The School Bell
“The School Bell” June 14th 2018
Time to Say ‘Thank You and Farewell’.
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
Our wonderful Deputy Principal, Ms. Geraldine Ryan, has announced that she will be retiring at the end of this school year. Ms. Ryan has been a staff member here for 27 years, and during that time she has earned the respect and admiration of countless numbers of children and their families.
On a personal note, Ms. Ryan has been an amazing colleague and friend to me, and I know that I speak for all the staff when I say that we will greatly miss her support, her expertise and her wisdom.
I’m sure you will join me in congratulating Ms. Ryan on her many achievements and her great work over the course of her career. We wish her a long, happy and healthy retirement, enjoying time with family and friends. Thank you Ms. Ryan for everything you have given to the Good Counsel school community. We will miss you.
Yours sincerely,
________________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
End of Year Reports
End of Year Reports will be sent out by post in the next day or so. If, for any reason, it has not arrived by Wednesday next, June 20th, please telephone the school office as quickly as possible on 051 832984.
Summer Stars
The ‘Summer Stars’ Reading Challenge will run in Ferrybank Library during July and August. The Challenge encourages children to read during the summer holidays and they can pick up stickers and rewards for doing so. So long as the books are borrowed from Ferrybank Library, the children may read whatever they like – either fact or fiction.
Why not register at Ferrybank Library anytime from June 19th onwards and then you can join in this fun and easy way to pass the time during the summer holidays?
Anyone who takes part will receive a certificate and a medal. You will also be invited to a special celebration show in the Springhill Court Hotel, Kilkenny at the end of September
2018-2019
The new school year will begin on 3rd September 2018 and classes have been allocated as follows:
Junior Infants Ms. Carmel Fogarty
Senior Infants Mrs. Feana Foley
First Class Miss Ann Cunniffe
Second Class Mr. Cathal Dooley
Third Class To be appointed
Fourth Class Mrs. Mary Ryan
Fifth Class To be appointed
Sixth Class Mrs. Maeve Power
Special Education Team
Ms. Bernadette Finucane
Mrs. Aisling Shanahan
Miss Monica Kelly
Miss Susan Rellis
The girls will have the opportunity to meet their new teachers before the summer holidays, and they will receive their booklists for next year at that time.
Our school deals with change every year – some pupils leave us, some join us – and so school life goes on. This year, we will have a few extra changes to add into the mix.
Mrs. Emma O’Neill, who has been a wonderful addition to our school as a substitute teacher over the last couple of years, has been offered a permanent position in another school, so unfortunately she will not be returning to us in September. We thank Mrs. O’Neill for all her hard work and congratulate her on her well-deserved success. We would also like to congratulate Mr. Cathal Dooley who has been appointed as a permanent member of staff in our school.
Miss Susan Rellis will return to the staff after a number of years working abroad and Miss Eilís Walsh will take a Career Break.
As always, the team here looks forward to your support and to working with you during the 2018-2019 school year.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Ms. Detta Cahill, Principal of Abbey Community College, who is retiring at the end of August. We wish her well.
Thank You
Sincere thanks to everyone who came along to support the girls during their Dancing Display on Tuesday last. We hope you enjoyed it. We would also like to thank Dawn and Denise for the wonderful work they have done with the girls during the last year.
Please Note
Our new Junior Infants will visit the school next Wednesday afternoon, to meet their teacher and some other members of staff. To facilitate the visit, Miss Walsh’s Junior Infants will go home at 12.30p.m. on that date.
Head Lice
The warm weather seems to have brought on a spate of head lice. Please check your child’s hair regularly and treat it as necessary. It is important that each child’s hair is tied up neatly to help prevent the spread of head lice.
World Meeting of Families Icon
This morning, we went to Mass in the Parish Church. The Icon for the World Meeting of Families was there. Fr. Dempsey explained the meaning of the Icon. We learned that an icon is written, not painted. This Icon was written by a man from Romania and by an order of Redemptoristine Sisters in Dublin. We prayed for all of our families and for families everywhere.
