During our last week of school, children from across the school were presented with certificates to recognise their terrific attendance records for this academic year.
We regularly host attendance recognition assemblies throughout the year, as part of our HERO attendance initiative. But the end of year recognition is particulalry special.
Well done to all thos who received certificates and are pictured below.
3rd class learned all about Ancient Egypt this month. We researched lots of interesting facts about Ancient Egypt and made some wonderful projects which were presented so well in class.
To finish off the topic we made Egyptian pyramids in groups from spaghetti and marshmallows. We had great fun making them and we are very proud of our finished pyramids.
Seachtain na Gaeilge is a national celebration of Irish language and culture. St Mary’s NS celebrated Seachtain na Gaeilge 2024 from Monday 11th to Friday 15th March. A committee of dedicated and enthusiastic staff organised an exciting lineup of events this year.
Bhí imeachtaí taitneamhacha ar siúl gach lá – ‘Seanfhocal an Lae’, comórtas ealaíne, Tráth na gCeist, cluichí sa chlós, Blitz As Gaeilge ar an Páirc 3G Kingspan Bhréifne, rince gaelach, cluichí biongo, ceolchoirm thriadisiúnta, toraíocht Gaeilge sna cónraí, Lá Glas agus an paráid.
Throughout the week, children were trying their best to use their cúpla focal. Tugadh amach neart duaiseanna i rith na seachtaine ar ndóigh. Bhí atmaisféar croíúil, spraíuíl le brath thart timpeall na scoile. Is cosúil gur bhain gach duine taitneamh as!
Ceiliúradh iontach a bhí ann. Maith sibh gach duine a ghlac páirt.
On Wednesday 21st June, it was time for our 6th Class of 2023 to say goodbye to St. Mary’s as they graduated from 6th Class and primary school. The DEN, 4th and 5th classes gathered in the hall to mark the occasion. Ms Jordan reminisced about events throughout this groups’ years in St. Mary’s from near escapes in Junior Infants to our 6th Class school tour only a week before. She echoed how everyone in St. Mary’s is proud of their achievements and progress during their time here.
The Class of 2023 were then called out individually and presented with certificates and framed graduation mementos. Afterwards, they sang their graduation songs of ‘Believer’ and ‘Whatever it Takes’, before throwing their mortar hats to the ceilings in celebration.
They gathered their belongings and made their way through a whole school guard of honour, exiting the gates as St. Mary’s pupils for the last time.
We wish every single member of the 6th Class of 2023 the very best in their futures and invite them back at any time to let us know how they are doing.
Well done to our 5 students who had a perfect attendance for the 2022/2023 school year. It’s a great achievement and these five students were awarded special certificates for their achievement.
Well done again and what great role models you are for all our students.
On Thursday 23rd February 2023, three boys teams and three girls teams travelled to The ALSAA Sports Complex in Dublin to play in The Primary School’s Volleyball Blitz.
Each team played 3 – 4 games in their group stages. Teams ranked well in their groups but unfortunately lost out on the coveted top spot.
Well done teams on a really enjoyable day out! We were very proud of the sportsmanship shown by everyone. A special thanks to coaches Jude Collins, Ciara Brady, Sandra Donoghue, Lauren Galligan and Karen Brennan. We also extend appreciation to “Volleyball Ireland” for their support and organisation of a really enjoyable event.
We wish our neighbouring school – St. Kilian’s, Mullagh, Girl’s team every best wish as they progress to the National finals in Limerick, Thursday, March 2nd ‘23.
Our school has recently purchased sets of Lego Education Spike kits for the children. These sets can be used to teach simple coding lessons or to solve complex real-world problems in engineering, design and computer science.
Fifth class had the opportunity to try out these kits and work together in groups to create some wonderful Lego designs. Everyone had great fun!
Friday 25th March 2022 was a very memorable day for students, staff and parents of St. Mary’s NS as television cameras, shovels and trees descended on our school. As it was Greenbelt Ltd.’s 40th birthday, and National Tree Day, the local business had pledged to donate 50 native Irish trees to our school and to help students from every class level take part in the planting of said trees around the school grounds. The trees ranged from Crabapple to Birch to Alder and to our own Yew tree – which our own town Achadh an Iúir (Field of the Yew) is named after – to a host of beautiful trees, which will now adourn our grounds for generations to come.
However, the day became even more exciting on Wednesday when we learned that Greenbelt staff would not be our only visitors on National Tree Day. Deric Hartigan from Virgin Media and Ireland AM, along with his cameraman Gareth, would be joining us too from 7.30am. 6th class were the early birds and were bright and early to school to greet Deric as he landed, along with Maurice and his team from Greenbelt. Have a look at us below in 2 of Deric’s 4 broadcasts from the school.
With our School Trad Music Group playing, and 6th class showing off our fantastic spirit, manners and work-ethic, I’m sure Ireland AM and all those watching around the country were envious of our amazing school.
After Virgin Media departed at 9.30am, 6th class and the Greenbelt team had some well deserved breakfast, before it was time for all our other classes to get their hands dirty and get planting. We were blessed with beautiful weather and every child had a day to remember with lots of fun.
Have a look at our pictures below from a wonderful day.
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Happy new year. I hope you and your family had a lovely Christmas break and we look forward to welcoming our pupils back tomorrow.
Please find HSE information below that was sent to schools today to be shared with parents & staff.
Infection prevention and Control Measures:
1) Before attending school:
Symptoms – Please be aware that pupils/staff do not attend school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 infection.
Symptom profiles are available here [https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/covid19/symptoms/overview/]. Parents are advised to take a precautionary approach, particularly for children less able to articulate their symptoms, that if a child appears unwell, observe them at home and contact their GP as appropriate.
Close contacts – If staff/pupils have been told by the HSE services that they are a close contact of a case of Covid-19, they need to adhere to the advice on the HSE website in relation to restricted movements and testing. Children under 13 years who are household close contacts must restrict their movements for 14 days and they are offered PCR testing at day 0 and day 10. On receipt of a day 10 not-detected PCR test result, they may exit restricted movements.
It is important that anyone who has been identified as a close contact, is very aware of COVID-19 symptoms, and isolate and undergo testing should they develop any symptoms.
2) Re-enforcing general public health messages
In addition to ensuring that staff and children do not attend school if they have any symptoms of Covid-19 infection, please note the importance of abiding by the national public health measures currently in place at all times e.g. vaccination (including boosters), social distancing, use of face masks, hand hygiene, ventilation and minimising social contacts.
With Covid 19 infection levels at the highest since the beginning of this pandemic, we are now, more than ever, relying on each other to act cautiously & responsibly to protect our pupils and staff and keep classes open.
Thanks for your continued support and patience.
Le gach dea ghuí,
Jacinta Jordan
As today was supposed to be our last day in school this school year, we’ve put together a short video to celebrate the great work, resilience and enthusiastic nature of our students and also everyone in our school community. This year has certainly been strange, demanding and quite difficult but we have come together (from a distance!) and overcome so many of the challenges the pandemic set us. Well done, everyone and we can’t wait to see everyone again soon.
Please do not share the below video via social media. It will always be available on this page.
