Dear families and friends of the school community,
Hope you are all well? It is now definitely feeling like winter, with the drop in temperature and
the dark mornings. We are well and truly progressing through November and what a busy
few weeks we have had here in Our Lady of Good Counsel. Please read below to catch up
on all the recent happenings and learning that has and is going on in our school.
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Kelly.
(Deputy Principal)

Congratulations!

We are delighted to inform you that Mr. and Mrs. Nagle welcomed a new baby in to their
family recently. Everyone here at Our Lady of Good Counsel sends their congratulations to
Mr. and Mrs Nagle and his family on the birth of their beautiful baby daughter. We are
thrilled for them. We wish them every blessing and happiness in the future.

Upcoming Closures

School closed Friday November 29th as the school will be used as a polling station for the General Election.

School Closed on Monday December 2nd due to professional development day for staff.

November – All Saints and All Souls

During the month of November we remember all those who have died, especially family
members and friends of our school community. Mrs. Ryan’s Third Class prepared an
Assembly of Remembrance accompanied by beautiful singing during our first week back.
We continue to remember all those people in our prayers every Friday during Assembly.
May they all Rest in Peace. Amen.

Science Week Ireland 2024

We celebrated Science Week Ireland last week. There were various science activities and
games taking place in the classrooms, corridors and GP area. The pupils learned a great
deal from one another and they put their scientific skills and scientific language to use.
Miss Behan, Mrs. Hayes and First class visited SETU for a ‘Bubbly Science’ show which
really wowed the pupils so much that they continued further experiments with bubbles in
their classroom on their return.
During Assembly, third class scientists treated the school to a live experiment –
demonstrating how a volcano explodes and causing an eruption. We have some future
scientists among us in Our Lady of Good Counsel. Well done girls and teachers.

Advent – the time when we prepare for the birth of Baby Jesus
Mrs. Burke’s Sixth class will be busy preparing for a special Assembly for the beginning of
Advent. Advent always starts four Sundays before Christmas. This year, Advent begins on
Sunday 1 st of December, and the start of the new church year. We are looking forward to
seeing the Advent wreath and to learning why Advent is so important.

Christmas Crib Design Competition

It’s that time of year girls to design the background for our school’s Christmas Crib. It’s time to get creative again girls. Put your design on an A4 page and put it in the box in the Front Hall before Thursday November 28th You can work by yourself or with a group of friends. Make sure to put your name and your class on the back of your entry. The winning design will be used as the background for our school’s beautiful, handmade crib and all the entries will be displayed in the school.

Outdoor Learning – GIY Grow at School.

The gardening gladiators and Miss Kelly have been planting daffodil and tulip bulbs around
the school during early October and we await their budding in February and March time.

In September, our school was selected to participate in the GIY GROW at School
programme as Miss Kelly knew a lot of our pupils are interested in outdoor learning and
gardening. Through garden based learning and hands-on growing experiences, children
develop a deeper and understanding from where heathy and sustainable foods come from.
This concept encourages children to appreciate the importance of healthy food and
understand the process it goes through before reaching their plates. 
As part of our participation in GIY GROW at School, we received 4 Raised Garden beds
before the Hallowe’en break. Mark kindly assembled them for us. Our Gardeners have so far
planted onion sets and garlic bulbs. Further planting and sowing will continue in the new
year.

The halls are alive with the sound of music!

Recently, a school choir has been formed in Our Lady of Good Counsel. Miss Hutchinson
and the girls in the school choir are busy learning some songs and carols on the lead up to
Christmas.

Wellbeing Warriors Committee

We are delighted to have established our new Wellbeing Warrior Committee. We had our first short meeting last week. The girls brainstormed how they could make a difference in our school. We look forward to sharing some of our ideas over the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!!!!!!

Lámh

Ms. Rellis has being demonstrating a selection of Lámh signs to the school during assembly.
We have been learning how to sign words associated with home and houses, which is our
Oral Language theme for November. The pupils have also learned how to sign the days of
the week.

Winter Weather

As we progress through the season of Winter, and temperatures drop, please ensure your
daughters are well-prepared for the chilly weather. Please make certain your daughter
comes to school with a warm coat, hat, scarf and gloves, Your support in this is greatly
appreciated, as it helps us maintain the well-being of all our pupils during these colder days.

Mission Week – Thank you

Thanks to everyone for their support throughout Mission Week which was a great success., €1128 was raised which is a huge amount of money! Well done everyone! The money raised will go to Opportunity Knox providing access to primary and secondary education to families in Tiira Village, Uganda. http://opportunityknox.ie/