Please see link to pics below !

https://flic.kr/s/aHskR3YrLD

Please see link below to our push to save energy in the school and at home .

http://www.stlukesns.ie/page.php?pid=133

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome Back

It is with great pleasure that we welcome everyone back to school for the new year. We would like to wish all parents, staff and students a happy, healthy and safe New Year for 2017.

Attention: New Enrolments at St. Luke’s

If you have a child who will be four years of age this year before 30^th June and would be eligible for a school place, we would be delighted if you would fill out an enrolment form with the school secretary Kate. Please notify us if your child has any special educational needs. The cut off date for applications is January 28^th 2017. We will then notify families if their child will have a place for the 2017/2018 academic year. Places are filling up fast this year so please ensure you get your application in on time.

Thank you

We wish to extend our gratitude to all of the parents who helped us before the Christmas holidays with the raffle and Santa visit. The children had a fantastic time. We really appreciate your kind support and efforts. As always, the Parents Association will need new volunteers for the new year. If you have any spare time, even on an ad-hoc basis, we would be delighted if you could come and lend a hand. All of the work that is done is loved by the children and helps to create a warm and fun atmosphere in the school. The Parents Association can be contacted on the St Luke’s Parents Association Facebook page.

Catholic Schools Week

Catholic Schools Week 2017 will run from the 29^th January – 3^rd February. The theme for this year is “Catholic Schools: Learning with Pope Francis to care for Our Common Home.” On Wednesday 1^st February we will celebrate Grandparents day as part of our activities.

Special Educational Needs

If your child has any special educational needs and you think that they may require the help of an SNA or additional resource time, we would urge you to arrange a meeting with your class teacher and the Principal as a matter of urgency. The deadline for applying for additional support is late January 2017 with the NCSE. We would need to have all up to date paperwork submitted in advance of the deadline.

Label Personal Belongings

We would like to remind parents to label their children’s jumpers, jackets, hats, scarves, gloves etc. If something goes missing or gets mixed up it is easier to find if it has a name on it. All lost items are left in the entrance area to the school. Please check there if you are missing an item of clothing.

Food Dudes

We are taking part in the Food Dudes programme commencing this Friday 20^th January. Food Dudes is a programme designed to encourage children to eat more fruit and vegetables both in school and at home. It is based on positive role models (the Food Dudes characters), repeated tasting of fruit and vegetables and rewards. In large-scale studies the programme has been shown to be effective and results long-lasting across the primary age range, regardless of gender, school size, geographic and socio-economic factors. The programme in Ireland received a “Counteracting obesity” award from the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2006. The programme will run for 16 days for the junior classes (infants to second 20/01/17 to Friday 10/02/17) and for 8 consecutive days for the senior classes (3rd to 6th 20/01/17- Tuesday the 31/01/17). You can find out more about Food Dudes at www.fooddudes.ie

Head Lice

In most schools head lice is a recurrent problem. We at St. Luke’s would like to stop the head lice cycle by asking parents to partake in “Bug Busting Fridays” with us. Every Friday night we would ask that you shampoo your child’s hair with a regular shampoo and then condition it. Leave the conditioner in the hair. Then using a special head lice comb we would ask you to check your child’s wet hair for any lice or nit eggs. Rinse the comb to dispose of the lice. Then rinse the hair and check again with the comb to ensure all lice and eggs have been removed from the hair. Treat with a head lice treatment if necessary. Please sign your child’s diary to say that you have checked their hair on Friday evening. Together we can combat the head lice problem in our school.

Emergency Contact Details

If you have changed your telephone number or moved house please remember to let us know as it is vital that we have emergency contact details for all children. Also, if you are not receiving text messages, please contact Kate, our secretary, to rectify this.

Dates for your diary

January 29^th – February 3^rd 2017: Catholic schools week.

January 26^th 2017 @ 7pm: Enrolment Mass for First Holy Communion children and parents, St Luke the Evangelist Church, Mulhuddart.

February 16^th 2017 @7pm: First Confession Ceremony, St Luke the Evangelist Church, Mulhuddart.

February 20^th – February 24^th 2017: School closed for mid-term break.

