Your School
Dear Mams, Dads, Pupils and Staff,

We need your help to make sure that our school grounds are a safe place for all the children. Over the last few weeks, groups of young people have been coming onto the school grounds, particularly at the weekends. They have left litter and broken glass on the yards and last weekend they attempted to break into Mark’s shed. The Gardaí have been notified and they will be patrolling the area.
If you are passing the school and there are people on the grounds who should not be there, please call the Gardaí.

Yours sincerely,

______________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal

Catholic Schools Week
Catholic Schools Week 2018 will take place all over Ireland next week. This year, the theme for the week is Catholic Schools: Families of Faith. Each day, we will focus on a different aspect of the theme
Monday – Our Family at Home
Tuesday – Our School Family
Wednesday – Grandparents: A Special Part of Our Family
Thursday – Our Parish Family
Friday – Our World Family
As part of our celebrations, one class will attend the 10 o’clock Mass in the Parish Church each day from Monday to Thursday (Monday 2nd Class, Tuesday 3rd Class, Wednesday 4th Class, Thursday 5th Class). On Friday 2nd February, the whole school will go to the Church for a special Prayer Service to mark the end of Catholic Schools Week.
You are very welcome to join us for Mass any day during the week. Grandparents are especially welcome on Wednesday morning. We would be delighted if as many of you as possible could come to the Prayer service at 11.30 on Friday morning.
Welcome
We are delighted to welcome Ms. Lena Sexton to our school. Ms. Seton is a past pupil and she is currently doing her placement as a student teacher with Mrs. Ryan’s Senior Infants. Ms. Sexton will complete her placement with Miss Cunniffe’s First Class in a few weeks’ time.
Next week, another past pupil, Melanie Emeribe will join us for her Transition Year Work Placement.
It is always a lovely experience for us to have our past pupils back here at the school. We hope that Ms. Sexton and Melanie will enjoy their time with us and that they will find it a worthwhile experience.
Reminder
The girls have made a great effort to be on time for school this year, so let’s keep up the good work until the end of this term.
School hours are as follows: 9.20a.m. – 2p.m. Junior and Senior Infants, 9.20a.m. – 3p.m. First Class to Sixth Class. The girls are expected to be in their lines in the yard when the bell rings at 9.20a.m. Anyone arriving after 9.20a.m. is considered late for school. Supervision is not provided before or after school hours so pupils are the responsibility of their parents outside of these times.
On wet mornings, the roll call will not be taken until 9.40a.m. The double doors will open as usual at 9.20a.m. so this allows 20 minutes assembly time for the children, plenty of time for them to come in, change their shoes and be seated in their classrooms for the roll call, without any need to stand outside in the yard. Children not present for the Roll Call will be marked absent. The Register may not be changed once it has been marked.

Allergies
Thank you very much for your support of our policy of no nut products throughout the school. This includes anything containing nuts, such as peanut butter or Nutella. As you know, this policy is in place because we have some pupils who have severe allergies to nuts. We appreciate your help in keeping all the girls safe and well.
Parent/Teacher Meetings
Parent/ Teacher Meetings will take place in the school during the week beginning Monday 5th February. You will receive an invitation to meet with your child’s teacher so keep an eye out for a letter next week.
Congratulations
Congratulations to Miss Anderson’s Fourth Class who won the December monthly award for Best Attendance. I know that the girls made it their aim to win the award in December and their efforts paid off. Well done! Which class will win the award for January? Read next month’s School Bell to find out.
Have You Downloaded Yet?
The Text-a-Parent App is available to download, free, from https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app When you use the app, the cost of sending a text message to you from the school is halved! Thank you to everyone who has already downloaded.
New Year Celebrations
This month in our Interfaith Space we are looking at how the various faiths celebrate New Year. Here is a little quiz for you girls. See how many answers you can find by reading the information in the Interfaith Space.

1. On what date did Advent begin?
_______________________________________________________________________
2. Name three things that Jewish people eat during Rosh Hashannah
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What is Muharram?
_______________________________________________________________________
4. On what date will Diwali begin in 2018?
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬_______________________________________________________________________
5. Which faith may celebrate New Year in February, March or April?
_______________________________________________________________________

Well Done
A huge WELL DONE to Ms. Finucane and the Green Flag Committee for preparing so well for the Green Flag Assessment. Ella Ryan visited the school today to carry out the assessment for our 7th Green Flag and she was very impressed. We look forward to hearing some good news very soon!
Getting Active
The Active Flag Committee, led by Miss Anderson, is getting everyone moving. The lunch time hockey skills programme is very popular with all the girls.
Each class is working on improving their fitness by completing an Active Pyramid. Every time the whole class jogs a lap of the yard, they may colour in one triangle on the pyramid.
Dates for Your Diary
1st New Year’s Day
6th Epiphany
8th Term 2 begins
12th Little Red Kettle
14th World Day of Migrants and Refugees
18th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
22nd Vasant Panchami
26th Australia Day
29th Catholic Schools Week begins
BOM Mtg.