Well Done Everyone!
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
We had some very important visitors in our school this week. Inspectors from the Department of Education spent two days with us. Ms. Hyland and Ms. Corcoran were here to carry out a Child Protection and Safeguarding Inspection. A random number of schools are selected every year for this type of inspection, and this year it is our turn. The Inspectors interviewed staff members and the Chairperson of the Board of Management, they sent a survey to parents, they went through all our Child Protection records and they met with pods of children from 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes.
Ms. Hyland and Ms. Corcoran were blown away by how polite, friendly and knowledgeable the children are. They mentioned several times that they could tell from speaking with the children that the quality of the teaching and learning is very high, and they were very anxious to let the school community know that the girls love their school and all the people who work here. What more could we ask for?
The inspection has two stages – the visit this week, and a return visit at a time to be confirmed. After the second visit, the reports from both visits will be published on the Department of Education website. We will let you know when that happens.
Thank you to everyone who completed the survey (I am aware that some of you had problems with the link) and thank you for your continued support. It is the people who in our school community – Board of Management, Staff, parents and most especially our pupils – that make Good Counsel such a special place.
Enjoy the long weekend.
Yours sincerely,
_______________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
May – the Month of Mary
There is a long tradition in our school of honouring Our Lady during the month of May. Next week we will set up our May Altar in the Front Hall and all the classes will take turns looking after the Altar and keeping it decorated with flowers.
Week beginning May 3rdth: Junior Infants and Third Class
Week beginning May 10th: Senior Infants and Fourth Class
Week beginning May 17th: First Class and Fifth Class
Week beginning May 24th: Second Class and Sixth Class
There is no need to buy any flowers. If everyone brings one or two blooms from the garden or a bunch of wildflowers, they will be just beautiful. As our school is dedicated to Our Lady, our May Altar is a lovely way to honour her.
Sixth Class will lead a special Assembly tomorrow for the month of May.
‘Mary, our mother, the Lord is with you.
Guide us, protect us, in all that we do.’
Homework
Now that we are all settled back into school, we are trying to make sure that the girls and their families keep in touch with the online skills they learned during the school closure. A little piece of Homework will be assigned every week on Seesaw and there may also be one other activity for the girls to take on. We know how hard Mams and Dads worked on Home Learning, so we are trying to keep Homework simple and to a minimum. It is important for the girls to do the little bit of work assigned to them so please continue to check in on Seesaw every week.
Condolences
We send our sincere sympathy to Dermot Walsh, Chairperson of our Board of Management, and his family on the death of Mrs. Peggy Murphy on Monday last. We also send our sympathy to Sr. Mary Gough on the death of her brother-in-law John Fitzgerald on Tuesday. May they both rest in peace.
Reminder
The May Bank Holiday is on Monday next. The school will also close on Tuesday 4th May.
Welcome
Miss Laura Maher, a student teacher, is working with Mr. Dooley and Second Class at the moment. We hope that you are enjoying your time with us Miss Maher and well done on all the great work you are doing with the girls.
Poetry Day Ireland
Today is Poetry Day Ireland and to celebrate we are having a Poetry Competition. Girls, you are all creative and imaginative, so get to work over the Bank Holiday and write a piece of poetry for the competition. The closing date is Thursday 6th May. Some of your poems will be published in our next newsletter and there will be prizes for the winning entries.
April 26th – Feast Day of Our Lady of Good Counsel
Monday April 26th was a very special day for our school. It was the feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Three girls from 4th class Connie, Milena and Emili read the story to the school using the new intercom system. In 4th class we pray to Our Lady of Good Counsel every day. Our Lady of Good Counsel is ready to listen to our problems and give us good advice every day.
By Emili – 4th Class
Earth Day
On Thursday 22nd April 4th class took part in a live stream event from The National Museum of Ireland and the Rediscovery Centre in Dublin. It was fun, interactive and educational and we learned all about Ice Age Ireland, fossils and climate change.
Ferrybank Camogie Club News – Return to Training
Training will begin on the following dates all are welcome.
U6s- junior and senior infants
Date and time: Saturday the 1st of May from 10-11am
EVERY SATURDAY
U8s- girls born in 2015,2014,2013
Date and time: Saturday the 1st of may from 11-12am
EVERY SATURDAY
U10s- girls born in 2012,2011
Date and time: Saturday the 1st of may from 11-12am
EVERY SATURDAY
U12s- girls born in 2010,2009
Date and time: Tuesday 27th and Thursday 29th of April from 6:30-7:30pm
EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY
U14s- girls born in 2008,2007
Date and time: Tuesday 27th and Thursday 29th of April from 6:30-7:30pm
EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY
All girls are to bring their own water bottle, a sanitizing station will be available upon arrival and a return to play questionnaire will need to be filled out: https://returntoplay.gaa.ie/
Ferrybank Library – Healthy Ireland
As part of our Healthy Ireland at your Library programme this year, we have another great talk entitled “Support for parents & guardians of young children” by Peader Maxwell, Senior Psychologist with the HSE. In this webinar, Peader discusses the merits of positive parenting and covers topics including how to deal with emotions and how to teach our children to be more independent. He also gives important advice on screen-time usage and the importance of helping our children to get more sleep.
This talk will available to view on our Facebook page on Tuesday the 4th of May at 7.00pm and available to re-watch after this date on our You Tube channel and website.