End of Year Mass
The school’s End of Year Mass will take place in the Parish Church on Tuesday 26th June at 11.30a.m. The girls who are leaving us will receive a special blessing and we would be delighted to see lots of Mams, Dads and family members there.
Last Day of School
The school will close for the summer holidays at 12.30p.m. on June 29th.
Chick News
Our chicks will return to Nore Valley Farm tomorrow. All the girls will receive a free pass to visit the farm during the summer holidays.
The School Bell May 24th 2018
School Calendar 2018-2019
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
The calendar for the 2018-2019 school year has been agreed with St. Mary’s BNS. We publish the calendar at this time so that you can plan family time around school time. Remember – every school day counts!
Term 1 begins Monday 3rd September 2018
Hallowe’en Break Closed Monday 29th October – Friday 2nd November inclusive
School re-opens Monday 5th November
Christmas Closed Monday 24th December to Friday 4th January 2019 inclusive
Term 2 begins Monday 7th January 2019
Mid-Term Break Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd February
St. Patrick’s Day Closed Monday 18th March (Public Holiday)
Easter Break Closed Monday 15th April to Friday 26th April inclusive
Term 3 begins Monday 29th April
May Bank Holiday Closed Monday 6th May
June Bank Holiday Closed Friday 31st May to Tuesday 4th June inclusive.
Reopening Wednesday 5th June
School year ends on Friday 28th June 2019
Yours sincerely,
_______________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
First Holy Communion
We would like to express our thanks to all of you and to your families for your co-operation in ensuring that the First Communion ceremony on Saturday 12th May was such a pleasant and enjoyable experience for everyone.
As always the girls and boys did themselves and their families proud. We congratulate each and every one of them and we hope that you all had a wonderful day.
School Tours
The girls and their teachers are looking forward to their school tours which will be taking place over the next few weeks. If you haven’t already done so, please forward the money for the tour to your child’s teacher on/before the tour date.
29th May Third and Fourth Classes Castlecomer Discovery Park
11th June Fifth and Sixth Classes Castlecomer Discovery Park and Dunmore Cave
14th June Second Class Woodfield House
15th June Junior and Senior Infs. Copper Coast Farm
21st June First Class Ardmore Open Farm
St. Dominic’s Credit Union
The Credit Union will visit the school next Wednesday so get those piggy banks ready girls.
Chick News
Brian, from Nore Valley Farm will come to the school today to ‘candle’ the seven eggs in the incubator. This means that he will check to see if a chick is growing in each egg. Brian will use a bright light for the candling process. Before electric light and torches were invented, people used lighted candles to check the eggs and this is where the term ‘candling’ comes from. We look forward to finding out how many of the eggs have chicks growing in them.
Next week, we will have a draw to name the chicks. We are looking after the eggs very carefully. We have to make sure that they are kept at 37.5° Celsius, that the air in the incubator is humid enough for the eggs and that they are turning over in the incubator.
When the chicks hatch out, we will take them out of the incubator and put them in a brood box.
A Journalist in the Making?
Congratulations to Annabelle (6th Class) who wrote a wonderful piece in response to an article published in the Sunday Independent on April 29th. You can read Annabelle’s piece on the Active School Committee section of our website www.goodcounselgns.com
Congratulations
We wish a very happy day to our caretaker Mark, who will celebrate a special birthday in the coming weeks.
Reminder
The school is closed tomorrow because it will be used as a Polling Station for the Referendum.
Next week, the school will be closed on Thursday 31st May, Friday 1st June and on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th June. We will re-open on Wednesday 6th June.
Date for Your Diary
Weather permitting, we will have our annual Dancing Display on Tuesday 12th June. We will send you a timetable in advance.
GDPR
No doubt you will have heard lots of news stories about GDPR – the General Data Protection Regulation – which comes into effect tomorrow, May 25th. This is a piece of European legislation and it is to do with every person’s rights and responsibilities around data protection. The Board of Management has updated its Data Protection Policy and it will shortly be published on the school’s website.
