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Newsletter 3.6.16

Newsletter

3^rd June 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

What a beautiful week! The sun has been shining and we have had lots of opportunities to get outside and enjoy it with many visits going on all round the city.

News this week

On Wednesday, our First Communion children came in and showed us their beautiful outfits! They looked wonderful and were excellent ambassadors for our school at their special ceremony on Sunday. We also celebrated our choir’s beautiful singing – well done everyone!

Also on Wednesday, our staff had a first introduction to the new Primary Language Curriculum. There will be more training over the coming months so that we are ready to begin implementing the new curriculum in 2017.

1^st and 2^nd Class visited the new 1916 exhibition at the GPO today, followed by a visit to the Natural History Museum and the park at Merrion Square.

5^th Class had a fantastic day at Surfdock today – kayaking and watersports galore!

4^th Class visited the ‘Bloom’ garden festival in the Phoenix Park today. They had a special visit to the ‘Agri Aware’ stand who kindly sponsored their tickets to the event.

As always, the photos from these events are on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst or on the school website – www.stmarysprimaryschool.ie . You’ll also find copies of our newsletters and lots more information that you can translate into your home language.

Sun Watch

The weather has been wonderful over the last few days and hopefully will continue to be! As it is so warm, the children are allowed to wear grey or navy shorts with their uniform or tracksuit if you wish.

Please also remember to ensure your child is wearing sunscreen when they come to school each day. We cannot apply it for them and children should not have sunscreen in their bags. They should have plenty of cover for their time at school if you have applied sunscreen in the morning. Thanks.

Money Matters

You will have received a text/email with a link for online payments for tracksuits and books for next year. You can also pay in cash to your child’s class teacher.

If you are paying online for tracksuits, please make sure you also send in the order form with the size you need. Liz will be placing the tracksuit order at the end of next week, so please ensure you have put your order in before then.

If you need support with payments, please talk to Claire Shortall, our Home-School Liaison teacher who will let you know of organisations who provide financial support.

Summer Camps

We are running two free summer camps in the first week of July. These camps are funded by the Department of Education. If you are interested in your child attending, please return the forms sent out this week as soon as possible. We must have 36 children attending each camp for it to go ahead.

Community Events

This weekend, the Dublin Port River Fest takes place at North Wall Quay – there will be lots of activities for children and families and the sun will be shining!

Next weekend, there is a ‘Games of 1916’ event at Collins Barracks for families in the community. Both events are free to attend and promise to be lots of fun!

Attendance and Punctuality

Well done to 5^th Class, the winners of our attendance cup this week with 99.2%! Well done also to 3^rd Class who were very close behind on 98.3%.

Dates for your diary

6^th June – Bank Holiday – school closed

8^th June – 3^rd Class to Dollymount Strand

10^th June – International Day

Week of 13^th June – Active Schools Week

13^th June – Senior Infants to Dublin Zoo

15^th June – Sports Day

17^th June – 6^th Class to Carlingford

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

1^st September – Children return to school

Enjoy the long weekend and the sunshine!

Éadaoin Kelly

Principal

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Join us for International Day

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4th Class visit to ‘Squirrel Scramble’

4th Class had a beautiful day to visit ‘Squirrel Scramble’ at Kilruddery House, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

The children had the chance to do lots of exciting activities on the high ropes course – zip wires and all! They were very brave!

New Language Curriculum

The school will close at 12 noon on Wednesday 1st June for staff training. Our teachers will be taking a first look at the new Language Curriculum that is being introduced to all schools in Ireland over the coming years. The Language Curriculum will cover children’s learning in both English and Gaeilge (Irish language).

Over the coming months, teachers will have several training sessions from the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST) team so that they are ready to implement the new curriculum. We will be sharing information about this new curriculum with parents and carers in school over the next year or two.

If you’d like to find out more about the Language Curriculum, here is a leaflet for parents/carers which explains the key changes in this new curriculum.

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3rd and 4th Class visit National Concert Hall

3^rd and 4^th Class visited the National Concert Hall today for a ‘Music and Science’ workshop. The workshop was provided by the Music and Science Departments in Trinity College and the children had a fantastic time exploring sound in a very special venue.

Junior Infant Visit to Newgrange Farm

Our Junior Infant classes set off bright and early for their visit to Newgrange Farm.

They had a wonderful time seeing all of the animals and riding on a tractor! The children were even able to hold some baby chicks, feed the lambs and feed the hens!

