Dear Staff,
Raincoats
Please make sure that your son brings a raincoat to school. Each boy could have a light anorak that they can keep in their school bag at all times. The boys will be kept in class when it is very wet during the school day but they will need a raincoat walking to and from school in the rain.
Junior Infant Applications for September 2026
We will be accepting Junior Infant applications for September 2026 from the 1st October to the 14th November. Applications can be downloaded from our school website.
Parents’ Association (PA) AGM on Monday 13th October in our school hall at 7.30pm
Our PA AGM will take place on Monday 13th October in our school hall at 7.30pm. This year we are excited to welcome the well-known psychotherapist, Dr. Joanna Fortune.
Dr. Joanna Fortune is an accredited psychotherapist specialising in the parent-child relationship. She is the author of the best-selling 15-Minute Parenting series of books (0-7 years; 8-12 years and the Teenage years) and her 4th book ‘Why We Play’. She is the host of the 15 minute parenting podcast. She has worked with families around a variety of issues. She is a recognised supervisor, trainer and conference speaker in her field. In 2017 she delivered a TEDx Talk on the topic 'Social media – the ultimate shame game?' She has a weekly parenting column in the Irish Examiner. She is also a regular media contributor to a variety of radio and TV shows. She is the parenting consultant on the weekly parenting slot on Newstalk’s Moncrieff for over 7 years.
Tea & Coffee Morning for Junior Infant Parents on Friday 19th September at 9.05am
Our Parents’ Association will organise a tea and coffee morning for parents of boys in Junior Infants. This is a good opportunity to get to know some of the parents in your son’s class.
Dublin Ladies Senior All-Ireland Gaelic Football Champions visiting St. Mary’s BNS on Friday 19th September
The Dublin Ladies Gaelic Football team had an amazing season this year, winning the All-Ireland Football Championship. Paul Casey is a past pupil of our school and he was their manager. Paul has agreed to bring the cup to the school on Friday 19th September so we are asking all boys to wear their Dublin jerseys to school tomorrow. If they don’t have a Dublin jersey then they can wear any blue jersey or jumper on the day. Abbey Shields was their goalkeeper and she plays with Lucan Sarsfields. Up the Dubs!
School Mass
We celebrated the start of the school year with a school Mass in St. Mary’s Church today. Thanks to Mr. Clandillon and Mr. Shanahan for preparing the boys to carry gifts to the altar and helping our readers. We are very grateful to our celebrant, Fr. Ubaldo, and Cathy Burke and Mary Douglas for organising the event.
SNA Appreciation Day
We are fortunate to have a wonderful team of SNAs in our school. This year, Fórsa's Education Division is celebrating National Special Needs Assistants Appreciation Day on Thursday 25th September. Any school staff member and parent can enter and the more entries from your school the better chance you have of winning. Please click on the following link to enter a draw to win €1000 for our school.
Gaelic Football
Best of luck to our senior footballers who play St. Colmcille’s Knocklyon today in Lucan Sarsfields. Well done to our Junior footballers who put up a good fight against St. Mary’s BNS Rathfarnham and St. Joesph’s BNS Terenure on Tuesday. Thanks to Mr. Shanahan, Mr. Walsh, Mr. R. McHugh, Ms. Deeley, Mr. D. McHugh and Mr. Trainor for all the time they volunteer to train the boys at lunch time and take the boys to the games after school.
After-School Table Tennis Club for fifth and sixth class and now FOURTH class
Due to extra demand, there will now be an extra day of table tennis classes after school for fifth, sixth and now fourth class boys on Tuesdays. Please contact Chris on 087-2412664 for more information.
Cultural Awareness
We are very proud of the diverse population in St. Mary’s BNS. Every Friday we invite boys who have parents from a certain heritage to give a few facts about their country and read a poem in that language over the school intercom. Last week we were delighted to welcome Tanay, Elliott, Aidan, Jordan, Ryan and Kevin from sixth class who gave us some interesting facts about India and phrases in Malayalam and Hindi. Well done to Kevin who sang the Indian National Anthem. We were also joined by Cillian Wong who read a poem from Papua New Guinea in the Kanua language. We look forward to hearing some interesting facts about Pakistan tomorrow.
Westmanstown Rugby Club
Westmanstown Rugby Club are hosting an open training session at 10am on Sunday September 21st in St. Catherine’s park (pitches behind the playground). This is open to all boys and girls aged 6 – 12. We hope lots of boys and girls come give rugby a try!
Le dea-ghuí,
Dara Burke, Principal.