News

🤝 PeacePLUS Project with Convoy Joint NS and Glenmaquin NS 🌟

This week, our pupils took part in an exciting PeacePLUS Project alongside our friends from Convoy Joint National School and Glenmaquin National School. The project aims to build friendships, teamwork, and shared learning experiences between local schools while celebrating cooperation and respect.

As part of the project, pupils enjoyed an energetic visit to Hup Fitness, where they took part in fun fitness activities that encouraged teamwork, confidence, and healthy living. Back in the classroom, everyone got involved in hands-on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) challenges, exploring problem-solving and creativity together.

The day was filled with learning, laughter, and new friendships — a wonderful example of how working together helps us grow stronger as a community.

A big thank you to Hup Fitness for hosting us, and to all the staff and pupils from Convoy Joint NS and Glenmaquin NS for making it such a memorable experience! 💫

We are excited to announce the members of our Student Council for this year!

The Student Council is made up of pupils from second to sixth class who were chosen by their classmates to represent their voices and share ideas about how to make our school an even better place to learn and play. Congratulations to our new Student Council members — we can’t wait to see all the great things you achieve this year! 👏

Some pictures of our Halloween Disco organised by our wonderful Parents Association!

Over the past three weeks, all our classes took part in our Active Flag Skipathon. Every day, pupils picked up their ropes and skipped their way around the world!

Together, we added up our skips and reached amazing places like London, Paris, New York, and Sydney. Everyone worked hard, had fun, and kept active while helping our school on its Active Flag journey.

Well done to all the boys and girls (and teachers!) for making this a huge success!

Dear Parent(s),     

Swimming Lessons: Children from 3^rd -6^th Class are taking part in a 6 week swim block in the Finn Valley Leisure Centre. Our final lesson will take place next Monday 20^th October and children will be presented with their certificates. Well done to everyone and thank you to our Parents Association for providing funding for this.  

Rinka: Pupils from Junior Infants -3^rd Class have been taking part in ‘Rinka’ lessons every Thursday. Our final lesson will take place on Tuesday 4^th November. Thanks again to our Parents Association for covering the cost of this.

Athletics: A total of 25 children travelled to the Primary Schools Cross Country competition at the Finn Valley Centre on Tuesday 16^th September. All pupils gave their very best from start to finish in muddy conditions. A special well done to Darragh in 5^th Class who won a medal for his top 6 finish!

Gaelic Blitz: Well done to our 5^th and 6^th Class pupils who took part in a fun Gaelic blitz in Convoy on Wednesday 8^th October. Our boys and girls teams represented the school with pride and played 5 games each against other schools in the locality.

Wainfest: Pupils from 4^th Class visited Ballybofey Library on Thursday 9^th October to take part in a ‘Wainfest’ workshop. They made beautiful dream catchers as part of this.

Aspire Peaceplus: All classes are taking part in the Aspire Peaceplus Programme with Glenmaquin N.S. and Convoy Joint N.S. Senior classes took part in their ‘ice-breaker’ session in Letterkenny Community Centre on Friday 10^th October. Our junior day will be rescheduled to a date in November. There will also be visits to the other schools in Term 1. Dates will be posted on Aladdin.

School Website: Please check out our school website for updates of your child’s classroom activities. These can be found under the ‘Classes’ section. General updates can also be found under the ‘News’ section. Website can be found at www.drumkeenns.net

Sacrament Dates: Confirmations: Sunday March 1^st @ 12pm – St. Mary’s Church, Convoy. First Holy Communion: Saturday 16^th May @11am – St. Patrick’s Church, Drumkeen.

Student Council: Elections took place on Friday 3^rd October. Our new Student Council members for 25/26 are: 1^st Class: Anna, 2^nd Class: Madeline, 3^rd Class: Peter, 4^th Class: Austin & Sofia, 5^th Class: Caiden, 6^th Class: Caoimhe. Well done to all candidates and those elected!

Hallowe’en: Children may dress up on Thursday 23^rd October. The Parents Association are organising a disco in the hall for all classes. This will take place during the school day and children will receive some treats. Thanks again to our Parents Association for organising this! School closes at the normal time of 3pm on Thursday 23^rd October and reopens on Monday November 3^rd at  9.10am. Reminder that school is closed on Friday 24^th October due to the election.

Parent Teacher Meetings: These will be held on Wednesday 13th November 2025 from 2:30pm – 6pm. School closes for all children at 2pm on the day. Bookings will open soon through Aladdin Connect.

Parents Association: Our PA held a successful AGM on Thursday 25^th September. Upcoming events and fundraising ideas were discussed including our annual Christmas draw and school 5k which will take place in May (date to be confirmed).

Christmas Concert: Our school Christmas concert will take place in St. Patrick’s Hall at 12pm on Thursday 18^th December with each class performing songs and plays.

Healthy Eating: Our Healthy Eating policy is available to view on the school website. We would ask not to have crisps, sweets, bars/cereal bars, corner yoghurts with chocolate/sweetened pieces or fizzy drinks in lunchboxes. Friday is our treat day where children may bring in one small treat e.g. fun size bar or small pack of jellies. Chewing gum is strictly forbidden.

