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Well done to the twelve 2^nd Class children who made their First Holy Communion on Sunday in St. Joseph’s Church.

The children looked beautiful in their special outfits. They were very well prepared, walking beautifully in the procession, presenting their gifts and reading with great confidence. The art work in the Church was beautiful too. We were so proud!

Thank you to Ms. Collins and Ms. Graham for all of their hard work preparing the children for their special day. Thank you to Fr. Pat who helped us prepare and celebrated Mass for us. Thank you to Amy, Audrey, Liz and Ms. Brophy for supporting the children on their big day.

Special thanks to the children from the school choir who sang beautifully and to Ms. Marron who played the piano to accompany them.

We held our annual Science Fairs this week to showcase some of the fantastic science learning that happens in our school. We were delighted to see so many parents/carers joining us for lots of fun experiments.

Newsletter

20^th April 2018

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week

On Tuesday, our Doodle Den children had a very exciting visit to Airfield farm with their Doodle friends from other local schools.

On Wednesday, our ‘Time to Read’ children in 2^nd Class visited the ‘Business in the Community’ offices to have a look at where their volunteers work every day. They had lots of fun!

The children in 5^th and 6^th Class took part in ‘Feis Átha Cliath’ on Wednesday, an Irish dancing competition. The children practised really hard and danced beautifully.

We were delighted to meet a group of new parents of children coming to Junior Infants in September. We look forward to welcoming them to our community in the coming months.

The first session of ‘Doodle Families’ began this week. There are still places available if you have a child in 1^st Class and a parent is free to come along too. Remember – sessions are on Tuesdays between 3.00 and 4.00 p.m.

Today, 6^th Class visited the Ark Cultural Centre to see traditional Irish music band ‘Moxie’. The children enjoyed a scavenger hunt in the sunshine on their walk to the Ark and had a great time at the gig!

Science Fair

As usual, our annual Science Fairs have been a huge success, with more amazing experiments to come next week in 4^th, 5^th and 6^th Class.

Yesterday, our Infant children were delighted with their activities and it was lovely to see so many parents and carers here to support their children’s learning.

Today, it was the turn of 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Class. The children have been working so hard to prepare for the day, planning, testing and improving their work so it is ready to show you. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!

Thanks to Mr. Kerr for coordinating the days and to our teachers for their hard work and creativity.

Dates for your diary

26 April – 2^nd Class to Natural History Museum

26 April – 2^nd/3^rd and 3^rd Class to Gate Theatre

Sunday, 29^th April – First Communion

Week of 30^th April – Careers Week

30^th April – 6^th Class to Lir Theatre

2^nd May – Young Achievers’ Awards

4^th May – 6^th Class to DIT

7-11 May inclusive – Mid-Term Break – school closed

18 May – 4^th Class to the Ark

22 May – Green Schools Award Ceremony

22 May – Santry Athletics

23 May – Junior Infants to Newgrange Farm

Week of 28 May – Active Schools Week

Attendance and punctuality

Well done to 2^nd and 6^th Class who shared our top attendance prize with an outstanding 100% attendance record in both classes!

And finally…

What lovely sunshine we have today! Let’s hope it stays around for a while. I hope you all get outside and enjoy it! Have a lovely weekend,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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Newsletter

13^th April 2018

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely holiday. It is great to have the children back at school looking well-rested and ready for an exciting and very busy term of learning and fun.

Green Flag Award

We heard today that we have been awarded our first Green Flag by An Taisce. We have been working hard to reduce our waste, pick up litter, use our compost bins, and remembering to reduce, reuse, recycle. It is a big achievement and one we should be very proud of.

Our thanks to all of the children who have worked so hard and have learned so much about caring for our environment and of course, their wonderful teachers. Special thanks to our Green Schools team – children from each class who have led the project and the adults who have supported them, especially Ms. Todd, Ms. Palmer, Ms. Sheridan and Ms. Marron. Thanks also to Colm our caretaker who has supported all our Green Schools work and to Laura Mulligan, our parent representative on the Green team.

Four members of the team will go to a special award ceremony in the Helix in May to receive the flag and we hope to invite you all to a special flag-raising in June.

News this week

Julianna, our Reader in Residence, returned to work with Senior Infants, both during school and with an after-school club.

All our after-school clubs are back up and running. Most are full, but do contact the office if you’d like a space and we’ll let you know if there’s availability.

We welcomed several student teachers this week from the Institute of Education in DCU. Ms. Quinn is working with Ms. Todd in Junior Infants, Ms. Burke is working with Ms. O’Donovan in Senior Infants. From Monday, Ms. Collins will have Mr. Finnegan and Ms. O’Sullivan in her class and Ms. Conlon will welcome Ms. Finn and Ms. Halfaoui.

Doodle Families

We have been offered the opportunity to run the ‘Doodle Families’ programme this term. This programme is aimed at families with children in 1^st Class who have already taken part in ‘Doodle Den’ in Senior Infants. It will run on Tuesdays from 3.00 – 4.00 p.m. and work on supporting parents and children with English literacy.

It is a family programme, so both children and their adults from home attend. We will look after the children between 2.30 and 3.00. A parent/carer must come to the programme in order for your child to take part. If you’d like to find out more, have a chat to the Doodle Den team or call in to see Síle, our Home School teacher.

KPMG Bold Girls workshops

From next week, Ms. Graham and Ms. Lougheed’s Classes will welcome volunteers from KPMG for special workshops on the ‘Bold Girls’ initiative of Children’s Books Ireland. The sessions will look at gender stereotypes and help the children to see that girls can do just as much as boys! KPMG have donated a large number of books that explore strong female characters, books that are written by female authors and illustrators and books that tell the stories of strong women in history, science and sport – to name but a few! This is a really exciting project and we can’t wait to get started!

Dates for your diary

17 April – Doodle Den children on farm visit

18 April – ‘Time to Read’ 2^nd Class children to visit ‘Business in the Community’ offices

18 April – Feis Átha Cliath – 5^th/6^th Class

18 April – Meeting for new parents of children coming to Junior Infants in September

18 April – First session of ‘Doodle Families’

19/20 April – Science Fair

20 April – 6^th Class to the Ark

26 April – 2^nd Class to Natural History Museum

Sunday, 29^th April – First Communion

7-11 May inclusive – Mid-Term Break – school closed

Attendance and punctuality

Great to see so many families back to school on time after the holidays.

Well done to Ms. Graham’s Class who had top attendance of 98.2% this week – super!

Let’s keep it up now and work hard to see a minimum of 95% across each class each week in May.

Our annual Science Fair is happening next week. Classes are inviting parents and carers to join them for some very exciting learning. Check out the dates for your child’s class below:

Junior and Senior Infants:

Thursday, 19^th April from 1.00 – 1.30 p.m.

1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd Class:

Friday, 20^th April from 1.15 – 2.00 p.m.

4^th, 5^th, 6^th Class:

To be confirmed

And finally…

Our condolences to the parish community and especially the priests of the parish on the death of Fr. Peter Cryan this week. Fr. Peter lived in St. Joseph’s Berkeley Road for many years until his recent illness. May he rest in peace.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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Newsletter

20^th March 2018

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week and last week

We had two teams attending soccer tournaments last week. The girls were up first on Monday and the boys had their turn on Thursday. Both teams performed really well and showed great sportsmanship. Thanks to Mr. Carney for organising and accompanying the teams.

On Tuesday we welcomed a large group of parents and carers to a special meeting to learn more about the ‘Stay Safe’ programme. It was great to see so many of you there – thank you very much. If you have any questions about the Stay Safe programme and keeping your child safe, come and have a chat with your child’s class teacher and find out what your child is learning in school.

Our older children have been taking part in six weeks of swimming lessons in Belvedere College. We hear they’re doing very well!

On Thursday, a reporter from RTE’s News2Day programme came to speak to some of our younger children about St. Patrick. They appeared on Friday’s programme and spoke really well – well done children!

This week and after Easter, we are welcoming some student teachers to classes across the school from the Institute of Education. They will work alongside our class teachers for several weeks.

Confirmation

Congratulations to the children in 5^th and 6^th Class who had their Confirmation last Friday. The children worked very hard to prepare for the ceremony. It was a lovely family occasion and the children looked wonderful.

Thank you to the parish team who supported the children over the last few months and especially to Mrs. Fay and Ms. Kilkenny who prepared the children so well. Big thanks also to our super choir who sang beautifully.

Dates for your diary

Attendance and punctuality

Another great week of attendance.

Have a look at these percentages:

Junior Infants – 97.3%

Ms. Marron Senior Infants – 98.3%

Ms. O’Donovan Senior Infants – 97.3%

Ms. Sheridan’s 1^st Class – 98.2%

Ms. Collins’s 2^nd Class – 96.4%

Ms. Graham’s 2^nd/3^rd Class – 96.7%

4^th Class – 96.5%

5^th Class – 98.3%

6^th Class – 99.2%

Well done everyone!

Best wishes,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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We were so proud of the children in 5th and 6th Class who made their Confirmation on Friday. The children have been preparing for the special ceremony where they received the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit for several months.

Our thanks to Fr. Paddy Madden, who joined us to confirm the children, to Fr. Martin and Fr. Pat, the priests of our parish, to John Graham, parish pastoral worker, and especially to Mrs. Fay and Ms. Kilkenny, the class teachers.

It was lovely to see the children joined by their classmates for this celebration.

