Academic Calendar 2024-2025

SCHOOL STARTS

Thursday 29th August.

GRANDPARENTS’ DAY

Friday 18th October

MID-TERM BREAK

School closes on Friday 25th October 14:15.

School Re-opens Monday 4th November

PARENT-TEACHER MEETINGS

25th November-29th November. Teachers will be in touch nearer the time to organise meetings.

CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS

School closes at 12.00 noon Friday 20th December School Re-opens Monday 6th January

SAINT BRIGID'S DAY

Monday 3rd February. School Closed.

MID-TERM BREAK

School closes Friday 14th February at 14:15.

School Re-opens Monday 24th February

ST PATRICK’S DAY

Monday 17th March. School Closed.

EASTER HOLIDAYS & MATHS TRAINING DAY

School closes at 12.00 noon on Friday 11th April .School closed for Maths Training Day Monday 28th April. 

School Re-opens Tuesday 29th April

MAY BANK HOLIDAY

Monday 5th MAY. School Closed.

STANDARDISED TESTING

Thursday 1st May-Friday 23rd May.

JUNE BANK HOLIDAY

School closed Monday 2nd & Tuesday 3rd June 

School Re-opens Wednesday 4th June

ACTIVE WEEK/ MULTI-CULTURAL DAY

Active Week will be from Monday, June 16th-Friday June 20th.

Junior Sports Day Monday 16th Booterstown Park 8:50-09:40.

Senior Sports Day Tuesday 17th Booterstown Park 08:50-10:00

Multicultural Day Friday 21st June 12:45-14:00. School Yard.

GRADUATION CEREMONY

Wednesday, June 25th at 10:00.

SUMMER HOLIDAYS

School closes at 12.00 noon on Friday 27th June

Details regarding Staff Training Days, First Holy Communion, Confirmation & 6th Class Graduation will be shared when we have dates.

  Academic Calendar

 School Calendar

Grotto Place, Booterstown, Co. Dublin A94 AC97
01-2886830
Friday, February 07, 2025
01-2886830
8:35 - 14:15
  01-2886830

School & Class News

Education and Parenting news stories of interest on Classes & Newsletters

PARENTS ASSOCIATION COFFEE MORNING:  ☕️☕️ The Parents’ Association is hosting a coffee morning at drop off in the School Hall on Grotto Avenue on Friday 29th September . All parents are invited to come along. It’s a great way to meet other parents who have boys in the school. We will also be sharing information on Friends of St Mary’s, the PA’s main fundraising scheme.All welcome to drop by anytime between 8.15 and 9.15am. 

FIRST AID COURSE FOR PARENTS: On Tuesday 3rd October join the Parents Associations of Our Lady of Mercy Convent School & St. Mary’s BNS to attend First Aid Training in the girls' school hall. This 2 hour seminar provided by First Aid for Everyone covers emergency situations such as: Activation of the emergency services;The First Aid kit;Choking;Wounds and bleeding;Head injuries;Allergies;Epilepsy and various other topics. Please join the PA at Our Lady of Mercy School from 7-7.30pm for tea, coffee, homemade baked treats & a quick catch up with the school community before the course commences at 7.30pm. 

CLUICHÍ GAEILGE DO PHÁISTÍ PADLET:  Fantastic interactive padlet with lots of Irish language games for all levels. Cluichí Gaeilge do pháisti ar fáil anseo.

SCHOOL X-TWITTER ACCOUNT: Please continue to follow us on our school X/Twitter account at stmarysboys1. We are unable at the moment to view it directly on our school website and are trying to resolve this issue. 

SMARTPHONE/SMART DEVICE HONOUR CODE:  A huge thank you to our Parents Association for collaborating with all parents and formulating a Smartphone/Device Honour Code.  Please read the Honour Code & discuss it with your child. It's on our school website under the School News tab. See link. Smartphone/Device Honour Code. You may also wish to read the latest report from Cybersafekids.ie  on "Keeping Kids Safer Online. Online. Safety. Matters." Keeping Kids Safer Online: Online. Safety. Matters. Trends & Usage Report 2022-2023.

Please note that this is an honour code, built on trust and it is established to ensure the online safety of all children in Saint Mary's; in school, at home and in the whole school community.

