Newsletter 18.11.16
Newsletter
18th November 2016
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this week
5th Class attended a workshop in the Ilac Library for ‘Science Week’ on Monday.
We welcomed a theatre group from Axis Ballymun yesterday to perform ‘Stór’ for 4th and 5th Class, a play about 1916 told in two languages, English and Gaeilge (Irish). It was a wonderful performance and the children really enjoyed it.
Today, Eric and Troy represented our school at the ‘Comhairle na n-Óg’ event in Croke Park. They met with children from schools across Dublin City to discuss issues for children in the city and share ideas for improving children’s lives and opportunities.
Parent Teacher Meetings
Next week, all parents and carers will be invited to a meeting with their child’s class teacher. You should already have a time and day to come. Please let us know if this time does not suit you and we will try our best to re-arrange.
We understand that there may be a last-minute reason why you cannot attend. Please make sure you let your child’s teacher know if you cannot come by calling the school office on (01) 8300841.
Parish News
Thank you to the families who attended our Family Mass last Sunday. It was great to see so many children there. Well done to the children in 3rd and 4th Class who led the liturgy too.
Thanks also to the parents and carers of children making their First Holy Communion who came to our meeting on Thursday morning. We look forward to working with you in the coming months of preparation. Our next Family Mass will be on Sunday, 4th December at 11.45 a.m.
Dates for your diary
22nd November – 5th Class to ‘Fighting Words’ writing workshop
22nd/23rd November – Parent Teacher Meetings
24th November – Launch of ‘Time to Read’ programme for eight 2nd Class children
28th November – School closed for children due to Primary Curriculum training for staff
4th December – Family Mass at 11.45 a.m.
Health Checks
Junior and Senior Infants have had their vision and hearing checked by the HSE nursing team this week. They will be in touch with families if any further appointments are needed. Next week, Junior Infants will have their vaccinations. The HSE team find that children respond better if they attend with their classmates and are all brave together!
Attendance and punctuality
It has been a super week for attendance! We celebrated lots of classes with attendance over 95% at assembly this morning.
Well done to 3rd and 4th Class with 98%, Miss Todd’s Junior Infants and 2nd Class with 99% and our joint winners this week, 1st Class and 5th Class with a fantastic 100%!
Have a lovely weekend.
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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Newsletter 11.11.16
Newsletter
11th November 2016
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this week
This week, Miss Collins’s 2nd Class visited the Blessington Basin as part of their learning about water pollution and litter. They looked for litter around the pond and have been impressing Miss Collins with their interest in looking after our planet. I know our Green Schools team will be delighted to hear they are doing such fantastic work!
Sponsored Disco
Thank you to the many families who supported our Sponsored Disco before the break. We raised a fantastic €1,316.29! We are very excited to have this money to spend on new sports equipment and play resources for children for their PE lessons and to use at playtime and lunchtime. As you know, we are very close to achieving the ‘Active Flag’ for keeping children active and moving throughout the day, promoting exercise and a healthy lifestyle. This money will really help us to ensure teachers and children have everything they need. Thanks so much!
Parent Classes – HSCL Update
A group of parents and carers have begun our ‘Incredible Years’ course with Sile and Claire and I am told they are already really enjoying it and learning lots! We are delighted to be able to offer this programme which is funded through the ABC programme in DIT Grangegorman.
We also have lots of other classes running for parents throughout the week, including English classes and the very popular cookery class. I also hear that a salsa dancing class is in the pipeline – so keep an eye on Sile’s noticeboard on the ground floor corridor for more information and let her know if you’re interested in joining any of the classes on offer.
Dates for your diary
Sunday, 13th November – Family Mass at 11.45a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church
17th November – Meeting for parents of First Communion children at 9.00 a.m.
22nd November – 5th Class to ‘Fighting Words’ writing workshop
28th November – School closed for children due to Primary Curriculum training for staff
Attendance and punctuality
5th Class have the best attendance of this week with 98.1%.
Please continue to make every effort to bring your child to school on time. We are seeing a lot of children arriving between 5 and 20 minutes late every single morning. They are missing the all-important start to the day where key messages are given and the plan for the day is shared by their teacher.
If your child is arriving at 9.10, they have already missed 20 minutes of learning. If they do this every day, they miss nearly 1 hour per week.
School starts at 8.50 a.m. Children should be waiting in the line for their teacher and entering the building together. Please look carefully at your morning routine and do everything you can to be on time. Thank you.
Best wishes for a lovely weekend.
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
Autumn and Hallowe’en
Over the last few weeks, we have been learning about the changing seasons. We have visited parks to see the leaves changing colours for Autumn. Senior Infants even had a very special treat of hot chocolate on their visit! On the last day of term, we held our annual Sponsored Disco to raise funds for our school. Lots of children dressed up and we shared some of the old traditions of Hallowe’en in Ireland.
National Taekwondo Champions!
We are so proud of our two students who took part in the National Taekwondo Championships this weekend. They came home with two gold medals and two silver medals – congratulations!
Maths Week 2016
We were delighted to get involved in Maths Week Ireland this week. We’ve had so much fun!
We started with a Maths assembly on Monday. We talked about how maths can be seen in our environment – even on a football pitch or in a swimming pool!
Lots of classes went on visits. Ms. Calvey’s Class visited the Ilac Library and read some maths stories. 2nd Class went to St. Patrick’s Campus, DCU for a ‘Bubbly Maths’ workshop. 6th Class went to DIT Grangegorman for a problem-solving workshop while 3rd Class visited Cabra Library for a ‘Maths Eyes’ exhibition.
Our week finished with a giant Maths Trail in the Botanic Gardens. Every child from 1st Class to 6th Class went and worked together to find the answers to the puzzles set by Ms. O’Callaghan.
