The newsletter summarizes the accomplishments of the first term at St. Peter's National School. It discusses the appointment of a new deputy principal and assistant principal. Several administrative and curriculum policies were developed or reviewed by teachers. Staffing changes for the new term are announced. The PTA had several successful fundraising events, raising over €8,000 total. Students received awards for accomplishments in orienteering, art competitions, and attendance. Technology upgrades including new Promethean boards and iPads were installed. Christmas services will be held before the end of the term.
The newsletter summarizes the accomplishments of the first term at St. Peter's National School. It discusses the appointment of a new deputy principal and assistant principal. Several administrative and curriculum policies were developed or reviewed by teachers. Staffing changes for the new term are announced. The PTA had several successful fundraising events, raising over €8,000 total. Students received awards for accomplishments in orienteering, art competitions, and attendance. Technology upgrades including new Promethean boards and iPads were installed. Christmas services will be held before the end of the term.
The newsletter summarizes the accomplishments of the first term at St. Peter's National School. It discusses the appointment of a new deputy principal and assistant principal. Several administrative and curriculum policies were developed or reviewed by teachers. Staffing changes for the new term are announced. The PTA had several successful fundraising events, raising over €8,000 total. Students received awards for accomplishments in orienteering, art competitions, and attendance. Technology upgrades including new Promethean boards and iPads were installed. Christmas services will be held before the end of the term.
The newsletter summarizes the accomplishments of the first term at St. Peter's National School. It discusses the appointment of a new deputy principal and assistant principal. Several administrative and curriculum policies were developed or reviewed by teachers. Staffing changes for the new term are announced. The PTA had several successful fundraising events, raising over €8,000 total. Students received awards for accomplishments in orienteering, art competitions, and attendance. Technology upgrades including new Promethean boards and iPads were installed. Christmas services will be held before the end of the term.
We have had a wonderful first term here in St. Peter’s National School. There have been lots of new beginnings, new learning and new friendships formed. It has been an extremely busy term with lots achieved, all of which is a credit to the hard-working, enthusiastic and dedicated staff here at St. Peter’s National School. Everyone has a fantastic ‘can-do’ attitude and this along with the incredible teamwork has made this term such a success. I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all the staff for welcoming me so warmly into the school. It is really wonderful to feel so much part of a team so quickly. Have a look below to see all that has been achieved this term!
In School Management Team
This term the Board conducted interviews for the two positions of Deputy Principal and Assistant Principal, in order to complete the In School Management Team. We wish to congratulate Marianne Coyle, Deputy Principal and Laura McGovern, Assistant Principal on their successful appointments to these positions.
Policy Development/Review We have been working really hard this term to update our policies. So far, the following administrative and curricular policies have been developed/reviewed and ratified by the Board of Management. All developed/reviewed policies have been uploaded to the website for everyone to see.
Administrative: Curricular: • Child Safeguarding Statement • English Oral Language Policy
• Admissions Policy • English Reading Policy
• School Attendance Policy • English Writing Policy
• Anti-Bullying Policy • Aistear
• EPV Policy I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teachers for working so hard on the development of these policies. This scale of policy development, in such a short term, really would not have been possible without the collaborative and positive approach and input from all.
Staff arrangements for next term
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Ms. Emma Flynn and Ms. Jennifer Hackett both well on their upcoming Maternity Leaves. Both teachers will be on maternity leave commencing on the 7th of January until the end of this school year. Ms. Rachel Bourke has been appointed as classroom teacher for 3rd and 4th class. Ms. Bourke will commence her post on the 7th of January and we very much look forward to welcoming her to our team here in St. Peter’s. Interviews for the Special Education Teaching Position will take place after Christmas. Once appointed, all parents will be informed of the successful candidate. Miss Lynn Beattie and Miss Lorna Beattie will be acting as substitute teachers for this position for the first fortnight back after Christmas in order to provide cover until the position is filled.
