PASSING OF POPE FRANCIS: This Easter was marked by the passing of Pope Francis, who will be remembered for his great love of nature and his concern for the poor and the vulnerable, as was the Saint on whom he modelled his papacy. Pope Francis said "True education enables us to love life and opens us to the fullness of life. The Catholic Primary School Management Association has issued
every Catholic school with a short prayer to remember Francis with. We will share it with all our stduents this week. You may wish to recite it at home also. The Five Finger Prayer Pope Francis wanted children to understand how important it is to pray. He encouraged them to pray for others. Pope Francis taught children a special way to pray called the Five Finger Prayer. Each finger helps us to pray The Five Finger Prayer is a simple way to help us to remember to pray for different people in our lives. (Take some time to explain how the prayer works with the class) 1. Thumb: The thumb is closest to you, so when we pray with our thumb, we think about the people who are closest to us – like our family, our friends, and the people who love us. 2. Pointer Finger: The pointer finger helps us point to others. So, with this finger, we pray for our teachers and doctors, and anyone who helps us to grow. 3. Middle Finger: The middle finger is the tallest, it reminds us of the leaders in our world. We pray for our leaders, like our Taoiseach or those in the Government in Ireland and throughout the world, so they make good choices that are fair and help people. 4. Ring Finger: When we pray with this finger, we pray for the people who are sick, poor, or sad. They need our help and prayers the most. 5. Little Finger: The little finger is the smallest, so this is the time to pray for ourselves. Ask God to help us be kind and helpful.
PARENTS' ASSOCIATION QUIZ NIGHT: Please note that the PA Quiz night is now taking place at 8pm on Thursday 1 May in The Merrion Inn. It is a fun night out and the last fundraising event of the year! Also the PA will hold a Raffle as usual. If you would like to donate a raffle or quiz prize please contact the PA.
TRANSITION TO SECONDARY WITH NURTURE EDUCATION: Andrew McGrane and Dr. Deirdre McGillicuddy will host "Moving On Up. Transfer To Secondary" workshops with 6th in Saint Mary's BNS on Thursday 1st May 2025. They will be in OLOM from 10.30 to 12.00 and in St Mary's from 12:30-14:00. This is for students and teachers only. From 19:00-20:00, on the night of Wednesday April 30th, Andrew and Deirdre will host a parent's evening for the parents/guardians of children in 6th class from all three schools in Booterstown, including Booterstown National School. This will be held in OLOM Convent School hall. We encourage all 6th class parents and guardians to attend these talks.
TESCO COMMUNITY FUND: A huge thank you to our Parents' Association and everyone who shopped in Tescos Merrion and collected the blue tokens. From the Tesco Community Fund we received €697 for our Parents Association. Míle buíochas.
RUNATHON BY PARENTS ASSOCIATION: Saint Mary's Parents' Association hosted a fun 5 Hour Runathon on Friday 4th April 2025. Each class got an opportunity to run in the school or Booterstown Park during the school day. It was great to see all the different events that each class organised; relay races, skipping races, hopping races, egg and spoon races etc. Sponsorship cards have been handed out to all the boys. Please sponsor the boys to help raise money for our school. Míle Buíochas.
FRÁSAÍ NA MÍOSA/ GAEILGE/ CONTENT LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING: Más féidir libh cabhrú le bhúr bpáiste frásaí na míosa a chleachtadh sa bhaile. / If you can please help your child practise Irish these phrases of the month? 1. Beannachtaí na Cásca/ Happy Easter. 2.Táim ag tnúth leis na laethanta saoire./ I'm looking forward to the holidays. 3. Ba mhaith liom ubh Chásca./ I'd like an Easter Egg. 4. Is aoibhinn liom ubh seacláide/ I love chocolate egg.
EASTER HOLIDAYS: Just a gentle reminder that the school will close at 12:00 for all classes on Friday 11th April 2025. The school will reopen for all classes on Tuesday April 29th 2025 at 08:35 for all students. Teachers will return on Monday 28th April for a Maths Training Day. May we take this opportunity to wish you all a safe, relaxing and Happy Easter.
HOLY WEEK CHILDREN'S SERVICES: The Parish Liturgy Committee to seek the involvement of pupils from St. Mary's in some of the Holy Week children's services. This Sunday 13th is Palm Sunday and Masses are celebrated on Saturday at 6:00 pm and Sunday at 11:00 am. The Liturgy team are inviting any children who attend either of these Masses to gather in the porch of the church before the start of Mass and be part of the procession into the church with the celebrant.On Thursday 17th at 5:00 pm the Mass of the Last Supper for families takes place. The Liturgy team would be delighted if some of the boys were happy to volunteer to have their feet washed as part of the service's re-enactment of the Last Supper.Friday the 18th is Good Friday and there will be a shortened version of the Stations of the Cross at 12:00 pm for families. Each station will be led by a child reading a short reflection and the Liturgy team would love to have pupils from our school involved in the reading of these reflections. Classes have been visited and spoken to classes and a lot of pupils showed interest in taking part. However, they need parental support in order to do so. If you are happy for you son to participate in either or both of the services being held on Thursday 17th or Friday 18th , please let the school know by this Friday, which service(s) and the role(s) they wish to volunteer for.
BOOTERSTOWN MONTESSORI SCHOOL: Booterstown Montessori School is now enrolling for September 2025. Please visit www.booterstownmontessori.ie for more information.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS FOR 2025-2026: An email has been forwarded to the whole school community outlining next year's holidays. Please see this link also for School Holidays 2025-2026.
Kind regards, Noel Scully. Principal.