St Mary's Convent Primary School

We had an assembly on Friday. The Senior Infants sang a great song about saying “Hello” in lots of different languages. They were fantastic. The Banna Ceoil played some tunes. Second class talked about all the countries that are represented in the school. They sang a song called “world in Union” and everyone joined in with the chorus.

During Intercultural Week Sofia’s mum came into 4th class, Room 20, to tell the story of “Sadoko and the Thousand Paper Cranes”. This story is based on the life of a real little girl who lived in Japan from 1943 – 1955. She was in Hiroshima when the U.S. Air Force dropped an atomic bomb on that city. Ten years later, she died from leukemia as a result of the radiation from the bomb.

In Japan, the crane is a symbol of good fortune and long life. According to a Japanese legend, anyone who folds 1,000 paper cranes will be granted a wish.

Sadako hoped to fold 1,000 paper cranes using origami, the traditional Japanese art of paper folding. Her wish was to lead a long, healthy and peaceful life.

Sofia’s mum showed the class how to make these cranes using origami. We did not make 1,000 cranes but we had a lot of fun.

On Monday 23rd June, the girls in Room 26 were delighted to finally meet Joanne Connolly. Joanne is a brave and inspirational 17 year old girl from Kilkenny who underwent a heart transplant in Great Ormond Street Hospital in January this year. Joanne and her mother, Elaine, came to meet the girls who had sent a beautiful homemade card and prayed for her while she recovered in Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin. She answered lots of questions about everything from her experience while waiting for her heart transplant, what it’s like to receive a new heart and the impact of organ donation. She now celebrates two birthdays – the day she was born and the day she received a new heart. Joanne’s memorable visit to the school today will stay with the girls for many years to come. 

The girls enjoyed a very practical, hands-on training in essential First Aid from Trim Red Cross Youth Unit. They learned bandaging techniques, CPR, the recovery position and what to do for nasty burns or scalds! These girls now have the skills that could someday help them to safe a life or assist at the scene of an accident.

Today was Biodiversity Day at St. Mary’s. We dressed up in animal and floral prints to celebrate Biodiversity. Over 500 children walked around by the river and the castle. It was a lovely cool morning and we saw lots of interesting animals, insects and plants.

Congratulations to Naoise Room 9 who was crowned “Princess of the festival” at the Scurlogstown Olympiad at the weekend.

Today in room 26 we made our own lava lamps using water, oil, food colouring and vitamin C tablets. We had a lot of fun watching the green bubbles of carbon dioxide rising through the layer of oil and fall back down again. We would love to try this again at home!

The boys and girls had great fun at Friday’s Sports Day.   Have a look at the photos below….  Do you see the next Usain Bolt or David Beckham????

We have been learning about Europe and the EU recently in Room 26. We worked individually, or in pairs, to create a project on a European country of our choice. We learned about 14 different countries when they were presented to the class and we discovered facts about everything from food and language to sports and music. We even tasted some Belgian chocolate! Yummy!

On Saturday 24th May the children from rooms 14 and 15 received their First Holy Communion.  It was such an exciting day!  The girls looked beautiful in their dresses! Every girl looked like a princess! We were extremely proud at how well they did with the mass responses, prayers, readings, offertory procession and hymns.  Special thanks to Fr. Mark who helped the children prepare for the Sacrament throughout the year.  Thanks also to the choir and band who performed wonderfully and the teachers who guided them so well - Ms. Nally, Ms. Dalton, Mr. O’Boyle, Ms. McKenna and Ms. O’Connor.  A special mention to Helen, Rebecca and Ms. Debby who created the fabulous booklets the children now have has a keepsake of their special day. The children had great fun in the school afterwards where the Parents’ Association had lovely treats prepared – many thanks. A big thank you to the Do This In Memory of Me committee who were fantastic throughout the year.  Finally, a special thank you to the parents who gave so generously of their time to help with the art work. It was a very special occasion and the girls should be very proud of themselves.  Congratulations!

R. McGale and B. Mulvihill

Here is a sample of some of the art work the children created for their special day…