March 17^th 2017: School closed for St Patricks Day.

March 29^th 2017 @ 10am: Sacrament of Reconciliation 6^th Class Confirmation students.

April 10^th- April 21^st 2017: Easter Holidays. School closes at 11:45am for Junior and Senior infants and 12pm for all other classes.

May 1^st 2017: School closed Bank Holiday.

May 4^th 2017 @ 7pm: Ceremony of Light for 6^th Class Confirmation students, St Luke the Evangelist Church Mulhuddart.

May 11^th 2017 @11am: Sacrament of Confirmation, St Luke the Evangelist Church Mulhuddart.

May 13^th 2017 @ 11am: First Holy Communion, St Luke the Evangelist Church Mulhuddart.

May 24^th 2017: School closed to facilitate training for staff on the New Primary Language Curriculum.

June 5^th – June 9^th 2017: School closed for mid-term break.

June 30^th 2017: Last day of term. School closes at 11:45am for Junior and Senior infants and 12pm for all other classes.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Principal

Dear Parents,

The School  asks that a doctor's certificate for fitness to return to sport/PE in the event of a sports injury to a child, such as concussion or other serious incidents, be provided to the school on return to the school.

Job Title

School Bus Escort

Description

The School Bus Escort travels in a bus with pupils attending the

ASD Unit in Tyrrelstown Educate Together National School

accompanying them on the journey to and from school.

The School Bus Escort day runs from approximately 7.40am until

9.10am and from 1.00pm until 2.00pm (2.5 hours per day) for the

duration of the school year.

Candidates will ideally have experience in working with children

with autism and be able to deal with parents and school staff in a

professional way. School Bus Escorts will be expected to travel to

and from the pick-up and drop-off point near the school to meet

the bus driver

Training will be provided. Applicants must supply suitable

character references and must complete Garda vetting before

commencing employment.

Hourly rate of pay will be €12.94.

How to Apply: Applications should be sent, by email only, to

applications@tetns.ie before Monday, 24 th January 2017.

Location Tyrrelstown, Dublin 15

School closes for the Christmas Holidays on Thursday 22/12/2016 at 1200 and reopens on Monday 9/12/2017 at 0900.Staff and Management at Saint Luke's wish you all a Peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Many thanks to Monsignor Thynne who has donated very very generously to the school Breakfast club to help us help others.

We raised 94 Euro in one hour for our Breakfast Club , singing carols in Tyrrelstown Shopping Centre. Well done to the choir, Ms McGuane, Ms Coffey & Ms Murphy. Ms V Bourke came along too to hear the singing ! Thanks to Supervalu for letting us sing outside their store and for the sweets & Chocolates they gave to the children !

Please see link below !

https://www.flickr.com/gp/131823121@N07/R2crFf

Our Annual Christmas concerts will take place this Wednesday 14/12/2016.

We are delighted to announce that we will hold our Christmas concerts this year in the school hall on Wednesday the 14^th of December. The children will sing a song or recite a poem and they will be delighted to see their loved ones there. The schedule of performances will be as follows:

Wednesday 14^th December 2016

12:50pm – 1:40pm Junior Infants and Senior Infants

2:00pm – 2:40pm 1^st and 2^nd  Classes

3:00pm – 3:40pm 3^rd and 4^th Classes (Children supervised in foyer before performance)

4:00pm – 4:40pm 5^th and 6^th Classes (Children go home at 2:40pm then return to school at 3:45pm)

Please see link to pictures of our basketball winners in the National Basketball Arena.

Ma,y thanks to our teachers who give so much of their free time to coach and guide the children.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/131823121@N07/8L7Afh

The Sam Maguire Cup was presented to the children & staff in our school on Monday 5/12/2016 by Ciaran Kilkenny.

