The School Bell
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.
9th November 2017
Have You Downloaded Yet?
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
As you know, we use the Text a Parent service to keep in touch with you. It is a very useful service for reminders, notifications about special events and in case of emergencies. A new Text a Parent App has been developed. The App is easy to download and is available for both Apple and Android devices.
It would be a huge help to us if everyone would download and use the App. The cost of sending a message to the App is half the cost of a regular SMS message so you can see why it is important to us that as many people as possible start using it. The App may be downloaded from:
https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app
Of course, we cannot send you any message if we do not have your current phone number on our messaging system. Please make sure to let us know if you change your number. We want to keep in touch.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Attendance Awards
The classes with the best attendance in September and October were First Class and Third Class.
Being Active
We hear a lot these days about how important it is to keep fit. There are many ways to be active and the girls in this school are trying lots of different forms of exercise. Second and Third Classes began their swimming lessons this week. They had great fun and are looking forward to next Monday’s lesson. Sixth Class will begin a six week programme of Yoga lessons on Thursday afternoon.
Fourth Class will shortly begin their Safe Cycling Lessons. This is a 5-6 week programme where the girls learn how to cycle safely. Of course, all the girls have their weekly PE and dancing classes so all in all they are a pretty fit bunch! Well done girls.
Congratulations
A huge ‘Well Done’ from everyone here at the school goes to Ms. Finucane, who completed the Dublin City Marathon during the Hallowe’en Break. Part of Ms. Finucane’s role at school involves promoting healthy living, and she certainly leads by example. Congratulations Ms. Finucane.
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO)
As part of its discussion with Waterford City and County Council about the impact of the CPO on the traffic situation in and around the school, the Board of Management has requested a dedicated car park and set down area for parents/guardians and pupils, and a separate parking area for school staff. As you know, the existing car park outside the gate does not belong to the school, and at present staff members have to park on the school yard. This reduces the play area for the children. The Board of Management is very happy with the proposals to date. When the work is underway, there will be some disruption, but the end result should be a positive one. All of the planned work is conditional on the Council’s acquisition of the land so we will keep you informed as time goes on.
Important Note
School will close for all pupils at 2p.m. On Wednesday next, 15th November. This is to facilitate staff training with the Professional Development Service for Schools.
Peace Proms
In March 2018, the girls in Third and Fourth Classes will take part in the Peace Proms Concert at The Hub in Kilkenny. The girls will have the chance to sing with choirs from lots of other schools, and to sing with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland. We have been notified that our school’s concert will take place at 2p.m. on Sunday, March 4th . If you want to go to the concert yourself, you must buy your tickets through the Peace Proms website, www.peaceproms.com . Tickets are not available for sale through the school. Tickets will go on sale on 17th November 2017. Please be aware that they sell out very quickly. The girls who are in the choir do not need tickets. The girls will need to wear a plain, white polo shirt (no logos) and black leggings or trousers for the concert. We are letting you know this now so that the girls will have plenty of time to be organised. The songs for the concert are lovely and the practising has already begun here at school. There is no doubt that the girls will really enjoy themselves and that they will remember the Peace Proms for a long time to come.
Zumba Fundraising Event
A fundraising event will take place @ FerryFun on 10th November 2017. Proceeds will go to Helping Hands Waterford. The Zumba class for adults will run from 7p.m. To 8.15p.m. and the cost is €10.
Beat the Street
Well done to all the girls who got involved in the Beat the Street programme. All over Waterford, children and adults walked 92,835kms or 58, 022 miles during the six week event. Wow!
Frása na Coicíse
Gabh mo leithscéal – Excuse me
26th October 2017
Here Fishy, Fishy
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
This week, we wish Tracey, our fantastic School Secretary, the very best of luck as she sets off to South Africa tomorrow morning. Tracey will be representing Ireland at the World Shore Angling Championships. We are all so proud of her and wish her and the Irish Team a safe trip and the very best of luck. What a fantastic role model she is for all the girls here. We hope the fish are biting Tracey!
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Congratulations
Congratulations to Mrs. Mary Ryan who will celebrate her graduation with a Diploma in School Leadership next week. We hope you will have a wonderful day Mrs. Ryan and enjoy your well-deserved success.
Mission Week
As always, Mission Week has been a great success. The girls and their families have been so generous and the money collected will be put to very good use. We will let you know the total amount when it has been counted and we are looking forward to amazing entertainment at the Talent Show tomorrow.
Important Note
With the Board of Management’s permission, the school will close for all pupils @ 12.30p.m. tomorrow. School re-opens for everyone on Monday 6th November. Enjoy the Hallowe’en Break and remember to keep yourself safe.
Mayor’s Visit
On Tuesday 24th October, Cllr. Sean Reinhardt, Mayor of Waterford Metropolitan District visited the school. Congratulations to the girls who received certificates for full attendance – Amélie, Mia, Tiffany, Dara, Méabh, Emily, Angel, Sophiat, Amy, Olivia, Sarah, Lorraine, Favour, Lorna and Miah.
A sincere well done goes to all the other girls who received certificates for missing no more than 3 days at school last year.
Maths Week
Miss Anderson’s class organised some great activities for Maths Week. The children in the other classes were invited to the GP Room to take part in all sorts of games based on a Maths theme. What a fun way to learn about number!
Car Park
For the safety of all of our pupils, please make sure to observe the one way system in the car park outside the school gate. Please do not stop or park your car directly outside the school gate as this causes congestion on the road.
Swimming Lessons
The girls in Second and Third Classes will begin their swimming lessons on Monday 6th November, which is the day we return to school after the Hallowe’en Break. Remember to bring your swimming gear to school that day.
Diwali
Last week, at Assembly, we talked about Diwali. Diwali is the Festival of Lights and is celebrated by the Hindu and Sikh faiths. The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that people light outside their homes. On the first day of Diwali, people consider it good luck to spring clean the house and shop for kitchen utensils. On the second day, people decorate their homes with clay lamps and create design patterns called rangoli on the floor using coloured powders or sand. The third day is the main day of the festival when families gather together for Lakshmi puja, a prayer to Goddess Lakshmi followed by mouth-watering feasts and firework festivities. The fourth day is the first day of the New Year when friends and relatives visit with gifts and best wishes for the season. On the last day of Diwali, brothers visit their married sisters who welcome them with love and a delicious meal.
We hope that anyone in our school community who celebrated this special feast had a happy time with family and friends.
