Newsletter
8th June 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this week
On Tuesday, we had some really interesting talks on internet safety from Zeeko Education. They spoke with parents/carers first about how to keep your child safe online. They then spent time in each class from 2nd – 6th Class. After school, they met the teachers and we talked about how we keep children safe online when they are in school and how we can support parents/carers with what happens at home.
One of the key messages for children when playing games or chatting online, is to ‘stop, block, tell’ if a stranger is trying to talk to them or says something they do not like.
Also on Tuesday, 3rd Class went on a very special tour. First to the Viking Splash where they travelled on the special Viking bus and boat. Later, they visited the National Museum and saw a Viking longship and skeleton! The children were able to share lots of information from their learning about the Vikings and learnt lots more too!
On Thursday, Ms. Marron’s Senior Infants visited the airport – they met pilots, co-pilots, air hostesses and lots more! They even got to check-in their bags and show their passports.
Today, 6th Class are in Carlingford Adventure Centre for an exciting day of outdoor activities. Also today, some classes had their sports day outside in the sunshine. The children tried lots of different activities and were beautifully behaved for each adult they worked with. Well done!
After-School Clubs
We’ve had a great selection of after-school clubs running this term. Our ‘Food Revolution’ club finished a few weeks ago – look out for the recipe book on our website in the coming days. A sincere thanks to our volunteer, Marina Engels, who gave her time so willingly to run the club with the ever-helpful Dolores. Our thanks also to New Communities Partnership for their English language club, staffed by volunteers all year.
Thank you to Ms. Marron and Audrey F for their art club, Ms. Lougheed and Mr. Carney for our award-winning athletics club and to Ms. Conlon for inspiring some new engineers in our STEM club.
These clubs have all finished for the year and we look forward to even more exciting ventures next year.
Ms. Lennon’s singing club finishes next Thursday – parents/carers are invited to a mini-concert at 3.15 p.m. to celebrate!
Drama lessons will finish on Wednesday, 20th June while our girls multi-sports club will finish on Tuesday, 19th June. Romanian classes will finish on Tuesday, 26th June.
Dates for your diary
Sun. 10 June – Family Mass at 11.45
12 June – ‘Time to Read’ Celebration
21 June – 1st Class to the Zoo
22 June – Green Flag Raising
Sat. 23 June – 3rd Class ‘Cruinniu’ event
27 June – Aladdin Jr. Performance
28 June – 6th Class Graduation
29 June – School Closes at 12 noon
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to Ms. McBride’s 1st Class with 98.6% attendance this week – the second week a row!
Doodle Den Graduation
We had a lovely graduation ceremony on Thursday for our Senior Infants taking part in the Doodle Den programme. The children have worked so hard all year and have made great progress in their literacy learning at this very special after-school club. Well done children and thanks to the parents and carers who came to celebrate with us. Special thanks to Ms. Todd, Amy and Orlaith who have been wonderful Doodle Den facilitators this year.
Parents/carers in Junior Infants, if you would like your child to take part in Doodle Den next year, please chat to Ms. Todd about it.
Tickets for Aladdin Jr.
Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday for our performance of Aladdin Jr. in Liberty Hall Theatre on 27th June. All of the children in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Class are involved. Ms. Brophy will have all the information ready for you early next week.
Romanian Classes
There will be a meeting for Romanian families interested in continuing our Romanian after-school classes, in partnership with the Romanian Embassy, next year. If you would like to attend this meeting, please come along on Monday, 18th June at 9.00 a.m. to meet Anka Borzasi our teacher.
And finally…
Amy Healy, one of our special needs assistants, leaves us today to start her maternity leave. We wish her all the best over these next exciting few weeks and look forward to sharing her good news with you all soon.
Enjoy the sunshine this weekend,
Éadaoin Kelly – Principal
5 Tips for Parents from Common Sense Media
Choose the good stuff (and not too much!). When your children ask to see, play, or download something, don’t just take their word for it — check up on it. Say no if you’re not comfortable with it. And when you approve something, help your children enjoy it along with their other activities.
Don’t use screens right before bed and keep them out of the bedroom overnight. Children really need their sleep. Screens in the bedroom — especially in the hour before bedtime — interfere with the entire process of winding down, preparing for rest, and waking up refreshed and ready to tackle the day.
Turn off the TV if no one is watching it. A lot of parents of young children keep the TV on for company. But so-called background TV has been shown to get in the way of parents talking and interacting with their children — which are key to helping children learn language and communication. Background TV can also expose children to age-inappropriate content.
Make time for enjoying media with your children, especially reading. Reading to your child is one of the best things you can do. It’s great for bonding, but it also sets the stage for learning. Feel free to read books or articles to them in your home language. Or just make up stories — it’s the rhythm, sounds, and communication that are important for children to hear.
Practice what you preach. Remember, your children are watching you. When your children are little, create a family media plan to help you balance media and tech (theirs and yours) with all of the other things that are important to you. This isn’t just for them; it’s for you, too. Schedule in downtime, chores, homework, outdoor fun, reading, meals, etc. And then figure out how much extra is available for TV shows, games, apps and other media activities.
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