The girls have had great fun this week, learning about the library, in Aistear. We paid a special visit to the library today and got to read some lovely books together, and hopefully become members.
We read the story of Elmer this week, an elephant who couldn’t hide who he was and always showed his true colours. We decided to give it a go and make our own 3D colourful elephants. They turned out so beautiful.
Lastly, we got a special arrival in our class this week, our long awaited caterpillars have arrived and have already started going into their cocoons. We can’t wait to see the beautiful butterflies they turn into.
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
We are so fortunate to have a wonderful public library in Ferrybank. Our staff and pupils visit regularly and we are very grateful to all the staff who work in the Library for their kindness to us. Joining the Library is free for everyone, adults and children,and even if you forget to bring back a book, there are no fines. The summer break will soon be here, so why not make use of this fantastic facility? In the meantime, some of our girls may be interested in the LEGO workshop that will take place on June 11th. Check out the information below and pay a visit. You will be made very welcome.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
Welcome
Kilkenny County Council Library Service would like to welcome you to our library service.
You can join the library through our website: www.kilkennylibrary.ie, or by calling into your local branch.
Our libraries offer a warm, safe and inclusive spaces and are free to use by all.
Joining the library is free. With library membership you can borrow books, audiobooks, DVDs, music CDs and much more from your library.
We also have printing, photocopying and scanning services.
You can access internet, WiFi and computers for free.
ONLINE SERVICES
PressReader provides access to thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world
PressReader offers instant translation in up to 18 different languages for most articles and even full publications in as little as three clicks.
Log in to your account with card number.
Then simply click on the three dots in the top right corner of the PressReader screen.
Select Interface Language and translate into the language you want.
Borrowbox is our eBook and eAudiobook service. You log in with your card number and PIN. Borrowbox provides a large range of digital books and digital audiobooks, including books in 10 different languages.
Transparent Languages is our online language learning app. To sign up, you will need your library card number and an email address. There are 29 English language courses for speakers of different languages.
Follow us on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and keep up to date with what is happening. @kilkennylibrary
Book Rental Scheme 2022-2023
This week you received a letter about the Book Rental Scheme for 2022-2023. The information is also available on the Latest News tab of the website. Thank you to everyone who has already used our new and easy online payments system.
Congratulations
Congratulations to the girls in Sixth Class who had their Ceremony of Light on Thursday last. The ceremony symbolises the handing on of faith from one generation to the next. It is one of the final steps in preparation for Confirmation which takes place on June 2nd @ 7p.m. We look forward to a very special evening in Ferrybank Parish Church.
Africa Day
On Wednesday, we celebrated Africa Day in our school. Miss Kelly put together a display of books, artefacts and projects for the girls to enjoy. Well done to Rang a Trí for their lovely artwork and to Dorka for her terrific project on Egypt. Each class listened to a story on an African theme.
There are lots of cultural events taking place in Waterford this weekend
Polish Community
The Polish Community in Waterford is organising a Family Fun Day in De la Salle College from 10am – 3pm on Saturday. All are welcome.
Ascension Thursday
Today is Ascension Thursday. In the Catholic faith, Ascension Day traditionally falls 40 days after Easter, which is a Thursday. It used to be a holy day of obligation, but the celebration has been moved to the following Sunday, the seventh Sunday of Easter.
When Jesus ascended into heaven, he told the apostles to wait on the Holy Spirit to come upon them. They stayed and prayed for 9 days until Pentecost Sunday, making the first novena.
The ascension of Jesus is the 2nd glorious mystery of the rosary!
Calendar 2022-2023
The calendar for the next school year has been agreed with St. Mary’s BNS. Please keep it for your own reference. You can also access the calendar through the free Text-a-Parent App.
