School was abuzz with excitement today as the children welcomed some of their heroes from the Tang team who won the County Championship last weekend. We are very proud to say that most of the team would have started their Gaelic careers here in Tang NS. Indeed we are indebted to Manager Michael Tumelty and selector Michael Bannon for having coached our school teams to many a success. With so many local sporting role models to inspire the children here in Tang NS, we cannot wait to get back to sporting competitions like Cuman na mBunscoil.  We look forward to hearing of many more accolades to come for this team and celebrating with them in Tang NS.

 We were proud to support the Team Hope Christmas shoe box appeal again this year. Team Hope help children around the world who are far less fortunate than us. We received a record number of boxes so thank you to everyone who so generously donated.    

Excitement is mounting around the parish as we approach the County Final on Saturday! Just to add to the excitement, Tang GAA have organised a Guess the Score Competition sponsored by Tormey Autos. Children are asked to decide a final score for the match with their parents and write this into their homework journals or homework folders and teachers will collect their guesses on Friday. The lucky winner will be announced on Monday 15th in School.

Congratulations to these four amazing young ladies! What a great achievement to win the u12 Camogie County Championship. The start of many more titles to come!!

It is was with a mix of great joy and sadness that we came together on Friday October 22nd to celebrate the announcement of Fr Jerry's imminent retirement from our parish. Fr Jerry has been part and parcel of our school community for 16 years and has not only been central to faith formation of our children as our parish priest but he has been a huge influence and role model for all of us over the years. 

Celebrations began with a flag raising ceremony where Fr Jerry raised our latest Green Flag that the school achieved for our endeavours in Biodiversity. Fr Jerry has always been a keen member of our green school committee and Biodiversity and care for our environment are topics that mean a lot to him, so it was very fitting that he would raise this flag for us. We then went on to announce the winners of our Halloween Fancy Dress competition.

In preparing for the day, the children painted pictures, wrote poetry, sang songs that reminded us of Fr Jerry and wrote about their memories of him. These were all compiled into a book of memories and the day involved sharing a selection of these with Fr Jerry.
 
There were presentations on behalf of the Parents Association and the Board of Management and many spoke of the obvious and profound impression that Fr Jerry has left upon us all.

The parents association then organised a small tea party for the adults and many parents very kindly sent in delicious sandwiches and magnificent cakes and bakes of all sorts. The children were treated to crisps and drinks by the Parents Association in recognition of all their hard work for the green flag, their costumes and the celebrations today.

On behalf of the Board of Management, the staff, parents and children of Tang National School we would like to say 'Thank You Fr Jerry' and we are forever in your debt for everything you have done for this school and our community over the past 16 years.  We will miss having you around, your smile and the sense of joy and mischief you bring with you to every room you visit. We hope that the book of memories and the painting of our school, drawn by Benjamin, will prompt you to think of us, and perhaps say a prayer for us or plan a trip back to see us. 

The very best of luck to Ericka, Niamh, Chloe and Grace who will play for Drumraney U12's Camogie Team in the County Final on Saturday .