Wednesday Letter 17th December 2025
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jnr and Snr Infants Fundamental Movement Term 2 with Mr. Moloney
| 1st-3rd Class Afterschool Basketball and Multisport with Mr. Moloney
| Jnr. and Snr. Infants Fundamental movement and fun games with Mr. Moloney | Jnr. and Snr. Infants' Fundamental Movement and Fun games with Mr. Moloney
| |
Basketball and Afterschool Sports for 2nd Class to 6th Class Term 2 with Mr. Moloney
| Dizzy Feet Dance with Denise
| 1st Class-4th Class Soccer and Tennis
| Chess Text 0834527900 to book a place | |
Soccer Champion Coaching with Stephanie Roche 1st & 2nd | Chess Hector | 5th-6th Class Mini-World Cup
| Soccer Champion Coaching with Stephanie Roche 3rd, 4th, 5th & 6th | |
| Running Club with Mr. Lineen 4th, 5th & 6th Sign Up | Guitar with Marc 2nd- 6th | Art Club with Ms. A Doyle 1st & 2nd Sign Up | ||
| Lego Club Ms. Dunne 1st & 2nd Class Sign Up |
A Very Special Visitor to Hollypark BNS
A huge thank you to Santa Claus for taking time out of his incredibly busy schedule to pay the Hollypark boys a very special visit yesterday. Following his spectacular arrival, Santa took the time to meet with each class, sharing stories and spreading plenty of Christmas cheer.
Most importantly, Santa spoke to the boys about the true meaning of Christmas — the importance of sharing, spending time with family, being grateful, and treating everyone with kindness. As Santa so wisely reminded us, Christmas is not about what you get, but about what you give. This message resonates deeply with the values and ethos of Hollypark BNS and was a lovely reminder for us all at this special time of year.
Sincere thanks to our wonderful Parents’ Association for organising Santa’s visit. The grotto looked absolutely magical and made Santa feel right at home. The staff and boys of Hollypark are truly spoiled by the continued support, generosity, and hard work of our amazing PA.
CHRISTMAS SHOWS
Wonderful Performances from Our Pupils
Well done to our amazing Junior Infants, Senior Infants, and 6th Class students who truly wowed us last week with their wonderful performances. Their singing, confident line-saying and fantastic acting skills were a joy to watch and a credit to all their hard work and preparation.
Sincere thanks to all the teachers and SNAs involved for their dedication and support in bringing these shows together. A special word of thanks also goes to Sarah and her fabulous Parents’ Association team, who were on hand to serve mulled wine and refreshments to 6th Class parents — a lovely and much-appreciated touch.
Finally, thank you to Ciaran Maher for kindly recording the shows, which are available to watch below. We hope you enjoy reliving these special performances.
PARENT-TEACHER MEETINGS
Parent-teacher meetings will take place the week beginning Monday, January 26th.
January 28th & 29th, school will close @ 2.15 pm to facilitate parent-teacher meetings. Collection time for 1st-6th class is 2.15 pm.
STAFF IN-SERVICE: FULL-DAY SCHOOL CLOSURE
Hollypark BNS staff will have a whole-staff training day on Wednesday, February 11th & Wednesday, May 13th. The theme of the training is the New Primary Curriculum Framework.
Please inform minders, grandparents, and after-school facilities.
CAPUCHIN CENTRE & THE PUPIL VOICE COMMITTEE- LAST CHANCE TO DONATE
Combating child poverty is the Pupil Voice Committee’s focus at this time of year. The Pupil Voice Committee is making a Christmas collection in aid of homeless children and families. The Pupil Voice Committee is collecting vouchers for The Capuchin Day Centre for the homeless. The centre provides hundreds of hot meals every day as well as food parcels for those in need. You can help by buying a voucher for SuperValu, Tesco, Dunne’s Stores, Aldi or Lidl. The boys can bring these vouchers to school, where their teachers and the Pupil Voice Committee will gather them. We will drop these vouchers to the Capuchin Day Centre before Christmas so that they can be used to buy supplies for children and families in need. We understand that families may have their own charities at this time of year, so there is no pressure to donate.
Internet Safety
Eoghan Cleary, who visited Hollypark in October and gave an enlightening talk on the real-life implications of the internet for children today, was featured in The Irish Times on Monday, calling for “the need to end the great social experiment on our children.” It is a very interesting article and well worth reading for parents.
TAP+ (Teacher Artist Partnership) Creativity and Arts in Education Residency
In July 2025, our teacher, Ms Travers, completed the TAP+ CPD Summer Course. Following this, Blackrock Education Support Centre awarded Hilary a TAP+ (Teacher Artist Partnership) Creativity and Arts in Education Residency at Hollypark BNS for the 2025/26 school year.
As part of the project, three 6th class groups worked with poet Colm Brennan, a trained creative practitioner, to explore creativity and poetry in the classroom. Ms Travers collaborated extensively with Colm, along with the supportive guidance of the 6th class teachers, as the boys worked together to write a six-stanza poem. The theme centred on their memories and thoughts of transitioning through primary school, from Junior infants to sixth class, and then onto secondary school the following year. Every pupil contributed ideas, drafting and editing the final piece, which was rehearsed and successfully performed at the school Christmas concert last week.
Colm was highly effective in drawing creativity out of the boys, creating a relaxed and inclusive atmosphere where all contributions were valued. Engagement and confidence grew noticeably, with students producing work of a very high standard and clearly enjoying the creative process.
See their poem below -
Ballad for Sixth Class
By the sixth-class students at St Patrick’s Boys National School
Like chicks about to leave the nest,
nervous yet excited.
‘I hope that I’ll be fine,’ I thought,
and I soon alighted.
When we walked into the class that day,
feeling like little ants,
a building with much older kids,
it made me wee my pants.
But…
we settled into our new class,
we learned each other’s names,
the nerves we felt soon disappeared,
we made new friends, played games.
And now we will begin again,
we choose another school,
everybody’s feeling nervous
but also acting cool.
We’ll embrace our new-found freedom,
excited for the change,
for all of the fresh things to come
for the expanding range
of subjects we’ll be studying
we’re ready for the new,
for sports, home ec, art, science, maths,
for independence too.
LAST DAY OF TERM
The final day of this school term is Friday, 19th December. We will operate a staggered finish on that day. Please inform minders, grandparents and after-school facilities.
| Junior & Senior Infants | 11:50 am |
| 5th & 6th Class | 11:55 am |
| 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th | 12 noon |
School will re-open on Monday, 5th January 2026
This week is a very special week for these great boys: Luke Mulvany, Theo Ma, Finn Morrissey, Michael Mackey, Bill Shanley, Daire Tuite, Juan Jijo, Daniel Dunphy, Robert Murphy, Hugh Madigan, Oliver Purcell, Daniel Carney, Will Merrigan, Harry O' Sullivan, Dara O'Cearbhaill & Richard Whelehan.
Have a wonderful celebration, boys!
Happy Christmas
As we come to the end of another busy and rewarding year, I would like to wish our entire school community a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Thank you sincerely for your continued support, kindness and generosity throughout 2025 — it is truly appreciated and makes Hollypark BNS such a special place.
We wish all our families a safe, restful and joyful Christmas break and look forward to welcoming everyone back in the New Year.
Nollaig Shona agus Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh go léir. 🎄
