Dear Parents, Guardians, Pupils and Friends of the school,
I hope this message finds you all well. As we get closer to the summer we look forward to the longer
days and better weather (hopefully!). In the month of May we celebrate Mary Our Mother. We enjoyed a
special assembly with Ms. Power’s 2nd class last Friday and Ms. Kelly has arranged a beautiful May
altar in the entrance hall in the school. Thank you to all the girls who have brought in flowers for the May
altar!

Wellbeing Week
This week we have had a very busy Wellbeing Week which has been organised by Ms. Shanahan and
the Wellbeing Warriors. Each day had a different focus ranging from Mindful Monday to Friendship
Friday. We started off on Monday with Zumba for all classes thanks to the Zumba dance teacher, Rachel
Dunne. Throughout the week the classes have enjoyed activities including an intercom message daily,
mindful walks, the daily mile, breathing techniques, mindfulness colouring, meditation, a guest speaker
for 5th and 6th for healthy eating, Healthy Eating Assembly and healthy food tasting with Ms. Burkes 6th
class, cooperate/teamwork games….the list goes on. Thanks to everyone for their hard work in arranging
and participating in a busy but very successful Wellbeing Week!

To conclude Wellbeing week, tomorrow, Friday, we will have a ‘Wear your Brightest Colour Clothes Day’
where the girls are invited to dress in bright colours coming to school. We will be fundraising for ‘Wear
your Brightest Colour Clothes Day’ and any contribution you would like to make is greatly appreciated. All
funds will be used towards activities for the girls.

First Holy Communion
Congratulations to the girls in 2nd class who made their Communion on Saturday. Thank you to Ms.
Power who had everything perfectly prepared and to Fr O’ Shea for his help and a beautiful mass. Well
done to the girls themselves who were so good, as ever on the day. Fortunately, the weather was nice to
us and we hope that everyone celebrating the Communion had a lovely day.

Primary Schools Athletics
We are holding running trials for the girls in 1stto 6th class as Primary Schools Athletics will take place in
the Regional Sports Centre (RSC) on Tuesday coming. Best of luck to the girls who have qualified to go.
If your daughter has qualified, she will receive a permission slip which is to be signed and returned to the
school.

Weather

The weather is gradually improving and just a reminder to you to please ensure that your child has plenty
of drinks to keep them hydrated in school and that we encourage you to apply suncream to your
daughter before school and for them to wear a hat also.

In Service Day
Reminder: The school will be closed for the girls next Friday (not tomorrow), May 19th for teacher In Service training. We will reopen on Monday, May 22nd.

Photographs
We have arranged to have photographs taken of the whole school on Friday, May 26th. This will include
individual photos, photos with siblings and class photos. Information will go out to parents after regarding the photos including proofs (examples of the photos taken) and how to purchase, if you wish to do so.

Traffic Disruption
BAM (the company carrying out the works near our school) have informed me that there will be some
disruption on the Abbey road next week. They have informed me that they will try to avoid disruption
during pick up and drop off times.
Given the nature of the works that are going to take place in Ferrybank in the foreseeable future, we will
do our best to let you know of disruptions/changes regarding traffic that effect our school. As the weather improves, it could be a good time to leave the cars at home and walk to and from school with your child(ren) especially if you live nearby.

Camogie

Our U11 camogie team were in action last week in Kill. They played three games against Newtown, St. Saviours and Kill.  We won 2 games and played out a close draw.  They will be back in action in a few weeks. They girls played really well and did a brilliant job representing our school.

Congratulations

Finally, a big congratulations to Ms. Eilís Walsh our 5th class teacher who got married last Saturday. We
hope you had a great day and wish both you and your new husband many years of health and happiness.

Yours sincerely,
J. Nagle – Principal

Well done to the girls in 3rd and 4th class who represented our school in a camogie blitz in Kill on Thursday. The girls played Newtown, Glór na Mara and Kill N.S and came away with two wins and one draw. Fantastic result. Keep practising girls!

