Thank you!
We have had a great first term full of learning and activities. Thank you as always to our parents for sending our girls into school every day ready to learn and to give of their best.
As ever I am privileged to work with a wonderful team who ensure that our girls can be the best that they can be. Thank you!
May I wish all our girls, their families, the staff of Hollypark and the wider Hollypark community the very best of Christmases and a peaceful and happy New Year.
I look forward to seeing you all on Monday 8th January 2024 ready for a brand new term of learning!
Frasaí na Seachtaine #15
"Is breá liom an Nollaig"
See below to listen to the girls from Ms. Cashman's 1st Class
showing us how to pronounce our Frásaí na Seachtaine!
Labhair Gaeilge linn – sa bhaile agus ar scoil!
School Calendar 2023 - 2024
The 2023/2024 school calendar is available here.
The final day of this school term is Friday 22nd December. This will be a non-uniform day.
Finishing Times on Friday 22nd December
Junior & Senior Infants & older siblings | 11:30am |
1st & 2nd Class & older siblings | 11:45am |
3rd- 6th Class | 12:00pm |
School will re-open on Monday 8th January 2024.
An Important Message from the HSE
Lost Property
Many coats, tracksuit tops and school jumpers are being mislaid each day!
Over the holidays, please check your daughters' uniforms to ensure that they have their name and class on each item. Many items being found have no names, or names from children who are no longer in the school. Don't forget to label their jackets and raincoats!
Dental Hygiene
Children are asked to please complete and return the Dental Sponsorship Forms to their Class Teacher by this Friday 22nd December.
Remember! For every completed form returned to the school, South Beach Clinic will donate €5 to the school. This means that if every form is returned to our school, South Beach Clinic will donate €2545 to our school! This would enable us to buy new floor mats for gymnastics and Magna Boards for Special Education.
Thank You to Our 6th Class Leaders
Last Friday I was delighted to welcome yet another of our 6th Class Curricular Teams - the Culture Team - to my office for Morning Tea. With Ms Lamont, we chatted about what worked during our recent Music Day and what we would do the same or change for next time. We also looked at plans for our forthcoming Creative Week which will take place after Easter. And we chatted about transitioning to post-primary and enjoying the girls' final year on Hollypark.
Visit from Kilmacud Crokes
Thank you to Kilmacud Crokes for coming to us last Thursday and showing us their recent silverware!
Calling all artists!
We are inviting our girls to take part in the 70th Annual Texaco Art Competition.
A ‘Home Application Form’ will go home in the girls’ schoolbags in early January.
One of the most interesting things about art is its diversity. That's why entries to the competition can be about anything that interests you.
Your entry should not be smaller than A4 (29.7cm x 21.0cm) or larger than A2 (59.4cm x 42.0cm) before it is mounted, which is optional.
Please submit your artwork in flat format only, it should not be rolled, folded or framed.
The closing date for the competition is 28th February 2024.
All details about preparing your entry can be found on the Texaco Children’s Art website:
6th Class trip to the National Art Gallery
(Written by the 6th class Culture Team)
Over the past few weeks, the 6th classes have gone on school trips to the National Art Gallery. We took the bus into town and got off the bus at Dawson Street. When we got off the bus, we had our first lunch break. Then we walked down to the National Gallery. When we arrived at the gallery, we were split up into groups.
In our groups, we were brought on a guided tour of the National Gallery. Each group had the opportunity to view a variety of different works of art by many different artists including Harry Clarke, Joseph Walsh, Pablo Picasso and Jack B. Yeats.
Some of us went to the stained-glass room which was beautiful. The piece of stained-glass we focused on was a piece by Harry Clarke, who is also an Irish artist and book illustrator.
We also went to see an impressive sculpture between two wings of the gallery made from lots of thin wood slices put together. The sculpture is called ‘Magnus Modis’ and was made by Joseph Walsh.
Some groups viewed a Pablo Picasso painting which was called ‘Still Life with a Mandolin’. Another group visited an entire room devoted to the renowned Irish artist Jack B. Yeats. Yeats won an Olympic medal for one of the paintings we saw, ‘The Liffey Swim’. It is a depiction of the annual swim of the river Liffey in Dublin.
At the end of the tour, we went to see the ‘Zurich Portrait Exhibition’. We viewed many beautiful and unique portraits by both adults and children from this year’s annual portrait competition.
After our busy day at the gallery, we had our second lunch and got back on the bus to return to school. We all had a very enjoyable trip to the National Gallery. If you are in town over the Christmas holidays, we would highly recommend that you pop in to see some of the beautiful artwork! 😊
Christmas Performances
We enjoyed two more wonderful Christmas performances this week.
On Tuesday Senior Infants presented a show-stopping performance. And this was followed on Wednesday by a spectacular Christmas Musical Medley from our 1st Classes!
St Vincent de Paul
With only a couple of ‘sleeps’ left to Christmas, we are more conscious than ever that this can be a particularly difficult time for families. We are delighted to once again support our local St Vincent de Paul and thereby support our local families.
An Aladdin payment link has issued if you would like to donate to this very worthy cause. To date our generous families have donated €3094.00 via Aladdin.
To highlight our support of this venture girls are asked to wear Christmas Jumpers to school tomorrow Thursday 21st December..... and you never know who (thanks to our hard-working PA!) might be dropping in....
And don't forget - as above - Friday 22nd December is the last day of term
and is a non-uniform day!
Southside Sports After School Activities
Bookings for Southside Sports After School Activities for next term are now open at https://southsideschoolsports.com/contact-us/.
Irish Dancing Champs!
Well done to these Irish dancers in Ms. Cunneen's class with all their silverware from a Feis on Sunday 17th December.
Respect for Our Neighbours
As a Green School we actively encourage our girls to walk, cycle and scoot to school. As 80% of our pupils live within 2km of the school, this is very doable for many.
Walking, cycling and scooting not only provide a wonderful opportunity for chats with friends, improving our physical and mental health and caring for our environment, but these methods also help to reduce traffic, making the area around our school a safer place not just for our pupils but for all our neighbours. Unfortunately, but quite justifiably, our neighbours frequently complain of inconsiderate parking on the roads close to our school.
Please use the Church car park if it’s on your route to school: parking at the Church is free to all families at drop off and collection times.
Birthdays this Week and over the Holidays
in Hollypark!
Alina McNamara
Emily Bailie
Sinéad Kavanagh
Ruby Maher
Maya Walsh
Emer McGing
Ellen Dwyer
Kate Allman
Lauren Reaper
Sophie Gallagher
Keelin Moran
Robin Hughes
Ellen Coyle
Helena Murphy
Zimiao (Sophia) Yuan
Sherry xue fu Zhao
Matilda Bowen
Sophia Cleary
Georgia Cooledge
Caoimhe Gleeson
Juliette Conmy
Sofia Dunphy
Georgie Lynn
Alanna McCarthy
Evanna Maloney
Giorgia Sinead Cahill
Lauren O'Mahony
Sadhbh Kennedy
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