Book Rental
We run a Book Rental scheme for all the girls from First Class to Sixth Class. The girls have received the information and a Book Rental contract. If your child is taking part in the Book rental scheme for September 2018, please return the contract and money to the school on/before June 15th. Unfortunately, this year, we will not be able to order books for your child until the Book Rental money has been paid to the school. Please feel free to pay the Book Rental fee in smaller amounts between now and June 15th.
The School Bell May 10th 2018
Digital Learning
Dear Dads, Mums, Pupils and Staff,
The girls in Sixth Class have been ‘road-testing’ our lovely new tablets. When I visited their classroom last Friday and they were working hard on researching projects on the theme of World War 11. There are some great photos on the Sixth Class Blog on the school website, so why not have a look. www.goodcounselgns.com
We have recently bought twelve tablets for use in our classrooms. They are a tool for learning and will be used in different ways in different class settings. For example, the younger girls may use some educational apps for Maths or Literacy, while the older girls may do some word processing or research. The tablets are stored on special trolleys, where they re-charge every night. Each trolley has a Wi-Fi capability, so we can create a little Wi-Fi bubble in a classroom whenever the girls need access to something on the internet.
We’re delighted with our new technology and a special word of thanks goes to our Digital Learning Team, led by our Deputy Principal Ms. Ryan. Ms. Ryan, Mrs. Ryan and Mrs. O’Neill, have worked hard on preparing an eLearning Plan for the school, and on sourcing and buying the hardware and we are all grateful to them.
Yours sincerely,
___________________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Printers/DVD Players
We have, three printers, two DVD players and two wireless keyboards that are no longer needed, if anyone would like them you are welcome to call to the school and pick them up.
Great Success
Active School Week was a great success. It was wonderful to hear that so many of the girls have joined the local soccer and Camogie clubs after learning about them during Active School week. Well done girls and remember to thank you Mams and Dads for bringing you along to training. With your help, we also managed to ‘walk’ all the way to Prague, which is a total of 1,882kms. We can achieve amazing things by working together.
There was some more good news this week for the girls in Rang IV. During Bike Week, Waterford City and County Council held a competition for a grant to organise a cycling event. Because the girls in Fourth Class took part so well in their Safe Cycling Course, we decided to make an application, and we were successful! We have received €250 which we hope to use to bring Fourth Class on a little cycling trip on the Waterford Greenway. So, keep practising your cycling at home girls.
Would You Like to Play Golf?
Waterford Golf Club is having a Junior Open Evening on Tuesday 15th May from 5-6.30p.m. It is open to everyone so why not go along and give it a try!
First Holy Communion
We send out very best wishes to the girls in Second Class who will receive their First Holy Communion on Saturday morning. They have been preparing well with their teacher, Ms. Finucane and they are excited and ready for the big day.
Visitor Tomorrow morning, we will welcome Sr. Maria Comerford to the school. Sr. Maria is the Diocesan advisor for schools and we are delighted that she is coming to see us again. Sr. Maria will visit some of the classrooms and talk to the teachers and the children about they are getting on with the Grow in Love programme.
Green Flag News
On May 22nd, Ms. Finucane will travel to Kilkenny with members of the Green Flag Committee, to collect our school’s 7th Green Flag. This is a wonderful achievement and we hope that Ms. Finucane, Ms. Fenton, Isabelle and Grace will enjoy their day out.
Be Active After School Programme
Once again, Miss Walsh has taken on the organisation of this programme for the girls if First and Second Classes. Anyone who is taking part, stays back after school on Tuesday afternoons, for fun games and activities. Even the rain doesn’t stop them! The dates for the rest of the programme are: May 15th, 22nd, 29th and June 12th. On those dates, the girls who are taking part should wear their tracksuits and runners to school. Thank you Miss Walsh, Mrs. O’Neill, Ms. Fenton, Mr. Dooley, Rose, Billy and Anna for giving your time to this fun programme.
Free Draw – Download Now!
