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Newsletter

15^th February 2019

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Reminder –

We are closing for just two days for our mid-term break – Thursday and Friday next week, 21^st and 22^nd February.

We are open as normal on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the normal times.

5^th and 6^th Class want Climate Action

On Wednesday, 5^th and 6^th Class joined 400 other primary school children to protest about ‘Climate Change’ at Dáil Éireann, our government buildings. The children made really creative posters and banners and spoke clearly about their views on global warming and the impact climate change will have on their lives. The children have been learning lots about sustainability in their classes and it was wonderful to see them leading this action for change with their peers.

Peace Proms

Well done to all our children in 3^rd and 4^th Class who performed at Peace Proms concert in the RDS two weeks ago. The children practised so hard to learn all of their songs and actions. They sang with 2,500 children from around the country and the Cross-Border Orchestra of Ireland – what a fantastic opportunity! We were very proud of them all. Our thanks also to Ms. Glynn, Ms. Graham and Ms. Lougheed who prepared the children so well and to Mr. Carney, Aoiffe, Audrey and Liz who came along to support the children on the day.

News this month

Thank you to the parents/carers who came to our workshop about the ‘Stay Safe’ programme with Ms. Brophy last week, and to the parents/carers who participated in our internet safety talks too.

Well done to the 2^nd Class children who led the liturgy at our Family Mass last Sunday and thanks to Ms. Yeates who prepared them so well.

3^rd and 4^th Class were super school ambassadors on their visit to the Lighthouse Cinema on Wednesday. The children watched ‘The Kid who would be King’ and even got to ask the film’s director questions afterwards, as part of the Dublin International Film Festival’s  ‘Fantastic Flix’ programme.

Attendance and punctuality

We’ve seen a wonderful improvement in attendance this week with 97.4% attendance across the whole school. A special well done to our THREE classes with 100% attendance this week – Ms. McCaughey’s 2^nd Class, Ms. Graham’s 3^rd/4^th Class and Mr. McGuire’s 5^th!

Dates for your diary

18 February – 1^st Class to Dublin Castle

21 and 22 February – Mid-Term Break – School Closed

27 February – First Penance

6 March – Science Blast at RDS

14, 15, 18 March – School Closed

12 April – School closes for Easter Holidays

29 April – School re-opens for summer term

And finally…

We are collecting tokens from Aldi for their competition to win €50,000 for our school. If you spend over €30, you will get a token. Please bring in any tokens you have – thanks.

Have a lovely weekend,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

3rd and 4th Class took part in the Peace Proms concert in the RDS in February 2019. The children sang with 2,500 children from around the country and the Cross-Border Orchestra of Ireland

Photos from the Peace Proms 2019

We were delighted to welcome Minister for Education, Joe McHugh TD and Director of the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST), Ciara O’Donnell to our school last month to launch the new WebWise resource ‘HTML Heroes’ for Safer Internet Day 2019. Take a look at www.webwise.ie to find out more about it!

Well done to our Young Interpreters who welcomed Minister McHugh to our school and to Ms. Graham’s Class who showed us their best poses for the photographer!

Newsletter

30^th January 2019

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Stay Safe Programme     

Every year, we use the ‘Stay Safe’ programme with all of the children from Junior Infants to 6^th Class. It is a national programme, that is compulsory in all Irish schools. The lessons teach the children about keeping themselves safe, dealing with bullying, stranger danger and cyber-bullying. The key message for children when they feel unsafe is to ‘say no, get away and tell’ an adult they trust. Every class will be following the programme in the coming weeks.

Ms. Brophy is available on Friday morning at 9.00 a.m. in the Parents’ Room to speak to any parents/carers who have questions about the programme content or how to support your child with these issues at home. Do come along if you have questions or concerns.

Yellow Flag Programme

We are working towards a ‘Yellow Flag’ this year to help us focus our work on interculturalism, equality and diversity.

We are currently doing an ‘Intercultural Review’ to ask our community their view on our work. The children in 2nd – 6th Class have been completing their survey in school.

We would now like to invite parents and carers to take part. The survey is online and should only take a couple of minutes.

Open a web browser and type in the link below to take the survey:

If you would like a paper copy, please ask for one at the office.

Parent Classes

Thank you to all those who returned the forms to Síle about parent classes this term. We are delighted to see lots of interest in our English classes which will start next week. There’s also space in our yoga class on Mondays and cookery class on Tuesday mornings – do let us know if you are interested.

Attendance and punctuality

With a lot of children ill, it has been a very poor week of attendance. Please ensure your child is wrapped up warmly at school and we look forward to seeing everyone back to full health in the coming days.

