HPV – vaccinations tomorrow. Details here.

First Year QR Competition – the link from the code (left) is to the poem Géibheann recently uploaded to the schools YouTube Channel (here).

The annual Parents Association Sponsored Walk will take place on Wednesday 28th September. This involves First and Second Year students and the most successful fundraising class will receive cinema tickets.

Parents Association AGM – Thursday 6th October – you should have got a letter via your child – if not, check the bag!

Sixth-year Prefect-training will take place this week.

A scrap-metal collection for the school’s project in Lesotho will be held on Saturday 8th and 15th of October. Further details click here.

A very successful Open-night was held last Thursday with the school thronged with prospective students and their parents/guardians. Please do not hesitate to contact the school with any queries about what we do. The admissions policy governing the 2012/2013 intake is on the Policies page of the website.

Thanks to the teachers and students who came back for the evening, in particular the Sixth Year prefects who acted as guides, one of whom was heard to comment, that the worst thing about the school was that it wasn’t open 24/7!

A Staff development day last Friday concerned a number of areas.

• Dr. Marie Griffin, C.E.O. of County Dublin VEC  made a presentation on behalf their role as one of the Trustees of Portmarnock Community School.
• John Dalton, a Google Apps Certified Trainer held a workshop on Google Apps for Education.
• In the afternoon a number of subject areas presented on some of the creative uses of digital media in the school.
• A Twitter stream of the day can be viewed here. It received attention from the National Centre for Technology in Education, St. Angelas Teacher Training College in Sligo and Gort Community School Parents Association amongst others.

Our Open-night is on Thursday 22 September at 7.30PM. Mr. O Riordan writes: Fifth and Sixth class primary students and their parents/guardians are invited to our Open Night on Thursday 22 September 2011.  The evening will start at 7.30 p.m. with a short presentation by the Principal, Mr Pat O’Riordan.  You will also be addressed by our Head Girl and Head Boy.  After that you will be offered a guided tour of the school by the Sixth Year Prefects.  You will be able to meet members of our teaching staff as well.  We look forward to meeting you on the night.

School will finish at 3.25PM on Thursday to facilitate the Open-night.

There is no school on Friday 23rd September. This is for a staff-day, as advised in the school calendar.

The 2011 Admissions Policy was approved by the Board of Management recently. It can be read here or on the policies page of the website. It governs 2012/2013 admissions.

The annual Parents Association Sponsored Walk will take place on Wednesday 28th September. This involves First and Second Year students and the most successful fundraising class will receive cinema tickets.

Parents Association AGM – Thursday 6th October – you should have got a letter via your child – if not, check the bag!

The 2011 Admissions Policy was approved by the Board of Management recently. It can be read here or on the policies page of the website. It governs 2012/2013 admissions.

Our Open-night is on Thursday 22 September at 7.30PM. More information to follow.

Parents Association AGM – Thursday 6th October – you should have got a letter via your child – if not, check the bag!

Thank you to the teachers who participated in the Hospice Coffee Morning on Thursday 15th. September.

The girls in Ms. Evan’s class in St.Vincent de Paul NS, Griffith Avenue had a bake sale and fair to raise funds for Action Ireland’s trip to Lesotho next February. Thirty PCS TY students are going to be involved in Education, Medical and Construction Projects and Emma Clarke (Mr. Clarke’s daughter) organised this fundraiser. Thanks to Ms. Evans, the students in Room 25 and the Principal of the senior school, Ms. Kavanagh.

Karl O’ Reilly from Aware gave a presentation on Recognising, Understanding and Getting help for Depression to TY students during the week.

Sixth-years attended the Higher Options conference in the R.D.S. this week.

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Sergeant Austin Cox of Malahide Gardaí has asked us to bring the following letter to the notice of parents/guardians of students and the students themselves, who received their Junior Certificate Results here.

There is school as normal on Thursday 15th September. Transition Years are reminded that Thinking Outside the Box is on that morning.

