Dear Parents/Guardians,

At last the summer weather has arrived and let’s hope it stays for a while! Our news this week is as follows

• We had a wonderful Sport for All day yesterday. The weather was kind to us. In the morning all classes took part in a wide variety of games and activities including the obstacle relay, GAA skills, basketball, musical hoops, parachute activities and/or dodge ball, fun races and dance/yoga. After lunch we had our running races for all classes and it was lovely to see so many of you come along. Throughout the day the pupils were excellent and were so encouraging and supportive of each other. They displayed such a positive sporting attitude. I have no doubt that many pupils (and staff!!!) were very tired yesterday evening after a fun filled day.
• Our Graduation ceremony for 6^th class will take place tomorrow in the hall at 11a.m. We cordially invite all 6^th class parents/guardians to attend and I know the pupils have been working hard to prepare for this day.
• The end of year school reports will be posted out today. You should receive them either tomorrow or Monday.
• The class allocation for next year is as follows. As the current Juniors are a very large class they will continue to be split into two classes for Senior infants

Junior Infants – Ms Amanda Corry, Senior Infants (Ms Hackett’s class) – TBC,

Senior Infants(Ms Corry’s Class) – Ms Maria Hehir, 1^st Class – Ms. Lorna O’ Neill,

2^nd Class – Ms Siobhan Kelleher, 3^rd Class – Ms. Maeve Clancy, 4^th Class – TBC,

5^th Class – Ms Lisa Hackett, 6^th class – Mr. Gary Tyrell

Solas – Ms Vaughan, Aoibhneas – Ms. Burke

SET Teachers – Ms. Fitzsimons, Ms. Halliday, Ms. Cleary, Ms. Connolly, Ms. Riordan/Ms. Fleming

• A big thank you to Lesley O’ Callaghan who donated a gorgeous balloon arch to mark the celebrations at our opening of our Aoibhneas class recently. It really made the pupils feel very special.
• Thank you to Aercap and staff who made a substantial donation to our Aoibhneas class recently. This money will be used to buy equipment for our sensory room.
• 2^nd Class are going on their school tour to Bunratty Folk park tomorrow. 6^th class are off to Nevsail in Kilkee for watersports on Monday while 5^th class are going there on Tuesday. We hope all the classes have a lovely day and the weather is kind to them.
• All classes are getting an opportunity this week to take part in orienteering around the school. The older pupils are helping out the younger classes. It is lovely to see this co-operation in action. Thank you to Ms Hehir for organising this activity for the pupils. 
• After many intense rounds of Quizbrain we have 6 finalists this year. They are Tomás in 6^th, Nikola, Jack F, Jack R, Harry and Abaigeal  from 5^th Class.  The final will take place on Wednesday next 22^nd @ 1.15pm. We wish all our finalists the best of luck!
• St Tolas will close for summer holidays on Thursday next 23^rd June at 12p.m. We thank you for all your support this year and wish pupils, parents and staff a safe and enjoyable summer.

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you had a lovely long weekend. Our news this week is as follows

• It was lovely to see so many pupils wearing the Clare Colours last Friday. We had a fantastic Cruinniu and wished the Clare team well for the match on Sunday. It was not their day but are still in the Championship! However, Ms Cleary was very happy being a Limerick supporter!!
• 3^rd class are off on their school tour tomorrow to Shannon Leisure centre where they have lots of exciting activities lined up. We hope they have a lovely day.
• 1^st Class are off to Bunratty Folk Park on Monday next. We hope they have a great time and enjoy the trip. 2^nd class are going there on Friday and we wish them well also.
• Our Sport for All day will take place (weather permitting) on Wednesday next 15^th June. Each pupil will belong to a colours team in each class. Your child’s class teacher will let them know what colour team they are on.  They may wear a tshirt in their colour. They will take part in a range of fun activities throughout the day and earn points for their colour team.  Points will be awarded for positive sporting attitude, giving it a go as well as for winning in competitive activities. Points can be lost for calling others a loser and generally not being sporting. Parents may attend if they wish in the afternoon from 1p.m. when we have our races beside the Green store.
• Our 6^th class graduation ceremony will take place in the hall on Friday next 17^th June at 11a.m. 6^th class parents/guardians are welcome to attend. We are looking forward to this special event and delighted that this year it can take place in person.
• The end of year school reports will be posted out to parents/guardians next week. If you have changed address please let the school office know as soon as possible.
• St. Tolas will close for the summer holidays on Thursday 23^rd June at 12p.m.  We have a busy time before we close for this school year and are looking forward to all our events.

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal

Dear parents/Guardians,

Welcome to our last month of the current school year. Its hard to believe that it is June already.  Our news this week is as follows

• Yesterday we had a mobile farm visit St. Tolas. We had sheep, a donkey, rabbits, ducks, chickens and hens, kittens, a dog, a pig and a miniature horse all outside in the yard. Every class got an opportunity to visit and to learn about the animals. The excitement was contagious. The pupils were amazing with the animals and we hope they really enjoyed the experience.
• Senior Infants went to Bunratty Castle and Folk on Monday last. They visited the playground, got to see some of the old houses and go inside the castle. They had a wonderful day and were so well behaved when out and about. A lady came over to the teachers to say how kind  the pupils were in the playground to her younger child. Well done Seniors!
• Junior Infants are on tour today and have gone to Bunratty Castle and Folk park also. There was great excitement about the visit and going on a bus this morning! We hope they enjoy their day.
• Fourth class are going on tour tomorrow to Craggaunowen. They will have a guided tour and visit a crannog. They will get demonstrations of how wattle and daub was used in the iron age to construct houses and also get to experience some weaving and dying of cloth and wool. We hope they have a lovely day and learn lots of interesting facts.
• Senior Infants have been learning all about taking care of the environment and especially their local community. They have been taking part in the “Picker Pals” programme and getting out and about in their local neighbourhoods and parks picking up litter with their families. Thank you Senior Infants for helping to keep our beautiful town clean so that we can all enjoy it! 

• We had a  lovely celebration today to mark the opening of our Aoibhneas class and prefab. We are delighted that  Mr. Cathal Crowe T.D took time out of his busy schedule to join us in marking this occasion. We were also joined by Deirdre Foley and Elizabeth Breen from the National Council for Special Education and Fiona Eason from Clare Children’s disability Services. Senior Infants provided the music as they sang two beautiful songs. The ribbon was cut by Tyler, Rohaan and Robyn from the Aoibhneas class to mark the  official opening of our prefab.

• St. Tolas will be closed next Monday 6^th June and Tuesday 7^th June to all pupils and staff. The school will re-open on Wednesday 8^th June at 9a.m. I hope you all enjoy the long weekend and the weather is nice for it!

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, Principal