Our Parents’ Association are currently planning for our annual Christmas Fair on Sunday 1st December from 10.30am to 2.30pm. There will be lots of stalls including a cake sale and book stall. Santa himself will take time out from his hectic schedule to meet the children in our grotto. We would be delighted to see you on the day. It will be a great family fun day!
Well done to all the children who dressed up before the Halloween Break. We had a great selection of both spooky and fun costumes. Thank you all for your donations on the day for the “Trick or Treat for Temple Street” fundraiser. We are delighted to have raised €685.
Last Wednesday the boys and girls walked up to the Church for a beautiful Back to School Mass. It was our first Mass with the new priests Fr. Michael and Father Stephen. They were both incredibly complimentary to all of the children for their fantastic behaviour, participation and singing. Thank you to all of the children who did the readings and to the School Choir who provided beautiful music.
Every year, the children in St. Paul’s enter the Pentel International Children’s Art Competition. We submit the entries at the end of October and it takes almost a full year for entries to be judged and decided upon. A huge congratulations to last year’s winners who were only announced this month. Classes are currently busy completing this year’s entries to post off to Japan for judging. Best of luck everyone.
Thursday was a very special day in St. Paul’s as we celebrated SNA Appreciation Day. The SNAs in St. Paul’s are integral to our school. They support and guide our children and cater to all their needs, while all the time showing patience, love and dedication. Thank you to each and everyone of our SNAs. We value you all so much.
(** Máire, Gillian & Rosemary are missing from the photos **)
On Tuesday the 14th of May, Ms Begley’s Third Class were delighted to welcome a special visitor! Liz Tiernan, from Biodiversity Ireland, came to chat with the class and she helped us to explore all things to do with nature in a very hands on and interactive way. Liz was so impressed by the biodiversity of our school grounds and was delighted to show the children how diverse our nature is right here in St Paul’s!
In our classroom, she showed us the different types of sea life that can be found at our local beaches as well as the little insects that are so important for our biodiversity. The children were very interested in everything Liz had to say and they made plenty of sketches in their Nurture Nature booklets. You can see a sample of the children’s work in the pictures below!
We looked at the beautiful Irish native trees and their characteristics. We learned how to tell how old a tree is (without chopping it down to count the rings!) and we met many little friends on our nature walk – crawlers, flies and various types of birds including the goldfinch. We even met a not so common Ashy mining bee (Andrena Cineraria) – a type of sand bee who love to feed on fruit tree blossoms at this time of the year! They loved the area around our orchard!
The children were able to see everything up close and in detail thanks to their magnifying glasses and they recorded their findings in their sketch pads. We finished off by making clay pendants and using leaves to press into them as a keepsake of our special time with Liz.
It was a great opportunity for these inquisitive children to find out more about the world around them and they came away with a deeper appreciation of their environment. We are very grateful to Liz for coming to visit!
