The School Bell
‘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
The School Bell February 22nd 2018
World Book Day – Share a Story
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
Next Thursday, March 1st, is World Book Day. Children and adults all over the world will be sharing their favourite books and enjoying reading. At our school, the girls can celebrate by dressing up as a character from a book. There is no need to buy a costume. Something creative and homemade will be perfect. It might even be as simple as a mask or a hat. I wonder if Miss Trunchbull will make an appearance again this year!!!!!!
On World Book Day, the girls may bring their favourite book to school to share with their friends. Each girl will receive a World Book Day token. If you take the token to a local bookshop before March 25th, you will be able to buy one of these books:
Oi Goat!
Mr. Men – My Book About Me
Paddington Turns Detective
Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story
The Baby Brother From Outer Space
Terry’s Dumb Dot Story
Brain Freeze
The Bolds
The Girl Who Thought She Was a Dog
Avengers Greatest Heroes
Rugby Roar
Of course, you don’t even have to buy a book to enjoy reading. It’s free to join the local library (for children and adults!) and there are hundreds of books there for you to read. February is ‘Join the Library’ month so why not sign up now and be ready for World Book Day.
Yours sincerely,
____________________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
First Penance
Congratulations to all the girls in Second Class who made their First Penance on February 13th. They were well prepared by their teacher Ms. Finucane and their Mams and Dads. Thank you to the priests who were present – Fr. Dempsey, Fr. Crotty, Fr. Irenaeus, Fr. Cyprian and Fr. Walter.
Parents’ Association News
Hello everyone, as you know we have held a table quiz for the last number of years in an effort to raise funds for the school. However this year we have decided to hold an Easter Raffle instead.
The raffle tickets will be sent home with the girls after the St. Patrick’s Day bank holiday and there will be some lovely Easter eggs as prizes.
We will send a reminder nearer the time and look forward to your continued support.
Reminder
On March 2nd, school will close at 12.30p.m. for all pupils. This is to allow for staff in-service training in the new Child Protection procedures.
Condolences
The Board of Management, Staff and pupils offer sincere condolences to Eugene Power and his family on the death of his father, Dick. Eugene was the Deputy Principal of Abbey C.C. and he also served as Chairperson of our school’s Board of Management.
Working with the Community
We are very fortunate that our school has strong links with lots of organisations in the Ferrybank community. One of those organisations is Foróige. Foróige is the leading youth organisation in Ireland and has been working with young people since 1952. Currently, it works with over 50,000 young people aged 10-18 each year through volunteer-led Clubs and staff-led Youth Projects.
This week, Ferrybank Foróige has begun two programmes in our school. Sixth Class girls are taking part in an Alcohol Awareness programme. This is very appropriate for them as they prepare for Confirmation and make decisions about taking pledges not to use alcohol or harmful drugs.
The girls in Fifth Class have begun an Internet Safety and Cyberbullying programme. As we all know, technology and social media are wonderful tools for learning. However, just as we teach our young people to keep themselves safe when they are out and about with their friends, we also need to teach them how to keep themselves safe online.
We are very grateful to Karen and her team for giving us their time.
Staying Active
Tomorrow, the girls in Fourth Class will begin a four week Cycle Safety programme. The bicycles, helmets, wet weather gear and tuition will all be provided by Donal Jacob of Greenway Waterford Bike Hire. Donal is accredited to teach the Cycle Right programme and we are delighted to have him back with us again. Watch out for the bicycles around the school yard! Maybe this is a good time to dust off your bicycle after the winter and make sure that it is roadworthy for the months ahead.
Peace Proms
It won’t be long now until Mr. Dooley’s class and Miss Anderson’s class travel to Kilkenny for the Peace Proms concert. We have been enjoying their singing while they practise all their songs. We wish you the best of luck on March 4th girls. It will be a wonderful experience for all of you.
To Make You Smile
Here’s a little joke from Anna Maria (6th Class)
What do you call cars in a jar?
A traffic jam!
February Calendar
1st St. Brigid’s Day
2nd Candlemas
3rd St. Blaise
11th Our Lady of Lourdes
13th Shrove Tuesday
Mahashivrati
14th Ash Wednesday
St. Valentine’s Day
15th Mid-Term Break
16th Mid-term Break
Chinese New Year
Lithuania National Day
17th Kosovo National Day
24th Estonia Independence Day
“The School Bell” January 25th 2018
Your School
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
We need your help to make sure that our school grounds are a safe place for all the children. Over the last few weeks, groups of young people have been coming onto the school grounds, particularly at the weekends. They have left litter and broken glass on the yards and last weekend they attempted to break into Mark’s shed. The Gardaí have been notified and they will be patrolling the area.
If you are passing the school and there are people on the grounds who should not be there, please call the Gardaí.
