EASTER MIDTERM BREAK: Please note that Saint Marys will close at 12:00 on Friday 27th March and will reopen on Monday the 13th of April at 08:35. May we take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy, safe and relaxing Easter break.SCHOOL CLOSED STAFF TRAINING DAY: Saint Mary's will be closed for all students on Thursday 30th April. It is the 2nd staff training day for the new Primary Curriculum Framework.
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 these four Irish phrases of the month. 1.Lá Fhéile Pádraig/ Happy Saint Patrick's Day. 2. Éire Abú. / Victory to Ireland. 3. Beannachtaí na Cásca ort / Happy Easter 4. Buafaidh Éireann an Triple Crown/ Ireland will win the Triple Crown.
FIRST RECONCILIATION: On behalf of all involved in the parish of Booterstown, we want to congratulate the boys for their prayerful participation and engagement in last night’s First Reconciliation Service. It was a most beautiful celebration from their singing to the reciting of their prayers and to the manner in which they presented themselves to the priests. We couldn’t have been prouder of them all as we know you were of them too!. We hope the memories made from this special celebration will remain with them forever. We look forward to meeting you all again as their First Holy Communion Celebration (Sat May 16th) draws near. Well done boys! Fiona and Coo.
FUNDRAISING WEEKLY DRAW: This week’s winner was from 6th class. Críona and Paul the winners. We congratulate both. There was great excitement and rapturous applause in our school assembly as the winners were announced. Please see the fundraiser link button on our website. It would be hugely appreciated if you can contribute €5 for 3 lines, and you never know you might just win! Please pass the word on and invite friends and family. Weekly Fundraising Draw.
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2026-2027: An email has been sent out to all parents/ guardians with the school holidays attached. The holiday dates are also available at this link. School Holidays 2026-2027.
RUN DUBLIN RUN SAVE THE DATE: SATURDAY JUNE 6th: We have successfully registered for the Run Dublin Run charity event held Sat 6th June at Clanna Gael GAA Club. This event is run by a charity called Run Kids Run. Last year they set up an equivalent charity Run Kids Run Ireland. The aim of RKR is to provide schools with school communities with an additional source of funding which it can use to pay for an Improvement Project at the school – they secure this funding from corporate sponsors and invite schools to participate in a charity fun run. This running challenge aims to promote health & fitness, enhance community engagement and above all, raise vital funds for schools. Saint Mary's BNS is participating for the first time this year. Can we please ask all students, parents, guardians and staff to save the date of Saturday June 6th and come and run with us at Clanna Gael GAA Club on the day. More details to follow.
TESCO COMMUNITY FUND: Saint Mary's BNS has been chosen by Tesco Merrion for inclusion in the store’s Tesco Ireland Community Fund campaign. Members of the Student Council visited the store and had a chance to put a handful of blue tokens towards Saint Mary's BNS. If you are doing your shopping in Tesco Merrion please gave a handful of blue tokens in our box. Please encourage your family, friends and neighbours to do the same. All support is greatly appreciated. We hope that the Community Fund donation we receive will go a long way towards supporting our school.
BOOTERSTOWN CHILDCARE SERVICES: Booterstown childcare service is now finalising the bookings for September 2026.Please contact Najwa Mc Guinn on the details below. Very limited places available. Contact 087 3446188.
ESRI FINDINGS ON THE LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF SCHOOL ABSENCES: For your information, new research, published by the ESRI and produced in partnership with Tusla Education Support Service (TESS), uses Growing Up in Ireland data to provide the first Irish evidence on the effects of school absence at age 13 on educational qualifications, labour market outcomes and wellbeing at ages 20 and 25. Key findings: How does school absence affect later educational outcomes? Even short spells of absence of one to two days at age 13 are linked to lower Leaving Certificate grades. There is a very large performance gap related to chronic absence, defined as missing 20 or more days a year, a gap of over 80 Leaving Certificate points even taking account of a range of other factors that affect performance. This performance gap is evident across all social groups. There is therefore no evidence that more advantaged families can successfully counter the negative effects of absenteeism for their children. Longer school absence at age 13 is significantly related to lower chances of going on to higher education and of achieving a degree by age 25. Young people with prolonged absence from school are also more negative about the benefits of their schooling to their broader social and personal development, especially the role of their school in increasing their self-confidence and helping them develop into a well-balanced person. Young people who attend a school with a higher prevalence of chronic absence achieve lower Leaving Certificate points. Even young people who themselves have good attendance have poorer outcomes if school-level absence is higher. Attending a post-primary school with a high level of absence is linked to lower chances of attending higher education, even for those who had good attendance records. Please see link to report. The Long Term Outcomes of School Absence.
TROCAIRE BOXES & LENT: Lent began on Wednesday February 17th this year. One of the areas we are asked to focus on during Lent is almsgiving which includes supporting the poor in our world.The Trocaire box campaign is an annual Irish tradition since 1973,raising vital funds to support international development and humanitarian work. The campaign supports Trocaire's work in over 20 countries, focusing on climate justice, sustainable livelihoods and emergency relief. Trocaire boxes have been handed out to pupils. Your generosity in supporting this worthy cause will be very much appreciated by Trocaire and those who Trocarie support.We ask that boxes be returned to the school after the Easter break.
Kind regards,
Noel Scully. Principal.
AFTERSCHOOL CLUBS:
All our afterschool activities are up and running. Please note that these afterschool activities are not run by the school, but by independent organisers who are responsible for your child during these lessons. Please liaise directly with the afterschool organiser if you have any concerns regarding times, dates, costs, health & safety, child safeguarding, lesson cancellations etc.
GAELIC FOOTBALL/ HURLING & SOCCER: Junior and Senior teams will be notified of training days and match days and locations by their teacher coaches .
Science Club: Thursdays.13:15-14:10- Junior & Senior Infants. 14:15-15:10. There is a new booking system in place on the We Love Science website: If you have any queries at all, please
Homework Club: Monday to Thursday 2:15pm to 3:15pm - (3rd to 6th Class only) Contact Sam Briggs on
After School Sports: Mondays 2:15pm to 3:15pm (1st -6th class only) Aoife Cartwright. CONTACT
Spanish: Thursdays. 1st to 6th classes from 2:15 to 3:10. Please contact
Johnny's After School Club: Johnny’s After School Sports for Junior and Senior Infants https://signup.com/go/otqbDQv. After School Sports for 1st - 6th class. Thursdays You can click on the link below to sign up .1st - 6th class. https://signup.com/go/qfaMxde
Alto School of Music: Mondays, Wednesdays, & Fridays. Piano, violin, ukulele and guitar. Contact Anna on
Art: Tuesdays . For Junior & Senior Infants please contact
Chess: An email has been sent out to all parents via Aladdin with more details and the registration link.