School News
January 2012
BUILDING: Quite an amount of preparation work has gone into the architectural work for the new school. Diarmuid Everard, Andrew Lenehan, Peter Molloy and myself have met regularly ourselves and also with the architect Deirdre Lennon (Gilroy McMahon) over the past several months. The process has taken time and effort (8am meetings) and I want to express my appreciation on behalf of the school community to the volunteers involved. However the mechanism the Department of Education have imposed on the school leaves a lot to be desired. Typically large scale projects like our own are organised and planned by DES in consultation with the school. In this instance it is the other way round, the board is the client not DES and then we consult with them at various stages and they impose their observations. In short the process is unwieldy and frustrating and I feel is keeping the process backed up. However, we hope to work away in any case and look forward to going through the planning application in the near future.
CHOIR & 60 ANNIVERSARY: To honour the 60 anniversary of the school in its present location, Sinead Dowd brought 42 members of our school choir together to produce a cd, with songs from singing lessons past. The cd was professionally recorded, produced and mastered. Later this term we hope to organise a recital by the choir of the songs and we hope that apart from parents many past pupils and members of the local community will be able to attend. Apart from preparing the choir and organising the whole recording process, Sinead is to be complimented for the time and effort she put into this wonderful production and of course the excellent Carol Service just before Christmas
60 ANNIVERSARY CD: The CD is for sale in the school for €10. We will also organise a recital in February, venue and date to be finalised in due course
CAROL SINGERS: The school carol singers also got the opportunity to sing at Southgate where they raised €225 for the Julianstown Meals on Wheels group. Well done Whitecross Singers!
HALLELUJAH CONCERT: Ms. Dowd’s Second Class and Ms. Duffy’s Fifth Class both represented the school in the RDS at the Hallelujah Concert. Both classes acquitted themselves very well and did the school proud as well as enjoying the occasion. Check out the website link for photographs!
SPORT: This term we can look forward to the school being represented by pupils in soccer, GAA 7aside and basketball. Thanks to all the teachers involved who help with these activities.
CYCLE TRAINING: There is a six week cycle training course for Fifth and Sixth Class. This is in keeping with our green school credentials. We also appreciate the fact that Meath Local Sports Partnership have subsidised the course making it more affordable for the pupils.
MEDIATORS: The school has been running a mediator programme for the past number of years. This involves Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Class pupils playing with and helping the more junior pupils, especially the infants in the yard. Almost all of our pupils from the senior classes have volunteered. The school showed their appreciation to our volunteers by sponsoring a pizza party for them just before Christmas. Well done mediators!
BUDGET CUTBACKS: Due to budgetary issues there have been some cutbacks which will impact on the school. For example our SNA allocation is reduced, the minor works grant which is due later in 2012 is not going to be paid (€12,000+), Noreen Lombard’s management position (assistant principal) will remain vacant. There are also a number of other promoted positions vacant in the school, mainly due to the fact that the school has grown in recent years, but there is an embargo on promotion. All of the above puts additional pressure on school resources and personnel and I appreciate the effort made by all of our teachers to get on with the job in hand.
LABELS: It is essential that children have items of clothing labelled with at least their initials in the event of these items being misplaced.
MOVING SCHOOL: We would appreciate if parents are moving children from the school after this school year could contact us by phone or email. This is to give us an idea of numbers for next year as every year we have problems identifying our staffing and accommodation needs
QUIZ: Also we will have 24 pupils taking part in the Credit Union Schools’ Quiz. This is due to be held at the City North Hotel on Monday, February 6 at 7pm
SICK CHILDREN STAYING IN: Children that are recovering from illness often need to stay inside for a day or two when they come back to school. They are allowed to stay in the school hall, if they have a note from their parents requesting this facility.
TEACHING PRACTICE: Our school is held in high esteem by the teacher training colleges and as such the colleges regularly request places for teaching practice for students. This year we will cater for eight students from three colleges: Marino, St. Patricks and Hibernia.
