February 2022

End of Mitigations in Schools?

Yesterday, NPHET announced that many of the mitigation measures that have been in place in schools are coming to an end. While we await the government's decisions, it seems fairly certain that masks and pods are no longer going to be enforced in schools. While the last two years have been a huge challenge to all of us, we are looking forward to the simple things such as having families back into our school, different classes mixing again with each other, and school tours. We are, of course, conscious that many families will be anxious about the upcoming weeks and months ahead and, as a community, we will continue to work together to ensure that no child is an outsider. All going well, we hope to host a "Welcome Back to School" event for our families in the near future, a full day where families can come to school for a fun day. It's amazing to think that many of you have never seen the inside of the building so we hope to be able to change that! We'll keep you posted.

Despite it being the shortest month, we've packed a huge amount into February. The highlight of the month was Friendship Week, especially the Day of Play that took place at the end of the week. Children had a brilliant day with no screens, no structure - all play all day! A few dates have been added to our school calendar so please make sure to read on. There are 3 changes that you need to know about.

I hope you all have a lovely mid-term break and we'll see you on the 28th February! Until then, keep happy, safe and learning

Simon

Dates for your diaries

8th March - International Women's Day. This year we will be celebrating Malala Yousafzai in school. If you have any ideas, stories, videos, etc. to share with us, please let us know. We'd love to hear from you
Seachtain na Gaeilge - Will take place in the lead up to St. Patrick's Day. There are loads of plans including music workshops, cinema trips and lots of other fun Irish activities.
16th March Staff Training - The government have announced 2 further training days for teachers. We have decided to lead them into natural breaks. The 16th March will be a half day for children.
11th - 22nd April - Spring Break, school closed
1st June Staff Training - This will also be a half day for children.
2nd June - Due to the added bank holday, our school will close on the 2nd June.

Message from Carlow Girl Guides

Irish Girl Guides Carlow, are holding a recruitment drive to attract girls to join our fabulous organisation.

The Irish Girl Guides (IGG) is a dynamic youth organisation of approximately 12,000 girls and women nationwide. Our mission is to develop responsible citizens by giving girls confidence and developing leaders. We have a strong emphasis on skill development, outdoors, community responsibility and teamwork. We have the added dimension of an international sisterhood of 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world.

• Guiding is not competitive and there are no exams or pressure.

• Girls work in groups together and learn at their own pace and develop confidence.

• We are part of a global organisation and our members learn about their sister-Guides.

• With the skills that members learn, Guiding becomes a way of life, not just a hobby.

• There are additional activities and events every year such as camps and holidays.

Our units run on different evenings, at different times and in different locations so we hope to have a group that suits everyone.

I have attached some posters and social media templates, and would greatly appreciate it if you could pass this information onto parents, place these on your notice board or include it on your social media sites.

We are also available to come and give a talk to the girls if you would be interested, my contact details are: Jo Dowdall

Dolmenladybirds@outlook.com

083 0038760

More information can also be found at https://irishgirlguides.ie/

Message from Ballon Business and Training

As you know the online world can be a scary place for both children and parents alike as we try to navigate our way through sites and settings not all of us understand.

In conjunction with Safer Internet Day we are organising a parental online safety course in the Business and Training Services Centre here in Ballon.

It will run from the 29th of April for six weeks. Details on the image to the right:

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