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

Saint Luke's National School

First Holy Communion 2016/2017

Thursday 8/12/2016 ,

Parents' Information Night, 7:00 pm in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Thursday 26/1/2017

Enrolment & Mass , 7:00 pm in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Thursday 16/2/2017

First Confession , 7:00 pm  in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Saturday May 13/5/2017

First Holy Communion, Mass 1100 in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Saint Luke's National School

Confirmation 2016/2017

Wednesday 16/11/2016 ,

Parents Meeting  7:00 pm in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Thursday 1/12/2016

Enrolment Ceremony, 7:00 pm  in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Wednesday 29/3/2017

 Ceremony of Reconciliation 1000 Mass then 1030 ceremony  in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Thursday 4/5/2017

Ceremony of Light, 7:00 pm in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Retreat ( To be organised)

Thursday 11/5/2017

Confirmation, Mass 1100 in church of Saint Luke The Evangelist, Mulhuddart.

Dear Parents,

Please see link below to pictures taken of pupils at the new playground on 15/9/2016. Children from Saint Lukes NS & TETNS were very involved in planning the playground with the archutects last year and they were delighted with the results. Ruairi O'Dualaing ( Fingal CoCo) oversees the entire project and we must congratulate him on his new appointment to another Council position. He will be missed in Tyrrelstown. 

Many thanks to Emma & Michael Hayes from TETNS for their input.The children will have many happy years of play if we can all manage to keep the playground safe from damage.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/131823121@N07/rNR3rj

Dear Parents

Welcome back! The school term is starting to get very busy and the junior infants are settling in.

This note is just to inform you of a couple changes:

1. Car Passes: The car park is extremely busy and almost full every day. Car passes will be issued to children and parents who have a valid disability pass. We will also issue some temporary car passes on a case by case basis.
2. Nut allergies: We have children with severe nut allergies in the school. We would urge parents not to send Nutella or nuts in with their child’s school lunch.
3. Morning drop-off:

-          Junior infants can wait in the hall with their parents from 8:50am until 9am.

-          Senior infants can wait in the front yard with their parents from 8:50am until 9am.

-          1^st classes up to 6^th class need to walk around to the side gate and into the back yard where they will line up with their classes and wait for their teachers. There will be a number of staff supervising the yard in the mornings from 8:50am until 9am.

-          On a rainy morning we will let all children go straight to their classes at 8:50am where they will be supervised by staff until their teacher arrives.

4. Dismissal:

-          Junior infants will be dismissed from the school hall. Senior infants will be dismissed from the front yard at 1:40pm. On a rainy day, parents may collect their child directly from the classrooms.

-          1^st and 2^nd classes will be dismissed from the school hall each day at 2:40pm.

-          3^rd and 4^th classes will be accompanied by their teacher from the side gate to the front gate of the school and dismissed from there. Senior students will be allowed to walk home alone unless a parent specifically writes to the school requesting that they must wait for their parent.

-          5^th and 6^th classes will be accompanied by their teachers from the main front door down to the front school gate and will be dismissed from there.

Thank you for your continued co-operation on these matters. If you would like to set up a meeting at any time please feel free to contact Ms. Bourke at the front gate or Kate the secretary in the office.

Yours sincerely

Vivienne Bourke

Principal St. Luke’s NS

Dear Parent,

Please see 6th class video graduation presentation link.

https://vimeo.com/172877775

Dear Parents,

The school year will end tomorrow Thursday 30/6/2016 at 1200 for all children. We wish all our school community a peaceful and joyful well-earned holiday. 

The School reopens for the children on Friday 26/8/2016 at 0900.

Fingal County Library Service will run the Summer Stars Reading Programme for children in all library branches during the summer holidays from July to the end of August. The Summer Stars programme is a free programme and we would be delighted to welcome all children and their families to join in. We are very happy to work with teachers and families to encourage children to continue reading and writing and to participate in our range of storytelling and other fun activities during the summer months.