PTA The PTA have been working overtime this term and have done extremely well in raising much needed funds for our school. On behalf of us all, I would like to extend a big thank you to them all for volunteering their time to organise the wonderful events that have taken place during this first school term. Each event has been hugely successful. It is as a result of the dedication and enthusiasm the PTA demonstrates that the following has been achieved! Cash for Clobber was the first PTA arranged event and resulted in raising €247 for the school. Spooky Walk was a fantastic event for the children. A special mention must be made to Ms. McGovern and all of 6th class who made the whole event extra spooky. Their wonderful pumpkins and decorating of the church grounds really added to the event, which raised €607.50 for the school. Bag Packing in Dunnes Stores Ongar was an excellent fundraiser, raising a huge €1420.18 for the school. We must extend a big thank you to everyone who donated their time on the Friday and Saturday – without your support this amazing fundraiser would not have been possible so thank you! We are hoping to bag pack again next term, so if you weren’t able to volunteer last time, don’t worry there will be further opportunities! Christmas Fair – well what can I say? The Christmas Fair was a truly wonderful event for all. It was full of joy, camaraderie and a real sense of working together. The sheer dedication from everyone involved made the Christmas Fair a huge success, raising a fantastic €5752.43 for the school.
Thank you to all the parents who donated their time and volunteered their services to the PTA this term. As a result of these four fundraising events the PTA have raised a fantastic total of €8027.11. A great achievement! Attendance and Time Keeping We have been working really hard on promoting the importance of good attendance here in St. Peter’s National School. Many children received certificates for full attendance on the Friday before Midterm. This Friday in Assembly we will be awarding certificates for full attendance since Midterm. Congratulations to all those who have been working really hard on their attendance. There are still a small number of children arriving late to school. All children should be arriving to school as close to 8.30 as possible. The first 20 minutes is vital organisational time for the children and therefore it is important all children are in school on time. Hopefully we can improve this next term.
Active Flag We are working towards renewing our Active Flag and a new Active Flag Committee has been set up for this school year. The committee works really hard to motivate all the children to take part in ‘Active line up’ at the end of the school break. Have a look at the great pictures on the website. Our new playground markings are complete! A BIG thank you to John for completing all the markings (I have a sneaky suspicion he may in fact be Banksy!) and to the PTA who donated the paint. The yard looks brilliant and the children love them!
Achievements
Orienteering League 5th and 6th class attended their first Leinster Schools Orienteering League on the 10th of October in Malahide Castle. These events are extremely competitive and to place in the top 10 is a great achievement. St. Peter’s performed very well for their first ever event. 4 children placed in the top 10 in their category. These achievements were celebrated and the children were presented with certificates in assembly. We are all very proud of you! 5th • Josh Whitley-Halvey 5th out of 55 6th class boys
• Chloe Renshaw 8th out of 46 5th class girls
6th • Aisling O’Neill 4th out of 56 6th class girls
• Dheeraj Vineed Kumar 10th out of 55 6th class boys
It was a super event and we are very grateful to the PTA who paid for Bus. We are looking forward to the next league event, which will take place sometime next term. Credit Union Art Competition The theme was ‘The Force of Nature’. All the children created beautiful pieces. The Credit Union said that the standard this year was at an all time high so all the children did really well. See below the final results! 11-13 8-10 7 and under § 1st Josh Whitley • 1st Hamish Crothers § 1st Kate Doheny
Halvey • 1st Cathal O’Duffy § runner up Rose Moussa
§ runner up Dherraj § runner up Finn O'Neill • runner up Eva Hayden Krishna • runner up Charlie Hilliard § runner up Isabelle Evans
ICT and Library
This term saw the arrival of our first Promethean Board, which was installed in 1st and 2nd class. This is a fantastic resource for the school to have. A big thank you to Niki Potterton who installed a structural wall support to ensure the board could be installed. We have ordered our second board for the school, which will arrive this week. This board will be installed in 3rd and 4th class. The iPads are now set up and being used regularly in all classrooms. The children and teachers alike love them as a teaching and learning resource. Have a look on the webiste for photos of the children using them! A big thank you to everyone for donating so many Library books for our new school library. Also, a special thanks to Anita Prole who entered our school into a Scholastic competition and won a fantastic €390 worth of Library books for our school. Thank you!
Cristmas Services and Assemblies
Both the Junior and the Senior Christmas services will take place on the 19th of December. It was really brilliant to watch the children practise so enthusiastically in the lead up and we can’t wait to see them perform! The teachers are very proud of them. The services are a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas and the end of term. The children should be proud of themselves for all their hard work and dedicated practising! Thank you to both Eugene and Alison for all the wonderful wisdom you share in Assembly on Fridays. We love listening and look forward to next term for more!
Final note I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being so supportive and encouraging during my first term in St. Peter’s N.S. I feel very lucky to be part of such a wonderful school with such a fantastic positive ethos that resonates in all aspects of school life. It has been a great start to this school year and I just know this will continue next term. Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
