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New Term – September 2009
All children looked eager and pleased to be back for a new school year. They all looked very smart in their new school ties. The role of the school has now reached 140! This is very exciting as we are now in our sixth year opening in 2004 with only 12 children. The school is developing and thriving extremely well with wonderful support from all our super parents. We are going to celebrate our five year anniversary with some fun events and create some mementos to mark this occasion.

Paired Reading Programme
Children and parents enjoyed the launch of our Paired Reading Programme. This is a programme designed to improve children’s reading ability and to continue to develop their love of reading and books. At the end of the programme the children and parents expressed their delight and enthusiasm for all the great books they had access to.

Paired Maths
The launch of the Paired Maths Programme was another successful evening. The children really enjoyed taking part in the programme which has been developed to show children that Maths is fun!! The children had access to a wide range of mathematical games which they took home and played with their family.

Dublin Marathon
Miss Karen Mullin our Primary 1 teacher and Mrs Lucinda Nolan our Primary 3 Classroom Assistant successfully completed the Dublin Marathon on 26th October 2009. They had a very successful fundraising Table Quiz which was supported by parents and the local community who they would like to thank for their generosity and wonderful support. The children also got involved in the spirit of the race by guessing the girls finishing times. The final total raised was £3,200. This money will be shared between our school and the Integrated Education Fund. This is an amazing effort and greatly appreciated by the whole Roe Valley Integrated Primary School community. Sincere thanks to the girls on behalf of everyone. They are stars!!!

After Schools Clubs

Cookery:
Miss Cummings, our Primary 2 teacher is running a very successful cookery class for P1 and P2 children. The children enjoy preparing a variety of delicious food which they can take home for their family to sample. They are learning about healthy eating, good hygiene habits and safety in the kitchen.

Sports:
A huge variety of sports is being offered throughout the year. These include football, netball, tag rugby, multi-sports and athletics. The children use the local leisure centre, our playground and more recently our new playing field. Football and netball teams were formed to take part in local tournaments. The children really enjoy all of these activities and sport has become a big part of our school life. Thanks to Mr Cleland, Mrs O’Donnell and Miss C Mullan for their continuing hard work.

Line Dancing:
The children are busy practising for the Christmas Show. They are learning line dances to the tunes of Christmas songs and are really enjoying this session.

Speech and Drama
The children enjoy taking part in the Speech and Drama programme where they learn a variety of poems, enabling them to take part in both Coleraine and Limavady Speech and Drama Festivals. This is a wonderful opportunity for developing children’s confidence and self-esteem. Last year the children were successful in gaining 1st, 2nd, 3rd and highly commended.

Homework Club
This is a very popular after school club where children enjoy the support from teachers and peers. Homework is completed in a stress free comfortable environment leaving lots of time for leisure activities at home.

UNICEF Award Level 1 - A Rights Respecting School
The Rights Respecting School award is a nationwide scheme which promotes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, as the basis for enhancing teaching, learning, ethos, attitudes and behaviour.

A Rights Respecting School not only teaches about children’s and human rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: teacher/adults-pupils; pupils- teacher/adults; pupils-pupils.

Children are educated about what their rights as a child are; and are therefore encouraged to ensure the equality of these rights for all children, locally and globally. This year we participated in the UNICEF day for change, where the children donated money and wore their shorts and shades to school. The staff provided delicious buns to sell around each class. It was a very successful day and this year we focused on the rights of children living in Papua New Guinea and all donations are going to promote the rights of children in this country.

Students’ Council
The students’ council consists of 2 child representatives from each class. These children bring the issues raised in class meetings to the attention of the Senior Management Team.

The student council meets once a month to discuss these issues with the Principal and Senior Teacher.

The children have had some wonderful ideas and their contributions to the running of the school are proving to be very valuable. An example of this was the very successful Class Fair. This resulted from an idea from the P5/7 class who were very keen to raise money towards the upkeep of the new school pitch. They took control of this project themselves devising posters and letters informing everyone of the event. They then managed the day by issuing a timetable to all classes. All the children and parents really enjoyed the variety of stalls, activities and games which the children created themselves. The atmosphere was wonderful, everyone had a super time!! The magnificent sum of £250 was raised by the class who were very proud of themselves.

This year our senior class are intending to hold another class fair in the spring term to raise money for school funds.

World Book Day
To celebrate world book day the children will dress up as their favourite character. They will take part in a wonderful parade which everyone enjoys, seeing characters such as Harry Potter, Captain Hook, Doctor Who, Tracy Beaker and a whole lot more!!

During the day there will be a variety of activities designed to enhance children’s literacy skills and continue to encourage their love of books.

Christmas
Roe Valley IPS has been a very exciting and busy school in the month of December. The highlights have been:

Carol Service
P4-P7 children sang and acted out a beautiful service. Singing songs and hymns and telling the story of the birth of Jesus. This was greatly enjoyed by everyone who attended.

Craft Fair
A very successful craft fair was held in our school hall. Local crafters displayed a variety of goods including jewellery, candles, toys, books, bread, chutney and many other items. Tea and mulled wine with shortbread was served and a very special visitor called Santa set up his grotto! This proved to be extremely popular with all our children who received a small gift while telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

School Nativity Play
This wonderful performance which was called “A Special Baby’s Blanket” was held in Radisson Hotel, in Limavady. The scenery and costumes were very professional and the P1-P3 children sang and acted out the story of Jesus’ birthday really well. Everyone who attended thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the children in the show.

Five Year Celebration
Our school opened in September 2004 and is celebrating our sixth year in operation. To mark this wonderful occasion the whole school went to the Millennium Theatre in L’Derry to watch the pantomime Aladdin. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and we have decided to do this again next year! The children drew pictures of themselves and the staff which was made into a commemorative tea towel which all parents were invited to buy as a keep sake. A school disco was held in the evening as a final celebration and to mark the end of term. The style of the clothes worn by the children was very impressive and made some of the staff feel ancient!!! All the children really enjoyed dancing to the latest tunes and this was a wonderful fun way to end a very productive and enjoyable term.

Open Evening
We had a very successful open evening on Wednesday 13th January 2010. The Primary 4 children gave a wonderful performance enjoyed by all our visitors. Miss Mullin Primary 1 Teacher gave a really interesting and informed presentation followed by a tour of the school. During this tour parents could observe children taking part in a variety of activities. The children were very keen to talk to the visitors and explain what they were doing. Everyone who attended was impressed by our school and the children and staff enjoyed show casing Roe Valley integrated Primary School to the public.
 
 
















Roe Valley Integrated Primary School