Newsletter: Wednesday 21st January 2026
- hollyparkwebsite
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
School Calendar 2025/2026
The 2025/2026 calendar is available on www.hollyparkgns.ie
Key Dates: Term Two
Junior Infant PT Meetings | Week beg. Monday 26th January | Junior Infants |
Catholic Schools Week | 18th - 24th January | Whole School |
Laudate | Wednesday 28th January | 4th Classes |
Grandparents' Day | Friday 30th January | Whole School |
St Brigid's Day School Closure | Monday 2nd February | Whole School |
Staff Inservice School Closure | Wednesday 11th February | Whole School |
PA Ladies Lunch | Friday 13th February | All parents |
Midterm Break | School closed Thursday 19th & Friday 20th February | Whole School |
60th Celebration Day | Thursday 12th March | Whole School |
St Patrick's School Closure | Monday 16th March & Tuesday 17th March | Whole School |
Staff Inservice School Closure | Wednesday 13th May | Whole School |
Knowing if your child is well enough to go to school
Use this page
to find out:
When it's OK to send your child to school or childcare
When to keep your child at home from school or childcare
Please note these key points to keep our school (and wider) community safe and well:
High temperature
If your child has a high temperature, keep them off school or childcare until their temperature:
goes back to normal
stays that way without taking paracetamol and ibuprofen
In children, any temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or above is considered high.
Vomiting and diarrhoea
Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school or childcare until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 48 hours.
Follow advice from your GPÂ
If your child has been diagnosed with an infection such as:
impetigo
measles
mumps
scarlet fever
slapped cheek syndrome
chicken pox
Grandparents' Day 2026: Friday 30th January
We are very much looking forward to this landmark day in our school calendar, which takes place this year on Friday 30th January.
(If for any reason we have to reschedule our Grandparents Day, we have a contingency date of Friday 6th February).
On this special day Grandparents will visit their grandchildren's classroom and will have the opportunity to share stories of their time in school with the girls.
For the comfort of all, and in deference to the children whose grandparents cannot attend, we ask that only one grandparent per family attend. Please note due to limited space, we cannot accommodate other family members who come instead of grandparents.
Parents should contact class teachers directly by email if their daughter’s grandparent will be attending on the day. It is very helpful if you include the name of the grandparent in this response. Due to the volume of correspondence on the office email, and to avoid any missed communications, please email the class teacher directly using the class teacher’s email and not the general office email.
We will try to accommodate all respondents, but please understand that we may have to draw names if there is not enough space.
Grandparents will also join the children in the school hall for a short Prayer Service and will then be invited into our staffroom for light refreshments. Thank you to our PA who will be working their magic in the staffroom that day!
To accommodate the expected numbers, there will be three sessions. Please note the arrival and departure times for each session as set out below.
Arrival | Departure | ||
Session 1 | JI Ms Caroll JI Ms McHale SI Ms Sweeney SI Ms Conlon 1st Ms Foy 1st Ms Duffy | 9:00am | 10:30am |
Session 2 | 1st Ms Codd 2nd Ms Lamont 2nd Ms McNulty 3rd Ms Byrne 3rd Ms O'Sullivan 3rd Ms Cashman | 11:00am | 12:30pm |
Session 3 | 4th Ms O'Shea 4th Ms Mannix 4th Ms Henry 5th Ms Scally 5th Ms Dobey 6th Ms de Fréin 6th Ms O'Connor 6th Ms Coll | 12:40pm | 2:10pm |
Please note that unfortunately, as the school yard will be in use throughout the day, we are not in a position to facilitate parking on-site.
We look forward to seeing you on Friday 30th January!
Laudate Festival 2026
Our 4th Classes have been working on the 15 song Laudate Repertoire since last September and are very much looking forward to participating in this year’s Laudate Festival as part of Catholic Schools Week.
The Laudate Festival will take place on Wednesday 28th January (7:00pm-8:15pm) in the Church of St Therese, Mount Merrion.Â
All parents and families are welcome to attend.
Junior Infant Parent Teacher Meetings
We are looking forward to meeting our Junior Infant parents at your annual Parent Teacher Meetings which will take place during the week beginning Monday 26th January 2025.
The Aladdin PT Scheduler is now closed. If you have not yet set up your meeting, please contact your daughter's class teacher.
Well done!
Leinster Minor Schools Swimming Gala
And also at the Leinster Minor Schools Swimming Gala, congratulations to Daire Kate Carnus, 3rd Class, who qualified to represent Hollypark GNS in the Irish Nationals on 29th March. Well done Daire!
Hockey
On Monday the A and B Teams braved the horrible weather to play against Kill O' the Grange NS in Loreto Foxrock. Both teams played well. The A Team were delighted to win their match 3-0, and in a very close match the B Team secured a 1-1 draw.
Next week the A and B Teams will play St Andrew's PS and we are hoping for another successful outcome!
Well done girls!!
Green Schools
The Green School Committee are busy preparing our application for our tenth Green Flag - Food and Biodiversity Global Citizenship!
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We are lucky to have such wonderful reps in each class. Well done girls!
Celebrating St Brigid
The Parish Pastoral Council would be delighted if some of our girls and their parents would like to join them in celebrating St Brigid's Day by making their own St Brigid's Cross to bring home with them. This lovely activity will take place after the 10am Sunday Mass on 1st February in the Parish Centre.
Voluntary Contributions 2025- 2026
Sincere thanks to the 124 families (that is 31.5% of all our families) who have already made a Voluntary Contribution to the school for 2025-26.
It may interest our families to know that you can choose to make frequent small payments to your Voluntary Contribution via Aladdin at any time during the school year, up to and including 31st August 2026.
Any and all contributions are very much appreciated and make a real difference to your daughter's learning environment.
PA Update
60th Anniversary Celebrations: Ladies Lunch Raffle!
Link to raffle: https://www.idonate.ie/raffle/HPLadiesLunchRaffle
Health & Safety
From time to time, vapes have been found on the school yard. Please note that under legislation, Smoking/Vaping is prohibited on school grounds. |
Traffic Safety
Please note: It is illegal to park in a way which interferes with traffic flow or obstructs or endangers other road users, for example:
[Dublin Street Parking Services] Once again I am reminding our parents/guardians/minders to drive and park with consideration for our children and our neighbours - many of whom are elderly and vulnerable. |
One Way Traffic System
Traffic Safety
Please use the church car park at drop off and collection times and walk the last 6 minutes with your child.Â
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.Â
Please ensure that younger children are held by the hand when walking with them to and from school.Â
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.
Birthdays this week in Hollypark!
Alice Rua Cunningham
Emilia Lloyd
Olivia Prest
Kaelia Phipps
Kate Ann Kilroy
Robyn Foley
Charlotte Prest
Alice Molloy
Grace Murray
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!