Dear Parents,
As we come to the month of June we should take a moment to reflect about the wonderful achievements we have experienced in the past year. The progress that each child has made is incredible. It has been a joy to be able to support that growth, seeing each and every one of them grow and flourish. There have been not only academic achievements but also in competition, debating and sports. This is in addition to the many personal achievements our pupils have experienced in our classes since September. We could not do this without your ongoing support for the school community, Parents’ Association, pupils and staff.
Over the summer holidays the school will be having a ‘facelift’ and we plan to celebrate this and our many accomplishments in September. We will let you know the plans closer to the time.
Rackard League
Davidstown/Courtnacuddy Girls Rackard League team had a convincing win in the district semi-final yesterday against Blackwater. They are now through to the district final. Many thanks to Ms O’Shea for managing the team. We wish Ella, Stephanie and all the girls the very best of luck in the district final.
Athletics
Our pupils put in a brilliant performance at the athletics in the Hub in Enniscorthy. We had a number of runners in the final rounds with Fionn Andrews bringing home a bronze medal in the 100m! Well done Fionn! Many thanks to the mams and dads who came to help and support.
Hurling 365 is off to a great start. It’s not too late to join us on Monday morning at 8.30. Please let me know if you need a permission slip.
Parents’ Association
Thank you to all our pupils, parents and local businesses who supported our Race Night. A special word of thanks must go to the phenomenal work that the Parents’ Association and Race Night Committee put in to the preparation for the night and the night itself. It was a tremendous success raising €10,130! We are delighted to say that the funds have been raised to paint the school over the summer holidays.
Tractor Run
We had great weather for the tractor run and threshing a few weeks ago. Many thanks to Bill Nolan for organising the day and to all who took part. The €775 raised has been used to purchase math and science equipment.
Green Schools
We are delighted to announce that An Taisce have awarded us with the Green Schools Flag for Water! This is a tremendous achievement for our Green Schools Committee and Ms. Crean, who led the charge in obtaining the Green Flag. The amount of work that they put into the award was incredible and all our pupils should be commended for their enormous effort and dedication. The official presentation of the Award in Kilkenny can be seen on our Facebook page.
Debating
We wish the very best of luck to our Davidstown Community Games debating team in the All-Ireland final. The team made up of David, Gavin and Michael will be debating this weekend and we know they will put in a fantastic performance. Many thanks to Claire Doyle, their mentor, for the hours and work she has dedicated to helping the boys prepare for the finals.
Digital School of Distinction
We are ever so proud of our school in being chosen as a Digital School of Distinction. We had a visit from the validator from the Department of Education and received high praise for both teacher and pupil use of ICT to enrich the teaching and learning in our school. He was particularly impressed with our focus to ensure our pupils are creators and not consumers of ICT as well as the active methodologies that we use in our lessons. Our school has been invited to work with the European Schools of Distinction next year. It is a tremendous achievement for our school in such a short space of time.
Discover Primary Science and Math Award of Excellence
Another award winging its way to Davidstown is the DPS Award of STEM Excellence! This is an award only given to schools who excel in the teaching and learning in math and science. We received a glowing report about the work we did for the award, all of which you can see on our website under ‘pupil activities’.
Gardening
Now that the weather is starting to get better we have begun to work on our school vegetable patch and garden. You may have noticed some changes outside the front of the school. Our pupils have some wonderful ideas for the front flower bed and of course yellow and red will be the feature strongly. Many thanks to all who have already helped and have volunteered to help with preparing the front and side garden patch.
First Holy Communion
Our 2nd Class pupils will be making their First Holy Communion on Saturday at 11.00 in St David’s Church. They have put in so much effort to prepare for this day and we hope that they and their families have a wonderful day. Thank you to Ms Doyle and Sr Elizabeth for all their work in helping to prepare the boys and girls for this special day.
Important Dates
25/05 School will be closed for teacher training in the incoming new language curriculum.
26/05 2nd Class will celebrate First Holy Communion
4/06 June bank holiday
12/06 School Tours
20/06 School Sports Day
21/06 End of Year Mass
22/06 6th Class Graduation
29/06 Summer Holidays – finish at 12.00