Remember those little shoe boxes.....

Last year the school sent over 200 filled shoe boxes to Team Hope for distriubtion to boys and girls in Africa and Eastern Europe for Christmas.  I just recieved an email from Team Hope to say that the boxes have been delivered and you can read the email below.

Well it’s February 2012…. and we’ve just finished putting together some great pictures and stories .

They’re all related to the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal

                      that you worked so hard to help make a reality                

for so many needy children across Africa & Eastern Europe!

We’ve seen such joy and excitement from distributions that we wanted to share it with you.

Take a look and maybe download this special report.

                                                             

A very special ‘Thank You’ for everything you did to help,

We’re already looking forward to the 2012 Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal

Don’t forget that Team Hope run projects all year ‘round to help those in greater need….

And we could always use your help with fund raising too !!!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

TEAM HOPE

Unit 5, Leopardstown Business Centre
Ballyogan Avenue

Dublin 18

Ireland

Tel: +353 (1)  2940222

Watch 90 seconds of absolute Joy and Excitement, kids in Burundi receiving their Team Hope Shoebox gifts.

Also find us on....

    Team Hope FaceBook                             ----                             web:  www.teamhope.ie

Sam came to visit!

Last Wednesday was a very special day for the school.  Eamon Fennel and Michael Darragh McAuley, 2 of the winning Dubs team, brought the Sam Maguire Cup to the school.

 

The excitement level in the school was audible, the girls were high on the anticipation of the visit and gave the 2 guys a rapturous welcome.  The classes had prepared some posters and had the corridor decorated with dubs colours for the day.

First stop for the cup was a trip to the hall to talk to the 1st class girls who were waiting patiently and quietly for the Sam Maguire.  The players gave the girls lots of time to ask questions and they explained how they go into the GAA, what teams they played on, and how they got to be so good at GAA.

All the other classes waited patiently for the players to come to the yard with the cup where they took yet more questions (sorry for the lack of faces in the photos, but we want to be sure not to offend any parents by having their child's photos without consent) and entertained the pupils with their stories and encouraging words.

We thank Eamon and Michael Darragh for giving so freely of their time last week.  I know that their visit will be such a lasting memory for all the girls, and to see the Sam Maguire Cup in real life was a treat for everyone, including the teachers!

Christmas Carols and Cake!

On Wednesday 14th December the Parents Association and the school ran a fundraising morning in the school hall.  There was cake and some impromptu performances from the classes.  Here are some of the photos of the day - not sure how much money was raised yet, but we wish to thank you all for your support of the day and for buying and returning those Raffle Ticket stubs to us.

The raffle this year has some great prizes - an Apple itouch and docking station, a bike and hampers of prizes.

Yummy cakes were baked and donated and your efforts are much appreciated.

Some mum's enjoying a quiet moment and chat - full of festive cheer!

Lovely table decorations to make the hall festive!

Thank you for attending and giving the school your support.

School is magical at Christmas!

Have you seen the school lately!  So much work has been done to make the halls into a winter wonderland and so very seasonal, and inspiring.

We bumped into this guy in the halls the other day - He is a very busy man at this time of the year and he took time out of his planning to come into the school and spread some seasonal cheer!

School Pub Quiz

On Friday 25th November the Parents Association held a Pub Quiz in aid of the School.  Our plan is to fund raise for new equipment for the Resource rooms, as well as fundraising to update the library in the school.

So firstly, many thanks to Stuart who was the quiz master and MC for the evening, he did a fab job of keeping the suspense going and making sure the evening went well. We had great support from local companies and shops for the evening with donations and tables that were sponsored for the night. We want to say a huge thank you to the sponsors who donated to the night.  We really appreciate their support in these hard times, and it reminds us all to shop local and support local if possible.  So let's thank our sponsors (in no particular order)

Fabios Pizza,
Northwood Technology,
Let's Face It Salon,
Happy Events,
Grange Building Supplies,
Brookwood Pharmacy,
Kel's Farm Fresh,
Marks Barbers,
The Beauty Box,
Wink,
Orchard Playgroup,
McHughs Off-Licence,
Centra (Rosemount Avenue),
Cinnamon Cafe,
Gorgeous Hairdressing,
Health Plex,
The Nail Bar,
Michael Edwards Photographer,
Racquel Balloons
(my apologies if I missed anyone!)

Sponsors tables, quiz master, prizes, balloons, and scores on the board....

The evening raised approx €1700 for the school after the expenses for the night.

Supporters, teams, checking scores, thinking!

The winning team for the night were Clodagh, Terry, Cecily and Mr thinking cap!  Which obviously made all the difference (2 photos middle second row above).

Thank you one and all for the support for the night - every little helps!

Our next fundraising event is the Christmas Raffle and Carols & Cake Day, not got a firm date for it but we will circulate a note.

Operation - Shoe Box

Thank you all for supporting the Team Hope, Christmas Shoebox Appeal.  The boxes have now been collected and will soon be on the way to needy children in 17 countries.  In the last few years Team Hope has sent 2 million boxes to needy children.

YOUR SHOEBOX CAN TURN JUST ANOTHER DAY IN A CHILD’S LIFE INTO SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL, A DAY THAT THEY WILL REMEMBER FOR YEARS TO COME

The boxes made a lovely display in the hall and we were proud to send over 200 boxes this year to Team Hope.  Thank you for supporting the efforts.

Lifesaving new Equipment for the school

The school received a fabulous, potentially lifesaving donation from the Coolock Artane Credit Union of a Defibrillator that is now mounted on the wall outside the Principals office.  The unveiling of the new machine on the 14th September 2011, was attended by the School Liaison team from Coolock Artane Credit Union Adrienne O'Shea and the chairperson Catherine Bannon.  Also in attendance was Abbie Byrne's mum and sister, along with her classmates.  Very kindly, the two firemen who attended to Abbie on the day she fell ill at school also attended.

Abbie's Mum and sister

Abbie's Class mates and class representatives for each year

Artane Credit Union Reps.

Many thanks to Alanna Brougham for the photos of the day, and our thanks to Artane Credit Union for this lifesaving piece of equipment.