We hope you all received a pack lately which contained useful HSE publications on RSE, Healthy Eating and Physical Activity. The pack also included a letter which outlined our plans for this term as part of our School Self Evaluation process and our School Improvement Plan. One area of concentration for us is the whole idea of "reframing our thinking" and encouraging our pupils to have "Growth Mindsets". Each week we will display a "thought for the week" in all classrooms and we will ask the pupils to focus on this specific suggestion. The thought for the week will be added to our website each week so that you are aware of it also and can encourage your child in the same way at home. We hope you will find this useful.

The Christmas newsletter has just been added to our existing bank of newsletters here on our website. It is titled "Newsletter Christmas 2018" so you should be able to find it quite easily. Happy reading!

The Staff, Parents' Association and Board of Management have been very busy recently reviewing and updating policies. Some new ones have been added to our website while changes have been made to others. All new policies and amendments to existing policies have been ratified by the Board of Management. These include The Enrolment Policy, Accident and Injury Policy, Special Education Needs Policy, Critical Incidents Policy, Administration of Medicines Policy, Dignity at Work Policy, Anti-Bullying Policy, Health and Safety Statement and Code of Behaviour. Having these available on our web-site ensures access for parents/guardians and interested parties at all times. If you require a hard copy of any of our policies, please contact the school office. 

Second class had an activity laden morning on Wednesday as they travelled to Carlow library to take part in the Go Fly Your Kite workshop. The children learned all about aerodynamics and the history of flight. The workshop finished with the children designing and assembling their own kites which they got to bring home. A fabulous morning was had by all and a great addition to our Science Week 2018!

A Parents’ Association meeting was held in the school on 5th November. Our new committee are full of enthusiasm and positivity and have great plans for ways through which we can improve the overall school experience for our pupils. The committee members are…

Wren, Créd, Nuadha and Dubhlacha Stynes entered the CoderDojo DojoCon Hackathon on recently in  theNewpark Hotel Kilkenny which was held in association with Institute of Technology Carlow, one of the primary sponsors and collaborators in DojoCon 2018. At the Hackathon, they heard from aeronautical engineer and astronaut Norah Patten who hopes to be the first Irish woman on the moon and they learned how to build a virtual maze and rob a bank, a virtual bank with virtual money! They thoroughly enjoyed their experience and Wren, as part of an international female team The Wolves won in their category (7-9 year olds) for speed and accuracy! She is pictured here with her team Simone and Charlie from Montpellier, France being presented with her prize by Peadar O'Goill from TG4 hit science programme, Is Eolaí Mé.

It was a historic occasion for our school on Wednesday night the 24th of October as we won both the Division 1 Girls and Division 1 Boys Cumann na mBunscol competitions. It was an amazing achievement as we won our first ever boys title and our third successive girls title, whilst also achieving the historic double! We are incredibly proud of every child who has played their part this year and extremely thankful to the coaches in local clubs around the area who have put so much effort and work into promoting sport and participation in our community. A special thank you also goes to the parents of all children in the school, always supporting and cheering on from the sidelines. We thank Cumann na mBunscol Ceatharlach for their organisation and Ballon NS and Scoil Mhuire Gan Smál for two super finals. It is amazing to have so many children in the local area participating in sport at such a high level and we are very proud to say that Bennekerry NS is now home to the Cuma ...

Bhí bród orainn go léir nuair a fuaireamar litir ó Glór Cheatharlach chun chur in iúl dúinn go raibh buaiteoirí ó Scoil Bhinn an Choire i gComórtas Ealíne an Fhómhair. We were delighted to hear that three of our pupils were named among the winners in the Autumn Art Competition run by Glór Cheatharlach. Tara Webb and Mia Dalton were place first and third in the 4th class competition, while Eoghan Brennan, 5th class, was placed 2nd in his category. All the winning entries were displayed on the night of the presentation of prizes and the judges commented on the high standard of workmanship. Bearing this in mind, we were proud and pleased when Tara was awarded the  prize for best entry overall for the second year in a row. What an achievement! Below we have a lovely photograph of all three with their fabulous artwork. Maith sibh.

The 6th class have been preparing our garden for the spring. While some of our garden boxes will be reserved for planting vegetables later in the year, we have decided to dedicate four of them to spring flowers, as these are the plants that we can enjoy before we close for the summer holidays. Having first ridded the flower beds of weeds, we planted tulip bulbs and daffodil bulbs in two of the beds while the other two beds have a mixture of wallflowers, baby daffodils (tete-a-tete to be exact), grape hyacinths and primulas. Hopefully we will have a good splash of colour in mid to late spring.

The dates and times for the games have just been announced. Both finals will take place on Wednesday 24th October. The girls will play at 6:30pm (20 minutes a side) and the boys game will kick off at 7:30pm. This game will also be 20 mins. a side. Excitement levels are high in the school and we wait with baited breath to see if we can achieve the ultimate prize, a double. We hope to see as many of you there as possible as a little encouragement can go a long way. Binn an Choire abú.