We’ve had a lovely return to school after the Easter holidays and have returned to our first shoots showing.
Each girl planted a different type of flower before the holidays and will now have to water and mind their plants to help them to grow.
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
Welcome back to school for the final term of the 2021-2022 year. We have had a busy start this week with the girls participating in outdoor activities such as cycling, basketball and camogie. Well done to our Camogie team who played an away match against Kill NS on Wednesday and thank you very much to the staff members who give their time (and their lunchbreaks) so willingly to give the girls the opportunity to play sports.
Last Tuesday was the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel. The story of the painting of Our Lady is on the Latest News tab of the website. Two terrific readers from Sixth Class shared the story with us over the school’s intercom system – thank you girls. We are also celebrated Poetry Day Ireland this week and I am looking forward to reading the many poems that the girls have submitted for our annual Poetry Competition. I will share some of their wonderful work with you at a later date.
For your reference, here are the planned closures for the rest of the school year. The calendar for next year will be published as soon as it has been agreed.
Term 3 begins April 25th
May Bank Holiday School closed Mon. May 2nd
June Bank Holiday School closed Mon. June 6th
School year ends Fri. 24th June 2022
May Our Lady of Good Counsel guide each and every one of us through a safe, happy term full of learning and fun.
Yours sincerely,
C. O’Reilly – Principal
What To Do If You or Your Child Has a Problem
Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, a problem will arise that needs to be sorted out. In our school, we follow the nationally agreed procedure for dealing with any concerns or problems and even though times are different right now, the procedure still applies. Conversations may now need to be held over the phone, and if necessary, we can arrange meetings in a manner that keeps everyone safe, but we can still work things out. Thankfully, it is our experience, that we very rarely need to go past No. 1 or No. 2 as most problems can be sorted out quickly when adults can have a reasonable conversation with each other. So, if you or your child has a problem, this is what you need to do:
1. Make an appointment to speak with the class teacher. To do this, call the school office on 051 832984. Problems will not be addressed by email.
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
2. Make an appointment to speak with the school principal. To do this, call the school office on 051 832984.
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
3. Make an appointment to speak with the chairperson of the Board of Management. To do this, call the school office on 051 832984.
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
4. Lodge a complaint in writing with the chairperson of the Board of Management
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
5. Chairperson makes a formal report to the Board of Management
6. The Board determines whether or not the complaint is substantiated.
Problem solved? Yes – procedure finished No – Go to next step
7. The Board conducts an investigation
The Board makes a decision and informs the parent/guardian and the person against whom the complaint was made in writing of its decision. The decision of the Board shall be final.
May, the month of Mary
Can you believe that it is already time to set up our school May Altar? This is a beautiful tradition that has been part of our school for many years, and the girls always make a great effort to bring flowers for Our Lady. All the classes will take turns looking after the Altar.
Week beginning May 3rdth: Junior Infants and Third Class
Week beginning May 9th: Senior Infants and Fourth Class
Week beginning May 16th: First Class and Fifth Class
Week beginning May 23rd: Second Class and Sixth Class
There is no need to buy any flowers. If everyone brings one or two blooms from the garden or a bunch of wildflowers, they will be just beautiful. As our school is dedicated to Our Lady, our May Altar is a lovely way to honour her. Sixth Class will lead a special Assembly tomorrow for the month of May.
‘Mary, our mother, the Lord is with you.
Guide us, protect us, in all that we do.’
Eid Mubarak
We wish a happy and holy day to all the families in our school community who will celebrate Eid next Monday and Tuesday. Eid comes at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. We are full of admiration for the girls in our school who have been fasting during Ramadan and we hope that you enjoy celebrating with your families. Check out this little video where four children explain Ramadan and Eid in their own words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OF4HEGNBRQ Eid Mubarak!
Give It a Try!
Waterpark Rugby Club on TUesday May 3rd @ 6p.m. Under 8 to under 14 year old girls welcome. Scan the QR code below to register.
Well done to all the girls who researched and presented their projects in recent weeks. The topic of our project was Ireland. We used child friendly websites for information and images for each county. We have learned so much about the beautiful country we live in. Fantastic work girls!
A Mhuire na Dea-Chomhairle, Guí Orainn
Today, April 26th, is a very special day for our school. It is the feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Our Lady of Good Counsel watches over our school and she also watches over all of us. The word ‘counsel’ means ‘advice’. Our Lady of Good Counsel is ready to listen to our problems and to give us good advice.
The picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel shows Mary holding her son, the baby Jesus. The story of the original painting of Our Lady of Good Counsel goes back to the 15th Century.
At that time the people of Albania were devoted to Our Lady and they prayed to her for help when they were in trouble. In 1467, the Turks invaded Albania. Two men were running away from the Turkish army and they stopped at a church to pray. They knelt in front of a picture of Our Lady and asked for her help. To their surprise, the picture suddenly floated off the wall and out of the church.