Each child who registers for Summer Stars at their local library joins in the fun of reading lots of exciting books during their summer holidays. They will receive their own Summer Stars Reading Card to record their progress along the way and a library reward stamp will be added to their reading card at the library after each book read. Children will be encouraged to continue reading throughout the programme. Fun rewards will be provided along the way. At the end of the challenge, all children who participate are invited to attend an award event at which they will be presented with their award certificate.

Children and families will also have access to fun reading activities on the Summer Stars webpages at www.librariesireland.ie/summer-stars/. The resource includes lots of fun activities, games, talking ebooks, stories, reading tips, book suggestions and funny interviews with children’s authors and other celebrities.

Events for children will also be held in libraries during the summer. Further information is available from www.fingal.ie or on www.librariesireland.ie.

Dear Parents

We would ask for your continued prayers for Ms. Geraghty who is still in hospital following her serious accident last weekend. The family have been moved by the outpouring of prayers and support offered by the whole Tyrrelstown community. The children and staff have been praying for her at a staff prayer service and at the whole school assemblies. We will try to organise a prayer service for parents and children this week.

We think of her family and loved ones at this time.

Vivienne Bourke

Principal

The following account was written by one of our students, Klaudia, who is a member of our girls GAA team .

  On Tuesday the 19 of April 2016 St. Luke's Girl's GAA Team played a match against Lady's Well. This  was one of the most important matches of this school year. All of us were nervous as we got out of the bus. We still remember our last match against them and they promised to get revenge. Our team tried to smile to make our loyal supporters think that everything was okay. We were loud in the bus to hid that we were really nervous. We began our usual warm up which was really silent.

  Ms. Brennan and Ms. Barrete called us to discuss our positions and to wish us good luck. Also for the first time we were told to pick team captains. Melissa and Brianna became our joint captains for this match. All of us put our hands in and shouted St. Luke's before we entered the battlefield.

  The match has begun. Lady's Well slapped the football towards our goal but we were ready and the ball  came towards the opposite goal like a boomerang. Our team rushed in to score as they got kicked, tackled and tripped. All of us failed to score while our legs hurt. Finally we got a free. Melissa took this free and changed it to beautiful point. This was the first score of this battle. After it we scored another two wonderful points. We all could now see hope and we started to celebrate victory in our minds. Lady's Well took this opportunity and attacked. Our marvelous goal keeper Tayra tried to protect the goal with all her might. Unfortunately they scored one goal. It was a draw. The referee blew his whistle for half time.

 All of our magnificent subs who cheered us on during this match congratulated us as we jogged in. We discussed our positions again and we were sent back onto the pitch. The referee threw up the ball but this time the ball went closer to Lady's Well's goal. The forward, half forwards and midfielders passed the ball to each other in order to score. All of our attempts failed. We were starting to get fouled more and  all the frees went to waste. We started to loose hope but we tried till the last minute. The ball kept on going towards our goal and coming back. Klaudia scored the last and deciding point of this battle which left some of our players injured. The game was still on St. Luke's team still kept on trying to score but we failed to.

     The referee finally blew the whistle this was the end. We ran towards our subs and coaches and started to celebrate as we won the FINAL!!! The one against one of the strongest teams in the league. We were so chuffed about it. The trophy wasn't as big as we expected it to be. We were proud that we won and that we go to St. Luke's National School. We will remember this day till the end.

Please see link to Ceremony of Light 11/4/2016

https://vimeo.com/162484665

What is the Census?

On Monday, 4^th April 2016, a new Traffic Management system will come into operation at the schools. Please note that staff from both schools will be supervising the car park to ensure that access is granted only to authorised vehicles.

We have requested the help of the Gardaí to establish the new system. Our primary concern is the safety of pupils and staff. In order to protect them and to ensure that there is no delay in getting everyone to school, we will be trying to keep traffic moving.

It is very important that car journeys to the school be kept to a minimum, and should only be done when there is no other alternative. The first preference is that children should walk to school where possible.

Please refrain from entering the school car park.To do so would only cause traffic congestion. The exit gate may be closed if a safety issue arises, e.g. cars coming into the car park that should not be there.

