Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Penance – All children scheduled to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion in May this year, will make their First Penance in FMW on Wed 6^th March next at 7:30 pm.

Family Quiz – As previously stated, if we can get sufficient interest in our Family Quiz scheduled for Friday 15^th March next at the Community Centre, we will proceed. We will make a call on it next weekend. To register your interest, please activate this link and answer the 3 questions. https://forms. Family Quiz Registration If you have already done so, thank you.

Drama – Wexford Studio Theatre will call to us on Friday 15^th March. We would appreciate €3 per child to cover associated costs.

World Book Day – We will celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 7^th March next. Vouchers will be given to children in the next week or so, to exchange for a free book or go towards reducing the cost of another in participating book stores. Thanks to those families who have donated old books to our school.

Book Club – We have given all families a Book Club brochure in advance of World Book Day. Families get the opportunity to get books at discounted rates and we as a school can get free books when families purchase via this method. No compulsion on families to participate.

Our new Scholastic Book Club is up and running! Go to https://schools.scholastic.ie/ballymacarbry to browse the latest books and order online. For every €1 you spend on this month’s Book Club, our school will earn 20¢ in Scholastic Rewards. If you are interested, please place your order online by Friday March 15th, 2024. You can also choose to have your books delivered to our school, which will reduce the need to pay individual delivery costs.

Bus Eireann – The Bus Eireann online portal for applications opened on Wednesday 28^th February 2024. This concerns families with infants starting at our school later this year or those with children set to enter secondary school from September. The link is as follows https://www.buseireann.ie

Engineering Week – Next week we will liaise with the local Community Centre in designing and constructing playground models to coincide with the proposed Panda Playground for Ballymacarbry village. This incorporates the drawing and construction strands from the visual arts curriculum and dovetails nicely, with the increasingly popular area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM)

Enrolment – Application forms are being distributed today and Monday for completion by families who expressed a wish to enrol a child this autumn. Please complete and return before Easter holidays, (Fri 22^nd March) if at all possible.

Items to note for the week ahead

Rang 2 will make their First Penance on Wednesday. We will have Conor Prendergast – hurling coach along on Wednesday 6^th and Wednesday 13^th. Helmets and hurleys at the ready please. On Thursday, pupils are encouraged to dress up as characters from their favourite books, if they so choose, to mark World Book Day.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal.

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Ethos – This week children due to receive the sacraments, plus those in Rg 3/4/5 participated in a short prayer service organised by Fr Michael throughout Wednesday last. Each of the local churches was assigned a designated day with associated schools participating in exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.

Confirmation – Rg 6 pupils will participate in Sunday’s 9 am mass in FMW.

Penance – All children scheduled to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion in May this year, will make their First Penance in FMW on Wed 6^th March next at 7:30 pm.

Mini 7s – Our boys and girls took part in the Football 7 a side competition in Bohadoon on Tuesday last. Maith sibh.

Quiz – Well done to all 6 teams who represented our school at The Primary School Table Quiz in the C.B.S. in Dungarvan on Wednesday evening. Congratulations to Ciarán, James, Harry and John from 5th class who finished in 2nd place, each receiving a little plaque and an Easons voucher. Best wishes to those representing us in Rathgormack tonight.

Family Quiz – As previously stated, if we can get sufficient interest in our Family Quiz scheduled for Friday 15^th March next at the Community Centre, we will proceed. To register your interest, please activate this link and answer the following 3 questions. https://forms.gle/8qkVU3Gfp8FsuTWy6 An enjoyable night was had in November 2022 when we had 20 tables.

Drama – We have acquired the services of Wexford Studio Theatre to present “Tallulah & The Long-Haired Hare from Liverpool” for the children at our school on Friday 15^th March. We plan to collect € 3 per child in the coming weeks to defray associated costs. This continues a tradition which existed pre-covid, albeit with a new company.

Enrolment – Enrolment packs will be sent out to families who registered an interest in sending a Junior Infant child to our school this autumn, in the next 10 days or so.

World Book Day – We will celebrate World Book Day on Thursday 7^th March next.  Pupils will be given the opportunity to dress as their preferred book character. Vouchers will be given to children in the next week or so, to exchange for a free book or go towards reducing the cost of another in participating book stores. Thanks to those families who have donated old books to our school.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal.

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Sympathies – We have contacted Faithlegg N.S. and their principal Kieran O’Sullivan to express the heartfelt sympathy of our entire school community on the tragic death of 6-year-old Matthew Healy, in East Waterford last weekend. Matthew was a senior infant pupil at their school. We think of his family, friends, classmates and community at this terribly sad time. Mathew’s funeral took place earlier today with mass of the angels. Go ndéana Dia Trócaire ar Maitiú.

