The School Bell
The Zen Den
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
Today was a very exciting day for our school. ‘The Zen Den’, which is our brand-new quiet space was officially opened by Mrs. Shanahan and Mark Murphy our Caretaker. They had help from a pod of Sixth Class pupils who were delighted to be the first visitors to the Zen Den. Sixth Class also chose the name for the new space.
Mrs. Shanahan has been working hard over the last few months planning and organising ‘The Zen Den’ and she had great help from Mark who did a fantastic job renovating what was originally a storage space. The space is a quiet, calm area that appeals to all the senses, with projections, a bubble tube, lots of different fabrics and textures, sounds of the sea and the scent of lavender.
The funding for the space came from an anonymous donation. The donor asked that the money would be used for the benefit of all the children and judging by the reaction of the girls, it has been well spent!
A huge ‘Thank You’ to Mrs. Shanahan, Mark and the kind donor. We are looking forward to making great use of The Zen Den in the weeks and years to come. I might even spend a bit of time there myself😊.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Important Note
School will close early for all pupils from First to Sixth Class on Wednesday 16th June, to facilitate a staff meeting. Pick ups will be at the following times:
Junior and Senior Infants @ 1.45p.m.
First and Second Classes @ 1.55p.m.
All other classes @ 2p.m.
Parents’ Association News
As you are aware, because of Covid and school closures, we have not had much opportunity to raise funds for the school. Therefore, we are holding a raffle before the school term ends. The tickets will be sent home on Monday June 14th please return them before Friday 18th. The main prize will be a €50 voucher. As always, we really appreciate your support.
End of Year Mass
We are hoping that on June 22nd at 11.30a.m., Fr. Kieran will be able to celebrate a special End of Year Mass at which Sixth Class will receive a blessing as they move on from our school.
The girls in Sixth Class will go to the Parish Church for the Mass and all the other staff and classes will join in via the Parish Webcam. We encourage and welcome as many parents and grandparents as possible to join us vis the webcam.
Book Rental Reminder
The Book Rental Scheme is up and running again this year if you wish to participate in the scheme your daughter’s contract and fee of €20 which is fantastic value should be paid before the end of term to allow us to calculate the cost of the books which need to be purchased/replaced, and to order them in time so that they will be ready when the girls return to school.
We would ask you to pay the Book Rental Fee by contactless payment. Please send an email to the office secretary.ferrybankgns@gmail.com requesting a link for payment. Receipts will be given.
Good Luck
During the month of June, we will pray during our Friday Assemblies for all the students who are sitting their Leaving Cert. exams at the moment.
School Bell
We will have one more ‘School Bell’ before the school year ends on Friday June 25th so keep an eye for it on the website.
School Calendar for 2021-2022
Dear Mums, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
The school calendar for 2021-2022 has been agreed between St. Mary’s BNS and Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS. We are publishing the calendar now so that it will help you to plan family time and holidays during school closures. This will be especially important for the children given the length of time that schools had to close over the last two years.
Please keep a copy of the calendar for your own reference. Closures are also listed on the Text-a-Parent calendar so if you have not already done so, and you’d like to have the calendar to hand, please download the free App from https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app. The calendar is under the Events tab.
Term 1 begins Wednesday 1st September 2021
Hallowe’en Break Closed Monday 25th – Friday 29th October inclusive
School re-opens Monday 1st November
Christmas Closed Thursday 23rd December to Wednesday 5th January 2022 inclusive
Term 2 begins Thursday 6th January 2022
Mid-Term Break Thursday 24th and Friday 25th February
St. Patrick’s Day Closed Thursday 17th March
Easter Break Closed Monday 11th April to Friday 22nd April inclusive
Term 3 begins Monday 25th April
May Bank Holiday Closed Monday 2nd May
June Bank Holiday Closed Monday 6th June
School year ends on Friday 24th June 2022
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly –Principal
End of Year Reports
In the week beginning June 13th, you will receive an End of Year Report Card for your child through the post. Please let the School Office know if you have changed your address recently. If you do not receive a Report Card by Wednesday 15th June, please contact the School Office immediately on 051-832984.
You may have heard the girls talking about tests that they have doing over the past couple of weeks. Every year (except for last year) the Department of Education asks schools to do what are called Standardised Reading and Mathematics tests with children from 1st to 6th Class. As teachers we know how your children learn, and how hard they work, so we understand that the Standardised Tests are just one little measure of how your child is getting on at school. It is most important this year, that no child, parent or teacher is in any way upset or disappointed by Standardised Test scores. Since March 2020, schools were closed for 7 school months out of 14 so it is just not realistic to expect all the children to score in the usual way on these tests. I really like this image that was shared by one of our staff members and I hope that we will all keep it in mind when school reports are issued. Some things are much more important that test results.
Book Rental Scheme
Every child from Senior Infants to Fifth Class received information last week about our Book Rental Scheme.
We would ask you to pay the Book Rental Charge by contactless payment. Thank you to all who have already done so if you would like to participate in the scheme, please send an email to the office secretary.ferrybankgns@gmail.com requesting a link for payment. Receipts will be given.
Well Kids
The Well Kids Club will take place for boys and girls aged 4-6 years old beginning on Saturday May 29th from 10am to 11am each week in Ferrybank GAA Club, children will learn Hurling, Gaelic Football, Movement Activities and Fun Games. Come along and join in, all are welcome.
Have a Céilí in the Kitchen from Cruinniú na nÓg
Céilí in the Kitchen is back again this year. On the 12th of June, we’re calling on children to gather their families together and have a Céilí in the Kitchen. Anyone can have a Céilí in the Kitchen no matter where you are in the world. Whether you live in Ireland or elsewhere, the city or the countryside, all you need is a kitchen, your family and get ready to have lots of fun!
But what is a Céilí in the Kitchen? Years ago, family, friends and neighbours would visit your house and all gather in the kitchen. They would bring their instruments, dancing shoes and some treats to share with everyone. Gathering around the fire they would tell their news to each other, play music, sing songs, share stories and poems and do lots of dancing, young and old all together. This would go on until the early hours of the morning and was always great fun. That’s how everyone learned the songs, steps, stories and tunes. They were passed on from one generation to the next at the céilí in the kitchen.
In the meantime, we’ll be preparing you with all the tips and tricks to need for your party piece at your own céilí. Join us live at 5pm Monday – Thursday for the next few weeks where we’ll be teaching you Irish dance steps, songs, drumming, storytelling techniques, lilting, rapping, Irish folklore and traditions and all round Céilí craic! You won’t want to miss it. The classes are 20 – 30 minutes long but don’t worry if you can’t make the live daily class. We’ll be recording them and uploading to www.aircdamhsa.com/ceili for you to watch back in your own time.
Join Céilí Club at 5pm https://us05web.zoom.us/j/87271143632?pwd=TjZlWm0zT2FBYllraFU0bmIwYXhVUT09
Meeting ID: 872 7114 3632
Passcode: ceiliclub
Mondays – Dance & Irish Traditions with Edwina Guckian
Tuesdays – Storytelling & Folklore with Clare Murphy
Wednesdays – Songs & Folklore with Cathy Jordan
Thursdays – Drumming & Céilí craic with Peter Crann
Wellbeing and Friendship Week
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
This has been a special week at Our Lady of Good Counsel. We have been thinking and talking a lot about how to stay well both physically and mentally, and about what it means to be a friend. If you go to the Latest News tab on the website, you will learn about the theme for each day of the week, and there are even some special messages there for Mams and Dads.
I want to say a very big ‘Thank You’ to Mrs. Shanahan and her team – Mrs. Foley, Miss Hall and Miss Power – who have worked hard to make the week so enjoyable for all of us. Mrs. Shanahan’s morning messages on the school intercom system have been a positive start to each day. 😊
Stay safe and take care of yourselves while you are taking care of others.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Eid Mubarak
We wish a happy and holy day to all the families in our school community who are celebrating Eid today. Eid comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. We are full of admiration for the girls in our school who have been fasting during Ramadan and we hope that you enjoy celebrating with your families today. Check out this little video where four children explain Ramadan and Eid in their own words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OF4HEGNBRQ Eid Mubarak!
Slán and Welcome Back
Miss Power will finish her time with us on Friday (but we may see her again very soon.). We are so grateful to Miss Power for all the wonderful work she has done with the girls and for the enthusiasm and cheerfulness she has brought to our staffroom. We wish Miss Power the very best of luck in the future. On Monday, we will welcome Miss Rellis back to school after her Maternity Leave.
Miss Maher, who has been working with Mr. Dooley and Second Class will finish her placement tomorrow. I know that the girls have enjoyed the lovely work she has done with them, so thank you Miss Maher and good luck.
