St. Oliver Plunkett N.S.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we enter the final few weeks of the school year, it is wonderful to reflect on the many learning experiences, achievements and activities that have taken place across the school during April and May. From sacramental celebrations and sporting events to music performances, gardening projects and classroom learning, there has been a great sense of enthusiasm and engagement throughout our school community.

This newsletter highlights just some of the many opportunities our pupils have enjoyed in recent weeks. It has been particularly encouraging to see the pupils embracing new challenges, developing their talents and representing the school so positively both in and out of the classroom.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated staff for their continued hard work and commitment, our Parents' Association and volunteers for their support of school initiatives, and all of our parents and guardians for the encouragement and support you provide to your children each day. The strong partnership between home and school is greatly valued and contributes so much to the positive atmosphere within our school.

I hope you enjoy reading about some of the activities and achievements from the past number of weeks, and we look forward to the exciting events that are still to come before the end of the school year.

Le gach dea-ghuí,

Ian Corbett

• Summer Holidays: Friday, June 26th (half day)
• Active Week: 8th - 12th June
• Sports Day: Wednesday, June 10th
• Senior School Tour: Thursday, June 18th
• Junior School Tour: Monday, June 22nd
• 6th Class Graduation: Wednesday, June 24th @ 11am

As we approach the end of another successful school year, we would like to remind parents that the school will close for the summer holidays on Friday, June 26th. Pupils in Junior and Senior Infants, along with their siblings, will finish at 11:45am, while all other pupils will finish at 12:00pm.

Over the coming weeks, families will receive a number of important information relating to the 2026/2027 school year, including stationery lists, the school calendar, end-of-year report cards, and details of your child’s teacher for the coming school year.

A sincere thank you to Ms. McNally for organising our recent Bí Cineálta Week, which focused on promoting kindness, friendship and positive relationships throughout the school.

Pupils took part in a variety of activities across the week, including becoming a Secret Friend, creating Bí Cineálta posters, participating in paired games with other classes, and learning a whole-school song with the support of Steve from Music Generation. The week concluded with pupils decorating and exchanging friendship cupcakes with their Secret Friends.

The activities provided wonderful opportunities for pupils to show kindness, work together and strengthen friendships across the school. It was a very enjoyable week and an excellent reminder of the importance of treating one another with respect, kindness and inclusion every day.

As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting a safe, inclusive and respectful learning environment, the Board of Management will shortly undertake its annual review of our Bí Cineálta (Anti-Bullying) Policy, which was first published last year.

As part of this review process, we kindly ask parents and guardians to complete the attached anonymous parent questionnaire by Monday, 15th June. The feedback provided will be treated in the strictest confidence and will help us to evaluate and further strengthen our approach to bullying prevention and the promotion of positive relationships within our school community.

We greatly value your input and thank you in advance for taking the time to share your views.

The link to the survey can be found HERE.

We would like to thank all pupils and parents for their support during the recent standardised testing for pupils in 1st to 6th class. These assessments in literacy and numeracy provide valuable information that helps us to monitor progress, inform teaching and plan supports for the coming school year.

While the results provide useful data, it is important to remember that they represent only one aspect of a child’s learning and development. They do not define a child’s abilities, potential, character or the many strengths they demonstrate each day in school.

We understand that testing can sometimes bring some anxiety, so we would like to commend all of our pupils for approaching the assessments with such confidence, maturity and positivity. Well done to everyone on their efforts!

End-of-year report cards will be issued in mid-June and will include your child’s standardised test scores along with information about their overall progress and development throughout the year. To help parents interpret these results, a short guide has been included below and will also be circulated again before reports are issued.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to discuss your child’s progress in more detail, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher.

Further information can be found HERE, or attached below.

Pupils from 3rd and 4th class recently travelled to The Osprey Hotel, Naas to take part in a special Music Generation end-of-year project.

The event brought together young musicians from schools across the county who have been learning to play instruments throughout the year. Our pupils had the opportunity to perform their ukulele alongside their peers and a group of professional musician educators, showcasing the skills and confidence they have developed through their music lessons.

It was a fantastic celebration of a year of music, learning and performance, and a wonderful opportunity for the children to experience performing as part of a musical community. We are very proud of how they represented our school on the day.

Congratulations to the boys and girls in 2nd class who celebrated their First Holy Communion on May 9th in Derrinturn Church. It was a beautiful and memorable occasion for the pupils, their families and the wider school community.

A sincere thank you to Mrs. O’Sullivan for all of her hard work in preparing the children for this special sacrament. We would also like to thank Ms. McNally for her dedication in preparing the school choir.

A special word of thanks goes to the members of our school choir, who sang so beautifully on the day and helped to make the ceremony such a meaningful and uplifting celebration. We are very proud of all the pupils involved and hope they have many happy memories of this important milestone in their faith journey.

We are looking forward to celebrating Active Schools Week next week, with pupils taking part in a range of fun physical activities throughout the week. Active Schools Week is a wonderful opportunity to promote the importance of physical activity, teamwork and healthy lifestyles while ensuring that all pupils have the chance to get active and have fun.

We are also eagerly anticipating our annual Sports Day, scheduled for Wednesday, June 10th. Sports Day is always one of the highlights of the school year, and we look forward to a day filled with participation, enjoyment and friendly competition for all our pupils. We hope for good weather and another fantastic day for our school community.

