Newsletter 14th October 2026
Admission to Junior Infants September 2027
Applications for Junior Infants 2027 are now being accepted -
please see link on the website.
Application and Decision Dates for Admission to 2027/2028 school year.
The following are the dates applicable for admission to Junior Infants 2027/2028
The school will commence accepting applications for admission on | 28th September 2026
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The school shall cease accepting applications for admission on | 23th October 2026 @ 3:00pm
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The date by which applicants will be notified of the decision on their application is | 13th November 2026 | ||
The period within which applicants must confirm acceptance of an offer of admission is 27th November 2026 | 27th November 2026 @ 3:00pm |
Note: the school will consider and issue decisions on late applications in accordance with the school’s Admission Policy.
*Failure to accept an offer within the prescribed period above may result in the offer being withdrawn
The school cannot accept applications for Junior Infants 2027 before this process commences.
Coming soon!!!
Daly Exercise After-School Club!
We are very excited to announce that....
Daly Exercise will deliver a structured five-day afterschool activity programme for all pupils at St. Patrick’s GNS starting from 1.20pm (Infant Collection Time) – 2.20pm with the option to extend collection until 3.20pm.
This after-school club will start on Monday 2nd November.
Booking link will issue on Aladdin towards the end of the week!
PLEASE RESPECT PAULINE OUR WONDERFUL LOLIPOP LADY
The Gardaí in Cabinteely have stated that they will provide a presence at our gate in the morning to ensure people are observing traffic rules.
The realities of children's digital lives: the opportunities and the harms and what parents can do.
We had a great turn out on Monday evening at this talk.
Thank you to the PA for organising this evening for parents.
Disconnect to Reconnect
Please consider participating in this worthwhile event on Friday 16th October.
DIOSCÓ OÍCHE SHAMHNA
Táimíd ag súil go mór leis an discó iontach seo!
Buíochas do na tuismitheoirí atá á eagrú!
BUDDY BENCH
As a special parting gift, our wonderful 2026 6th Class girls decided to purchase a Buddy Bench for our Infant classes. We were delighted to see it arrive last week!
It is such a thoughtful gift and a lovely way for our 6th Class girls to leave a lasting legacy in our school. We are sure the Buddy Bench will be a much-loved addition to our yard and will be well used by our younger pupils over the coming year.
Thank you 6th Class of 2026!!
Speaking of wonderful 6th Classes....
So far this year, our wonderful 6th Class girls have shown themselves to be incredibly helpful, responsible, kind and generous, always willing to share their strengths, talents and time with others.
In recognition of all they bring to our school community, we decided to surprise them by presenting their 6th Class hoodies a little earlier than planned! They were absolutely delighted to receive them last Friday and are looking forward to wearing them with great pride throughout the year.
We are so proud of the wonderful role models they are becoming and look forward to all that the year ahead will bring for them!
Opening of the School Year Mass
We had a wonderful celebration in the church last Thursday at the Opening of the School Year Mass. The children from 2nd to 6th from both HPGNS and HPBNS were so respectful and participative and we were very proud of them.
We value our strong links with the parish.
Please click here for link to the Parish Newsletter.
STEM WEEK HPGNS!
We have had a super start to STEM Week in HPGNS.
We were delighted to be selected as one of the schools taking part in the norming process for the next set of standardised tests. It was a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to play a part in this important process and the children were very excited to get involved. By taking part in this norming exercise we are helping to establish a trusted national benchmark that underpins fair, accurate and reliable standardised scores for pupils across Ireland.
A big thank you to CJ Fallon for recognising the hard work and enthusiasm with a lovely pencil for each child.
We are very proud of how positively our girls embraced the experience!
JUNIOR INFANTS HAVE BEEN ENJOYING THEIR FIRST HPGNS STEM WEEK!
The Senior Infants have had fun observing what happens when you put a jelly baby in plain water, salted water and sugared water….
