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Proclamation Day – 15th March 2016

We had a wonderful day today celebrating ‘Proclamation Day’. Along with every school in the country, we came together for a special ceremony this morning.

We began with a rousing ‘Something Inside So Strong’ sung by our school choir. Nathan from 2nd Class then began with an introduction and overview of events of 1916.

5th Class then read the original Proclamation, followed by singing from 1st Class who sang ‘Óró, sé do bheatha ‘bhaile’, 2nd Class who sang ‘The Foggy Dew’ and 3rd and 4th Class who sang ‘Grace’.

5th Class then shared their new versions of the Proclamation and 6th Class performed a wonderful four-hand reel, an Irish dance. The choir then sang ‘Power in Me’ which encourages everyone to be empowered and take action to help others and stand up for their rights.

The final section saw Josh from 6th Class, our Citizen of the Year, tell us about the origins of the Irish flag before he and Miss Kelly placed the flag on our new flagpole to thunderous applause. We all stood and sang ‘Amhran na bhFiann’ the Irish national anthem together. It was a fantastic occasion – our thanks to all of the children and teachers who worked so hard to prepare for the day.

Have a look at photos from the ceremony below and some of the art work from 5th Class and project work from 6th Class too:

Newsletter 11.3.16

Newsletter

11^th March 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Breakfast Club

What a success our first week of breakfast club has been! Thank you to all of the children who have come along and particularly to Miss Brophy, Amy, Audrey, Dolores, Megan and Mr. Connolly who have worked miracles to feed so many children in such a short space of time. Breakfast club continues next week from 8.40 – 8.50 a.m. each day – give it a try!

School Meals

You will receive a new and updated menu for your child’s school meal next week. Please talk to your child and decide what they would like and return the form to us as soon as possible.

Events this week

On Tuesday, some 2^nd Class children made their First Penance in the Church. Thank you to the parents who came along to support them and the choir who sang beautifully.

Thursday was a busy day for visits. 1^st, 3^rd and 4^th Classes went into the city centre for walking tours around the GPO and Moore Street to learn more about the 1916 Rising.

World Book Day vouchers

Lots of classes will be visiting Chapters bookshop over the next few days to use their ‘World Book Day’ vouchers. It is lovely to see so many children enjoying books.

Active Schools Programme

We were delighted to host teachers from a number of Dublin schools on Thursday for an ‘Active Schools’ session. Thanks to Ms. O’Callaghan for organising – we are on a mission to be more active! As the weather gets nicer – please take every opportunity to get outside with your children and be active.

Attendance and Punctuality

Very good attendance again this week. We’re currently meeting our target with attendance of 95% across the school. Best attendance this week was 2^nd Class with 97.4%, closely followed by 5^th Class with 97.3%!

Dates for your diary

Sunday, 13^th March – Family Mass at 11.45am

15^th March – Flag Raising & Proclamation Day

16^th March – Annual Céilí

16^th March – School closes at 12 for Easter

4^th April – Back to school

And finally….Congratulations to Mr. Kerr who has been elected onto the Irish Teaching Council this week. Mr. Kerr takes one of the 16 places for elected teachers on the Council. It is a very important role and we are very proud – well done Mr. Kerr!

Best wishes for a lovely weekend,

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Newsletter 4.3.16

Read this week’s newsletter here:

Newsletter

 4^th March 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Breakfast Club

I hope you have all received the flyer to let you know that we are starting a brand new breakfast club in school next week. Breakfast will be available for any child who would like it, from 8.40 – 8.50 a.m. each day. The club is funded through our School Meals funding so it is free for all children. Please do come along and enjoy!

Visits this week

It was Senior Infants and 1^st Class’s turn to visit the GPO on O’Connell Street to see the flag raising on Thursday. The children really enjoyed seeing the soldiers. As always, there are some lovely photos on our Twitter account @stmarysdorsetst or on our website.

Time to Read on World Book Day

All children have received a €1.50 book voucher to celebrate World Book Day on Thursday. This can be spent in any bookshop to buy a free book or reduce the cost of a more expensive book. Happy reading!

Our 2^nd Class children who have been working with volunteers from ‘Business in the Community’ had a special visit to their offices on O’Connell Street on Thursday. They had a wonderful time and were even treated to pizza! The volunteers told us that they ‘were an absolute pleasure and created a great buzz around the office’. Well done children! And thanks to Ms. Oppermann who has been coordinating the programme and who accompanied the children on their visit.

 Active Schools Programme

We have introduced the Active Schools programme at St. Mary’s this year to help us get active and move more. Already, there have been big changes in the yard, with lots more games and activities to keep children moving, including skipping, hula hoops, dodgeball and dance!

The active team are looking for even more ideas though – can you help? Adults, Ms. O’Callaghan would love to hear from you, and children, let the Active team know if you have a suggestion to keep us moving.

Attendance and Punctuality

Super attendance from everyone this week. We’re currently meeting our target with attendance of 95% across the school. Well done to all of the families to work hard to make sure they are in school on time every single day.

A particular well done to 3^rd Class with the best attendance for the second week in a row, a marvellous 98.1%. 2^nd and 6^th weren’t far behind on 97% and 1^st Class had 96%!

