Halloween '23 Newsletter
School News
We have a number of new members of staff in Scoil Thomáis and we hope that they too have settled into life in the school. A special welcome to Ms Brady, Mr Kelly, Ms Waldron, and Ms Callaghan as well as SNAs Lorraine and Laura.
We hope that all of you have a wonderful mid-term break and return in November feeling refreshed and ready for the second half of this busy school term!
Ms Diffley, Principal
It has been a few weeks since we came back to school, and we are all so pleased to see that the pupils have all settled back into the routine of school and are excited to learn. We are particularly delighted that our pupils in Room 6A have settled in so well. We are proud of the progress that all of our pupils have made so far this year.
Parent Teacher meetings will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, the 22nd and 23rd of November.
Dates and times will be available to book on Aladdin after the mid-term break.
Mick and Tony have been busy tidying the school grounds over the summer and the school is looking great as a result! They have also been busy decorating the outdoor classroom for our pupils for Halloween.
The annual Book Fair will take place in the school hall on the 22nd and 23rd of November
In order to promote positive mental health and wellbeing in Scoil Thomáis, we have decided to take part in the Amber Flag Initiative. Successful completion of the Amber Flag initiative involves the whole school community coming together in order to create a safe, positive and healthy attitude towards our general physical and mental health and well-being. We look forward to hearing plans from the Amber Flag Committee in the coming weeks. In the meantime, all classes have been assigned a paired class. The idea is to help pupils get to know each other to build friendships and empathy among different age groups.
With the change in the weather, we’d like to remind parents that shorts are not permitted as part of the school uniform between November and March.
Shared reading with Room 11 and Room 24
Pupils from 3rd to 6th Class joined Father Damien and Father Brendan for a prayer service to celebrate the beginning of the school year in September. Prayers for the service were inspired by the Season of Creation.
The school’s annual admissions notice and enrolment policy will be published on the school website in December.
We recently updated our display in the school foyer. This fun thematic showcase of pupils’ work will be updated each month and makes for a bright, warm and welcoming addition to our school. October’s art has been made by pupils in Ms Foley, Ms Hevehan and Mr O’Mahony’s 4th Classes
Pupils in 5th Class recently enjoyed the opportunity to campaign in the Student Council elections. We wish the newly elected members lots of luck as they begin to work with Ms Lenihan and the existing members of the Student Council. We’re looking forward to hearing their new ideas for the school!
Board of Management Report
There will be a new Board of Management formed in the coming weeks, and this new Board is due to operate from 2023 until 2027.
A review of Child Safeguarding Statement, Risk Assessment, our Anti-Bullying & Child Protection documents is taking place this term and the current BOM will conduct the annual reviews at its' final meeting at the end of November.
The following policies were ratified at the September meeting of the Board of Management
- Intimate Care and Toileting Policy for Pupils with Specific Needs
- First Aid Policy
The following updates to Curriculum Plans were also approved
- English
- PE
- Music
- Art
- SESE
The Board of Management approved the following projects for funding
- Cubbie
- Buddy Benches
- Maths Resources
- Pupil Workshops
Maths Week 2023
Scoil Thomáis celebrated Maths Week in October. There were lots of activities across the week. Pupils from Junior Infants to Sixth Class really enjoyed the activities organised by Ms Travers and Ms Boyce. Here is a shared Maths Trail between 2nd Class and 5th Class.
Well done to our Maths Week Competition Winners!
Parents Association News
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported our fundraising activities over the last year. We are absolutely thrilled to say that we have been able to purchase a vital piece of equipment for our pupils with additional needs. We are really looking forward to the installation of our CUBBIE on the 7th of November.
Thank you for all of your support for the Fundraiser Lotto so far. Our weekly draw winners have been delighted with their prizes! You can support the fundraiser by visiting
The PA recently coordinated the purchase of named hoodies for our pupils in 6th Class as a special memento of their final year in Scoil Thomáis.