DREAM SPACE AMBASSADORS!!
Our 5th Class Dream Space Ambassadors took part in their first Training Day on Tuesday, October 13th.
The 9 girls joined the Zoom call with Microsoft and took part in a Kahoot Quiz, took notes about coding information and learnt new skills to "think like a coder".
We are so proud of our Ambassadors and wish them luck with their training over the next few months!
Maths Week TV
The girls are enjoying Maths Week TV programmes which are broadcast live and are interactive. A fabulous opportunity to connect with other students in other primary schools across Ireland!
In Hollypark GNS we use this acronym for problem solving.
STEM Week
POSTER COMPETITION
We had some amazing entries to our STEM poster competition!
The themes were as follows:
STEM in the garden
Space
Buildings
Amazing Inventions
STEM saves the planet
The world of the future!
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED NEXT WEEK!
STEM CAREERS
A number of parents will be joining us in school on Friday to share their experiences and insights into their careers across the diverse and exciting fields of STEM. We are really looking forward to this wonderful opportunity for the girls to learn about the many possibilities available to them.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of the parents who have generously given their time and to the PA for facilitating this fantastic event. We are very grateful for your support in inspiring the next generation of STEM enthusiasts!
MORE HPGNS STEM WEEK UPDATES
NEXT WEDNESDAY
CHRISTMAS JUMPER SALE....preparation!
Members of the 6th class Culture Team met with the Parents Association last Friday morning to plan the Christmas Jumper Sale.
If you happen to find any pre-loved Christmas jumpers/ accessories at home please put them aside as they will collect them on Friday 6th November at drop-off time. The sale will take place on Friday 20th November at 8.00am in the school hall.
Well done girls!
Industrial Action
THE SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED TOMORROW WEDNESDAY 14th OCTOBER.
We will keep you updated- thank you for your ongoing understanding.
SUPER SPOOKY HALLOWEEN ART!
Our talented pupils have been busy getting into the Halloween spirit with some wonderfully spooky creations!
Their artwork features creepy skeletons, eerie haunted houses and mysterious black cats, bringing plenty of Halloween magic and a little bit of fright to our school!
Halloween Camps
Neurodiversity Ireland are running Halloween Camps during the midterm. Please find link here
Gaeilge i Hollypark!
We place a strong emphasis on the learning of Irish in Hollypark. Gaeilge is very much a living language amongst our school community!
The girls in the older classes participate in the Fáinne initiative which focuses on spoken Irish. As well as all of the initiatives which we have embedded over the years we have now been chosen to participate in the CLIL- Content Language Integrated Learning Project. We will be working on completing some orienteering tasks through Irish - very much focused on the language of directions etc. Rang Naíonáin Bheaga (Junior Infants) Rang Naíonáin Mhóra (Senior Infants) Rang a cúig agus a sé (5th and 6th Class) will all be working together on this initiative!
For your interest please see link here to the
Is féidir liom, is féidir linn- Action Plan for Irish in English Medium Schools.
Please note the following Catechism Class facilitated by Foxrock Parish.
October Nature Spotter Sheet!
Please take the time to spot some of these signs of nature in our
local parks and green areas.
The hot meals are very popular with our children.
However, please check in often with your child about their lunches and if possible involve them in choosing their hot meals.
Please take the time to chat to your child about their hot meals.
Ask the following:
Are you enjoying your lunch?
Are you eating your lunch?
Would you like to try something else/new/different?
Tesco Blue Tokens!
Great news we have been selected for the Tesco Community Fund collection in Tesco Honeypark. Please support this worthwhile cause if you shop in this store!
Thank you to Adrian on the PA for his work on this.
6th Class Subject Leaflets
Department of Education and Youth
The Department of Education and Youth has created new subject and career leaflets
for all 6th class pupils, their families and their teachers.