Dates for your diary

1 February – ‘Stay Safe’ meeting for parents/ carers at 9.00 a.m.

2 February – 3^rd and 4^th Class perform at Peace Proms concert in the RDS at 2.00 p.m.

5 February – Internet Safety talks for parents/carers at 9 a.m.

10 February – Family Mass at 11.45 a.m.

21 and 22 February – Mid-Term Break – School Closed

27 February – First Penance

6 March – Science Blast at RDS

14, 15, 18 March – School Closed

12 April – School closes for Easter Holidays

29 April – School re-opens for summer term

Enrolment for September 2019

Final reminder – the closing date for Junior Infant September 2019 applications is Friday, 1^st February 2019. Please call into the office to collect an application form if you need one. Children must be 4 years old by 30 April 2019. We cannot accept late applications.

Best wishes,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

18^th January 2019

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Visit from Minister of Education

We were delighted to welcome the new Minister for Education, Joe McHugh TD, to our school on Wednesday. The Minister met with children and staff during his visit and was very interested to hear about the work that we do.

He met some of our Young Interpreters, and was so impressed, he has invited them to meet him in Government Buildings to tell him more about it!

Ms. Graham’s Class then took part in a photocall with the Minister and the team from ‘Webwise’, the online safety website (www.webwise.ie) and PDST – the Professional Development Service for Teachers and their Director, Ciara O’Donnell. The photos have been taken in advance of ‘Safer Internet Day’ on 5^th February and we will be able to share them with you then. The children were wonderful ambassadors for the school and even sang an impromptu chorus of ‘This is Me’ for the Minister as he left. Well done Ms. Graham’s Class!

Thank you to all the staff who contributed to the preparation for the visit.

News this week

On Tuesday morning, Senior Infants visited the General Post Office, known as the ‘GPO’ on O’Connell Street, as part of their learning about the post office this term. The children were very excited to see the post office in action and had lots of questions to ask.

After-School Clubs

We have had enormous interest in our after-school clubs this term. We have tried our very best to allocate a club to everyone and we apologise to those who may be disappointed. We tried particularly to allocate places to those who didn’t get a club place last term.

The children have a note in their bags today to confirm their places and all clubs (except English Language, which won’t start until February) will run from next week. Please make sure you take a note of the name of the club your child is attending, the day it takes place and the time it finishes. I would also ask you to ensure you are on time to collect your child after clubs.  Thank you.

Attendance and punctuality

Well done to Ms. O’Hare’s 1^st Class with a perfect 100% attendance record this week!

Dates for your diary

2 February – 3^rd and 4^th Class perform at Peace Proms concert in the RDS at 2.00 p.m.

5 February – Safer Internet Day – Zeeko Internet Safety talks for parents and children

10 February – Family Mass at 11.45 a.m.

21 and 22 February – Mid-Term Break – School Closed

27 February – First Penance

6 March – Science Blast at RDS

14, 15, 18 March – School Closed

12 April – School closes for Easter Holidays

29 April – School re-opens for summer term

Enrolment for September 2019

We are accepting applications for Junior Infants for September 2019. The closing date for applications is Friday, 1^st February 2019. Please call into the office to collect an application form if you need one – and make sure to let your friends, family and neighbours know too!

Best wishes,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

Newsletter

14^th January 2019

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Happy New Year!

Welcome back to all and a happy new year to everyone. We hope you had a lovely holiday and we are delighted to see everyone back and ready for an exciting term of learning.

The children have settled back quickly and last week we talked about our new years’ resolutions and our aims for our learning over the coming months.

After-School Clubs

Please look out for club letters this week. Our thanks to the staff who give their time to run these clubs after-school. Please remember that your child does not automatically have a place in a club – you must wait for the office to confirm. Please ensure we have an accurate phone number for you and check your text or app messages for confirmation.

Christmas Raffle

Thank you to the Parents’ Association who organised our Christmas raffle in aid of DEBRA Ireland. I’m delighted to let you know we raised 224 euro in total. Thank you also to those who donated items for the Crosscare Homeless Shelter next door.

Attendance and punctuality

Well done to 6^th Class who had top attendance of 98.3% last week and won our attendance trophy.

It has been an excellent start to the term, with nearly everyone back from holiday on time. This makes a huge difference to the children’s learning – well done everyone!

Dates for your diary

15 January – Senior Infants visit the GPO

2 February – 3^rd and 4^th Class perform at Peace Proms concert in the RDS at 2.00 p.m.

5 February – Safer Internet Day – Zeeko Internet Safety talks for parents and children

10 February – Family Mass at 11.45 a.m.

21 and 22 February – Mid-Term Break – School Closed

27 February – First Penance

6 March – Science Blast at RDS

14, 15, 18 March – School Closed

12 April – School closes for Easter Holidays

29 April – School re-opens for summer term

New Year Reminders

As the weather continues to be cold, and with warnings that it may become colder, I would ask you to remind your child that they must wear a coat to school each day and they are not allowed to take their coat off when outside playing. This ensures the children keep warm while getting some fresh air, but also ensures coats do not get mixed up or lost. We appreciate your help reinforcing this message with the children at home.

