Thanks to families letting us know that their child(ren) will be leaving our school, we have had significant movement on the waiting lists for places in our school. At this stage, all of the following families have been offered places:

• For Junior Infants
  • All siblings, including those who had not turned 4 by the end of March
  • All children who had turned 4 by the end of March AND who were pre-enrolled by 31st January 2018
  • All children who were pre-enrolled by 26th October 2017
  • There are currently 28 names on the waiting list for a place in Junior Infants 2018/19.
• For other classes
  • All children for whom applications were made for a place in 3rd, 4th or 6th class
  • There are currently 104 names on the waiting lists for a place in a class other than mainstream Junior Infants, 3rd, 4th and 6th classes.

We do not expect further movement on waiting lists until the start of the new school year.

Caitriona visited each class on the last day of the school year. She thanked each class for their hard work this year, congratulated them on all of their learning and wished them a wonderful summer.

Then she dropped the bombshell that there is home learning for the two months of summer break!

We were delighted to see that most children kept an open mind about what it would be rather than bemoaning the idea immediately! And even more thrilled at their reaction to the details, offering each other ideas of what to do. This approach to life is what makes our pupils so special and we know they will continue to use the growth mindset throughout the summer break!

This is the Home Learning for all pupils this summer - parents and guardians might like to take on the challenge too! - wouldn't it make for a great summer to take on this challenge together as a family?!

1. Stay active - do exercise, keep moving, maintain a fit and healthy body!
Some ideas suggested here were Junior Parkrun (some of our staff members bring their children to Junior Parkrun so we might see you there!), horse-riding, trampolining, playing football, doing gymnastics, cycling your bike. I'm sure you can come up with more!

2. Keep reading - reading introduces you to new ideas and the experiences of other people and so broadens your mind and helps your brain to develop; it gives you new viewpoints on life to consider, think about and discuss. Many of our children are already signed up for Summer Stars, a free reading programme in local libraries. 

3. Enjoy spending time with your family - do enjoyable activities together, have fun, make the most of having time that is not dictated to by schedules and routines, feel loved and free and happy together!

4. Remember some of what you do in numbers 1, 2 and 3 and tell us about them when we get back to school on 30th August.

We know that most families will have no problem fulfilling this home learning and will relish the opportunities the summer gives to spend time together and educate the children on areas of life that are of importance to your family. It is also a great opportunity to let your child do activities of particular interest to them. You might like to sit in this first week and create together a bucket list of summer activities you will aim for this summer.

We wish you all a super summer, full of activity, reading, family time and special memories!