Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well and enjoyed the mid-term break last week. Our news is as follows

• Food Dudes is taking place this week in St. Tolas. Each day the pupils receive a sample of a fruit and a vegetable to try. If they do not want to eat it in school they can bring it home. Well done to all the pupils who have sampled the fruit and vegetable. Hopefully over the course of the week the pupils may discover that a fruit or a vegetable they had not tried actually tastes nice. 
• A First Communion preparation Mass takes place this Sunday 26^th February in Mary Immaculate Church at 11a.m. for pupils in 2^nd class who are making their First Communion. It is parish policy that pupils wear their uniform for this Mass.
• Pupils from 2^nd-6^th classes went to Mary Immaculate Church yesterday to celebrate Ash Wednesday. They joined members of the Shannon parish community in receiving ashes to mark the start of Lent.
• Some of our boys from 3^rd and 4^th classes took part in an Indoor hurling competition in Shannon Leisure Centre against pupils from St. Senans, St. Conaires and St. Aidans. The boys played really well and demonstrated great sporting attitude.  Thank you to Ms Hehir and Ms. Clancy for training the boys and bringing them to the competition. Today we wish our girls team well as they take part in a competition against St. Senans, St. Conaires, St. Aidans and Clonmoney. Thank you to Ms Kelleher and Ms. Riordan for training the girls.
• Next Thursday 2^nd March is World Book Day. We will be marking the event in St Tola’s with D.E.A.R time.        (Drop Everything And Read) At 10a.m. we will all stop what we are doing and read for 10 minutes. We will also have a book review display in the hall.
• Our newly elected Student Council will have their first meeting tomorrow Friday 24^th February. Congratulations to Stefan and Bogdana (4^th class representatives), Ruby and Dylan (5^th class representatives) and Rocky and Riddhima (6^th class representatives). We wish the Student Council well for their term of office which will run until the end of the current school year. A huge thank you to all the pupils who put themselves forward for election. They prepared a speech and delivered it to their classmates as part of the election process. All of the class teachers were very impressed with the standard of the speeches and the mature way all the pupils in the senior classes approached the election process. Well done to you all. Thank you to Ms Riordan who organised the election and who will support the Student Council.

Kind regards, Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal