Dear Parents / Guardians,
We hope all is well with you this fortnight. Our news is as follows:
- Retirement: It is with personal regret, but warm wishes that I announce the retirement of Rós O’Sullivan. Rós has dedicated her entire teaching career, across over forty years to Bunscoil Bhríde and Friday 30th September will mark her final day of teaching in our school. Rós has been a remarkable teacher; kind, caring and inspirational, with a warmth that has endeared her to all of the children with whom she has worked over the years. As you know, Rós is our Deputy Principal, having taken on this role in 2011. She has shown wonderful leadership in our school and her professionalism, compassion, positivity and calmness have contributed in no small part to the lovely ethos of our school, of which we are all so proud. On a personal note, Rós has been a pleasure to work with. She has been a tremendous support to me and I will miss her valuable insights, her wonderful creativity, her words of wisdom and her sharp wit and wonderful sense of humour which always lights up our staffroom. I know I speak on behalf of the entire staff when I say we will truly miss Rós. While our whole school community will be sad to see our wonderful teacher, colleague and friend leave us, we are excited for Rós and the new adventures she will experience in this next chapter. We wish her a long, healthy, happy and fun-filled retirement.
- 24-hour Accident Insurance: Tomorrow is the final day for receipt of payment for Allianz Pupil Personal Accident Insurance. This is an optional fee of €9 and provides 24-hour cover for accidents occurring at home or at school. We would strongly recommend that all parents pay this insurance. Many of our parents have benefitted from having the policy in the past. If you ever incur any fees in relation to an accident e.g. fee for a trip to A & E, let us know and we will provide you with the necessary forms to recoup all expenses. Payment can be made via the e-payments system on the Aladdin app (this is a safe and secure means of payment). Let us know today if you are having trouble accessing the e-payments via the app.
- Football: I want to thank Ms. Frawley and Mr. O’Sullivan who have kindly volunteered to coach our football teams again this year. Our u-11 Gaelic footballers had a fine start to their season yesterday. They beat Gaelscoil Chill Dara in a closely contested game, the girls worked tremendously hard for each other right throughout the game and it was great to see and hear them encouraging and supporting each other on the field. We had both experienced players and players who were playing for the first time and we hope to see them all back on the pitch again next week. Huge praise must be given to our player of the game Emily Waters who has shown a wonderful improvement in her skill level over the summer, it just goes to show practice makes perfect! Well done to all the girls who represented our school so well. Team: Cara, Chloe, Victoria, Emily, Erin, Zoe, Tara, Lily B, Semi, Emer, Kate, Terri, Lili S, Ava C, Cara M, Ellie, Sadbh, Abigael, Hollie, Rosie, Ava, Elle
- Football Training: After-school training for fifth and sixth class pupils will recommence on Tuesday the 20th from 2.30pm-3.30pm (please note the change in day from last year). Gaelic training will run for the month of September before we turn to Camogie in October. Please remember gum shields must be worn at Gaelic training. Looking forward to seeing all the girls back in action!
- School Photographs: ‘County Photos’ (school photographers) have been booked to take individual / family photos of all of the children in the school and group photos of all the Junior Infants Wednesday 28th September. There is no obligation for parents to make any purchase.
- Parents’ Association Calendar: We are delighted that our Parents’ Association are again organising a school calendar for 2023. Proceeds from the sae of this calendar will go directly to reducing the cost of swimming for Second, Third and Fourth class children, who will be doing swimming lessons in Portarlington pool in term three. Photographers will be taking the class groups’ photographs for each themed month on Friday 30th September. Please see message below form the Parents’ Association for more details. If you do not wish your daughter’s photo to be taken on either the 28th or 30th September, please send a message to the office / phone Catríona.
- Mercy Day: We will celebrate Mercy Day next Friday, 23rd September. As Bunscoil Bhríde is a Mercy school, Mercy Day is a very important day in the calendar of our school. We are proud of our strong Mercy tradition and ethos. Children in all classes will learn about Catherine McAuley, the founder of the Mercy order and will hear of how the Mercy Sisters brought education to Rathangan. Fr. Bill will celebrate a mass for the children of Second to Sixth Class to mark Mercy Day at 10am on Friday and we invite you all to attend. The children will sing on our choir, directed by Ms. Rowley, Ms. De Faoite and Ms. Dillon. We might even get the night off homework on the following Monday to celebrate!