A sincere thank you to everyone who supported our recent Cash for Clobber collection. Thanks to the generosity of our school community, we collected an incredible 870kg of clothing.

The collection was a great success and will generate valuable funds for the school, while also promoting the importance of recycling and reusing unwanted clothing. We are very grateful to all the families who donated items and helped make this fundraiser such a success. ♻️👕

Our boys’ and girls’ football teams represented the school brilliantly over the past number of weeks in the Cumann na mBunscol competitions. The pupils displayed great commitment, teamwork and sportsmanship throughout their matches and were a credit to themselves, their families and the school.

There were some excellent contests against neighbouring schools, with plenty of skill, determination and effort on display. While we were unfortunately unsuccessful in reaching the finals this year, we are extremely proud of all the players for the manner in which they represented the school and for the dedication they showed throughout the season.

We are delighted to welcome Terry and John to the school, who have kindly volunteered to provide football coaching to all classes each Friday for a six-week period.

The pupils have thoroughly enjoyed the sessions so far and are benefiting greatly from the opportunity to develop their football skills in a positive, encouraging and fun environment. Terry and John have done a fantastic job of making the activities enjoyable for all pupils while helping them to build confidence, teamwork and fundamental sporting skills.

We are very grateful for their generosity in giving their time and expertise to our school, and we sincerely thank them for their support.

Our 5th class boys’ and girls’ teams recently took part in the St. Mary’s Football Blitz.

Both teams performed exceptionally well on the day, with the boys’ and girls’ teams each topping their respective groups. Their excellent performances saw the boys progress to the quarter-finals and the girls reach the semi-finals. Although both teams were defeated by the eventual finalists and winners of the competition, they can be extremely proud of their achievements.

Well done to all involved for representing the school so positively and for displaying such commitment and teamwork throughout the blitz. ⚽🏆

The Department of Education is currently carrying out an evaluation of the Schoolbooks Scheme. The purpose of this evaluation is to gather feedback from schools, parents and guardians on what has worked well and where improvements can be made in the future.

The feedback received will help to shape the continued development of the scheme and ensure that it continues to support pupils and families while reducing the cost of education.

We would encourage all parents and guardians to take part in the evaluation when the survey link is shared. Your views and experiences are important and will help inform future improvements to the scheme.

You can find the link to the survey HERE

Our school garden has been a hive of activity in recent weeks. During her recent return to us, Mrs Noonan worked with each class to plant a variety of vegetables, providing pupils with the opportunity to learn more about gardening and growing their own food.

Since then, the children have been busy watering, weeding and caring for the plants, particularly during the recent spell of hot weather. The garden has provided a wonderful hands-on learning experience and has helped pupils to develop an appreciation for nature, sustainability and the importance of looking after our environment.

We look forward to seeing the fruits of their hard work as the vegetables continue to grow over the coming weeks.

We would like to extend a sincere thank you to our Parents’ Association for their kindness and generosity during the recent spell of extremely warm weather.

As a special treat, they provided ice creams and ice pops for all of the pupils in the school, which were very much enjoyed by everyone. The children were delighted with the surprise, and it was a lovely way to help everyone stay cool during the hot weather.

We are very grateful for the continued support of our Parents’ Association and all that they do for our school community. 🍦☀️

Junior and Senior Infants have been very busy with lots of hands-on learning activities over the past few weeks. In Science, the pupils enjoyed dissecting and examining flowers, learning about the different parts of a plant and how flowers grow.

In Maths, the children have been developing their understanding of money, practising counting coins and recognising different values. They have also been exploring patterns, identifying, creating and extending a variety of repeating patterns through fun and engaging activities.

It has been wonderful to see the pupils learning through exploration, investigation and play.

The pupils in 1st and 2nd class have been learning all about birds found in Ireland. As part of their work, they researched different bird species, exploring their habitats, appearance and diet.

The children also enjoyed feeding the birds, helping them to observe wildlife in their local environment and develop an appreciation for the importance of caring for nature. It was a wonderful opportunity to combine research, observation and environmental awareness in a meaningful and engaging way.

3rd and 4th class have been engaged in a wide range of interesting and creative learning activities. In Science, the pupils explored shadows, investigating how they are formed and how they change depending on the position of a light source.

The class also benefited from an informative fire safety talk, learning important safety messages and how to respond in an emergency. In Oral Language, pupils developed their communication skills through storytelling activities, sharing ideas and building confidence in speaking and listening.

Creativity was on display through the pupils' Community Games artwork, while in History they explored the history of Carbury Village, learning more about their local area and its past. The class have also been enjoying their novel reading, which has generated plenty of discussion and helped to foster a love of reading.

The pupils in 5th and 6th class have been very busy as the school year draws to a close. 6th class were delighted to receive their new graduation hoodies and are currently preparing for their upcoming graduation ceremony, including practising their graduation song.

The class have also been engaged in a variety of art projects, including entries for the Community Games Art Competition and the creation of Bí Cineálta posters, promoting the values of kindness, inclusion and respect throughout the school.

The pupils also enjoyed their final visit of the year to the mobile library, where they had the opportunity to browse and borrow books before the summer break. It has been a busy and enjoyable few weeks, with plenty of creativity and excitement as the year comes to an end.