I shared this with 5th and 6th class families yesterday. These leaflets explain the
subjects your child can choose for Junior Cycle and give short, easy to understand
information on each one. You can find the leaflets by scanning the QR code below.
Parking in the parish centre!
Parents are invited to park in the parish carpark during drop off and collection times. We appreciate the parish facilitating us as we encourage the girls to walk to school.
School Calendar / Féilire 2026/2027
The 2026/2027 calendar is available here.
Dates Term One
Please note extra school closure to accommodate
Curricular Area: STEM Training for teachers 8th December.
Hallowe'en Disco | Thursday 22nd October | 3rd - 6th class |
Hallowe'en Dress Up Day | Friday 23rd October | Whole school |
Midterm break | 26th October - 30th October | Whole School |
PT Meetings | Week beginning Monday 23rd November | SI - 6th Class |
No After School Activities for one week to facilitate PT Meetings | Week beginning Monday 23rd November | Whole School |
SCHOOL CLOSURE | Tuesday 8th December | Whole School |
Last day of Term One (early finish) | Tuesday 22nd December | Whole school |
First day of Term Two | Wednesday 6th January | Whole school |
Start & Finish Times
Start Time | Finish Time | |
Junior Infants until 9th September | 8:40am | 11:30am |
Junior Infants from 10th September | 8:40am | 1:20pm |
Senior Infants | 8:40am | 1:20pm |
1st & 2nd Class | 8:40am | 2:20pm |
3rd- 6th Class | 8:40am | 2:20pm |
FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY REASONS...
NO DOGS ALLOWED ON SCHOOL GROUNDS PLEASE!!
Smart Phones and Smart Devices
The Hollypark GNS community strives, in line with best practice, to create a calm and safe sanctuary, free from the distractions and potential complications posed by social media and the use of personal smart devices. To this end, Hollypark GNS is a smart device free campus. Children are not permitted to use phones/smartphones or smart watches whilst on school grounds (including the yard and the astro pitch).
We strongly support our PA No Smartphone Voluntary Code.
5th and 6th Class
Children in 5th and 6th class who need to bring a device to school in order to facilitate their journey to and from school must seek written permission from Ms. de Fréin by completing and signing a Phone Request Form. [Please see our school's Acceptable Use Policy, Appendix A (page 16)]. If given permission, children must hand the device to their teacher at the beginning of each day, and they may collect it when they are going home. The school takes no responsibility for these devices during the day.
Homework/ Obair bhaile
Homework should be within the capability of the attentive child, based on work already done. Homework enables parents to follow their daughter’s progress.
Homework should always be checked, and the journal signed daily by parent/guardian.
Homework is assigned for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday evenings and is not assigned for the weekend.
Recommended Times for Homework
Junior/Senior Infants: Class Teacher will advise.
1st/2nd Class: 20 – 30 minutes
3rd/4th Class: 30 – 40 minutes
5th/6th Class: 40 – 60 minutes.
These are suggested times. In practice, the time taken will depend on each child.
If parents feel a child is taking an excessive amount of time to complete work, they should discuss this with the Class Teacher.
Please click here for Homework Tips.
Headlice!!
PLEASE KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON YOUR DAUGHTER'S HAIR OVER THE COMING WEEKS.
We have had numerous reports of headlice throughout the school.
REMINDER!
One Way Traffic System
After School Activities 2026/27
Please contact providers directly for all update.
Details can be found here
Birthdays this week in Hollypark!
Lá breithe sona daoibh go léir!
Andriya Alphonse Sobin
Grace O'Hagan
Alaa Jerbi
Éabha Reid
Heidi Gill
Sarina Allahbachani
Taisia Cornejo Tumanova
Alice O'Keeffe
Rhea Close
Evie Cahill
Advertising on our school newsletter
If you would like to place an ad on our school newsletter, please email Suzanne at the office hollyparkgns@gmail.com for further details and pricing.
HPGNS
United in Friendship, Together We Strive!
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