We use the Text a Parent service as an easy way to keep in touch. Almost half of you have downloaded the free Text a Parent App. By downloading the App, you help the school to cut costs (it is half the price of a normal SMS message to send a message to the App). Using the App also gives you access to a School Calendar where you can receive reminders of upcoming events. As a small thank you everyone who has downloaded the App. we will have a draw for three prizes on Wednesday 30th May. The names of everyone who has downloaded the App by then will go in the draw so make sure you are included. The App is available from the App Store and from Google Play and can be used on both Apple and Android devices.
https://tinurl.com/y9474vam
May Altar
May is the month when we focus on Mary, the mother of Jesus. The practice dates back at least 700 years and is still observed around the world today. In our school during the month of May we have a lovely tradition of setting up a May Altar to honour Our Lady. The girls take turns to bring in flowers for the altar. Thank you to everyone who has brought flowers this week and we look forward to keeping Our Lady surrounded by flowers for the rest of the month. There is no need for the girls to buy flowers. One or two flowers from each garden will make a lovely display.
This week: Senior Infants, Sixth Class
May 14th First and Second Classes
May 21st Junior Infants and Fifth Class
May 28th Third and Fourth Classes
Ramadan Mubarak
The Holy Month of Ramadan will begin on May 16th. Ramadan is the ninth month in the Islamic Lunar Calendar. It is a time of fasting for Muslims. During Ramadan, Muslim families fast during daylight hours. They also pray and think about those who are poor or less fortunate than themselves. At the end of Ramadan, there is a big festival called Eid-ul-Fitr. Friends and family gather together to celebrate by wearing their best clothes, giving presents and making donations to charity.
This is a special time for some of our school community. We wish you a blessed Ramadan – Ramadan Mubarak.
Dates In May
1st Bealtaine
7th Bank Holiday
8th Be Active
11th Rhythm and Shales 1st 5th 6th
12th First Holy Communion
14th Yoga Rang 3
15th Be Active
16th Ramadan begins
18th Rhythm and Shales 1st 5th 6th
20th Pentecost Sunday
21st Yoga Rang 3
22nd Be Active
25th School Closed
26th Independence Day Georgia
26th April 2018
Run, skip, jump and play, Let’s be active every day.
Active School Week
Dear Dads, Mums, Pupils and Staff,
What a busy, active week we are having here at school. Miss Anderson and the Active School Committee have done an amazing job organising activities for everyone in the school.
We’ve had an extra 10 minutes of play every day. The Committee members have organised and managed playground games. Classes have been visiting Ferrybank GAA grounds to use the facilities there and we are very grateful to the GAA for helping us out.
We’ve had Yoga lessons with Rachel, Polynesian Clap Dancing with Kathy and Hip Hop, Irish Dancing and Line Dancing with Dawn and Denise. Our Active Homework has kept us moving after school. Speakers from the Soccer Club and the GAA Club will talk to the girls at Assembly. Our ‘Wake Up Walks’ have been a huge success and have become a real community effort. We made great progress this morning because we are getting fitter and faster! If we have the same number of people tomorrow morning, we will reach our target city, Prague. We count everyone who walks with us, Mums, Dads, Grandparents and little brothers and sisters so we need everyone to join in and help us to make it all the way to the Czech Republic.
It has been a great effort by the whole school community. Thank you all for your support.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Credit Union
St. Dominic’s Credit Union visits the school every two weeks and we have some dedicated savers! The next visit will be on Thursday 10th May. It’s never too late to join so why not think about it? If you need any information you can contact the school office on 051 832984 or St. Dominic’s Credit Union on 051 873867.
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Today, April 26th is the feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Some of the girls from Sixth Class visited all the other classes to tell the story of the picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
The word ‘counsel’ means ‘advice’. Our Lady of Good Counsel is ready to listen to our problems and to give us good advice. 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 when it suddenly appeared on the wall of a newly built church in Genazzano, Italy. The painting was named after the church, and became known as Our Lady of Good Counsel. The words on the painting mean: “Most Holy Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us to Jesus your Son.” You can still see the painting there today.
Our Lady of Good Counsel, pray for us.
A Muire na Dea-Chomhairle, guí orainn.
School Closures
Here is a little reminder of school closures for the rest of this school year.