It is said that the men followed the picture all the way to Rome, in Italy, where the picture suddenly disappeared. Around the same time, the people in a small town near Rome were building a new church. On April 25th, everyone gathered in the town square to celebrate the Feast of Saint Mark.
At about four o’clock in the afternoon, in the middle of all the celebrations, the crowd saw a cloud coming down over the unfinished church. The bells of the church began to ring by themselves and beautiful music was heard. The crowd fell silent and the cloud parted. There was the picture of Our Lady. The painting came to rest in the church and if you visit the town of Genazzano, you can still see it there today.
The painting was named after the church, and became known as Our Lady of Good Counsel. The words on the painting mean: “Most Holy Mother of Good Counsel, pray for us to Jesus your Son.” The Pope decided that the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel should be celebrated on April 26th so that it would not clash with the feast of Saint Mark.
It’s time to make some small changes to how we have been operating the school since September 2020. We are taking things slowly and will review again before the June Bank Holiday.
So, what will be different from April 25th onwards?
Morning Drop Off: School staff will be outside to greet the children from 9.10a.m. until 9.20a.m. on dry mornings, and from 9.10a.m. until 9.30a.m. on wet mornings. As we move into the summer term, we encourage the girls to walk/scoot/cycle safely to school.
Roll Call: The roll will be marked in all classes at 9.30a.m. and anyone coming to school after that time will be recorded as a late arrival. (Morning activities such as Meditation, Silent Reading, etc. may be underway by 9. 20a.m.in the senior end of the school and if this is the case, the girls will be expected to say a simple ‘Excuse Me’ or ‘Gabh mo leithscéal’ to the teacher if they arrive after that time.)
Pods: Classes will still be arranged in Pods but the girls will now be able to move between Pods for certain activities in and out of the classroom e.g. Guided Reading, Maths Groups
Hand hygiene, cough etiquette and ventilation will continue as usual, and we would ask any parent/guardian who needs to visit the school to wear a mask/face covering.
Staggered breaks will continue for now with each class having its own area in the yard for playtime.
Afternoon Pick Up: This will continue as usual. Junior Infants @ 1.45p.m. Senior Infants @ 1.50p.m First and Second Classes @ 2.45p.m. Third to Sixth Classes @ 2.50p.m.
Please be aware that supervision is not provided before 9.10a.m. or after 2.50p.m.
Thank you for your on-going support and co-operation as we work together to keep the girls and the staff safe.
Online Payments System
Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS has set up an on-line payment system via Databiz to facilitate payments for the Book Rental Scheme, art, craft and photocopying etc. This will make it easier for parents/guardians when making payments and we hope to begin using it in early May.
Your support in using this facility is very much appreciated. It is important to ensure we have the correct phone numbers and email addresses to allow the system to work well. Please contact the office if you wish to update your contact details on 051 832984 or email Tracey to secretary.ferrybankgns@gmail.com Thank you.
Well Done!
A huge ‘Well Done!’ to the Ferrybank u7 Team who took part in a hurling blitz last weekend. 7 out of the 9 girls on the team are Good Counsel Girls. We’ve been told that they were the talk of the tournament with their skills and competitiveness against mainly all-boys teams. Keep up the great work – Saoirse, Amber, Maelíosa, Zoey, Lauren, Evie, and Ella.
Coaching continues for the under 7’s at 10a.m. in the Ferrybank GAA grounds – all are welcome
Kindness
We have had some lovely acts of kindness from parents over the last couple of weeks, kindness towards pupils and towards the staff. You know who you are, and your thoughtfulness is very much appreciated.
Poetry Day Ireland
Girls, Poetry Day Ireland will take place on April 28th. Take some time over the Easter Break to come up with ideas for a poem. We will have our school Poetry Competition in the week after the Easter break. You can write a poem about anything or you can stick with the theme for this year, which is Written in the Stars https://www.poetryireland.ie/poetry-day/
Congratulations
We send our warmest congratulations to Mr. Dooley who has been appointed to the position of Principal of Ballyneale NS. Thankfully, Mr. Dooley will remain at Good Counsel GNS until the end of this school year and will take up his new role in September.
Can you believe it’s Easter already. And with the comes our final term in 6th Class.
Once again the girls have been up to a multitude of different topics. In Maths the girls were learning about 3D shapes using some fun ways to learn about polyhedra and platonic polyhedra. The girls were set a challenge to make lots of different polyhedra using cocktail sticks and marshmallows. There might have been a tasting at the end!
Some of the girls have been representing our school in Camogie. Mr. Dooley is the team manager and here are some of the players from 6th Class about to head off to their first game.
Finally, we are delighted to have welcomed our new pupil Diana. The girls have been so kind and caring towards her and she is very happy in our class. We wish her the best of luck in our school. I received a painting from her which meant so much that I feel I should share with everyone.
I wish everyone a very Happy Easter from Mrs. Power and all of 6th Class.
