Frasaí na Seachtaine
'Conas atá tú? Ta me go hiontach, conas atá tusa?'
See below to listen to the girls from Ms Belton's Rang a 4
showing us how to pronounce our Frásaí na Seachtaine!
Labhair Gaeilge linn sa bhaile agus ar scoil!
School Calendar 2023/24
The School Calendar is available here.
Planned School Closures: Term 2
Monday 5th February | St Brigid's Day Public Holiday |
Thursday 15th & Friday 16th February | Midterm Break |
Monday 18th March | St Patrick's Day Public Holiday |
Friday 22nd March | Last Day of Term 2 |
Monday 8th April | School re-opens for Term 3 |
Cyber Safety
Cybersafe Tutor will deliver Cyber Safety Workshops to our 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th Classes over two days next week - Thursday 1st February and Friday 2nd February.
Catholic Schools Week
As part of Catholic Schools Week, girls in our 5th Classes have been preparing for the Laudate Festival which will take place in the Church of St Therese, Mount Merrion on Wednesday 31st January 7:00pm - 8:15pm. All parents and families are invited and welcome to attend.
Grandparents' Day 2024
For reasons outside our control, Grandparents Day in Hollypark has been rescheduled from this Friday 26th January to next Wednesday 31st January. Sincere apologies for any inconvenience this will cause.
We had an overwhelming response to our invitation and thankfully in most classes all grandparents who have accepted our invitation will be accommodated. However, in some classes we have been very over-subscribed.
As per our original invitation, if interest exceeded capacity, we indicated that we would have to limit numbers, and, very reluctantly, we find that we have to do exactly that. The fairest way to do this and to minimise disappointment is to limit visiting grandparents to one only per child in the classes that were oversubscribed. This will only affect a small number of classes and individual class teachers will contact those parents/guardians. Otherwise, classes can accommodate their visitors and we look forward to welcoming our grandparents into Hollypark next Wednesday 31st January.
To accommodate the large numbers, we have also had to make a slight change to the timings on the day:
The new arrival times are set out below:
Junior Infant Grandparents | 8:50am |
Senior Infants Grandparents | 8:50am |
1st Class Grandparents | 9:20am |
2nd Class Grandparents | 9:20am |
3rd Class Grandparents | 9:20am (this was originally 9:40am) |
4th Class Grandparents | 10:00am (this was originally 9:40am) |
5th Class Grandparents | 10:00am |
6th Class Grandparents | 10:00am |
As mentioned, there will be limited parking available in our school yard from 8:45am-11:45am. Please do not enter before 8:45am.
Thank you for your support and understanding – we are very much looking forward to this very special day - Wednesday 31st January.
Geography Day
We look forward to celebrating Geography Day in Hollypark on Wednesday 14th February. Our theme will be ‘Where in the World?’
We will be organising a display in the hall to celebrate interesting landmarks/items from around the world and this is where we need your help!! We would like your daughters to think of features in our natural or urban landscape and people and culture from around the world. All pupils are welcome to contribute to the display. Encourage your girls to make a model of their favourite geographical feature, building or bridge in the world! They could even recreate them with lego bricks! Perhaps you have something at home or an interesting photograph of something that represents another country that you would like to display on Geography Day?
All items for the display need to be in school by Friday 9th February. |
The girls will also be engaging in lots of other interesting activities on the day. Keep an eye on our newsletter for updates.
‘Geography is a living, breathing subject, constantly adapting itself to change. It is dynamic and relevant. Geography is a great adventure with a purpose’. Michael Palin.
PT Meetings for Infant Classes
PT Meetings for Infant Classes will take place in the week beginning Monday 29th January.
The Aladdin PT Scheduler for Infant Parent Teacher Meetings will remain open to parents until 6pm this evening Wednesday 24th January. Meeting slots cannot be booked after this time.
PT Meetings for a number of older classes did not take place in November. These meetings have now been re-scheduled and the relevant classes have been notified of these dates/times. The Aladdin PT Scheduler will open for these classes/meetings today, Wednesday 24th January and will close on Wednesday 31st January at 6pm. Meeting slots cannot be booked after this time.
6th Class Graduation
Our 6th Class Graduation Day has been scheduled for Tuesday 25th June 2024. This will be a bittersweet day for our school community as our 6th Classes have been true school leaders. We will be sorry to say goodbye, but our girls are so ready for their next adventure!
