JUNIOR INFANTS '24-25

On Wednesday, May 29th , we look forward to welcoming our new Junior Infant classes into our school. The boys will meet their teacher, play some games and enjoy storytime. Parents will mingle and get to know one another with the help of tea and coffee served by our Parents' Association. As one class group gets ready to move to pastures new, we look forward to beginning the cycle again with our new classes.

CONFIRMATION & GRADUATION 

We wish our 6th class boys and teachers the very best of luck with their Confirmation celebration this Friday. We thank Fr. Gerry, Goretti Newell and the Parish Sacramental Team for their work in the Confirmation preparations also. 

Graduation for 6th class pupils will be held in school on Wednesday, June 26th. (approximate time of 10am-12.30pm)

HALL OF FAME

We are very proud of all our current and past pupils. Some of our past pupils have hit the headlines over the years for various sports including rugby, soccer, hurling, football & golf. Mark Moriarty, TV chef, is past pupil and he is excelling on the world stage with his programme Off- Duty Chef. Alex Dolan is a fashion designer and has worked in some of the most famous fashion houses in Europe. Philip Lane is an Irish economist who has been serving as a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank since 2019 and concurrently as ECB chief economist. He previously served as Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland from 2015 to 2019. He too, is a former pupil. 

Our Student Council are currently writing to past pupils in the hope of building a 'Hall of Fame'. The Hall of Fame is designed to inspire our current pupils and make them realise they can follow their dreams too. 

The next two stars to make our Hall of Fame are Tom Dowdall, professional golfer and James Furlong, professional soccer player. James received a letter from Elliott Colman Foy in 6th class. James and Tom were invited back to Hollypark to meet their former teachers and walk the corridors that inspired their love of sport. Tom and James were brilliant with their time and answered a multitude of questions from the boys. We thank Tom for the donation of his golf hat which he wore in his last competition to earn himself a spot on the professional golf ranks and James for his Ireland jersey. These items will be framed and placed in the 'Hall of Fame'. 

Picture 1, Tom pictured with Henry, 5th class, an avid golfer and a future Hall of Famer!
Picture 2, Tom pictured with his parents. 

STAR OF THE FUTURE

Congratulations to Tom, 6th class, who played for Dublin in Croke Park last weekend. Tom represented Hollypark with distinction this year in football, hurling and soccer. Tom's performances caught the eye of his coaches and he was picked to play for Dublin. He had a magnificent time and even scored a goal into the Hill 16 end! Well done Tom and thank you for representing Hollypark. 

PAST PUPIL WATCH

Congratulations to former pupils Paul Batten and David fFrench on their u15 Feile win for Kilmacud Crokes last weekend. Could we see these added to our Hall of Fame in years to come!? 

GAEILGE LE CHÉILE!

Building on our very successful and enjoyable Seachtain na Gaeilge this year, we are looking forward to our next Gaeilge le Chéile(Irish Together) where classes will get together to use their Gaeilge in a meaningful and fun way to play and communicate. 

This is part of our SSE (School Self Evaluation) target for Gaeilge. SSE is a process where we reflect on our practice, evaluating our strengths and areas for development in teaching and learning in our school. We have identified Gaeilge Teanga ó Bhéal(Oral Language) as our area of focus for Gaeilge. In the coming weeks we will be facilitating activities for the pupils to use their Gaeilge in fun and meaningful ways outside the classroom – Gaeilge le Chéile!

STANDARDISED TESTING MAY 2024

Standardised testing will begin in May for classes 2^nd-6^th as per the Department of Education’s recent circular to schools. 2^nd -6^th will have tests in spelling, reading and maths.

1^st classes will only have the spelling test, as whole class standardised testing in 1^st is not recommended.

These tests are just one method of assessing a pupil’s performance and we know that it is just a snapshot on a particular day that can be affected by numerous circumstances.

Standardised tests will give us information to guide our teaching and learning for the next academic year. It will also help us to identify pupils who may benefit from additional support.

For further information, please check out this link on the NCCA website.

understanding-standardscores_eng.pdf (ncca.ie)

Annette Lynch (Deputy Principal & SEN Coordinator)

AUSTRALIA

Thank you to Kieran Harte, father of Herbie in Junior Infants, for sharing his knowledge of all things Australia with room 1. The boys loved the talk and were full of interesting facts!