Notices from the Principal
The children have started to work really hard as we approach the season of Advent in preparation for Christmas. There will be a Junior Concert and a Senior Concert. Please see details below:
Junior Concert – Tuesday December 20th at 11.00am
Senior Concert – Wednesday December 21st at 11.00am
Christmas Holidays
School closes on Thursday 22nd December (11.50 infants and 12.00 for all other classes)
School re-opens Monday 9th January 2017
SCHOOL CALENDAR 2016-2017
| Autumn Mid-Term Break | Friday 28thOctober
(normal full school day) |
School re-opens- Monday 7th November |
| Christmas Holidays
|
Thursday 22nd December
( school closes at 11.50-infants and 12.00 for all other classes) |
School re-opens-Monday, 9th January, 2017 |
| Spring Mid-Term Break | Friday February 18th (normal full school day) | School re-opens-Monday 27th February |
|
St Patrick’s Day |
Friday 17th March ( Bank holiday- school closed) | |
| Easter Holidays
|
Friday April 7th ( school closes at 11.50-infants and 12.00 for all other classes) | School re-opens-Monday April 24th |
| May/June Holidays
|
Monday 1st May Monday 5th June
( school closed on both days- bank holidays) |
|
| School closes- summer closing | Thursday 29th June ( school closes at 11.50-infants and 12.00 for all other classes) |
School is also closed on Thursday 2nd February 2017 for Teacher In-service in new language programme.
Christmas 2014
This term, many activities took place here in our school, especially all of the Christmas events. We thank our staff and the Parents’ Association who have made all of these happen.
In our Christmas Newsletter, available on the school website, you will also read a brief account of the inspections that took place in our school recently in the main school and also in the Early Start. Thanks to you all for your co-operation during our recent whole school evaluation.
As always we have all been working very hard to prepare the children for the Christmas concerts and the dates are also outlined in the Christmas Newsletter.
As we approach this special time of year let us remember the importance of the word “Christ” in Christmas. As part of our Advent preparation, all classes will take part in our specially prepared Advent prayer services where the focus is the real meaning of Christmas and the waiting for the birth of baby Jesus. The children will assemble in the hall and the advent candles will be lit each week.
Our wish here at Mother of Divine Grace Primary School is that you will all experience joy, happiness and peace this Christmas and into the New Year.
Eleanor Fahy, Principal
September 2014
We welcome everybody back to school following the summer break. It is heart-warming to see our pupils eagerly coming to school every morning with smiling faces and ready to launch into the work and joy of the year ahead. The pupils are looking very smart in their full school uniforms and getting them in on time to school is very good example for their lives ahead. We welcome all our new pupils and hope they will be very happy in our school. Our good wishes are extended to Ms. Liz O’ Breslin who has retired and also to Ms Lila Purcell, Ms. Kim Saunders and Ms. Maeve Reynolds who have taken up work in other schools. Due to increasing numbers we were sanctioned to employ another two teachers. As a result of this we have 3 small Junior Infant classes. We welcome our new teachers; Ms. Hosback, Ms. Keane and Mr. Mc Carthy.
A lot of hard work took place over the summer holidays in preparation for September. Classrooms were tidied and cleaned and corridors were polished. A special word of thanks is due to the ancillary staff for their hard work throughout the summer.
Fifth and Sixth Classes are permitted with parental permission to cycle to school. All cyclists must be wearing a helmet and a high visibility vest and have a bicycle lock. The school accepts no responsibility for bicycles brought to school. Pupils must dismount and walk their bicycles from the school gate.
Parents, as always, we welcome you into our school but please make an appointment if you need to talk to teacher. It is not possible for teacher to talk to you and supervise a class at the same time. If you wish to talk to teacher even for a very short time please make an appointment through the office and we will arrange a suitable time for the class teacher to meet with you and arrange supervision for the class.
Thank you Parents for your continuous co-operation with school. We look forward to working with you during the year.
Eleanor Fahy, Principal.
June 2014
We have come to the end of yet another school year. As always we have had many celebrations and victories over the year. We congratulate our sports teams who have participated and won many of the local and Dublin leagues in football, basketball and table tennis. Our Athletes did us proud in the Santry Athletics as did our fifth and sixth class who were the overall winners in the Credit Union Quiz.Our 4th/5th/6th classes took part in many business initiatives such as Junior Achievement, Biz World Entrepreneurship and Junior Entrepreneur Project. The fifth classes cooperated with schools in Northern Ireland in the Dissolving Boundaries Project. All classes were involved in fundraising events and donations were made to Irish Cancer Society, The Philippines Disaster Appeal, Pieta House (Suicide Prevention), St. Vincent de Paul, Down Syndrome Ireland and an orphanage in Africa. We are very proud of our Sixth Class who have graduated this year and our Junior Infants who have settled very well into school. Our parents, families and teachers watched with pride as the second classes made their First Holy Communion and the sixth classes were confirmed. Our pupils will always remember the monthly Prayer services and the “Students of the Week” assemblies.
As I come to the end of another school year, I thank, most sincerely all the staff, parents , the Holy Faith Sisters and the wider community for your ongoing co-operation with our school because it is by working together that we can provide what is best for our pupils.
Enjoy your summer holidays and looking forward to working with you in September.
Eleanor Fahy
Principal
Easter 2014
School has been very busy since Christmas. The pupils have engaged wholeheartedly with a wide variety of learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. In this newsletter you will read of these many activities since Christmas. These include our many sporting activities, the Credit Union quiz, the Easter raffle, the cake sale, to name but a few. Applications for places in this school year and next year (September 2015) have far exceeded availability and we are allocating available places according to our enrolment policy which can be viewed on the school’s website www.mdgballygall.scoilnet.ie. On this website you can also view the school’s blog.
Parents, if your child is not returning to school here, next Sept., can you please inform the office as there is a waiting list for places in all classes.
We welcome Mr. Padraig Groarke and Ms. Aoife Cummins who have recently joined our teaching staff.
Thanks to all our staff who give of their best to ensure that your children will have a happy and fruitful school experience at all times in school. You will also read about the wonderful work being carried out by our Parent’s Association who work tirelessly behind the scenes to support the school and provide memorable activities for our pupils.
On behalf of the Board of Management, sincere thanks to all parents for your support of the Easter Raffle and for your ongoing support during the year. I wish all pupils, parents and staff a very Happy Easter.
Eleanor Fahy
Principal.
December 2013
The month of December has been a busy time for pupils and staff. The pupils have been busy with Art, Music and Drama as they explore the meaning of the Christmas Story and prepare for our Christmas celebrations.
As we approach this special time of year let us remember the importance of the word “Christ” in Christmas. As part of our Advent preparation, all classes took part in our specially prepared Advent prayer services where the focus is the real meaning of Christmas and the waiting for the birth of baby Jesus. The children assembled in the hall and the advent candles were lit each week.
As always the staff has worked very hard to prepare the children for the Christmas concerts. It is a very proud moment for parents and guardians to see their children performing on the stage. Many hours of preparation have gone into these little shows and the concert is a very exciting time for the school community.
We congratulate Ms. Mairin Mc Grath who has been appointed Assistant Principal. Congratulations and farewell to Ms. Sarah Hardiman who took up a permanent position in another school.
In this newsletter you will read of the many activities taking place here in our school and especially all of the Christmas events. We thank our staff and the Parents’ Association who have made all of these happen.
Our wish here at Mother of Divine Grace Primary School is that you will all experience joy, happiness and peace this Christmas and into the New Year.
Eleanor Fahy
Principal.
October 2013
A big welcome back to all our pupils and especially our new pupils. Our Infants have settled very well into school. They are now able to come to the classrooms on their own and this independence is to be encouraged. We also welcome new children and their families whose first language is not English.
It is great to see all the smiling faces coming through our doors each morning and eager to start the school day. The pupils are looking very smart in their full school uniforms and getting them in on time to school is very good example for their lives ahead. School begins at 9.00a.m. However we supervise the children from 8.50a.m to facilitate parents. Please do not leave your children unsupervised in the school grounds before this time.
to Gavin O’Reilly who has been appointed as Deputy Principal.
In this newsletter you will read all about our school activities, projects and celebrations which include sports, sacramental and other religious celebrations, Green Schools, Parent’s Association, Home School news, Dissolving Boundaries and Junior Achievement projects to name but a few.
We welcome our new teachers: Ms. Charlene Hegarty, Ms. Fiona Leahy, Ms. Sinead Molloy and Ms. Sarah Hardiman. We also welcome back Ms. Marie Brennan. Ms. Deirdre Walsh and Ms. Kay McCarthy have recently retired and are greatly missed by all. Mr. Kevin O’Malley and Ms. Anita Hoban have taken up jobs in other schools and we wish them well.
Thank you Parents for your continuous co-operation with the school and looking forward to a happy and successful year ahead, working with your children.
Eleanor Fahy
Principal
June 2013
We have come to the end of another school year. It has been a great year for the school. We celebrated in June when we hoisted our third Green Flag. We were awarded a “Merit of Excellence” award for our standard of Science lessons.
We celebrated our wins and our losses in Gaelic, Athletics, Basketball and Table Tennis. We took part in many different initiatives. These included Junior Achievement, Dissolving Boundaries, Science and Engineering talks, One Book, One Finglas and Roots of Empathy. The local School Completion Programme provided the school with Art classes, Games club, Drama therapy and Play therapy. Leinster Rugby coached many of our pupils inRugby. The pupils received soccer training from Bohemians football club and gaelic training fromErin’s Isle. Our staff watched with pride as our pupils celebrated the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation. All of our pupils had the opportunity of “treading the boards” on our school stage as they took part in Christmas concerts, X-factor and various other dramas. Some were involved in the school choir and in the school band. Our prayer services highlighted the importance of special days in our catholic school. The computer room was fitted out with 15 new computers. Thanks to the Parent’s Association for helping us to fund this cost.
We have news too of change. I mention especially the retirement of two esteemed colleagues, Ms. Deirdre Walsh and Ms. Kay McCarthy. I thank them sincerely for their shared leadership during the past four years as well as for their many years of dedicated teaching.
Wishing you all a very happy holiday.
Eleanor Fahy
Principal
October 10th, 2013 at 11:30 pm
hope its a good year everybody 🙂