Term 3 begins Monday 9th April
May Bank Holiday Closed Monday 7th May
Referendum School closed Friday May 25th
June Bank Holiday Closed Thursday 31st May to Tuesday 5th June inclusive.
Reopening Wednesday 6th June
Staff Training School closing @ 12.30p.m. on Wednesday 13th June (Child Protection training for all staff)
School year ends on Friday 29th June 2018
School Tours
School tours are being organised at the moment and you will shortly receive a note with details of your child’s outing.
Well Done!
The Ferrybank Child and Family Services Network (CFSN) held a very successful event here in our school in February 2017 to mark World Internet Safety Day. One of the outcomes was that parents and carers said they would like more information on how to help keep their young people safe while using social media and the internet. Last night, four wonderful young people from Foróige – Chloe, Michaela, Craig and Kyle – made a presentation based on their experiences, and they kindly gave their time to parents to show them how to set up controls on their devices.
As part of the yearlong project, three girls in our Sixth Class designed stickers to reminder all of us about how much time we spend on our devices. The stickers have now been printed and are being distributed to all the agencies in the CFSN. Well done Libby, Grace and Ebahi – we are very proud of you.
Thank You
We received a lovely card and email from the Little Sisters of the Poor to thank the girls in Second Class for their wonderful singing at Mass in St. Joseph’s on Monday last. The girls got great praise for their responses to the prayers during Mass. It’s great to know that the girls are preparing so well for their First Holy Communion and well done to the class and Ms. Finucane for representing our school so well.
Royal Performance
Members of the school choir from Second and Fifth Classes sang beautifully at a recent concert in the Theatre Royal. The concert was a fundraising event for the Niall Mellon Education Programme. The girls’ rendition of ‘The Ferrybank Piper’ got great praise. Thank you to all the Mams and Dads who made the effort to bring the girls along and to Miss Finucane and Miss Walsh for being so generous with their time.
Remember – 20 Past Nine – In Your Line
The School Bell April 12th 2018
Run, skip, jump and play,
Let’s be active every day.
20 Past Nine – In Your Line
Dear Dads, Mums, Pupils and Staff,
Welcome back for the final term of this school year. We have lots of plans to keep us busy over the next few months so every minute at school is important. It would be wonderful if everyone could make an extra special effort to be on time for school during April, May and June.
Of course, there might be the odd time when something goes wrong and we are late but being on time is a good habit that we all need to practise.
Being on time for school means that
• the girls have time to chat with their friends before lessons begin
• the girls have time to organise their books and belongings before lessons begin
• the girls are not be embarrassed by arriving late
• the girls won’t disturb their classmates by arriving late.
I look forward to seeing all the girls lined up and ready for action at twenty past nine each morning.
Yours sincerely,
_________________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Congratulations
Huge congratulations to Amy (5th Class) who came third in her Irish Dance competition at the World Championships during the Easter holidays. Well done Amy – being in the top three out of 189 competitors is a fantastic achievement! Amy is a pupil of our school Irish Dancing teacher, Dawn. There was even more good news for Dawn when her son won his competition outright and he is now the Senior World Champion.
Confirmation
On Saturday morning, we will welcome Bishop Dermot Farrell to Ferrybank for the celebration of Confirmation. This will be Bishop Farrell’s first Confirmation in the Diocese so it is a very special occasion for all the girls and boys in Sixth Class. They have prepared well with their teachers Mrs. Foley and Mr. Nagle and we wish them a wonderful day with family and friends.
Reminder – School Closures
On Wednesday next, 18th April, all the teaching staff will attend an In-service Training Day in Waterford Teachers’ Centre. The topic is the New Primary Language Curriculum. As a result, the school will not open for pupils on that date.
We have also been informed that the school will have to close on Friday, May 25th as it is required as a Polling Station for the referendum.
Library Visit
Tomorrow morning, our Junior Infants will bring their Mams and Dads to school with them. The Mams and Dads will visit the classroom and then everyone will walk to Ferrybank Library together with Miss Walsh.
The staff in Ferrybank Library are really looking forward to meeting the girls and their parents and all the girls will be able to join the Library and get a lovely book to take home with them. What an exciting day!
