyable. Check out what fun activities we have for you and your families at https://www.dublinzoo.ie/news/dublinzoofun/ If you are taking part in any of our activities Dublin Zoo ask that you use #DUBLINZOOFUN on social media to share the joy. Our lives have been turned upside down and sometimes we need to remind ourselves to look at the positives. Encouraging a child to think about and record something good in every day and for every week is a really valuable lesson. Download the record sheet below and draw a picture and/or write a sentence about a high point in every day.
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