Christmas cards for the pupils have been sent to the printer - thank you so much to the pupils for their beautiful work and to the parents for supporting this annual fundraiser by the PA
There was a great response to the 'Bag2School' collection in September.A big thank you to all the staff and families for donating items! The collection raised €367.20 for Pieta House.
Many thanks to everyone who supported our Halloween Bake Sale, Cake Competition and Raffle today. We really appreciate your support and the pupils really enjoyed their morning selecting cakes and treats to enjoy at home!
Sports in Scoil Thomáis
Well done to the Senior Girls football team on all games played this year in Cumann na mBunscol
Pupils in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th are currently training at lunchtimes on Tuesday and Thursdays in advance of the Cross Country races that will take place in the early new year.
Pupils from 4th Class have been enjoying cricket lessons recently.
Pupils in 5th and 6th Class have recently enjoyed rugby lessons with James from Leinster Rugby. 5th Class were luck enough to participate in a rugby blitz down in Coolmine Rugby Club. Despite being unlucky with the weather, pupils got a good flavour of rugby, playing matches against a variety of other schools. Lessons with James will continue after the midterm break for a number of weeks.
A huge well done to our Senior Boys Football team who played incredibly well against a very tough opposition St Brigid's BNS in Foxrock. It just wasn't the boys' day but they should be really proud of themselves for making it to Croke Park and for representing Scoil Thomáis so brilliantly. It was a fantastic team performance. It’s clear that this isn’t the last time that the boys will be in Croke Park - next time many of them will represent their secondary schools and maybe even their county!
Thank you to coaches Mr Duffy, Mr O'Mahony and Mr O'Doherty for bringing the boys on so well!
Here’s to more success for our school Hurling and Camogie teams in the new year!
Pupils in 2nd and 3rd Classes have been enjoying GAA coaching each Thursday with Coach Conor from Castleknock GAA Club. Other classes will be catered for in the next block after midterm.
Classroom News
The school hall was abuzz with excitement on Monday the 23rd of October as the pupils of 5th Class set up their Mini Scientist exhibition in anticipation of the judges visit to the school on Tuesday the 24th of October. The children have been working on their Intel Mini Scientist Project entries for the last few weeks both at home and in school.
The pupils really enjoyed showing off their projects to the judges when they visited! They took a long time to make their decision, speaking to each project group and asking lots of questions.
Ms Folan, Ms O'Keeffe and Ms Smith are very proud of the hard work, time and effort that their pupils have put into their projects so even though Intel judges had to choose one winning project, all of the pupils are winners in their teachers' eyes! Maith sibhse a pháistí!
Pupils in 3rd and 4th Classes had a visit from our community Garda, Garda Barry, to speak about Halloween and how to be safe at this time of year.
We really appreciate the Gardaí coming in to speak to our pupils about this important topic!
Our pupils with additional needs have been enjoying the use of the Zen Den with their SNAs this term
Senior Infants have been enjoying roleplaying in the Pizza Parlour as part of the Aistear work being done in classes this month. They even got to make and eat their own real pizzas as part of the fun!
Mr Ryan’s 2nd Class and Ms O’Keeffe’s 5th Class are taking part in the REBEL project. This is a blended learning project that takes place between now and the end of November. The pupils will be exploring the use of technology and online platforms to help enrich the teaching and learning already taking place in class.
4th Class pupils have been learning all about the Romans. These are some of the fantastic projects from MS Foley’s class.
Pupils in 3rd Class got experience a fantastic Forest Schools workshop led by Ciara Hinksman. It was a fantastic opportunity to explore nature down in Laurel Lodge Green.
The pupils in Room 12 have been enjoying ‘Friendly Fridays’ this year. Recently, for one of their friendly Fridays, the children created ‘kindness trees’ for each other. The children picked a random name from a hat and got started! First, they brainstormed different adjectives on the board to describe each other and wrote them on the leaves. Then they designed and cut out the tree trunks. Finally, everyone exchanged their trees and gave each other a kind message. What a lovely idea!
Enjoy a selection of Autumnal and Halloween themed art from our classes!
Happy Halloween!
Scoil Thomáis reopens on November 6th at 9am
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