Newsletter
12th March 2018
Dear parents, carers, staff and friends,
Visit from the Romanian Ambassador
On Tuesday, we were honoured to receive a visit from the Romanian Ambassador to Ireland, her Excellency Mrs. Manuela Breazu and Deputy Head of Mission, Florina Sava.
We have been working with the Embassy to run Romanian language and culture classes after-school this year.In celebration of International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day, the Ambassador visited the school, and our after-school classes. She met our Student Council and saw some traditional Irish dancing.She then visited the Romanian Class who performed songs and poems in their own language.
It was wonderful to be joined by so many of our Romanian families for this special occasion. Well done to the children who performed so well – you made us very proud and I know the Ambassador was very impressed! Photos from the visit are on our website if you’d like to see more.
#BoldGirls Launch
We were so excited to host a very special reading event on Thursday for International Women’s Day to celebrate the launch of #BoldGirls, a reading initiative by Children’s Books Ireland to promote female characters and female authors in children’s books.
A team of volunteers from KPMG joined us to read with children from Ms. Lougheed and Ms. Graham’s Class. The children then took part in a ‘Monster Doodle’ with illustrator Niamh Sharkey. Filming the event was a team from RTE’s Winning Streak and we also had RTE Radio 1’s Book Show visiting and talking to the children about books.
Later in the morning, Ms. Lougheed’s Class joined Children’s Books Ireland in Easons on O’Connell Street for the official #BoldGirls launch and met authors Marita Conlon-McKenna, Sarah Crossan and Yasmeen Ismail. They were filmed for RTE’s News2Day and featured in a report on their programme on Thursday. You can check out all the photos and video from the day on our website – or on our Twitter @stmarysdorsetst
Seachtain na Gaeilge
Last week we celebrated ‘Seachtain na Gaeilge’, a week of celebration of the Irish language and culture.
We started on Monday by learning a song altogether at assembly. Throughout the week, everyone tried to speak in Irish as much as they could.
On Wednesday we had our annual CéilíMór. We were delighted the weather was so good we were able to dance outside! We saw some excellent dancing from 5th and 6th Class and from Ms. Sheridan’s sean-nós dancers in 2nd Class. Everyone then joined in with the céilí dances, with the older children helping their friends in the junior classes. Maith sibh!
News from last week
On Tuesday, 4th Class visited the Ark Cultural Centre to take part in an art and creative workshop called ‘Me and the City’. The workshop was all about exploring the colours and textures of a city’s buildings, sculptures and street art.
Ms. Collins’s 2nd Class visited the Ilac Library with our ‘Time to Read’ volunteers from Business in the Community.
On Thursday afternoon, the children in 2nd Class preparing for their First Communion had their First Penance ceremony, a very special moment. Thanks to all the families who came to support them and as always, to Fr. Pat, Ms. Collins and Ms. Graham who prepared the children so well.
On Sunday, we had our Family Mass. The children from 3rd and 4th Class led us in the readings and prayers. They did really well and it was great to see so many families from across the school joining us.
Dates for your diary
13th March – Stay Safe Meeting for Parents
16th March – Confirmation Ceremony
19th March – Bank Holiday
23rd March – Last day before Easter Holidays
9th April – School re-opens
Attendance and punctuality
A much better week of attendance across the school – let’s keep it up!
Particularly good attendance in Ms. Lougheed’s Class with 97.4%, Ms. Collins’s Class with 97.9% and Ms. Graham’s Class with 98.6%. But the winners of our attendance trophy were Ms. Marron’s Senior Infants with 98.9% - well done!
Child Protection and Safeguarding
We closed on Friday so that our staff could undertake Child Protection and Safeguarding training. Our new Child Safeguarding Statement is now available on the school website or at the school office.
All registered teachers are now ‘mandated persons’ under the new Children First legislation and have a legal obligation to report any concerns about children’s safety to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.
You can read more about the Children First legislation on the Tusla website:
And finally…
Don’t forget the workshop for parents and carers about the ‘Stay Safe’ programme takes place tomorrow, Tuesday, 13th March at 1.15 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there.
Best wishes,
Éadaoin Kelly
Principal