School Opening Hours: Our school opens for pupils at 9.10am with lessons beginning at 9.20am. No children should be dropped off before 9.10am as they are uninsured and unsupervised. Please ensure your child is on time for school each day as children arriving late consistently is disruptive to their learning and that of the other children in their class. Thank you for your cooperation with this.                                                                                                        

Drop off/Pick Up: We remind parents to use the one – way system around the back of the hall and drop off when driving past the school gate. Please be mindful not to block the entrance to the back of the hall if parking at collection times. Any pupils who need to be picked up early from school, please report to office to sign out and child will be brought over from their classroom.

Le Meas,

Ms. N. Scanlan       

On Tuesday 30th September, our school was delighted to welcome the PAWS Water Safety team, who visited each class throughout the day. The workshops gave children the chance to learn about staying safe around water – whether at the swimming pool, on the beach, or near rivers and lakes.

A huge thank you to the PAWS team for spending the day with us and for helping our pupils become more confident, responsible and safe around water!

On Tuesday 16th September, 25 of our pupils proudly represented the school at the Finn Valley Schools Cross Country Competition. The event brought together children from many local schools.

The course conditions were tough on the day, with plenty of mud and challenging ground to test every runner. Despite this, our pupils showed great resilience and gave their very best from start to finish.

We are especially delighted to celebrate one of our runners who earned a medal – a brilliant achievement in such a competitive field. Well done!

A huge congratulations to all 25 children who took part. You represented our school with pride and and enthusiasm. We are very proud of you all!

Dear Parent(s),

Welcome: We would like to extend a warm welcome back to all our pupils, staff and parents. A special welcome to our 19 Junior Infant pupils who have made a great start to their primary school days, and to our new pupil in second class.

Attendance: Our annual returns for 2024/25 have been submitted to Tusla. Approximately 16% of our pupils were absent for more than 20 days. Whilst this is an improvement on previous years, we will continue to implement some school wide initiatives to improve attendance again this year.

Aladdin Connect: All parents are asked to ensure they have access to Aladdin Connect. All communication, permissions and collection of monies will be carried out through this platform. We ask all parents to download the Aladdin Connect App.

Parent Teacher Meetings: These will be held on Thursday 13th November 2025 from 2:30pm – 6pm. School closes for all children at 2pm on the day. Bookings will be completed through Aladdin Connect.

Christmas Concert: Our school concert will take place in St. Patrick’s Hall at 12pm on Thursday 18^th December.

School Closures: Our school will close on Friday 13^th March and Friday 5^th June to facilitate staff training in the new Primary Curriculum Framework. These dates have been added to our school calendar which is available to view on our website www.drumkeenns.net

Beginning of Year Mass: There will be a beginning of year mass on Tuesday 30^th September at 10am in St. Patrick’s Church. We invite parents, grandparents and friends to join us in celebrating our school mass as we begin our school year.

Primary School’s Cross Country: The Primary School Cross Country will take place on Tuesday 16^th September in the Finn Valley Centre. Well done to all those that took part in our trials last week. Permission slips have been sent home with those who have qualified. We will have a total of 6 teams representing our school.

Healthy Eating: Our hot lunches will begin on Monday 15^th September. Instructions on placing orders have been sent out. Please ensure all orders for next week are in by Thursday 11^th September.  We remind parents of our healthy eating policy in school. This is available to view on our school website. We encourage all children to eat healthily. One small treat is permitted on a Friday.

School Uniform: Our uniform consists of bottle green jumper/cardigan with school crest, yellow polo shirt and dark grey trousers/tracksuit bottoms/skirt/pinafore. Plain grey shorts may be worn in warmer weather. Please ensure all jumpers are clearly labelled with your child’s name. Full school uniform should be worn at all times unless otherwise specified.

Student Council: Our student council will be formed next month; elections will be held in each classroom from 1^st–6^th class.

Swimming: Children in 3^rd-6^th Class are taking part in swimming lessons every Monday for 6 weeks. Thank you to our Parents Association for funding the cost of lessons.

Ukulele Lessons: We will begin ukulele lessons in Term 1 for pupils in 4^th-6^th Class. Information on ukulele rental/purchase will be sent out via Aladdin.

Rinka: Pupils in Junior Infants-3^rd Class will take part in ‘Rinka’ classes every Thursday for 6 weeks. Thanks again to our Parents Association for covering the cost of this.

Sports Scholarship: We extend congratulations to our past pupil Caitlin McBrearty who has secured a Sports Scholarship to Deele College for the 2025/2026 academic year. A fantastic, well deserved achievement!

School Payments: All payments for the school year can be made to the office or via Aladdin: Family contribution, swimming, pupil insurance etc. Thank you to all those who have contributed.

*Collection & Drop Off: The school opens at 9:10am each morning and children proceed immediately to their class. Children are not supervised before this time. Bus children depart school at 2:50pm, car collection at 3:00pm and those walking/cycling leave the school when traffic has dispersed. We encourage parents to use the one – way system round the parish hall when collecting or dropping off. Any pupils who need to be picked up early from school, please report to office and child will be brought over from their classroom.

Le Meas,

Ms. N. Scanlan

Well done to our pupils who received gold, silver and bronze attendance awards for the school year 24/25.

A graduation ceremony was held for our 6th Class pupils on Friday 20th June. Parents, staff and pupils were in attendance. They were also treated to a take away on Thursday 19th June. Thanks to our Parents Association for providing this.