A Message from the Principal—Tony Kenneally
As we approach the end of 2019 I wish to thank you most sincerely for the support you give to the school. It is a time of great change in the life of the school. In November we had the retirement of Mrs Maureen O’Connell after long and dedicated service. We miss her but wish her well for a long and happy retirement. I wish to congratulate also Mr. Willie McSweeney on his upcoming retirement. He has given outstanding service to the school over many generations. We will miss his leadership. I am pleased to announce that Ms. Kate O’Donovan has been appointed deputy principal in his place from the 6th January. I am certain she will be a great success in this role. There may be other changes as the year progresses and these changes must be managed carefully. We have some outstanding teachers who are currently here on a temporary basis who will contribute greatly to the school. Our staff is very talented and they use these talents every day for the benefit of our pupils.
We delight in the achievements of members of our school community. Some recent examples of this include our past pupil Diarmuid Kearney who won multiple awards at the Colaiste Muire prizegiving. Many of our past pupils were honoured on the night. Trevor Cummins, a past pupil and parent of 2 boys in our school achieved an outstanding time in the Berlin marathon. Trevor is an excellent athlete and coach and shows how hard work pays off in achieving goals. In that regard too, our own Ms Orla Finn won her second all-star for Gaelic Football. She is one of the top footballers in the country and again is an example to us all in the amount of hard work and effort she puts in to achieve on the field of play. She is a great teacher too! I would also like to congratulate past pupil Kevin O’Reilly on being awarded a bursary from Cobh Credit Union recently. Well done Kevin! I could cite a lot more of the achievements of members of our school community and our newsletter and website reflect their achievements.(www.stjosephsnscobh.com)
We were all saddened recently by the death of our school secretary, Mrs. Lucey as she was known to the boys. She also gave outstanding service to the school over many years. It is so sad to lose her at such a young age. We extend our deepest sympathy to the Stafford family and friends.
I would also like to thank everyone for your support and get well wishes in my recent illness. I am grateful to God for the recovery I’ve made. Finally, Christmas is a time of great joy. We are in the season of advent and await the coming of Christ. It is a time of preparation for when we meet Christ. When our pupils ask when is the next time we meet Christ we should tell them that it is the next time we come across anyone in need. On behalf of everyone at Scoil Iosaef Naofa I wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas.
School Walk 2019
School Sports Day 2019
Our annual School Sports Day took place on Tuesday 18th June. It was a good day for the event and a great crowd of family members attended. Here are the results:- Junior Infants Rang Ms. Murphy – Beanbag Race 1) Dakota Burke 2) Frankie Moynihan 3) Bartic Ratajczak Straight Race 1) Aaron Hogan 2) Dakota Burke 3) Nicky O’Keeffe Obstacle Race 1) Chris O’Donovan 2) Aaron Hogan 3) Nicky OKeeffe Hurdles 1) Dakota Burke 2) Frankie Moynihan 3) Jack Broderick Junior Infants Rang Ms. Smithwick – Straight Race 1) Alfie Cummins 2) Harry Donnachie 3) Obada Abdulaal Hurdles 1) Harry Donnachie 2) Kajus Noreika 3) Fionn O’Mahony Obstacle Race 1) Harry Donnachie 2) Phillip Jalse 3) Arthur Phelan Beanbag Race 1) Luke Courtney 2) Alfie Cummins 3) Obada Abdulaal Senior Infants Rang Ms Finn – Obstacle Race 1) Michael Bradley 2) Jamie Oellermann 3) Leo Beamish Hurdles 1) Michael Bradley 2) Oliver Derdowski 3) Leo Beamish Beanbag Race 1) Oliver Derdowski 2) Leo Beamish 3) Donnacha O’Sullivan Straight Race 1) Michael Bradley 2) Donnacha O’Sullivan 3) David Renique Senior Infants Rang Mrs Ahern & Mrs Studdert – Hurdles 1) Nathan Meade 2) Calum O’Shea 3) Sam Ahern Beanbag Race 1) Sam Ahern 2) Charlie Casey 3) Joe Barry & Evan O’Driscoll Brady Straight Race 1) Evan Walsh Brady 2) Nathan Meade 3) James Fennelly Obstacle Race 1) James Fennelly 2) Shakilus Mugabe 3) Ryan O’Donovan 2006 & older 100m 1) Oskar Olszewski 2) Gearóid O’Donovan 3) Darragh