Book Rental
It is the time of year again when we need to make plans for our Book Rental Scheme. Next week, you will receive a letter with all the information you will need. We will continue with our electronic payments and again, all the details will be sent to you next week.
Wildcats at Good Counsel
Our Fifth Class girls are enjoying practising their basketball skills with Mrs. Burke. Two of the girls have started training with the Waterford Wildcats and we hope that some of the other girls will think about joining also.
Our basketball coach is Jas. She is a professional basketball player from America. Basketball was great fun. I hope to see some other girls from the school next week because I know they will love it! By Summer – Fifth Class
We learned new skills at basketball. We are practising the skills at home. We are also practising the skills that we learned, during our P.E. class. Summer and I were showing our class how to do some more of the skills that we learned. By Lily – Fifth Class
Second Class
Second Class has had a busy week as they have been attending the virtual STEAM Art Collaboration Exhibition. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths. Over the past year the Discover Primary Science Team has worked with five artists and five Research Centres to create five unique artworks based on cutting edge research. The research was on topics as diverse as PCR Testing and mapping of the seabed. Second Class joined other schools around the country to hear from the scientists and the artists who were involved. IF you would like to learn more about the artworks, go to https://www.sfi.ie/engagement/art-collaboration/
Yesterday we were learning about Science and Art and we drew jellyfish. Today we saw a machine that mapped the seabed. We also learned about lasers and we drew the ocean. It was good fun. By Mia and Dorka – Second Class
Condolences
Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Dooley and his family on the death of Mr. Dooley’s Nanna Maura on Tuesday last. Go ndéana Dia trócaire uirthi.
Month of May
Our May Altar is looking beautiful thanks to the gorgeous flowers that the girls have been bringing in. Next week, it is the turn of First Class and Fifth Class, and the following week, Second Class and Sixth Class will take on honouring Our Lady.
Every Wednesday during the month of May, Miss Kelly leads us in praying the Angelus together over the intercom system.
Parents’ Association News
The Parents’ Association will be holding a raffle in June to raise funds for two Tablets (more information on this to follow). Thank you for your continuing support and stay safe.
The Parents’ Association
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.
Term 3 – Welcome Back
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
It is great to be back at school for Term 3. This time last year, we had to stay at home during the first lockdown. With your help, we can make it safely to the end of this school year and enjoy most of the things that we usually do in the final term. We might have to do them differently, but if we have learned anything during Covid-19, it is how to find creative ways to get things done.
Schools may be open, but we still need to be careful, so your support is very important. The girls are being absolute superheroes while they are at school – keeping their hands clean, keeping their distance, and remembering how to sneeze or cough into their elbows.
Mams and Dads, we need you to be superheroes too. Please stay in your cars at drop off or pick up times, keep your distance if you are walking and please, please, please remember to wear a mask.
We have come so far and done so well, so let’s stick together to make it safely to the end of June.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Thank You
Thank you very much for sending back the girls’ ‘Return to School Forms’. We had a great response through the link on the Text-a-Parent App. We will continue to use the App after longer breaks from school so if you have not already downloaded it, please do so for your own convenience. It is free and is available for both Android and Apple devices. https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app
Ramadan Mubarak!
At this time, some of our families are celebrating the Holy Month of Ramadan which began earlier this week. Ramadan is a holy month celebrated by Muslims around the world.
It is believed to be the month in which the Qur’an (the religious text of Islam) was revealed.
Ramadan takes place in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar when the first sliver of the crescent moon appears. The Islamic calendar is lunar, not solar, so Ramadan begins on a different date each year.
Ramadan is a quiet, reflective time of worship, prayer, helping others, and spending time with loved ones.
Many Muslims fast during Ramadan, not eating or drinking anything between sunrise and sunset. Fasting reminds Muslims to appreciate their blessings and to help those in need. Families get up for an early meal called suhoor before the sun rises and the fast is broken with an evening meal after the sun sets called iftar.
Sadaqah, or good deeds, are important parts of the holy month. Donating food, clothing, money, and time, picking up trash, helping the elderly, or planting a tree are just some of the ways to show kindness and generosity.
We wish all our families who are celebrating this month a blessed and holy Ramadan – Ramadan Mubarak!