We anticipate that this will not be an easy change to implement. We thank everyone who has cooperated with us in the past and also for your continued cooperation.

Please see link below to Irish Traditional Music Session for the children in the school !

https://vimeo.com/158665168

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome back after the midterm break. We have an exciting few weeks ahead before the Easter holidays.

Easter is a festival and holiday celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead after His Crucifixion. The week before Easter is called Holy Week, and it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the Crucifixion and death of Jesus. The Easter Season begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. 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.

CARI Training

SPHE is part of the curriculum for all classes in St. Luke’s. We feel strongly about protecting the children from inappropriate sexual behaviour, language and gestures. Educating all children on acceptable language and behaviour is important. We believe that it is important for parents to communicate and use appropriate language with their children at home too, so that children are not misinformed by other children. We have arranged for a therapist from the CARI Foundation to come to speak with all parents on 5th April, 2016 at 7.00 p.m. in the Community Centre. The CARI Foundation helps and supports both parents and children. The therapist from CARI will discuss appropriate sexual language and behaviour for all age groups and will give you guidelines on how to talk to your child/children about such matters in the home in an age appropriate way. The training is for parents of children from Junior Infants to 6^th Class.

Magic Show Fundraiser

On Tuesday March 8^th, a special guest, Carl the Magician, will be visiting the school. He will do three magic shows during the school day. We would ask children to bring in whatever amount of money they can afford to bring. All money raised on the day will go directly to the Saving Dylan Charity. Dylan has been diagnosed with a rare and fatal condition called Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency (MSD). His parents are hoping to raise €2 million euro and raise awareness of this devastating illness. We would like to thank Carl for volunteering to do the shows.

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 Ms Brennan and Ms Geraghty. The children and teachers 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.

Parent Volunteers needed

We are asking for some parent volunteers to help in the Church on Thursday 21^st April for one hour from 11:45am-12:45pm. We would love to give some tea and cakes to the families of children who come to the Church to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. We will supply the tea and cakes, we just need some parents to help to run the kitchen for that one hour. If you are unable to help out on that date perhaps you could help out on Saturday May 7^th from 11:45am to 12:30pm in the Church to give tea and cake to the families of children who are celebrating their First Holy Communion. If you are interested in helping out, we would really appreciate any help you can give. Please give your name to our secretary Kate on 01-8856015 and we will call you back to inform you of the details.

Seachtain na Gaelige and 1916 centenary 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. This year is 2016 and the whole nation of Ireland celebrates the centenary of 1916. As it is such a special year, we have many events planned for the children during this special time. We would encourage you to ask your children to sing the national anthem, 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. On Friday 11^th March we will have some traditional Irish musicians visiting the school. It will be a very special occasion. If your child can do Irish dancing it would be lovely for them to wear their costume or do a few dance steps on the day. We will have a flag raising ceremony and read the Proclamation on March 15^th which is Proclamation Day.

Dental Hygienist

The dental hygienist visited the school last week. The children learned about how to brush their teeth properly and about a healthy diet for teeth. Please encourage your child to brush their teeth twice a day. Children under 7 years should be supervised whilst brushing.

Cinema Night

Ms Geraghty and the Student Council have organised a Movie night for children and parents on Thursday 10^th March in the school from 5:45pm-7:30pm.  Tickets cost €5 each or €10 per family. “Night at the Museum” will be the movie that is shown. Popcorn and a drink will be included in the ticket price and there will be a shop selling sweets on the night too. All money raised will go towards our new school library. Tickets are on sale in the school now and also on the door on Thursday night.

Disco run by the Parents Association

The Parents Association will run three discos for the children on Wednesday 16^th March in the school hall. The first disco will be for Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd classes and will run from 12:15pm until 1pm. The second disco will be for 4th, 5th and 6th classes and will run from 1:15pm until 2:00pm. The admission charge will be five euro. All proceeds will go to the Parents Association.