Yours sincerely,
______________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Catholic Schools Week
Catholic Schools Week 2018 will take place all over Ireland next week. This year, the theme for the week is Catholic Schools: Families of Faith. Each day, we will focus on a different aspect of the theme
Monday – Our Family at Home
Tuesday – Our School Family
Wednesday – Grandparents: A Special Part of Our Family
Thursday – Our Parish Family
Friday – Our World Family
As part of our celebrations, one class will attend the 10 o’clock Mass in the Parish Church each day from Monday to Thursday (Monday 2nd Class, Tuesday 3rd Class, Wednesday 4th Class, Thursday 5th Class). On Friday 2nd February, the whole school will go to the Church for a special Prayer Service to mark the end of Catholic Schools Week.
You are very welcome to join us for Mass any day during the week. Grandparents are especially welcome on Wednesday morning. We would be delighted if as many of you as possible could come to the Prayer service at 11.30 on Friday morning.
Welcome
We are delighted to welcome Ms. Lena Sexton to our school. Ms. Seton is a past pupil and she is currently doing her placement as a student teacher with Mrs. Ryan’s Senior Infants. Ms. Sexton will complete her placement with Miss Cunniffe’s First Class in a few weeks’ time.
Next week, another past pupil, Melanie Emeribe will join us for her Transition Year Work Placement.
It is always a lovely experience for us to have our past pupils back here at the school. We hope that Ms. Sexton and Melanie will enjoy their time with us and that they will find it a worthwhile experience.
Reminder
The girls have made a great effort to be on time for school this year, so let’s keep up the good work until the end of this term.
School hours are as follows: 9.20a.m. – 2p.m. Junior and Senior Infants, 9.20a.m. – 3p.m. First Class to Sixth Class. The girls are expected to be in their lines in the yard when the bell rings at 9.20a.m. Anyone arriving after 9.20a.m. is considered late for school. Supervision is not provided before or after school hours so pupils are the responsibility of their parents outside of these times.
On wet mornings, the roll call will not be taken until 9.40a.m. The double doors will open as usual at 9.20a.m. so this allows 20 minutes assembly time for the children, plenty of time for them to come in, change their shoes and be seated in their classrooms for the roll call, without any need to stand outside in the yard. Children not present for the Roll Call will be marked absent. The Register may not be changed once it has been marked.
Allergies
Thank you very much for your support of our policy of no nut products throughout the school. This includes anything containing nuts, such as peanut butter or Nutella. As you know, this policy is in place because we have some pupils who have severe allergies to nuts. We appreciate your help in keeping all the girls safe and well.
Parent/Teacher Meetings
Parent/ Teacher Meetings will take place in the school during the week beginning Monday 5th February. You will receive an invitation to meet with your child’s teacher so keep an eye out for a letter next week.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Miss Anderson’s Fourth Class who won the December monthly award for Best Attendance. I know that the girls made it their aim to win the award in December and their efforts paid off. Well done! Which class will win the award for January? Read next month’s School Bell to find out.
Have You Downloaded Yet?
The Text-a-Parent App is available to download, free, from https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app When you use the app, the cost of sending a text message to you from the school is halved! Thank you to everyone who has already downloaded.
New Year Celebrations
This month in our Interfaith Space we are looking at how the various faiths celebrate New Year. Here is a little quiz for you girls. See how many answers you can find by reading the information in the Interfaith Space.
1. On what date did Advent begin?
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Name three things that Jewish people eat during Rosh Hashannah
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What is Muharram?
_______________________________________________________________________
4. On what date will Diwali begin in 2018?
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬_______________________________________________________________________
5. Which faith may celebrate New Year in February, March or April?
_______________________________________________________________________
Well Done
A huge WELL DONE to Ms. Finucane and the Green Flag Committee for preparing so well for the Green Flag Assessment. Ella Ryan visited the school today to carry out the assessment for our 7th Green Flag and she was very impressed. We look forward to hearing some good news very soon!
Getting Active
The Active Flag Committee, led by Miss Anderson, is getting everyone moving. The lunch time hockey skills programme is very popular with all the girls.
Each class is working on improving their fitness by completing an Active Pyramid. Every time the whole class jogs a lap of the yard, they may colour in one triangle on the pyramid.
Dates for Your Diary
1st New Year’s Day
6th Epiphany
8th Term 2 begins
12th Little Red Kettle
14th World Day of Migrants and Refugees
18th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
22nd Vasant Panchami
26th Australia Day
29th Catholic Schools Week begins
BOM Mtg.
‘The School Bell’ January 11th 2018
Happy New Year
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
Welcome back to school for Term 2 and a very Happy New Year to everyone.