Active Schools Week
Active Schools Week will take place from April 23rd to 27th. Miss Anderson and the Active School Committee have been busy arranging lots of different activities to get us all moving during that week.
Weather permitting we will extend our morning break for a few minutes every day so that we can fit in some extra exercise.
Mums, Dads and family members are invited to join us before school every morning for a walk along our newly installed Active School Walkway. With your help we are planning to ‘walk across Europe’!
It would be a great week for everyone to try to Park and Stride to school, cycle to school (wear your helmet), car share, scoot or walk to school.
Remember our Active School slogan: Run, skip, jump and play, let’s be active every day.
Thank You
Miss Kelly and her trusty helpers want to thank everyone who contributed to the Trócaire collection during Lent. With your help we raised a total of ………………………………….
Waterford Sports Ability Day
Waterford’s first ever Sports Ability Day will be held at WIT Arena, Carriganore, Waterford on Saturday 14th April from 11am to 2pm.
This FREE event is suitable for people with a disability of all ages, their families and parents. For further information please contact:
Pauline Cunningham, Sports Inclusion Disability Officer,
Waterford Sports Partnership on 0761 10 2682
or email pcunningham@waterfordsportspartnership.ie
Poetry Month
April is Poetry Month and April 26th is Poetry Day in Ireland. The theme this year is Poetry Surprises. Why not surprise yourself during the month of April by reading some poetry or by writing a poem to share with your family and friends. Look out for news of Poetry Day activities in Ferrybank Library and at school. Check out www.poetryireland.ie for lots of lovely activities.
Green Schools News
Great News we have been awarded our 7th Green Flag on the Theme of Global Citizenship — Energy. Climate Change, the most serious environmental problem of our time, is intrinsically linked to energy use. Its impact on both the environment and people all over the globe, in particular people in developing countries is huge. Well done to everyone especially the Green Schools Committee and Ms. Finucane for all their hard work. Thank you for all your support, throughout the year.
Little Sisters Of The Poor – Celebrations
The Little Sisters of the Poor are celebrating 150 years in Waterford. Bishop Farrell will say a special mass on Saturday next and on Monday April 23rd Second Class will sing at a mass for the residents of the home. We would like to send our best wishes to the Sisters on this wonderful occasion. May they have many more happy years here in Ferrybank.
Parents’ Association Raffle
We were very kindly invited to assembly on the morning of the Easter holidays where we held our raffle. There was great excitement as the names were drawn out. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to Miss O’Reilly for the two K-Sport vouchers. Many thanks to you all for buying tickets, we are grateful for your support. The total raised was €331.
Dates for Calendar
1st Easter Sunday
2nd Bank Holiday
9th Term 3 begins
13th Lailat Al-Miraj
14th Confirmation
18th School Closed
Independence Day Zimbabwe
23rd St. George’s Day
25th Anzac Day
26th Our Lady of Good Counsel
Poetry Day
‘The School Bell’ March 22nd 2018
Happy Easter
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
It’s hard to believe that Easter is almost here. The school will close tomorrow at 12.30p.m. and we will re-open for all pupils on Monday April 9th.
I wish all of you a very happy, joyful Eastertime and I look forward to seeing all of you again for Term 3.
Yours sincerely,
______________________________
C. O’Reilly
Keep Up The Good Work
We had an unexpected visitor to the school yesterday. Our Department of Education Inspector, Ms. Noreen Bambury, arrived early in the morning for what is known as an Incidental Visit. This means that the school did not get any advance notice of the Inspector’s visit. That is not unusual, and many schools in the Waterford area have been receiving these Incidental Visits recently. The focus of Ms. Bambury’s visit was Team Teaching and she was interested in seeing how the school deploys and uses the Learning Support that is allocated to us by the Department.
I’m delighted to let you know that Ms. Bambury was very happy with her visit. She commented on how well behaved the children are, the excellent classroom management skills of the teachers and the genuine atmosphere of care that is evident in the school. She was particularly pleased with teachers’ Long and Short Term Planning and her message to the staff was ‘Keep up the good work!’
