Dear Parents / Guardians,
We hope you are all well. Our news is as follows:
- Concern Primary Debating Competition: The Bunscoil Bhríde debating team will travel to Kildare Education Centre on Tuesday next to compete in the semi-final of the Concern Primary School Debating Competition. We will take on Scoil Bhríde, Clane in our first face-to-face debate of the competition this year. The girls are opposing the motion that ‘Universal internet access should be the world’s top goal in 2026’. The team are putting in immense efforts in preparation for the upcoming debate. We will also hold a preparatory debate for all classes from Third to Sixth in the halla today, in which all children will hear the speeches and will get the opportunity to challenge the girls on the points made, in an open debate. We wish the debaters and their mentors, Ms. Costello and Ms. Dillon the very best of luck!
- Grandparents’ Day: I want to sincerely thank our wonderful Parents’ Association and the many parents who voluntarily gave up their time on Friday last to help serve tea and coffee to our visiting grandparents and who baked for the occasion. We really are blessed to have such generosity and kindness in our parent body. Allowing our grandparents to congregate over a cup of tea and a treat in the hall made a really fabulous day all the more special. I also want to thank our hard-working staff, who put so much work into preparing for Grandparents’ Day with their classes, ensuring that all our visitors had a day to remember.
- Quiz: Our Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Class pupils are busy preparing for our annual quizzes, which will take place on Wednesday 25th (Third and Fourth Classes) and Friday 27th February (Fifth and Sixth Classes) in our school and in Rathangan Boys’ School respectively. Teams will be mixed and the children will get the opportunity to work with the boys in practising their general knowledge and having lots of fun in the process. We would urge you to help the children develop their general knowledge at home over the coming weeks in preparation.
- Chess: We are delighted to announce an upcoming chess tournament taking place in St. Brigid’s Primary School, Kildare. It will take place on Thursday next, 12th February. This promises to be a brilliant day out for the girls, giving them an opportunity to showcase the chess skills they have been developing and to build confidence in a friendly, supportive environment. The tournament is non-competitive, allowing the girls to enjoy the game while meeting and playing against children from other schools. We wish all the girls the very best of luck. I want to thank their teacher, Ms. Marrinan, who has been generously volunteering her time to run our wonderful Chess Club.
- Basketball: We are delighted to announce that we will be taking part in the annual Cumann na mBunscol basketball blitz on February 16th in Kilcullen. We will bring a team of our Sixth Class girls to participate in the blitz on the day, where we will have the chance to play in a number of basketball games against other schools in our division. Ms. Gleeson and Ms. Flood will host a training session before the blitz on Wednesday next, February 11th, from 2.30pm to 3.15pm. As we have only been allotted one team entry, the Sixth Class girls taking part will be informed before training on this date. We wish the team and their coaches the best of luck on the day.
- Irish Dancing: Carmel Somers has, yet again, kindly volunteered her time to teach Irish dancing to our girls. Every class in the school is getting the opportunity to work with Carmel over two weeks, starting on Wednesday 18th February. Carmel has also offered to help with our Céilí Mór during Seachtain na Gaeilge. We would like to thank Carmel sincerely for her kindness and generosity in giving up her time for the benefit of the pupils of our school.
- Oral Language: The theme for the month of February is ‘Socially functional language’ (introductions, giving thanks, complaints). All classes will be focusing on this theme for the month and we would ask that you, the parents support us at home, by encouraging your child to use appropriate socially functional language and by modelling good use of such language at home. We would also encourage you to discuss with them what they’ve learnt in school on this topic.
- Vision Screening: Vision screening of Junior Infant pupils by staff from the HSE will take place in the school on Thursday 26th February.
- Homework: Homework is an important link between home and school and offers children the chance to consolidate their learning. Please ensure you check your daughter’s homework each evening and sign her homework journal, where applicable.
- Party Invitations: Party invitations should not be handed out at school. This can instead be done outside of the school, in order to avoid upset to children not invited.
- Change of Contact Details: Please check that your contact details are recorded correctly on the Aladdin app and notify the school if you have changed your contact details (phone, email or address). It is important that we keep our records up to date, so that we can always get in contact with you should the need arise. Please ensure you have listed at least two emergency contacts on the app (contact the office if you need assistance with this). Please also let us know if you have not been receiving Aladdin app messages from the school.
- Midterm Break: The school will be closed on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th February for midterm break and will reopen on Monday 23rd February. We hope you all have a lovely break.
Kind regards,
Maria Rogerson