The New Year usually brings change and our school is no different. Mrs. Power has begun her Maternity Leave and we look forward to the safe arrival of her baby. Mrs. Feana Foley will teach Sixth Class for the rest of this school year.
Mrs. Emma O’Neill will remain on with Fifth Class until the end of June and Miss Alice Irish has taken on the Learning Support role until Mrs. Shanahan returns from her Maternity Leave.
I am sure you will have seen and heard reports on the news in the last week about the current shortage of substitute teachers at primary level. We are very fortunate that we have been able to ensure that all the girls have qualified teachers working with them and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff members for their willingness to be flexible and to change roles when that is needed.
Yours sincerely,
______________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Little Red Kettle
Little Red Kettle will visit the school tomorrow, Friday January 12th. Little Red Kettle’s play is always great fun and educational and the children get to take part in the action. All of the children will see the play and the cost per child is only €2. If you have not already done so please send €2 to your child’s teacher tomorrow morning. Thanks to your Parents’ Association, the girls do not have to pay the full cost to see the performance.
A photographer from the local newspaper will be present at the play and will take some pictures of some of the children. If you do not want your child’s picture to appear in the newspaper, please let her teacher know, in writing, tomorrow morning.
Yoga
For six weeks before Christmas, Sixth Class had the chance to take part in Yoga classes with Rachel O’Keeffe. Yoga improves flexibility and it helps with posture and muscle tone which are all important for physical health.
Fourth Class will begin a six week course of Yoga with Rachel this afternoon and I know that they are looking forward to it.
We are very grateful to the Waterford Area Partnership who has provided the funding for these courses through the Early Intervention Task Group.
St. Dominic’s Credit Union
A staff member from the Credit Union will visit the school today so that the girls may lodge money into their accounts. It is never too late to open an account and Rachel will visit every second Thursday. If any parent would like to speak with her when she is here to set up an account for a child, please let the school office know and we will arrange an appointment for you.
Waterford Dyslexia Support Group
Is your child Dyslexic or finding it difficult to read?
Come along to our Open Coffee Morning in the Ardkeen Library
• 17th of January 2018
• 14th of February 2018
• 14th of March 2018
• 11th April 2018
• 9th of May 2018
• 13th of June
For Information, Advice & Support check out the Waterford Dyslexia group. Contact Mari Carmen on 089 4596614
New Bishop Appointed
Congratulations to Monsignor Dermot Farrell who has been appointed as the next Bishop of the Diocese of Ossory. Monsignor Farrell was the Parish Priest of Dunboyne and Kilbride in the Meath Diocese. As Bishop, Monsignor Farrell will also become Patron of the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Ossory, including Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS.
The Board of Management, Staff and Pupils wish him every blessing in his new role.
Catch It. Bin It. Kill It.
As we are in the middle of the ‘flu season, please help to stop it spreading. You can do this by:
Following the advice of the HSE and keeping your child at home if she is unwell.
Making sure your child has her own packet of tissues to bring to school.
Practising ‘sneezing into your elbow’ if you do not have a tissue.
Using the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ slogan at home – catch the sneeze in a tissue, bin the tissue and wash your hands.
For more information, check out www.hse.ie/flu and www.undertheweather.ie
Here’s to a healthy year ahead for everyone.
Catholic School Week
Catholic Schools Week will take place at the end of January. This year, the focus is on Family, in preparation for the World Meeting of Families, August 21st to 26th 2018.
The daily themes are:
Our Family at Home
Our School Family
Grandparents: A Special Part of Our Family
Our Parish Family
Our World Family
Parent/Teacher Meetings
Parent/ Teacher Meetings will take place in the school during the week beginning Monday 5th February. You will receive an invitation to meet with your child’s teacher so keep an eye out for a letter in the coming weeks.
Dates for Your Diary
1st New Year’s Day
6th Epiphany
8th Term 2 begins
12th Little Red Kettle
14th World Day of Migrants and Refugees
18th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
22nd Vasant Panchami
26th Australia Day
29th Catholic Schools Week begins
The School Bell December 7th 2017
Construction Work
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
You have probably noticed that the high wall on the top yard has been railed off. Mark has begun work on taking down the wall as the roots of the big chestnut tree are growing under it, and making it unstable. Mark will rebuild the wall to a lower level, to match the low wall on the other side of St. Brigid’s school, and the girls will have another place to sit at lunchtime during the summer months.
We are very grateful to all of you for keeping an eye on the school premises outside of school hours. On a few occasions recently, we have had groups of between 15-20 young people coming onto the grounds in the evening time. They have been pulling the padding off the basketball posts and swinging from the basketball hoops. If you know any of these young people, please remind them that the school is monitored by CCTV 24 hours a day. As always, if you see anyone on the school grounds who should not be there, please call the Gardaí.
