GLASNEVIN  NATIONAL  SCHOOL                     20th December 2018

 

Dear Parents / Guardians,

 

This Friday 21st December is the last day of term.  We will have Assembly at the usual time during which the children will sing Christmas Carols.  We will close for Christmas Holidays at 12 noon and will re-open again after Christmas on Monday 7th January 2019.

 

On Friday, 14th December, all children took part in our annual Christmas Concert. As always, the children gave a fantastic performance which was enjoyed by all who attended and, once again, we extend our very grateful thanks to Blánaid Murphy who prepares the children so well for this occasion during their weekly singing lessons in school.

 

Staffing  –  During the last term we were very pleased to welcome our new 1st, 2nd & 3rd class teacher, Ms Jo Friell to our school.  Ms Friell has also taken over as our Green School’s Co-Ordinator.   We are delighted to announce that Ms Friell has recently been appointed to the position of Deputy Principal and wish her happiness and success in her role.  We also welcomed SNA’s Ms Linda O’Sullivan, Ms Patricia O’Meara and Ms Rebecca Browne to our staff and again extend our best wishes them in their positions.  We would like to thank Ms Emma Nelson who is updating the school’s IT Systems and Mrs Mairéad Rock who is working very hard as Assistant Principal and leading SEN Co-Ordinator.

 

We have had a busy term since September, some activities which took place were as follows:

 

Mathletics  –  Our school took part in the November Numeracy Challenge in Mathletics.  This was a worldwide challenge involving 401 schools.  We were very proud to be placed number 139 out of 401.

 

National Children’s Choir (NCC)  –  We are very proud and excited to be involved, for the first time, in the NCC.  Children in 4th – 6th classes have had their first rehearsal which was a great success.  Many thanks again to Ms Blánaid Murphy who is working so hard to prepare the children with their singing.

 

Junior Achievement  –  Once again we are taking part in this very worthwhile endeavor.  Emma Hanan is working with the Infant Classroom and Emma O’Rourke is working with 4th – 6th classes.  The theme is Science/Geography.

 

National Botanic Gardens –  On Thursday 4th October 1st – 6th classes visited The National Botanic Gardens  to take part in a Native Tree Study.

 

Christchurch  –  On 18th October Ms Walsh, along with some pupils from her classroom, attended the Annual Diocesan Service for Primary Schools in Christchurch Cathedral.

 

Halloween Walk  –  On Thursday 25th October all pupils took part in our Annual Halloween Walk for Charity.  This year our chosen charity was Zamda Ireland and we were very pleased to raise €110.70 which was presented to Ms Gráinne McDonnell and some of her TY Students from Scoil Móbhí on 23rd November.

 

Parent Teacher Meetings  –  The annual Parent Teacher meetings were held in school on 14th & 15th November.

 

Green Schools  –  We were very proud to raise our third Green Flag, the Travel Flag, on 16th November and were delighted to welcome Mrs Caitríona McCoy back to the school for the flag raising ceremony.  Ms Friell and the  Green Schools Committee are now working on their next project the theme of which is Biodiversity.  This will be a two year project and Ms Friell invites everyone to see the display which is on the noticeboard outside her classroom.  This will be regularly updated and in the New Year the names of the Green Schools Committee will be available on the noticeboard.

 

Science Event  –  The Senior classes (4th, 5th & 6th) attended a Science Event in St. Columba’s  NS, Iona Road.

 

Stay Safe  –  All parents/guardians were invited to attend an Information Session on the Stay Safe Programme in St. Columbas N.S. on Monday 26th November.

 

School Visit  –  On Friday 30th November Ms Evelyn Cusack from Met Eireann visited the school and gave an excellent talk to the Seniors about the weather.

 

Christmas Trips  –  Pupils in 3rd – 6th Classes were brought to The Lighthouse Cinema on Wed. 12th Dec. to see a Christmas movie.  Pupils in Junior Infants – 2nd class visited The Ark in Temple Bar to see a production of ‘How to Catch a Star’.  We are very grateful to the Glasnevin N.S. Parents’ Association who funded all of the Christmas trips / events.

 

 

A note from The Parents’ Association  – 

 

On Thursday 8th November, the Parents’ Association AGM was held in the school and it was great to see so many new faces in attendance.  Hopefully we will continue to get more parents joining the PA – new members are aways welcome!  Jude Nalty (PA Secretary) gave an update on the activities of the PA during the last term and David Rea (PA Treasurer) provided an update of the PA funds and their usage.  A discussion was held in relation to use of PA funds and it was decided that during the coming term, PA funds raised should primarily be used for improvements to the children’s play areas (a group of parents painted the school walls during the summer) and learning environment, whereas in previous years most of the PA funds were used to pay for buses to various school activities.

 

A big thanks to everyone who supported our great fundraising event on Thursday 29th November in The Tolka House.  A total of 19 teams participated in an excellent table quiz devised and  delivered by our quiz master William Patten.  It was a fantastic night and great fun, many thanks to all those who participated.  A big thank you to all on the PA who organized raffle prizes for the night and the businesses that supported us so generously.  Your support helped to raise over €1400 for school activities, so a heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated and generously bought lots of raffle tickets.

 

The School Calendars were sold out in less than an hour on the morning of the brilliant school play last Friday.  A big thank you to Ruth and Daragh McGetrick for organizing, compiling and ordering the School Calendar.

 

Many thanks to all for supporting the work of the Parents’ Association and we look forward to many more great events and activities in 2019.  Any questions or if you would like to volunteer on the PA – please contact the PA at gnsparents@gmail.com

 

 

 

Some activities for Next School Term:-

 

Extra School Closure  – 

 

We have been advised that school will be closed on Monday 21st January to facilitate further whole-staff collaborative exploration of the Primary Language Curriculum.

 

Awards of Science and Maths Excellence  –  Our school received the Award of Science and Maths Excellence 2017 – 2018 and we are applying again this year.

 

Science Blast  –  We are delighted to have been invited to take part in the ESB Science Blast 2019.  Our project is  ‘Will increasing our fitness levels improve our performance in recalling our tables?’.  We will display the findings of our class investigation at ESB Science Blast in the RDS on Thursday, 7th March 2019.

 

Football  –  All classes will take part in weekly football lessons, starting on Wed. 16th January for six weeks.  We are very grateful to Na Fianna CLG who provide these lessons free of charge to ourselves and all the schools in the area.

 

Tennis  –  A six week course of tennis lessons with Gary & Christine from Bolger tennis has been arranged for pupils in all classes which will start on Wed. 6th March 2019.  Details will follow in due course.

 

Swimming  –  Classes will commence on Friday 1st March in Ballymun Swimming Pool. We will have eight swimming lessons for students from 1st – 6th classes, finishing on Friday 10th May.  Full details on dates / times will follow next term.

 

Second Level Schools  –  It is advisable for parents to put their childrens’ names down for Secondary School as soon as possible.  Enrolment procedures can be obtained by contacting individual schools.  As there is great demand for Second Level places it may be necessary to put your child’s name on a Waiting List for more than one school.  While Glasnevin N.S. is a recognized feeder school for Mount Temple Comprehensive School this does not automatically guarantee our pupils a place.

 

Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Sheán is faoi Mhaise daoibh go léir.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

_____________

Olive Walsh

Principal