Newsletter: Wednesday 28th January 2026
- hollyparkwebsite
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
School Calendar 2025/2026
The 2025/2026 calendar is available on www.hollyparkgns.ie
Key Dates: Term Two
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 |
CyberSafe Workshops | Thursday 5th & Friday 6th February | 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th Class |
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 26th 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:
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:
In children, any temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or above is considered high. Vomiting and diarrhoea
Follow advice from your GP If your child has been diagnosed with an infection such as:
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Grandparents' Day 2026: Friday 30th January
We are very much looking forward to this landmark day in our school calendar, which takes place this Friday.
(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!
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 tonight - 7:00pm-8:15pm - in the Church of St Therese, Mount Merrion.
All parents and families are welcome to attend.
Well done!
Well done Lily & Elize!
Well done Gabriella!
Well done Sophie & Sophia!
Well done to Sophia who won first place in the Bounce Gymnastics competition and Sophie who won a silver medal!
Library News
Following on from the success of Marita Conlon McKenna as our guest speaker last year, this year will see Sinead Moriarty visiting 4th, 5th and 6th classes at Hollypark GNS on Friday 6th March.
This will be a lovely lead into our Book Fair which commences 9th March.
We will have more of Sinead Moriarty’s books on the shelves shortly, giving the girls a chance to read more of her books before she visits.
Green Schools
The Green School Committee are busy preparing our application for our tenth Green Flag - Food and Biodiversity Global Citizenship!
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 143 families (that is 36% 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.
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.
Birthdays this week in Hollypark!
Tess O'Donnell
Leah Smyth
Kaelia Phipps
Zoe Cahill
Alexa Hart
Holly Maher
Anna Merriman
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!
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