Dear Parents, Guardians, Pupils and friends of the school,

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter break. As we look forward to our final term in school this school
year, we are delighted to welcome back school tours. Many thanks to the Parents Association for their
support in raising funds for school tours. The dates and locations of the tours are below. Other
information including the cost of the tour will be sent out by the class teacher closer to the time. If your
daughter for whatever reason cannot go on a school tour, please let their teacher know as soon as you
can.
Class Location and Date
Junior and Senior Infants- Thursday June 15th Copper Coast Farm
1st and 2nd class – Monday June 26th Lismore Heritage Centre
3rd and 4th class – Friday June 2nd Dunbrody Famine Ship & Wexford Heritage Park
5th and 6th class -Friday June 16th Freedom Surf School Tramore

Ceremony of Light and Communion
The 2nd and 6th classes are busy getting ready for their sacraments. The 6th class girls, in preparation for their Confirmation will celebrate the Ceremony of Light on Wednesday coming, May 3rd in the Sacred Heart Church Ferrybank @ 7pm.
The First Holy Communion will take place on Saturday, May 6thth
in the Sacred Heart Church Ferrybank@11am.
Best of luck to all of the girls and their teachers, Ms. Power and Ms. Burke!
Bank Holiday Weekend and School Closure
Reminder; We will close today, Friday April 28th and reopen on Wednesday May 3rd @ 9.10am.

The school will also close on Friday May 19th as the staff will have in service training in the school.

Craig Breen
Finally, some very sad news broke during the Easter break regarding the passing of Craig Breen. Having
been lucky enough to meet him on a few occasions, it was obvious how warm and giving of his time
Craig was to everyone. Our Lady of Good Counsel would like to pass on their condolences to the Breen
family. He will be hugely missed in Ferrybank and beyond. May he Rest in Peace.
Wishing you all an enjoyable long weekend,

Yours sincerely,
Mr. Nagle – Principal

Our Lady of Good Counsel Feast Day
On Wednesday the 26 th of April, Our School celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Some
girls from Fifth Class, visited all the classrooms in the school, to share the story of Our Lady of Good
Counsel. The girls brought around the Picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel, which shows Mary
holding her son, the baby Jesus. This picture is always hanging in our school.
The word ‘counsel’ means advice. To know that Our Lady is there for us, gives us hope and comfort.
Our Lady is there to always listen. Our Lady is there to give us advice. Our Lady of Good Counsel,
Pray for us. Amen.

Trócaire
We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s Trócaire appeal. We
raise eighty euro. The Trócaire Ambassadors and Miss Kelly handed over the funds to Angela in the
Parish Office this week. Well done everyone.

News from the Wellbeing Warriors
A speech was put together and delivered at assembly by our Wellbeing Warriors.
Good Afternoon everyone, this week the wellbeing warriors have been busy making worry boxes.
The purpose of the worry box is if you have a fear or worry, you put it into the box. By putting your
worry in the box, it will help your worry disappear. A worry might be homework, having no one to
play with. A worry can be anything tests, family, friends or if you are being bullied. If you can’t write
your worry down, you can draw a picture and your name, so your teacher can address the situation.
When your teacher has a chance, she will check the worry box. When the teacher sees the worry,
she will help you as much as they can,
Thank you for listening, we will now say our worry poem for you.

The Worry Box Poem

I’m your little worry box
I am always here

When worries pop into your head
Don’t let them turn to fear

Take a piece of paper

Make sure you write your name

Explain your worry
Write it clear and plain

Put the worry into the box
And let me take away you fear
Put a smile upon your face
And let your worry go free

Camogie
Firstly, it is just fantastic to see so many girls showing an interest in camogie. Ferrybank club
members are putting in huge work at underage level and we are just delighted with the progress our
girls are making. Yesterday, our u13 team drew with Glor na Mara, Tramore and next week our u13
and u11 will be in action. Well done girls, we are so proud of you!!

Everyone is welcome back to school, after a restful and chocolate filled Easter. As we are starting term 3, the girls are starting a lot of new learning this week.

We were learning to use y in a new way, as it makes an ee sound and the girls were busy brainstorming words that could be included.

First class were also introduced to place value, and were using stations and games to show ways of making two digit number from 1-99. They had great fun at this.

What a way to start Term 3 with a visit from a former principal and deputy principal in our school Sr Madeleine and Sr Catherine. We were delighted to have them visit our classroom and we really enjoyed our chat together.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and safe Holiday Season. Also, thanks again to a certain member of staff for our beautiful Easter creation. They get better each year !!!