Newsletter: 27th November 2024
- hollyparkwebsite
- Nov 27, 2024
- 5 min read
Admission to Junior Infants September 2025
The process for admission to Junior Infants 2025 has now closed.
All applicants have been notified of the decision on their application.
Applicants who are offered a place on the first round have until this Friday 29th November to confirm acceptance of an offer.
Key Dates: Term One & Two
School Calendar 2024/2025
The 2024/2025 calendar is available on www.hollyparkgns.ie
Voluntary Contribution
Thank you to the 127 families who have already made a Voluntary Contribution for 2024/25.
If you would like to help in any additional way with our school development, (time, skillset, sponsorship) please let us know.
Frásaí na Seachtaine
Labhair Gaeilge linn!
Foxrock Parish Christmas Concert
We are delighted that once again our School Choir has been invited to sing at the forthcoming Foxrock Parish Christmas Concert in aid of First Light and Critical Emergency Medical Response. The concert will take place at 6pm next Sunday 1st December and all funds raised through ticket sales and raffle will be shared between these two worthy charities.
Children Supporting Children
Our School Choir was delighted to be invited to sing at the Light Up LauraLynn event last Sunday 24th November. Hosted by Ray D'Arcy & Martin King, our girls charmed all attendees. We are proud and delighted as always to support this wonderful children's charity.
National Children's Choir
Our 5th and 6th Classes have been working hard on the National Children's Choir repertoire. We are now looking forward to our first 'cluster rehearsal' which takes place tomorrow, Thursday 28th November. We will welcome pupils from Guardian Angels NS to our school to practise the first eight songs of this wide-ranging repertoire.
There will be a further 'cluster rehearsal' in the spring before our school's performance in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght in April 2025.
Inter-Schools Maths Quiz Champions!
Our 6th Class Maths Team took part today in the annual Inter-schools Maths Quiz in St. Attracta's NS, Ballinteer. The girls have been busy preparing for the quiz over the last few weeks. After a gruelling 6 rounds, they came out with a final score of 32 points and in 1st place out of 20 local schools! Well done to Alice, Ava, Isla and Lingxi! We are extremely proud of you!
Hollypark GNS PA Update
Advent Wreathes
Thank you to Pat Perera and her team of parents who have been working with our 5th & 6th Classes making Advent Wreathes. A lovely Hollypark tradition. Pat also visited our Senior Infants girls with Mary and Jenny and taught them about the tradition of making an Advent Wreath. The girls prayed The Hail Mary with Pat, too.
Ladies' and Girls' Preloved Occasion Wear Night
The PA will be hosting a ‘Ladies' and Girls’ Preloved Occasion Wear Night' on Thursday 28th November to give parents an opportunity to purchase high-quality ladies and girls' occasion wear at a reduced cost while socialising with other parents.
Entry is €10 which includes a glass of bubbles and a €5 discount off a purchase. Please note that this is an adults only event.
A raffle to win family photo shoots plus many exciting sustainable prizes will also be held on the night.
We hope you can join us for what should be a fun event.
Coin Collection 18th-22nd November
Our Coin Drop Fundraiser, which ran throughout last week was a tremendous success. Thank you for once again reaching out to support our school.
This fundraiser will help to buy resources to benefit each of the classes from Junior Infants to 6th class as shown below.
Pre-Loved Christmas Jumper Sale: Friday 29th November
Cyber Safety: A message from one of our parent advocates
Last week some parents attended a talk held locally on helping protect children online. This was sold out to over 250 attendees which demonstrates how topical this is for parents with young children at the moment. The speakers included Eoghan Cleary from Genfree, Senator Barry Ward, Fine Gael and Alex Cooney from Cybersafe Kids. Some useful outtakes below:
Smartphonefree.ie a new portal where you can now pledge to delay smartphones for your child in primary and beyond. It’s just launched and will gain traction as more pledges come on board. We would encourage you to pledge for our school anonymously on this site especially if you have supported our recent No Smartphone Voluntary Code.
Secondly, Cybersafe Kids (who have previously spoken to our parent body) have some great content on their website to support parents. They have just launched a Christmas Gadget Gift Guide which you may find useful particularly for older kids where you need help purchasing devices.
https://www.cybersafekids.ie/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/CyberSafeKids-Gadget-Gift-Guide.pdf
The school hopes to bring you more talks in this evolving area in the New Year and will keep you informed of these via the weekly newsletter. All the experts at this event reiterated what a challenge it is for parents and children alike in this world of unprecedented growth of device ownership. They do want to ensure there are resources so we as parents are supported collectively to delay smartphone ownership till sufficient regulation is in place to protect all our children online.
www.smartphonefree.ie
www.cybersafekids.ie
www.genfree.ieTraffic Safety
Morning & evening one-way system:
Reminders:
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 work with our PA to action the Walking Bus initiative as soon as possible
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.
In the event of an emergency, when cars are parked illegally, it is unlikely that a fire tender or ambulance would be able to access the schools, or any homes in the vicinity.
Birthdays this week in Hollypark!
Aisling Maher
Eva Freeman
Isabelle Mullane
Penny Rose Crotty
Liadh Bates
Sofia Isakadze
Elizabeth Coyle
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.
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