St. Brigid's National School

In the Catholic church year November or Samhain traditionally brings a very special time of the year where we remember those who we have loved who are no longer with us. Our pupils have been remembering their loved ones in many different ways over the last few weeks.

Sunday the 1st of December marks the lighting of the first purple candle of 'Hope' on the Advent Wreath. During our Advent journey, may we feel hope, peace, love, joy and light this season.

The very first ceremony in preparation for Confirmation, the Enrolment Ceremony, will take place on Sunday, 8th December for the pupils in 6th class.

We would like to say a special thank you to all those who donated to the Team Hope Shoebox Appeal. This is an annual campaign that delivers gifts straight into the hands of children affected by poverty and who will no doubt cherish the kindness and generosity of our school community. Many thanks to Bernie for coordinating this wonderful initiative in our school and thanks to Rachel Considine and the children of Scallyways Montessori for also donating shoeboxes.

We had a great week celebrating Science Week this year and were very excited to have our school and pupils feature in the Research Ireland Curious Minds primary science show. The pupils in 2nd and 3rd class completed a sound experiment with Phil Smyth and 4th, 5th and 6th class completed a pond activity with Nuala Madigan. Check out the video below.

The pupils in 4th, 5th and 6th classes attended a Science Workshop facilitated by Toni Baloni in Edenderry Library during Science Week. They thoroughly enjoyed seeing the hands on activities.

We continue to focus on creating positive attitudes towards STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and improving STEM skills and knowledge in our school. During Science Week pupils engaged in many activities and got the opportunity to showcase their own individual experiments to the other classes in the school. There was some interesting and impressive experiments on display each day. Well done everyone!

Pupils in Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class enjoyed the challenge of designing their own landing craft to protect an egg that is dropped from a height.

Many thanks to all the parents who completed the Wellbeing Promotion questionnaire that was shared via Aladdin. If you have not had the opportunity to do so, please complete the questionnaire by Friday, 6th December so we can use this valuable information to further enhance wellbeing in our school. https://forms.gle/TGskXv52sawxxVwL9

During November we have been encouraging our pupils to come to school every day and complete our 20 day challenge. Well done to all those who have attended school for the 20 days. Certificates will be awarded at assembly at the end of this term.

September Attendance Rate: 95.0%

October Attendance Rate: 90.9%

November Attendance Rate: 92.0%

The pupils who participated in the afterschool's sewing club, enjoyed learning a new skill and have been busy designing their own festive Christmas decorations. Many thanks to Ms Conroy for providing this wonderful opportunity for the pupils. Well done everyone!

The Lunchbag recently delivered a LifeVac device to our school as part of their food safety standards. The Students Council then met with Peter from The Lunchbag and gave some feedback on their experience with the hot lunches. They are glad to see some firm favourites back on the menu this month.

The Students Council are organising a food appeal for St. Vincent de Paul in Edenderry. They would be very grateful for all donations of non-perishable foods on or before Monday, 16th December.

The Green-Schools Committee have signed up to take part in the Picker Pals initiative. Picker Pals is an excellent initiative whereby pupils work together to do their bit to clean up litter in their local areas. Further details will follow.

The Green-Schools Committee would like to remind all families to cancel school lunches if they know in advance that a pupil will be absent.

Take a look at some of the beautiful art created by our pupils over the month of November.

A Winter Scene created by Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class.

Fabric and Fibre - Second and Third Class used felt and materials to create some trendy outfits for their snowmen.

It's great to see some festive art brighten up our hallways.

The Light Thieves - The pupils explored the use of colour and line to represent day and night.

Water Lillies - The pupils used different brush strokes to create their own painting inspired by Monet.

Many thanks to the parents who attended our Parent’s Association AGM on the 12th of November. The following committee was formed. Sharon Aiken and Patrice Cave (Joint Treasurer), Leanne Cummins (Chairperson), Ciara O'Leary (Secretary), Michelle Hurst. New members and volunteers are always welcome.

The Parents' Association have organised a clothes collection as a school fundraiser on Friday, 6th December. This is a great opportunity to help reuse & recycle any unwanted clothing items. Please ensure bags are dropped to the school before 3pm.

This year's Christmas Carol Service takes place in the Carbury GAA Clubhouse at 7:00pm on Thursday, 12th of December. The preparation is well under way and we look forward to seeing you there.

The Ticknevin Community Group are turning on the Christmas tree lights at the school on Monday, 9th December at 7:00pm. Everyone is welcome!

The PA has organised the sale of raffle tickets for the school's annual Christmas fundraiser. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased from the school or in the local shops in Derrinturn. The PA have secured some fabulous prizes! The raffle will take place after the Carol Service on Thursday, 12th December. Thank you to all parents for your support.

The HSE have asked schools to circulate the attached document.

We are holding a non-uniform day on Friday, 20th December. All pupils will get the opportunity to take part in the annual 'Santa Dash Run' as part of our Active Schools initiative. Pupils can wear Christmas jumpers and we ask all pupils to bring in €2 which will go towards school resources.

We would be really grateful if you could choose one thing in your house that you no longer need and feel would be useful as a prop for our Drama lessons. Please just choose one item. If you have a suitcase on wheels at home that you no longer need and would like to donate to the school as a storage box for the props we would be very grateful. Many thanks in advance. See below some ideas for inclusion:

Wishlist for our Drama Box

• Top Hat, wizard hat, shawl, cape, old tickets, brochures, fans, cane, baskets, aprons, waistcoats, crown, Large pieces of cloth in a variety of colours- large dust cloth neutral colour
• Gold red colours, Trunk, Bodhran - musical instrument to make sound-scapes
• Moroccan bells, A variety of hats, puppets, microphone, cauldron, Old Keys

All upcoming events for the reminder of the school year, as they become known to us, will be recoded on the Aladdin Connect app, in the 'Calendar' section. Please check the Aladdin Connect app regularly for notifications.

Please follow and share our school X/formally Twitter account @brigid_ns to receive reports of all the latest news, events, photos, activities and great work being done by the pupils and staff in our school each and every day.

Should you have any concern please note that the Designated Liaison Person (DLP) is Nóra Lynch and the Acting Deputy Designated Liaison Person is Eilís McCabe.

We had a busy and productive November in St. Brigid's National School and we hope you enjoyed reading about all that we have been up to. We are all looking forward to our Christmas Carol Service on Thursday, 12th December. The preparations are well underway and we hope to see you all there.

Continued best wishes to you and your families.

Le gach dea-ghuí

Nóra Lynch

Principal, St. Brigid's N.S.