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Newsletter 23.9.16

Newsletter

23^rd September 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week

I hope you all had a chance to see the super video of the children singing in their Dublin colours last weekend on independent.ie. There is a link on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst if you missed it! Well done to everyone and thanks to Mr. Kerr for organising us all.

Meet the Teacher

Next week, we will be hosting ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings in each class. It is a chance to find out how you can help your child at home and to ask any questions you might have. The timetable is as follows:

Junior Infants – Monday at 1.00 p.m.

Senior Infants – Monday at 9.00 a.m.

1^st Class (Miss Dolan) – Thursday at 2.00 p.m.

1^st/2^nd Class (Miss Calvey) – Wednesday at 2pm

2^nd Class (Miss Collins) – Wednesday at 2 p.m.

3^rd Class – Tuesday at 9.00 a.m.

4^th Class – Wednesday at 9.00 a.m.

5^th Class – Thursday at 9.00 a.m.

6^th Class – Tuesday at 2.00 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you then. Please let us know if the time doesn’t suit you and we will make every effort to ensure we share the information with you at another time.

Photography Policy

We recently updated our photography policy and we will share it with you at our ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings next week. Please make sure you read it carefully and return a signed copy to us as soon as possible.

Emergency Contacts and Educational Visits

Thanks to all the families who have already returned an updated contact information sheet and have signed permission for their child to attend local visits. It is important that we hold this information for every child, so please return your signed forms as soon as possible.

Secondary School Transfer

Over the next few weeks, the secondary schools in the area will be hosting open day and open evenings for 6^th Class children (or sometimes 4^th and 5^th Class children) to visit and have a look around. It is important that families go along and see the schools and ask any questions that you might have. The secondary schools may also pop into classes and talk to the children too. If you have any questions about applying for secondary school, please talk to your child’s class teacher or call in to see Sile, our Home School teacher.

Dates for your diary

4^th October – 3^rd and 4^th Class to National Concert Hall for ‘Music in the Classroom’

12^th-19^th October – Book Fair

28^th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday

7^th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.

Attendance and punctuality

Another great week of attendance. Well done to Ms. O’Donovan’s Junior Infants and 4^th Class who both achieved 100%! Every single child was in school every day. Well done too to 3^rd Class with 99%, Miss Calvey’s 1^st/2^nd on 99%, 6^th Class on 98% and 5^th Class with 97%!

Wishing all families a lovely weekend,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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Supporting the Dubs in the All-Ireland Final!

We are big Dublin supporters at St. Mary’s Primary School and we all wore our county colours today to support the team before the All-Ireland final on Sunday.

#VIDEO: Adorable St. Mary's Primary School kids singing 'Sam is Coming Home' https://t.co/lyYeaugf2f pic.twitter.com/cMT3F95oCv

— Independent.ie (@Independent_ie) September 16, 2016

Newsletter 16.9.16

Newsletter

16^th September 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week

Happy Eid to all of our Muslim families who celebrated on Monday. We hope you had a lovely day.

On Tuesday, 5^th and 6^th Class visited the library in Dun Laoghaire to take part in a special workshop for ‘Roald Dahl Day’. The children had a great time and you can see some photos on our Twitter account @stmarysdorsetst. 5^th Class were lucky enough to be filmed by RTE Television’s ‘News2Day’ programme and were featured on TV on Tuesday’s edition! You can find the episode on their website.

Today, we came together to celebrate and send lots of luck to the Dublin football team who will play in the All-Ireland final at Croke Park on Sunday. Lots of children wore the Dublin colours of blue and navy and the older children sang a rousing version of ‘Sam is Coming Home’, a traditional Dublin song about the ‘Sam Maguire’ cup which we hope the Dubs will win for the second year in a row on Sunday!

Emergency Contacts

On Monday, your child will bring home an envelope with a letter containing the contact information we currently hold for you. Please check these details carefully and if there are any changes, please mark them on the sheet and return it to Liz in the office. It is very important that we have ‘up-to-date’ details so that we can get in touch with you in case of emergency. Thank you.

Meet the Teacher

Please check your child’s bag for a letter about our ‘meet the teacher’ meetings which will take place in the week beginning Monday, 26^th September. Each class will have a time slot either first thing in the morning or just before the children go home for parents/carers to come into school to meet their child’s class teacher and find out about the learning taking place in that class over the coming year. It is a chance to find out how you can help your child at home and to ask any questions you might have. Please make every effort to come along.

