Dear Parents & Guardians,

I hope you are all keeping well. Please find below a list of recent & upcoming events.

Staffing: The process to find a replacement teacher for Ms Hayes’ maternity leave has commenced.
This post will begin the week prior to the Easter Holidays. I will communicate with you when the
position has been filled. Ms Hayes has decided to take early leave and 3 rd & 4 th class will be taught by
Mr Costello & Mr Niland for the next two weeks & by Ms Connolly from the teachers supply panel
after that.

First Penance: Congratulations to all the children who celebrated their First Penance on Thursday 8 th
of February in Castledaly church. Thanks to Ms Cusack for preparing the children so well, the
children that came to sing in the choir & to Fr Roche.

Reading World Cup: Our annual Reading World Cup for children from 1 st -6 th class took place in
January. This is one of our initiatives to promote reading in the school. Well done to all the children
who took part.

Catholic Schools Week: We celebrated Catholic Schools week in January. The theme was
Communities of Service. Once again the importance of the role that Grandparents play in the lives
of children was emphasised. We were delighted to welcome the Grandparents of the children into
the school on the Friday to celebrate Grandparents Day. Thanks to parents Laura Mahon, Regina
Fahy & Sharon Herr for organising the catering on the day. It was very much appreciated by
everyone. We were also grateful to music teacher Yvonne Barrett for coming in on the day to help
the children perform their tin whistle tunes.

Swimming Lessons: Children from 3 rd to 6 th commenced Swimming lessons in recent weeks. The
lessons will go on for 6 weeks. We are very grateful to all the parents who have agreed to give up
their time to help with supervision.

Solar Panels Talk: The children from 3rd -6th had a talk from Ryan in JFW renewables about Solar
Energy on Tuesday 6 th of February.

6th Class Trip to Dublin: The girls & boys in 6 th class are going to Dublin on Wednesday 13 th of March.
The trip is very kindly organised by Fr Roche for all the 6th class pupils in the schools in his parishes.
The children are going to Glasnevin Cemetery first, then onto Kilmainham Gaol & finishing with a
visit to Island Bridge. I will be in touch with 6 th class parents & guardians closer to the time with
further details.

Biodiversity Talk: The children from 3rd – 6th are having a workshop on Biodiversity from members of
the Acres Ireland Agri-awareness group on Friday 23 rd of February.

Credit Union Table Quiz Teams: Our table quiz teams performed brilliantly in the recent Credit
Union Quiz held in St. Brigid’s College Loughrea. Our U-11 team of Seán Burke, Gráinne Burke, Cillian
Roland & Darragh Dunleavy came 3rd in the U-11 competition. The U-13 team of Róisín Burke, Holly
Clancy, Amy Harkin & Luke Nash came 2nd in the U-13 competition. Our other U-13 team of Sarah
Larkin, Gretta Gallagher, Sarah Smyth & Liam Burke came 1st overall in the U-13 competition. This
team now go on with our best wishes to the Chapter Stage of the Credit Union Schools Quiz on
Sunday 3rd  March in the Menlo Park Hotel, Galway. Well done to all the teams & thanks to Ms Keely
for preparing everyone so well.

World Book Day: World Book Day takes place Thursday 7 th of March. If children wish they may dress
up as a character from a book of choice & bring the book to school on the day.
Seachtain na Gaeilge: We will be celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge from Monday 11 th to Friday 15 th of
March. There will be a number of activities throughout the week to recognise how important our
language is to our culture & heritage. Lá Glas will take place on Friday 15 th of March. The children
can wear Green clothing if they have it on the day.

St Thomas’ Team Visit: We were delighted to welcome Captain Conor Cooney, Team manager
Kenneth Burke along with many members of the panel & backroom team to the school with the
Tommy Moore cup on Tuesday 23 rd of January. Sincere congratulations to all involved.

Enrolment for September 2024: The school is now taking enrolments for September 2024. If you
know anyone that might be interested in enrolling their child for September, please ask them to
make contact with the school office by phone or email. The admissions notice has also been posted
on the school’s website

Dates for your attention: School Closures.

Referendum Day Friday 8 th March
St Patrick’s Day Monday 18 th March Bank Holiday

If you have any further queries in relation to any of the above, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely,

Francis O’Connor
Principal.