Newsletter

12^th March 2018

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Visit from the Romanian Ambassador

On Tuesday, we were honoured to receive a visit from the Romanian Ambassador to Ireland, her Excellency Mrs. Manuela Breazu and Deputy Head of Mission, Florina Sava.

We have been working with the Embassy to run Romanian language and culture classes after-school this year. In celebration of International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day, the Ambassador visited the school, and our after-school classes. She met our Student Council and saw some traditional Irish dancing. She then visited the Romanian Class who performed songs and poems in their own language.

It was wonderful to be joined by so many of our Romanian families for this special occasion. Well done to the children who performed so well – you made us very proud and I know the Ambassador was very impressed! Photos from the visit are on our website if you’d like to see more.

#BoldGirls Launch

We were so excited to host a very special reading event on Thursday for International Women’s Day to celebrate the launch of #BoldGirls, a reading initiative by Children’s Books Ireland to promote female characters and female authors in children’s books.

A team of volunteers from KPMG joined us to read with children from Ms. Lougheed and Ms. Graham’s Class. The children then took part in a ‘Monster Doodle’ with illustrator Niamh Sharkey. Filming the event was a team from RTE’s Winning Streak and we also had RTE Radio 1’s Book Show visiting and talking to the children about books.

Later in the morning, Ms. Lougheed’s Class joined Children’s Books Ireland in Easons on O’Connell Street for the official #BoldGirls launch and met authors Marita Conlon-McKenna, Sarah Crossan and Yasmeen Ismail. They were filmed for RTE’s News2Day and featured in a report on their programme on Thursday. You can check out all the photos and video from the day on our website – www.stmarysprimaryschool.ie or on our Twitter @stmarysdorsetst

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Last week we celebrated ‘Seachtain na Gaeilge’, a week of celebration of the Irish language and culture.

We started on Monday by learning a song altogether at assembly. Throughout the week, everyone tried to speak in Irish as much as they could.

On Wednesday we had our annual Céilí Mór. We were delighted the weather was so good we were able to dance outside! We saw some excellent dancing from 5^th and 6^th Class and from Ms. Sheridan’s sean-nós dancers in 2^nd Class. Everyone then joined in with the céilí dances, with the older children helping their friends in the junior classes. Maith sibh!

News from last week

On Tuesday, 4^th Class visited the Ark Cultural Centre to take part in an art and creative workshop called ‘Me and the City’. The workshop was all about exploring the colours and textures of a city’s buildings, sculptures and street art.

Ms. Collins’s 2^nd Class visited the Ilac Library with our ‘Time to Read’ volunteers from Business in the Community.

On Thursday afternoon, the children in 2^nd Class preparing for their First Communion had their First Penance ceremony, a very special moment. Thanks to all the families who came to support them and as always, to Fr. Pat, Ms. Collins and Ms. Graham who prepared the children so well.

On Sunday, we had our Family Mass. The children from 3^rd and 4^th Class led us in the readings and prayers. They did really well and it was great to see so many families from across the school joining us.

Dates for your diary

13^th March – Stay Safe Meeting for Parents

16^th March – Confirmation Ceremony

19^th March – Bank Holiday

23^rd March – Last day before Easter Holidays

9^th April – School re-opens

Attendance and punctuality

A much better week of attendance across the school – let’s keep it up!

Particularly good attendance in Ms. Lougheed’s Class with 97.4%, Ms. Collins’s Class with 97.9% and Ms. Graham’s Class with 98.6%. But the winners of our attendance trophy were Ms. Marron’s Senior Infants with 98.9% – well done!

Child Protection and Safeguarding

We closed on Friday so that our staff could undertake Child Protection and Safeguarding training. Our new Child Safeguarding Statement is now available on the school website or at the school office.

All registered teachers are now ‘mandated persons’ under the new Children First legislation and have a legal obligation to report any concerns about children’s safety to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

You can read more about the Children First legislation on the Tusla website:

http://www.tusla.ie/children-first/parents-and-guardians

And finally…

Don’t forget the workshop for parents and carers about the ‘Stay Safe’ programme takes place tomorrow, Tuesday, 13^th March at 1.15 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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We were excited to host a special event for International Women’s Day today with KPMG and Children’s Books Ireland.

It was the launch of Children’s Books Ireland’s #BoldGirls initiative that celebrates strong women and girls in children’s books. Volunteers from KPMG came to read ‘The Princess in Black’ with groups of children from 2nd and 3rd Class. The children then took part in a Monster Doodle with illustrator, Niamh Sharkey.

We thank KPMG for their very kind donation of 100 books from the #BoldGirls reading guide. We can’t wait to read them!

Later in the morning, 3rd Class visited Easons Bookshop on O’Connell Street and met authors Sarah Crossan and Marita Conlon-McKenna!