Dear Parents/Guardians, Welcome back after the midterm break. We have an exciting few weeks ahead before the Easter holidays. At the moment on our religious calendar we are in the midst of the season of Lent. The Lenten season is a time when many Christians observe a period of fasting, repentance, moderation, self-denial and spiritual discipline. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus Christ - His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and resurrection. On Easter Sunday we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead after His Crucifixion. Eastertide represents new life and Christ’s triumph over death. It is a time of great hope for all. We wish everyone a very Happy Easter holiday. Cake Sale Friday March 10th 2017 This Friday we will hold a cake sale in the hall during the school day. All children may wear their pyjamas on the day. The event will be run by the 6th class students and they will be assisted by staff. We had a very successful cake sale last year and we are hoping for a repeat performance! Please donate any cakes, buns, treats etc. The money raised will go to Temple Street Children’s Hospital and the Dylan Finglas “Saving Dylan” Charity. We will hold a raffle on the day too. Please remember no nuts or chocolate spread in the cakes which you send in. We thank you for your continued support and we look forward to having a great day on Friday. If you are sending in cakes please label your containers clearly with your name on both the top and bottom part of the container. We would like to return your containers safely to you. Collaboration with ITB Sports Management Course: Val Andrews We hope that St. Luke’s will win the Active Schools flag in 2017/2018. At the moment we are very lucky to be collaborating with the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown. Val Andrews, Senior lecturer at ITB from the Sports Management Degree Programme brings 40 students here every day to coach the children on various sporting disciplines and games. The students are very lucky to have this chance to be exposed to such a wide variety of sports and coaches. We thank Val Andrews and all of his students for coming to St. Luke’s and giving us this wonderful opportunity to advance our sporting skills. Quiz Team Success We wish to congratulate the quiz team at St. Luke’s on their success at the recent Blanchardstown Credit Union quiz. The team was trained by Mr Neary. The children worked really hard and we are delighted and proud of their representation of St. Luke’s on the night. Congratulations to them all. We hope to participate again in next year’s quiz. A big thank you to Mr Neary for giving his time to coaching and looking after the quiz team. Collaboration with ITB Social Studies Course: Deirdre Bonar The 4th class children are very lucky this week as they will get the chance to collaborate with the Institute of Technology in Blanchardstown Social Studies students under the guide of Senior Lecturer, Deirdre Bonar. The 3rd level students will be doing an Easter Art project with the 4th class students. We will post their fantastic Easter art work on our website. Irish Centre for Cycling The 5th and 6th class children have been given a wonderful opportunity to learn about road safety and cycling skills with the Irish Centre for Cycling. Mick Breen and his team will come and coach the children over the next 6 weeks on how to ride their bikes safely. The children will get plenty of practice on the bikes supplied by the Irish Centre for Cycling and hopefully this initiative will encourage more children to ride their bikes to school. Seachtain na Gaelige celebrations For the next week and a half we will celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge at St. Luke’s. Seachtain na Gaeilge is a week when we celebrate Irish culture, language and history. We have many exciting events planned for the children during this special time. We would encourage you to ask your children to sing Irish songs, recite Irish poems, or use their Gaeilge in the home. Perhaps they can talk to you about some of the things they are learning in school about Irish history or culture. We will have a Céilí - a traditional Irish dance, for the children on March 16th. We are looking forward to a fun packed week ahead. Road Safety Ireland The Road Safety Authority of Ireland will be in the school to train the children on Road Safety in the coming weeks. Each class will receive a presentation and an educational leaflet explaining the rules of the road and how to keep safe when coming to and from school. We are all aware of the traffic challenges in the Tyrrelstown area. Hopefully this will help to protect the children in some way by educating them about road safety. Please see www.rsa.ie for more information. Asthma Society of Ireland The Asthma Society of Ireland came to talk to staff this week about the correct use of inhalers for our students who have asthma. They have also given us some advice on school policy and emergency procedures. We hope to become Ireland’s first “Asthma Friendly School”. We will continue to work with the Asthma Society of Ireland over the coming months. Our aim to become an asthma friendly school will involve more training for parents and students in the coming months. Green Flag for Energy Conservation A huge thank you to Ms Hardiman and Ms Doyle and all of the children on the Green schools committee. We were successful recently in winning our second Green Schools Flag. This means so much to the school and is a huge achievement for St. Luke’s. We will have a flag raising ceremony for our new flag in the coming months. Well done to everyone on this fantastic school wide effort. We are immensely proud of our Green flags. Cricket The 4th, 5th and 6th class children have commenced cricket training and hope to compete this year in the Leprechaun Cup. Each class will compete at their own class level and the tournaments will occur during school time in the coming months. We thank Reinhardt Strydom and his team for coming to coach the children and giving them a fantastic opportunity to learn all about cricket. Intercultural day We will celebrate intercultural day on the 24th of March. There will be lots of things going on in the school that day. Children may wear traditional clothes from their country of origin and bring a small sample of food to show the class their traditional foods. Please remember no nuts in the food which you send in. We will have music, drumming, dance, martial arts displays and many other exciting things around the school that day. Some footage from the day may be used in a documentary which is being made locally by local resident, Carol Azams, which is all about Tyrrelstown. Easter Camp This year the staff will run an Easter camp from 10th-14th of April for 1st to 6th classes. The cost of the camp is 50 euro per child, with special rates for brothers and sisters. There is a deposit of 10 euro per child needed to secure your place. Activities will include art, sports, cooking, dance, computers and games to name but a few. Please speak to Ms Hardiman if you are interested in enrolling your child in the camp. Basketball The children in the basketball club were at the opening of the National Indoor Arena where they played basketball in the court. The Taoiseach was there to open the arena, the children met him and were filmed having fun while he was watching. There are pictures up on the school website. The children are also taking part in a 3v3 in the National Basketball Arena on Tuesday 14th March. We wish both the boys and girls teams the best of luck. Lego Club The boys and girls from 2nd and 3rd class attend a Lego Club each Wednesday for an hour. They are given instructions and can use their imaginations to build buildings, animals and anything else they want. There are pictures of the 1st Lego class on the school website. The Student Council Members of the Student Council were voted in this week. They have had their first meeting and have lots of new and interesting ideas on what they can bring and do in the school. The first thing that they are going to do is collect old batteries that children bring in from home. They will also be organising a fun day to raise funds for new yard equipment. School Website & Parents Association You can keep up to date with all of the school activities on our school website www.stlukesns.ie. You can also keep up to date with our parents association on the St. Luke’s NS Parents Association page on Facebook. Dates for your diary March 17th 2017: School closed for St Patricks Day. March 29th 2017 @ 10am: Sacrament of Reconciliation 6th Class Confirmation students. April 7th 2017: School closes at 11:45am for Junior and Senior infants and 12pm for all other classes for Easter holidays. April 10th- April 21st 2017: Easter Holidays. May 1st 2017: School closed Bank Holiday. May 4th 2017 @ 7pm: Ceremony of Light for 6th Class Confirmation students, St Luke the Evangelist Church Mulhuddart. May 11th 2017 @11am: Sacrament of Confirmation, St Luke the Evangelist Church Mulhuddart. May 13th 2017 @ 11am: First Holy Communion, St Luke the Evangelist Church Mulhuddart. May 24th 2017: School closed to facilitate training for staff on the New Primary Language Curriculum. June 5th – June 9th 2017: School closed for mid-term break. June 30th 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 St Luke’s NS |