Meetings with Principal, Deputy Principal and teachers

If you wish to speak with any staff member at the school we would ask you to make an appointment at the school office. Small amounts of information can be passed from parent to teacher in the line each morning, but if a longer conversation is required a meeting can be set up by the school secretary, Kate on 01-8856015.

Emergency Contact Details

If you have changed your telephone number or moved house please remember to let us know. 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

March 9^th 2016 7pm: First Confession for 2^nd Class, St. Luke the Evangelist Church.

March 9^th 2016 7pm: Meeting for parents of children enrolling in Junior infants in September 2016 in Tyrrelstown Community Centre.

March 17^th – April 1^st 2016: Closed for Easter holidays.

April 5^th 2016 7pm: CARI Foundation Training

April 11^th 2016: Ceremony of Light, St. Luke the Evangelist Church

April 21^st 2016: Sacrament of Confirmation.

May 2^nd 2016: Closed for bank holiday.

May 7^th 2016: Sacrament of Holy Communion.

June 6^th – June 10^th 2016: Closed for mid-term break.

June 30^th 2016: Last day of term.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It has been a very busy few weeks here at St. Luke’s. Catholic schools week is over and we would like to thank all of the grandparents who visited the school on February 3^rd. It was lovely for the children to hear stories from the past and they were very proud to see their grandparents at school. We would ask you to continue to pray for Father Seamus who is still unwell. Monsignor Eoin Tynne and his pastoral team, Colette and Conor, have been very busy settling into the Parish. We thank them for a great night held on February 2^nd for parents of Confirmation children. We support them and wish them every success as they spread the Word of God and reach out to the community.

Lent and Ash Wednesday

This Wednesday 10^th February will be Ash Wednesday. Ashes will be given to Catholic children in the school who are in 2^nd class up to 6^th class. Ash Wednesday opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.

Ash Wednesday takes place 46 days before Easter Sunday. Ash Wednesday comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of penance and fasting. The practice includes the wearing of ashes on the head. The ashes symbolise the dust from which God made us. As the priest applies the ashes to a person's forehead, he speaks the words: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return."

Basketball Training

The school basketball teams will begin training this Wednesday February 10^th. The training is for 5^th and 6^th class children. We would like to thank our energetic coaches Ms Burke, Ms Geraghty and Ms Ni Lorcain for their dedication and their kindness in giving their free time to coach the children.

GAA Training

Training for 5th and 6th class girls GAA teams recommenced this month. The Dublin 15 League will be starting after the Easter holidays. We would like to thank Ms Brennan and Ms Barrett, who are expert GAA stars in their own right, for their marvellous coaching and dedication. Again none of these sports would succeed in school without teachers giving their free time. We really appreciate their kindness.

Cricket Training

Cricket training has begun during the school day at St. Luke’s for 4^th, 5^th and 6^th classes. The children will compete in the Dublin schools cricket tournament to be held in May.  

School Library

The Student Council of St. Luke’s, assisted by Ms Geraghty, would like to announce a book drive for our new school library. If you have any books, in good condition, which are suitable for primary school aged children, we would be delighted if you would donate them to the school. Please leave any book donations with Kate in the office.

Polling Station

In connection with the forthcoming General Election, to be held on Friday 26^th February, we have been asked by the Office of the Dublin County Returning Officer to close the school on February 26^th to facilitate the use of Tyrrelstown Community Centre as a polling station. We make this request for the health and safety of the children at the school.

Disco run by the Parents Association

The Parents Association will run two discos for the children on Friday 12^th February in the school hall. The first disco will be for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd classes and will run from 3pm until 3:50pm. The second disco will be for 4th, 5th and 6th classes and will run from 4:00pm until 5:00pm. The admission charge will be five euro. All proceeds will go to the Parents Association.

Meetings with Principal, Deputy Principal and teachers

If you wish to speak with any staff member at the school we would ask you to make an appointment at the school office. Small amounts of information can be passed from parent to teacher in the line each morning, but if a longer conversation is required a meeting can be set up by the school secretary, Kate on 01-8856015.

Rainy days

During rainy mornings we will open the gates and the front door of the school at 8:50am. Children will be allowed into the classrooms, directly, where they will be supervised by teachers. We would ask parents not to enter the building but to drop their child at the front door. On a rainy day it is very busy at the door trying to get children safely to their classrooms. We thank you for your cooperation on this matter.

Children and yard time

If your child is well enough to come to school, we would hope that they are well enough to go out to play in the yard. All children attending school will be sent outside to play at break times, unless they have written parental permission to stay in.

Emergency Contact Details

If you have changed your telephone number or moved house please remember to let us know. 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 Medicines

We are updating our medical procedures here at St. Luke’s for the safety and wellbeing of all children. If your child has medical needs, please ensure your teacher is made aware of them. If your child needs to take any medication, we will need a note from your GP stating the amount and frequency required and the need for it to be administered during the school day. If we don’t have the GPs letter we can no longer administer medication to your child.

Dates for your diary

February 10^th 2016: Ash Wednesday

February 12^th 2016: School disco Parents Association

February 15^th – February 19^th 2016: Closed for mid-term break.

February 26^th 2016: Closed for General Election Polling Station.

March 9^th 2016: First Confession for 2^nd Class, St. Luke the Evangelist Church

March 9^th 2016: Meeting for parents of children enrolling in Junior infants  in September 2016

March 17^th – April 1^st 2016: Closed for Easter holidays.

April 11^th 2016: Ceremony of Light, St. Luke the Evangelist Church

April 21^st 2016: Sacrament of Confirmation.

May 2^nd 2016: Closed for bank holiday.

May 7^th 2016: Sacrament of Holy Communion.

June 6^th – June 10^th 2016: Closed for mid-term break.

June 30^th 2016: Last day of term.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Saint Luke’s N. S.
Tyrrelstown
Dublin 15.
Newsletter January 2016

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 2016. We are delighted to announce the arrival of Monsignor Eoin Tynne to the school and parish. Monsignor Tynne has taken up his new role at St. Luke the Evangelist Church. We welcome him, congratulate him and wish him every success in his new role. Father Seamus has been unwell lately and we send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Please keep Father Seamus and Monsignor Eoin Tynne in your prayers. It is a very difficult and challenging role that they do, and they dedicate themselves to the community whole heartedly.

Thank you
We wish to extend our gratitude to all of the parents who helped us before the Christmas holidays with the Christmas room and the school disco. 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 environment in the school.

New Enrolments at St. Luke’s
If you have a child who will be four years of age this year 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.

Catholic Schools Week
Catholic Schools Week 2016 will run from the 31st January - 6th February. The theme for this year is “Catholic Schools: Challenged to Proclaim God’s Mercy.” On Wednesday 3rd 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 29th February 2016 with the NCSE. We would need to have all up to date paperwork submitted in advance of the deadline.

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.

Lunch Boxes
We are a Green Flag school here at St. Luke’s and we are extremely proud of our ‘green’ achievement. We would ask that all parents ensure that their child uses a lunch box every day for their food. Any food not eaten, or any food wrappers will be returned home in the lunch box at the end of the day.

Hand Washing Routines
We would like to remind parents to speak with their child about good hand washing routines. A good hand washing routine can stop the spread of infection in the Winter months. Some of the common infections we can help prevent by regular hand washing include: Colds and flu, runny noses and chest infections, many tummy bugs that cause diarrhoea and vomiting, MRSA, eye infections like conjunctivitis, food related bugs that can be spread when cooking or barbecuing food.
Many of these infections are common in children, so parents and teachers should make sure that children wash their hands regularly.

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 6th 2016: First day of second term.
January 31st – February 6th 2016: Catholic schools week.
February 15th – February 19th 2016: Closed for mid-term break.
March 17th – April 1st 2016: Closed for Easter holidays.
April 21st 2016: Sacrament of Confirmation.
May 2nd 2016: Closed for bank holiday.
May 7th 2016: Sacrament of Holy Communion.
June 6th – June 10th 2016: Closed for mid-term break.
June 30th 2016: Last day of term.

Kind regards

Vivienne Bourke

Principal