Parents Association AGM – Thursday 6th October – you should have got a letter via your child – if not, check the bag!

We are experimenting at the moment with embedding video on the school website. Mr. O’ Cearra can be heard reading Géibheann here. We would be interested in any feedback (to Mr. O’ Mahony or Mr. Maynes) on how quickly it opened and played for you.

Géibheann le Caitlín Maude. An ceol leis The Chieftains. Léitheoir: P Ó Cearra. This Leaving Certificate Irish poetry video may be downloaded free from the iTunes Store (here). It was produced in PCS and is the first of a series.

Congratulations to Orlagh Geoghegan, Sarah Hawkshaw, Jamie Skelton and Stephen Ducray who were announced as Head (Orlagh and Jamie) and Deputy-Head Girls and Boys on Monday 12th September.

Details of HPV vaccinations for First and Sixth Year girls are available here. Important Guidance and Counselling notices for Fourth and Sixth Year students are available here.

We had a reflection and a minutes silence on Friday 9th September as a mark of respect for those who died or suffered loss during the great Irish famine. Many schools in Ireland participated in this event.

A booklet outlining the history of Portmarnock Community School in South Africa can be accessed here. Please have a look at it – it outlines our commitment there since 2007.

The project moves to Lesotho for 2012.

The photographs below represent teachers who were involved in the project in South Africa in 2011 and students who will be travelling to Lesotho in 2012.

Details of HPV vaccinations for First and Sixth Year girls are available here.

The Irish Society for Autism made a presentation to each year-group on Monday 5th September. This is part of our commitment to promote understanding and inclusion within the school community.

Transition Year announcements have been updated on the Transition Year Section of the Website.

The presentation for Transition Year parents and guardians is on Thursday 8th September at 7.30PM.

Members of the Portmarnock Arch Club visited the school during the week. They are particularly keen on new members, who will help with their club activities. Anyone interested (particularly Fourth and Fifth Year students) can visit the club on Thursday 8th September from  8 – 10pm or Saturday 10th September  from 11am – 2pm and 2 – 5pm.

The Club is situated behind St. Annes Church in Portmarnock village.

Many past-pupils have had a great time in the Arch Club and subsequently pursued careers in medicine, nursing, social-work and education based on their experience, assisting young people with special needs.

Mrs. Kenny retired from teaching today, after thirty years in Portmarnock Community School. She will be missed by all of us, most especially her close friends on the staff, her colleagues in the Maths department and her many students.

We wish Geraldine and her family every happiness in this new phase of their lives together.

Mr O’ Riordan wrote “Ms Ger Kenny will retire from Portmarnock Community School today, 31 August 2011, bringing to an end a career which lasted over 36 years.  During that time she has had a distinguished career as a teacher of Mathematics and IT.  In addition, she has provided pastoral support to so many students as Tutor and Year Head.  Ms Kenny has also been an invaluable member of the senior management team of Portmarnock Community School helping to guide it to the successful school it has become. 

Ms Kenny will be missed from the corridors and classrooms of PCS.  She has made many friends among students, parents and staff. She has been a very supportive colleague providing invaluable advice to many.  We know that Ms Kenny is an educationalist at heart and in her retirement will continue to contribute to the development of young people into the future. 

We wish her well and many happy years in her retirement. “

The Participation Policy for Physical Education has been added to the policies section of the Website. It can also be read here. This policy has been ratified by the Board of Management and now applies to the conduct of PE in Portmarnock Community School.

We want to thank parents and guardians for having your children so well turned out for their first days in school.

The Open Night for students planning on attending PCS next year (2012/2013) will take place on Thursday 22nd September at 7.30PM.

Welcome to all at the start of the academic year 2011/2012.

Fáilte in particular to the First-year students and new teachers in PCS. As per the calendar there is no school on Friday 26th August. This is to facilitate

• teacher-planning for Moodle, the school’s online learning environment

• various presentations on Learning Support

Click on any photo below to start a slide-show:

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