Dear Parents/Guardians,
Term 3 has been an exciting term so far: Thanks to Fr Bogdan and Fr PJ for a lovely celebration of First Communion. Well done to Ms Shanley and Mr O’Sullivan for preparing the girls so well. Refreshments after in the hall were very much appreciated—great work by Parents Association and all the volunteers.
ANNUAL SPORTS DAY was a lovely sunny day with the GREEN team taking home the medals. Well done Ms Diggin and her volunteers for another well organised and very enjoyable day.
ICE CREAM DAY on the same date was well supported and a donation of €320 was made to Downs Syndrome Ireland. Ms Heffernan class, ably supported by a crew of parents, served an ice cream to everyone in the school in about 15 minutes. MUST BE A RECORD!
What a great night out we had as 5th and 6th classes represented us in Citywest in National Children’s Choir, Kildare Region. It’s such an honour that the conductor, Ms Ní Loinn, is from OUR school. Praise to all the teachers involved—Ms Diggin, Ms Soden, Ms Mahon and Ms Grimes for their commitment and enthusiasm. And to all the staff members who volunteered to help on the night— Many thanks.
Santry Track and Field—our athletes from 3rd to 6th classes in new singlets (sponsored by Parents Association) represented us well in the Primary School Sports.
Great Skipping Workshop was held over two days—wonderful to see the children showing off their skipping skills in the yard.
Watch out for our Desk to 1k, 2k, etc later in the month ….you are welcome to join in ….just bring your runners.
International Day
You might have seen our display of flags in the entrance hall—flags of countries from which our parents come. There is also a jigsaw display in the hall which you can watch out for on your visits.
Representatives of the following countries have expressed interest in taking part in our International exhibition: Australia, Brazil, Germany, Holland, India, Israel, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Scotland, South Africa, Surinam.
What will be needed: items from your country such as a flag, notes or coins, a doll, a picture book for children, photos, national costume, HELLO, WELCOME and GOODBYE signs in your language, and anything else you can think of.
Any one else who might be interested in participating would be more than welcome ANYONE out there from Ireland????
Congratulations
Well done to young author Hanna Maria Owczarek who travelled to Athy on 3rd May to receive a Cecil Day Lewis Literary Award for her story “Marmalade”.
Well done to Tolu Shogunle who won first prize in the Yoruba Got Talent which was held Dublin; Tolu also won the Glenroyal Colouring Competition—dinner for 4—sounds great AND delicious.
Margaret Lundy from Moyglare Styud will present prizes to the winners of this year’s Moyglare Art Competition:
- 1st – Lilian Okeke
- 2nd – Leah McGrath
- 3rd – Vivienne Gantley
on Tuesday 9th June at around 11am.
Upcoming Events For Your Calendar
June
- 3rd RECORDER RECITAL 1st—6th classes 9.15am
- 4th SANTRY TRACK EVENTS
- 10th INTERNATIONAL DAY 1.00—2.45pm
- 12th PIANO RECITAL 9.15-10.15am
- 19th FUN RUN DAY (Desk—1km for Jun to2nd; Desk—2km for 3rd + 4th; Desk to 3km for 5th + 6th Parent welcome to run with us.
- 23rd GRADUATION MASS
SCHOOL TOURS – you will receive notification of destination and price from class teachers. Please note times of departure/return and requisites child needs for the day. Please let teacher know of any medical conditions that may require attention.
Class Allocation & Reports
This is a busy time of year for staff as classes are organised for next year. You have already returned “friendship” notes. Having a friend in the class is extremely important to children socially. However it is also important that children make “new” friends.
Children have just completed Standardised Tests in English and Maths. Scores on those tests are only one of the indicators we use to plot your child’s progress; we also take attitude to work, independence, maturity, group-work and flair into account. In accordance with our Policy of Allocating class places we look at these yard-sticks to ensure that all our classes are of mixed ability. We try to alternate the years that children are in straight/multigrade classes as children benefit differently from both.
Some of your children may be with teachers who are job sharing. We have had job sharing teachers for the last 10 years and it has been very successful. This year there will be 2 sets of jobsharers. A meeting to answer questions about job sharing will be held after reports are delivered.
I plan to post reports on the 15th June. Reports are a private communiqué between parents and teacher. We wouldn’t dream of publicly announcing the children’s results. However in the last few years parents are broadcasting and comparing the results and causing a lot of needless anxiety for children.
I would suggest PRAISING and APPRECIATING your children’s efforts. You might also take on board the teachers’ suggestions on the report about how you can help your child at home.
Summer Holiday
Holidays will begin at 12.00 on Friday 26th June.
School reopens on Monday 31st August at 9.00 (9.30 for new Junior Infants).