Latest News
Primary School Survey Results
Dear Community Stakeholder,
We are writing to update you on the Department of Education and Youth’s Primary School Survey.
This survey was carried out to understand the types of schools that parents and guardians prefer. Over 200,000 parents and guardians took part nationwide.
We are now sharing our school’s survey results with you for your information and review. We would welcome any feedback you may have on the results.
About the survey
The attached survey results show:
- The preferences of parents/guardians of children currently enrolled in our school; and
- The preferences of parents/guardians of children not yet enrolled who indicated an intention to enrol in our school.
The results outline the preferences of parents/guardians for:
- Co-educational or single-sex provision
- Patronage/ethos
- Language of instruction (English or Irish)
How to understand the survey results
We have attached guidance to help you understand the survey results. In simple terms:
The percentages in green and gold show what the parents/guardians who took part in the survey prefer.
The red line shows the margin of error. This gives a range around the survey result, showing how much the result might be higher or lower if all parents/guardians of children in our school had responded.
For example:
- if the whole red line is above 50%, this means it is likely that more than half of all parents/guardians prefer that option, even allowing for the margin of error.
What happens next
The Board of Management will now review the survey results and think about what they mean for our school.
As part of this, we want to make sure that parents/guardians, students, staff, and the wider school community can share their views with us. Once we have gathered all feedback, we will consider it carefully and then let you know about any decisions we make and next steps.
For example, if there is a clear preference for a change, the school may submit an ‘expression of interest form’ for change to the department. If this happens, the department will provide us with a dedicated contact person and other supports, to help our school in this process.
Next steps
Please read the attached survey results for our school and guidance document.
You can send any comments or feedback to us at secretary.ferrybankgns@gmail.com by Friday October 23rd.
Thank you for your support with this survey and we look forward to receiving your feedback.
Yours sincerely,
Gerard Duggan
Chairperson BOM
Safer Internet Competition Winners
The Safer Internet Competition winners were:
Sarah – Junior Infants
Pausha – Senior Infants
Evania – First Class
Emmie – 2nd Class
Elizabeth – 3rd Class
Serah Elin – 4th Class
Luz – 5th Class
Jiya – 6th Class
Well done to the winners, and everyone that entered.
Safer Internet Day takes place on Tuesday February 10th 2026.
On this date we will be joining people in more than 150 countries around the world in celebrating
Safer Internet Day 2026. The celebrations will be based around the theme: AI Aware: Safe, Smart
and in Control.
Safer Internet Day allows us the opportunity to reflect on the role of digital technology in our lives
and our understanding of how they work, their implications and opportunities.
The dedicated Safer Internet Day Hub at www.webwise.ie/saferinternetday/ provides information,
resources and ideas.
In our school we have class activities, lessons and competitions to celebrate Safer Internet Day. We
also have videos addressing online safety and digital media literacy topics including cyberbullying,
image sharing, privacy, and online wellbeing.
Please support Safer Internet Day by highlighting it at home with your child. Check
www.webwise.ie/parents/ for more information.
Best wishes
Mrs Ryan
Maths Week – October 2025
Maths Week Ireland starts on the 11th October – 19th October 2025.
Maths Week Ireland is an all-island initiative promoting positive attitudes towards maths and highlighting the importance of maths in our lives since 2006. This annual festival is a collaborative partnership of organisations including all the universities, institutes of technology, professional bodies, visitor centres and more.
Maths Week is an important way to help learners, of all ages, enjoy maths and to highlight the creativity of the subject.” Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin,
In our school this week we took part in lots of activities:
- Money Sense Games
- Maths Trails
- Online activities and games
- In school activities
- Daily shows on MathsweekTV
- Maths Eyes Competition
- Quizzes and Challenges
- Target Boards
- Puzzles in the Park
Our message to parents and children is that everyone can do well at maths. Yes, it is a challenging subject and can be difficult but, like any challenge, it can be overcome with effort and will bring rewards.
Information/Resources for parents can be found at https://www.mathsweek.ie/2025/parents/.ie
On Friday, 5th class set out a maths trail for the Junior Infants outside of our school. The Juniors were brought around by the 5th class girls and encouraged to use their ‘Maths Eyes’ to solve some of the questions on the trail! Please see some pictures below.
March Update
Safer Internet Poster Competition
The results are in! Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who made a poster. There were some fantastic entries again this year.
Leah -Junior Infants
Úna – Senior Infants
Vanessa – 1st Class
Mariia – 2nd Class
Sonia – 3rd Class
Mariia – 2nd Class
Sonia – 3rd Class
Zoey – 4th Class
Diana – 5th Class
Kristyna – 6th Class
World Book Day
Next Thursday March 6th is World Book Day, we will be celebrating it here at the school with lots of activities, storytelling and dressing up. The girls can dress up as a character from a book but please do not go to any expense.
By using their imagination and being inventive the girls can wear something warm and comfortable that they already have at home. We look forward to seeing all the wonderful creations and ideas as always.
Collection
We are making a slight change to the collection procedure for 1st – 6th class at the end of the school day. This is to ensure that everyone is as safe as possible when leaving school and to avoid congestion on the footpath outside the school at busy times.
From Monday coming March 3rd, at collection time (2.45pm/2.50pm depending on the class), girls who are waiting to be collected will stay inside the fence on the playground.
If girls are walking home themselves, they can leave as they usually do.
If girls are being collected, they will wait on the playground with their class/teacher. When they see who is collecting them, they will inform the teacher who will give them permission to leave safely.
Hot Meals
Our Wellbeing Warriors have been working as hard as ever in making the school a better place for everyone. At a recent meeting, they suggested that ketchup is made available to classes on Friday only. Having considered their proposal and how it will work, we will introduce ketchup on Fridays which will start sometime during March. If you would rather your daughter not have ketchup with her hot meal on Friday, please message the class teacher/Tracey on Aladdin.
Safer Internet Day
Safer Internet Day takes place on Tuesday February 11 th 2025.
On this date we will be joining people in more than 150 countries around the world in celebrating
Safer Internet Day 2025.
Safer Internet Day allows us the opportunity to reflect on the role of digital technology in our lives
and our understanding of how they work, their implications and opportunities.
The dedicated Safer Internet Day Hub at www.webwise.ie/saferinternetday/ provides information,
resources and ideas.
In our school we have class activities, lessons and competitions to celebrate Safer Internet Day. We
also have videos addressing online safety and digital media literacy topics including cyberbullying,
image sharing, privacy, and online wellbeing.
Please support Safer Internet Day by highlighting it at home with your child. Check
www.webwise.ie/parents for more information.
Best wishes
Mrs Ryan
Tesco Community Fund
We were delighted to hear this week that Tesco will be supporting our school as part of the Tesco Community Fund. The Tesco Community Fund is a campaign which raises money for local schools, groups, clubs etc.
From Monday coming, February 26th over 12 weeks, customers shopping in Tesco will receive blue tokens which can be used to vote in store for the causes in the community fund. We kindly ask that if you are shopping in Tesco, please support our school as all of the money raised will go towards the girls here and their education. Please encourage your family members, friends etc.. to support our cause using the blue tokens. You will find more information about the Tesco Community Fund here https://tescoireland.ie/sustainability/places/community-fund/community-fund-video-content-series/
Thanking you all for your continued support!!
Measles Update from the HSE
Please find an update regarding measles and vaccinations from the HSE below.
