Dear Parents / Guardians,
We hope you are all well. Our news is as follows:
- Concerts: Our final night of Christmas concerts will take place in the school hall tonight, with Ms. Coughlan’s Third Class, Ms. Geraghty’ Fourth Class and Ms. Marrinan’s Sixth Class performing. As you know, our hall is quite small so space is limited. We will not have seats for children and any children who have to come will have to sit on the knees of an adult. Children from our school should not come, where possible. They will have had the opportunity to see all the class plays during the school day. Tonight’s concert will begin at 7pm, with doors opening at 6.30pm (please note that the doors will not open before 6.30pm). Entry: €5 per person (cash only please). We look forward to another night of top-class entertainment. All plays have been / will be recorded and are available to watch back on the relevant class blog on our school website at www.bunscoilbhride.ie
- Debating: We are thrilled to announce that our talented debating team has secured a place in the semi-finals of the Concern Primary Debating Competition! Following a stunning display of debating prowess, the team triumphed over Ballyshannon N.S. in the quarter-finals. This is a tremendous achievement, and we could not be prouder of them. The semi-finals will be especially exciting, as it will be the first face-to-face competition after previous debates on Zoom. The date and venue are yet to be confirmed, but the anticipation is already building. A huge thank you goes out to Ms. Banks and Ms. Costello for their incredible guidance and mentorship, as well as to the girls on the team, whose talent, passion, and work ethic have left us in awe. We wish our debating stars the very best of luck as they advance to the semi-finals.
- Oral Language: For the month of December, our whole-school Oral Language theme is Vocabulary Development. All classes will be engaged in activities based around helping the children to develop their vocabulary. This is something that you can quite easily work on at home with your child(ren). It is only through school and home working closely together that we can achieve the very best outcome for your child(ren).
- Internet Safety Workshops: Our senior classes (Fourth – Sixth Class) are engaging in Internet Safety / Cyber-bullying workshops over this fortnight. The workshops are being facilitated by Ger Brick, who also delivered an excellent talk to parents on this topic on 26th November last. I want to thank our Parents Association, who are funding Ger’s engagement with our school community.
- Use of social media: Please be advised that social media apps such as Tiktok and Snapchat have a minimum user age of 13 and are wholly unsuitable for children in primary school. We are aware of a small number of children using these apps and can only assume parents are unaware of the dangers they present and the harm they can cause to children. This was clearly outlined at the Internet Safety Talk that was organised for all of our parents on 26th November last. Children at primary school level are emotionally and socially ill-equipped to deal with social media and we would urge all parents to exercise parental responsibility and to ensure children who are online at home are fully supervised at all times. Please check out www.webwise.ie and inform yourselves of the dangers of the apps your children may be using and please take steps to address this usage.
- Reminder: No medicinesare allowed at school. If your child has a medical condition for which medicine/inhaler etc. must be administered, please contact the school, as Board of Management approval must be granted for this. Please see our administration of medication policy at www.bunscoilbhride.ie for more information.
- Christmas Assembly: Our whole-school assembly for December will take place on Wednesday 18th December. We will be treated to tin whistle tunes from all of our middle and Senior Classes and Christmas Carols from all classes. We look forward to a musical extravaganza!
- Special Visitor: I have heard a rumour that our Parents’ Association have been in contact with a very special person from the North Pole, who may visit the school on Friday 20th December. We look forward to warmly welcoming our special guest!
- Christmas Presents: Again this year, we ask you not to purchase Christmas gifts for teachers. What the teachers really value is the words of thanks and appreciation uttered by pupils and parents. This is worth far more to us than any gift that can be purchased.
- Christmas Holidays: The school will close at 11.45am on Friday 20th December. We would like to wish you all a very peaceful, happy and holy Christmas and every blessing for the year ahead. Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir!
Kind regards,
Maria Rogerson