Green Schools: Walkability Audit
The 6th Class members of our Green School Committee conducted a Walkability Audit in the surroundings of Hollypark GNS on Wednesday 17th January. This involved an audit of footpaths and safety signs in the area. They also noted areas that could be improved such as the absence of bins and zebra crossings etc. Alongside the rest of the Committee, they completed their report which they submitted to Green Schools. Our Travel Officer Jennifer will now write a formal report and present this to Dúnlaoghaire Rathdown County Council. It is hoped that their observations will help to make the area around our school safer for our pupils.
The 5th and 6th Class Green School Committee members presented mini-lessons to all girls from 1st to 6th on the topic of CAR IDLING. Car idling happens when a car is stopped but the engine is still running. A car can produce 150 balloons worth of carbon monoxide which is very toxic for our health.
Please ask your child about car idling and try to be mindful when you are waiting in your car outside or around the locality of the school.
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.
Artist-in-Residence - The Creative Arts Programme
This term, the girls in Ms. Lamont’s 6th class have the opportunity to work with Jane Cummins, an artist-in-residence, as part of The Creative Arts Programme with the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Programme.
The Creative Arts Programme provides the opportunity for students and teachers to engage with a professional creative practitioner through a series of facilitated workshops, aimed at developing creativity and artistic skills in the school setting.
Jane is a visual artist who specialises in photography and printmaking. She will be working with the girls in-class, teaching them different art and printing techniques.
We had our first in-class session with our artist-in-residence Jane Cummins on Wednesday 10th January.
Jane started the session with a drawing challenge and a creative brainstorming activity. The girls did some individual and group thinking to come up with ideas of themes they would like to explore over the residency.
Jane showed the girls a presentation about visual journals and zines and showed them lots of samples of different types of journals and zines.
She explained the concept of ‘Japanese Book Binding’ or ‘Yotsume Toji’ to the girls. This book binding method was developed during the Edo period in Japan from 1603-1867.
Jane taught the girls how to assemble a visual journal using this ancient book binding method. They folded nine sheets of A4 paper, assembling them into three sets of three, to make the pages of their journal.
Then the girls added a cover page and some coloured pages to their journal. The girls needed to fold and assemble their pages very carefully so that they would create a well-aligned journal.
Finally, Jane and Ms. Lamont assisted the girls in punching holes in their journals. These holes need to be uniform and perfectly aligned to allow the thread to pass through while keeping the edges flush.
The girls really enjoyed creating their visual journals and have been busy designing the covers of their journals throughout the week in school.
‘I’m very excited to continue to create my visual journal and make it unique!’ noted one of the 6th class girls.
6th class had their second session with Jane on Wednesday 17th January. As a warm-up activity, Jane challenged the girls to draw different items with both their right and left hand simultaneously! Some girls found this activity manageable, but it was very challenging for others. Some of the results were very impressive and others were very amusing!
In this week’s session with Jane, the girls continued to make their visual journals. Jane demonstrated to the girls how to sew their journals together, using the traditional Japanese book binding method ‘Yotsume Toji’.
At first, this process proved to be quite challenging. The sewing was very intricate, and the girls needed to follow a specific pattern when carrying out their sewing. The girls listened well to Jane’s instructions and after a while (and lots of sweat, some blood but no tears!) they all got the hang of the process.
By the end of the session, the girls were delighted with their finished products and very proud of their achievements.
‘It was challenging but rewarding!’ commented one of the girls.
The girls will be working on ‘collage’ in their next session with Jane and are looking forward to continuing the Creative Arts Programme this term. Stay tuned for more updates from the Creative Arts Programme over the next few weeks! 😊
Budding artists!
Have a look at the wonderful artwork completed by our girls around the school. Our artist of the month for January is the French artist Claude Monet. Monet moved to Paris and met fellow painters, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Alfred Sisley. Together, they experimented with painting the effects of light while working outside (‘en plein air’). In the 1860s, the painters exhibited their works and impressionism was born. The name ‘impressionism’ comes from a painting Monet exhibited called ‘Impression, Sunrise’.
Cycling workshops
Our girls in 5th class have started their cycling workshops. Despite the cold and wet weather, the girls are learning the rules of the road and how to ensure they are safe cyclists. We look forward to watching the girls improve over the next few weeks.
Birthdays this Week in Hollypark!
Grace Murray