Dear Parents,
Comprehension Strategy, Writing Genre and PE Strand
We are taking a whole school approach to writing genres and comprehension strategies. This month we will focus on ‘Narrative’ and ‘Procedure’ as our writing genre. ‘Inferring’ will be our comprehension strategy. Diarmuid O’Brien’s class will display some of their impressive samples of ‘Recount’ writing in our hall this week. His class wrote about an invention or an animal of their choice. Our new PE strand for boys this month will be ‘dance’. We look forward to seeing Ms. Donovan’s third class work at the end of March.
Readalong fundraiser
Our ‘Readalong’ fundraiser closes on the 9th March. Our school secretary circulated an online payment link. Robert McKillop from Mr. Clandillon’s sixth class and Faami Hossain from Ms. Killane’s senior infant class and Ms. Russell’s Oasis class read stories from their class readers on the intercom. Robert read ‘A Case Study on Volcanoes’ and Fammi read from his class reader. Other classes have been engaging in some DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time at 12.15pm each day. Many thanks to Ms. Donnelly, Ms. Russell and Ms. Brennan for all their help organising this initiative.
First Confession for second class boys this evening in St. Mary’s Church at 8pm
Best of luck to our second class boys who will make their First Confession in St. Mary’s Church at 8pm. I am looking forward to seeing the boys in their school ties this evening. Thanks to Ms. Walsh, Ms. Staunton and Mr. Walsh.
World Book Day
Thanks to all the boys who made a big effort to dress up as their favourite book character today. It was great to mark a special day in the school calendar.
Book Fair
Our Scholastic Book Fair started today and will run until Monday 6th March. The fair takes place in the hall and it created a great buzz in school today. Each class will have an allocated time to attend with their teacher during the school day. They may buy and/or order books during this time. Please check the following link to give you an idea of the price of the books on offer: https://bookfairs.scholastic.ie/bookcases
Note: Orders can only be placed on books that have been fully paid for. Please take note of the day that your son is attending as per the timetable below. The Book Fair will be open to parents on Thursday 2nd, Friday 3rd and Monday 6th at the following times:
Morning 8.30 am- 9.30 am
Afternoon 2.00 pm -3.00 pm
As a result of the success of the Scholastic Book Fair, many classes have been able to replenish and/or add to their classroom libraries in the past few years. We are looking forward to a fun week which will further encourage boys to read more books and get really involved in this year’s Readalong. Thanks to Mr. Dineen and his sixth class boys for helping to run this initiative.
Bodhrán Buzz
Our fifth and sixth classes took part in a bodhrán workshop on Tuesday as part of our upcoming Seachtain na Gaeilge. There was an amazing beat coming from the school hall. Please check our Facebook page for photos and video of this event. Thanks to Ms. Brennan for organising this event.
Seachtain na Gaeilge
We are very excited about celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge fom Monday 6th to Thursday 16th March. This would be a great opportunity to practice some Irish at home. Please find attached a useful guide to using Irish at home in a fun and simple way.
Beidh Seachtain na Gaeilge ag tosnú ar an Luain seo chugainn. Ba mhaith linn rudaí éagsúla a dhéanamh le haghaidh na coicís ar scoil. Béimid ag roghnú ‘Gaeilgeóir na Seachtaine’ ó gach rang agus beidh duais bheag agus teastas againn dóibh ar an Déardaoin. Beidh na buachaillí go léir ag déanamh an-iarracht a bheith ag caint as Gaeilge i rith an lae ar fud na scoile. Beidh roinnt rang ag imirt cluichí i gcorpoideachas trí mheán na Gaeilge. Leanaigí ar aghaidh leis an sár-iarracht agus beidh duaiseanna ar fáil an Aoine seo chugainn le haghaidh ‘Gaeilgeoir na Seachtaine’!
Table Tennis League
St Mary’s hosted Griffeen Valley Educate Together yesterday. There were four league fixtures in total with St Mary’s emerging victorious in all four with some titanic battles along the way. The teams involved were:
Team II: Aaron Farrell, Rohan Malik, Adam Elhadi & Cian McCarthy
Team III: Ryan McElhinney, Alex McMahon, Eoin Gleeson & Ben Kelly
Team IV: Samuel Wright, Alex Mitchell, Jayden Singh & Mason McEvoy
Senior Hurling Challenges
St Mary’s brought two senior teams to Kilmacud Crokes grounds today where they faced two excellent St Laurence’s sides. St Laurence’s were victorious in both fixtures. A total of 36 hurlers represented the school and a huge word of thanks goes to the ever-supporting parents who provide transport and support!
Positive Mental Health online course run by the National Parents Council (NPC)
The NOPC want to encourage and promote positive mental health and wellbeing in our children. The NPC are providing FREE online sessions designed in conjunction with St. Patrick's Mental Health Services. Parents who attend this online session will:
- Learn how to build and nurture resilience within their own child.
- Be given tips on how best to support their child’s positive mental health and wellbeing.
When: Sessions will be taking place online via Zoom from the 6th to the 10th March 2023. Schedules are listed below:
10am and 7:30pm: Monday to Thursday 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th March
10am: Friday the 10th March
If you would be interested in attending (virtually) one of these online sessions, please register your details here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Childrens-Mental-Health-March-2023
Please note these sessions will be interactive allowing parents to participate and hence places are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
Le dea-ghuí,
Dara Burke, Principal.