And finally…

Tickets for the Peace Proms concert on Saturday, 2^nd February are almost sold out. If you want to go along to the RDS to see your child – you will need to buy a ticket online. Sile can help you, if you have any trouble.

Best wishes,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

Newsletter

20^th December 2018

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Christmas Performances

What a special week it has been! I hope you enjoyed our Christmas performances as much as we have. The children have sparkled and dazzled us and we are very proud of them.

3^rd and 4^th Class opened the show with their ‘Greatest Showman’ medley, a preview of just one of the songs they are learning for the ‘Peace Proms’ concert in the RDS in February.

5^th and 6^th Class sang in beautiful harmony for ‘Starman’ and ‘Somewhere only we know’, another sneak preview of their upcoming concert with the National Children’s Choir. We have a very musical Spring 2019 ahead!

We then had all of the children from Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 1^st and 2^nd Classes perform their nativity ‘Superstar’. The children spoke with such confidence and sang beautifully. They really helped us to think about the real message of Christmas and reminded us all to ‘shine our light in the world’.

Such wonderful performances do not happen without the time and dedication of our staff, who have practised the songs, sourced and made costumes and rehearsed lines. Thank you to each and every one – and particularly Ms. McCaughey, who so expertly brought all of the parts of ‘Superstar’ together over the last few weeks.

News this month

Thank you to all the families who attended our last Family Mass of the year. Special thanks to the children from 3^rd and 4^th Class who led the readings and prayers. Last week, our Catholic children attended a special Advent prayer and penitential service with Fr. Pat and Fr. David in preparation for Christmas.

Our thanks to the volunteers from KPMG who completed the #BoldGirls workshops with 2^nd and 3^rd Class this week – they have really enjoyed taking part.

Well done and thank you to all the parents/carers who came to take part in our Christmas art sessions in classes around the school. It is always lovely to see families working on projects together.

Last Friday, 3^rd and 4^th Class went to a special Peace Proms rehearsal at the National Sports Centre in Blanchardstown. The children practised their songs and dance moves with children from lots of other schools across Dublin.

Last week, 5^th and 6^th Class had workshops on Relationships and Sexuality Education and learned about how they are growing and changing as they get older.

On Tuesday, we had a visit from the Garda Band who played some festive favourites for us and got us all in the mood for Christmas.

Restorative Practice

We welcomed Michelle Stowe to school last week. Lots of our staff have worked with Michelle to learn about ‘Restorative Practice’ which puts good relationships at the centre of all we do, and gives us a framework for dealing with conflict when it arises.

Michelle worked with the children in 4^th and 5^th Class this time – sharing the values of Restorative Practice with them and training a small group to be ‘Friendship Keepers’. This group will support children in the playground to be good friends to one another.

Time to Read launch

We were delighted to launch our ‘Time to Read’ programme with Business in the Community earlier this month. We have eight new volunteers working with us this year. They will come each week and read with children from 2^nd Class to help and support their confidence in reading.

Home learning projects

I have been amazed to see so many outstanding and creative projects in classes across the school this term. The children have showed such interest in their learning and we have seen lots of additional research and work being done at home. A special mention to the families who have worked together to create Mexican-themed musical instruments in 5^th Class, a whole range of super projects from recycled materials in 3^rd Class and dinosaur habitats in 2^nd Class. They have been truly wonderful – well done!

Art Class for Parents/Carers

We were delighted to see the beautiful art work created by our parent art class on display this week. Each parent who took part received a beautiful hamper of art supplies to continue their creative work at home. Special thanks to Cliodhna, one of our SNAs, who led the group with Jessie from Step-by-Step Family Project and to Síle, our Home-School-Community Liaison teacher who coordinated the class.

Dates for your diary in 2019

7 January 2019 – School re-opens at 8.50 a.m.

2 February – 3^rd and 4^th Class perform at Peace Proms concert in the RDS at 2.00 p.m.

Attendance and punctuality

Well done to Ms. Yeates’ 2^nd Class who have the best attendance across the school for this term with 97.3% – an excellent record!

Thank you

As we head towards the holidays, I want to take this opportunity to thank our incredible staff for their hard work this term. I feel very lucky to work with such a great team with so much energy and enthusiasm. Each class teacher, support teacher, SNA, volunteer, our secretary Liz and caretaker Colm, go over and above to ensure the children get the very best learning opportunities we can offer them. I know you will join me in thanking them and wishing them a very happy holiday and some well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Our thanks to all our parents/carers for your continued commitment and support. Special thanks to our Parents’ Association for their efforts this term and to our Board of Management who volunteer their time to help move the school forward.

And finally…

Don’t forget we finish at 12 noon on Friday 21^st December for the holidays. We will re-open on Monday, 7^th January at 8.50 a.m.

Best wishes,

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

3rd and 4th Class are rehearsing for the Peace Proms.

Have a look at the Dance Moves below and keep practising at home!