Please see links below !

https://www.flickr.com/gp/131823121@N07/3tA0zW

https://vimeo.com/194404413

 Congratulations to Sarah & Allanah who scooped second prize last night in the NewCross College Talent Competition.Please see video link below.

https://vimeo.com/194008092

 Please see link below to Some wonderful singing & dancing !

https://vimeo.com/193748798

Cyberbullying awareness

Children face tremendous challenges when trying to negotiate the internet. One of the tools we have as parents and educators is to inform and train children about appropriate internet usage on social media sites and applications. The school hope to hold a training session for children and parents of senior classes in Spring 2017. Please ensure that you are always aware of what your child is doing on the internet. Be conscious of what sites they are visiting when they are on their phones, Ipads and laptops.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Seasons Greetings

Christmas is on the way and we can feel the excitement building amongst the children and the staff. It is so nice to see that the true spirit of Christmas is alive and well in the children. They have been busy coming up with charitable ideas to help others in the community. Please speak to your child about the true meaning of Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus and the joy of the Holy Family. From all of the staff and the Board of Management at St. Luke’s may we take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy and Peaceful Christmas.

Sam visit to St. Lukes

On Monday 5^th December we will be thrilled to welcome the Sam Maguire Cup back to St. Lukes. The children will gather in the hall for the huge celebration of Dublin’s All Ireland football win. It will be great to see Sam again! Children may wear their Dubs jersey or any blue clothing to school on Monday 5^th December.

Christmas Concerts

We are delighted to announce that we will hold our Christmas concerts this year in the school hall on Wednesday the 14^th of December. The children will sing a song or recite a poem and they will be delighted to see their loved ones there. The schedule of performances will be as follows:

Wednesday 14^th December 2016

12:50pm – 1:40pm Junior Infants and Senior Infants

2:00pm – 2:40pm 1^st and 2^nd  Classes

3:00pm – 3:40pm 3^rd and 4^th Classes (Children supervised in foyer before performance)

4:00pm – 4:40pm 5^th and 6^th Classes (Children go home at 2:40pm then return to school at 3:45pm)

Santa visit to the school

Santa will visit the school on Wednesday 21^st December. Santa will go from class to class visiting all of the children and will bring them a small gift and listen to their Christmas wishes.

Choir singing in Blanchardstown Centre

St. Luke’s have a wonderful new choir under the baton of Ms Mc Guane. Choir practice is on each Monday after school in Ms Mc Guane’s classroom. This year the choir will perform in the Blanchardstown centre on Tuesday 13^th December from 10am-11am. The children will be getting a bus there and back. Please support the choir if you find yourself in the Blanchardstown Centre that day. Thank you to Ms Mc Guane, Ms Coffey and Ms Murphy who give their free time to coach the choir each Monday. They sound beautiful.

Choir singing outside Supervalue

The choir are hoping to sing on Thursday 15^th December from 10am-11am outside Supervalue in Tyrrelstown. All money raised will go towards the school breakfast club. Come out and show your support on the day! Thank you to the choir and their teachers for all of their great work. They are really ringing in the season for all of us.

Parents Association

The Parents Association would like to thank everyone who attended the EGM in October. They would also like to thank everyone who has paid their annual subscription to the Parents Association. It is not too late to pay if you have not already done so. All donations are kindly accepted. The Parents Association are always looking for volunteers to help out at different events throughout the year and if people want to get involved they can either Private Message the Parents Association on their St Luke’s Parents Association Facebook page or contact them by email stlukesparentsassociation@gmail.com. A huge thank you to the Parents Association who are doing so much to help the school and children this year. Their energy knows no bounds!

Knitting Club

Ms Sturzel has set up a knitting club in the school for 5th class children. The club takes place each Thursday after school. The children really enjoy learning their new craft. The club is open to boys and girls. We thank Ms Sturzel and Ms Browne for giving their free time and skills to the club which the children enjoy so much.

Confirmation Enrolment Ceremony

The Confirmation Enrolment Ceremony will take place on Thursday 1^st December at 7pm in the Church of St. Luke the Evangelist in Mulhuddart. It will be a wonderful evening for parents and children who are making their Confirmation this year.

Cyberbullying awareness

Children face tremendous challenges when trying to negotiate the internet. One of the tools we have as parents and educators is to inform and train children about appropriate internet usage on social media sites and applications. The school hope to hold a training session for children and parents of senior classes in Spring 2017. Please ensure that you are always aware of what your child is doing on the internet. Be conscious of what sites they are visiting when they are on their phones, Ipads and laptops.

Money for Breakfast Club

We would like to thank all of the parents and students for their donations and beautiful cakes on Friday 25^th November for our cake sale. The day was a huge success. Thank you to the energetic and kind 6^th class children who helped to make the day so much fun for everyone. We have managed to raise €796 for the breakfast club which we are hoping to launch for all children in the coming weeks before Christmas. Children can have fruit and toast at the moment if they forget their lunch. We are waiting on training for all volunteers on food safety and hygiene so that we can launch the club as soon as possible. Thank you to Monsignor Thynne who made a very generous donation to the club too. We hope to make it a great success for every child in the school.

Immunisations

Immunisations will take place for junior classes on Monday 5^th and Tuesday 6^th December in the school. There will be a number of nurses here to administer the immunisations to children whose parents have consented.

New Enrolments at St. Luke’s

If you have a child who will be four years of age next year before March 31^st and would be eligible for a school place, we would be delighted if you would fill out an enrolment form with the school secretary Kate. Please notify us if your child has any special educational needs.

Dates for your diary

Thursday December 1^st: Enrolment Night Confirmation classes. St Luke’s Church, Mulhuddart.

Monday December 5^th: Sam Maguire Cup to visit the school. Children may wear their dubs jerseys that day.

Monday and Tuesday December 5^th and 6^th: Immunisations for Junior classes in the school.

Thurday December 8^th: Parents information night Holy Communion Classes. St Lukes Church Mulhuddart.

Wednesday December 14^th: School Christmas Concerts

Wednesday December 21^st : Santa visits the school

Thursday December 22^nd: Last day of term. School closes at 12pm

Monday January 9^th 2017: School Re-opens.

Kind regards ,  Vivienne Bourke, Principal St. Luke’s N.S.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back

A warm welcome to all of our new junior infants and welcome back to all students, parents and staff. The pupils are settling well into the new school year. We have grown this year and we now have over 600 students at St. Luke’s. We also have over 40 staff members including new teachers and SNAs. October 18^th was the feast of St. Luke and we celebrated with songs and prayers with Monsignor Eoin Thynne. It was wonderful to have Monsignor Thynne here to share in our special day.  The children learned all about St. Luke and we had some beautiful volunteer singers from 4^th and 5^th classes recite our school anthem “Hurrah for St. Luke’s” which was written as a gift to the school by Father Eugene Mc Carthy.

Healthy Lunches/Allergies

We encourage the children to have a healthy lunch every day. The children may drink water at all times during the day, but please ensure that the bottle has a sports cap on it to avoid spillages. As we have a number of children in the school with nut allergies, we ask parents to avoid providing nuts or chocolate spread for lunches. So that you are aware of what your child is eating in school, we encourage children to put all rubbish and uneaten food back into their lunchboxes. Please ensure that your children have lunchboxes that they are able to open and close without assistance.

Meeting the class teacher

Thank you to all parents who attended our Parent “Meet and Greets” in September. We will hold our Parent teacher meetings on November 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd. Parents will be notified in writing by the class teacher. This will be an ideal time to discuss your child’s progress and raise any concerns you may have with your child’s class teacher.

Head Lice

In most schools head lice is a recurrent problem. We at St. Luke’s would like to stop the head lice cycle by asking parents to partake in “Bug Busting Fridays” with us. Every Friday night we would ask that you shampoo your child’s hair with a regular shampoo and then condition it. Leave the conditioner in the hair. Then using a special head lice comb we would ask you to check your child’s wet hair for any lice or nit eggs. Rinse the comb to dispose of the lice. Then rinse the hair and check again with the comb to ensure all lice and eggs have been removed from the hair. Please sign your child’s diary to say that you have checked their hair on Friday evening. Together we can combat the head lice problem in our school.

GAA

We welcome Larry Mc Dermott back as GAA coach to the school this year. The children will know what day they need to wear their tracksuits for training. Our 5^th and 6^th class girls GAA team is being coached again this year by Ms. Brennan and Ms. Barrett. The team are participating in the Cumann na mBunscol league. The girls are already through to the quarter final! Ms. Brennan and Ms. Barrett would like to say thank you to the parents who come to support the games. It means so much to the children. Our 5^th and 6^th class boys GAA team is being coached again this year by Mr. Lynch, Mr. Mc Keown and Mr. Molloy. The boys team are participating in the Cumann na mBunscol and Dublin 15 leagues. A big thank you to our team of GAA coaches/teachers. They give up so much time voluntarily and inject huge energy into the sporting life of the school. Please support them in their efforts.

Basketball

The 4^th, 5^th and 6^th class boys and girls on the St. Luke’s basketball team are doing really well in their tournament this year. Thank you to the team and Ms. Burke, Ms. Walsh and Ms Ni Lorcain for all of their hard work and dedication.

English language classes

English Language Classes will be starting after school on Tuesday 8th November, and every following Tuesday until Christmas for children who need extra support with their English Language. More information will follow.

Homework Club

The homework club runs from 2:40pm until 3:40pm from Monday to Thursday each week after school for children from 1^st to 6^th class. If you would like your child to attend please contact the school for further details.

St. Luke’s Green Schools initiative

We are working towards our second green flag in Energy Conservation at St. Luke’s. We are trying really hard, with the help of the children, to reduce our overall carbon footprint. We educate the children on saving energy throughout the school day. We ask parents to discuss energy conservation at home too. Together we hope we can earn our second green flag at the end of the 2016/2017 school year. This would mark a tremendous success overall for the school as we have managed to maintain our first green flag at St. Luke’s for our management of waste and recycling. Thank you to Ms. Hardiman and Ms. Doyle who have worked so hard towards our Green Flag initiative with the help of the children.

Trip to Botanic Gardens

Last week our senior infants went on a trip to the Botanic Gardens. The weather was beautiful and the children had a wonderful time. This week it was the turn of the second class children. Even though the weather was a little colder the children had lots of fun. We would like to thank all of the staff who were involved with both trips and who helped the children to enjoy the day safely. The children were very well behaved and the school were very proud of their conduct whilst on tour.

Parents Association (P.A.)

Thank you to all of the parents who attended the Parents AGM in September. Sharon Geraghty will be the Chairperson and Louise Scorer will be the Treasurer of the P.A. this year. We would also like to thank all of the parents who came to help with book covering in the school last week. We really appreciate your great work. The P.A. will hold their EGM on Wednesday 26th of October at 7:00 pm in the staffroom. Please support the parents association by giving your time if you can spare some! We would really appreciate your help. Contact details can be obtained in the school office.

Halloween Disco Friday 28^th November

The Parents Association will run a Halloween disco in the school hall this Friday during the school day. All children are invited to the disco along with their class groups. Children may dress up in fancy dress and all children will be given a treat on the day. We would like to thank the Parents Association who give up their time to help with this event which the children love.

New School Garden

Ms. Demetriou and our caretaker John have undertaken a beautiful garden project at the front of the school for the children. Work on the new school garden will be getting underway in November with the construction of a wattle fence. Senior pupils will have the opportunity to help build the fence. We look forward to having a beautiful garden for all to enjoy. Thank you to Ms. Demetriou and John who have already worked so hard on planning this project and sourcing materials.

Attendance

We encourage good attendance at all times and we request that, if your child is absent from school, you send a note to the class teacher. If any child is absent for 20 days or more during the school year, we are obliged to report the details to the National Education Welfare Board.

Late Arrival

We are currently monitoring children who are arriving late for school on a regular basis. Students who arrive late will receive a late stamp in their journal. Please ensure your child gets to school on time every day.

Signing Out

If you need to collect your child before dismissal time we ask you to come to the office and sign them out. This ensures we have a record of children leaving school early.

Lost Property

The weather is getting colder and we would ask that every child has a warm jacket, scarf and hat. In order to reduce the amount of items that get lost we ask that you clearly label your child’s jumper, coat, hat, scarf, gloves and any other items they may have with them.

Cycle to School

If your child is cycling to school please ensure that they bring their own lock so that they can lock the bicycle to the bicycle rail. Unlocked bicycles have been stolen recently and we want to prevent theft occurring again.