Doodle Den

A reminder for parents in Senior Infants – if your child has been selected to take part in ‘Doodle Den’, there is a meeting on Monday at 1.30 p.m. and the children will start the programme on Tuesday.

Dates for your diary

4^th October – 3^rd and 4^th Class to National Concert Hall for ‘Music in the Classroom’

12^th-19^th October – Book Fair

28^th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday

7^th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.

Attendance and punctuality

I am so impressed with the children’s attendance since we started back and particularly with the added pressure of the bus strikes. Well done to everyone for making such a great effort to be at school on time.

A special well done to 5^th Class who have the best attendance of the week at 99%!

Let’s hope the sun stays out for the weekend!

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

Roald Dahl Day

5th and 6th Class visited the Lexicon Library and took part in a writing workshop for Roald Dahl Day!

6th Class engrossed in their workshop #RoaldDahlDay @DLR_Libraries pic.twitter.com/E09uH3d4xg

— St. Mary's Primary (@stmarysdorsetst) September 13, 2016

Happy #RoaldDahlDay everyone! pic.twitter.com/Jx6LijQlFS

— Roald Dahl HQ (@roald_dahl) September 13, 2016

Today's Roald Dahl Day! It's 100 years since the beloved children's author was born ??? We've a special report on news2day live from 4:25 ??

— RTÉ news2day (@news2dayRTE) September 13, 2016

Look out for 5th Class on @news2dayRTE today for #RoaldDahlDay @DLR_Libraries pic.twitter.com/lhpWTMUQJk

— St. Mary's Primary (@stmarysdorsetst) September 13, 2016

Newsletter 9.9.16

Newsletter

9^th September 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Welcome back!

We have had a great start to the year, with lots of happy and well-rested children ready for an exciting term ahead.

A special welcome to our 45 new Junior Infants who have started school with Ms. Todd and Ms. O’Donovan and to a number of children who have joined us in other classes across the school. We welcome you and your families to St. Mary’s and look forward to working with you.

Welcome back to Mr. Carney, Ms. Conlon and Ms. McDevitt who have returned to work with us this year and we welcome Ms. Bourke, Ms. Sheridan and Ms. McBride who join our staff team. We will be arranging welcome meetings for each class group over the coming weeks so that you can meet your child’s new teacher and find out more about their learning in their new class and how you can help them at home.

Holiday Works

We were delighted to receive funding from the Department of Education to upgrade our electrical systems and lighting over the summer. A huge amount of work was completed over the month of August, with brand new, modern lighting and electrics fitted in every classroom and office in the building. We also have new emergency lighting and a new fire alarm system.

The works are almost finished, but you may have noticed that the Hall is still out of use and the Computer Room is also a work in progress. The electricians are working in the evenings to finish this work and we hope to have the building back to ourselves by the end of the month.

I must say a huge thank you to the whole staff who worked incredibly hard to prepare the school in a very short space of time and transform it back to the lovely learning space you see today. My biggest thank you is for Colm, our caretaker, who as always, was on hand throughout the works and worked so hard to ensure the school was ready and safe for children last Thursday.

As the hall is not in use, we cannot open it in the mornings if it rains. Please note that if it is raining between 8.40 a.m. and 8.50 a.m., we cannot open the hall. Children are welcome inside to breakfast club instead.

Home-School Community Liaison

Sile McDonnell is our new Home-School Community Liaison teacher this year. Sile’s office is right beside the school office and she is available to support parents and families with any concerns or questions you may have. Sile will be contacting you soon with details of parent classes and other activities you can get involved in – please do come along!

Cookery class for parents takes place at Mount Carmel Secondary School on Tuesday mornings – please talk to Sile if you’d like to join.

Supervision in the Morning

A reminder that children are welcome at school for breakfast club and to wait in the playground from 8.40 a.m. Children should not arrive to school before this time and we ask that children are not left waiting unsupervised at the gate before this. We have staff outside and inside to look after the children from 8.40 a.m. but the school cannot take responsibility for children before then.

School Books and Tracksuits

Thank you to all families who have already paid the €60 for books, copies and school resources. If you have not made this payment or have only made a deposit, please call into the school office and see Liz. We are happy to take money in instalments if this is easier for you. Tracksuits can be ordered with Liz and cost €21 each.

Dates for your diary

13^th September – 5^th and 6^th Class to Dun Laoghaire Library for Roald Dahl Day

4^th October – 3^rd and 4^th Class to National Concert Hall for ‘Music in the Classroom’

12^th-19^th October – Book Fair

28^th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday

7^th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.

