Wednesday Letter November 12th 2025

HOLLYPARK OPEN EVENING/TOUR

Last Tuesday, we had a fabulous evening in Hollypark. Parents and guardians were invited on a tour of the school, accessing classrooms, viewing the sensory room, movement room, and our fabulous new Autism Class. Parents/guardians got to see our state-of-the-art resources and equipment while also getting a feel of the atmosphere, the work ethic, and the ethos of the Hollypark boys and staff. Each day, our staff, teachers & SNAs put in a huge amount of effort into planning, teaching, learning and assessment. They often go beyond the call of duty to ensure that every child is reaching their full potential. I could not be prouder of the team in Hollypark. They are truly a pleasure to lead. 

We take immense pride in the school building and its surroundings. Part of our Board of Management budget each year is devoted to enhancing the look and feel of a building that is 60 years old. You certainly could not tell it is that old. Thanks to our amazing caretaker, Jeff Jones, the building is in remarkable condition. We have created a warm, caring, pleasant place to work and be educated. Thanks to your continued generosity, we have the resources, equipment and environment that make teaching in Hollypark a pleasure.  

For those of you who could not attend last week, a virtual tour of the school is available on our website. Click the link below for full access to the school building. Thank you to parents Nicholas Polley and Elsa Jones and their company, 3D Design Bureau, for creating the virtual tour.  

https://hollyparkbns.ie/virtual-tour
 

BOOK FAIR 2025 IS OPEN 

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair is proving to be a great hit again this year. Thank you to Mrs. Lynch, the library committee, the PA and all the volunteers who are helping this week. The fair will be open every day this week before and after school, and also until 8pm on Thursday. All classes will get a chance this week to visit the book fair. 5th and 6th classes will read to their Junior and Senior Infant buddies. Ms. Dunne's class will share the experience with their 4th-class buddies. 

The Book Fair will be open from: Monday, November 10^th, to Friday, November 14th.
Times:  Open daily from 8:30-9:15 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Thursday Evening from 6:30 -8:00 pm.

The commission we receive from the fair will go back into books for your son’s class library and our school library. For every euro spent, we will receive 60c back in books for our school. We will also purchase new sets of class novels.

Online Safety Awareness Group & Smartphone-Free Voluntary Pledge

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Concerns around young children having unsupervised access to the internet and social media have grown considerably, with Child Psychologists, Healthcare Workers and Cyber Safety experts highlighting the risks associated with Smartphone and internet use at a young age.

From our recent survey, we know that many parents feel pressured to give their children a smartphone.  In response to this, Hollypark BNS Parents Association has been exploring ways to support and enable parents/guardians in the school who want to delay smartphone ownership and access to Apps such as Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, etc, for their own children of primary school age.  We are also hoping to support parents to ensure they have all the information needed regarding parental control on Apps such as Roblox, Minecraft. 

The school has an existing policy regarding Personal Devices, which states that students are not permitted to use phones during school hours or on the school premises.  In exceptional circumstances and only where absolutely necessary a pupil who requires a phone after school requires his parents/guardians to put this in writing to the school Principal on the specified request form.

An Online Safety Awareness Group has now been established to educate and support parents on online safety issues, and to promote the idea of delaying smartphones until after primary school.  If you would like to get involved with this group, please get in touch with us at hollyparkbnsnsvc@gmail.com

As part of this, we are now launching a Smartphone-FreeVoluntary Code of practice for parents/guardians in Hollypark BNS, where parents/guardians choose to agree, via an Online Form, to not purchase a personal smartphone for their child(ren) while in Primary School.  This model has been successfully implemented in several Primary Schools nationwide already.

We recognise that this is not the only solution to the growing problem, but it is potentially one tool which may be helpful to those parents/guardians who wish to avail of it.

By taking the Smartphone-Free Pledge, we can work together to help our children enjoy a happy, play-based childhood — one filled with friendships, creativity, and real-world adventures, rather than screen time and social media pressures.

If your child already has a smartphone or smart device, you can still take part in the pledge by keeping phones at home - during meet-ups, after-school activities, parties, or when they’re out and about in Granada or Mount Albany after school.  Every small step helps build a more balanced and connected school community.

 Together, as Hollypark parents, we can:
💡 Learn more about how to protect and guide our children as they begin to explore the online world.
🤝 Support one another in making thoughtful choices about technology.
🌱 Foster a healthy, balanced approach to growing up in the digital age.

✍️ Sign the Pledge

If you would like to get on board with us and support the Smartphone-Free Voluntary Code, you can access the form to make your pledge here:https://forms.gle/dd9UHweVFgZ9jivD6

📚 Learn More & Get Support

To help parents and children navigate online safety, we will be:

• Hosting internet safety talks for parents and also in school for 4^th, 5th & 6th Class students.
• Sharing helpful tips and resources throughout the year in the school newsletter.

For more information on the risks and benefits of delaying smartphones, please visit:
https://smartphonefree.ie/risks/

Thank you for your support.

Hollypark BNS Online Safety Awareness Group