Dear Parents,
Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and that all the boys are well rested and re-energised for the second term.
Message from HSE regarding Respiratory Viruses
There has been a high rise in Flu, Covid-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in recent weeks. The Chief Medical Officer, Professor Breda Smyth, issued the following statement:
As schools and childcare facilities reopen after the Christmas break, I am urging parents to be vigilant for symptoms of respiratory viruses in children. If your child has any new-onset flu-like symptoms, such as congestion, cough, runny nose or high temperature, parents should continue to be mindful of others and, if possible, keep their children at home from school or childcare facilities. Children should be kept at home for at least 48 hours after their symptoms have fully or substantially resolved.
Our school will continue to encourage boys to wash their hands and hand sanitise. There is still a focus on ventilating the classrooms during the school day.
The Stay Safe Programme
Over the coming weeks, the children in Senior Infants, second, fourth and sixth class will be taught a personal safety programme called Stay Safe. The aim of the Stay Safe programme is to introduce some personal safety skills to children which would help them to look after themselves in situations which could be upsetting or dangerous. The Stay Safe programme is part of the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum which all primary schools are required to implement. You can familiarise yourself with the content of the Stay Safe lessons at www.staysafe.ie/teachers/resources.htm.
Comprehension Strategy, Writing Genre and PE Strand
We are taking a whole school approach to writing genres and comprehension strategies. This month we will focus on ‘Poetry’ and ‘Recount’ as our writing genre. ‘Clarifying/Monitoring’ will be our comprehension strategy. Ms. Hennessy’s fifth class displayed some of their impressive samples of ‘Narrative’ writing in our hall. The boys depicted a snowy scene which is definitely worth a read and the handwriting and presentation is very neat and tidy. We look forward to seeing Ms. Quinn’s class work at the end of January.
S-Cool News
Please check out our most recent episode of S-Cool News which was aired before the Christmas holiday on our School Facebook page. Thanks to Mr. Clandillon, Mr. Dineen and Ms. Hennessy for all the hard work that went into this production.
After-school clubs
All parents received information today regarding Lego Club (first to sixth class) and Irish Club (first to third class). Please see attached information about Chess Club and Keyboard Classes.
St. Mary's BNS After School Table Tennis Academy is now open for boys in fourth, fifth and sixth class. The Academy runs every Monday from 2.40 to 3.40pm starting on the 9th January. There are 20 classes in the term and the total cost is €140. If interested please send a text to Chris at 087 241 2664.
Le dea-ghuí,
Dara Burke, Principal.