Newsletter
14th June 2019
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Diversity Showcase – Yellow Flag
This week we have been amazed by the wonderful learning displayed at our Yellow Flag showcase. The ‘Yellow Flag’ programme has given us an opportunity to celebrate inclusion and diversity in our school. We have done this in lots of different ways and on Tuesday, we gathered all of the learning together for a visit from the Yellow Flag Programme assessors. Our visitors met with the children’s Diversity team who explained the work they have done over the last few months. Representatives of the Young Interpreters, Anti-Bullying Ambassadors and Friendship Keepers were also there to talk about how their work supports inclusion and diversity. We spoke about how we have learned about our ethnicities and how to tackle racism and discrimination.
After the children’s presentation, the assessors visited the hall where we held a showcase of learning. Each class created a celebration of what they had learned. There were posters, paintings, podcasts and lots more! Children from all over the school, from Junior Infants all the way up to 6th Class, carefully explained their learning to the adults, speaking confidently and clearly about issues that they felt very strongly about.
Our visitors were very impressed. We have to wait for the official letter and feedback to arrive before we can confirm if we have been awarded the Yellow Flag – but I think we can be quietly confident. We were very, very proud of each and every child who took part this week.
Thank you to the parents/carers who came along to see the children’s learning – I know you were just as impressed as we were. Thank you to all of our staff who have supported this programme from the beginning and enabled the children to take part in such rich and thought-provoking learning.
Thank you to our children’s teams who lead us all so well and to the teachers who support them. Special thanks to the Diversity team – children, teachers and parents who have worked so hard and especially to Ms. Nolan who has coordinated the programme this year. It has been a huge piece of work and we have our fingers crossed that we’ll need a new flagpole very soon!
National Children’s Choir
Nine children from 5th and 6th Class represented our school as members of the National Children’s Choir singing at the National Concert Hall. This is a huge honour and a definite once in a lifetime experience! The children were excellent ambassadors for St. Mary’s – singing beautifully and receiving lots of compliments for their impeccable manners and behaviour. Make sure you check out the videos of their performance on our website – you won’t be disappointed!
Recent news
6th Class went to their first opera on 23rd May. They saw a performance of Mozart’s ‘Magic Flute’ at the Gaiety Theatre. Last week, they had a great day at Carlingford Adventure Centre, ziplining through the trees!
All of the 4th Class children were invited to a special sports day in TU Dublin Grangegorman by the local Community Garda team, based in the Bridewell station. The children had a great day of games and fun with children from other local schools.
3rd Class visited TU Dublin Aungier Street last week to take part in the ‘Knowledge Festival’, a great day of coding and fun activities.
Yesterday, 1st Class had an exciting day at Dublin Zoo. The children have been learning all about Africa and animals from around the world so were thrilled to see lots of animals up close!
Today, Senior Infants have visited Dublin Airport as part of their learning about the airport this term. Lots of future pilots!
End of Year Reports
Today, your child’s end of year report is available for download from our Aladdin app. If you haven’t yet set up the app and need help, please come and ask us. If you would prefer a printed copy, please let us know and we will arrange it for you.
Visitors
We were delighted to welcome a group of student teachers from Towson University USA last week. They really enjoyed seeing the children’s learning and comparing our school to schools in America.
Last Friday, we hosted a group of visitors from a range of EU countries who were visiting Ireland with the Sirius Network, who are funded by the EU Commission to research the experiences of migrant families in EU countries. Our visitors were really interested to meet our Young Interpreters and Diversity team and hear about the children’s experiences in school. They also met with me and Sile to talk about teaching and learning in Irish schools and how we support children and families. Our thanks to Sevak, from New Communities Partnership, who coordinated the visit.
Sr. Anne Neylon, from the Dublin Diocese Education team, visited on Monday to support our 3rd and 4th Class teachers with the ‘Grow in Love’ Catholic schools programme. She commented on the lovely relationships and kindness she saw in each classroom.
Time to Read Celebration
We had a lovely morning on Thursday celebrating the eight super children in 2nd Class who have taken part in the ‘Time to Read’ programme this year. The children have spent 20 weeks reading with volunteers from ‘Business in the Community’ and were presented with lovely certificates and bookmarks to celebrate their achievements. The volunteers spoke about their experiences and praised the children for their efforts and progress over the year. Thank you to Ms. Yeates who has facilitated the volunteers each week and to Sile who, as always, liaises with parents/carers and organised the lovely event this morning.
Soccer Success
Congratulations to our girls’ soccer team who won gold at the Blackhall Place soccer blitz at Kings’ Inn last week. The girls played brilliantly and we are so proud of them! Well done to the boys’ team who also took part and played really well. Thank you to Mr. Carney and Mr. Kerr who supported the children on the day.
Doodle Den Graduation
Well done to all our Senior Infant children who graduated from their year of Doodle Den learning last week. Our thanks to Gillian and James who have worked with the children throughout the year.
New Junior Infant children
We welcomed our new Junior Infant children for September 2019 this week for a special play session. It was lovely to meet the children for the first time and they are all very excited about starting school! Sile is meeting with families this month to make sure everyone is ready for the big move and our ‘Stepping Up’ programme with Grangegorman ABC allows us to visit the children in their pre-schools and get to know more about their learning before they arrive.
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to Ms. Graham’s 3rd/4th Class for top attendance this week.
Dates for your diary
17 June – 2nd Class to Bray Aquarium
18 June – 5th Class to Harbour Splash
19 June – 3rd/4th and 4th Class to Bray
26 June – End of Year Performances
27 June – 6th Class Graduation at 1.00 p.m.
28 June – School finishes at 12 noon
29 August – School re-starts for new term
Best wishes,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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