Here’s two great videos of their day:

https://goo.gl/photos/DqwLJAH6jNzM7r986

https://goo.gl/photos/HWsQ8fyXNvMgZ9DSA

Have a look at the super photos:

Newsletter 27.5.16

Newsletter

27^th May 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week

Junior Infants visited Newgrange Farm on Tuesday this week. They had a wonderful time seeing all of the animals and riding on a tractor! The children were even able to hold some baby chicks, feed the lambs and feed the hens! Have a look at the super photos on our Twitter page @stmarysdorsetst or on the school website.

5^th Class visited the Hugh Lane Art Gallery on Wednesday as part of their art learning. They looked at paintings by Dublin artist Sean Scully. We look forward to seeing their own art work inspired by Scully’s style very soon!

3^rd and 4^th Class visited the National Concert Hall today for a ‘Music and Science’ workshop. The workshop was provided by the Music and Science Departments in Trinity College and the children had a fantastic time in a very special venue.

First Communion

We send our best wishes to the children in 2^nd Class who make their First Holy Communion on Sunday. They have worked very hard to prepare and Ms. Oppermann and Fr. Pat are very proud of them.

A reminder too that the school choir are singing at the Mass and should be at the church for 11.30 a.m. They will be finished by 1.00 p.m. at the latest. Thank you!

Palestrina Choir

Congratulations to Charles, Delia and Blossom from 1^st Class who have successfully auditioned for the Palestrina Choir, an internationally famous choir based in Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral. It is a fantastic opportunity for the children and we are very proud of them!

Attendance and Punctuality

A wonderful week of attendance – 97.3% across the school. Thank you to all of the families who support us by getting their children to school on time every single day. Well done especially to Miss Todd’s Class with the best attendance this week an unbeatable 100%, simply amazing!

Dates for your diary

29^th May – First Communion at 11.45am

31^st May – 4^th Class to Squirrel Scramble

3^rd June – 5^th Class to SurfDock

6^th June – Bank Holiday – school closed

8^th June – 3^rd Class to Dollymount Strand

10^th June – International Day

Week of 13^th June – Active Schools Week

13^th June – Senior Infants to Dublin Zoo

15^th June – Sports Day

17^th June – 6^th Class to Carlingford Adventure Centre

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

1^st September – Children return to school

Have a lovely weekend,

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Newsletter 20.5.16

Newsletter

20^th May 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

News this week

On Thursday and Friday this week, 5^th and 6^th Class worked with facilitators from Accord, learning about relationships and how things change as we get older. The children listened carefully and asked very sensible questions. The facilitators were very impressed with their maturity.

Today, the children in 2^nd Class who are making their Communion next week, had their Second Penance service.

Also today, 3^rd and 4^th Class had a visit from two students from Trinity College, preparing them for their visit to the National Concert Hall next Friday for a ‘Music and Science’ workshop.

DEIS Evaluation

Our school is part of the DEIS programme which gives us additional funding to support children’s learning. The Education Research Centre selected our school as part of a study reviewing standards in literacy and numeracy. This week, children in 2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th and 6^th Class took part in some testing in reading and maths as part of this study. The administrator commented on the children’s excellent attitudes to their learning and the welcoming atmosphere in our school. Our own annual assessment tests will take place in a few weeks time.

Celebration of Learning

Parents and carers who have been involved in the activities of our Home-School-Community Liaison programme this year attended a ‘Celebration of Learning’ event this week to receive special certificates for completion of their programmes. Congratulations!

Our community cookbook, which the local Education Committee have put together with contributions from children and families in our local schools, has been completed. It will be launched next week, and we will be having a special ceremony to launch it at our school during our International Day on 10^th June. Thank you to Claire who has worked very hard to collate the recipes and work with the other schools involved to put the book together.

Attendance and Punctuality

Well done to 1^st Class with the best attendance this week – 97.9%, fantastic!

Dates for your diary

24^th May – Junior Infants to Newgrange Farm

25^th May – 5^th Class to Hugh Lane Gallery

27^th May – 3^rd&4^th to National Concert Hall

29^th May – First Communion at 11.45am

31^st May – 4^th Class to Squirrel Scramble

1^st June – School closes at 12 noon for staff training in new language curriculum

3^rd June – 5^th Class to SurfDock

6^th June – Bank Holiday – school closed

8^th June – 3^rd Class to Dollymount Strand

10^th June – International Day

Week of 13^th June – Active Schools Week

13^th June – Senior Infants to Dublin Zoo

15^th June – Sports Day

17^th June – 6^th Class to Carlingford

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

1^st September – Children return to school

Enjoy the weekend!