Car Park

Please accept direction from caretaking staff in the carpark as safety is always our main priority. Please do not park on footpaths or block other cars. Please follow the rules of the road within the school grounds.

Emergency Contact Details

If you have changed your telephone number or moved house please remember to let us know as it is vital that we have emergency contact details for all children. Also, if you are not receiving text messages, please contact Kate, our secretary, to rectify this.

Administration of Medication Policy

We would like to inform parents that the staff of St. Luke’s have worked together to draw up an Administration of Medication Policy which has recently been approved and signed off by the Board of Management of St. Luke’s. All of our school policies are available from both the website www.stlukesns.ie or from the school office.

Dates for your diary

Friday 28^th October – Halloween Disco in the school hall run by the Parents Association. Children may wear fancy dress.

Monday 31^st October – Friday 4^th November – Midterm break

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Principal

Dear Parents,

Please talk to your children about using footpaths and pedestrian crossings only on entering and leaving the school as the entrance to the carpark and the carpark itself can be a very busy place.

Parents are asked to only access the school carpark if a pass has been given to you. This is done to reduce volumes of traffic in the carpark to keep the children and staff safe.

We are currently working towards our second Green Schools flag for energy conservation. The children are working hard to ensure that we keep our energy using down.

Our Green Schools motto is

Let's save energy,

Let's stay green,

To help our planet,

Let's work as a team.

Here's a list of the Saint Luke's Green Schools class reps for 2016-2017

1st: Allanah, Darragh, Estera, Vadim, Favour, Tadhg

2nd: Arijus, Julie, Daniel J, Ola, Emma-Kate and Daniel

3rd: Ansh, Chizarm, Salomeia, Daniel, Amelia, Anshul

4th: Christian, Hannah, Florence, Moaz, Jesse, Natasha,

5th: Elaine, Sarah, Samuel, Modestas

6th:  Sophie, Sherrif, Lara, David

Dear Parents,

Please do not alow your child to bring in nuts or nut-related products into the school as we have children who can have severe reactions to nuts !

FRIENDS For Life 2016/2017

We will be running the ‘FRIENDS for Life’ programme in the  school over a 10 week period. Each session they will be presented with a home-based activity to complete before the next FRIENDS session, and at the end of the programme students will be able to keep their FRIENDS workbooks for future reference. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the school.

FRIENDS is the world’s leading programme for fighting childhood anxiety and building coping skills to help young people manage worry both now and in later life. It is acknowledged by the World Health Organisation for its 8 years of evaluation and practice.
Hundreds of Australian & English schools have used the programme, well over 100,000 children have completed a FRIENDS programme.
It takes only 10 weekly sessions to complete and the group will be run by the school, normally in the afternoons in school from 1-15 pm. The programme aims to promote self-esteem, problem-solving, expression, building positive relationships with peers and adults. It is positive and fun!    NB: It does not involve any clinical assessment or diagnosis and there is NO labelling of children/young people as anxious or different.

15% of teenagers experience some form anxiety disorder [i.e. excessive amount of worry about future or past difficulties that interferes with day-to-day life activities]. In schools we can put this programme in place to whole classes of students to help prevent the development of disorders by helping them deal with any stresses or concerns they may have and make them better able to cope with any difficulties that may face them now and in the future.

FRIENDS is a cognitive behavioural programme designed to combat anxiety and depression by teaching specific life skills. It is based on a firm psychological model and has been tested both in Australia and overseas across a range of age groups and ethnic and social backgrounds. In simple terms this research says that up to 80% of children/young people showing signs of anxiety disorder no longer display that disorder for up to six years after completing the programme. For children and young people who are not clinically anxious, FRIENDS significantly increases their level of self-esteem while reducing their feelings of worry and depression.

Parents have an opportunity to help their children and learn more about what they are experiencing in the FRIENDS programme by talking to them about the sessions and you may also arrange a meeting with school staff and/or the psychologists if you have any further queries regarding the participation of your child in this programme.

Please see link below for more information 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdEMCm2rxeU&sns=em