Ahern 2007 100m 1) Alex Finnegan 2) Patrick McKeown 3) Jake Doody2008 100m 1) Billy Lynch 2) Habeeb Folami 3) Nico Pindelski 2009 60m 1) Tomi Fawoli 2) Benjamin Derdowski 3) Jakub Wolny 20010 60m 1) James Burke 2) Adam O’Brien 3) Fionn O’Rourke 2011 60m 1) Noah Houlihan 2) Mikey O’Sullivan 3 ) Luca O’Rourke 2012 60m 1) Ben Healy 2) Liam O’Keeffe 3) Tyler Crowley Piggy Back Race 1) Oskar Olszewski/Charlie Morrissy 2) Rian Connick/Gearóid O’Donovan 3) Evan Stanton/Lee Cronin Obstacle Race 1) Alex Finnegan 2) Adam O’Sullivan 3) Patrick McKeown Sack Race 1) Ryan Curry 2) Caleb Scriven 3) Billy Lynch 3-Legged Race 1) Adam Carroll/Roan Hallahan 2) Benjamin Derdowski/Kyle O’Callaghan 3) Roan Fallon/David Ryan Tyre Race 1) Harvey Whelan 2) Dylan O’Connor 3) Jamie Maher Bean Bag Race 1) Dáire Bradley 2) Noah Houlihan 3) Pádraig Ryan Egg & Spoon Race 1) Tyler Crowley 2) Liam O’Keeffe 3) Cooper Hawes Javelin 1) Timmy Rodewald 2) Adam O’Brien 3) Noah Moran Keane High Jump 1) Nico Pindelski 1m 2cm 2) Cillian Kelleher 1m 3) Sie Kone 98cm. Shot Putt 1) Oskar Olszewski 2) Rian Connick 3) Alex Finnegan Distance Race 1&2 1) Noah Houlihan 2) Cillian Dorgan 3) Mikey O’Sullivan Distance Race 3&4 1) Roan Fallon 2) Will O’Keeffe 3) Jakub Wolny Distance Race 5&6 1) Oisín Dorgan 2) Rian Connick 3) Andrew Mulcahy Relay Rang a 5 Oisín Dorgan, Ryan Daly, Ryan Curry & Josh Sheehan Relay Rang a 3 Benjamin Derdowski, Dáire O’Leary, Odhran Bradley & Jamie Shaw Musical Chairs/Bikes! 1) Darragh Ahern 2) Basil Babu 3) Charlie Morrissy Tug-o-War Rang a 5 Rang Ms. Beale Tug-o-War Rang a 6 Rang Mr McSweeney Peileadóir na Bliana Billy Maher Iománaí na Bliana Jack Barrett Lúthchleasaí na Bliana Oskar Olszewski. Many thanks to Cobh GAA for the use of the top pitch for the day.
Enjoying the fine weather on a trip down town for the boys in Rang Ms. Beale & Mr. O’Donovan
Sraith Peile na Scoile 2019: Approximately 75 boys from 4th, 5th & 6th class played on five teams in this year’s Gaelic Football League. The final was played at the end of Active Schools’ Week in front of most of the middle and senior classes. Oskar Olszewski’s team, played well but were beaten in the final by Jake Doody’s team. The other teams in the league were captained by Andrew Mulcahy, Gearóid O’Donovan & Odhran Ryan. The games were contested really well and Mr. O’Loingsigh & Ms. Finn were delighted with the standard of football.
Small Change – Big Difference!As you are aware we held our usual small change collection during Lent of this year. Each class received an empty 5 litre plastic water bottle in which to gather the 1 cent, 2 cent and 5 cent coins. A chocolate surprise and a night off homework for each pupil of the class which collected most money was promised by the organiser Mr. Barry. This meant that competition was very keen. The coins were collected at Easter and Mrs. Mc Gowans class were declared winners – having filled their bottle to the very top. When the coins were counted the total came to 1080euro. This is a fantastic result and our thanks goes out to all the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and friends who contributed to the collection. The money will be sent directly to a poor school in Ghana where it will be used to improve the lives and education of the very poorest children. Your small change will make a big difference. Many thanks for your generosity. (Mr. Barry)
Scoil Iosaef Naofa – Book Fair 2019
Our annual book fair was held from the 13th – 16th May and was a great success once again. Organised by Mrs. O Connell, it gave a chance to parents and pupils to buy books for the appropriate age groups. Our theme this year was ‘From Book to Film’ and classes did some fantastic project work and displays. An overall thanks to the staff for all their cooperation. Thanks also to the following parents who gave their time to help out during the week – Mary Maher, Triona Morrissy, Linda McCourt, Cynthia Devlin, Eimear Dorgan, Michaela Bradley, Rose Clancy, Kathleen Stanton, Madalena Barillot, Rocio Gilmour, Gemma O’Halloran, Siobhan O’Riordan, Debbie Ford & Catherine Woods – your help and support is always appreciated. A commission of 60% (€2,714.30) of the total sales goes to the school to purchase new books. The winners of the kernel competition were:- Isaac Devlin, Patrick McKeown, Peter Jevens, Jack Gilmour & Sam Collins.
