Ballagh National School Kilrooskey Co.Roscommon

First Penance / First Holy Communion / Confirmation

4th April 2020/in School News /by Ballagh Ns

With regards to the Sacraments, no decision has been made yet as to their timeline, as soon as the information becomes available to us, we will forward details to parents. We would like to share a note received from the Diocese Primary Catechetics team:

Over recent days, Deacon Frank McGuinness, Diocesan Director of Youth Ministry, has integrated a number of child-friendly religious education / faith development resources with the Elphin Diocesan website. They may be accessed via the homepage www.elphindiocese.ie or directly at https://www.elphindiocese.ie/programme-prayer-resources/ . Frank continues to add to this resource. Currently it includes a listing of PG rated movies with faith themes (ideal for Easter holiday viewing) and First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation programmes that include animated videos etc. to stimulate the children’s engagement.
We also take this opportunity to wish you a blessed, safe and healthy Easter break.
Sincerely.
Teresa, Mary & Kathleen
Diocese of Elphin – Primary Catechetics

Useful Links to Websites

4th April 2020/in School News /by Ballagh Ns

We understand people are sharing lots of useful links to websites across social media,which can be confusing to decide which is useful. This resource for Junior Infants to 6th Class might narrow down the search and be worth exploring by the pupils if they get bored- don’t feel under pressure to use but we felt it was well structured and might be helpful at some stage if you wished during the closure. As a a school we wish to extend our thanks to Eimear Sheahan who created the padlet resource and Ger Ruane who shared this great padlet with lots of activities for home learning activities. Just click on the link or copy into your browser- https://padlet.com/parteensolosinging/zfdq5n59llog

We hope this helps, remember anything that is suggested is a menu, pick what suits your day. Keep smiling and try to get out in the garden to enjoy the good weather at the moment.

Best wishes- Staff of Ballagh National School.

Covid 19 – Activities and ideas for children

26th March 2020/in School News /by Ballagh Ns

Dear Parents,
I hope you are all keeping well and your families are all safe. This is a very challenging and stressful time for everybody, including children. Many of them are worried about some of the things they have seen on TV, social media or overheard from people.
In order to avoid stress for both parents and children regarding school work we have put together some activities and ideas that you may find helpful.
We all need to look after our physical and mental health at this time. Spending time talking to your children and doing activities with them would be very beneficial. Above everything else, it is important that the children have some structure to their day and that they enjoy what they are doing as they will be missing the structure and routine of school as well as the friendship and support of their peers.

In the meantime, take care and mind yourselves.
Best Regards,
Audrey Nolan

National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS)

The Department of Education and Skills’ NEPS psychologists have developed advice and some resources for young people to manage and stay well when schools are closed. Please click on the link below. https://www.education.ie/en/The-Department/Announcements/information-for-schools-preschool s-and-third-level-institutions-on-the-coronavirus.html#15

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There are lots of amazing resources online to assist home learning. The following is just a selection:

https://www.seomraranga.com/ is offering a free daily quiz (answers must be in by 3pm!) offering a daily prize of a €20 gift voucher, the winner each day will be announced on Twitter.

https://www.twinkl.ie/offer is offering free access to parents: enter the code IRLTWINKLHELPS.

https://dabbledoomusic.com/p/parents-subscription-full-access/product_id=1122889&coupon_code=19924I Dabbledoo music programme, free at home access

https://www.typingclub.com/ (a free online site to learn touch typing skills)

http://khanacademy.org (free online Maths lessons)

https://scratch.mit.edu/ (online coding tutorials and challenges)

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/ (online games for maths and English practice)

https://rtejr.rte.ie/10at10/ (10 at 10, get active in English and as Gaeilge!)

https://www.youtube.com/artforkidshub (lots of drawing tutorials for kids to follow)

https://www.scoilnet.ie/scoilnet-services/world-book/ (excellent, reliable, age-appropriate information source for students)

https://www.librariesireland.ie/join-your-library (as the libraries are currently closed you can use your library card details or sign up at this link to get temporary card details, use the BORROWBOX app to download 5 books/ audiobooks as you would from the library)

https://www.into.ie/2020/03/18/tips-and-tricks-home-learning/

https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

https://webmail.eir.ie/service/home/~/?auth=co&loc=en_GB&id=165210&part=2