Cybersafekids.ie will visit Saint Mary's on Wednesday 4th October and facilitate online safety  workshops with 3rd-6th classes. 

CONDOLENCES: The staff, students, Board of Management, parents  and all Saint Mary's school community wish to extend their deepest sympathies to Mary O' Reilly , Chairperson of the Board of Management, on the recent bereavement of her brother Seán Doyle. Our prayers and thoughts are with Mary and the Doyle family at this sad time.

CLASS LIAISON REPRESENTATIVE: To ensure that you and your son have a smooth transition into St Mary's we advise that you contact the Class Liaison Representative. They will put you in contact with your class representative and will respond to any additional (non-academic) queries that you may have. Please contact the school office for details. New parents/ guardians will be sent the name and details of our news Class Liaison Representative by the school office.

ADMISSIONS 2024-2025:  Saint Mary's BNS will start accepting admissions for 2024-2025 on Monday 2nd October. Online admission applications will be live from that date. The closing date is Friday November 10th. Please see our Notice of Admissions, our Admissions Policy and our school Code of Behaviour on our school website for more information. Admissions 2024-2025.

DAFFODIL PLANTING: An invitation by the parish has been sent to children to participate in daffodil  bulb planting on Sunday October 1st after 11 O' clock Mass. A flyer with all the details will be emailed to all families during the week. 

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT AGREED REPORT. Our first Board of Management meeting was held on Wednesday 13th September. Please see link to Agreed Report.  BOM Agreed Report 13-9-2023

TECHKIDZ COMPUTATIONAL THINKING & IT SKILLS: Over the next six weeks Techkidz will be working with 4th-6th classes towards developing computational thinking and IT skills. Techkidz will be doing a wide range of technology-based activities including coding, robotics, animation and design. They will start with an introduction to the basic building blocks of coding and will progress towards each child building their own basic website. Techkidz will support and mentor students in shooting and editing their own 3D animations, building and programming their own robots. The classes will also be coding and playing our own games. These classes will be every Thursdays during school time. More details have been emailed to the classes participating in this programme.

PARKING ON BOOTERSTOWN GROVE, GROTTO PLACE AND GROTTO AVENUE: We have had a neighbourhood request that all parents/guardians refrain from parking in these areas. Booterstown Grove has double yellow lines, therefore parking is not permitted. We also request that you do not block home entrances or park in private parking spaces on Grotto Place and Grotto Avenue. Thank you for honouring this request. 

USING PATHS ON GROTTO PLACE AND GROTTO AVENUE: For Health and Safety reasons please continue to ensure that all children and adults use the paths on Grotto Place and Grotto Avenue when coming to and leaving school. For health and safety reasons please avoid walking on these roads as there are cars entering and leaving the school and the neighbourhood.

PARENT /TEACHER INFORMATION MEETINGS: Over the coming fortnight all class teachers will host a face to face or online meeting with all parents/guardians in each class level. Some have been held already. Each class teacher will send out details. This meeting is an opportunity for teachers to introduce themselves and go through the school year and how best to support your child. If you need a one on one meeting please request same via your child's teacher's email address or via Aladdin.

ALLERGIES/ ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION: Just a reminder that we are a "Nut Free" & "Kiwi Free" School. If your child has any allergies or any other medical condition that may require the administration of medication please alert his new class teacher immediately.

"HUG & GO": Just a reminder that all classes, including our new Junior Infants, "Hug & Go" at the school gates in the morning. We ask that parents/ guardians allow their child to walk independently to their classroom lines. The class teachers will collect them at 08:35. We will have students from the senior classes to guide children over to their lines. The Junior Infant Day is 08:35-13:15 , as is the Senior Infant day. All other classes finish at 14:15. "COLLECT & GO" We kindly request that all adults wait behind the green cycle lane line when collecting your child. We encourage the boys to independently walk over to adults and then leave the school grounds. If you wish to have a meeting with a teacher please arrange one via Aladdin or the teacher's school email address. 

