The amazing and talented students of 4th, 5th and 6th Class drama and music club have been working
incredibly hard over the past few months rehearsing and preparing for our spectacular school play, Children of Lir, as part of our Seachtain na Gaeilge celebrations.
This wonderful production has truly showcased the wide range of talents among our pupils. From confident acting and energetic dancing to beautiful traditional music, imaginative set design and dedicated stage management, every child involved has played an important role in bringing this magical story to life.
Their commitment, teamwork and enthusiasm have been evident at every rehearsal.
All parties involved—students, teachers and staff—have been absolutely delighted to see this production grow from early practices into a polished and captivating performance. It has been a joy to watch the children develop their skills, support one another and gain confidence along the way.
The excitement around the school has been electric, and the performances for both the school community and parents have been nothing short of fantastic. We are so proud of each and every student who took part. Their hard work, creativity and positivity truly shone on stage.
Congratulations to our wonderful performers, and to everyone who helped make this production such a
success. A special word of thanks to Ms Grace Kelly who led this production from its initial idea to such an
outstanding and memorable show and to Mr Jude Collins, Ms Aideen Quealy, Ms Katie Brady, Ms Deirdre
O’Reilly, Maria D’Arcy, Pat Brady and Mrs Jennifer Oates for all their help with it.
We look forward to many more celebrations of talent, culture and community at St. Mary’s.
Once upon a time, on Thursday 5th March, we celebrated World Book Day in St. Mary’s with lots of fun activities taking place in classrooms all across our school.
From character maps to hotseating, from book reviews to bookmarks, everyone was invested in the day, with many children and teachers donning costumes of their favourite book characters.
One of the most popular activities is our buddy reading. Our older senior classes link up with the junior rooms, and the older children either read to the younger children or aid them with their reading.
It’s great to see the bond between the age groups and a lovely event to mark the day.
On Tuesday 18th November, 6th Class pupils hosted our annual Science Fair in the school hall. The pupils had worked very hard to research, experiment with and produce their projects in the week before the fair. Projects themes varied from electrical circuits. chemical reactions, physical reactions, propuslion, magnetism, friction and density.
Every pupil from Junior Infants to 5th Class visited the Fair throughout the day, and it’s fair to say they were blown away by the projects on show. Great credit must go to our 6th Class pupils, as they varied their explanations for each class level and made it very enjoyable.
It was a fantastic display of scientific knowledge and well done to all.
Well, what a week it was! There was so much exploration, play, investigations and fun going on in St. Mary’s this week. From Science experiments to maths problems to STEM challenges to coding, the pupils of our school were put to the test so many times, and excelled in exciting and ingenius ways.
One of the big talking points and sources of interest, was our whole-school STEM challenge, The Egg Drop Challenge. Every class were given a small list of supplies and an egg. Their challenge: To find a way using only those supplies to protect their egg from a 6 metre or 20 foot drop. Ideas were aplenty and it all came down to a big drop event on Friday afternoon, when each class submitted one design to withstand the drop. Our pupils were hugely successful, with 12 classes beating the drop and their egg remaining intact. Unfortunately, 7 designs left their eggs scrambled! But what a fun challenge.
It ended in the hall but started in each classroom, with brainstorming, group ideas, experimenting and finally deciding collectively on a class design submission. Here are some pictures of Room 13’s process – which, I’m sure they’d like to add, was successful in protecting their egg.
As well as all the fun in school, our 6th class were also treated to a hugely entertaining and educational science show in Virginia Library. Mark Langtry, or Mark the Science Guy, from RTE and Explorium Ireland, gave our pupils a wonderful presentation on the effects we have on our climate. It was hugely entertaining. Our pupils showed off great knowledge and inquisitiveness throughout and came back to school beaming.
Our 6th classes have started their cycling course with instructors from CycleRight.
All students, no matter their ability, will learn the rules of the road and how to cycle safely. We have some beginners, who already are cycling after lesson 1. And of course, more experienced riders will improve their skills and knowledge.
By week 6 of the lessons, all our cyclists will take to the road to test out their skills and road rules awareness. What a wonderful opportunity and a great skill to learn in our P.E. lessons this term.
At St Mary’s N.S., we are committed to creating a positive, inclusive, and supportive learning environment where every child can thrive.
As part of our ongoing School Self-Evaluation (SSE) process, we regularly review our teaching and learning practices with input from staff, students, and parents.
Our current focus is on Wellbeing — Relationships and Partnerships, with an emphasis on developing a relational, regulation-first approach through the NCSE Relate framework and continued engagement with Restorative Practice.
This report outlines what we are doing well, what we are working on, and how our whole school community is contributing to strengthening wellbeing and relationships across the school.
It’s always an exciting and fun morning on the day of our Halloween holidays when streams of chidlren enter the school gates, dressed as ghouls. witches, and the latest crazes, like K-Pop’s Rumi or the 6/7 meme. Thursday 23rd October was no different and these are just a selection of the wonderful costumes on show throughout our school on the day.
Well done to all, and have a nice break and safe Halloween.
On Thursday 25th September, our whole school completed a relay marathon for our Parents’ Association fundraising event.
Together the pupils of St. Mary’s ran 42.2km in a great time of 2 hours and 48 minutes, narrowly missing out on our record time of 2 hours 46 minutes last year.
However, there was no doubt, all children had a great time running and cheering on their classmates as they ran a great time.