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Newsletter 13.5.16

Newsletter

13^th May 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

Confirmation

What a wonderful day we had yesterday! The Catholic children in 5^th and 6^th Class made the Sacrament of Confirmation in our parish church in Berkeley Road.

The children had a lovely ceremony of light on Tuesday, when lots of parents/carers joined us to pass the light of faith to their children.

Then yesterday morning at 11.00 a.m. the children arrived for their Confirmation ceremony. Monsignor Dan O’Connor joined us, on behalf of the Archbishop of Dublin, to confirm the children. He complimented the children on their excellent preparation and was delighted with how confident they were.

We said lots of thank yous! Firstly to Fr. Patrick, Fr. Pat and Fr. David who work with us all year to help the children to prepare. We also thanked all of the school staff, especially Ms. Graham, Mr. Kerr, Dolores, Amy and Audrey who work with the children each day and prepared them so well.

We also said a big thank you to the children in the school choir who sang beautifully.

The Confirmation children were joined by their friends from 5^th and 6^th Class for photographs at the end and went off very happy for a lovely sunny day of celebrations.

Our congratulations to them all!

Changes over the holidays

Last week over the mid-term, we had a delivery of brand new furniture to every room in the school. We are now looking even smarter and more modern! A big thank you to Colm, our caretaker, who spent the week carrying very heavy furniture up and down stairs, keeping our building spick and span as always. He does a marvellous job, I know you will agree. Thank you Colm!

SAVE THE DATE – Wednesday, 1^st June

On Wednesday, 1^st June, the school will close at 12 noon for staff training on the new language curriculum.

Attendance and Punctuality

Attendance has not been up to our usual standards this week. But best attendance was in 5^th Class with 99%, well done!

Dates for your diary

17^th/19^th June – Accord Workshops for 5^th/6^th

24^th May – Junior Infants to Newgrange Farm

29^th May – First Communion at 11.45am

31^st May – 4^th Class to Squirrel Scramble

1^st June – School closes at 12 noon for staff training in new language curriculum

6^th June – Bank Holiday – school closed

10^th June – International Day

Week of 13^th June – Active Schools Week

15^th June – Sports Day

17^th June – 6^th Class to Carlingford

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

1^st September – Children return to school

Have a lovely weekend – we’re due lots of sunshine!

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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Newsletter 29.4.16

Newsletter

29^th April 2016

Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,

National Award Winners!

We are thrilled to announce that our 5^th Class team – Andrei, Briana and Emilin, who were national finalists in the ‘Scratch’ computer programming competition have won a prize for ‘Best Technical Sophistication’ for their project. This is an outstanding achievement. 800 projects were submitted from school across Ireland. Just 34 were selected as finalists, from both primary and secondary schools. The childrens’ award for ‘Best Technical Sophistication’ was across all categories, even the secondary schools! We are enormously proud of the children and congratulated them at assembly this morning. Our congratulations and thanks also to Mr. Kerr and Pirooz, one of our volunteers, who taught and supported the children.

Feis Átha Cliath

Our 5^th and 6^th Class took part in a special Irish dance competition this week, Feis Átha Cliath. The children have been practising hard and performed four-hand and eight-hand dances for the judges. There were lots of schools from across Dublin and we were delighted that four of our teams in 6^th Class won medals! Congratulations! Our thanks to our Irish dance teacher, Aedín Uí Mhaoileidigh who prepared the children so well and to Ms. Graham, Dolores, Mr. Kerr, Amy and Ms. King who supported the children on the day.

Summer Works Scheme

The Department of Education announced €30 million of funding for upgrading schools this summer. We are delighted to let you know that we are on the list of schools to have a full upgrade of our electrical systems, including re-wiring and new fire alarm system to make our building safer and more modern.

SAVE THE DATE – Wednesday, 1^st June

On Wednesday, 1^st June, the school will close at 12 noon for staff training on the new language curriculum.

Attendance and Punctuality

Well done all families for overall attendance for the month of April of 95%. Best attendance was in 2^nd Class with 96.8%, well done!

Dates for your diary

10^th May – Ceremony of Light (Confirmation)

12^th May – Confirmation at 11.00am

29^th May – First Communion at 11.45am

1^st June – School closes at 12 noon for staff training in new language curriculum

6^th June – Bank Holiday – school closed

10^th June – International Day

30^th June – School finishes at 12 noon

The Active Schools team have attached a Fact Sheet on encouraging your child to be active on the back of the newsletter. Do have a read and get out and about with your child if you can over the holiday. Have a lovely time!

Éadaoin Kelly – Principal

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