Attendance and punctuality

Many thanks to the many parents and carers who brought their children back to school on the right day and in good time. We talk to the children about having excellent attendance and have a target of at least 95% for each child (this is no more than 9 days of absence across the year).

Please let us know if your child will not be in school by calling the school office on (01) 8300841, emailing office@stmarysprimaryschool.ie or filling out the absence form on our website.

A big well done to Miss Dolan’s 1^st Class who have a 100% attendance record so far! Well done too to Ms. O’Donovan’s Junior Infants, Ms. McDevitt’s Senior Infants and Ms. Calvey’s 1^st/2^nd Class who are all at 99% – that’s super!

Please remember that school starts promptly at 8.50 a.m. every day.

Junior and Senior Infants finish at 1.30 p.m.

1^st – 6^th Classes finish at 2.30 p.m.

Term dates for 2016-2017

Have a lovely weekend!

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Newsletter 30.6.16

Newsletter

30^th June 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Thank you!

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every member of our community – children, parents, carers and staff for your support and commitment to our school this year.

It makes a huge difference to the success of a school when the parents and carers are so supportive of the school and work with us to get the very best for each child. We really appreciate how much you do to help us in our work and thank you for bringing the children to us each morning and trusting them to our care. Thank you especially to those who helped with visits, volunteered, came to meetings and attended parent classes.

I also want to thank the wonderful staff, who work so hard every day. They are always so full of energy and enthusiasm and the children benefit so much from their creativity and hard work. We simply could not have such a successful school without their determination to see every child do well and their commitment to making this school the best it can be. It is a privilege to work with you – thank you all. Have a wonderful holiday and get lots of well-deserved rest!

Performances last week

What fantastic performances we saw last week of ‘Never judge a book by its cover’, a play written by our 6^th class children. It was wonderful to see every single child on the stage, singing, dancing and acting so well. They made us very proud! Thank you for your lovely feedback and comments, we’re delighted you enjoyed it so much. Our thanks to Ms. Graham and the whole staff team who worked so hard to put the show together. Thanks also to Aedin our dance teacher for her choreography, to Colm our caretaker for his work on the beautiful sets, to Ms. Devereux for organising the wonderful lighting and Mr. Carney and Ms. Shortall who organised the sound. Well done to everyone!

Home-School Liaison Teacher

In our last newsletter, we shared all our staffing news and changes and left out a very important person!

As you know, Claire Shortall will be job-sharing next year and will move back to a teaching role. We must say a huge thank you to her for the wonderful job she has done as our Home-School Liaison teacher over the last number of years. Claire’s kindness and calmness are unparalleled and I know you will all want to wish her well. Thank you Claire!

We welcome Sile McDonnell to the role of HSCL from September. Sile has been working with Claire over the last few weeks to learn the ropes and I know she is excited to work with you.

Achievement Assembly

Yesterday, we had a special award ceremony for the children. Certificates and medals were presented to children with 95% attendance or more, with medals for children who missed only 1 or 2 days, and a Gold Medal to eight children who were at school every single day!

We congratulated 5^th Class on their Certificate of Participation in the ‘Give Racism the Red Card’ competition. We also gave special awards to our national ‘Scratch’ competition winners and thanked Pirooz, who has volunteered his time each week to tutor our older children in computer programming.

We were also delighted to receive a special award for ‘Excellence in Science and Maths Learning’. Congratulations and thanks to Mr. Kerr who coordinated our application for this award.

We also presented ‘Class Citizen’ awards to Catalina, Charles, Muntaqa, Carl Shane, Jennifer and Briana for their exceptional attitudes to learning, kindness and helpfulness.

Our ‘School Citizen’ award was given to Eric Tran in 5^th Class for his outstanding contribution to school life. He was chosen by the whole school staff and we were delighted his family were able to join us for the ceremony too. Well done Eric!

Active Schools Flag

We have been working hard all year to achieve the ‘Active Schools’ Flag, by being more active at home and at school. We had a visit last week from an assessor who met with teachers, parents and children to talk about our progress. She was very impressed with what we had achieved in a year and we have our fingers crossed that we will hear some good news soon about whether we have achieved the flag. Our thanks to Ms. O’Callaghan, Ms. Kilkenny and the Be Active team for their hard work this year. We have made big changes for the better and we are very proud of all you have done!

Graduation Ceremony

Yesterday, we said our final goodbyes to 6^th Class at a special Graduation ceremony. The children read us their memories of their time at primary school and sang for us. We read a special poem written by their teacher Ms. Graham and presented special certificates.

They have been a wonderful group to work with and great role models for our younger children. We wish them all the very best as they move on to secondary school. Make sure you all come back to visit us!

Congratulations…

to Miss Graham, who got married at the weekend! We wish Patricia and her new husband Davide every happiness together.

And finally…

I send my very best wishes to every family for a restful and happy summer holiday. We are seeing lots of you next week for our summer camps! They run Monday to Friday (4^th-8^th July) from 10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.

For everyone else, we look forward to seeing you back with us on Thursday, 1^st September at 8.50 a.m.

Happy holidays!

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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Graduation Ceremony

We said our final goodbyes to 6^th Class at a special Graduation ceremony today. The children read us their memories of their time at primary school and sang for us. We read a special poem written by their teacher Ms. Graham and presented special certificates.

They have been a wonderful group to work with and great role models for our younger children.

We wish them all the very best as they move on to secondary school. Make sure you all come back to visit us!

Here are some photos we shared today of their time with us at St. Mary’s:

Sports Day!

We had a super Sports Day today. The children were mixed together with older children supporting younger children. We had a three-legged race, sack race, potato and spoon race, welly throwing and lots more at Kings’ Inns. Back at school, there was an obstacle course, water relays and a range of games for children to take part in. They had a wonderful day!

Newsletter 17.6.16

Newsletter

17^th June 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Staffing for Next Year

We have been working over the last few weeks to prepare our staffing for next year.

There are a few changes I’d like to make you aware of. Mr. Carney and Ms. Conlon will return to us following their career breaks. Ms. McDevitt also returns to us after a year teaching in Cavan. We are delighted to have them back with us. We will also welcome Anna Bourke, a new class teacher and from September, Ms. Devereux and Ms. Shortall will be job-sharing in a support role.

Ms. Griffin, who has been on maternity leave, will be moving school in September to job-share with another teacher and be closer to her young family. I know you will be sorry to hear this news as Ms. Griffin has been at St. Mary’s for a long time. We send her and her family our very best wishes and thank her for her dedication and commitment to our school, and Plás Mhuire, over her years here. Ms. Roche will also be away on maternity leave from September and we wish her all the best and look forward to seeing her back with us in 2017.

Below are the class teachers and support teachers for next year:

• Miss McDonnell’s Junior Infants will move to Senior Infants with Miss McDevitt.
• Miss Brophy’s Junior Infants will move to Senior Infants with….Miss Brophy again!
• Miss Haren’s Senior Infants will move to 1^st Class with Miss Dolan.
• Miss Todd’s Senior Infants and 1^st Class will move to 1^st/2^nd Class with Miss Calvey.
• Miss Palmer’s 1^st Class will move to 2^nd Class with Miss Collins.
• Miss Oppermann’s 2^nd Class will move to 3^rd with our new teacher, Miss Bourke.
• Collins’s 3^rd Class will move to 4^th Class with Miss Kilkenny.
• Miss Kilkenny’s 4^th Class will move to 5^th Class with Miss King.
• Kerr’s 5^th Class will move to 6^th Class with Miss Graham.

Ms. O’Callaghan, Mr. Kerr, Ms. Devereux, Ms. Shortall, Mr. Carney, Ms. Oppermann, Ms. Palmer, Ms. Glynn, Ms. Conlon and Ms. Haren will make up our super support team!

I’m sure you’ll agree, the children are in very safe hands. Over the next couple of weeks, the children will have a chance to meet their new teacher and see their new classroom and the teachers will be meeting to discuss the children’s learning needs so that we are ready for September.

News this week (and last week!)

Last week, 3^rd Class had a wonderful day at Dollymount Strand for their tour.

We had our final celebration for our 2^nd Class children in the Time to Read programme. We were very proud of them all and they earned lovely certificates and lots of praise from their volunteers.

This week, Senior Infants and 1^st Class had a great day at Dublin Zoo. They saw lots of animals and despite the rain, really enjoyed themselves. They were also complimented on their wonderful behaviour by some visitors from Armagh! Well done Senior Infants and 1^st Class.

As always, the photos from these events are on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst or on the school website – www.stmarysprimaryschool.ie . You’ll also find copies of our newsletters and lots more information that you can translate into your home language.

International Day

What a fantastic event we had last week for International Day. The march from the Garden of Remembrance with the piper and colour party was very exciting and the ceremony to unveil our special plaque was very special. Thank you to Mr. Kerr who organised it all and the children who spoke, sang and danced.

The International Day food event was also a real treat – thank you to the many, many families who brought a dish to share. There was such a wonderful variety of food. We are very grateful for your support and hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Active Schools Week

This week was active week. Every morning we started with ‘Wake and Shake’ which was a great way to get us all moving and energised! Each day, the children completed different activities led by members of staff – gymnastics with Miss Kilkenny on Monday, orienteering with Ms. O’Callaghan on Tuesday, games with Miss King on Thursday and dance with Miss Collins today.

Our thanks to Miss O’Callaghan for coordinating such a great week. We have a special visit on Monday to see if we will be awarded the ‘Active Flag’ for all of our work – fingers crossed!

Performances – Wednesday 22^nd June

Our annual school performance ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ will take place on Wednesday, 22^nd June. The performance is written by our 6^th class children and every class is involved. As our school is so large, we will have TWO performances. One at 1.00 p.m. and another at 6.00 p.m. ALL children in the school will perform in both shows. Adults will be able to buy tickets for one performance – either afternoon or evening. Unfortunately, we do not have enough space to accommodate more than two tickets per family.

Summer Camps

We still have places for older children on our summer camp from 4^th-8^th July. Please let us know if you’d like your child to attend. The places are FREE!

School Reports

Today, your child will be bringing home their school report. Please contact us next week if you would like to discuss any part of it.

Dates for your diary

22^nd June – School Performance

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

1^st September – Children return to school

Have a lovely weekend!

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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Newsletter 3.6.16

Newsletter

3^rd June 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

What a beautiful week! The sun has been shining and we have had lots of opportunities to get outside and enjoy it with many visits going on all round the city.

News this week

On Wednesday, our First Communion children came in and showed us their beautiful outfits! They looked wonderful and were excellent ambassadors for our school at their special ceremony on Sunday. We also celebrated our choir’s beautiful singing – well done everyone!

Also on Wednesday, our staff had a first introduction to the new Primary Language Curriculum. There will be more training over the coming months so that we are ready to begin implementing the new curriculum in 2017.

1^st and 2^nd Class visited the new 1916 exhibition at the GPO today, followed by a visit to the Natural History Museum and the park at Merrion Square.

5^th Class had a fantastic day at Surfdock today – kayaking and watersports galore!

4^th Class visited the ‘Bloom’ garden festival in the Phoenix Park today. They had a special visit to the ‘Agri Aware’ stand who kindly sponsored their tickets to the event.

As always, the photos from these events are on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst or on the school website – www.stmarysprimaryschool.ie . You’ll also find copies of our newsletters and lots more information that you can translate into your home language.

Sun Watch

The weather has been wonderful over the last few days and hopefully will continue to be! As it is so warm, the children are allowed to wear grey or navy shorts with their uniform or tracksuit if you wish.

Please also remember to ensure your child is wearing sunscreen when they come to school each day. We cannot apply it for them and children should not have sunscreen in their bags. They should have plenty of cover for their time at school if you have applied sunscreen in the morning. Thanks.

Money Matters

You will have received a text/email with a link for online payments for tracksuits and books for next year. You can also pay in cash to your child’s class teacher.

If you are paying online for tracksuits, please make sure you also send in the order form with the size you need. Liz will be placing the tracksuit order at the end of next week, so please ensure you have put your order in before then.

If you need support with payments, please talk to Claire Shortall, our Home-School Liaison teacher who will let you know of organisations who provide financial support.

Summer Camps

We are running two free summer camps in the first week of July. These camps are funded by the Department of Education. If you are interested in your child attending, please return the forms sent out this week as soon as possible. We must have 36 children attending each camp for it to go ahead.

Community Events

This weekend, the Dublin Port River Fest takes place at North Wall Quay – there will be lots of activities for children and families and the sun will be shining!

Next weekend, there is a ‘Games of 1916’ event at Collins Barracks for families in the community. Both events are free to attend and promise to be lots of fun!

Attendance and Punctuality

Well done to 5^th Class, the winners of our attendance cup this week with 99.2%! Well done also to 3^rd Class who were very close behind on 98.3%.

Dates for your diary

6^th June – Bank Holiday – school closed

8^th June – 3^rd Class to Dollymount Strand

10^th June – International Day

Week of 13^th June – Active Schools Week

13^th June – Senior Infants to Dublin Zoo

15^th June – Sports Day

17^th June – 6^th Class to Carlingford

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

1^st September – Children return to school

Enjoy the long weekend and the sunshine!

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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