A Busy School
Now that our lovely new classroom is finished, we are moving on to other projects inside the building. Over the Easter break, the photocopying room was cleaned out, and Mark put in some new shelving. The storage space under the stairs is currently being cleared and you will have to wait and see what great plans we have for that space! Fifth Class has moved upstairs. Their new room was deep cleaned and sanitised over Easter and they are delighted with their new home. Now that Fifth Class has moved, we can start planning on refurbishing the room that is fondly known as ‘The Kitchen’. It will become the staff room and the current staff room will become a new Learning Support Room.
It is always wonderful to be able to upgrade and improve the facilities in the school for the children and we are fortunate to have the support and encouragement of our Board of Management in making Our Lady of Good Counsel the best it can be.
Run around Ireland
We are currently taking part in the Run Around Ireland initiative. The girls walk or run to visit the landmark sights of Ireland. These places are displayed on the landing. On the last count, the girls had clocked up 1090 km and had landed at the Cliffs of Moher. Keep up the great work!
Hi- Vis Jackets
Can I please remind everyone to wear their hi-vis jackets coming to school. The roads have become very busy over the last few weeks and we want to keep all our lovely girls safe. There will be a competition for the best class in the next few weeks.
Collaborative Art
Before Easter, each child in the school decorated a feather with words and art to describe her feelings about lockdowns and returning to school. All the feathers have been put together now and we have a beautiful piece of collaborative artwork displayed on the Landing. Well done girls – your thoughts and reflections can teach all of us how to be resilient and hopeful.
He will cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge.
Psalm 91
Our Lady of Good Counsel
April 26th is a very special day for our school. It is the feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Our Lady of Good Counsel watches over our school and she also watches over all of us.
The picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel shows Mary holding her son, the baby Jesus. The story of the original painting of Our Lady of Good Counsel goes back to the 15th Century.
At that time, the people in a small town near Rome were building a new church. On April 25th, everyone gathered in the town square to celebrate the Feast of Saint Mark. At about four o’clock in the afternoon, in the middle of all the celebrations, the crowd saw a cloud coming down over the unfinished church. The bells of the church began to ring by themselves and beautiful music was heard. The crowd fell silent, and the cloud parted. There was the picture of Our Lady. The painting came to rest in the church and if you visit the town of Genazzano, Italy you can still see it there today.
The painting was named after the church and became known as Our Lady of Good Counsel.
A Mhuire na Dea-Chomhairle, guí orainn.
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig
Together Again!
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
Everyone at our school is delighted to be back together again. Since Monday last, all the children and staff are back in the building.
We are taking the time to go over all the important messages about staying safe:
- Keeping our distance – we are using our robot or superhero arms to help us.
- Sneezing/coughing into our elbows
- Sanitizing/washing our hands regularly.
Mams and Dads, you can help too.
- Please stay in your car at drop off/pick up times.
- Wear a face covering.
- If you need to speak with a teacher, please call the school office on 051 -832984.
Let’s continue to keep each other safe until the Easter break.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Important Note
Covid-19 Guidelines were updated by the Department of Education before schools re-opened. From now on, if any of the girls have to stay at home from school for any reason, they must provide a Return to School From when they come back. The form can be downloaded from the Latest News tab on www.goodcounselgns.ie. Just scroll down the page to find the form. You do not need to print the page. It is a Word document so all you need to do is to download it to your device, fill it in and send it by email to your child’s teacher.
We very much appreciate your support with this measure. It is all about keeping everyone safe and keeping the school open.
St. Patrick’s Day
Wasn’t it a beautiful day yesterday? We hope that you were able to enjoy the sunshine and that you could join in some of the great online activities. Waterford has gone ‘green’, and it is looking amazing!
Not to be outdone, the girls and the staff in Good Counsel were proud to wear their national colours to school on Tuesday. Mr. Dooley’s Second Class led a special virtual Assembly to mark St. Patrick’s Day, we had Irish songs and music playing at breaktime and Senior Infants even had their very own socially distanced parade!
Surprizes!
There were some surprizes for Fifth and Sixth Classes this week. After Easter, Fifth Class will move to a classroom upstairs and Sixth Class will move into the new classroom extension for their final term in Primary school. We are glad that they will have the opportunity to enjoy the space before they leave us.
