Dear families and friends of the school,

As we come to the end of our second term, we took the time this week to celebrate Friendship and Wellbeing Week. Friendship and Wellbeing Week provides a focus to all children and staff in Good Counsel as to how we can look after ourselves and others. Ranging from Mindful Monday to Friendship Friday, Mrs. Shanahan put together many different activities and ideas to mark the week including a Morning Mindful Message over the school intercom every day, a new Affirmation Station near Ms. Behan’s room, Throw a Kindness like Confetti notice board and a Friendship Bracelet Swap in each class on Friday to name a few. Homework for the week was the Wellbeing Homework Challenge Suggestions which could be done at home with a friend or family member. Mrs. Burke and 6th class arranged some food tasting activities on ‘Think Healthy Thursday’.

On Friday we held a ‘Wear Your Bright Colours Day’. All of the girls dressed up in their brightest colours and were encouraged to donate €2 to charity. Well done and thanks to all of the girls for dressing up in such colourful outfits and for their generosity.

I think it is fair to say that life for many of us, children and adults alike is very busy and taking time to reflect and have a look at our selves and our own wellbeing is always time well spent. We hope that the week has given the girls a chance to do this and to find alternative activities away from what would be commonly chosen such as television time or time spent on devices. Regarding devices and their use, we continue to encourage all parents to be aware of what their children are doing online, to monitor both how devices are used by their children and the time spent on them. Although technology has huge benefits and is very much part of our daily lives, it is having a huge negative impact on many including children which is something that we all must be mindful of and protect our children against.

We hope all of the girls enjoyed the week and thank you to Mrs. Shanahan for all of her work in putting everything together.

Parents’ Association Easter Raffle

Our annual Easter Raffle was held by the Parents’ Association on Thursday of this week. Thanks to the Parents’ Association for all of their hard work in putting the prizes together, sorting raffle tickets and holding the raffle itself. There were 18 prizes to be won in the main raffle and Easter Eggs were raffled off in each class as well. Thank you to everyone who contributed, whether you donated a prize or bought or sold a ticket. Over €700 was raised which will be used, as always to enhance the learning experience of all of the girls here in Good Counsel.

Out Door Learning in the School Garden – Spring 2025 Update
Over last number of weeks, first class, fifth class and sixth class have been busy planting a variety of vegetable seeds. These include early potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions, garlic, lettuce and radish. In May we will plant beans. Our school are yet again involved in the Incredible Edibles Programme 2025. We are hoping to retain our Gold Standard status that we achieved last June. This year, also, we are engaged in the GIY school garden project.
A big thanks to Mark for helping us prepare the raised beds and he will be keeping a watchful eye on them over the Easter break. With the warmer weather and a little luck, we will hopefully enjoy some wonderful vegetables before long. Planting is part of our science studies, and learning about growing your own plants and vegetables is a great life skill. It’s a wonderful experience for the girls to see and learn about the seeds and to feel and to work with the soil and compost. We love looking after nature and we benefit when we celebrate its wonder.

Miss Kelly

Trócaire Lenten Campaign 2025
During Lent, our Trócaire Ambassadors from fifth and sixth classes have been busy visiting the classrooms and collecting coins and coppers for the Lent appeal. Lent is the season of preparation which comes before the celebration of Easter. The Ambassadors also presented during our Friday assembly outlining this year’s Trócaire Box story about a family in Guatemala. They told the story of IIma and Julio and their family, who are struggling to cope with the effects of climate change on their local area, their crop growth and how all this threatens their children’s chances of an education and their future. Well done girls. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and support. As we approach Easter, we wish everyone and their families a Happy Easter.

Miss Kelly

5th Class Special Assembly – Easter

Thanks to Ms. White and 5th Class who had a beautiful Special Assembly on Thursday of this week for Easter. 5th class told us all about the importance of Easter and its origin by presenting it, singing songs and finished with some ‘Lámh’ where they showed all of the girls how to sign different words associated with Easter.

Mrs. Ryan’s 3rd Class showed us their Easter Bonnets which were made during the week. The girls are so creative in putting the bonnets together as is the tradition in Mrs. Ryan’s Class. Well done all!

Basketball

Our basketball team represented the school in the Annual Basketball Blitz in Our Lady of Mercy’s sports hall on the last Friday in March. The girls played four games and enjoyed a great day out. Thanks to Mrs. Burke and Ms. White for looking after the team.

Camogie
On Wednesday of this week, we played a strong Ballyduff Upper N.S. in the schools 7 a-side final in Dungarvan GAA grounds. Unfortunately we weren’t successful on the day but the girls gave their all, learned from the experience and will look forward to other days out. Well done to Ballyduff Upper on their well deserved win on the day.

A big thank you to all of the parents and family members who made the trip to Dungarvan. Your support is much appreciated! The girls have made great progress in the 7 a-side this year having won the Eastern side of the competition – well done to you all for your hard work and dedication.

Traffic

Traffic at both drop off and collection times, although things are moving well especially with regards to entering our school, can become congested when leaving at the temporary traffic lights beyond the Abbey C.C. Thanks to parents who have been patient throughout all of the disruption. We hope that this issue will be improved when the final parts of the work are carried out on the Abbey Road and when the permanent traffic lights are set up.

Of course, if you walk to school (and are close enough to walk), you should not experience any of these issues. We see many more children and families walking as the weather gets better and encourage as many of you as possible to walk to school as long as it is safe to do so.

Dates for your Diary

Return after the Easter Break – Monday, April 28th

School Closed – Monday May 5th (May Bank Holiday Weekend)

Wishing you all a Happy Easter. We look forward to seeing you all again in two weeks after the break.

Yours sincerely,

J. Nagle
Principal