I wasn’t surprised by Ms. Bambury’s feedback because I see the wonderful work that happens in this school on a daily basis. However, it is lovely to have that work appreciated and acknowledged by an independent person. Well done to our girls on their super behaviour during the visit and huge congratulations to our hard-working, dedicated staff.
Anam Cara Bereavement Information Evening
Anam Cara is an organisation that supports bereaved parents.
Next Tuesday 27th, Anam Cara will host a Bereavement Information Evening in Waterford.
This event is being held in partnership with Solas Cancer Support Centre and the venue is their centre in Williamstown. It will start at 7pm. Please note that this free event is open to bereaved parents only. Please contact info@anamcara.ie to confirm your attendance. If you would like any further information, call the school office for a flyer.
The Peace Proms
The girls in Third and Fourth Classes braved the snow on Sunday last to travel to Kilkenny for the Peace Proms Concert. If was a wonderful event and hopefully all the Mams, Dads and families who were in the audience enjoyed the entertainment. The singing was terrific so well done girls. I’m sure you have all said a big ‘Thank You’ to Mr. Dooley, Ms. Fenton and Miss Anderson for preparing you so well and for giving up their Sunday afternoon to be there with you.
Parents’ Association Raffle
Thank you to everyone who has already bought tickets for the Parents’ Association Easter Raffle. The PA Committee will join us at Assembly tomorrow to have the draw. You will have lots of chances to win Easter eggs and there is also a voucher from K-Sport.
St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Thank you very much girls for making such a great effort to dress up in your colourful outfits for the school St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It meant so much to everyone in An Grianán, Madonna House and St. Joseph’s Care Home to see you out singing and enjoying yourselves. We are also grateful to our Mums and Dads who came along to support you.
Ceremony of Light
The Ceremony of Light for the Confirmation class will take place in the Parish Church at 7.30p.m. tonight, March 22nd. You will need to bring your child’s Baptismal Candle. The girls will wear their school uniforms. This is a lovely ceremony and we look forward to seeing you.
The Ceremony is one of the final steps the girls will take in preparation for Confirmation on Saturday, April 14th. When we return to school after the Easter holidays, the girls in Sixth Class may wear their tracksuits for the week leading up to Confirmation.
Easter Colouring Competition
The local Ferrybank Development Group has organised a colouring competition for Easter, with lots of great prizes. If you haven’t already brought back your entry, make sure to give it to your teacher tomorrow morning as all entries will be collected before school closes at 12.30p.m.
Friendship Week Poems
Here is just one of the lovely, dual-language poems written for Friendship Week by our talented Sixth Class.
Friendship is so strong
that not even a bomb
can destroy it.
friendship is like a mountain
that goes up and down.
La amistad es tan fuerte
que ni siquera una bomba
la puede destruir.
La amistad es como una montana
que sube y que baja.
By Ana Paula
Seactain na Gaeilge
Seachtain na Gaeilge atá ann. Bíonn na cailíní i Rang 11 ag cleachtadh a gcuid Gaeilge gach lá ar fud na scoile. Inné, rinne siad drama as Gaeilge sa hall agus bhí siad go h-iontach ar fad. Maith sibh a chailíni agus a Ms. Fiinucane.
Bain triail as an nGaeilge.
Is mise ………………………………………
Conas atá tú?
Cá bhfuil do fón póca?
Conas atá an aimsir inniu?
Active School Slogan Competition
Thank you to all the girls who took part in the Active School Slogan Competition and congratulations to our runners-up and our overall winner, Stephanie (5th Class).
Stephanie’s slogan will now become our school’s Active School Slogan so look out for it on posters, in the newsletter and on the website.
Run skip, jump and play,
Let’s be active every day!
You will also soon see signs for our Active School Walkway around the school grounds. It’s time to get moving!
‘The School Bell’ March 8th 2018
Let it Snow!
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
What an exciting time we’ve had since our last ‘School Bell’. We had an unplanned break from school and it has been great to hear all the news from the girls about the fun that they had in the snow.