- Minecraft Project: I am delighted to announce that Ms. Frawley’s Sixth Class has been selected to take part in the upcoming Minecraft research project, Creative Space.The class will complete curriculum-based activities in Minecraft: Education Edition on a weekly basis over the coming months. These activities are designed to help the development of students’ spatial thinking and creativity. More details of the programme will be shared with parents of children in Room 7 over the coming weeks.
- Textile Project: We have also received the wonderful news that our school has been successful in our joint application with local artist, Aideen Cross to receive Kildare County Council’s Creative Ireland Bursary Award 2022. Aideen will work with Ms. Banks’ Fifth and Sixth Class to create a textile art project entitled, ‘Life under the Cloak-St Brigid 1500’
- Virtual Bog Tour: The Irish Peatland Conservation Council (IPCC) will host a virtual bog visit for our two Third Classes on Wednesday next. The virtual visits will consist of a pre-recorded video and resources to complete in class and followed by a scheduled 1 hour virtual meeting with a peatland expert. We look forward to hearing of all the learning.
- Homework Journals: All children from First to Sixth Class have homework journals this year. Please ensure that you check your daughter’s homework every evening and sign her homework journal. It is only by home and school working together that we can ensure the very best outcomes for all of our pupils.
- Headlice: Please check your child(ren)’s hair on a regular basis for headlice, treat where necessary and please inform the school if you have found headlice in your child’s hair so that we can inform the parents of the other children in the class. Long hair must be tied up in school. With all parents following the regular checking routine, we will hopefully minimise the chance of children in the school getting headlice.
- Uniform: Please ensure your daughter wears the correct school uniform. Our Uniform Policy can be found on our school website at www.bunscoilbhride.ie Tracksuit can also be worn on Wednesdays if your daughter is involved in after-school football training. Tracksuits should not be worn on non-P.E. days (2nd to 6th classes).
- WOW Day: We will be celebrating National WOW Day on September 21st. WOW Days (Walk On Wednesday) days are where everyone tries to walk or Park and Stride to school if they can. Park and Stride is where you drive some of the way and walk the remainder. This is also a great opportunity to teach your child about the rules of the road and road safety.
- Walk to School Week: Green-Schools’ Walk to School Week is running from September 19th to September 23rd and aims to encourage as many students as possible to walk or Park and Stride to school. Walking to school is one of the best ways to start the day with multiple benefits to children’s physical and mental health. It also has a positive impact on academic performance and behaviour with higher levels of concentration and focus.
- Party Invitations: As it is not possible to invite all children from your child’s class to birthday parties, we would ask that children refrain from handing out invitations in school. This can instead be done outside of the school, in order to avoid upset to children not invited.
- Credit Union Poster Competition: Students will participate in the annual Credit Union Art Competition over the next few weeks. This year’s theme is ‘It’s a Wonderful World’, 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.
- Student Council: This year’s Student Council is up and running. The first official meeting will be held tomorrow. The class representatives are: Aaliyah Connolly, Hannah Conlon, Aisha Omotara, Andie Ryan, Grace Spellman, Rachel Donegan, Megan O’Reilly, Elsie Cully, Heidi Hall, Zara Casey, Maria Pop, Siofra Duffy, Alexia Bejenaru, Orna Manning, Jessica Walker, Rosie Donnelly, Alice Beary, Teagan Daly, Nevaeh Levingston, Nadia Piesik, Erin White. We look forward to the Council’s valuable contribution throughout the school year.
- P.A. A.G.M.: The Annual General Meeting (A.G.M.) of the Parents’ Association will take place in the school on Tuesday 18th October at 7.00pm. All parents are invited to attend and we would love to see some new faces join the committee of the Parents’ Association, so please come along.
- Dates for the Diary: Please check out the calendar tab on the Aladdin app. A number of new dates have been added, including our Carol Service, Grandparents’ Day and Parents’ Day, with dates of our class concerts to be added over the coming week. Please continue to keep an eye on the Calendar over the coming weeks as all new dates will be added as new events are confirmed.
Kind regards,
Maria Rogerson