Dear Parents / Guardians,
We hope you are all well. Our news is as follows:
- Olympic Athlete Visit: I am delighted to announce that Ms. Freeborn’s Fourth and Fifth Class have been accepted on the Dare to Believe programme, which means they will get a visit from an Olympic athlete. The Olympian, who has been selected to visit us is canoe slalom athlete, Noel Hendrick. I would like to congratulate and thank Ms. Freeborn and her class for all of the work they put into their application to the Dare to Believe Programme – they made a wonderful video outlining the case why our school should be selected for an Olympian visit. We look forward to welcoming Noel and hearing all about his journey to Olympic glory.
- Maths Week: Maths Week will take place nationally next week (14th – 18th October) and all classes in the school will be engaged in different mathematical activities to mark it. I want to thank Ms. Rowley, Ms. Marrinan and Ms. Freeborn, who are coordinating our engagement in Maths Week. We would ask that you support us at home by playing Maths games with your child and pointing out to her the ways in which maths can be found and is used all around us. See www.mathsweek.ie for some ideas.
- Basketball: We are delighted to announce that basketball season will recommence shortly at Bunscoil Bhríde. All 5th and 6th class girls are welcome to take part in the Cumann na mBunscol league, beginning in November this year. We have had great success with basketball and wonderful commitment shown by our girls over the last few years and we are hopeful this will continue. Afterschool training sessions will run each Wednesday, from 2.30pm to 3.15pm, with the first training session taking place on Wednesday October 16th. If your child wishes to take part in basketball training, please ensure you have given consent via the Permissions tab on Aladdin Connect.
- Gaelic Football and Camogie: Hard luck to our Gaelic footballers who concluded their U11 season last Monday with a game away to Scoil Bhríde, Athgarvan. Despite the loss we were delighted to that every girl got a game and gave their very best on the pitch. Our final game of the U11 camogie season takes place today against Scoil Mhuire, Ballymany. We wish the girls the best of luck and have been excited to see so many new players take up the game over the last number of weeks, it really has made a huge difference to our team!
- Tag Rugby: Seán Brien, from Leinster Rugby has been coaching our senior girls in tag rugby. He will complete a tag rugby session with all classes over the coming weeks. He has organised a tag rugby blitz to take place in Edenderry Rugby Club on Monday 21st October. Our two Sixth Classes (Ms. de Faoite’s and Ms. Marrinan’s classes) will compete in the blitz. We hope the girls have a very enjoyable day.
- Author Visit: ‘Hazel Tree Farm’ Author and AgriKids founder, Alma Jordan will engage Ms. Freeborn’s Fourth and Fifth Class in an interactive ‘Farm Safe Fun’ workshop on Thursday next. The children will hear an extract from one of Alma’s books, and will learn about farm safety, as well as getting the opportunity to ask questions of their own. We look forward to hearing all about the workshop, photos of which will be available to view under the class blog section of our school website.
- Hedgehogs at Bunscoil Bhríde: Ms. Geraghty’s Fourth Class have been selected to take part in the Hedgehog Project with Kildare County Council (KCC). Clare from KCC will visit our school over three days throughout the year. The first visit will take place on 22nd October. This is a planning day, where the class will survey the grounds with Clare and come up with ideas and suggestions as to where to locate the hedgehog house, trail camera and footprint tunnel. This a project linked with our next flag ‘Nature Restoration’. We look forward to hearing all of what they are learning about hedgehogs.
- Credit Union Poster Competition: All pupils are currently participating in the annual Credit Union Art Competition. This year’s theme is ‘The Joys of Life’, so all entrants will have free rein to express themselves. Our pupils always create thought-provoking works and we usually have quite a few prize-winners. The closing date for receipt of entries is Friday18th October.
- Christmas Cards: Children in all classes are busy working on their Christmas cards, a fundraising initiative organised by our Parents’ Association. If you wish to purchase Christmas cards, you must return the completed order form and make payment via the Aladdin online payment link (Money tab). If you wish to order more than one packet of cards, please ensure you have marked this clearly on your order form and that you have paid the correct amount online. The final deadline for ordering is next Wednesday, 16th October.
- Flu Vaccines: A team from Rathangan Medical Centre will administer the flu vaccine to children, whose parents have given consent, in the school hall on Tuesday 15th October.
- Green Schools: The Green Schools Committee would like to thank the whole school community for their efforts in collecting and recycling batteries last year. Our school collected a total of 157kgs of batteries, which is a total of 7850 AA batteries. As well as this achievement, our battery recycling has helped to protect our environment and support LauraLynn, Ireland’s Children’s Hospice. We are looking forward to receiving and displaying our certificate in the coming days from WEEE Ireland. Well done to Ms. Ryan, Ms. Geraghty and their Green Schools Committee for all of their work in promoting environmental awareness in our school.
- School Plays: All classes will perform on the stage in our school hall this year. Class performances will take place in December, March and May. Our schedule of class performances can be found on the Aladdin app, under the Calendar tab.
- Coats: Please ensure your child comes to school wearing a coat.
- Parent-Teacher Meetings: Parent-Teacher Meetings will take place this year over two afternoons / evenings, on Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st November. This is an ideal opportunity to speak with your child’s teacher and discuss her progress. Parents will book their chosen time-slots for their PT meetings via the Aladdin Connect app. The booking system will open during the week of Monday 21st October. A reminder will be sent to all families via the Aladdin app to book a slot. If you have already met your child’s teacher(s) at a Support Plan meeting or are scheduled to do so, there is no need to book another parent-teacher meeting slot. While these are our annual, formal meetings, if an issue arises for your child during the year, the teachers are happy to meet with you if you make an appointment with Catríona in the office or send a message to your child’s teacher on the Aladdin Connect app.
- A Spooky Walk/Non Uniform Day: As part of our Active School activities, the children and teachers will go on a ‘Spooky Walk’ on Friday 25th October at 10am, weather permitting. This will be a non-uniform day and the children are invited to dress up in Halloween costumes if they wish, but they will need to wear warm clothes and sensible shoes for outdoor walking.We will walk to the Garda station and back to the school. We would love to see any parents / family members out to greet us on our walk.
Kind regards,
Maria Rogerson