Dear Parents and Guardians/A Thuismitheoirí agus a Chaomhnóirí,

We hope you had a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day. Although it’s been a short week, it’s been a busy one here.

Tomorrow, Friday 21st March is World Down Syndrome Day.

Trip to Air Traffic Control Centre
We went to the air traffic control tower and were lucky enough to get a full tour of the premises.
The children got to go to the top of the tower and learn how the controllers talk the pilots through both taking off and landing. Also learning about the radar systems and tracking nearby planes and drones in the airspace.
It was a great day out for all with loads of thought-provoking questions answered! Stephen

And more!
We had a visit from Harry Woods who scored the goal that meant that Shelbourne won the league of Ireland last November and the community development officer Tony who also coaches the women’s U19 team. The children asked some amazing questions about Harry’s football career so far, how he manages failure and pressure and what emotions he experienced when he scored that goal. Harry was delighted to hear about all of the different teams the children support and their own experiences of being on football teams locally.

6th Class interviewed local man Louis O’Flaherty on Monday. He was born in 1935 and told us about his childhood during and after “the Emergency”. He remembers everything being very scarce.There were no toys because all metal was being used for the war and plastic hadn’t been invented yet. The bicycle sheds in school were empty as bikes were so hard to come by. His granny lived in the countryside and grew sugar plants. She sent the sugar to Louis’s mam who tried to trade it for a bicycle wheel. There were no bananas so they mashed up parsnips and put banana essence in it.
He went to school on Iona Road. There were 40 to 60 children in each class and teachers often beat the students using leather straps and canes for getting their schoolwork wrong. Some boys would use ice from the crates outside the fish shop on Botanic road to ice their hands and help numb their hands from the pain. His favourite playground games were “3 and in” (football with a tennis ball) and ‘Jack stones’ which involved flicking 5 stones from your palm and seeing how many landed on the back of your hand. His advice to his 12 year old self was to try the things you want to do and not be self conscious or afraid of failure.
Thank you so much Louis for a fascinating afternoon! Kate

Daniel’s junior infants had great fun exploring and working with clay in art this week!

Reminder:

• PTA Table Quiz Saturday 5th April 2025 in Na Fianna Mobhi Suite
• School closed on Wednesday, 7th May 2025 for staff training.
• If your child is feeling unwell, please keep them at home until they are feeling better.
• When dropping or collecting your child early/late to/from school please ensure you close the pedestrian gate securely on your way in and out of the school.

Frása na Seachtaine:

Go raibh maith agat (junior classes) – Thank you

Tá sé sin fíor / bréagach. (senior classes) – That is true / false

Le meas

Róisín Conlon

Príomh Oide