December Newsletter 2017

December 2017
Christmas at Rathmore
P1 Nativity
7&8/12 @ 9.30am
(tickets only)
Christmas Carol Service
13/12 @ 7.00pm
Nursery Nativities
PM Class 18/12 @ 2.10pm
AM Class 19/12 @ 9.20am
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.
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year
from everyone at Rathmore
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 West 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 (4pm-6pm) and having a non-uniform
day and Christmas discos (for P4-P7) on Thursday 21
December (Donation of £1.50).
Nursery and P1 Enrolment
This week we have been welcoming prospective
parents for next year’s enrolment. On Tuesday night
we invited parents to visit our Nursery and on
Wednesday we opened our doors to the whole
school for our prospective P1 parents. We want to
say a huge thank you to all our members of the RRS
Council and School Council who helped take tours,
our Senior Choir, our String Ensemble and all our
pupils in classrooms and playgrounds - you were
fantastic!
Reminder: the closing date for applications is midday
on Wednesday 10th January 2018.
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 £507. Thank
you!
With your support we donated £84.45 to The
Poppy Appeal this year.
Our Rights Respecting School Council and
School Council have decided that our Christmas
Charity initiative this year will be to support the
work of the ‘Simon Community’. 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.
Minibus News
After 23 years of faithful service to the school,
the decision has been taken to let ‘Big Red’ bow
out of school life. This decision has be made in
light of the new guidelines issued to schools
around driving and maintaining minibuses and
widely publicised on news and social media sites.
PTA
Next Friday evening is our Christmas Fair from
4pm-6pm. Tickets are now available to buy
from the school office.
A big thank you to everyone who supported
our Pillows & PJs’ Night (£848.50) and our
Cash 4 Clobber campaign (£184). Well done.
Our last event of 2017 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/nonuniform
day for all pupils. We would ask every
child to bring in £1.50 to support this event.
Today each family will have received a cake
box in preparation for our Christmas Fair. We
welcome any donations of cakes or buns for
our PTA’s fair. Please return any filled boxes to
the school on Friday.
Reminder
We respectfully ask parents to keep sick
children at home. Following vomiting, children
should remain at home for 48 hours to ensure
Staff Update
Next week, we will be saying goodbye and
good luck to three members of our staff team.
Anna Griffin commences her maternity leave
and Lisa Kee begins a new job as a classroom
assistant.
Mrs Anne Swann is retiring after 10 years as a
Special Needs Classroom Assistant in Rathmore.
Our best wishes go to all three ladies as they
begin new chapters in their lives. We will miss
you.
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.

School Council
Our PTA presented the School Council with a
£50 donation towards new playground
resources to thank them for their on-going help
with the school tuck shop.
Todd’s Leap
We are delighted to be partnering with
Todd’s Leap, as they deliver a sports and
good relations programme with our P4
pupils in line with their PDMU curriculum. This
programme will take place during school
hours as well as an after school club on
Fridays. Our P4 pupils have already signed up
to the Fridays and have been allocated their
slots.
The programme will focus on exploring
diversity and help children’s physical, social,
communication and learning skills. It seeks to
use sport as a tool to break down issues of
prejudice and foster good relations.
Fri 8 December - PTA Christmas Fair
Thur 21 December - Last day of Term
(£1.50 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
3 January at 9.00am
Note: Exceptional Closure Day
Monday 15 January 2018
Thank you to all our parents
and family friends for all your
support this term.
Have a wonderful break over
the Christmas period.