Newsletter
20th December 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Christmas Performances
What a special week it has been! I hope you enjoyed our Christmas performances as much as we have. The children have sparkled and dazzled us and we are very proud of them.
3rd and 4th Class opened the show with their ‘Greatest Showman’ medley, a preview of just one of the songs they are learning for the ‘Peace Proms’ concert in the RDS in February.
5th and 6th Class sang in beautiful harmony for ‘Starman’ and ‘Somewhere only we know’, another sneak preview of their upcoming concert with the National Children’s Choir. We have a very musical Spring 2019 ahead!
We then had all of the children from Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 1st and 2nd Classes perform their nativity ‘Superstar’. The children spoke with such confidence and sang beautifully. They really helped us to think about the real message of Christmas and reminded us all to ‘shine our light in the world’.
Such wonderful performances do not happen without the time and dedication of our staff, who have practised the songs, sourced and made costumes and rehearsed lines. Thank you to each and every one – and particularly Ms. McCaughey, who so expertly brought all of the parts of ‘Superstar’ together over the last few weeks.
News this month
Thank you to all the families who attended our last Family Mass of the year. Special thanks to the children from 3rd and 4th Class who led the readings and prayers. Last week, our Catholic children attended a special Advent prayer and penitential service with Fr. Pat and Fr. David in preparation for Christmas.
Our thanks to the volunteers from KPMG who completed the #BoldGirls workshops with 2nd and 3rd Class this week – they have really enjoyed taking part.
Well done and thank you to all the parents/carers who came to take part in our Christmas art sessions in classes around the school. It is always lovely to see families working on projects together.
Last Friday, 3rd and 4th Class went to a special Peace Proms rehearsal at the National Sports Centre in Blanchardstown. The children practised their songs and dance moves with children from lots of other schools across Dublin.
Last week, 5th and 6th Class had workshops on Relationships and Sexuality Education and learned about how they are growing and changing as they get older.
On Tuesday, we had a visit from the Garda Band who played some festive favourites for us and got us all in the mood for Christmas.
Restorative Practice
We welcomed Michelle Stowe to school last week. Lots of our staff have worked with Michelle to learn about ‘Restorative Practice’ which puts good relationships at the centre of all we do, and gives us a framework for dealing with conflict when it arises.
Michelle worked with the children in 4th and 5th Class this time – sharing the values of Restorative Practice with them and training a small group to be ‘Friendship Keepers’. This group will support children in the playground to be good friends to one another.
Time to Read launch
We were delighted to launch our ‘Time to Read’ programme with Business in the Community earlier this month. We have eight new volunteers working with us this year. They will come each week and read with children from 2nd Class to help and support their confidence in reading.
Home learning projects
I have been amazed to see so many outstanding and creative projects in classes across the school this term. The children have showed such interest in their learning and we have seen lots of additional research and work being done at home. A special mention to the families who have worked together to create Mexican-themed musical instruments in 5th Class, a whole range of super projects from recycled materials in 3rd Class and dinosaur habitats in 2nd Class. They have been truly wonderful – well done!
Art Class for Parents/Carers
We were delighted to see the beautiful art work created by our parent art class on display this week. Each parent who took part received a beautiful hamper of art supplies to continue their creative work at home. Special thanks to Cliodhna, one of our SNAs, who led the group with Jessie from Step-by-Step Family Project and to Síle, our Home-School-Community Liaison teacher who coordinated the class.
Dates for your diary in 2019
7 January 2019 – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
2 February – 3rd and 4th Class perform at Peace Proms concert in the RDS at 2.00 p.m.
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to Ms. Yeates’ 2nd Class who have the best attendance across the school for this term with 97.3% – an excellent record!
Thank you
As we head towards the holidays, I want to take this opportunity to thank our incredible staff for their hard work this term. I feel very lucky to work with such a great team with so much energy and enthusiasm. Each class teacher, support teacher, SNA, volunteer, our secretary Liz and caretaker Colm, go over and above to ensure the children get the very best learning opportunities we can offer them. I know you will join me in thanking them and wishing them a very happy holiday and some well-deserved rest and relaxation.
Our thanks to all our parents/carers for your continued commitment and support. Special thanks to our Parents’ Association for their efforts this term and to our Board of Management who volunteer their time to help move the school forward.
And finally…
Don’t forget we finish at 12 noon on Friday 21st December for the holidays. We will re-open on Monday, 7th January at 8.50 a.m.
Best wishes,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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