I hope you are all well and enjoying the summer holidays. Please find attached a letter outlining our plan for returning to school.
We are really looking forward to welcoming the boys and girls back to school and I hope this plan helps alleviate any concerns you may have. This plan may change, depending on advice from NPHET and the Department of Education but we will keep you updated of any changes.
Please take time to read this letter carefully. There is a lot in it but it is important that we all play our part in enabling the school to re-open in a safe and sustainable manner. We will explain all these details to the children when we return to school.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at principal@presprimarythurles.ie or by phone on 083 0884122
There was a palpable sense of relief in the school hall as the 6th class pupils of 2020 gathered for the first time since that infamous date of the 12th March! It was an achievement in its own right to be in a position to celebrate this graduation and everyone present was grateful for the opportunity to mark end of primary school for the 21 girls in the class.
A video of images and memories from the Class of 2020
Class teacher, Margaret Healy presented the girls with a little graduation cap that contained some important symbols – a Smartie to remind them that they are smart, bubbles to remind them to have fun, chewing gum to remind them to stick together, a star to remind them of their own star qualities and a smiley face to remind them to smile. The girls also received a jigsaw of a class photo – jigsaws are hugely popular in the class.
The Parents Council also presented the girls with a Class of 2020 hoodie which can be seen in the photos. We were delighted to be joined by Sr. Evelyn and Sr. Monica from the Presentation Convent. We remembered our late friend Sr. Mary Paul on the night also.
A trip down memory lane
And so after an historic, challenging and productive year, our 21 girls move on to pastures new and we wish them every success. As Mr. Healy said on the night – we hope they cherish the great memories they shared in the Presentation Primary and know that the door of their primary school is always open!
A sense of normality prevailed as we welcomed back our first class boys to school today to mark their Graduation from Presentation Primary School. These 18 boys will now make the trip across town to join Scoil Ailbhe. The boys enjoyed a lovely morning together. They received their certificates, ate cake and ice-cream, played some socially distant soccer and then made the traditional walk up the Avenue to symbolise their departure to pastures new.
Graduation!
We wish them and their parents the very best and thank them for all they have given us during their time with us here in the Presentation. They will be greatly missed and we hope they cherish the memories of their first school.
The traditional ‘Walk up the Avenue’
Mr. Healy, Ms. Gleeson, Ms. Ryan and Lorraine all spoke to the boys in the hall and wished them well. Congratulations boys on your Graduation and go n-eirí an t-adh libh go léir.
We wish all our boys and girls, their parents and families, a very happy and safe summer holidays.
The past few months have been challenging but it also highlighted the great sense of team spirit, togetherness and friendship that exists here is the Presentation Primary. We look forward to welcoming you all back in September. Well done on all the school work completed at home over the past few weeks.
If you wish to contact us during the summer you can email us at info@presprimarythurles.ie, you can email me directly at principal@presprimarythurles.ie or you can call the school mobile on 0830884122.
This week teachers are setting work that is a little different and hopefully you are having some fun trying it!
We are looking forward to see you (if only from a distance!) all on Tuesday next when you drop back the book rental books. Please gather up all the school books your teacher has asked for and bring them to school on Tuesday between 10am and 1pm.
Here are some of this weeks photos.
Jack was doing a science experiment on Sound
Faye and Quin built a tower!
Dean and Lauren enjoyed an ice cream soda – yum!
Samuel made butter.
Faye and Quin did a blind taste test.
Emma Jane went on a mini-beast hunt.
Karlo enjoyed the strawberries – but not the stinky cheese!
Ali and his sister were marking Ramadan together.
Cillian also tried the blindfold taste test.
Evie did one of the last pages in her Maths book – wohoo!
Sinéad was learning all about money.
This is Kayla’s taste test.
Finally I will leave you with this fabulous video which Sadie made for you. It is a wonderful insight into how turf is cut, saved, footed and gathered. This is an art that will soon become a thing of the past. Thanks Sadie for sharing this with us!
And so we near the finish line! There is only one week of hard work remaining and I can’t express how proud I am of all our boys and girls who have been working so well at home over the past number of weeks. It was great today to hear our Taoiseach speak of our country re-opening and we heard some lovely words of encouragement especially for the children of Ireland from Minister Simon Harris. I hope those words fill you with hope for a return to normality and we just can’t wait to see you all in September in our beautiful school.
Here is a sample of the photos that have been sent in this week. Well done on all this amazing work!
Some of our Sixth Class girls recreated this masterpiece – The Girl with the Pearl Earring.
Others were inspired by VanGogh’s Bedroom and painted their own room.
First Class enjoyed this science experiment – it’s worth trying!
Ciara has been busy this week!
Karlo was learning all about Ladybirds.
Evie enjoyed listening to Eric Carle’s story ‘The Bad Tempered Ladybird’ before she began working through her sounds book.
Faye had a very busy week baking, learning her sight words and making a ladybird – well done Faye!
Tyler has this wonderful word wall to practice his tricky words.
This is Cillian’s ladybird.
Aoife wrote some super sentences about ladybirds before creating her her Ladybird collage.
Hanna drew these geometric flowers – very cool!
Mya found this snail as part of the third class Scavenger hunt.
Laura found these lovely flowers as part of the hunt.
This robin came to visit Mary for lunch!
Ellen drew this lovely picture of a ladybird.
This is Sinéad’s beautiful ladybird shape picture.
Bronagh has been keeping active by following guided dances
Nicole also enjoyed a guided dance.
Ali did great work this week too. – well done.
Saoirse was very creative this week designing a dress and making some Nature Art.
Well done again everyone – I may add more here later during the weekend so please continue to send them in.
As we enter the final month of this most challenging of school years. We can only be grateful for all that we have at this time and say thank you to everyone who has helped us locally and nationally through the past couple of months.
Before I share some recent photos with you, here are some updates on our current situation.
Teachers will continue to mark school work up until Friday, 12th June. We ask that everyone continues with the great work that has been done for these last few days. We assure you that the work is important and will stand to each child on their return to school next September.
Speaking of returning to school, we eagerly await an announcement from Minister for Education, Joe McHugh, which is due shortly in relation to how we will return to school in September. There are many theories, rumours and guesses as to what school will look like in September but we ask you to be patient and we will inform you of our decisions and plan once the government advise us on what is permissible. In the meantime, if you do have concerns please feel free to contact me via email at principal@presprimarythurles.ie. Rest assured that we will be doing everything in our power to have the children return to school as often as is allowed, in a manner where they feel safe, relaxed and a sense of normality.
Our plan for the week of June 15th to 19th is that teachers will plan and organise some fun activities. Again we encourage all parents to stay connected via Aladdin Connect and join in the fun!
We haven’t forgotten about a graduation ceremony either – we will be in touch once we have a clearer picture of what is appropriate following the June 8th Phase 2 re-opening.
End of Year Reports will be sent out as normal this year. These will be released via Aladdin Connect on Tuesday, 16th June. Anyone who wishes to have a paper copy can request one and collect it on June 23rd/24th.
Our final task will then be to gather the book rental books that the pupils are using at the moment and return to each of them their belongings from school. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 23rd and 24th June, we will arrange that all parents will return your child’s school books to the school and collect any final items, such as pencil cases, art work etc. We also hope to be in a position to hand out the GAA equipment which was purchased just before we closed.
Now that you are up to speed on all of that, here are some photos of the week gone by. First up some first class pupils who were on a materials hunt around the house!
Emma found something made of cotton.
Jack was also on the hunt for cotton!
Dean drew this lovely summer picture.
Jamie wrote a poem all about Summer based on the senses.
Odhran and his sister enjoyed some art and craft.
Michael was learning about birds and wrote about all the birds in his garden before drawing a beautiful picture of them.
Emma Jane was using pegs to learn about partitioning in Maths.
Cillian drew this lovely summer flower!
Karlo has the head down and is working so hard – well done!
Julia wrote this lovely story all about summer.
Samuel has been doing lots of Science experiments.
Ruby made this lovely picture.
Tyler has been working hard with his sounds and writing.
