Dear parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well this week. Our news is as follows

• It’s hard to believe that we will have our mid term break with school finishing next Friday 22^nd October and re-opening on Monday 1^st November. To celebrate Halloween we will have our annual Halloween dress up on Friday next 22^nd October. Pupils may wear their Halloween costumes into school if they wish. If your child is wearing a costume please ensure that they are warm as we will be going outside if possible at breaktimes. If your child does not wish to dress up on this date that is absolutely fine and they wear their school uniform/tracksuit as usual.
• 5^th Class will be constructing scarecrows next week. All of the scarecrows made will be displayed in Bunratty Folk Park over the mid-term break. I can’t wait to see what 5^th class will produce. Last year we had some amazing creations from the pupils who are now in 6^th class!
• We will be accepting applications for enrolment into Junior Infants from next week until 28^th January 2022. Applications may be downloaded from our school website at www.tolasns.com or email the office at office@tolasns.com and we will send an application form out to you.
• 2^nd class participated in a zoom call this morning with children’s author/illustrator Alan Nolan. The pupils got to make some animal drawings and really enjoyed the session. This event was organised through Shannon Library as part of the Children’s Book Festival.
• We will be taking part in Food Dudes next week in all classes. The idea behind Food Dudes is that pupils will give fruit/veg a try that they may not otherwise do so.   Each day pupils will get some fruit/veg to sample. Juniors will get a lunchbox at the end of the week.
• Just a reminder about our school policy re birthday invitations. We ask that you do not send birthday invitations into school to be distributed in the classroom. This can cause upset to those who may not be invited and it can also put pressure on families to have a large birthday party when this may not be possible also. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter.
• Hip Hop Dancing is on in Leisure Centre on Mondays @ 4pm for ages 4 to 8 yrs & 5pm for ages 9 to 12 yrs. 7euro per session. More info if needed from Shelley Naughton Dance Masters School of Dance 086 1703053 or www.dancemasters.ie
• The principal and Deputy principal from St. Patrick’s Comprehensive visited 6^th class last Monday to distribute the school prospectus and application from and to answer some questions from the pupils. The school’s Open evening will take place this year online with all information available on their website. This goes live this evening at 6p.m. We expect a visit from St. Caimin’s staff next week.
• Congratulations to Ms Lorraine Connolly on the birth of her new beautiful baby girl yesterday. We are delighted for her and her family and wish them every blessing for the years ahead.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well. The weather has changed and Autumn is in the air. Our news this week is as follows

• As you are aware the HSE will no longer carry out contact tracing in schools if a child tests positive for Covid 19. Please be vigilant for signs and symptoms of Covid and if your child is unwell please keep them at home and contact your GP for advice. If your child tests positive or someone in your household tests positive your child will have to quarantine for the time given to you by the HSE. As we have many vulnerable people in our school community we would appreciate if we can let people know if there is a positive case within the school           (without identifying individuals). We will check with parents first before we do so. As always we really appreciate your co-operation with all the changes that Covid has brought to the school and we appreciate that you do let us know if there are Covid related issues. 
• We ask that parents/guardians do NOT park in the Disabled access parking spots in the car park. These spaces are reserved for wheelchair users and are required by pupils attending the school. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
• 6^th class have been learning about the Great Wall of China and the Terracotta Army during  history lessons  recently. They have been carrying out some further research on these topics in their computer time also. I was very impressed with their knowledge when I visited 6^th class last week.  Keep up the great work 6^th class!
• 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th classes are back using the Accelerated Reading programme this year. Pupils get to do a star reading test online and this gives them their reading book level. We have a library of AR books in the school that pupils can use. After reading each book they take an online quiz which gives them their score and checks on their comprehension. The programme also keeps track of their word count and I understand we have some word millionaires already! The best thing about AR is it can really motivate pupils to read. This is such an important skill and the more we read the better we get!!! Pupils can also borrow AR books from Shannon library and they can quiz in school on these books.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal