Newsletter 23rd September 2026
Admission to Junior Infants September 2027
PLEASE NOTE ALL APPLICATIONS WILL BE ONLINE FROM
NEXT MONDAY 28th SEPTEMBER
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
| ||
The school shall cease accepting applications for admission on | 23th October 2026 @ 3:00pm
| ||
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*Failure to accept an offer within the prescribed period above may result in the offer being withdrawn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.
School Photographs
MONDAY 28th SEPTEMBER
Please note a change in date for the school photo. County Photo will visit the school on Monday 28th September and not 12th October as originally planned.
All children should wear FULL UNIFORM that day!
HALLOWEEN COSTUME AND JERSEY SALE
The Halloween Costume and Jersey Sale will take place this Friday 25th at 8.00am in the school hall. There will be some children's books on sale also.
Please support this worthy event.
GOAL JERSEY DAY FRIDAY 2nd OCTOBER!
Goal Jersey Day will take place on Friday 2nd October. Children are welcome to wear a jersey that day and make a donation to GOAL.
We will include a QR Code for donations in next week's Newsletter.
Composting
Ms. Scally is working with the Green School Committee to investigate the possibility of us composting waste onsite. Nourish and Green are composting all of our hot meals food waste and we are looking forward to receiving a
delivery of compost for our garden.
Composting is an amazing activity that provides you with a free, nutrient rich soil. Making your own compost helps to keep carbon in the soil and promotes biodiversity.
See link here for further details.
Violin Lessons!
The girls from Senior Infants to 3rd Class began their violin lessons this week with our fabulous violin teacher Eva! We look forward to hearing them play beautiful music in the coming weeks.
OUR SUPER SPONSORED WALK- Siúlóid urraithe! update on money raised!
We have been busy counting money raised by the Sponsored Walk and so far we have collected close to €19,000!!!
This is an unbelievable amount of money!
These lovely girls (Senior Infants and 5th Class) joined us from Scotland this year. While in Scotland they participated in the Robert Burns Poetry Competition in their school. This was one of the poems they wrote and they have adapted it to suit our fundraising campaign for a DOG!
Hey Ms. de Fréin would you get us a dog
A big brown alsatian or a wee white pug
Or a skinny wee terrier or a big fat collie
Hey Ms. de Fréin would you get us a dog!
Well done girls!
SEE BELOW MORE PHOTOS BELOW OF OUR SUPER SPONSORED WALK!
The realities of children's digital lives: the opportunities and the harms and
what parents can do.
MONDAY 12th OCTOBER
The PA is hosting a Parent Information Talk given by Mick Moran, CEO of Hotline.ie. Suitable for all parents, this talk covers how primary school children experience the online world today.
Tickets are €5 and will go on sale shortly.
Thank you to the PA!
Please note the following Catechism Class facilitated by Foxrock Parish.
Laudate
We had a great night at the launch of the Laudate Festival on Monday evening.
Twelve of our 6th Class girls represented the school and recorded the teaching resources for the Laudate programme this year. They did a super job and we were very proud of them. We even met Ms. Gunning who popped in to say hello!
4th Class will start work of the repertoire shortly.
The Children of Lir
The girls in 4th Class are learning about the Children of Lir. This fabulous lady wrote her own version. What a brilliant idea!! A future author!
The hot meals are very popular with our children.
However, please check in often with your child about their lunches and if possible invovle 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.
Please consider getting involved with the AGM- they do such wonderful work.
Parking in the parish centre!
Fr. Philip visited the school on Monday and spoke to all of the girls.
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.
PA - Halloween Costume and Jersey -SALE | Friday 25th September | Whole School |
Class Photos- County Photos | MONDAY 28th SEPTEMBER | Whole School |
GOAL Jersey Day | Friday 2nd October | Whole school |
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!!
School Uniform
Girls should wear the school tracksuit on PE days only.
For health and safety reasons, girls must wear appropriate sporting footwear in order to avoid injury.
School uniform trousers, as an alternative to the school uniform skirt, are available from our uniform suppliers The Schoolwear House.
For health and safety reasons, stud earrings only are permitted. Dangly earrings (to include hoops) are not permitted.
Nail polish, lip gloss, make-up (including mascara), fake tan, fake eyelashes and fake nails are not allowed. Pupils will be asked to remove make up on arrival in school. Wipes will be supplied.
Parents Association - Smart Phone Voluntary Code REMINDER
Hard copies of this code went into Junior Infant schoolbags today.
Please return by Friday 25th September.
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.
THIS IS THE LAST WEEK OF OUR SEPTEMBER - NATURE SPOTTER SHEET!
Take the opportunity at the weekend to spot some of these
signs of nature in your local parks.
This Spotter Sheet includes photographs of the Hawthorn Tree with haws (berries) the Red Admiral Butterfly, Blackberries and Brambles, the Forest Shieldbug, Ash Tree ‘keys’ (seeds) and Ripe Apples. All of these can be spotted in the local parks and green areas. If parents are too busy they might ask grandparents to help!!! Thank you!
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.
Traffic and Safety
One Way Traffic System
Traffic Safety
I am appealing to our parents in the strongest possible terms to put the safety of our children above all else:
Please use the church car park at drop off and collection times and walk the last 6 minutes with your child.
80% of our pupils live within 2 kilometres of our school. Please encourage your older children to walk with their pals to and from school.
Please ensure that younger children are held by the hand when walking with them to and from school.
Please do not block the driveways of local residents when parking. Many of our residents – often elderly - are virtual prisoners in their own homes at drop off and collection times. And when they speak up are often subject to abuse.
Please park legally and with care.
As things stand, in the event of an emergency, it is unlikely that a fire tender or ambulance would be able to access the schools, or any homes in the vicinity, at drop off and collection times.
Well done to these girls on their fabulous achievements!
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!
Rosa Conlon
Emilia Stokes
Alannah Maunsell
Lily Conlon
Sophie Finnegan
Yasmine Rahmani
Zoe Gallagher
Saoirse Fogarty
Laoise Mc Crohan
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!
Comments