School Calendar 2019-2020
Dear Mums, Dads, Pupils and Staff,
The school calendar for 2019-2020 has been agreed between St. Mary’s BNS and Our Lady of Good Counsel GNS. We are publishing the calendar now so that it will help you to plan family time and holidays during school closures.
Please keep a copy of the calendar for your own reference. Closures are also listed on the Text-a-Parent calendar so if you have not already done so, and you’d like to have the calendar to hand, please download the free App from https://app.textaparent.ie/get/app.
Term 1 begins Monday 2nd September 2019
Hallowe’en Break Closed Monday 28th October – Friday 1st November inclusive
School re-opens Monday 4th November
Christmas Closed Monday 23rd December to Friday 3rd January 2020 inclusive
Term 2 begins Monday 6th January 2020
Mid-Term Break Thursday 20th and Friday 21st February
St. Patrick’s Day Closed Monday 16th March
Closed Tuesday 17th March (Public Holiday)
Easter Break Closed Monday 6th April to Friday 17th April inclusive
Term 3 begins Monday 20th April
May Bank Holiday Closed Monday 4th May
June Bank Holiday Closed Friday 29th May
Closed Monday 1st June
School year ends on Friday 26th June 2020
Yours sincerely,
_____________________________
C. O’Reilly –Principal
End of Year Reports
In the week beginning June 17th, you will receive an End of Year Report Card for your child through the post. Please let the School Office know if you have changed your address recently. If you do not receive a Report Card by Wednesday 19th June, please contact the School Office immediately on 051-832984.
School Self-Evaluation
Over the last number of months, we have been working on improving the girls’ writing skills. Junior Infants, First Class, Third Class and Fifth Class have been learning how to write Narrative Texts (Stories) and Senior Infants, Second Class, Fourth Class and Sixth Class have been working on Report Writing. The girls have put a lot of effort into improving their own work and we are delighted with the outcomes.
It is very obvious that the children who read more, find it easier to write and produce better pieces of writing. So, one way to help your child to become a better writer, is to encourage her to read more. For the younger children who are still developing their reading skills, it is important for them to hear adults read to them on a daily basis. To keep the interest in reading going over the summer break, why not take on the Summer Stars Reading Challenge in Ferrybank Library?
Do You Enjoy a Challenge?
Once again, the annual Summer Reading Challenge (Summer Stars) will run in Ferrybank Library.
This challenge encourages children to read a minimum of 8 books through the summer holiday period. We invite children to come along to the library with a parent to sign up anytime from Saturday 15th June. Once registered, they receive a card to record their progress. Children can read whatever they like – fact or fiction, as long as the books are borrowed from the Library! After reading 4 books, a drawstring bag will be rewarded, and on completion, a certificate and prize will be awarded. The challenge ends on 31stAugust. Last year 157 children completed the challenge in Ferrybank Library. Let’s see if we can do better this year!
Basketball Blitz
Up to 50 girls from 4th, 5th and 6th Classes took part in the after-school basketball lessons during this term. Fantastic! When the lessons were finished, the teachers organised a basketball blitz for all the girls who had taken part. Matches were played at lunchtime and last week, we had a very exciting final. The two teams showed off their new skills and they had great support from all the spectators. Congratulations to the winning team and we will have a little surprise for you at this week’s Assembly. We’d like to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to Mrs. Burke, Miss Kissane and Mr. Dooley who gave up their time after school to organise the lessons, and their lunchbreaks to run the competition.
Health and Wellbeing Week
Ms. Finucane has been busy planning a celebration of Health and Wellbeing which will run from Monday June 17th to Friday June 21st. Each day we will focus on a different aspect(s) of wellbeing – physical, emotional, environmental, intellectual and spiritual. At the heart of the wellbeing wheel is our own responsibility to keep ourselves content and well, both physically and mentally.
Some days are better
Some days are worse
Look for the blessing
Instead of the curse.
Be positive, stay strong,
And get enough rest.
I can’t do it all,
But I can do my best.
Eid-ul-Fitr
The end of Ramadan is marked by a big celebration called ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’, the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast. This year, Eid took place on June 3rd and 4th and we hope that everyone in our school community who was celebrating Eid, had a very special time with family and friends. We wish you a Happy Eid, Eid Mubarak.
Attendance Award
The Attendance Award for the month of May goes to Fifth Class with an attendance rate of 97.59%. They were closed followed by Sixth Class on 96.91% and Third Class with 94.68%. At the end of June we will see which class has the best overall attendance for the full school year – it is very close at the moment with less than 1% between the best two classes!
Bringing Up Happy Healthy Children
As a follow on to our recent Healthy Families workshop, St Brigid’s Family & Community Centre and Parents Plus are organising a 4 week ‘Bringing up Happy, Healthy & Active Children’ Parenting Programme for parents starting Thursday 30th May. The ‘Bringing up Happy, Healthy & Active Children’ is most relevant to parents of children from 3 years up to 10 years of age. Parents are very welcome to attend all four workshops of the Programme or if this isn’t possible parents can attend any one or more of the workshops. There is no charge for the Programme. The Programme takes place in St Brigid’s Children Centre, Hennessy’s Road (not Yellow Road).
If you have any queries or would like more information on the Programme, please feel free to call on 051 375261.
