1st February 2018
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Today the 1st of February we celebrate the Christian celebration of. St Brigid’s day Spring has finally sprung and we are looking forward to longer and brighter days in the weeks ahead as we welcome in the Spring!
In our newsletter, we would like to bring you up to date with what’s happening in the school this week. Our fifth and sixth classes had workshops in Anti- Bullying yesterday, facilitated by Helena Murphy Anti-Bullying unit DCU. The workshops were very interactive and children engaged very well with the content. All aspects of bullying including cyberbullying, staying safe on line etc. were discussed. Feedback was very positive from classes and we hope it has supplemented the ongoing work we do as a school to guide and support children in how to recognise and deal with bullying situations. We are planning to organise similar workshops for our 2nd-4th classes and an evening session for our school community in the near future. More details to follow.
Green Schools
Our school has begun working towards our third Green Flag. Our theme will be ‘Water and the important resource it is . Today our Green team reps from fifth and Sixth classes [ Neil, Jack, Christine , Sumeya] with Sarah will take part in an interactive ‘Water’ forum in Tallaght as part of the Green Schools programme. We hope they will bring back many new ideas to inspire our classes as they begin to explore this theme.
South Dublin libraries Quiz
This Friday Joel, Roisin, Leah and Jack [ fifth classes] and Oisin, James, Max and Ethan [Sixth] will test their general knowledge against teams from local Primary Schools when they take part in the School libraries quiz competition at Lucan library. This is a first for the school and we wish them the best of luck and hope they enjoy the challenge. !
Cross Country
The first of our cross country races will take place in Griffeen Valley park on Wednesday next February 7th starting at 11.00 a.m.! This series of three races organised by South Dublin County Council has been a great motivator for children to train over the winter months. Trials are taking place this week and we will be selecting a team for Wednesday based on the trials. Once again, all of the children have been fantastic in their commitment to getting fit and in giving up their lunch break to come to the park to train and we have seen huge improvements over the weeks. Thank you so much to our Staff for their support in bringing the children to the park during their lunch breaks. Please join us in Griffeen Valley Park on Wednesday to cheer on the children. Warm clothes and rain gear are advised! We wish all our children taking part all the thrills of cross country running in this first challenge of the season.
SPHE programme.
The R.S.E programme [ Relationships and Sexuality education] will be taught in all classes next week. Your child will have brought home a letter this week with information on the R.S.E programme and the lesson content for your child’s class level. Please take the time to read the information prior to the programme being taught in your child’s class so that you can engage with your child in discussing lessons or in answering any questions they may have. Your child’s class teacher is available to answer any questions you may have in relation to the programme for your child’s class.
The R. S.E and the Stay Safe programme are part of the Social, Personal and Health Education curriculum[SPHE] taught in all Primary schools, This year the content of the Stay Safe Programme has been reviewed with stories and scenarios to reflect a changing society. This programme will be taught later in this school year. Staff will have inservice in the new programme and we will be organising a Parents information evening on the revised programme, prior to the lessons being taught. We will keep you updated.
On Tuesday February 13th and 14th we will have a special event for all classes. Star Dome is a planetarium that has been developed to inspire an appreciation and wonder of the night sky and to create a fun, memorable learning experience for all audiences. The dome will be set up in the school hall and all classes will have a workshop of approx. 30mins [Juniors] 40 mins[seniors.] Classes will observe the daytime and night time sky, identifying sun, moon, planets, stars and constellations. The children are already very excited and looking forward to the experience which is part of our overall efforts to further promote the science curriculum this school year. Thank you to Yvonne 1st Class who has organised this event for us.
We are asking each child to bring in €3 towards the cost of the planetarium.
We would appreciate very much if you could send this in to your child’s class teacher over the coming days. Many thanks for your support.
Very best wishes for a great Springtime ahead.
Yours sincerely
Mary