Dates for your diary

8^th March – 2^nd Class First Penance

Sunday, 13^th March – Family Mass at 11.45am

15^th March – Flag Raising & Proclamation Day

16^th March – Annual Céilí

16^th March – School closes at 12 for Easter

4^th April – Back to school

Wrap up warm – it’s going to be a cold weekend!

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Senior Infants and 1st Class visit the GPO

Miss Haren and Miss Todd’s Classes visited the General Post Office (GPO) on O’Connell Street in Dublin city centre on Thursday to watch the daily flag raising as part of their learning about 1916.

Time to Read – Visit to BitC Offices

Our 2nd Class children who have been taking part in the ‘Time to Read’ programme were very excited to visit the offices of their reading volunteers from ‘Business in the Community’ today.

The children were very busy sending emails and answering the phone and were treated to pizza for lunch as a reward! The volunteers told us ‘they were an absolute pleasure and created a great buzz around the office!’

Well done children!

Newsletter 26.2.16

Read this week’s newsletter here:

Newsletter

 26^th February 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week

We’ve had a busy few weeks at St. Mary’s with lots happening just before and then after our short mid-term break.

Last Monday, we had a visit from storyteller Brendan Nolan who introduced the topic of 1916 to 3^rd – 6^th Classes. The children will be learning a lot about our country’s history and the key events of 1916 in the lead up to the 100 year commemoration at Easter. 5^th and 6^th Class visited the Ilac Library to see the Abbey Theatre’s production of ‘Me Mollser’ which also links to 1916 and this week, they had a walking tour of the city centre, particularly the GPO and O’Connell Street to learn more about what happened there.

5^th Class are sharing their learning with their learning partners in 2^nd Class today, as they bring them to O’Connell Street and tell them all of the information they have gathered.

Last Tuesday, 3^rd and 4^th Class visited the Hugh Lane Art Gallery as part of their learning in responding to pieces of art. They really enjoyed their visit.

Yesterday, the Green Schools team visited a special Expo in the RDS to learn about how other schools have used the Green Schools Programme to make changes in their schools through recycling, saving energy and water, biodiversity and lots more. They even met President Michael D Higgins! Photos of their adventures are on our Twitter account @stmarysdorsetst or on our website.

Review of Behaviour Policy

We are currently reviewing our behaviour policy. We are interested in knowing parents’ views on behaviour in the school. If you have any comments or feedback you would like to give, please drop in to see me or Claire, or you can email me at principal@stmarysprimaryschool.ie . We very much value your thoughts and ideas, please do let us know what you think works well and how we can improve.

Attendance and Punctuality

Well done to 3^rd Class with 99% attendance this week and beat off stiff competition from 4^th and 5^th Class who both had 98.2%!

February has been our best month of attendance so far this year at whole school level at 94%. We will need everyone in school every day in March to get to our target of 95%!

Dates for your diary

3^rd March – Miss Haren and Miss Todd’s Classes to GPO/O’Connell Street

3^rd March – 2^nd Class Time to Read group visiting BitC offices

8^th March – 2^nd Class First Penance

Sunday, 13^th March – Family Mass at 11.45am

15^th March – Flag Raising Day

16^th March – Annual Ceili

16^th March – School closes at 12 p.m. for Easter holidays

Wishing you all a happy weekend!

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Green Schools Expo

Our Green Schools committee visited the Green Schools Expo at the RDS today with Miss Haren and Miss Palmer. They visited lots of stalls and learnt lots about recycling, saving energy and how to look after our planet. They even saw the President, Michael D. Higgins! We look forward to them sharing what they found out with us all in the coming weeks.

Junior Infants – Construction Theme

Junior Infants have been taking inspiration for their learning from the building site next door. They have been monitoring progress on the site every day, looking at the changes over time, making lists of what they have seen each day and playing in their very own construction site in their classroom role play area. They were even invited to visit the site itself and had a great time being shown all of the equipment up close. Our thanks to Bennett Construction for facilitating this visit.

1916 – Centenary Programme

This year, Ireland will celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the 1916 Rising, an important historical moment in our country’s history.

All schools in Ireland will be part of the commemoration. At St. Mary’s, we started our programme of events in November when we received our very own Irish flag and a copy of the Proclamation from members of the Defence Forces.

Over the coming weeks, classes will be learning more about the events that took place during the 1916 Rising and reflecting on past events. The senior classes began with a visit from storyteller, Brendan Nolan on Monday, 15th February to set the scene. 5th and 6th Class attended a performance of ‘Me, Mollser’ by the Abbey Theatre at the Ilac Library on Wednesday, 17th February and on Monday, 22nd February will go on a walking tour of the inner city, remembering the important events and looking at the places they happened with a local archaeologist.

Our older children are also using their work on children’s rights and learning about the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to write their own, new version of the Proclamation that represents our families and community in Dublin in 2016.

All classes are learning songs and poems to share at our Flag Raising Day on 15th March, when the whole school will come together to raise our Irish flag and read the proclamation and share the learning that has taken place. We will aim to remember and reflect on the past while celebrating Ireland as a nation and will complete our programme with our annual ‘ceili’ for Seachtain na Gaeilge on 16th March.

Newsletter 12.2.16

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