< Previous© October 2019 The Meath Coaster 20 Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh Welcome to a new School Year! T he start of the new school year is al- ways a busy and exciting time for us as we welcome back our pupils to their new teachers and classrooms. A special welcome goes out to all of our new pu- pils, parents and guardians. You are all very welcome to our school community! We work hard to ensure that new pupils are inducted into our school philosophy which welcomes diversity, friendship, equality and nurtures a teaching environ- ment that has the well-being of staff, pu- pils, parents and guardians at its heart. Mid Term Break School closes on Friday, 25 th October at 3pm and re-opens on Monday, 4 th Novem- ber at 9.15am. New Teachers: A warm welcome to our new members of staff - Ms D’Arcy and Ms Kirk join our other 6 th class team of teachers. Ms Nicola Kelly is our new 5 th class teacher and Ms Stanley and Ms Hennessy and Ms Pawlak also join our vital support staff team. Communication with the school: Parents and Guardians are reminded that it is your responsibility to ensure that the School Office has up to date contact de- tails for you, if we need to contact you in case of emergency. It is particularly im- portant that you provide alternative con- tact details if you are going to be absent from home for holidays or other reasons. A reminder that all parents should sign up to Class Dojo for direct communication with your child’s teacher. We prefer that children are not collected after 2.30pm in the day unless it is an emergency. School Office Hours: The School Office is open from 9.15am until 3pm each school day. It closes from 1.20pm to 2pm for lunch. School Office is Ph: 041 – 9828091. Parents Association AGM Our Parents Association recently held it’s AGM and new members were elected. We wish to extend our thanks and gratitude to out-going joint Chairs Caragh Ferguson and Rachel Moran for their hard work and dedication to our school. They brought great energy, enthusiasm and positivity to their work on behalf of our school – as did our other out-going Association members. Our Parents Association is a vital support for our school and a great way for parents and guardians to be actively involved in helping our school to be the best it can be for your children. We encourage as many of you as possible to become involved and attend these meetings. Mrs. Doak’s class designed and created their own tables and chairs with recy- cled materials. By Ruby Chidgey! This month, our class was given a STEM challenge. We had to design and make a table or chair. It had to be made mainly out of newspaper but we could use card- board, tape and glue. Our construction had © October 2019 The Meath Coaster 21 to hold 2kg and be at least 40cm tall. This was very challenging but everyone had a great time constructing their furniture. On the last Friday of September, every- one brought in their chairs and tables and we all explained to our teacher and class- mates how we made them. Our class with boarding passes for the Mars 2020 Rover By Sarah Mooney & Rachel Kennedy! In Mrs. Doak’s 6 th class we each ap- plied for our names to be etched onto a microchip which will be placed on the Mars 2020 Rover. The spacecraft will be launched in June next year. It was great fun and we all received a souvenir board- ing pass. We will be learning about Mars a lot this year. Beach Clean Up day – Green Commit- tee Mrs Culhane and the Green School Com- mittee registered our school to participate in the Big Beach Clean. The Green School Committee, Mrs Malone’s 3 rd class and Mrs Doak’s 6 th class joined together to do a beach clean-up. We worked in groups to gather rubbish and we recorded the many © October 2019 The Meath Coaster 22 types of rubbish we found on our local coastline. The data we collected will be sent to An Taisce to help raise awareness about the scale of Ireland’s marine litter problem. We had a very enjoyable after- noon doing something good for the envi- ronment! Stephanie, Jordan & Sam with envi- ronmentally friendly drinking bottles By Sophie Mc Grath & Amy Mooney! We are planning to completely ban single- S CHOOL S ERVICES 2019/2020 Email: info@eastcoasttravel.ie www.eastcoasttravel.ie Phone Sarah 086 6006443, Gerry 086 7954646, John 087 2303068 East Coast Travel are the sole transport provider for primary schools in Laytown and Bettystown, Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa and Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh. We also serve Coláiste na hInse, and St Mary’s and Sacred Heart Drogheda Coláiste na hInse - Stamullen, Julianstown, Drogheda, Bryanstown, Five Oaks ,Stameen, Grange Rath, Donacarney, Mornington, Bettystown Scoil Oilibhéir Naofa and Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh