Posted on Wednesday, 26 May 2021
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THANK YOU

Thank you once more to our fabulous school community for your continued support, positivity and praise for the staff of Hollypark BNS. Your encouragement is most welcome. Please continue to follow public health guidelines so that we all get to the end of the year safely – we are so nearly there!

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION FUNDRAISING

Unfortunately, 2020 and 2021 saw the Parents’ Association main fundraising events cancelled. Sports for All Day and our annual cake sale had to take a back seat due to Covid-19. Jo- Ann and her team have had to think outside the box and have come up with a great Covid friendly fundraising event for this year. Please see the following note on behalf of the PA.

The Parents’ Association is delighted to announce a fundraising collaboration with Mark Moriarty, the award-winning TV chef and a Hollypark boy himself. Mark is hosting a Lunchbox Cooking Competition for the pupils of Hollypark BNS with the amazing prize of a home cooking starter kit and a €150 voucher for Volpe Nera restaurant in Blackrock.

Mark Moriarty
Pictured: Mark Moriarty, past pupil Hollypark BNS

Mark has created a simple recipe and recorded a “how to” video to accompany it. A payment request will be issued via Aladdin tomorrow with a cost of €10.50. Please note that this is only a suggested price and that you have the option to either raise or lower the amount.

The link to Mark’s video will be sent out to all purchasers on June 4th and it can be viewed any time before the competition closing date of June 11th. All competitors should recreate the recipe and send a photo to the Parents’ Association at hollyparkboyspa@gmail.com.

All funds raised will go towards the creation of the Sensory Pathway/Trim Trail which will be built in the school garden.

This is a fun competition for a very good cause so we hope that as many families as possible will enter and enjoy Mark’s lovely recipe.

Many thanks, Jo-Ann Durnin PA Chairperson

TRIM TRAILS

Trim Trails (sensory trails) are a series of individual stations scientifically designed to provide a range of exercise, gross motor skill development and movement breaks to children. Stations include balance beams, sit-up bars, chin-up bars, parallel bars, and more challenging stations such as pole climbs and ladder walks. Trails can include stations for the upper body, lower body, balance & coordination and climbing/jumping equipment designed to test the whole body.

Trim Trail

Thank you to the Parents’ Association and to our past pupil Mark for supporting this project. It is sure to add to the holistic development of each pupil in our school. Our Trim Trail equipment will be particularly beneficial to children with additional needs. We will give you a further update in the coming weeks.

STANDARDISED TESTING

Standardised testing is one method of assessment we use in Hollypark BNS. Boys from 2nd -6th have completed their English tests and are preparing for maths this week. The information below is from the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment which was sent to all schools this week.

Standardised Test

6TH CLASS CEREMONY OF LIGHT

Our virtual Ceremony of Light will take place on Thursday 27th at 7pm. A Zoom link will be sent in the coming days.

ADVERTISING ON THE NEWSLETTER

If any parent or member of the school community would be interested in advertising their business on the Wednesday letter, please send an email to the Parents’ Association at hollyparkboyspa@gmail.com with the subject header “Advertising”.

UPCOMING WEBINARS

I have attached the details of upcoming webinars that might interest our school community.

Supporting Children to become Critical Learners
Getting ready for Secondary School

SPORTS DAY AND SCHOOL VISITS

Sports days and school visits will go ahead this year, albeit a slightly different format to other years. Mr. Moloney will lead the sports day with every class participating within their class bubble. All events will take place on the Astro pitch. Unfortunately, we cannot invite parents this year but hopefully normal service will resume next year. School visit preparations have begun and class teachers will be in touch with you when details are finalised. Most tours this year will be in house and the tour will be coming to visit us rather than us visiting the tour! Both events promise to be special!

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FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS

This week’s skill is jumping for distance or the horizontal jump. This involves jumping forwards as far as possible from two feet, landing on two feet. This jump is important in identifying a pupil’s ability to use timing and rhythm to successfully coordinate both legs and arms, which dictates the distance of the jump. Jumping for distance plays a considerable role in many playground games such as hopscotch and is a core skill of both gymnastics and dance. It is also a baseline skill used in a range of sport specific activities such as long jump, triple jump and aquatics.

To access a video showing the correct technique for jumping for distance, please click here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!

Happy Birthday

This week is a special week for these boys.

Mason Legaspi, Zach Sherriff, Cormac Buckley, Arnie O’ Shea, Zachary O’ Leary-Ryan, Oisín Walsh, James Barry, Cóme Schwerer, Abderrahman Jerbi, Tom Homan agus Roman Geyger.

We wish you a happy birthday boys!

GREEN SCHOOL

Last week, we celebrated World Bee Day and our committee continued to sow wildflower seeds in our school grounds. This week, to celebrate Biodiversity Week, the same boys are participating in the School Backyard BioBlitz organised by the Heritage Council. Our 3rd classes participated in a Zoom call with heritage specialist Paula Farrell last Monday. After the Zoom call the boys were full of knowledge and went in search of plant and animal life around the school grounds. Under the watchful eye of Ms. Quealy, the boys found lots of living species including a family of squirrels. The search continues during the week and a full report will be available for submission to the Heritage Council. Well done boys, keep up the great work.

World bee day
Bioblitz Challenge

MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING

We continually encourage our boys to participate in sport and exercise. You do not have to be a member of a team to feel the benefits of exercise on your mental health and wellbeing. For many years, ‘Fitness’ has been a subject as part of our homework. For the month of June, we will once again place a huge focus and emphasis on this part of our hidden curriculum. Boys, please see the information below as to the many benefits sport and exercise has on our lives.

Sport and Mental Health

For more information visit www.mentalhealthireland.ie

BOOKLISTS

All booklists and insurance forms were sent home last week. To order your books through the school, you can pay online via Aladdin, by cheque or by cash. Please return booklist form and insurance form to your class teacher.

STAR OF THE FUTURE

Andrew Clancy, 6th class has talent! This lovely picture was snapped in Cabinteely Park. Taking photographs became a lockdown hobby for Andrew and his work is stunning. Well done Andrew, please continue to share your images with us.

Bird

DOGS

Many families have recently purchased dogs during lockdown. Dog owners have been very responsible in not letting dogs onto the school property. When walking your dog around the school, we ask that you keep the dogs close to you as the leads are causing trip hazards for our children walking on the paths.

LOST AND FOUND

The jewellery below was found by our 3rd class boys last week in Granada pitches. We would love to re-unite it with the owners.

Ring Found

Beir bua agus beannacht,

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B. O’Donovan
26.05.2021