School News in Brief….

From the Principal’s Desk….

The most exciting news happened yesterday … Rosemarie’s daughter Róisín was welcomed into the world, much to the delight of her parents and her big sister Áine. 

Speaking to parents at the gate it became very obvious that it wasn’t just me that was very excited about the arrival of hot lunches putting an end to packing lunch boxes with food that may or may not be eaten.  We were hoping to start receiving lunches after the Easter break but due to some bugs that needed to be ironed out, our start date is now the second week back after the break.  We have one more week of making lunches. Our start date is now the 16th.  There will be more details about what we need to do after the break. 

We are not perfect but we are always trying to be better but it is nice at times to step back and look at the school from an outside perspective.  Yesterday gave me an opportunity to do just that.  Children’s Books Ireland were in Rang 4 to launch a new event.  The cameramen, sound recorders, members of Children’s Book Ireland and the volunteers from KPMG were all so impressed with the way the children spoke, their confidence, their ability to articulate themselves and their creativity. 

At the same time we had a member of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment interviewing children from Rang 2 agus 4 about their opinions of what they would like to learn and how they like to learn.  It was really interesting listening to their answers and I was really impressed with how they spoke.  Listening to their answers I was given some pause for thought about how much choice I think we give the children versus how much they think they have.  

Rang a Sé were busy this week translating and writing stories for their buddies.  I was so impressed with the effort they were making and táim ag tnúth go mór iad a léamh. I particularly liked ‘An Tíogar a tháinig don tae’.  In  Rang 5 they were making baskets for their buddies to collect some uibheacha seacláide and were all actively engaged with and enjoying the process.  It reminded me of all the amazing things that happen in the classroom that happen without the need for a week to create the impetus. 

There was great excitement ( I resisted the pun) today at the raffle and the assembly was a lovely occasion full of spring energy.  The choir sang for us and further highlighting the confidence and talent of our student body Bella and Ella put together a dance routine and taught it to the whole school.  Our raffle winners, of which finally I am one, went home very happy with their eco friendly hampers made by the green school committee.  The Parents’ Association elves had all the hampers packed and the raffle tickets organised so all I had to do was get the school council to select the winners.  If the PA had to be paid for the hours they spend on these things we might not make a profit but thankfully and with huge appreciation to them for all they do, they don’t so they are working with the school council to buy books for the classrooms.

There were lots of egg based art activities and egg hunts going on around the school and I hope that you all have a wonderful break and that you don’t eat too many of them.  

Have a wonderful break and I look forward to welcoming everyone back on the 8th April.  

 Paul

From the Parents’ Association.

As we come to the end of a very busy Spring term for the PA, we want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who contributed to all the work done!  From Eleanor McGuinness and Orla Gilmore running a great event on Movie Night to Caroline Chambers hosting a really lovely coffee morning as gaeilge for Seachtain na Gaeilge, the school spirit has been alive and well the past months.  

The raffle-that-almost-wasn't did actually take place this week.  The rmdsevents site tried its best to undermine us all but the stellar work of Claire O'Doherty and Daron Ward got us over the line.  They put in trojan hours and even as we wondered if the sumup account could actually have a vendetta against us, so intent as it was on making us all slightly insane, their clear thinking and positive attitude was invaluable.  On that note, apologies to Matt Davey (and equally to Helene and Róisín) for having woken you  halfway across the world to multiple frantic messages about login codes and 2 step authentication numbers.  Hope the rest of your trip is much more tranquil!  

Massive thanks to Catherine Crowe for the gorgeous hampers that the raffle was all about.  Equally, great work by Therese Coogan and the Green Schools committee on helping make the vessels for the hampers to be in.  We hope all the winners are delighted with their haul!  At current count, approx €1800 has been raised by the raffle.  This money will go to getting new books for all the classrooms.  

Next PA meeting is loosely scheduled for Tuesday, April 16th.  Meeting in The Hill was great last time, though it does make actual conversation slightly trickier so we may need to revert to online for now.   The final plan and a reminder of the date will go out after the break.  If anyone has ideas for an event that they would like to run, or something that they want to help out with that is already on the PA schedule, we would love to hear from you pa@rmds.ie or come along to the meeting.  

Looking forward to a great Summer term.  (Did someone whisper Sports Day?)  Wishing all kids and their grown ups a really lovely break.  

Many thanks

Grainne and Lorraine

From Childcare

Places are still available 

25th – 28th March 2024  (4 day camp)
Camp 9.30 – 2pm /  childcare as usual
Places are limited.
1 Child €80
2 Siblings €150
3 Siblings €225

Please contact me if you are on the NCS
Please fill in your child’s details below. DO NOT PAY UNTIL YOU HEAR THAT YOU HAVE GOT A PLACE.
All enquiries can be directed to,
childcare@rmds.ie
(Childcare Manager)
085-1156506