We hope that everyone in our school community had a safe and happy Halloween break. We had two wonderfully joyous occasions of Holy Communion in October – congratulations to our third class children. My thanks to Ms Delaney, Ms Keaney, Mr Whelehan and Mrs Malone and Mrs Ryan for preparing the children and to our wonderful SNA team for assisting with the lovely artwork in the church. We are prepared now for what is always a hectic school period up until the Christmas holidays. We will continue to prioritise our health and safety protocols, and our teaching and learning plans for the rest of the year. We remind parents and guardians to be alert to all school communications via Class Dojo, School Story and school emails. Our school website is also regularly updated – www.ssnlaytown.ie
Blaithin Maguire, Principal.
School Enrolment 2022/23:
We are accepting applications for next year between 1st and 22nd November.
Our Annual Admission Notice and Pupil Application Form 2022/23 are available on our school website www.ssnlaytown.ie
Offers will be made to new parents by 6th December.
Parents needs to confirm acceptance within 7 days of an offer made.
Please note – children currently in 2nd class in Scoil Oilibheir Naofa who wish to attend our school next year – MUST apply for places in our school. There is no automatic transition of pupils to our school.
SSN Book Fair – Monday 29th to Friday 3rd December.
We welcome the re-introduction of our traditionally popular Book Fair, kindly arranged by the Parents Association. Further details will be communicated in advance to parents and guardians.
Minecraft for Education at SSN:
The sixth class pupils at SSN are very excited to be taking part in the ‘Ireland’s Future is Mine’ project with Microsoft and Minecraft for Education. Here is what some of them have to say about the lessons so far: ‘You can build your dreams in Minecraft, whether they’re big or small, wacky or weird. Everything you make is a masterpiece!’ (Sasha Toman Cassidy from Ms. Kirk’s class). ‘I love Minecraft. It is a fantastic way of learning and having fun. It has everything from the real game and you don’t realise you are learning’. (Conor Ivers from Ms. Brassil’s class). ‘I like Minecraft because you can build anything you want plus it’s packed with maths, science, physics and loads more… It’s so, so fun. I would give it 5 stars!’ (Charlie Carolan – Mrs. Doak’s class).
‘Minecraft for Education has been great. You can learn, build, see and create. If you find learning a struggle, Minecraft for Education will benefit you’ (Millie Ward from Ms. Kilcoyne’s class). ‘It was good to express my imagination at school’ (Rebecca Wilson from Ms. D’Arcy’s class). The pupils watch weekly lessons which are broadcast by RTE JR in conjunction with Dream Space TV.
Meath Minors – All-Ireland winners visit SSN
On the 11th of September we were honoured to welcome the St. Colmcilles members of the Meath minor All-Ireland winning team. We were especially delighted to have Christian Finlay, a past pupil of our school, visit us with the Tom Markham cup. The boys took the time to answer questions from the children and hopefully will inspire our students to pursue their goals with huge dedication, as they have done so successfully.
Halloween is a fun and creative time at SSN!
Halloween Dress Up day.
Our thanks to our wonderful Parents Association for arranging a Halloween Dress Up Non-uniform Day fundraiser for the school on Friday 22nd Oct. Proceeds from the fundraiser will go toward digital technology resources for our children. The children – and the staff! – had a great day with some amazing costumes being modelled in every class. As it was also Friendly Friday, they got to bring in a sweet treat to school. On Friendly Friday we re-visit our School Anti-Bullying Policy and promote kindness and respect within our school.
Promise Walk and Climate Action
In conjunction with ‘Promise Walk’ and the upcoming ‘COP26’ Climate Change conference in Glasgow, our pupils met German climate activist and environmentalist, Arnd Drossel. He is walking all the way from Germany to Glasgow in a steel ball to raise awareness of Climate Change. We were very excited to meet him and to hear about his mission. Arnd encouraged us to discuss how we can live more sustainably and how we can reduce our carbon footprint. We can all promise to make at least one small change to help our planet. So many promises could make a world of difference! Amanda, Hanna, Emilia, Hannah, Clodagh, Caitlin, Saana, Emma and Katie from Mrs. Doak’s 6th class examine the Climate Ball. Jamie Farren Doak and Brandon Butler in the Climate Ball.
All classes in Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh took part in Food Dudes Week from 18th – 22nd October. Food Dudes is an award winning curriculum-linked evidence-based healthy eating programme, developed to encourage children to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables. As part of our Health Education, we have a “Healthy Lunch Policy” in Scoil an Spioraid Naoimh. This is promoted in our Pupil Journal and on our school website. We are grateful to parents for your co-operation and support as we implement this policy, which in the long-term benefits the childrens’ attitudes, eating habits, concentration in school and of course their health. The children enjoyed their fresh deliveries of carrots, apples, oranges, cucumber, peppers, blueberries, bananas, and tomatoes. Thank you to Ms Kirk for managing Food Dudes Week in our school.
Halloween artwork from Ms Kilcoyne’s 6th class. Fantastic!