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Dear Parents,
Christmas 2020 is going to be very different for us all this year, but particularly for the children in our community. Many of the girls may not be able to visit relatives and friends as they usually would, and many of our families have lost loved ones over the last few months, so Christmas will be particularly tough this year. We as a community, also need to be aware that many households have had a very tough year because of the impact Covid19 has had on family income etc, so could I please ask that you have a chat with your daughters about being mindful of others when they are discussing their Christmas ‘wish list’ etc. However, fear not! We are going to try our very best to make Christmas 2020 as amazing as possible for the wonderful children in OLV Girls’ School. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to have a Christmas Concert, and we won’t be having a Christmas raffle, however what we are going to have is lots of FUN (whilst also continuing with our usual teaching and learning)!!!!! We have decided to have four different themes for the weeks of December and each week we have an exciting event planned and will support a different local charity. I am very conscious that Christmas is an extremely expensive time of year for all families, particularly those with many mouths to feed, however we would like to encourage the children to learn to count their blessings and pass on good will to others this Christmas season. The Board of Management will cover the costs of many aspects of our Christmas celebrations, and will not be asking for any contributions to the school this Christmas. We would encourage you to ask children to take on some extra jobs around the house over the next few weeks to earn some pocket money that they could use to get involved in all our fantastic plans. We are asking families to get involved in the following ways:
All my best wishes to you and yours this Christmas season, Lorna Greene School Principal Here is our schedule of events for December, some of the items may need to be reorganised depending on the weather! Week 1: Walking in a Winter Wonderland Tuesday 1st December: Classroom Door Decorating Competition Begins Wednesday 2nd December: Walking in a Winter Wonderland- please wear school tracksuit!!! A walk around the neighbourhood in Christmas Hats, scarves, gloves, glasses, hair bands, zogabongs etc. Hot Chocolate for all on our return to the school. Thursday 3rd December: Christmas Jumper Day 1, in aid of the Butcher’s account for Ballymun Soup Kitchen. Donation per family: €1 Week 2: Christmas Lights Monday 7th December: Classroom Christmas Door Judging by Special Guest Tuesday 8th December: OLV Girls’ School Christmas Lights Ceremony Thursday 10th December: Christmas Jumper Day 2, in aid of the two nursing homes we are linking in with- First Care Nursing Home, Beneavin Road and Northwood Nursing Home, Santry. Donation per family: €1 Friday 11th December: Christmas Door Winners Announced- prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. Week 3: Santa’s Grotto Monday 14th December: Last day for donations to our Shoe Box Appeal for our four charities. Tuesday 15th December: Christmas Carols in the Yard Wednesday 16th December: Visit to our very own Santa’s Grotto on the second floor, magically brought to life by Ms Rooney and Ms Harvey. Gift for every child. Thursday 17th December: Christmas Jumper Day 3, in aid of Balseskin Reception Centre, St Margaret’s. Donation per family: €1 Friday 18th December: Final day for Kris Kindle presents to be brought to school. Week 4: Panto!!!!!!!!!!! Monday 21st December: Helix Panto Online: The Sword in the Stone approx 10am. Kris Kindle present exchange after big break. Tuesday 22nd December: Last day of school. OLV Girls’ School closes at 11.30am. Christmas clothes and treats allowed, no share bags please, no school lunches provided. 
