Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are well this week even though the weather has got quite cold. Our news this week is as follows

• Next Friday is 8^th December and we are holding a fundraiser in aid of LauraLynn Children’s Hospice. This charity provides support and care for children facing a terminal illness and their families. If pupils wish to take part they can wear a Christmas jumper or Christmas colours (red /green). We would ask for a small donation from pupils (e.g. no more than €2). We will sing a Christmas song at Cruinniu. You can find out more details on this fundraiser on the school’s Instagram page. If pupils do not wish to take part that is fine also.
• Please see flyer attached re a FREE webinar next Tuesday 5^th Dec at 7p.m. entitled Let’s talk Kids and Online Gaming safety.
• Pupils in 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd classes are making Christmas cards this week to be distributed to older members of the community by Shannon Gardai. We are very grateful to the pupils for taking part in this project. Well done!
• It’s the time of year when illnesses are very common. If your child has a temperature /fever or is vomiting or has diarrhoea they need to be kept at home until they are better. If your child is absent due to illness please inform the school the reason for the absence.
• As the weather has got colder this week it is important that each pupil comes to school with a coat. If it is dry we will be going outside for breaks but a coat is necessary.
• The school band will be performing in Skycourt, Shannon Town centre on 13^th December (time to be finalised next week). They are busy rehearsing at the moment and I know lots of practise happening at home too. Thank you to Ms Hansbury and Ms Flynn who are giving up their lunchtimes to work with the band.
• First class recently finished learning all about Antarctica. They learnt about the weather, penguins and other marine life that live there. They made lovely fact sheets which are displayed in the hall for all to see.
• Our new Student Council are working hard. They recently surveyed pupils in 2^nd to 6^th classes in relation to their attitude to Student of the Week. They are going to collate this information and present it to the teachers when completed. We are looking forward to seeing the pupils’ views on this topic.
• All classes are busy with practising for their Christmas performance. It is lovely to hear all the rehearsals taking place in the hall each day. We will be performing for parents/guardians on Wednesday 20^th December with times finalised soon.

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

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

• Parent/teacher meetings for pupils from 3^rd to 6^th class took place yesterday evening and more are scheduled for this evening here in the school. Thank you to the parents/guardians who came yesterday and we look forward to meeting more parents/guardians today. Parent/teacher meetings for Juniors to 2^nd class will take place in January. We will send out times and dates via text early in the New Year.
• All classes have started preparing for their Christmas performance over the past few days. There is great excitement about the upcoming shows and we are looking forward to lots of fun preparing over the next few weeks.
• 4^th class had Clare Kelly from Marine Explorers in to visit the class recently. Clare works in the Galway Aquarium and she is keen to educate pupils on the wonder of marine life.  This was her second visit to 4^th class and she taught the class a lot of facts about marine life. The pupils had worked on presentations for her in pairs. They did presentations on the blob fish, the viper fish, the Orange Roughy and the Goblin fish to name a few! Some pairs made their own fish or sea creature and there was even a video presentation. Clare was very impressed with the standard of the presentations from 4^th class. Well done 4^th!!!
• All the pupils from Solas and a number from our Aoibhneas class travelled to Ennis last Monday to take part in Gymnastics class. They travelled with pupils from Special classes in St Senans and Ballycar N.S. The pupils loved the class and will attend every Monday for three more weeks.
• We are now accepting enrolments for Junior Infants for September 2024. If you have a child to enrol or you know a family that wish to enrol their child please contact the school office for an application to enrol form.
• As the days are darker and the weather is not great can we please ask that parents/guardians using the car park take due care and caution. Please enter and exit the car park slowly as it can be difficult to see small children. Please be mindful of other drivers and do not cause an obstruction. If you need to accompany your child into the school please ensure that you are not blocking someone in. the Gardai have told us it is ok to park on the road as long as you are not causing an obstruction to neighbours. Some parents are parking in the surrounding parks – please make sure that you are not blocking any neighbour from getting out of their house. We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal

Dear parents/Guardians,

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

• Parent/teacher meetings for pupils in 3^rd to 6^th classes will take place next Wednesday and Thursday evenings after school. The school will close a little early to all pupils on Wednesday ONLY at 2.25p.m. to facilitate the meetings. Parent/teacher meetings for Juniors to 2^nd class will take place in January. Please note that you can meet with your child’s teacher at any stage if you have a worry or concern. It is a good idea to make an appointment through the school office so that the teacher will be available to meet with you at a mutually convenient time.
• Congratulations to Dylan in 6^th class who came 3^rd place in the Clare Primary Schools Cross Country competition last Tuesday. Congratulations also to Jordan in 4^th class who came 8^th in his age group in the Clare Primary Schools Cross Country competition held in Lee’s Road. What a fantastic achievement for both boys who represented the school so well.
• It is the time of year when Christmas Annuals go on sale. Pupil may purchase an annual if they wish but there is no requirement to do so.  There are four options 1) Carnival- Juniors and Seniors, 2) Fairground- 1^st and 2^nd classes, 3) Parade – 3^rd and 4^th classes, 4) Festival 5^th and 6^th classes. The cost is €2.50. Payment can be made online or pupils can bring in the money. Payment must be made before or on next Friday 24^th November as the order must be placed then to guarantee delivery in a timely manner.
• Please see flyer attached from Wolfe Tones GAA re Fundamental Movement Skills classes for U6 boys starting next week.
• On behalf of everyone in our St. Tolas school community I would like to extend our sympathies to the family of Peggy Coyne who died earlier this week. For many years Peggy volunteered here in St Tolas and provided drama classes for the pupils. These drama classes were filled with fun and included all pupils. Peggy was a lovely, gentle lady who had a great sense of fun and related well to children of all ages. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dilís.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well and had a good mid-term break last week. Our news this week is as follows

• Our Parent/teacher meetings for 3^rd-6^th classes will take place on Wednesday 22^nd November and Thursday 23^rd November this year. The school will close to pupils on Wed 23^rd November at 2.25 pm only to facilitate the meetings. You will receive a text with times allocated today. Pupil/teacher meetings for pupils from Juniors to 2^nd class will take place in January. If you need to speak with a teacher at any stage please contact the school office and we can arrange a mutually suitable time for this to take place.
• We are looking at our attendance rates across the school at present. It is so important for your child to attend every day unless they are unwell. We thank you for your co-operation in letting the school know via a phonecall/email or on Aladdin the reasons for your child’s absence. We are very pleased that the overall attendance rates have increased from last year for the month of September and October. For September 2023 we have an overall attendance rate of 95.8% and for October the rate was 94%. This is fantastic!  Research shows that having your child attend school every day unless they are unwell leads to much improved outcomes both in the academic, social and emotional areas of learning. If you are struggling with your child’s attendance please contact the school and we will put supports in place to help you. To aid you in monitoring days missed we will send out a text if your child misses 10 days/15 days/20 days. Once again we thank you for your co-operation in ensuring your child is attending school regularly. 
• We wish our boys’ football team all the best today as they play a team from Kilrush in the Cumann na mBunscoil semi-finals. It has been difficult to get the games played in this tournament this year due to the weather. Let’s hope the game goes ahead today!
• Pupils from 4^th, 5^th and 6^th classes will play football tomorrow in Wolfe Tones GAA pitch (weather permitting) as part of the Paddy Carrig tournament. We wish them well.
• Thank you to the Parents’ Association who organised a fantastic cake sale before mid-term. A total of €801.07 was raised. The AGM was held last night here in the school. The following are continuing in their roles on the Parents’ Association – Sinead Tuohy – Chairperson, Beth Hickey – Secretary, Kate Flynn – Treasurer.
• Sixth class were lucky to have two visiting authors for their third and final workshop in the Ennis Book Club Festival Series. Sarah Moore Fitzgerald was joined by local author Gráinne O’Brien who has published ‘A Limerick Fairytale’, a modern take on Cinderella which is set in Limerick. Today the class did a critical analysis of old fairytales with the authors as well as poetry writing. The class has been invited to a workshop with other schools involved in the series. It will be held in Glór (Ennis) next March. 

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal