Welcome back everyone after the midterm break. I hope you had a nice restfultime. It is great to both the morning and evenings stretch a bit further. There is plenty going on this week for parents . But first of all, the school digital lottery was launched successfully this morning. If you go to the school website, you will see the new school lottery link at the top of the homepage. It is very easy to follow and fun to use. The school gets to raise some much needed funds and you get a chance to win some cash! You just need to sign up using the link. The draw happens weekly with a chance to win the jackpot once a month!! Please feel free to get your friends or relatives to join up too!
The HSCLs walk takes place tomorrow starting from St Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary School, Killester, at 9.15am. We will be walking to St Anne’s Park , Raheny. There is a good mixture of parents and teachers from all 6 schools and it is a great way to make new friends and take in some fresh Spring air. I will be there at 9.15am and I would love to see you there too.
The Wednesday Morning Yoga Class is ongoing in the beanbag room. It begins at 9.30am for an hour. The class is free of charge and we have room for one or two more people. You wont regret it!
The First Year Parent Teacher meeting happens this week on Thursday evenng(16.15pm to 18.45pm) 27th of Feb. and teachers are looking forward to chatting to all in person to you all. Teachers will have left by 18.45pm so it is best to arrive early to avoid disppointment. I will be there too if you would like to chat about anything or if you have a question. And it all takes place in the school hall beside the Principals office. By the way if you have any issues with the school app , it would be a good opportunity to ask Ms Howard or myself.
Our cooking demonstration will be happening on the same evening to facilitate first year parents coming along on the day. Faudumo and Nada will be leading the demonstration on how to cook Butter chicken, rice and flatbread. We are hoping to make enough in advance for people who attend to sample. All parents are invited and I want to wish the Chefs well on the night! It should be a feast for the senses!
One of our parents asked me to pass on a link for the Young Caregivers Action Day 2025 to teachers. The Family Carers Ireland (FCI )are inviting schools to take part this year to raise awareness and help young carers self identify. They have a resource pack for the classrooms. Teachers will find these resources helpful in SPHE class. Parents/guardians are probably best placed to identify their child/niece/nephew/grandchild as a care giver. You can follow this service on @youngcarersirl if your child is a caregiver. This celebration is organised by Family Carers Ireland and you will find information on their website. The mum said she didn’t see her daughter as a carer initiially but when she read the guidelines on the website she realised, she was.
And for more cyber safety information
Cybersafe Kids have launched a ‘Same Rules Apply’ parental awareness campaign, in association with the HSE and Accenture. The awareness campaign highlights the need to approach parenting children online in the same way we approach parenting them offline. The campaign centres on the question ‘would you encourage them to talk to a stranger on the street? If the answer is “no”, then why let your child go online unsupervised? Cybersafe have issued an interactive parenting guide which can be downloaded from their website HERE. Full details on the ‘Same Rules Apply’ parental awareness campaign are available on the website HERE.
To coincide with the launch of the parenting guide Cybersafe Kids are also hosting a Better Digital Parenting webinar on February 26th. The webinar will feature Alex Cooney, CEO of CyberSafeKids, and Dr. David Coleman, clinical psychologist, discussing how parents can be more involved in their children’s online lives and the challenges, opportunities and risks facing parenting in the digital age. You can register your attendance by clicking HERE.
That talk by Dr Coleman(from Brendan OConnors Saturday show) is tomorrow evening so book now to avoid disappointment.