Gairdín na Scoile: Spring has been a busy time in our school garden vegetable plot. We dug in phacelia, which is a green manure and also fertilised the ground with some chicken manure pellets. We planted early potatoes – Home Guards and British Queens. We also set broad bean seeds and planted onion sets. In April we set white turnips in the brassica plot and we also transplanted some lettuce. We look forward to the growing season and to harvesting these in June. (Mr. Fleming)
Community Garda Visits: Garda Eric McCarthy has been visiting Ms Beale’s & Mr McSweeney’s classes during the second term. It is a great opportunity for the boys to get to know a local garda and listen to his advice on various issues. So far he has covered various topics such as – the Garda’s job; Road Safety; Garda equipment; dialling 999/112. The boys are very interested in the topics and have contributed very well in the discussions. Many thanks to Garda McCarthy for his very informative presentations and we are looking forward to many more visits.
Indoor Hurling: In February, our school participated in a 4th class indoor hurling blitz in Little Island Sports Hall. Despite the best efforts of the players we failed to qualify for the finals but an enjoyable and satisfying outing was had by all. Well done to – Cillian Mansworth O’Connell, Aidan O’Rourke, Adam Barrett, Will O’Keeffe, Charlie McCarthy, Josh Troy, Liam Murphy, Caleb Coady & Padraig Noonan. . (Mr. Fleming)
Friends For Life: Mr. Barry’s 4th class have been doing the Friends for Life Programme since October. This is a series of Lifeskills designed to increase Confidence and Resilience in pupils. Together with Mrs. Power the boys have been learning about Emotions, Relaxation and Calming , Coping with Difficult Challenges, Receiving and Giving Support and learning how to appreciate What’s Good about their Lives. The Programme is designed to promote a healthy positive outlook on life and the importance of relationships. On April 4th the boys finished their course and were awarded their certificates by Mr. Kenneally. Well done lads, for putting so much into the course and remember to put all the skills you learned into practice in your lives.
Cobh Fire Brigade: We were delighted that we were visited by some members of our local Cobh Fire Station on Friday 5th April. They gave a very interesting and informative display to pupils and staff. Here are some of the very important messages they reminded us of:- Know your eircode and address; know the emergency numbers – 999/112; check your smoke alarms; chip pans can be very dangerous; don’t play with matches; plan an escape route; always put a spark guard in front of an open fire and have the chimney cleaned at least once a year. Pupils also got a chance to see the fire truck up close and were showed many of its features.
Snámh: A number of classes have attended swimming classes in the local pool – Coral Leisure. They have been very rewarding and the pupils love going there. The instructors and staff are always very welcoming and professional in their approach. The school has a time slot every week from the beginning of September to the end of June when we get our summer holidays.
Visit to Lifetime Lab
In October, Mr. Fleming’s Rang a Sé, visited The Lifetime Lab in Cork. We spent the day learning about science and particularly the topic of electricity. The class was divided into small groups and we got to perform and test many experiments on electricity. We tested if substances were conductors or insulators. We built circuits with bulbs, buzzers, motors and switches. We set up parallel circuits and series circuits and then drew circuit diagrams. We constructed battery powered cars and small battery powered brushes. Many thanks to Ms. Una Leader for instructing and guiding us during the day.
School Open Night
Our annual School Open Night was held on Wednesday 24th October. A great crowd of parents and children came to visit on the night and learn about all aspects of school life here in Scoil Iosaef Naofa. Mr. Kenneally gave a talk to explain the many facets of what happens here in the school. Some senior pupils were also present to demonstrate and showed the visitors many aspects of school life – the various subjects, sport, art and crafts, weather recording, music, IT, science experiments, classroom displays, chess and An Droichead Unit.
Oíche Shamhna
There was great excitement in the school before Hallowe’en. Classes did some fantastic artwork in the weeks leading up to it. Lots of pupils and staff dressed up on the day of midterm break!
It’s Conker Time in Scoil Iosaef Naofa!!!
