St. Oliver Plunkett N.S.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As we come to the end of a busy and vibrant May, I want to thank you all for your continued support and involvement in school life. This month has been full of activity, from sporting successes and sacramental celebrations to music, movement, and meaningful learning across all classes.

Our pupils have shown great energy, enthusiasm, and kindness throughout the term, and we are very proud of their efforts. I hope you enjoy this newsletter, which offers a glimpse into just some of the wonderful things happening in our school community.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Ian Corbett

• June Bank Holiday: Monday, June 2nd
• School Closed: Tuesday, June 3rd
• Sports Day: Wednesday, June 11th
• Senior School Tour: Friday, June 20th
• 6th Class Graduation: Wednesday, June 25th @ 11.30am
• Junior School Tour: Thursday, June 26th
• Last day of school: Friday, June 27th

We encourage all families to stay connected and up to date with the latest school news and activities by following our school’s X account. It’s a great way to stay informed about upcoming events, achievements, and everything happening in our school community. Don’t miss out – follow us here!

Well done to all the pupils who took part in the St. Mary’s Football Blitz in Edenderry las Thursday, May 22nd. It was a brilliant day of sport, teamwork, and fun – and our school was very well represented on the pitch!

Our boys’ team topped their group with a series of strong performances and showed great spirit and skill throughout. They were narrowly defeated in the quarter-final by last year’s finalists – a fantastic achievement.

Meanwhile, our girls’ team went all the way to the final and claimed victory, defeating Scoil Bhríde, Edenderry, in a thrilling match. Huge congratulations to the team on this outstanding win – a proud moment for the whole school!

Thank you to the staff for coaching and organising, and to St. Mary’s Secondary School for hosting such an enjoyable and well-run event.

We would like to thank all pupils and parents for your support during the recent standardised testing for classes 1st to 6th. These tests in literacy and numeracy provide useful insights into your child’s learning, but it’s important to remember that they are just one small part of a much bigger picture.

Standardised test results give us helpful data to inform teaching and support planning for next year, but they do not define your child’s abilities, potential, or the many strengths they bring to school every day.

We understand that testing can sometimes bring a little worry, so we want to commend all our pupils for approaching it with such calm and confidence. Well done to everyone!

End-of-year report cards, which include your child's test scores along with information about their overall progress and development, will be issued in mid-June. I have included a short guide below to support you understanding the test scores. I will send this out again before reports are sent home.

As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss your child’s progress in more detail.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our recent Cash for Clobber fundraiser. We are delighted to share that this was our biggest collection to date, with an incredible 1,300kg of clothes donated!

Your generosity not only helps raise funds for our school but also supports sustainability by giving clothes a second life. We are truly grateful for the continued support from our school community.

We’re planning to run another collection early in the new school year, so if you’re having a summer clear-out, you might consider setting a bag or two aside!

We are aware of the ongoing traffic congestion during school drop-off and collection times and fully share your concerns about the safety risks involved. While the Board of Management is actively working behind the scenes to explore viable solutions, we kindly ask all families to park responsibly and remain especially vigilant when children are entering or exiting vehicles.

We will keep you informed of any updates or developments as we work towards improving safety for our school community.

Thank you to all the parents and guardians who took the time to complete our Anti-Bullying Parent Survey. Your insights and feedback are deeply appreciated and will play an important role in helping us develop a policy that truly reflects the values and needs of our whole school community.

We are pleased to share that our Parent Focus Group will hold a meeting on Tuesday, June 17th at 6:00 p.m. in the school. This group will support the development of our new Bí Cineálta Anti-Bullying Policy by providing valuable perspectives and helping to ensure the policy is inclusive, practical, and effective.

If you’re still interested in joining the group, there is still time – please contact Ian at mrcorbett@killinans.com.

Together, we can build a school culture where kindness, respect, and safety are at the heart of every interaction.

Our school is delighted to be taking part in the Skip Around Europe challenge – a fun and inclusive initiative that gets everyone moving!

All classes are building short skipping breaks into their routines. As we skip together, each class’s efforts are combined to help us “travel” from capital to capital across Europe.

The challenge promotes fitness, teamwork, and fun, while also offering opportunities for geography learning along the way. It’s a great way to keep active and energised as we head into the final weeks of the school year!

A big thank you to our Active Schools Committee for organising and encouraging participation across the school – your enthusiasm is helping keep everyone on the move!

A heartfelt congratulations to the pupils of 2nd Class who received their First Holy Communion on Friday, May 9th. It was a beautiful and joyful occasion, and we are so proud of the reverence, preparation, and sense of celebration shown by the children throughout the day.

