FPNS Parent Link

The school has been a hive of activity in recent weeks! Ms Reilly's class were very busy with their role play work in Aistear, Ms O'Keeffe's class were creating projects on The Renaissance, Ms Foley's class have been making some wonderful constructions with Lego, and 3rd and 4th Class have been learning all about Ancient Rome! We also continue to welcome student teachers into our classrooms and are enjoying both helping and learning from the next generation of teachers.

As we are edging closer to the festive season, we are looking forward to lots of lovely days with the children as we work to make it an exciting and joy filled experience for all. We are mindful too, however, of those in our school community who find this season particularly difficult and hope that the coming days and weeks are gentle on you and your loved ones.

Thank you, as always, for your support of the work we do here in the school.

Warm regards,

Rachel

Thank you to all of the parents who took the time to complete our homework survey. The parent body has voted overwhelmingly (93.75%) in favour of no written homework on Thursday nights. As a result, homework on Thursday night will continue to be reading, tables and spellings. We have also noted that some parents felt that more detail needed to be given on Thursday night homework in the children's journals and we have taken this on board. We appreciate your feedback and input on this important topic.

As the weather is now becoming much colder, please ensure that your child has a warm coat, gloves and a hat for yard time. With the cold weather, as always, we will see an increase in viral infections in the school. I would urge you to please keep your child at home if they are displaying any signs of being unwell. We will ask you to collect your child as a matter of urgency if they present as being unwell when they arrive into school. Your vigilance in testing for Covid is also greatly appreciated.

We are fortunate to have lots of lovely grass for the children to play sports on during their breaktimes. Unfortunately with this lovely grass we also have some muck, depending on the weather over the winter months. Junior and Senior Infants will play on the tarmac over the winter months and the children in general do not play on the grass on wet days, however some residual muck remains even on the days that are dry. We appreciate your understanding in relation to this and hope the washing piles aren't getting too high!

The elections for the new Student Council will take place next week. The Student Council enters its second year this year and the children have been busy making their election posters to prepare for the week ahead. We greatly look forward to welcoming a new group of pupil representatives on board and I know that they will have lots of wonderful ideas for the year ahead! Thank you so much to Ms Foley for taking charge of the Student Council and for her continued enthusiasm towards developing pupil voice in the school.

All parents of pupils currently enrolled in the school are invited to attend a meeting this Monday, November 20th at 7pm in the school to vote for and elect two new parent nominees to the Board of Management for the next 4 year cycle. The role of the parent nominees on the Board is to lend a parental voice to the work of the Board. The role is not a representative one. Further details on this were sent earlier in the week through the Aladdin app.

We are over the moon with the beautiful new windows that you will have noticed being fitted in the school this week. The school is already so much brighter and warmer and we think it looks very pretty too! Thank you to Ms. Willoughby and Ms. Reilly for their help and support on this project. Next on our list is the heating system, which will begin in approximately February so that we are not without heat during the cold months ahead. A special note of thanks to our treasurer Ross Griffith (Dad of Isaac in 3rd Class), who works tirelessly for the school behind the scenes and has played a hugely important role in these building projects.

Parent Teacher Meetings will take place this Wednesday and Thursday. This year we are offering a hybrid model where parents can choose between a phone call meeting or an in-person meeting. Our hope is that this will accommodate parents who would otherwise find it difficult to attend the meeting in person. Your chosen time can be found on Aladdin and you will see that meetings are 15 mins in length. For concerns or conversations that require longer than this, please make an appointment to see your child's teacher on an alternative day. You can do this by phoning Tracy in the office or emailing finglasparo@gmail.com

Work has already started on the production of this year's Nativity. Our Nativity this year is called 'It's a Party!'. Auditions took place on Friday for 3rd - 6th Class and parts will be assigned this coming week. We will be in touch shortly with the date of the Nativity.

Pic Credit: Out of the Ark

The children continue to really enjoy their hot lunches each day from Carambola. However, some of our pupils would now like to change their lunch orders to something new. Please login to your child's account using the sheet that we provided you with at the beginning of the year. If you cannot locate this, please visit the Carambola website and they will be able to assist you in changing your child's order. https://www.carambola.ie/ Depending on your child's appetite, please feel free to send in some extra (healthy) snacks for your child to eat at their break times. Peanuts or products containing peanuts are not permitted.

We are excited to tell you that every Tuesday and Thursday morning, the children across the school will start their day with participation in LEGO club in their classrooms.

LEGO teaches the principles of Maths, Science, Engineering and Technology to our children in a fun and accessible way. It also develops:

- teamwork and social skills

- spatial thinking and problem solving

- fine motor skills

- focus and concentration

- patience, persistence and lateral thinking

- creativity

- planning skills

- self confidence

- hand eye co-ordination

LEGO club starts at 8.30am sharp so don't be late!

(If you have any LEGO that you are no longer using we would be so grateful if you might consider donating it to your child's class).

The school gathers together every Friday morning to celebrate birthdays, award outstanding pupils their Principal Award certificates, and to sing together as we prepare for our Nativity. We also have a LEGO segment where the children can show the school the wonderful creations they made that week! Please ensure that your child is in at 8.30am so that they do not miss the excitement on a Friday morning!

The school will be closed on December 7th (as per Circular 39/23) to facilitate training in the new Primary Maths Curriculum. The teachers will attend training with Oide offsite with other schools, while the SNAs will have training onsite. School will resume as normal the following day. You can find further information on the new curriculum here: https://ncca.ie/en/primary/primary-developments/stem-education/primarymaths/