The snow meant some very hard work for our Caretaker, Mark. He was here every day keeping an eye on the building and the grounds to make sure that everything was okay. Last Sunday, Mark was here shovelling snow to clear a path to the school door and through the car park so that we could re-open on Monday. On behalf of the school community, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Mark, Jean and David for their time and hard work on Sunday.
I would also like to thank all of our Mums and Dads for your co-operation with our ‘Stop, Drop and Go’ system earlier this week. It kept traffic moving smoothly so maybe there is a little lesson in there for the future.
Most importantly, all the girls are safe and well and we were all delighted to be back at school on Monday.
Yours sincerely,
____________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
World Book Day
The girls have made a wonderful effort to dress up for World Book Day today. We have enjoyed sharing our favourite books and talking about the characters in the books. Each girl received a World Book Day token which she can use in any participating book shop. Check out our last ‘School Bell’ for a list of the books that you can buy.
Text a Parent News – the App is faster!
Text-a-Parent is the service that we use to contact you to share news of important or urgent events. Last week, messages were sent out regularly to keep you up to date. There was a huge volume of messages going through the system all over the country and as a result there was a delay in some cases. Anyone who has downloaded the TEXT A PARENT APP seems to have received the messages much faster than those who are still using the SMS system so it is advisable to download the app to your phone (Apple or Android). It is free and it is available from https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app .
www.goodcounselgns.com
Our school website was very popular last week. Teachers were busy uploading lots of ideas to the Class Blogs to keep the girls occupied while the school was closed. All the work had a fun element but it was based on the curriculum so that the girls would not miss out on learning. The ‘Latest News’ tab was also updated regularly.
If you haven’t already checked it out, why not have a look at our school’s website? It will give you an insight into the wonderful variety of work that happens here at Good Counsel every day. Remember, there is also a Translate button on the website so that you family and friends around the school can check in and see what school life is like in Ireland.
School Closures
No doubt you have heard lots of discussion in the news about schools ‘making up’ for the days lost due to the snow. This is a decision for each school’s Board of Management (BOM). Our school’s Board met this week and discussed the matter. Having considered the implications to parents, pupils and staff, planned work placements and planned events, the Board has decided that any changes to the published school calendar for this school year would cause further unnecessary disruption. The Board has every confidence that the teaching staff and the children will work hard during the remainder of the school year to ensure that the curriculum is covered by the end of June 2018. Therefore, the school will not be opening during the Easter holidays or during any other planned closure.
One other little piece of news from the BOM – Michael O’Brien has stepped down as a Community Rep. to the Board. Our new Community Rep. is Pat O’Driscoll. We send sincere thanks to Michael for his commitment to the school over many years and we are delighted to welcome Pat.
Welcoming Our New Bishop
Our new school Patron, Monsignor Dermot Farrell will be ordained as Bishop of Ossory on Sunday next 11th March. We’ve been told that Ferrybank will be the first parish that Bishop Dermot visits for Confirmation so that will be a special event for the girls in Sixth Class. We are asked to pray for Bishop Dermot as he takes on this new role.
Intercultural Friendship Week
Next week we will celebrate friendship and the many cultures that make up our school community. We will have stories in various languages, some lovely activities to remind us what friendship is all about, a Costumes and Colours Day and of course, our very own St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We will keep you informed through the website so check in regularly on the Latest News tab.
Girl Power
Today is International Women’s Day – a good day to remind ourselves that our girls are the women of the future. Girls, be proud of who you are, respect yourself and everyone you meet and remember that with a little hard work, you can be anything you want to be.
We wish a very Happy Mother’s Day to all our Mams, Grannies and the special women in our lives who look after us.
Dates for Calendar
1st St. David’s Day
5th St. Kieran’s Day
6th Independence Day Ghana
8th Women’s Day
11th Mother’s Day
12th National Day Mauritius
16th School Parade
17th St. Patrick’s Day
18th Peace Proms Concert
19th Bank Holiday
21st International Day Against Racism
23rd School Closing @ 12.30
25th Palm Sunday
29th Holy Thursday
30th Good Friday
Passover
31st Holy Saturday
Hanuman Jayanti
