Nuacht Litir Eanáir

Wellbeing Week

Bake Sale Friday

Sixth class will be selling treats and cakes on Friday to the rest of the school. Students can bring in money if they wish, all proceeds go towards Autism Ireland.

Rainbow Clothes Day Friday

Students are permitted to wear rainbow coloured clothing to school this Friday!

Design Mindful Colouring Competition

This is an optional home competition for senior classes. Children have until Thursday to design a mindful colouring sheet (designed to be photocopied and coloured in by others). One winner will be chosen from each class and their design will be shared with all classes for photocopying.

Motus Wellbeing Workshop

Sixth class students are taking part in an emotional intelligence workshop with Motus this week. The girls are learning all about how to take care of their mental health and cultivate a pro-social mental health environment. Thank you to the PA for funding this important workshop.

Motus are facilitating a follow up webinar for 6th class parents which will take place on Tuesday 30th January at 7pm. Please find link to the webinar below:

Learning Zone

Spanish

We are delighted that our third to sixth classes are engaging in Spanish classes as part of the Government's initiative "Languages Connect." The wonderful Brady Languages will be facilitating these lessons for the next eight weeks.

Literacy Lift Off

The girls in Ms Flynn's 1st class have started Literacy Lift Off. Literacy Lift Off is an intervention that gives children lots of opportunities to read books at their own level of competency and gradually lift the complexity of what they can do in both reading and writing. The girls get the chance to work in small groups for an hour a day, over a 5 week period. Each group has a different teacher lead activity- reading new text, word work, revising old reading and working on iPads. The girls are really enjoying literacy lift off and it is great to see their reading fluency and confidence improving.

Science Blast

Students from 3rd, 5th and 6th class will be attending Science Blast in the RDS on March 5th. They are busy investigating a number of questions including "The five second rule: is it true?" and "What is the best material to protect an egg from cracking?" We can't wait to see if their predictions are true! If any parent volunteers would like to accompany students on the trip please contact Paula in the office.

Learning to Play an Instrument

Our third classes have begun learning the recorder as part of an outreach programme with the Artane School of Music. Following their ten week session, students will be invited to the Artane School of Music to perform with the prestigious Artane Band on Tuesday 5th March at 6.30pm.

Dates for the Diary

Camp-Tastic Easter Camp:

• Camp-tastic Easter Camp will run from the 25th - 29th of March.
• Application forms will be delivered to classes this Friday and should be returned to Ms Barry or Ms O'Neill before Friday 1st March.

Drama Club Performances:

Youth group- ANNIE

• Wednesday 5th June @7.30pm
• Thursday 6th June @7.30pm

Senior group- GREASE

• Wednesday 12th June @7.30pm
• Thursday 13th June @7.30pm

Science & Engineering Week:

• February 19th- 23rd

Sacraments:

First Confession (2nd): 12th March 7.30pm

Service of Light (6th): 7th March 7.30pm

Summer Fair:

• June 16th

The Big Sing:

• April 16th- 5th & 6th classes

All Things Active

Cycling

The Irish Centre for Cycling are back this year under the wonderful direction of Mike Breen. Our fifth class students will learn core bicycle handling skills and road skills training over the coming weeks.

Swimming

First and fourth classes have commenced swimming lessons in Westwood, Clontarf. They will be covering skills from the Aquatics strand in the PE curriculum e.g. buoyancy and propulsion & stroke development. Thank you to our parent volunteers for chaperoning.

Athletics

Morning athletics has started for girls in 3rd-6th class each Monday and Friday before school. The girls are practising their skills in running, jumping and throwing. Some new equipment was purchased for the school, including some hurdles, and the girls are having great fun trying them out.

It is hoped that children in the school will participate in different athletics events throughout the coming months. One such event is the Raheny Road Race which will take place on Sunday 28th of January. You can register your daughter for this event by clicking the button below:

Communication

Homework

Thank you to all who completed the School Self-Evaluation Homework Survey before Christmas. We are delighted that the data suggests our Homework Improvement Plan has enabled us to meet our targets:

• Does homework continue to be purposeful?
• Has the improvement plan reduced tension in home?
• Has this improvement plan alleviated feelings of tiredness/worry/anxiety for students?

Further issues raised include: concerns over the transition to secondary school and assessment. Data from staff and students will be gathered in the coming weeks and analysed in conjunction with these survey results to create Homework Improvement Plan 2- stay tuned!

Transition Team

Teachers of our senior classes, led by Ms Barry, have set up a Transition Team with the purpose of addressing the main challenges students face while transitioning from sixth class to secondary school. This initiative aims to equip our senior students with the skills and strategies they will need to transition to secondary school. We are most grateful to our many parents who are secondary school teachers for their advice, guidance and collaboration with this initiative. Our plan in the coming months is to address the following issues:

• Making new friends
• Homework & study skills
• Organisation skills

Positive Behaviour Approach

The introduction of our Positive Behaviour Approach this year has seen a marked improvement in students' behaviour particularly on the senior yard and around the school e.g. on the corridor. Students are making notable efforts to:

• Be respectful by holding doors for teachers, greeting each other & staff both in English and Irish! saying please and thank you.
• Be kind by being inclusive in their games on yard, by upstanding and by showing gratitude.
• Be safe by walking (not running) on corridors and by taking turns when using equipment.

Well done girls! Keep up the great work!