Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS is a hive of activity this week. The girls are busy learning about wellbeing, kindness and friendship. Each day, we are focusing on a different topic and there is a lovely, friendly, happy feeling around the school. We can’t wait to see the girls dressed in their colourful clothes on Friday for our annual “Wear your Bright Colours Day”. A big thank you to Miss O’Reilly for updating our website and sharing our daily message with parents. We hope everyone is enjoying this special week.
Remember to wear your brightest colours tomorrow.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. Shanahan
National Parents Council Helpline
If you know any families that have recently arrived from Ukraine, this helpline may be useful for them.
Bike Week
We have a fabulous bicycle shelter and we would love to see it full during Bike Week which takes place from May 14th to 22nd. Girls, if you are cycling or scooting to school, please keep yourself safe. Wear your helmet and your high-vis jacket. The girls in Fourth Class have recently completed a Safe Cycling course so this is a good opportunity to put what they have learned into practice.
On Wednesday 18th, we will be counting the number of girls who cycle to school and we will submit the numbers to a national count of cyclists on that date.
First Holy Communion
Our very best wishes to all the girls in Second Class who will receive their First Holy Communion on Saturday next. They have been preparing well with Miss Hall, Ms. Fenton and Fr. Kieran and they are ready for their special day. We hope that the girls and their families will enjoy this lovely occasion.
Very Important People!
On Wednesday, four girls from our school travelled to Dublin to take part in a consultation with the Department of Education (DE). The DE is reviewing its procedures for Anti-Bullying Policies in schools and they wanted to hear the views of children. Out of 3,200 primary schools, only 13 were invited to attend so we are very proud that the girls from Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS were included. Well done girls! We know that you made a great contribution to the discussion, and we hope that you enjoyed meeting with the Minister of Education, Ms. Norma Foley. Thank you to Mrs. Shanahan and Tracey who travelled with the girls and who looked after them so well.
On Wednesday, we attended the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in Dublin. The
Department wanted to consult with children to get their views on the anti-bullying action plan 2013
and make suggestions how to improve it.
We met with government officials and 12 other schools. We were put into our class groups. We
spoke to new people and even made new friends. We were lucky enough to meet with the Minister
of Education Norma Foley. She explained they wanted to get children’s point of views and
suggestions for improving the anti- bullying plan.
She asked us about our opinion on bullying and what we would do if someone got bullied. She asked
us how we could improve our school’s anti-bullying policy. We did lovely activities to explore the
above. We were able to tell the other schools about all the wonderful stuff we do in our school.
We were treated very well in Dublin and had lovely pizza, goujons and chips for our lunch. A big
thank you to, Miss O’Reilly, Mrs Shanahan and Tracey for organising the trip.
By – Alianna, Charlotte, Ella and Amelia
Senior Infant Future World Champions!
Miss O’Reilly has had visits this week from some of our Senior Infants. The girls have been taking part and winning cups and medals in lots of different competitions, from Irish dancing to athletics. Well done Amber, Charlotte, Ella and Ciara and keep up with your exercise.
Reminder
As far as possible the girls are expected to be in their line and ready to come in the gate at 9.10 every morning. The gate will be closed at 9.20a.m.
Important Note
Staff members have to undertake one more in-service training session during this school year. We have agreed with St. Mary’s BNS that both schools will close early on Friday June 3rd to facilitate the training. The girls will go home at the following times on that date:
Junior and Senior Infants @ 12.15p.m.
First and Second Classes @ 12.25p.m.
Third to Sixth Classes @ 12.30p.m.
Congratulations
We send a big welcome to little Bobby Dooley who arrived safely in the world last week. Warm congratulations to Bobby’s Dad, Mr. Dooley, to his Mam and big sister.