Donacarney, Mornington, Bettystown, Laytown Places are restricted Please phone well in advance to book a place! St Mary’s and Sacred Heart, Drogheda Laytown, Bettystown, Mornington, Donacarney, Grange Rath BUS PICK-UP POINTS use plastic bottles in our school. We will soon design our very own multi-use bot- tles. We will have competitions for posters and slogans for our new environmentally friendly bottles. We have been following Greta Thunberg`s fight for Climate Action and it has inspired us to start the same ini- tiative at Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh. §© October 2019 The Meath Coaster 23 REMINDER PUBLIC MEETING FOR MEATH JOINT POLICING COMMITTEE Meath County Council’s Joint Policing Committee is holding a public meeting on: Wednesday, 16 th October 2019 at 7.30p.m. in the Headfort Arms Hotel, Kells The purpose of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) is to provide a forum for consultation, discussion and recommendations on matters affecting the policing of the local authorities administrative area of Co. Meath. Members of the public are invited to attend and make their views known or ask questions of the members of the committee with regard to general policing and crime prevention in County Meath. Questions may be forward in advance to community@meathcoco.ie or by post to Community Section, Meath County Council, Buvinda House, Dublin Road, Navan or by phone to 046-9097410. All questions should be accompanied by a name, address and contact numbers, which will remain confidential. © October 2019 The Meath Coaster 24 Many thanks from Team Tolan! I ’d like to begin by taking this op- portunity to thank you all for re- electing me in the Local Election in May. It was an overwhelm- ing experience, and I am so very grateful for the massive endorsement I received. As al- ways, the only promise I will make is to work hard representing you for the next 5 years. Many thanks for giving me the privilege and your number 1 on the 24 th May! With lots of changes in the Council Chamber came lots of changes on Boards and Committees. I am delighted to say that I will be continuing my work on the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board, and also on the Board of Meath Local Sports Partnership. I have a number of projects and issues in relation to transport, roads, road safety, pedestrian and cycling facilities etc, that I would like to focus on in the coming term, so I am delighted to have been ap- pointed to the Transportation SPC so that I can work to address some of the issues you have raised with me. Photo Pre-Draft County Development Plan At long last, following the publi- cation of the Regional and Spa- tial Economic Strategy (RSES), Meath County Council have begun the process of preparing the Meath County Development Plan 2020-2026. The Pre-Draft was issued to Councillors at our meeting on the 2 nd September. This pre-draft is not for public issue and is an opportunity for Councillors to sub- mit motions prior to a Draft being pub- lished for Public Consultation. Need- less to say, I have plenty of motions on issues affecting our area of East Meath and South Drogheda, particularly in re- lation to community infrastructure (land for our growing sports clubs, community centre, library, playgrounds, parks, Boyne Greenway, public parking, footpaths & cycle lanes, recycling facilities, electric car charging points), commuting issues Council Update By Cllr. Stephen McKee I was delighted to catch up in September with Minister for Education & Skills, Joe McHugh. With LMETB CEO Martin O’Brien and Director of Schools Fiona Kindlon at the LMETB Awards in the CityNorth Hotel. Continued over....© October 2019 The Meath Coaster 25 Friday 25 th October 2019. I am very sup- portive of this Greenway, and I am hope- ful that the Council can iron out any issues that locals may have. We will not be able to deliver this project without public support, so if you welcome the prospect of this Greenway, you MUST make a submission of support by email to transport@meathcoco.ie or through htt- ps://consult.meath.ie Foreshore Byelaws Update A good example of people power! 349 submissions were received, overwhelm- ingly in support of no change to the cur- rent Foreshore Byelaws. The Chief Exec- utive now needs to give due consideration to the submissions, prepare a report, and make recommendations to Councillors. This is due at our November MD meet- ing. Many thanks to everyone who made submissions and had their voices heard! I would encourage people to please walk your dogs responsibly, off lead or not, be mindful of others, and PLEASE pick up your dog’s dirt! § (fairer fares, road upgrades, parking, train station for Bettystown and South Drogheda, Julianstown Bypass, bus bays and shelters), Garda station, Council Of- fices (we are the capital/largest town of our MD!), Fire Station, and of course the delivery of the Spine Road! Without the inclusion of these Objectives in our Coun- ty Development Plan, they will not be a priority for the Council. I will need your support when the Plan goes on Public Display, which is sched- uled to be 2 nd December. The public will then have 10 weeks (until 19/02/20) to make submissions. Please Ensure You Have Your Say On How Our Area Is Developed Over The Next 6 Years! Boyne Greenway Public Consultation During the month of September I hosted two public meetings to display the maps of the preferred route of the Boyne Green- way Drogheda to Mornington Section. The Council have facilitated a non-stat- utory Public Consultation in order to get the views/suggestions of the public prior to commencing a formal planning appli- cation. I am very conscious of the fact that many of us cannot take time off work to view maps which are only on display in Duleek or Navan (another reason we need Council Offices located here in Laytown- Bettystown!), so I requested copies from our Transportation Section to put these on display for viewing in the evening at both my meetings. The attendance was huge, and many thanks to those that came along. Submis- sions are to made no later than 4pm on With Niall Kierans and Peter Monahan at the d Hotel Public Meeting Photo credit: Andy Spearman, Drogheda Life© October 2019 The Meath Coaster 26 Réalt Na Mara GNS O ur Junior Infant children had a won- derful first day in school on the 29 th of August and while they became acquainted with their classrooms, peers and teach- ers, the Mums and Dads were treated to a cups of tea and coffee by the Parents Asso- ciation. The children have settled so well, having already attended their first welcome assembly with the whole school family, en- joyed gymnastics with the new instructors and basketball skills with Coach Ciarán. They have made a very happy start to their school life with us aided in no small way by the wonderful 6 th Class girls who mind them. We welcomed 25 children in other classes throughout the school and we hope they are happy in our school also. All Ireland Ladies GAA Final in Croke Park Thanks to Ms. Orla Byrne our First Class teacher for giving us a super day out in Ms Mc Quaid’s Junior Infant Class Teacher Orla Byrne in full flight for Meath© October 2019 The Meath Coaster 27 Croke Park although the final score didn’t favour Meath against Tipperary in the end. Ms. Byrne helps to coach the girls in Gaelic and is a wonderful inspiration to all our budding footballers. Keeping Standards High in Donacar- ney We were very proud to receive the final report last week on our recent inspection before the summer holidays. The school had a Follow Through Inspection (fol- lowing our Whole School Evaluation in 2017) by the Department of Education in June. This involved classroom observa- tions, interviews with teachers, children and the management team along with a meticulous scrutiny of policies, plans and paperwork. Once again the praise was ef- fusive from our inspector and the school achieved the highest standard possible. It is a wonderful boost to everyone in the Croke Park on All Ireland Ladies Final Day Ms. Trench’s Junior Infant Class school community as we embark on a new year. The full report is available on the school website. © October 2019 The Meath Coaster 28 Laytown Tidy Towns W e have a new member in the group, Harvy Mihalyfi, who is a Transi- tion Year student from Coláiste na hInse. Harvy is working towards a Bronze Medal in Gaisce's Presidents Awards. This means he will be working with us for 26 weeks and he has already shown himself to be a very hard worker and a real asset to the group. Here he is preparing a planter for painting, and took part in the painting of both planters as well. We have been working in recent weeks at removing weeds around the car park in Laytown. We started this by spraying with a vinegar based eco-friendly weed killer. This made tt much easier to remove the weeds. It is a job that takes time but is re- ally worthwhile as can be seen now that it is finished! Our bee/insect hotel is now in place on the approach road to Laytown. It was con- structed locally by Jamell Wood Products using recycled wood. We think it looks very wen and should serve it's purpose, situated as it is at the hedgerow behind our raised beds which are d with pollinators. As always, we welcome any new vol- unteers. If you find you have even half an hour to spare on a Saturday morning please feel free to join us even if only occasionally. Gloves, bags, pickers and high-viz vests would be supplied by us. We are out and about between 10am and 11am every Saturday and would love to see you! § The Insect Hotel, handmade locally using recycled wood! 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