Newsletter 21.10.16
Newsletter
21st October 2016
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this Maths Week
This week was national Maths Week and we have been involved in lots of activities in school and the local community to celebrate our love of Maths!
On Monday, Ms. Calvey’s Class visited the Ilac Library to have a look at some lovely books that are all about Maths. On Tuesday, 2nd Class were invited to a very special workshop about ‘Bubbly Maths’ at St. Patrick’s College, DCU. Have a look at the photos on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst. Also on Tuesday, 3rd Class had a look at an exhibition of maths photos in Cabra Library while 6th Class visited DIT Grangegorman on Wednesday for some problem-solving challenges.
Today, all classes from 1st to 6th walked to the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin to complete a very special Maths trail designed by Ms. O’Callaghan. The children worked with partners from other classes to find the solutions and there was even time for a picnic lunch. We’re sure everyone will sleep well tonight after all that exercise!
Sponsored Disco
Today you will also receive a letter about our annual Sponsored Disco which will take place next Friday, 28th October. We ask the children to raise money for the school for their dancing and they may dress up if they wish. Each child has a sponsor card to complete and we will collect money at the end of the week. Please support us if you can and we look forward to a very exciting day next Friday!
Active Schools Flag
You will remember that last year, we were working hard to be an ‘Active School’ and in June we had a visit from the accreditation team for the ‘Active Schools Flag’. We have received a lovely report from them this month and they are very impressed with the work we have undertaken so far.
They said ‘the activities in the yard were impressive’ particularly in a small space. They thought ‘the students were an absolute delight, particularly the committee members who were confident, enthusiastic and vocal about their likes, their dislikes and their involvement’. They said ‘the good humour, the sense of fun and that willingness to engage with the activities’ was everywhere in the school and they thought Ms. O’Callaghan was doing a fantastic job leading us all and getting everyone excited about being active.
Our job now is to show that we can continue to be active for a sustained period of time and we hope to be flying our Active flag very soon!
Dates for your diary
28th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday
7th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
28th November – School closed for children due to Primary Curriculum training for staff
Attendance and punctuality
Our winners this week are 4th Class with a fantastic 100% attendance record – every child was in school every day – well done! Not far behind were 6th Class on 98.4%, 2nd and 3rd Class on 97% and 1st Class on 96%.
Have a lovely weekend,
Éadaoin Kelly – Principal
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Newsletter 14.10.16
Newsletter
14th October 2016
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this week
It was a busy start to the week with 2nd Class setting off on Monday morning to Liberty Hall where they heard Roddy Doyle, a famous Dublin author, reading from his new children’s book. The children were able to ask Roddy questions and were very impressed with his book.
Also on Monday, 5th and 6th Class were invited to the launch of the Vendee Globe Challenge, an international boat race around the world. They met the Irishman who will take part, Enda, and asked him questions about the journey. Laya and Kian were interviewed for UTV Ireland and appeared on the news that evening! They were very enthusiastic about their support for Team Ireland and we were very proud – well done!
Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair has arrived and we have already seen lots of interest from families. The children were super excited to meet ‘Clifford the Dog’ who visited classes yesterday. Clifford’s books are among the many titles available. The Book Fair will be open each day before and after school until Wednesday morning.
Family Mass
Thank you to all the families who came along to the lovely Family Mass we had last Sunday. The next family Mass will take place on Sunday, 13th November at 11.45 a.m. in St. Joseph’s Church on Berkeley Road.
Wellbeing and Mental Health Awareness Week
In our assembly on Monday we talked about keeping healthy and remembering that we have to take care of our mental health as well as looking after our bodies by eating well and exercising. We talked about the five steps to wellbeing – connecting with family and friends, being active, learning new things, giving to others and taking notice of the world around us and appreciating it.
Maths Week
Next week is Maths Week and we have several classes taking part in events in the local area as well as in school and online. Look out for more information on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst.
Dates for your diary
12th-19th October – Book Fair
17th October – Ms. Calvey’s Class to Ilac Library
18th October – 2nd Class to Bubble Workshop
18th October – 3rd Class to Cabra Library
19th October – 6th Class to DIT Grangegorman
28th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday
7th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
Sunday, 13th November – Family Mass at 11.45a.m. at St. Joseph’s Church
28th November – School closed for children due to Primary Curriculum training for staff
Attendance and punctuality
Our very special attendance cup was awarded to 6th Class today who had 99.2% attendance this week, closely followed by 4th Class with 99.0%. Well done!
Let’s hope the rain stays away for the weekend. Best wishes,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair came to visit this week. A whole selection of books were available for children and families to buy. We even had a special visit from Clifford the Dog – his books were very popular choices!
Launch of Roddy Doyle’s new book
2nd Class were invited to the launch of Roddy Doyle’s new children’s book at City Hall today. The children even got to hear Roddy reading an excerpt.
Roddy Doyle reading from his new book #roverandthebigfatbaby to 350 children in Liberty Hall @MacmillanKidsUK @CormacKinsella pic.twitter.com/0Zf8QSGHVA
— Dublin UNESCO (@DublinCityofLit) October 10, 2016
Launch of Vendee Globe Challenge
5th and 6th Class were invited to attend the launch of the Team Ireland Vendee Globe Challenge where they met Enda O Coinin, who is about to embark on a solo sailing challenge around the world.
The children were able to ask Enda questions and see the boat. They were even interviewed by UTV Ireland!
The children appeared on @UTVIreland this evening showing their support for Enda #TeamIreland @teamirelandvg @chqdublin @VendeeGlobe pic.twitter.com/F248DD84G4
— St. Mary's Primary (@stmarysdorsetst) October 10, 2016