Yesterday, Davy Byrne - corner back for the Dublin Senior Men's Football team - visited our school, along with another very special guest - the Sam Maguire Cup - the trophy the Dublin team won when they beat Mayo in the All-Ireland Football Final in September.

They were also accompanied by Peter, our local GAA outreach officer - who is currently teaching the boys and girls in Second Class how to play football and hurling.

The whole school assembled in the PE hall to welcome them and they arrived to a chorus of 'Come On You Boys in Blue'! Some children had an opportunity to ask Davy some questions about the experience of playing a final in Croke Park and getting to lift the Sam.

Then each class had their pictures taken with it. 

Sports Day was back with a bang this year - and it was bigger and better than ever! Thanks to the tireless work of the teachers, SNAs and a dedicated group of parent volunteers, the children had an action-packed day, visiting stations where they practiced all kinds of physical skills - from balance to hand-eye coordination and from speed to patience!
Sincere thanks to everybody who helped out and to St. Mary's GAA Club for being so flexible and accommodating of us. 

Today we did a flashdance in the yard for Active Schools Week. We have been practicing this dance in our classrooms over the past week and this was the first time we all tried it together - we are pretty proud of how it turned out!
Junior Infants to Second Class were involved in this activity - Third Class were visiting the local Retirement Home to entertain its residents with their singing and tin-whistle playing!
Our Cha Cha Slide is just one part of an action-packed Active Week here at school. Our Active Week will culminate in Sports Day this Friday - don't forget to let us know if you are available to help out because without your help it can't be the success last year's was!

We got a head start on Active Schools Week last week, when Martin from Tallaght Martial Arts came to show us some kickboxing moves!
We had a great time and we were exhausted afterwards!!

Children's yoga classes will be taking place at the Heritage Centre in Saggart, starting 18 June. See the poster below for more details.

• Classes will be  40 minutes long with a little chat at the end.
• Each week will have a theme (circus, story telling, you & me, world trip etc)

In prepartion for our first Active Schools Week, which will run from June 13th to June 17th, a martial arts expert from Martial Arts Tallaght will be running a demonstration for the children in our school hall on Wednesday June 1st. Classes from Junior Infants to First Class will enjoy a twenty minute class with instructor Martin. The children are looking forward to learning some new active skills.

Dear Parents/Guardians,
 
Last year's Sports Day proved a great success. The children had a super time and that was due to wonderful parent and teacher involvement. Sports Day is on Friday 17th June 2016 and is again at St Mary’s GAA field in Saggart!
 
Here is how you can help!
 
1. We are looking for volunteers to help with sports activities
2. We need donations of equipment and plastic storage
 
1. Volunteers
Friday 17th June 08:45 to 12:30. Different sports activities will be set up by the teachers with clear instructions. You will run that one activity for the morning. Each class will visit your activity with their teacher.
 
Unfortunately, due to health and safety regulations, we cannot allow babies / toddlers to accompany volunteering parents for this part of the day.  You will join in / watch the whole school activities later in the day. Let us know you can volunteer by filling in the form below before Thursday 9th June 2016!

We are MOST excited to announce that our parent education, engagement and fun programme continues to grow! On 6th April, Nicola Sherwood, who lives locally to the school, will start a Bokwa Fitness class for adults in our PE hall! The class will run from 8pm to 9pm each Wednesday evening. Watch this space for more details!