School Calendar 2022-2023
Term 1 begins Thursday, 1st September 2022
Hallowe’en Closed Mon. 31st Oct to Fri. 4th Nov
School re-opens Monday 7th November
Last day Term 1 Wednesday 21st December
Christmas Holidays School closed Thursday 22nd Dec. to Wed 4th Jan. 2023
Term 2 begins Thursday 5th January 2023
Bank Holiday School closed Monday February 6th
Mid-Term Break School closed Thursday 16th and Friday 17th February
St. Patrick’s Day School closed Friday 17th March
Last day Term 2 Friday 31st March
Easter Holidays School closed Monday 3rd April to Friday 14th April
Term 3 begins Monday 17th April
May Bank Holiday School closed Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd May
June Bank Holiday School closed Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th June
Last day of school year Wednesday 28th June
First to Sixth Class 2022-2023
Today, the children who will be in First to Sixth Classes next September, will bring home a Book Rental Contract. Our Book Rental Scheme covers the cost of all text books, extra reading materials and resources, and access to online learning platforms. We are keeping costs to an absolute minimum and we encourage everyone to participate. This year, we have moved to an online payment system which we hope will be much more convenient for parents. So, what do you need to do next?
In the next day or so, you will receive an email with details of how you can register on the Databiz Portal (www.databizsolutions.ie) to take part in the Book Rental scheme.
Once you have registered, you will receive a request to make an online payment.
Make the payment.
Sign the Book Rental Contract that your child brings home today and return it to her teacher.
This is a new system for all of us, so if you have any trouble, please contact the school office on 051-832984.
Fun Sports Day
Our school Fun Sports Day will take place (weather permitting) on Friday June 10th in the school grounds.Due to the cost of hiring buses, we have decided not to book any school tours this year. So, to make our Sports Day a little more fun, we have hired some inflatable activities that the girls can enjoy, together with the usual Sports Day events. To cover the costs, we are asking each child to contribute €3. This may be sent to your child’s teacher any time before June 10th. Unfortunately, this year, we cannot invite parents to join us for the day but we know the girls will have lots of fun.
Calendar 2022-2023
The school calendar for 2022-2023 has been agreed with St. Mary’s BNS. It will be published in our school newsletter on Thursday. Please check the School Bell tab on www.goodcounselgns.ie on Thursday 26th May.
Over the past few weeks, Senior Infants have been learning about the sun, the moon and the stars. We have made sun and moon mobiles and followed a video online to draw some awesome astronauts. The girls really enjoyed doing splatter painting to create their galaxies.
The girls had great fun last week doing wonderful activities for Friendship and Wellbeing week. Each day they did a new activity like mindfulness colouring, making Friendship bracelets and dressing up in bright colours.
In Aistear, the girls were working on the theme of shopping. They were building shops, role playing at the shop, taking a trip to the jewellery shop for those lovely friendship bracelets and best of all, taking a trip to the bakery to make bread and cakes. We enjoyed this day best of all.
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.
Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS is a Catholic Primary School for girls. Our school is committed to fostering the development of the whole person, in partnership with parents and guided by Christian values and principles, in an environment that is happy, caring and enriching.
A School Creed This is our school. Let peace dwell here, Let the rooms be full of contentment, Let love abide here, Love of one another, Love of mankind, Love of life itself, And love of God. Let us remember That, as many hands build a house, So many hearts make a school.
Traditional (Source: The Works 2 – B. Moses and P. Corbett – Macmillan)
Curriculum
Our School Plan for teaching and learning is derived from The Revised Primary School Curriculum (Curaclam na Bunscoile), which was implemented by the Department of Education and Skills in 1999.
It consists of the following subjects:
Languages
English, Gaeilge
Mathematics
Social, Environmental and Scientific Education (SESE)
History, Geography and Science
Arts Education
Visual Arts, Music, Drama
Physical Education
Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE)
Relationships and Sexuality Education, The Stay Safe Programme, Walk Tall
Religious Education
All of these subject areas are taught from Junior Infants to Sixth Class.
Each teacher draws up a Yearly Plan for the children in her/his care. Every fortnight, teachers develop a Short Term plan from the Yearly Plan and at the end of every month, teachers report on progress to the Principal.
If you would like more information on the Revised Primary School Curriculum, please go to www.curriculumonline.ie