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We know that this year Halloween will be very different from what we are used to- no visiting families, no trick or treating and no community events to attend. We will endeavor to make the last day of school before our Mid-Term break as fun as possible in the school. One thing won't change- we will hold our annual dress-up day for the girls! Unfortunately we will not be able to have our usual Halloween assembly in the school hall, however at today's Staff Meeting we will discuss our options, which may include the children parading around the school yard (weather permitting) or the school corridors. The teachers will also have some fun in their classrooms with fantastic art and games planned. We might even have a whole school karaoke over the intercom! We would encourage you to dress the children up in a 'school-friendly' costume- nothing revealing or anything they will be cold in. I am a HUGE fan of homemade costumes, so please don't feel you have to purchase anything for the occasion- it is amazing how far a onesie or a few cardboard boxes can go! I would like to thank you most sincerely for your support over the last few months. As you can imagine myself and the staff have been under huge pressure in the current circumstances. Your carefulness around your children's mild symptoms in particular, is gratefully acknowledged, and I thank you for keeping them home from school when they were feeling unwell. Thank you so much for helping to keep the staff, our extended vulnerable family members, and all in the school community safe. As we move into a second lockdown, we do not know what lies in store for us, and that can be very tough on all of our mental health. What I will say to you is that we are determined to keep Our Lady of Victories Girls' School open, if that is what is advised by NPHET and the Department of Education. In order to do so, we must do whatever we can to keep Covid19 from entering the school and I encourage you to monitor your daughter's health as you usually do. Do not send your daughter to school if she is displaying even very mild symptoms of Covid19 (available on HSE website). Please can I ask you again to wear a mask when collecting your daughter from the pedestrian gate as it is not possible to maintain 2m distance as the space is so small. This will protect all in the school community. In the event that the school receives communication from the HSE that a class or some pods in a class need to restrict their movements, we have a plan in place to deliver remote learning. This can be read here Policies. I wish you all the very best for the coming weeks. I know that many of you will be feeling anxious about what is to come. Please be assured that your wellbeing is as important to us as that of your daughter's. If you need to speak to anyone in the school, please do not hesitate to contact the office on 01-8379833 and we will assist you in any way we can. Claire Thomas our HSCL teacher is also available on 0874152165, if the office phone is busy. Myself and the staff will be taking a well deserved break for the Halloween mid-term and we will be fresh and ready to tackle whatever may face us on 2nd November. Stay safe, stay well and look after each other. With my warmest wishes, Lorna Greene School Principal We were delighted to celebrate Ballymun Kickhams reaching the Dublin Senior Championship Final, we all wore red and green to school on Friday 25th September. We even featured on the live TG4 broadcast of the final on Sunday 27th September. Please see below for the date of your daughter's concert. The concert will start at 12.45pm sharp and should be over by 1.45pm. For health and safety reasons pupils may not be collected until the concert is completely over. The girls will need time after the concert to exit the stage safely and change clothes etc. Following this the girls will be accompanied out to the school yard by their teachers and can be collected from there if you so wish. Supervision will be provided for all girls until the usual time of 2.30pm if parents are returning to work after the concert.
I would ask that wherever possible pre-school children, babies and toddlers are not brought to the concert- we have very limited space for buggies and children of such young ages can find the noise levels and crowds distressing. Tuesday 17th December: 12.45pm Room 5- Ms Holden Room 3- Ms Behan Rooms 2 + 7- Ms Farrell-McCabe and Ms Haughton Room 4- Ms O Dea Wednesday 18th December: 12.45pm Room 10- Ms Callinan Room 8- Ms Smith Room 9- Ms Bourke Room 1 + 6- Ms Cassidy and Ms Farrell Costumes: The following note was sent out on Monday 9th December: We have made a considerable investment in costumes for our Christmas Concert over the past number of years- over €1,200 to date. We are requesting that the girls wear certain items to compliment the costumes. If you do not have these items at home perhaps you could borrow them from a family member or a friend in school who is on stage on a different day. 6th Class- Christmas jumper and jeans 5th Class- black tights and black/dark shoes with hair in a high pony tail 4th Class- thick red or green tights or red or green leggings with black/dark shoes with hair in a low pony tail 3rd Class- Narrators: white leggings (or two pairs of thick white tights) and long-sleeved white top with light coloured shoes, with hair in a bun. Ms Jingle’s class- to dress like Christmas exploded on them!!! Tinsel, headbands, jumpers etc. Mr Grump’s class- to dress in their uniforms with a Christmas T-shirt underneath if possible. Please send in any spare tinsel/headbands/glasses etc that Mr Grump’s class can dress up in. Ms Jingle and Mr Grump: please check with teachers. 2nd Class- Mouse: leggings and a top (any colour). Reindeers: black leggings or heavy black tights. Mr and Mrs Moore: Pyjamas. All other children: please wear red tights and a red top if possible. Please send your child to school WEARING these items on Monday 16th December for our dress rehearsal and again on the day of their concert- either Tuesday 17th or Wednesday 18th December. Raffle We are always looking for donations to the raffle and this year is no different. Please drop any contributions into the school office or to any member of staff on the yard. All proceeds of the raffle will go towards fundraising for new interactive whiteboards for the classrooms. We are really looking forward to showing off our talents and can't wait to welcome you on the day! Toady we celebrated Children's Day of Mission Prayer by hosting a prayer service over the intercom. Each class was represented by a member of their class. We said prayers for children all over the world.  The school is closed for students tomorrow Wednesday 2nd October, in order to facilitate training for teachers in the New Primary Language Curriculum.
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