A special word of thanks to Mrs. O’Sullivan for her dedication in preparing the children with such care and kindness. We also extend our sincere thanks to Mrs. Usher, who guided the school choir so beautifully. Their music truly enhanced the ceremony and helped create a joyful and prayerful atmosphere. We are also grateful to Fr. Fitzpatrick, the parish team and all those who supported the children and families in the lead-up to this special day.

We hope this milestone will remain a cherished memory for each child and their family, and we continue to pray that their journey in faith will be filled with joy, peace, and blessings.

Well done to our school team who gave it their all in a hard-fought match against Broadford on Tuesday, May 6th. While the result didn’t go our way this time, the players once again demonstrated grit, determination, and excellent sportsmanship throughout the game.

This was a challenging fixture, and we are incredibly proud of the team’s effort and how they represented our school. Each match has shown their growth in skill, teamwork, and resilience.

Our Cumann na mBunscol journey has come to an end for this year. Every match brought moments of skill and learning, and the players represented our school with great pride and sportsmanship from start to finish.

A sincere thank you to the students for their effort, to the staff involved in coaching and organising, and to all the parents and supporters who encouraged the team along the way.

Well done, everyone! We look forward to building on this experience next year!

We are thrilled to share that our school recently received a generous donation of new footballs from David Murphy, Kildare GAA Games Development Administrator. We are very grateful for his kindness and support, which will greatly benefit our pupils during training and games.

In more great news, football training has now started for all classes, thanks to the wonderful volunteers from Carbury GAA who are visiting the school each week. Their energy, encouragement, and love of the game have brought a real buzz to the yard, and our pupils are thoroughly enjoying the sessions.

We sincerely thank David and all the Carbury GAA coaches for giving their time so generously. Their involvement helps nurture not only skills but also confidence, teamwork, and a lifelong love of sport in our pupils. We look forward to a fun and active term ahead!

Summer Music Camps for July 2025 are now open for registration!

These camps are run by Music Generation, the group that provides music instruction for our students from 3rd to 6th class. This is a fantastic opportunity for young musicians to further develop their skills in a fun and supportive environment.

There will be three camps for children aged 7 to 12 years, and an additional camp for 11 to 16-year-olds with early-intermediate experience.

All details and registration information are available on the attached posters. Please note that the closing date for registrations is Friday, 20 June 2025.

Junior and Senior Infants have been busy learning and exploring in lots of exciting ways this month!

In Maths, the children have been working on capacity, learning to recognise and compare full, half full, and empty containers through hands-on activities and playful exploration. It’s been a great way to build early maths skills in a fun and practical way.

The infants have also been taking part in the Picker Pals programme — an environmental initiative that encourages young children to care for the planet through learning, action, and fun. Each week, the Picker Pals pack is sent home with a different student, who then heads out on a mini litter-picking adventure with their family. They return to school and share their experience with the class, helping to inspire others and build a sense of environmental responsibility.

Well done to our infants for making a big difference in their own small way!

1st and 2nd Class have been busy combining reading, creativity, and discovery in their learning this month!

In English, they’ve been reading Flat Stanley: The Original Adventure and exploring the story through predicting, visualising, comprehension questions, sequencing events, and character studies. They even created their own story maps to follow Stanley’s journey. Well done to all our imaginative readers!

In History, the children have been learning about Wilbur and Orville Wright, the pioneers of flight. Inspired by their invention, the pupils designed their own aeroplanes, using creativity and problem-solving skills to think like real inventors.

It’s been a fun and fascinating few weeks in the classroom; full of imagination, learning, and discovery!

3rd and 4th Class have been hard at work this month, diving into hands-on learning through Maths stations focused on the concept of weight.

The pupils rotated through a series of engaging stations, including an independent work station, an iPad station with interactive activities, and a weighing station, where they used different types of scales to measure and compare the weights of various classroom objects.

This approach helped to make the learning active, practical, and fun, while also encouraging teamwork, discussion, and real-life application of maths skills!

In addition to all that great classroom learning, the class has also been busy taking part in the Skip Around Europe challenge! With ropes in hand and lots of energy, they’ve been skipping their way across the map, combining fitness, teamwork, and a great sense of fun. Every skip brings them closer to a new European capital!

5th and 6th Class have been exploring the world of Renaissance art this month, focusing on the legendary Michelangelo. After learning about his work on the Sistine Chapel, the pupils tried their hand at imitating his famous ceiling painting technique — even drawing while lying under their desks! It was a fun (and challenging!) way to experience the dedication and creativity of one of history’s greatest artists.

In music, the class held their end-of-year violin performance, showcasing the skills and confidence they’ve developed over the year. It was a joy to see and hear the progress they’ve made. A big well done to all involved!

It’s been a month full of artistic expression, hard work, and well-deserved applause!