NOREEN LOMBARD RYAN REFLECTION: Sadly we said goodbye to Ms. Lombard Ryan after she spent 36 years teaching in Whitecross School. Noreen’s dedication to teaching was without question. She always put her pupils first and if there was an inkling of a doubt or concern for a pupil she shared it the parents. Noreen in a very nice way knew how to keep a class on task, without being a disciplinarian. The children were always well-behaved and worked for her because they wanted to. Apart from her concern for her own class Noreen was also always concerned for the well-being of the other pupils in the school. This was mainly because she knew most of them and had a genuine interest in their progress. Sometimes a teacher might have a small problem with a child not being able to sit down, or talking out of turn etc. Noreen would encourage the teacher to send the child over to her for retraining. Usually after a couple of hours in Noreen’s room the child went back to his teacher, a transformed pupil!! Here is a reflection from Noreen on her teaching career:
As a graduate of Mary Immaculate College, I started my first teaching post in 1975 in Whitecross National School. I have remained there since. At that time I was the fifth teacher in the school and the principal was Mr. Boylan. The school building comprised of three old classrooms and a prefab. There was no accommodation for my students, a combined 3 and 4 Class, except for the Scouts’s Den, down in the woods, near the school. This was the location of the first ever school in Julianstown.
In this old building there was no central heating and Mr. Benton, the school caretaker lit a coal fire there every morning. At lunchtime we walked up to the main school. The school had grass at the front and no basketball court. Most children either walked or cycled to school. There was very little traffic on the road. The Youth Club held its meetings and activities in an old building opposite the present crèche. We went there at lunchtime to play basketball. Down at the den the only blackboard was one on an easel. That same blackboard is currently in Junior Infants. We had to buy our own worksheets as there was no photocopier. There were no classroom assistants or a secretary. There was no phone either.
In Julianstown village there was Keaveney’s shop and post office. The guards lived in the garda barracks. The Old Mill Hotel & Julianstown Inn were in business. The new church had not been built and the old church near the village was in use.
As time went by Mr. Boylan retired and was replaced by Mr. Gordon. The school grew in numbers and we got a new extension. Both a Board of Management and a Parents’ Association were set up. The new church was built and the road got a lot busier. Mosney was closed as a holiday centre. These are just a few of the changes I have seen over the years. I implemented a new curriculum when I first qualified and I am now implementing another new one, Mr. Burke is the third principal I have worked with. The population has greatly increased and we now have many different nationalities in the school.
Without a doubt, for me, this school holds a very special place in my heart. I have seen many changes, but more important factors that have been constant and continue to grow and develop are the great sense of belonging, caring and friendship. I have always felt from my first days in Julianstown a great sense of support, both within the school and outside in the larger community. Without a doubt it is true that it takes ‘a whole village to rear a child.’
POT PAINTING COMPETITION: The Senior Infant teachers would like to say ‘thank you,’ to Robert McLysaght of McLysaght nurseries for helping us organise the Pot Painting Competition. He very generously donated a terracotta pot to each child in Senior Infants. The children really enjoyed the experience of painting the pots and each family now has a lovely potted plant.
RDS YOUNG SCIENTIST: 20 children from Sixth Class and 10 children from Fifth displayed a project in the RDS Young Scientists Exhibition at the RDS. The theme of the Whitecross project was about the effect of exercise on the body. An excellent project was put together largely initiated by David O’Callaghan and Margaret Duffy. This is the second year we have been represented at the exhibition and hopefully it will become an annual event. Apart from their own learning during their project the pupils had a great opportunity to see a huge range of science on display and in action at the RDS.
MS. STAUNTON: We welcome to our school Lyndsey Staunton. Lyndsey is substituting for Ms. Lombard, who retired before Christmas. Due to the recruitment moratorium the school is not allowed to employ a permanent teacher (at the moment) to replace Ms. Lombard.
GREEN SCHOOL: In addition to battery recycling, we also collect printer ink cartridges for recycling. Please send them in with your children to Mrs. Ffrench’s prefab. The Green Schools Committee are also in the process of picking a slogan for our travel flag and very shortly will be launching WOW days (Walk on Wednesdays/Weekdays) to be continued each week from now on. We would love to see many pupils and parents participating and making our school gates safer for everyone.
WORK EXPERIENCE: From time to time the school gets requests from people pursuing courses that require work experience in classroom or other school settings. Whitecross School hosts quite an amount of students from colleges of education, as it is, and having other people on work experience has a number of issues attached. Consequently applications for work experience need to be addressed to the Chairperson of the Board of Management for approval by the Board members.