GORETTI NEWELL 

Goretti Newell has been awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope Francis

We are delighted to announce Goretti Newell, former principal of Hollypark BNS, has been awarded the Benemerenti Medal by Pope Francis for outstanding services to Parish Community, to Education and to Social Justice Initiatives.
Benemerenti medals are bestowed on individuals who have merited special recognition by the Holy See. The Medals are Pontifical decorations conferred on recipients for distinguished service to the Church.
Goretti has been involved in our Parish since 1978, as well as Donnybrook and Navan Road parishes. She has served as Teacher and Principal in Hollypark Boy’s school until her retirement in 2005. During this time she was appointed as Music Director/ Organist of Foxrock Parish Choir, and directed the choir for the International Eucharistic Congress 2012, and the World Meeting of Families 2018.
Goretti served as Chair of Foxrock Parish Pastoral Council for many years, and continues to work in Pastoral areas.
Her Services to Education are noteworthy-particularly in Special Education, and she was seconded to oversee the Schools programme for the Special Olympics World Games in Dublin in 2003.She also worked closely with CPSMA. Goretti was a Dept. of Education Board nominee to the Cross Border Middletown Centre for Autism which was set up as a result of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.

In the area of Social Justice, she has raised funds and engaged in other pursuits for the homeless such as Merchants Quay Ireland, Peter McVerry Trust and the Zulu Missions in Durban South Africa.
The award was presented by his Eminence Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of the Archdiocese of Durban in South Africa at 11.30 Mass on Sunday 11th June.

We are very proud of Goretti and her achievements. We extend our congratulations to her and her family at this wonderful time.   

SPORTS DAY

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Newtown+Park/@53.2860429,-6.1749384,17.25z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x4867095d30d7b9c5:0xca043e8590781794!8m2!3d53.2855776!4d-6.1734044!16s%2Fg%2F11ffl_v_39?entry=ttuW 

We would like to invite you to join us in MOUNT ALBANY at the following times:

Some gentle reminders to ensure the smooth running of Sports Day.

• There are no dogs allowed at Sports Day. 
• Please stay outside designated ropes, in parents' area. Stay off the track, be mindful that your child has to stay with his class at all times. 
• Make sure children have sun cream on before leaving home in the morning.

Please be mindful that not all families and school staff want to be in photographs. Please, only take photographs with prior consent. 

STAR OF THE FUTURE

Congratulations to Daniel Maloney, Ms. Flannery's 3^rd Class. He is pictured at Lough Derg Yacht Club in Dromineer, Co. Tipperary, holding the Webb Memorial Plate which he won on the June Bank Holiday weekend, sailing in a competition with his mum, dad and sister. The Plate was first competed for in 1901.

THE LUNCH BAG

A reminder to parents/guardians, Hollypark BNS uses The Lunch Bag service for ordering freshly prepared lunches to your children. We will use the service again from September. There have been a few new additions to the service which you can read about below. 

What is different about this new update?
From feedback, we have introduced the following improvements for our paying customers. 

Families will now be able to order up until 4pm the day before a lunch is due! This late ordering gives parents greater flexibility on ordering.

However, for best value, we are encouraging users to place their orders early!

For the best value:

• Order before midnight, 36 hours before lunch is due.
• Orders made going forward will be live paid for. (No more noon wallet deduction)
• If you wish, you can cancel/edit an order before midnight (36 hours before lunch due) and your Wallet will be automatically refunded
• Repeat orders will generate at midnight 36 hours before lunch due
• Orders made after midnight (the day before lunch due) cannot be altered

For those that choose to order between midnight and 4pm (the day before lunch is due) a surcharge of 15% will be added.
What else is new?

• Families can put in different orders for up to 30 days!
• Families can order from a favourites list of their past orders
• Children receive XP points to save for a special surprise!

We have put considerable work into designing and improving our app and service and we really hope that you enjoy the new developments!

Thank you so much for all your loyalty to date and we hope you enjoy the last few weeks of lunch ordering before we hand it all back to you for the summer months!!

The Lunch Bag Team 

MOBILE PHONES

Mobile phones and smart devices are getting a lot of media attention at present. A reminder to all that we have a mobile phone policy in place in our Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) published on our website. https://hollyparkbns.ie/our-school/policies/acceptable-usage-policy-aup

The main points relating to mobile phones and related devices are:

5. Personal Devices

• Pupils are not allowed to have their mobile phones / personal devices/smart watch and related devices etc. in class / school.
• 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. The phone must remain off in the boy’s school- bag until he leaves the school grounds.
• Pupils are not allowed to take photographs / video clips / audio clips in the school grounds.
• The school accepts no responsibility for the loss or damage to personal devices.
• Any home school communication during school time from a pupil is through the school telephone in the secretary’s office

Reuben, the entertainer.ie has written a show called 'Hacked' where he teaches of the dangers associated with mobile phone use. The Parents' Association have invited Reuben to perform his show to 5th and 6th class boys and their girls' school counterparts on Tuesday, June 20th. The BNS will host the event. A brief outline of the show as follows:

“The 'Hacked' show teaches the students how phones and social media manipulate your emotions to get you addicted. Social media and phones (and gaming consoles) also make people more likely to bully others due to people feeling anonymous whilst using them. Despite the subject matter, the show is interactive and very funny - the goal is to have the kids learn through experiments and funny situations. I have a collection of old devices like a Playstation 1, an iPhone 1 and older style cameras to show them how technology has changed over the years. The show also highlights how phones 'warp' your view of reality with filters using experiments where the students get to view the world in an usual way”