Firstly I want to say a big, big thank you to all of you for coming to collect your books in school on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was great to see you and chat about what you have been up to at home with your family. I was delighted to hear that you enjoyed our video message (sorry to hear it made some of you cry!) The video has now been viewed over 2000 times and we hope you continue to enjoy it a few more times!
As we near the end of the month of May, I’m sure some of you are finding it more difficult to get stuck into the work. But now that you have your school books, we hope it will be easier. We have only 3 weeks of school work left so lets keep it going and finish strong!
Here are some of the images from the past week!
First up is a collections of photos from 3rd class who used nature to produce some stunning art! This is definitely worth a look so click and enjoy!
Next up are our Junior Infants. This week they have been learning all about partitioning in Maths, Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and about wild flowers.
Ellen’s Flowers
Michael’s Giant Sunflower!
Emma Jane’s version of Van Gogh’s Sunflowers.
Cillian working on his Maths
Michael partitioning the number 5
Evie did this wonderful writing!
Ellen was also partitioning the number 5
Ryan working so hard he is on his hands and knees!
Nicole listening to Emma reading.
Claire wrote this super report about Aidan O’Shea. Look at that handwriting – wow!
Caitlín created this Solar System which is just out of this world!
And this is the start of Rachel’s story about a time machine. Again the handwriting is just fabulous – well done!
Mollie working on her online stories.
Thank you to all who sent in photos during the week.
Stay safe and feel free to scroll down for one more view of our video!
Here is a very special message which everyone at Presentation Primary School wants to share with the boys and girls at home.
We are very aware that being away from school is difficult and can be lonely for some so we hope this video brings a smile to their faces.
We look forward to seeing you all (if only for a brief minute!) on Tuesday and Wednesday next as we ask you to come to school to collect school books which will help with learning at home.
We are very grateful for all you are doing at home to help your child continue their learning. It has been amazing to see the level of interaction, communication and dedication to the work that is being set. We hope this video message can inspire our pupils to continue to work hard, to know that we miss them and to be confident that we will all see each other soon back in our wonderful school.
Thank you, take care and talk to us if we can help at home in any way.
Here is the video message, from all of us to all of you!
We start this post with a very special message from Ms. Ryan to those girls in our second class who should be making their First Holy Communion this Sunday.
Ms. Ryan with her Second Class girls.
To all the wonderful girls in 2nd Class, I will be thinking of you most especially this Sunday, 17th May 2020 on what would have been your Communion Day. I hope you still enjoy the day with your family in the knowledge that we have it all to look forward to! We will have a great day when we finally get to celebrate! With prayers for you all and a virtual hug. Ms Ryan.
Today…..
Today’s the day you should have been Getting up at dawn, To comb your hair, calm your nerves And put your new clothes on.
Today you should have found your pew Among the busy crowd. To join your hands, among your friends And say your prayers aloud.
Today you should have proudly stood At the altar in our Church. And received onto your heart Dear Jesus, who you love so much.
Today will not bring the Celebrations as expected. But this strange thing will pass, and bring A community more connected.
Today you must enjoy the time With those who love you dear, And look forward to your special day Which will come, don’t you fear.
We look forward to the day when we can celebrate this beautiful sacrament together.
Meanwhile there have been lots more lovely photos sent in this week. Here is a selection.
Samuel has been reading and writing every day!
Ryan looking very proud of his great work.
Ruby made her own butter as part of her Science work this week.
Dean completed his time capsule – well done!
Hanna made this very cute worm.
Junior Infants have been learning about birds.
Ruby created this 3D Blackbird.
Emma Jane sketched this bird.
Evie drew all the birds she saw in her garden.
Ali drew these beautiful birds.
Here is Evie enjoying her work.
Cillian busy at work.
Ellen drew a picture of the sounds you would hear at the Zoo.
Emma Jane made a musical shaker.
Kayla made this bright shaker.
And here is Lauren with her shakers.
We continue to celebrate the month of May, Mary’s months. Here is Cathal’s lovely May altar.
And finally, Sinead’s super colouring of this image of Mary.
Finally, Congratulations to Amy who won Thurles Leisure Centre’s art competition with this amazing picture.
