Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well and enjoying the fine weather. Our news this week is as follows

• We are delighted to let you know that from today the Lunch Bag are providing a fruit bowl with apples and oranges in every classroom for pupils for a snack at breaktimes. There is no charge for this. Please see flyer attached from the Lunch Bag with details.
• The school photo proofs went home with the children this week. If you would like to order any photos please complete the order form and send in the required amount of money. We would appreciate if the orders can be in by tomorrow Friday 4^th April.
• We celebrated World Autism Day here in St Tolas yesterday with pupils and staff wearing blue to show their support. A total of €155 was raised which will be donated to Ennis Voices for Autism, a local charity that supports families in Clare who have a family member with Autism. We thank our pupils and staff for their generosity. Every pupil in the school is painting a handprint which will be put together in the hall as a collage to show that we are all different and we celebrate our differences.
• Juniors are going on a Spring walk today with pupils from 6^th class. They will be looking out for signs of Spring while out and about.
• Our Girls’ football team have qualified for the next round of the FAI school’s competition and will be going to Lee’s Road next Thursday. We wish them every success.
• Swimming started yesterday for 3^rd class and today for 2^nd class in Shannon Leisure Centre. It will start after Easter for 4^th class.
• Congratulations to Ivy in 6^th class who has been selected to play in the Primary game at half time in the Gaelic Grounds Limerick at the Clare V Limerick match in the championship on May 25^th. We wish Ivy well.
• Good luck to Conor H in 3^rd, Seanie and Franek in 4^th class who will be travelling next week with Thomond Football Academy to play a tournament with West Ham in London. While there they will also get a tour of Wembley Stadium. We wish them well.
• We had a very successful fire drill on Tuesday morning and the pupils exited the building safely and quickly.  We’ll have another drill in due course.
• The staff are currently working on updating our Anti Bullying policy and will be attending training tomorrow   Friday 4^th April. To facilitate the training the school will close to pupils at 12p.m. tomorrow.
• Next Friday 11^th April the school will close at 12p.m.to all pupils and staff as it is the start of the Easter holidays. St. Tolas will re-open on Monday 28^th April at 9a.m. for Term 3. We hope the dry weather continues for the Easter break.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are keeping well and enjoying the fine weather at the moment. Our news this week is as follows

• Pupils making Confirmation this year in 6^th class attended the Ceremony of Light last night in Mary Immaculate Church. I want to congratulate the pupils and their families as it was a really lovely ceremony and we were so proud of all our pupils. Thank you also to the boys and girls from 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th classes who gave up their evening to sing and play in the choir which enhanced the ceremony. Thank you to 6^th class teacher Múinteoir Alanna and Múinteoir Kate for preparing the pupils.   We are looking forward to Confirmation now which will take place at 11a.m. in Mary Immaculate Church on Friday 2^nd May next.
• Swimming lessons will start next Wednesday for 3^rd class and next Thursday for 2^nd class in Shannon Leisure Centre and run for six weeks (two before Easter and four after the Easter holidays). Swimming lessons start after Easter for 4^th class. Swimming instruction is part of the Physical Education curriculum and barring medical reasons all pupils are expected to attend.
• The samples for the recent school photos were sent home yesterday. If you wish to order photos please return your order form with the money required by Friday 4^th April.
• 5^th class have been learning all about the 1845 famine in Irish history and have made beautiful dioramas to show their understanding of this time. A diorama is a model representing a scene with three dimensional figures in miniature. They have put a lot of work into their diorama and will display them for the other classes at our weekly Cruinniu tomorrow. Well done 5^th class!
• Shannon Library have organised lots of events for primary aged children for over the Easter holidays which run from Monday 14^th April to Friday 25^th April inclusive. See email attached with details of these events.
• For health and Safety reasons pupils are not permitted to wear long or hooped earrings to school. They are welcome to wear stud earrings. As you can appreciate long or hooped earrings can get caught in clothing etc and could hurt the pupils themselves or another pupil. We appreciate your co-operation in this matter.
• The staff are currently working on updating our Anti Bullying policy and will be attending training on Friday 4^th April next. To facilitate the training the school will close to pupils at 12p.m. on that day. You might want to mark this in your diary.

Kind regards,

Mary Dunlea Fitzgerald, School Principal