2nd

**A SECOND YEAR AT ST. EITHNE'S **

Here we have some little items of news of our second year at St. Eithne's Primary School.

**TERM 1**
Great Swimming Conor. Conor (P.5) swam in the Inter Schools Area Championships held in Derry in October. He came first in both the Under 9 Backstroke and Under 9 Freestyle races in the Schools' Minor Championships Area Heats.
Halloween Fancy Dress The final tally for our Halloween Costume Bash was £117 Thanks to all parents for the wonderful way in which they turned their children out in such splendid outfits and for the money raised from this event.
We also collected £101 for a cake sale in Mrs. Mc Cusker's Class(P.2). Well done P.2 pupils and parents. We greatly appreciate all money collected for school funds. All funds raised are a great help to the children in the school. This money is used to increase resources for children's use. THANKS AGAIN
JIM'S MASK WINS PRIZES GALORE. Jim (P.4) designed a Halloween mask for a local competition in the city shopping centre(The Richmond Centre) and he came first. He won £30 for himself, £200 for the school, a ride on Santa's sleigh and free tickets to meet Santa for everyone in his class.
Vikings Visit St. Eithne's Two strange warrior fellows arrived at St. Eithne's looking for a couple of slaves to bring back to their village in the far off Hebrides. We convinced them that we were a peaceful bunch here at St. Eithne's and asked them to tell us a little about their lifestyle. Two Vikings chat to Year 1 children.
Choir on The Radio. Our little school choir has found fame at last. They were invited to sing on our local radio station (Radio Foyle). Rebecca sang a solo whilst the Year 4/5 choir sang the backing vocals. They sang a little hymn called "Circle Of Friends".
Another Prize Winner. Jim was not the only artistic winner this Halloween. Aileen (P.1, Miss Dunne's Class) won The City Council Halloween competition this year. (Believe it or not Aileen's dad is one of the vikings above).
Christmas Presentations December '99 We invited parents to our little Primary 1 nativity shows again this year. The Children in P. 1 held a little nativity play in each of their classes. The pupils from year 2 to year 5 went on stage this year for their Christmas show that was a very interesting combination of hymns and instrumental pieces.

TERM 2

	Charity Funds Raised Concern - Mozambique Appeal A collection was held in the school for the flood victims of Mozambique. Although this was an emergency appeal, the school collected a fantastic amount - £236.04. All money raised was gratefully accepted by Concern. THANKS SO MUCH	Chernobyl Appeal During the past term the school was involved in a collection of baby items for the Chernobyl Children's Project. Thanks to all parents who sent in items for this worthy cause. The response was tremendous. Trócaire The raffle for Trócaire will took place on Thursday 20th April. All prizes for the raffle were donated by local shops and collected by the Parents Support Organisation.
	Official School Opening. Our school was officially opened on Friday 28th January.The event was a great success. The Minister of Education(Mr Martin Mc Guinness), The Bishop of Derry(Bishop Seamus Hegarty) , The Chief Executive of the Western Education and Library Board(Mr Joe Martin), and The Director of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools(Mr Donal Flanagan) were all there to help us celebrate the occasion.	Our little choir of P.4 and P.5 pupils sang beautifully and the day was great fun. To mark the occasion Mr Mc Guinness unveiled a plague, Bishop Hegarty blessed the school and both planted a tree at the front entrance. All our pupils attended mass and they also had parties in the dining hall and classroom. The celebrations have ceased now and we are back to the same old hard work we remember before Christmas.
BANYAN THEATRE PUPPET SHOW On 29th March, Banyan Theatre Company held their production of "The History of Tom Thumb" in the school. All pupils attended the show and were given some great ideas on how to make puppets
Monkeynastix During the past term Primary 1, 2 and 3 children took part in Monkeynastix, which was held once a week in the school. These classes were enjoyed by all and new classes begin after Easter.
	TOKEN AND COMPUTER COLLECTIONS Thanks to all pupils and parents who have been diligently collecting the Tesco tokens. Our challenge was to collect 9,500 tokens so that we could get a free digital camera. So far we have collected 6,000. (Up until Fri 14th March). There are still tokens coming in for this week, plus tokens carried forward from last year - so we should reach our target!	New Staff Next year four new teachers start at St. Eithne’s. These are experienced staff and we welcome them to the school. Our oldest children (Year 5) move into primary 6. They are: Mrs Doherty Miss Doherty Mrs McGuigan Mr Meehan. We welcome our new staff members and we shall make them feel right at home here at St. Eithne's.

	Book Fair 31st March - 7th April The Travelling Book Company held a book fair in the school. Children had an opportunity to see all the books on display. A special word of thanks to Mrs A. O Doherty for her help in organising and running the book fair. A total amount of £760 was raised and the school received 60% of this amount in free book commission

TERM 3 NEWS

The Mayor of Derry came to visit. He presented Erin with a prize for the Council's fire safety competition. Nicole , Laura and Jessica also received commendations. Well done Girls!.

		Derry Mayor Meets Recycling Girls. Erin, Nicole, Jessica and Laura all received prizes for their work on an anti litter campaign. They were presented with their prizes by the mayor Pat Ramsey and the Junior Mayor.
Well Done Kevin and Amy
P4 Derry Poet. Kevin won the P4 "Up the Foyle in a Bottle" poetry competition (plus £20) and his poem - His poem (The Train), was on the buses. Kevin was presented with his prize at the Derry Railway Museum and with the other winners went for a jaunt in one of the city's old steam trains along the banks of the River Foyle.	Kevin Amy	Magnificent Handwriting. Congratulations Amy. Amy (P5)entered a handwriting competition organised by the INTO Teachers' Union. She came 2nd in N.Ireland and with her teacher, Mrs Gillespie travelled to Omagh to collect her prize. Well done Amy.


FEIS WINNERS 1st: P4 Girls Singing Verse - Rebecca. 1st P5 Boys Recorder - Kevin The following were entered by their own dancing club. 1st Irish Dancing - Aine (P.2) 2nd Irish Dancing Jig - Nicole(P.5) 2nd Irish Dancing Jig - Christina(P.3)

Our Sports Day on 1st June was a great success this year. Once again we had to battle the elements but parents, children and teachers withstood the showers and had a great day.

Healthy Eaters. Miss Doherty's P.5 class went to St. Columb's Park to mix with other school children from different cultures and learn about healthy eating habits. They also practised some Tai Chi, ate some Indian food and they too were on Channel 9.
First Communion Mr Gormley's class made their first Communion this year on Saturday 24th June. It was a lovely occasion. The choir sang beautifully and the Primary 4 children all played an important role in the mass. Congratulations Boys and Girls.
St. Eithne's On the Television. Mrs Gillespie's class helped Bronagh, the Weather Girl, on channel 9 with her weather reports this term.
Term 3 ------ School Fund & Charity Events Thanks to all parents who helped us raise funds for the school this year. The money is used for the benefit of our pupils. We are also grateful for the generous amounts raised for the different charities. Easter Raffle for Trocaire:- £284.30 RNIB, Money raised for the blind:- £1,230 Table Quiz for school funds:- £440 A special thanks to our Parents' Support Organisation who collected the prizes for the Easter Raffle and the Table Quiz.

Picture parade


Fr Colhoun sings to the children.	Greg The Caretaker chases cows off the playground.

Thomas the patrolman gets pelted with snowballs by Tom and Neil (Feb.)	Parents watch one of our P.1 nativities.