December Newsletter 2016

December 2016
Christmas at Rathmore
P1 Nativity
8&9/12 @ 9.30am
(tickets only)
Nursery Nativities
PM Class 14/12 @ 2.15pm
AM Class 15/12 @ 9.30am
Christmas Carol Service
13/12 @ 7.00pm
Congratulations...
…to the budding actors and actresses of P4 for
their two fabulous nights of ‘Archibald’s War’.
Plenty of stars shone across both evenings as
they entertained the audiences with songs and
dancing from WWII.
A big thank you to all of our parents,
grandparents and friends who supported the
P4s not just on the nights, but in all the
preparation as well.
Over the next few weeks at Rathmore, we have a
number of events taking place in the run up to
Christmas.
This is always a busy time of year, and one that is full
of energy and fun. We would love it if you could join
us and celebrate the Christmas story.
Our Nursery and P1 pupils will be performing four
Nativity plays and the senior school will host their
annual Carol Service at Carnalea Methodist Church.
Please note that due to the large demand for the P1
Nativity you need to reserve your tickets in advance.
The PTA will also be hosting their Christmas Fair
next Friday (5pm-7pm) and having a non-uniform
day and Christmas discos (for P4-P7) on Tuesday 20
December.
Nursery and P1 Enrolment
This week we have been welcoming prospective
parents for next year’s enrolment. On Tuesday night
we had over 100 parents meet our Team and visit
our Nursery. Tonight, our P1 Team will be holding
their Enrolment Information Session at 7pm in the
school hall. All are welcome.
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year
from everyone at Rathmore
Raffy’s Thought for the Month:
‘Be empathetic, think of others’
Realise that the feelings of
others are important.

Charities
We greatly appreciate your support of the charity
events at Rathmore.
Our most recent venture being ‘Children in Need’
when we raised a fantastic £127. Thank you!
With your support we donated £650 to The Poppy
Appeal this year.
We have decided that our Christmas Charity
initiative this year will be the ‘Hurricane Matthew
Appeal’. We hope you will continue to support us
with this worthwhile cause.
Donations can be made at the Nativities and
Senior Carol Service in December through the
retiring collections. If you wish to donate to the
appeal and are not attending these events please
pass your donation to the school office or class
teacher in a labelled envelope.
Abaana Clothes Appeal
In the new year, the New Life Choir from Uganda
will be visiting Rathmore as part of a trip to
Northern Ireland. This choir is made up of 10 boys
and 10 girls, aged 7-12, from an impoverished
background who have not experienced a Northern
Ireland winter! We would love to support them by
collecting clothes items for their trip. Further
information will be posted on Seesaw next week.
Reminder
We respectfully ask parents to keep sick children at
home. Following vomiting, children should remain at
home for 48 hours to ensure the bug is not passed
on.
Winter Mornings & Darker Evenings
At this time of year, as winter sets in, visibility in
the mornings and in the afternoons can be
affected by the dark and poor weather. Please
take the time to discuss road safety with your
child, reminding them to always wait for the
crossing patrol men to be in the middle of the
road before crossing.
PTA
Next Friday evening is our Christmas Fair from
5pm-7pm. Tickets are now available to buy from
the school office.
A big thank you to everyone who supported our
Pillows & PJs’ Night (£872) and our Cash 4
Clobber campaign (£188). Well done.
Our last event of 2016 will be our class discos for
P4-P7 on the last day of term. Our P1-P3 children
will also welcome a ‘special visitor’ that day.
This day will be a Christmas Jumper/non-uniform
day for all pupils. We would ask every child to
bring in £1 to support this event.
Staff Update
Next week, we will be wishing Mrs Grant (and her
husband) the very best as she starts her
maternity leave. Miss Fleming will be teaching the
class through to the summer. Miss Fleming is
already familiar with Rathmore, having spent some
time in P6 this year.
Fri 9 December - PTA Christmas Fair
Tue 20 December - Last day of Term 1
(£1 PTA donation. P1-P3 ‘Special Visitor’
and P4-P7 Disco)
This day will be non-uniform and finishing
time will be 12.15 pm for all children.
Term 2 will commence on
Wednesday 4 January at 9.00am
Thank you for all your support this
term. Can we remind you
that on Tuesday 3 January
the school will be
closed for staff
training.