St. Oliver Plunkett N.S.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we come to the end of Term 2, it is a good opportunity to reflect on the many wonderful activities and learning experiences that have taken place across the school in recent weeks. From Seachtain na Gaeilge celebrations and World Book Week to sporting events, classroom projects and school trips, it has been a very busy and enjoyable term for our pupils.

I would like to sincerely thank our staff for their continued dedication and commitment to providing a rich and supportive learning environment for all of our pupils. A special word of thanks must also go to our Parents’ Association for their ongoing support of the school throughout the year.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our parents and guardians for your continued support during Term 2. Your encouragement and involvement play a very important role in the life of our school and are greatly appreciated.

I hope you enjoy this snapshot of some of the many activities that have taken place in our school over the past number of weeks.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Ian Corbett

• School Reopens: Monday, 13th April
• Clothes Collection: Tuesday, 14th April
• School Closure: Tuesday, 21st April (staff training)
• School Photographer: Wednesday, 29th April
• First Holy Communion: Saturday, May 9th @ 11am

Our school was a sea of green as we celebrated Lá Glas as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge. It was wonderful to see the boys and girls proudly wearing their green and embracing the spirit of the day.

Throughout the day, pupils took part in a variety of fun activities celebrating Irish language and culture, including music, dancing and games. Pupils in 1st to 6th class also took part in a Tráth na gCeist (table quiz), which was a great way to test their knowledge and enjoy some friendly competition through Irish.

There was a great sense of energy and enjoyment across the school as everyone joined in the celebrations. A sincere thank you to everyone who helped make the day so enjoyable, particularly Mrs. Noonan and her group of musicians, whose music added greatly to the festive atmosphere.

We extend our warmest congratulations to the boys and girls in 6th class who recently celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was a very special occasion for the pupils, their families and the wider school community, and we are very proud of the preparation and commitment they showed in the lead up to the day.

We now look forward to supporting the pupils in 2nd class as they continue their preparations for the Sacrament of First Holy Communion on May 9th. This is an important milestone in their faith journey, and we wish the pupils, their families and their teacher every blessing as they prepare for this special day.

We are also hopeful that our school choir will be present on the day, helping to enhance the ceremony through their beautiful singing. A sincere thank you to all those who have already confirmed their attendance for the choir. If you have not yet done so, we would kindly ask that you let the school know as soon as possible.

A reminder to parents that if you do not wish for your child to receive a hot school meal, you can cancel your order using The Lunch Bag app. Alternatively, you may contact the school office and we can cancel the order on your behalf.

We have noticed in recent weeks that a number of lunches are not being eaten and are going to waste. We would appreciate if parents could review their child’s order to ensure that meals being provided are ones that will be eaten. This will help us to reduce unnecessary food waste. Many thanks.

We had a wonderful time celebrating World Book Day in school. It was fantastic to see so many pupils embracing their love of reading by dressing up as their favourite book characters and taking part in a range of fun activities throughout the day. The creativity and enthusiasm on display made for a very enjoyable celebration of books and storytelling.

Throughout Book Week, pupils took part in a variety of engaging activities including a Book Week Quiz, a scavenger hunt, poster competiton and buddy reading between classes, where older and younger pupils had the opportunity to read together and share their love of books.

The classes also worked together on a whole-school story writing activity. Each class added their own section to a developing story, beginning with Junior and Senior Infants who designed the front cover of each book. It was a wonderful collaborative project that encouraged creativity and imagination across the school.

Our School Book Fair also took place during this month, allowing pupils to explore a wide range of books and discover new stories to enjoy. A sincere thank you to all who supported the Book Fair, helping to promote a love of reading in our school.

Here is a snapshot of some of our wonderful World Book Day characters! 📖

We are currently running a Cash for Clobber fundraiser to support our school. If you have any clean, reusable clothes in good, wearable condition, we would be very grateful for your donations.

The final day for collection is Tuesday, April 14th. Bags can be dropped off at the school at any time before this date.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support of our school and its fundraising efforts.

Our girls’ Mini 7s team recently took part in their Cumann na mBunscol competition in Carbury GAA, where they played matches against Derrinturn and Kilshanroe. The girls played extremely well and represented the school with great effort, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout the day.

We are very proud of how the team performed and the positive attitude they showed on and off the pitch.

Our Senior Boys’ Football Team will play Scoil Bhríde, Lackagh on April 24th in Ellistown GFC. We wish the team the very best of luck and look forward to supporting them on the day.

We are also delighted to share that, for the first time, our school will be entering a Senior Girls’ Football Team in the Cumann na mBunscol competition. Their first match will be against St. Patrick’s, Newbridge, with the date to be confirmed.

We wish both teams the very best of luck and are very proud to see our pupils representing the school in these competitions.

Well done to our Cross Country team who recently competed in the Cumann na mBunscol Cross Country event in Rathcoffey. All of the pupils ran fantastic races and showed great determination, effort and sportsmanship throughout the event.

We are very proud of how they represented our school and commend them for their hard work and commitment in the lead-up to the competition.

A sincere thank you to our Parents’ Association for organising this year’s Easter Raffle. Their hard work and dedication in preparing the hampers and coordinating the raffle are very much appreciated.

We are very grateful to all the families who supported the raffle by purchasing tickets. Your continued support helps greatly with school activities and initiatives throughout the year.

Junior and Senior Infants have been busy enjoying a range of Easter-themed activities in recent weeks. The pupils created lovely Easter bunny artwork, showing great creativity and colour.

They also took part in a very exciting Easter egg hunt, which was a big highlight for everyone.

To finish off their Easter celebrations, the children made delicious chocolate nests, which they thoroughly enjoyed preparing and tasting!

The pupils in 1st and 2nd class have been learning about global warming, climate change and natural disasters. As part of their work on this topic, the children researched different types of natural disasters and created their own projects, which they then presented to the class.

It was wonderful to see the pupils sharing their learning and developing their confidence while speaking in front of their classmates.

3rd and 4th class have been very busy with a range of creative and engaging activities. The pupils created some lovely March-themed artwork, bringing plenty of colour and creativity to the classroom.

As part of Seachtain na Gaeilge, the class designed Seanfhocail posters, exploring the meaning behind traditional Irish sayings. In Science, the pupils carried out an investigation into fingerprints, learning how they are unique to every individual. The class have also been enjoying reading their class novel, Kensuke’s Kingdom, which has sparked lots of interesting discussions and reflections.

5th and 6th class recently celebrated the completion of their BLAST project, with our visiting artist helping to bind the class book that the pupils created. It was wonderful to see the finished book and all of the hard work and creativity that went into the project.

In Maths, the pupils have been exploring the properties of complex 3D shapes, developing their understanding of faces, edges and vertices. In music, the class welcomed Steve from Music Generation, who explained the science behind amplification before giving some pupils the opportunity to try out the guitar and music equipment. It was a very enjoyable and hands-on learning experience for everyone involved.