Thursday 26th September is SNA Appreciation Day. It is a day when we stop and remember our Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) who play such an important part in the lives of so many of our pupils. From the moment the pupils arrive to the last farewell at the end of the day, our SNAs work behind the scenes helping, supporting, listening, encouraging and working with our pupils to do and achieve the best they can.

Let us take a moment to say ” Thank You” to Ms. Phelan, Ms. O Brien, Ms. Duke. Ms Norris, Ms Cheevers, Ms Butler and Mr. Phelan. for all they do as they work with loyalty, commitment and kindness, given so generously to the pupils in our school.

The corridors were buzzing with excitement in anticipation of Wonka this week! Pupils from Fifth and Sixth Class were busy putting the finishing touches to their musical before showtime!

On Wednesday 12th June all classes were lucky enough to get to watch a performance of Wonka and it was evident from all the smiles, cheers and clapping that the show was a huge success. Parents, families and friends filled the hall on the nights of 12th and 13th June from where, lots more cheering and clapping were heard.

The work and dedication that went into this event is a testament to our great staff and pupils. Ms. McKeon organised a competition to design the programme and congratulations to Valentina and Ana for their winning designs. An extra big thank you to Mrs McAra, Ms. Duke and Ms. Fortune for their wonderful guidance in the preparation of Wonka. Super helpers backstage made everything run smoothly so a big thank you to them too.

A great buzz along with some lovely aromas were wafting from the school hall recently! In preparation for their school musical, 5th and 6th classes ran their Bake Sale fundraiser on Wednesday 29th May. Along with the bake sale there was a ‘Guess How Many Jellies in the Jar’ competition and some extra special cakes to be won in the raffle. All classes took their turn to participate in this fun event. The Bake Sale was a huge success we thank you for your support. Next on the list is the school musical ‘Willy Wonka Junior’. Exciting times ahead!

Our school won an Olympic ambassador visit in a competition with the Dare to Believe programme. As a result, Phil Healy will be visiting the school during the month of May.

Pupils from First to Sixth Class who qualify for the county track and field championships will be competing in the RSC on May 14th.

On 23rd April, 10 pupils from Mrs McAra’s Fifth Class travelled to Kilkenny to present their project ‘Celebrating Diversity’. All pupils in the class worked very hard this year researching, recording, compiling and presenting their findings on this topic. The opportunity to travel to Kilkenny and meet with pupils from other schools was wonderful. The girls presented their project with confidence and it was clear to see how proud they were of all their hard work. A huge well done to all pupils in the class and an extra well done to Mrs McAra who worked tirelessly since the beginning of project. Congratulations!

Click here to listen to Emma introducing ‘Challenge to Change – Celebrating Diversity’

Viktoria will be heading off to Lourdes this Easter with The Irish Pilgrimage Trust. A fund raising ‘Odd Sock Day’ and coffee morning were organised for this trip. A cheque for €475 was presented to Nicola from The Irish Pilgrimage Trust on 21st March. We wish Viktoria the best of luck and look forward to hearing all about her trip after the holidays.

We are a School of Sanctuary! On  February 21st 2024, we became the first primary school in Waterford to be recognized as a School of Sanctuary! We are so proud of our wonderful school community.

A school of sanctuary is a place that is safe, welcoming and inclusive for all, but especially for those who are seeking refuge, or those that are most in need.

The day began with a school assembly where we celebrated our special school community, our own little world. Our SoS ambassadors chose some special gifts that they felt represented our school and shared the meaning behind them. We heard two beautiful songs from our wonderful Peace Proms choir & some gorgeous poems from our students. We finished the assembly with our school song ‘You’ve Got A Friend In Me’.

Our SoS ambassadors showed our visitors around the wonderful displays in our school hall & then took them on a tour around the school. We then brought our visitors to visit some of our classes, to hear what makes our school so special.

The visitors commented on the wonderful atmosphere in our school and how truly special the students were!

Take a minute to read our lovely report here:

School of Sanctuary – Report

The girls were involved in Peace Proms 2024 in the SETU Arena on the 3rd of March. They put in an exceptional amount of hard work and dedication. We have been learning songs since September and all our hard work and effort paid off as we had a fantastic performance on the day. We all thoroughly enjoyed this experience and will remember it forever.

As part of our Wellbeing Week and School of Sanctuary recognition process, we will welcome a team of eight monitors to our school, to meet with some of our students and staff. The theme is ‘Welcome to our World Wednesday’ and the aim is to give an insight into our wonderful class/school community.

There will be a short gathering in the hall, from 2nd – 6th Class on Wednesday 21st February where we will have the countries of our school projects on display, some art work, posters and poems. Pupils will give a little insight about the event, hear two songs from our Peace Proms choir (thank you 3rd Class!) and some poems from our  recent SoS competition.

You can view our school padlet here, which has been shared with the SoS monitors & showcases our SoS journey – https://padlet.com/PresentationPrimaryWaterford/presentation-primary-school-our-school-of-sanctuary-journey-a1nroyp40vft8th9

We celebrated Catholic Schools Week at the end of January. It was a lovely opportunity to remember that we are all part of a community – a community of faith. Pupils from Fifth and Sixth Class read a lovely reflection over the intercom each day. We had an extra special event for Grandparents’ Day. Pupils from Senior Infants performed two beautiful songs, read prayers and spoke about what they like doing with their grandparents or special people in their lives. A huge thank you to Mrs O’Neill, Mrs McCarthy and Mrs Mundy for this lovely occasion.

Listen to Senior Infants singing for all the Grannies and Grandads! Today’s for You! and We Sing a Song to Brigid