The newsletter is arriving a day early this week because the school is closed tomorrow as we are a polling station.
It has been a very busy week and with the lights starting to get turned on and the music playing in the shops there is no way not to acknowledge that a very exciting festival is on its way. This brings its own level of excitement. As all the classes start their rehearsals for their winter concert on the 18th and the usual pattern of the school days changes. This can be difficult for children to manage. If your child is finding it difficult please talk to the class teacher.
Please be aware:
The Junior Concert (JI - R2) will start at 09:00 and if everything goes to plan and the technology behaves it should be finished by 10.
The performers are going to need a break so the Senior Concert (R3-R6) will start at 10:30 and again if it all goes to plan we should be finished by 11:30 at the latest.
We had a really beautiful assembly led by Senior Infants this morning, they were teaching us all about gratitude. It was so good I suggested they show you all at the winter concert. I am so grateful to them all and to all the work that went into making the assembly so lovely. Their version of ‘What a Wonderful World’ was very special.
I am also very grateful to all the people involved in the jumper swap this morning, and for the singing from the choir this morning as they prepare to visit the nursing home next week.
There was a lot of training going on in the school this week. Some of our teachers were observing classes in Harcourt Terrace school, we had a team from the department training division ‘Oide’ working with us on team teaching and I was away on an Oide course for principals. This brought its own level of stress as resources were fairly stretched. It was also reassuring that we are doing lots of things really well and we are very open to learning new things and new ways of doing things. The entire team here in RMDS and that includes you the parents are a very collaborative and supportive bunch. So thank you for that.
Last week was Rang a 3s last week in Forest School. As a staff we were discussing what classes would get the most benefit from Forest School, currently it is R3 in Autumn, R2 in Spring and SI in Summer, if you have any opinions on this please let me know. Please don’t worry, if we were to make a change, we’d do a double stint so no one would lose out on what is a very precious time for the children in the school.
If you are thinking that a digital device might be on the santa list this year this webinar tonight might be of interest to you.
Have a lovely weekend everyone,
Paul
"Snow is falling, all around us..."
Yes, the countdown is ON! Only 1 week to go before the RMDS Christmas Fair! This is the PERFECT way to get you and your little smallies in the festive spirit. So make sure it's marked on your calendar, and take a look below for more details (as well as ways you can get involved!).
Christmas Trees are being sold in the school yard all weekend, this is a huge fundraiser for the school so please pass onto all families and friends!!!
RMDS Christmas Fair Details
Date: Sunday, 8th December
Time: From 11am - 3pm (Note we will have allocated time slots for classes to make sure the fair is not too crowded)
Location: RMDS Yard
Now let's face it, we know without Santa’s helpers, he would be a very tired and overworked man! And so.... we need your help!
We need a few more volunteers to help on stalls on the day - Email xmasfair@rmds.ie
The Teddy Tombola is BACK! We will need your (unwanted) teddies. Please drop them into the school starting next week
We have an adult tombola this year! We need donations of bottles of plonk!!! Please drop into the school starting next week.
We will also have a new unwanted present stand. Anything you can spare, unwanted candles, diffusers, selection boxes, that may be a great gift for someone else are so welcome. And a great sustainable way to regift. Please drop into the school starting next week.
Rudolph's Restaurant and the Christmas Cafe will return again for some winter warmer favs. Our food is made lovingly by our school community. If you would like to make a soup, curry, casserole, lasagne, sausage roll, baked goods please get your oven aprons ready! we would love to sell it for you. Bring the morning of the fair.
Our raffle prizes are coming in HOT! And many are kindly being donated from local businesses. For details on the prizes, and more importantly to buy tickets, check out the Christmas Raffle website
https://rafflecreator.com/pages/89520/rmds-christmas-raffle-2024
To donate a prize email xmasfair@rmds.ie
Thanks, The RMDS Christmas Elves!