ALADDIN CONNECT & ABSENCES: Thank you very much for engaging with Aladdin Connect in notifying teachers directly of your child's absences and the reason. Please continue to do so. This allows you to also keep an eye on your child's attendance. If the class teacher does not receive a notification explaining your child's absence it is recorded on Aladdin attendance records as unexplained. Attendance is recorded at 09:30 every school morning.

FRÁSAÍ NA MÍOSA/ GAEILGE/ CONTENT LANGUAGE INTEGRATED LEARNING: Más féidir libh cabhrú le bhúr bpáiste frásaí na míosa a chleachtadh sa bhaile. 1. Dia Dhaoibh...Dia is Muire duit. 2. Slán Tamaill.3. Cé leis é? Is/ Ni liomsa é. 4. Líne dhíreach gach duine. 

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIESPlease see link to school website for after school activities that are currently running. All have contact details. Please contact each directly if you have any queries. After School Activities

SWIMMING LESSONS: 4th class and 6th class have started their swimming lessons every Monday in Blue Pool, Monkstown @ 10am.  The Parents Association have very kindly funded the cost of the lessons. Parents will only be required to pay the cost of the DART for the 7week term which is €14. A payment link is available on Aladdin for this. Boys should wear their swimming shorts under their tracksuit that morning so that we ensure they are in the pool on time. They will not be allowed to swim without a swimming hat. Please continue to ensure they bring a change of clothes and that all items of clothing a labelled clearly. Your child does not need to be able to swim already in order to attend.

COUNTY PHOTOS: County Photos will visit the school on Friday 29th September. An email with more details and their flyer has been sent out this week.

OATLANDS COLLEGE OPEN EVENING & APPLICATIONS:  Please see link and information below from Oatlands College regarding their Open Evening and closing date for 2024 First Year Admissions. Oatlands College Open Evening & First Year Application .Open Evening: Thursday 21-9-2023 from 17:30-19:30. 6th class students and parents all welcome. Closing Date for Applications forms: Monday 23-10-2023 at 17:00. Late applications will be put on waiting list according to date of application. Students must be 12 by January 1st of First Year following entry. 

COVID-19 UPDATE FROM HSE: Please see the latest advice from the HSE on Covid-19 for children who test positive for Covid -19, how long they should stay at home and when they should return to school. Covid-19 and Returning to School.

BOOTERSTOWN PARISH RESOURCES FOR YOUNG FAMILIES & CHILDREN 2023-2024: Please see link. Booterstown Parish Resources 2023-2024. This brochure outlines parish events for children and young families throughout the 2023-2024 school year. 

BOOTERSTOWN CHILDCARE SERVICES: Booterstown Childcare Service is delighted to have started taking bookings for the Early Morning Club from 7:00 am until school drop off starting this September. Please contact them directly to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone Najwa at 0873446188.

CTYI: CENTRE FOR TALENTED YOUTH: CTYI -Centre for Talented Youth, Dublin City University is offering courses for children, ages 6-12, in such areas as: Forensic Science; Marine Biology, The World of Harry Potter, Novel Writing and Computers and Animation. CTYI carry out assessments to see if students are suitable for courses. Please open link for more details and an application form. Centre for Talented Youth Information & Application.

ALTO SCHOOL OF MUSIC: Alto School of Music is thrilled to announce that is offering music classes for students attending Saint Marys Boys' National School. If you are interested please read below and email Alto School of Music directly. Instrument Choices: - Ukulele group class (JI,SI & 1st-6th class);In this class all students would be also working on rhythm & pitch development;- Piano, Guitar, Violin individual tuition; There would also be an opportunity for all students to perform in Winter & Summer concerts. Please email all queries to Anna at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to express an interest in music classes. In the email specify your preferred instrument/day/ time. All classes will run after school hours are finished.

STEAM ACADEMY: Steam Academy began the afterschool lessons on Wednesday 13th September. Classes will from now on be held in room 6 via entrance door 5. Please contact Steam Academy directly if you have any queries regarding timings and costs. Please see link. Steam Academy Pro

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS ON NEW PRIMARY MATHS CURRICULUM:  Please see link to our school news on Information Leaflet for parents pertaining to the New Primary Maths Curriculum. New Primary Maths Curriculum: Parents Information Leaflet.

Kind regards,

Noel Scully. Principal.