Newsletter 23.6.17
Newsletter
23rd June 2017
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Reading Event with KPMG
On Tuesday, we welcomed volunteers from KPMG to a special reading event in the school. The volunteers came from all over the world, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, USA and lots more! The team welcomed the children from Ms. Calvey, Ms. Collins and Ms. Bourke’s Classes to read a part of ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl. Then the children were led by author and illustrator, Chris Judge, to complete a ‘Monster Doodle’, a giant drawing of some very scary looking monsters!
We were thrilled that KPMG donated a huge number of books to our school. So many in fact, that on Tuesday, every single child in the school was able to bring home a brand-new book for them to keep. Huge thanks to Karina Howley in KPMG and Elaina Ryan from Children’s Books Ireland for including us in this fabulous opportunity.
School Inspection Report
Our ‘DEIS’ inspection report was published on the Department of Education’s website this week. We will send a copy home next week with every child for your information. We are very pleased with this positive report and as always, I thank our super staff team for all they do to support the children’s learning so successfully.
News this week
The school has been a hive of activity this week as we prepare for our end-of-year performance. Rehearsals are in full swing and you are in for a real treat next week. Every child will perform in all three shows.
End of Year Performance
Please check with your child’s class teacher about any costume or special clothing they need to wear for the performance and make sure they have it ready for Monday.
Tickets were issued yesterday. There are two tickets per child to ensure we can fit everyone into the hall. We ask you to please return any unwanted tickets so we can give them to someone else! Any swaps or extra tickets will be available from Ms. Glynn outside the hall on Monday.
Dates for your diary
26th/27th June – Whole-School Performance
- Monday, 26th at 1.00 p.m.
- Tuesday, 27th at 1.00 p.m.
- Tuesday, 27th at 6.00 p.m.
29th June – 6th Class Graduation
30th June – School closes at 12 noon
31st August – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
Summer Camp
We’re sorry but unfortunately we won’t be able to run a summer camp this year. Our new neighbours in ‘Dorset Point’, the new student accommodation building beside the school, will be completing some works to restore our yard and put in some new railings and walls at the front of the school. The works will start immediately so unfortunately, for health and safety reasons, we cannot have children on site.
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to Ms. Barry’s Senior Infants who have top attendance this week and will look after our trophy for the last week of term. Well done!
Have a lovely weekend,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
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KPMG Literacy Event
On Tuesday, we welcomed volunteers from KPMG to a special reading event in the school. The volunteers came from all over the world, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, USA and lots more! The team welcomed the children from Ms. Calvey, Ms. Collins and Ms. Bourke’s Classes to read a part of ‘The Twits’ by Roald Dahl. Then the children were led by author and illustrator, Chris Judge, to complete a ‘Monster Doodle’, a giant drawing of some very scary looking monsters!
We were thrilled that KPMG donated a huge number of books to our school. So many in fact, that on Tuesday, every single child in the school was able to bring home a brand-new book for them to keep. Huge thanks to Karina Howley in KPMG and Elaina Ryan from Children’s Books Ireland for including us in this fabulous opportunity.
Newsletter 16.6.17
Newsletter
16th June 2017
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Active Schools Week
We have had such an active, busy and fun week! Our morning ‘Wake and Shake’ and ‘Slí na Sláinte’ walks have been brilliant and our thanks to all the families who joined us.
Throughout the week, the children have taken part in a range of activities: water relays, fitness classes, boxing, badminton, high jump, dancing, games, and lots more! And today, every class has had a chance to learn how to play ‘Ultimate Frisbee’!
At break time the children have ‘danced til they dropped’ and they’ve even had active homework. Every child has been encouraged to have at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day. A big well done to everyone who took part – keep it up!
Thanks to our Active Team – all the children who led activities throughout the week, to Ms. Collins, Ms. Kilkenny and especially Mr. Carney and Ms. O’Callaghan, who put the programme together and organised us all throughout the week.
News this week
On Tuesday, 5th Class visited the National Gallery and learned more about the artist Monet. On Wednesday, our neighbouring contractors, Bennett Construction visited 1st and 2nd Class to talk to them about safety around building sites. Senior Infants went to the Phoenix Park for a fun day out on Wednesday and Ms. Collins’s Class are there today!
Parents’ Internet Safety Session
Thank you to the parents who attended our internet safety talk this week. It was great to see so many there. It is very important that we are all watching what children are doing on computers, keeping computers in a family room (not bedrooms) so children are in full view of an adult and talking to your child about what they are doing so you can support them and make sure they are safe online. The children in 3rd – 6th Class also had a session and got some top tips for keeping themselves safe too.
Dates for your diary
26th/27th June – Whole-School Performance
- Monday, 26th at 1.00 p.m.
- Tuesday, 27th at 1.00 p.m.
- Tuesday, 27th at 6.00 p.m.
29th June – 6th Class Graduation
30th June – School closes at 12 noon
31st August – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
End of Year Performance
Tickets will be available shortly for our end of year show but please note due to space restrictions in the hall, the tickets will be limited. Please note the timings above, especially for the evening performance. All children will need to be in school for these performances.
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to 3rd Class with top attendance this week of 98.9% – super!
I hear it’s going to be a beautiful weekend – enjoy the sunshine!
