Newsletter 7.9.18
Newsletter
7th September 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this week
Yesterday, 5th Class were invited to visit a brand-new museum at 14 Henrietta Street. The townhouse building was divided into tenements and has been fully restored so the children were able to see what life was like in Dublin over 300 years ago. Mr. McGuire tells me that the children asked great questions and were beautifully behaved – well done!
Attendance and punctuality
We are so pleased to see so many children back at school for their first full week. Attendance has been very good across the school – well done everyone!
Our top attenders this week were 4th Class with 100%! They were very closely followed by Senior Infants with 99%.
Remember – our target is at least 95% for each child.
Dates for your diary
17th September – Romanian after-school classes starting back
18th September – Doodle Den starting back
Week of 17th Sept – Meet the Teacher
18th Sept – Secondary School Open Morning
26th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday
5th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
Junior Infants
From next week, Junior Infants will be finishing at 1.30 p.m. They have settled in so well and we are very proud of them!
Morning and Afternoon Collections
We have been updating our Child Protection and Safeguarding procedures. It is very important that only adults who have Garda vetting are in the school building when the children are here. We therefore can no longer have parents/carers waiting in the school building to collect children before 1.30 or 2.30. Any parent/carer who needs to collect a child early, must call to the school office first. Children should be collected from their teacher in the designated space in the playground – not in the corridor or on the stairs, or on their way across the playground.
From Monday, the blue gate beside the office will be open at morning and afternoon collection times to help ease the flow of people. You can use either gate but we ask that parents/carers and children do not use the office door to enter or exit the building unless absolutely necessary.
School Uniform
Children should wear their full school uniform or school tracksuit every day. We are finding lots of lost jumpers and cardigans. Please make sure you label your child’s clothes clearly so we can return them if they get lost.
Updating Information
We are finding lots of contact phone numbers are not working. If your contact information has changed, please ensure we have your new address, telephone number or other details. This is particularly important if we need to contact you in case of emergency.
Enjoy the weekend, hopefully we’ll have some sunshine!
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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Newsletter 31.8.18
Newsletter
31st August 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Welcome back!
We are so delighted to be back at school and to see so many happy, smiling faces yesterday. The children have already settled very well into their new classes and there is a lovely, calm atmosphere around the building.
A special welcome to our new Junior Infant class and the children and staff who are new to our school this year.
We will be having our annual ‘Meet the Teacher’ meetings in the week of the 17th September – look out for a letter with the date for your child’s class. This meeting will give you the chance to 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.
Attendance and punctuality
We want all children at St. Mary’s to have excellent attendance and our target is 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.
Dates for your diary
6th September – 5th Class to visit Tenement Museum in Henrietta Street
Week of 17th Sept – Meet the Teacher
18th Sept – Secondary School Open Morning
26th October – School closes for Mid-Term Holiday
5th November – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
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, please call into the school office or pay online. We are happy to take money in instalments if this is easier for you.
Tracksuits can be ordered with Liz and cost €21 each, or €23 for larger sizes.
We have already found a few lost jumpers! Please make sure your child’s jumper or cardigan is labelled clearly with their name and class so we can avoid mix-ups!
Supervision in the Morning
A reminder that children are welcome at school for breakfast club (which starts again on Monday) 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 available to look after the children from 8.40 a.m. but the school cannot take responsibility for children before then.
Updating Information
If your contact information has changed over the summer, please ensure we have your new address, telephone number or other details. This is particularly important if we need to contact you in case of emergency.
Have a lovely weekend,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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Newsletter 28.6.18
Newsletter
28th June 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Aladdin Jr. Performance
What an amazing evening we had last night. The children from 2nd to 6th Class treated us to an outstanding performance of ‘Aladdin Jr’ in Liberty Hall Theatre, surrounded by their families and friends. We got such lovely feedback on their fantastic acting, singing and dancing – thank you for coming!
We were immensely proud of the hard work the children did in preparation, especially in the hot weather. They were excellent in all ways and a credit to their families.
We have so many people to thank:
Thanks to Ms. Graham, Ms. Devereux, Ms. Lougheed and Ms. Palmer for rehearsing the acting, to Aedín, our dance teacher, and to Ms. Collins and Ms. Nolan for the choreography. To Ms. Marron for helping with the singing. To Mr. Carney and Ms. Conlon for helping with sound and microphones. To Ms. Kilkenny, Ms. Todd, Colm, Ms. McBride, Ms. O’Donovan, Ms. Sheridan, Ms. Hayes, James, Ms. Lennon and Ms. Oppermann for sets and props, to Ms. Sheridan, Ms. Todd and Ms. Sheridan’s mam(!) for sourcing the costumes. To Mr. Cullen, Ms. Shortall, Ms. Staunton, Dolores and Audrey who supported the children backstage. To Ms. Brophy and Ms. O’Callaghan for organising all the tickets and to Mr. Kerr who photographed and videoed the whole process. You are all incredible – and I know I’m only naming one or two of the things you did! Thank you so much, every part contributed to a wonderful evening.
Our thanks to the staff at Liberty Hall Theatre for looking after us so well and helping with sound. Thanks also to Richie who looked after the lighting.
It was a truly special evening and one we will all remember for a long time to come.
Green Flag Raising
We had a beautiful sunny day for our first Green Schools’ Flag Raising last Friday. We have worked hard over the last two years to learn about reducing litter and waste in school and at home. The children know to ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and we are very proud to have secured this very prestigious award.
Our thanks as always to the wonderful children, to Colm our caretaker and especially Ms. Todd, Ms. Palmer, Ms. Sheridan and Ms. Marron who led it all so well.
Graduation
Today we said goodbye to our 6th Class children at their graduation. The children shared their memories, said lots of thank yous to their families, teachers and one another and looked forward to the future. We wish them all the best in their big move to secondary school!
Parents’ Association Raffle – Aladdin Jr.
Thanks to Laura and Ludmila from our Parents’ Association for organising a great raffle to raise funds for the show. The winners were drawn by teachers and are as follows:
1st Prize – Maureen (5th Class)
2nd Prize – Darren (Junior Infants)
3rd Prize – Victoria (2nd Class)
Other prizes were won by Liz (School Secretary), Nadia (2nd Class), Martin (3rd Class), Viliam (3rd Class), Miranda (5th Class), Sean (5th Class) and Irene (2nd Class). Well done everyone!
Moving on…
Tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to several members of the team. Ms. Devereux and Ms. Shortall are moving to schools nearer their home and families. They have both worked in our school for a very long time and we thank them for their dedication and support to the children and families over that time. We will miss them and wish them all the best in their new schools.
Ms. Conlon is travelling to Mexico for the year and we hope to see her back with us soon. Ms. Todd, Ms. Sheridan, Ms. Marron, Mr. Cullen and Ms. Lennon are all off to pastures new. We thank them for their contribution to St. Mary’s and we wish them well in their new adventures.
Staffing for 2018-2019
Junior Infants – Ms. O’Donovan
Senior Infants – Ms. McKelvey
1st Class – Ms. Oppermann
1st Class – Ms. McBride
2nd Class – Ms. McCaughey
2nd Class – To be confirmed
3rd Class – Ms. Lougheed
3rd/4th Class – Ms. Graham
4th Class – Ms. O’Rourke
5th Class – Mr. McGuire
6th Class – Ms. Staunton
Support Team – Mr. Kerr, Ms. Kilkenny, Mr. Carney, Ms. Collins, Ms. Brophy, Ms. Palmer, Ms. O’Callaghan, Ms. Nolan and Ms. Hayes.
Summer Stars – Reading
The Ilac Library are running the
‘Summer Stars’ programme again this year. Children can sign up at the library and are given the challenge of reading 8 books over the holidays. They get a reading card to record their reading with small rewards and certificates if they complete the challenge. All the information is available online at:
Thank you!
I want to thank each and every member of our school community for making this another fantastic year at St. Mary’s Primary School.
The children have been fantastic and have learned so much. Particular thanks to the children who have led our teams – to Laya, Chair of our Student Council, to our Anti-Bullying Ambassadors, Young Interpreters, Play leaders, Green Schools team and Active Schools team – you’ve done super work!
Our parent, carers and Board of Management are always supportive and appreciative of all we do – thank you for your ongoing support.
To Liz our secretary and Colm our caretaker – thank you for all you do behind the scenes each and every day.
To our classroom staff – I am so proud of the work you do, the effort you make and the time you spend making learning so exciting and engaging for our children. Have a very well-deserved holiday and thank you so much.
And finally…
We wish all families a happy summer holiday!
We close tomorrow at 12 noon.
We look forward to seeing you all back with us on Thursday, 30th August at 8.50 a.m.
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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Aladdin Jr Rehearsals
As we move towards the last days of term, the action never stops at St. Mary’s! We are preparing for our end of year production of Aladdin Jr. this week. We are so excited! A team effort like no other – take a sneak peek at our rehearsals last week in the gallery below. Don’t miss it – last few tickets available outside the Hall each morning!
Cruinniú na nÓg 2018
We were delighted to host a special event for the Cruinniú na nÓg festival on Saturday, a national celebration of creativity. The children in 3rd Class worked with Sarah Webb earlier in the week to write about ‘My Mam, My Gran and Amazing Women who live around Dorset Street’. They also wrote a poem together as a group, called ‘Who Are We?’.
Green Schools Flag Raising
On Friday, we had our Flag Raising ceremony for our first Green Schools Flag. We were awarded our first flag for our work on the ‘Litter and Waste’ theme in the An Taisce programme. Over the last few years we have worked hard to reduce litter and waste in our school. Today was a celebration of all of that hard work, by our children, our staff, our community and especially those who have led our Green Team.
Click here to watch a video of the flag being raised.
Our Infant classes sang us some great recycling themed songs, while 1st Class showed off their samba skills with help from the team from ‘Masamba’. What a super day!
Different Families Same Love Competition
We were delighted to attend the award ceremony for the ‘Different Families, Same Love’ competition this week. The competition aims to celebrate the diversity of people and families in Ireland and to address homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools. We are proud of our inclusive school that fosters respect and acceptance of all family structures. Our 3rd Class children wrote their own stories on the theme and we were delighted to be awarded 3rd Prize in the Senior Category. The prizes were presented by INTO Vice-President, Feargal Brougham and journalist Dil Wickremasinghe. Well done everyone!
Doodle Families
We were very proud of the families in 1st Class who completed the ‘Doodle Families’ programme this week. The families have been working together with our staff after-school for eight weeks to support the children’s literacy learning. Our parents/carers have learned more about how to support their children at home and the children have improved their literacy skills in fun, engaging ways. Well done everyone!
Time to Read
We had a very special celebration on Tuesday morning to wrap-up the ‘Time to Read’ programme for this year.
Eight children from 2nd Class have completed the 20 week programme, reading for 30 minutes every week with their volunteer reader from ‘Business in the Community’.
The children also had the opportunity to visit the library and the BITC offices on a workplace visit as part of the programme.
This is our 3rd year working in partnership with BITC and we love the ‘Time to Read’ programme.
Newsletter 15.6.18
Newsletter
15th June 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
News this week
Last Sunday, we had our final Family Mass of the year, led by our lovely First Communion children. The children made us very proud with their excellent reading and singing. Fr. Pat also joined us at school for an end-of-year prayer service for the older children on Thursday.
On Tuesday morning, we had our ‘Time to Read’ wrap-up session and celebration. Eight children from 2nd Class took part in this special reading programme for 20 weeks this year, with a volunteer adult reader from ‘Business in the Community’. We were delighted to see so many families joining us to celebrate too!
Today, Ms. Graham’s Class visited the Natural History Museum and St. Stephen’s Green. Ms. Conlon’s 4th Class also visited the Hugh Lane Gallery and had a lovely time looking at the beautiful paintings there.
Tickets for Aladdin Jr.
Tickets are now on sale for our performance of Aladdin Jr. in Liberty Hall Theatre on 27th June. All of the children in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Class are involved. Tickets are being sold outside the Hall every morning before school.
Tickets are €5 for adults and €2 for children.
Please note – you cannot buy a ticket on the night – you must have one in advance. They are selling quickly, so please ensure you book yours in time!
Parents’ Association Raffle – Aladdin Jr.
Putting on a production in Liberty Hall is expensive. To help us raise funds to meet these costs, our Parents’ Association are holding a raffle. If you’d like to buy raffle tickets, they will be available in the morning from Laura, Ludmila and the parent team. Our thanks to them for their super organisation, we already have some great prizes!
Dates for your diary
18 June – Romanian Class – Meeting for Parents at 9.00 a.m.
21 June – 1st Class to the Zoo
22 June – Green Flag Raising
Sat. 23 June – 3rd Class ‘Cruinniu’ event
27 June – Aladdin Jr. Performance
28 June – 6th Class Graduation
29 June – School Closes at 12 noon
30 August – Back to School
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to Ms. Graham’s Class who have top attendance this week!
Doodle Families Celebration
Congratulations to all our families in 1st Class who completed the ‘Doodle Families’ programme this week. The programme involved both children and parents/carers taking part in sessions after-school to support the children’s literacy. It was a great success – well done!
And finally…
Happy Eid to all our Muslim families celebrating today!
Have a lovely weekend,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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