Third Class also had a surprize in their classroom. A beautiful new smartboard has been installed and they are enjoying all the wonderful features of the new technology. A huge ‘Thank You’ to Mrs. Ryan who looks after our ICTs for her hard work in organising the new board. We hope to replace all our existing projectors with smartboards over time.
Easter Holidays
School will close for the Easter holidays on Friday 26th March. We will contact you next week with pick up times for the girls.
Text-a-Parent
Please make sure that you contact details are up to date. The Text-a-parent App gives you access to the school calendar so if you haven’t already downloaded it, you might do so in the next week or so to help you to keep up to date. https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app It is free and is available for both Android and Apple devices.
Welcome Back Again!
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
Monday was a beautiful spring day and we were so happy to re-open the school for Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First Class and Second Class. The girls’ smiles and enthusiasm made our day and I’m sure Mams and Dads were pretty happy too!
Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard with Home Learning – parents, children and staff. It is not easy to keep going but you have done a great job. To those of you who are still at home, stay strong and keep going, and we hope to see you back at school very soon. We will contact you by text and through the website when we have a definite date for 3rd to 6th Classes to return to school.
Now that the school is open for half of our girls, we have to work together to keep it open. Here is some advice from Dr. Ronan Glynn, Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Glynn’s letter to parents is available to read on the Latest News tab of www.goodcounselgns.ie.
Please avoid congregating at school gates over the coming weeks. Please do not have play dates or organise after school activities which involve household mixing. And please continue to work from home unless essential.
Last Monday, it was 1 year since the first Covid-19 case was diagnosed in Ireland. We have stuck together and made it this far. Let’s keep going and stay hopeful for better times ahead.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Good Counsel Engineers
On Monday the 1st of March, 2nd class took part in the South East Engineering Festival and had great fun with Shanda McCloskey talking about Engineering, creativity & problem-solving. She spoke about how she created her books ‘T-Bone the Drone’ and Doll-E 1.0’. She also showed us how to draw T-Bone the Drone. She challenged us to design our own drones. We really enjoyed our talk from Shanda.
Credit Union Quiz
Our school is well represented every year at the Credit Union Quiz. This year, the quiz has gone online and anyone can take part! It is open to all ages, from parents to children, grannies to grandads. Why not have some family fun and test your knowledge today!
Seachtain na Gaeilge 1- 17 Márta
Tá Seachtain na Gaeilge ar siúl anois. Déan iarracht ár dteanga álainn a labhairt.
Make an effort to use the Gaeilge you have over the next couple of weeks. Here are some links that you might like to check out.
Bain triail as. Give it a go.
Welcome
A very warm welcome to Miss Clodagh O’Sullivan who will be teaching Junior Infants for the next few weeks. We hope that you will enjoy your time with us.
Some Important Dates
Before our next Newsletter, we will celebrate two special dates – Mothers’ Day on Sunday March 14th and St. Patrick’s Day on Wednesday March 17th. Keep an eye on the website for more news about how we will celebrate our National Saint’s Day.
Mothers’ Day or Mothering Sunday is always celebrated on the fourth Sunday of Lent. It is Laetare Sunday. Laetare is a Latin word meaning ‘To rejoice’. What an appropriate day on which to celebrate our Mams and Grans. So, for all the special ‘Mammies’ in our lives, here is a little reflection from Mother Teresa of Calcutta:
‘You will teach them to fly,
But they will not fly your flight.
You will teach them to dream,
But they will not dream your dream.
You will teach them to live,
But they will not live your life.
Nevertheless, in every flight,
In every life, in every dream,
The print of the way you taught
Will always remain.’
World Book Day
Today, our school is full of Matildas, unicorns, princesses, Hermiones, bunnies, witches, Rapunzels, Cinderellas , Red Riding Hoods, Mary Poppins and lots of other characters from the books that we love. Well done to everyone on the great effort with costumes. Miss Trunchbull is very impressed!
Each of the girls will receive a World Book Day token today. Check out the great audio stories and activities on https://www.worldbookday.com/
Matilda and Miss Trunchbull (Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda’)
Waterford Sports Partnership
Waterford Sports Partnership has asked us to share these great free activities with you. It can be hard to keep active during lockdown so maybe with the finer weather, you might like to get out and about a bit more (within 5 kms. of your home of course😊)
https://www.waterfordsportspartnership.ie/active-families/
https://www.waterfordsportspartnership.ie/orienteering/
https://www.waterfordsportspartnership.ie/keep-well-campaign-keep-active/
