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By jacinta.sullivan, 20/05/2012 9:24 am

Tuesday 15th May was skipathon day in Presentation School. From 9.00am to 2.30pm the sound of fun and laughter could be heard from the playgrounds, as every class took their turn skipping and jumping rope in aid of school funds. All money raised will be used towards improving the front yard. Well done to everyone who has returned their card already (with something on it of course!) and thank you to all of you who supported us. We really appreciate your continued support.

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By abbi.gallagher, 18/05/2012 1:33 pm

For information in relation to second hand school text books, please click on the link below:

Mullingar Congress Second Hand Book Scheme

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By abbi.gallagher, 18/05/2012 11:57 am

Dear Parent/Guardian,

As you are aware any child’s hair may become infected with head lice. You are asked in the interest of your own and all the other children in the class to check your child’s hair at least twice a week. It is necessary to have a good fine comb for this purpose. If the hair is infected please treat with one of the lotions available from your chemist.
In order to minimise the risk; please keep long hair tied up, plaited or in a bun.

What are head lice?
They are tiny greyish white insects that live in the hair and feed on the scalp. The female lays her eggs (the nits) on the hair close to the scalp. Seven to 10 days later, the nits hatch and live 20 to 30 days, during which time the female can produce 250-300 eggs. The empty nits are white in colour. They remain firmly glued to the hair and become more obvious as the hair grows, carrying them further from the scalp.

How could my child get head lice?
Anyone can pick up head lice. However, infestation is most common among children who often put heads together during play allowing the lice to walk from one head to the nest. Lice can also be passed indirectly through the common use of brushes, combs and hats. Head lice do not reflect standards of hygiene in the home or in the school. They are just as willing to live in clean hair as in an unclean head.

How will I know if my child has head lice?
Head scratching is usually the first sign that a child has head lice. By the time a child is consciously irritated by their presence, the head lice will have been there for quite a while. It is better to check your child’s hair on a regular basis. This should be done using a special fine-toothed comb (available from any chemist) and combing the hair carefully down onto a white towel or cloth. Adult lice can be removed in this way and will be seen as dark oval specks as they fall onto the towel.

The hair should also be checked for the presence of nits, pearly grey specks smaller than a grain of caster sugar. These are most commonly found around the nape of the neck and behind the ears. They stick firmly to the hair. If you see a white speck on the hair shaft, gently place the hair between two fingers and slide the fingers down along it. Dandruff or dust will readily come away, nits stick and can be felt as the fingers pass over them.

What should I do if I find lice or nits?
A variety of effective preparations, shampoos and lotions are available at the chemist. It is important that the instructions are accurately followed. Shampoos kill the head lice but do not kill the eggs and thus must be used repeatedly until all hatched nits are killed. The lotions, applied correctly, kill the nits and the hatched lice. Nits remaining in the hair after a treatment programme such as this should be dead. However, to ensure that none have escaped, it is a good idea to wash the hair with one of the anti-head lice shampoos 7 – 10 days after initial treatment. Getting rid of nits is difficult. A solution of vinegar and water applied to the hair helps loosen the nits which can them be removed using a fine-toothed nit removal comb.

Personal clothing, bed linens and anything that may have become infested should be washed in HOT water where possible. (The hot cycle of most washing machines is adequate). Brushes and combs should either be boiled for 10 minutes or soaked in a dilute bleach solution for 1 hour. As head lice pass rapidly from one family member to another, it is a good idea to treat the whole family at the same time.
Thank you for giving this your attention. Your family doctor or chemist will be able to answer any further questions that you might have concerning head lice and the available lotion sand shampoos.

for more information please see the following websites

http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/flu/A-Z/H/Head-lice/Preventing-head-lice.html

http://kidshealth.org/Search01.jsp

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By elaine.burke, 18/05/2012 10:28 am

On May 10th last eight children from sixth class represented the school at a Challenge to Change conference in Kilkenny. We were one of twenty-five participating Presentation primary and secondary schools. All of the schools taking part carried out a project on one of the Millenium Goals, our project was called “Homelessness: Home & Away”. We had done lots of work on homelessness nationally and internationally including:

1. Finding our the causes and effects of homelessness

2. Giving presentations to other classes in the school on homelessness

3. We had Cormac from the Simon Community talk to us about homelessness in the Midlands

4. Fr. Paul Crosbie, the diocesean representative for Trocaire came and did a talk on homelessness in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010

5. We raised money for Temporary Emergency Accomodation Mullingar (TEAM) by having a school disco at Christmas

6. Ann from TEAM came and talked to us about homelessness in Mullingar, we were very shocked and saddened to learn that there are homeless people in our town

7. Lydia from Trocaire came and talked to us about homelessness in developing countries around the world

In Kilkenny we presented all the information we had gathered on homelessness and we also did a number of brilliant workshops on different themes such as Child Labour, Climate Change and Drumming. It was an excellent day and we are now so much more understanding of the issues surrounding being homeless.

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By niamh.oneill, 11/05/2012 9:09 am

Well done to 5th class pupil, Amy Bermingham, who won the final of ‘Junior Midlands Got Talent’ show in Clara, Co. Offaly, last Friday night. Amy gave an outstanding performance, wowing both judges and audience alike with an incredible hip-hop dance routine to a compilation track. Amy took home a trophy and €1000. Congratulations Amy!

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By abbi.gallagher, 10/05/2012 11:23 am

Click on the link below for information regarding second-hand school books.

Mullingar Congress Second-Hand Book Scheme

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By Michael Tunney, 08/05/2012 11:30 am

Sincere thanks to all of the children, parents and staff who supported and assisted us with the fun car wash day on Saturday last. Your support is very much appreciated. €2200 was raised which will be divided equally between our Autism Unit and Saplings School for children with autism.

Thank-you.