Pancake Tuesday – On Tuesday, we celebrated Máirt na hInide and all pupils and staff were treated to pancakes, accompanied with fillings of their choice. Thanks to Anna Long and her helpers from staff for facilitating this.

Ash Wednesday – Today marks the start of Lent. Fr Michael called to administer ashes to our staff and pupils.

St Valentine’s Day – Well done to all who participated in our ‘Wear Red to School Day’ in honour of St Valentine, a saint who has a strong association with Dublin, Ireland.

Mid Term Break – The school will be closed this Thursday and Friday 15^th / 16^th February. We will reopen on Monday 19^th for 9:20 am.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal.

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Quiz – Well done to our buachaillí agus cailíní who represented us in Ballinameela last night. We had 5 teams or 20 pupils attend from Rg 4/6. Maith sibh to Ciaran, Harry, James and John who finished in silver medal place. After mid-term we will be gauging interest among families for our proposed Family Table Quiz to be held on Friday 15^th March in the Community Centre.

Máirt na hInide – “Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and is also known as Pancake Tuesday or Mardi Gras in places further afield. It’s a day which offered a final blowout before the beginning of the fasting period, certainly where it came to foodstuffs. People could have a bit of a feast if stocks allowed and, because eggs were off limits during Lent, the feast traditionally involved pancakes.” (Pancóga) – (Source RTE Website)

Ash Wednesday – Next Wednesday marks the first day of Lent. Fr Michael will call to administer ashes.

St Valentine – Wednesday also marks St. Valentine’s Day. We traditionally dress up in associated colours for the day and this year will be no different.

World Book Day – In Ireland, we will celebrate World Book Day on 7^th March. (More information about this later in February.) In advance of this, we kindly ask for donations of old, well kept, age-appropriate books for our library, if families are doing spring cleaning at present.

Enrolment – In early March, we will write to parents who expressed a wish to enroll a child with us from September 2024. This will include the complete application form. (Form 2)

Mid Term Break – The school will be closed for mid-term on Thursday and Friday next 15^th / 16^th February.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal.

Dear Parent / Guardian / Colleague / Board Member,

Ar Ais ar Scoil – We look forward to our Secretary Rose returning to school next week. We acknowledge the efforts of both Bridget Landers and Kayleigh Condon, who substituted in her absence. We thank them for their work and wish them well into the future.

Stay Safe – By now you may have received a letter from your child’s teacher in relation to the teaching of this.  As part of the Social, Personal, Health Education (SPHE) Curriculum, we are planning to teach a personal safety education programme called ‘Stay Safe’ to all classes over the next few weeks. The aim of the Stay Safe programme is to teach children personal safety skills so they can look after themselves in situations which could be upsetting or dangerous. https://www.pdst.ie/StaySafeParents

Co-operation between parents and teachers is essential to the success of this programme. It is important that parents are aware of the content of the Stay Safe lessons and are able to discuss the lessons with their children. Your child may bring home worksheets which will inform you on the topics being covered in class and how you can reinforce the messages at home.

E-mails – Please be aware that this e-mail service doesn’t receive replies as it is generic in nature. The best way to contact the school is by phone or through the contacts page on our website where all class teachers’ e-mails are published.

Chess Competition – 6th Class had a very enjoyable day in the Community Centre on Tuesday at the Ficheall Tournament. They had been practising their chess over the past few weeks and were delighted to compete against pupils from four other schools. The pupils were part of a team of 8 and were very proud of their certificate at the end of the day. Thanks to Mrs Byrne for liaising with organising committee.

Balance Bikes – Thanks to Waterford Sports Partnership WSP for use of their Balance bikes these last 2 months to help our infants fine tune their motor skills and progress their balance skills before they learn to cycle properly. Thanks to SNA Kay for organising drop off and collection.

St Brigid’s Day – This week we celebrated the first day of spring and St Brigid’s Day. Anna Long came along to help in the age-old tradition of St Brigid Cross weaving. To celebrate our patron female saint, school will be closed this coming Monday.

Anois teacht an earraigh / Now with the coming of spring

Beidh an lá ag dul chun síneadh / the days will be getting longer –

From the poem Cill Aodáin by Antaine Ó Reaftaraí.

Bainigí taitneamh as an deireadh seachtaine agus an Lá Saoire Poiblí.

Is mise,

Michael J. O’ Ryan – Principal.