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
Newsletter 9.6.17
Newsletter
9th June 2017
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Active Schools
I am thrilled to let you know that we had a final accreditation visit from the Active School Flag team this week and as a result of our hard work to increase children’s physical activity, we have been awarded the Active Flag! We hope to have the new flag flying very soon. Our thanks to Grainne O’Callaghan who coordinated the school’s efforts, ably supported by Derek Carney, Aoife Kilkenny, Katie Collins, our children’s Active Team and play leaders and the whole school and staff. We are so proud! We are one of only a few schools in Dublin to have this award recognition and it is a huge achievement.
We will be holding our annual Active Schools Week from 12th-16th June, next week and we have a whole range of exciting activities planned.
Each class will take part in activities each day so children are asked to wear their school tracksuit and runners/trainers every day.
We will be starting each day with a family activity. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday we will have ‘Wake and Shake’ in the morning before we start. All families – parents, carers, siblings, are invited to join in! On Tuesday and Thursday we will have our usual morning walk, ‘Slí na Sláinte’. This takes just 10 minutes, walking around Blessington Basin and again, all families are invited to join us for the walk this week. Please come along and get involved!
Children will have ‘active’ homework to encourage them to meet the target of 60 minutes of physical activity every day.
News this last week
On Wednesday, Ms. Calvey’s Class visited the ‘Little Museum of Dublin’ to learn all about our capital city. The children were really interested to hear lots of facts about Dublin. 3rd Class went to Trinity Sports Centre for an exciting day of activities, including rock climbing. They were very brave! Yesterday, Senior Infants visited Dublin Airport as part of their learning about the airport. They met with team members from Aer Lingus who were very generous with their time and gave the children the opportunity to try some real-life checking-in!
Today, 6th Class headed to Carlingford Adventure Centre in Louth for a day of outdoor and adventure activities. They were up early to leave at 8.00 a.m. and won’t be back til 6.30 p.m!
Doodle Den
On Thursday, our 15 Senior Infants who have been attending ‘Doodle Den’ an after-school literacy programme, graduated with flying colours! Thank you to the parents who came along to support and celebrate with them. Our thanks also to Katie Todd, Sorcha O’Donovan and Amy Healy who have worked so hard to support the children at Doodle Den this year. Doodle Den is funded by the ABC Programme and run through the School Completion Programme. We hope to continue with another group in September.
Parents’ Internet Safety Session
On Wednesday next week, 14th June, we have a special speaker coming to talk to us about keeping children safe on the internet. There is a session for parents and carers at 9.00 a.m. Online safety is a huge issue for families and schools and we encourage as many parents as possible to come along and hear some ideas for keeping your child safe.
After the parent session, our speaker will spend time with the children in 3rd – 6th Class, sharing top tips with them for keeping themselves safe too.
Parents’ Association
Thank you to the parents and carers who came to the training sessino with the National Parents’ Council today. If you weren’t able to make it, don’t worry! You can still be part our our new Parents’ Association to support the school, plan events and make sure the views of parents are represented in the school. Do let us know if you are interested in being involved.
Term Dates 2017-2018
The term dates for 2017-2018 have been published on our website. Please note the children will return to school on Thursday, 31st August 2017, a day earlier than usual. This will allow us to take a week’s mid-term holiday in May 2018.
Dates for your diary
12th-16th June – Active and Wellness Week
13th June – 5th Class to National Gallery
14th June – Internet Safety Talk for Parents
14th June – 1st Class to Natural History Museum
26th/27th June – Whole-School Performance
29th June – 6th Class Graduation
30th June – School closes at 12 noon
31st August – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.
New Junior Infant class
We look forward to welcoming our new Junior Infant children to school on Wednesday next week for a visit. We are working with local pre-schools to plan several visits for the new children to help them get used to our school and be ready for big school in September.
End of Year Performance
You may have heard that we have begun preparations for our end of year show. 6th Class have written a fantastic script all about computer games! Every child in the school will take part in singing and dancing in the show which will take place on Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th June.
We will have three performances:
Monday, 26th at 1.00 p.m.
Tuesday, 27th at 1.00 p.m.
Tuesday, 27th at 6.00 p.m.
Please note the timings, especially for the evening performance. All children will need to be in school for these performances.
Tickets will be available shortly but please note due to space restrictions in the hall, the tickets will be limited.
Attendance and punctuality
Well done to Miss Brophy’s Senior Infants who have top attendance this week! Closely followed by 6th Class and 1st Class.
We are aware that some families have holidays planned in the coming weeks. If your child is going to be missing from school, please ensure you have communicated this to us in writing. A note in your child’s homework journal or a letter to the office is needed with the dates your child will be away.
Best wishes,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal
1st/2nd Class Tour
Ms. Calvey’s 1st and 2nd Class visited the ‘Little Museum of Dublin’ today to learn all about our fantastic city! They listened carefully and asked lots of questions. Well done!
3rd Class Tour
3rd Class visited the Trinity Sports Centre for their school tour today. They completed lots of very exciting activities and were very brave!
Senior Infant Butterflies!
Our Senior Infants have been looking after some very special caterpillars over the last few weeks. The caterpillars had been eating and eating and finally entered into a chrysalis. Imagine the excitement when we came back after our holiday to find some beautiful butterflies!
The children took the ‘painted lady’ butterflies to Blessington Basin park and released them today.
Junior Infants Tour
Our Junior Infant classes visited Newgrange Farm this week as part of their learning about life on a farm. They had so much fun seeing all of the animals, riding on the tractor and even holding a baby chick! Have a look at the lovely photos below to see their day in action: