Let it Snow!
Dear Dads, Mams, Pupils and Staff,
What an exciting time we’ve had since our last ‘School Bell’. We had an unplanned break from school and it has been great to hear all the news from the girls about the fun that they had in the snow.
The snow meant some very hard work for our Caretaker, Mark. He was here every day keeping an eye on the building and the grounds to make sure that everything was okay. Last Sunday, Mark was here shovelling snow to clear a path to the school door and through the car park so that we could re-open on Monday. On behalf of the school community, I want to say a huge THANK YOU to Mark, Jean and David for their time and hard work on Sunday.
I would also like to thank all of our Mums and Dads for your co-operation with our ‘Stop, Drop and Go’ system earlier this week. It kept traffic moving smoothly so maybe there is a little lesson in there for the future.
Most importantly, all the girls are safe and well and we were all delighted to be back at school on Monday.
Yours sincerely,
____________________
C. O’Reilly – Principal
World Book Day
The girls have made a wonderful effort to dress up for World Book Day today. We have enjoyed sharing our favourite books and talking about the characters in the books. Each girl received a World Book Day token which she can use in any participating book shop. Check out our last ‘School Bell’ for a list of the books that you can buy.
Text a Parent News – the App is faster!
Text-a-Parent is the service that we use to contact you to share news of important or urgent events. Last week, messages were sent out regularly to keep you up to date. There was a huge volume of messages going through the system all over the country and as a result there was a delay in some cases. Anyone who has downloaded the TEXT A PARENT APP seems to have received the messages much faster than those who are still using the SMS system so it is advisable to download the app to your phone (Apple or Android). It is free and it is available from https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app .
www.goodcounselgns.com
Our school website was very popular last week. Teachers were busy uploading lots of ideas to the Class Blogs to keep the girls occupied while the school was closed. All the work had a fun element but it was based on the curriculum so that the girls would not miss out on learning. The ‘Latest News’ tab was also updated regularly.
If you haven’t already checked it out, why not have a look at our school’s website? It will give you an insight into the wonderful variety of work that happens here at Good Counsel every day. Remember, there is also a Translate button on the website so that you family and friends around the school can check in and see what school life is like in Ireland.
School Closures
No doubt you have heard lots of discussion in the news about schools ‘making up’ for the days lost due to the snow. This is a decision for each school’s Board of Management (BOM). Our school’s Board met this week and discussed the matter. Having considered the implications to parents, pupils and staff, planned work placements and planned events, the Board has decided that any changes to the published school calendar for this school year would cause further unnecessary disruption. The Board has every confidence that the teaching staff and the children will work hard during the remainder of the school year to ensure that the curriculum is covered by the end of June 2018. Therefore, the school will not be opening during the Easter holidays or during any other planned closure.
One other little piece of news from the BOM – Michael O’Brien has stepped down as a Community Rep. to the Board. Our new Community Rep. is Pat O’Driscoll. We send sincere thanks to Michael for his commitment to the school over many years and we are delighted to welcome Pat.
Welcoming Our New Bishop
Our new school Patron, Monsignor Dermot Farrell will be ordained as Bishop of Ossory on Sunday next 11th March. We’ve been told that Ferrybank will be the first parish that Bishop Dermot visits for Confirmation so that will be a special event for the girls in Sixth Class. We are asked to pray for Bishop Dermot as he takes on this new role.
Intercultural Friendship Week
Next week we will celebrate friendship and the many cultures that make up our school community. We will have stories in various languages, some lovely activities to remind us what friendship is all about, a Costumes and Colours Day and of course, our very own St. Patrick’s Day Parade. We will keep you informed through the website so check in regularly on the Latest News tab.
Girl Power
Today is International Women’s Day – a good day to remind ourselves that our girls are the women of the future. Girls, be proud of who you are, respect yourself and everyone you meet and remember that with a little hard work, you can be anything you want to be.
We wish a very Happy Mother’s Day to all our Mams, Grannies and the special women in our lives who look after us.
Dates for Calendar
1st St. David’s Day
5th St. Kieran’s Day
6th Independence Day Ghana
8th Women’s Day
11th Mother’s Day
12th National Day Mauritius
16th School Parade
17th St. Patrick’s Day
18th Peace Proms Concert
19th Bank Holiday
21st International Day Against Racism
23rd School Closing @ 12.30
25th Palm Sunday
29th Holy Thursday
30th Good Friday
Passover
31st Holy Saturday
Hanuman Jayanti