Yours sincerely,
______________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Bambinelli Day
We will celebrate Bambinelli Day in our school on Friday 15th December. We will have a special Prayer Service at Assembly. Fr. Dempsey will bless the Baby Jesus for our school crib. All the girls are invited to bring the Baby Jesus from your family cribs to school on that date and they will also be blessed during the Assembly.
The idea is that when you bring home your Baby Jesus, you wrap him up like a present, and on Christmas morning, you open the ‘present’ and place Baby Jesus in your family crib.
Date for Your Diary
Our Christmas Carol Service, ‘Hey Ewe!’ will take place in the Parish Church on Thursday afternoon, 21st December and you are all very welcome to attend. The Carol Service will begin at 2p.m.
The Carol Service will take about 30-35 minutes and after that the girls will return to school with their teachers, where they can be collected as usual. Please do not ask to take the girls home from the Church.
At 2p.m. on Tuesday afternoon 19th December all the girls will visit St. Joseph’s Care Home to entertain the residents there. We will return to school afterwards and you can collect the girls from the school. (Infants at approx. 2.45p.m. and the rest of the classes at their usual time of 3p.m.)
We apologise for the inconvenience of the later pick-up from school on Tuesday and Wednesday but hopefully the enjoyment of the Carol Service will make up for that.
Christmas Crib Competition
There were a fantastic number of entries for our competition to design the background for our school crib. The winner this year was Anna (Senior Infants) who made great use of colour in her entry. Well done Anna! The runners up were Emily (Fifth Class), Sara (Senior Infants), Olivia (Fifth Class) and Annabelle (Sixth Class). All the entries are displayed in the Front Hall.
This year, our school crib which was constructed by Mark, will have a new set of figurines as Tracey has given us a beautiful nativity set from South Africa. Thank you to everyone who has helped us to remember what Christmas is really all about.
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Tomorrow, December 8th is a Holy day of Obligation. We will all attend Mass in the Parish Church at 10a.m. on that date and you are welcome to join us.
Credit Union
St. Dominic’s Credit Union visited the school today. This is their last visit before Christmas and any of the girls who lodged some savings today received a yo-y0. The Credit Union will be back again on January 11th. Why not save up your pocket money over Christmas and open an account in the New Year.
Dates for Calendar
1st Milad Un Nabi
Romania National Day
2nd Enrolment Confirmation
3rd Advent begins
5th Thailand National Day
6th Advent Penance 3rd – 6th
8th Holy Day
13th Hannukah.
15th Bambinelli Prayer Service
17th Gaudete Sunday
19th Carol Service St. Joseph’s
21st Carol Service Parish Church
22nd Closing at 12.30p.m.
24th Christmas Eve
25th Christmas Day
26th St. Stephen’s Day
31st New Year’s Eve
23rd November 2017
A Family of Families
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
In August 2018, the World Meeting of Families will take place in Dublin. It is hoped that Pope Francis will be there. As a Catholic school, we have been asked to think about families – they come in all shapes and sizes and they teach us how to love and care for each other. We have been asked to take four different ‘moments’ during the school year and think about our school as a ‘Family of Families’. The four moments are:
November Families of Hope
January Families of Faith
March Families of Love
May Families of Joy
On Monday last, one of the girls drew my attention to the School Creed in her Homework Journal. She said that she really liked the last few lines:
Let us remember
That, as many hands build a house,
So many hearts make a school.
Those lines seem very appropriate for us at this time as our school is called to be a ‘Family of Families’. Tomorrow, we will pray for all of our school families at a special Assembly. We will share our hopes and dreams for our own families and for families throughout the world.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Reminder
Thank you to everyone who has helped to reduce our school costs by downloading the new TextaParent App. It is free, it is available for Apple and Android devices and you can find it at https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app
Slán Miss Aga
Miss Aga will finish her work placement with us on December 1st. She has been such a great help to all of us over the last year and we will miss her. Thank you Miss Aga and the very best of luck.
Substitute Teachers
On November 7th, ‘Nationwide’ aired a programme about the substitute teacher shortage that is affecting schools and pupils all over Ireland. In a survey taken by 800 primary school principals, it was revealed that since September 2017, they were unable to find a substitute teacher for 25% of teacher absences.
In this school, we try very hard to make sure that we have a qualified substitute teacher for every absence. At the moment, this is becoming more and more difficult. To give you an example, last week, we contacted 30 substitutes on a particular day and none of them was available for work.
The Department of Education and Skills has said that the shortage is due to an increase in the number of teaching posts, and this is wonderful news for newly qualified teachers who are looking for work. Unfortunately, it also means that schools are finding themselves in a position of having no substitute cover. If you are talking with your local representatives, it might be worthwhile bringing this issue to their attention. It is a nationwide problem and it needs urgent attention.
