**School closure update and important information for next few weeks**
5th May 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians,
You are probably aware by now that all schools will be closed for the rest of the school year and will not reopen until the beginning of the next school year.
The daily email from your child's class teacher will continue and we are also implementing the Seesaw online educational platform. Please feel free to send photos of activities your children have been doing during the closure and we will publish some of them in the classroom pages of the school website.
Thank you for your messages of support and I wish you and your children continued good health while the school is closed, and the staff hope to see everyone back in St. Mary's at the end of August.
Yours sincerely,
Fergus Lyons
Principal
History
Nestled at the foot of the Three Rock Mountain in the townland of Woodside, St. Mary's Woodside National School, Lamb's Cross, Sandyford, has a long history. The first school was built in 1841 on the site of a small country hospital and was replaced by the existing iconic, granite-faced building with the green steeple in 1936. As the Sandyford/Stepaside area has grown from a sleepy backwater to a bustling mixture of industrial and residential buildings, the population of the school has grown. As a result, a two storey modern extension incorporating a new entrance and hallway was added in 2011. Throughout the years, St. Mary's has always aimed at having a child-centred approach and a friendly atmosphere and despite the trebling of our pupil numbers in less than ten years, we still take pride in maintaining this ethos. Many generations have attended our school and, as we move ahead in the twenty first century, we look forward to welcoming many more!
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Our school stands proudly as the oldest Catholic school in Sandyford Parish and this Christian generosity of spirit serves us well as society in Ireland changes. The area the school serves has seen great changes in the profile of the population and this is reflected in our pupils. We have enrolled pupils from many countries and cultures around the world. This international intake has truly brought a great vibrancy to the life of the school community. In November 2014, the school was awarded the Yellow Flag for Incusion and Diversity, of which we are extremely proud.
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Flags
Flags have played a large part in the life of the school over the last ten years. Due to the great work of successive Green Committees, we have been awarded five Green Flags for waste management, energy conservation, water conservation, transport initiatives and biodiversity. The current committee was awarded the fifth Green Flag for work on biodiversity, which was presented to us in May 2018. We also achieved our first Active Flag in June 2018. The Active Flag committee has introduced many fitness initiatives such as the Daily Mile where each class has fifteen minutes scheduled exercise in the yard, apart from the normal breaks. We had a double flag raising ceremony for the Active Flag and Green Flag at the end of June 2018.
School Choir & Sports
While academic studies are central to our children's education, the school also promotes a rounded approach. Our school choir takes part every second year in the National Children's Choir. Needless to say, the choir also sings at the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion. We also nurture a long tradition in sporting activities, especially athletics in which we have enjoyed great success in the annual Santry Sports. Our girls' football team made history in October 2016 by playing in their first Cumann na mBunscol final in Croke Park. On 22nd October 2018, our boys' senior football team came within a whisker of winning a final in Croke Park when they launched a stirring rally after being well behind against St. Patrick's Ringsend. They equalised with a few minutes to go but then lost out to a last minute goal. We are immensely proud of them. Last year, the boys' soccer team reached the semi-final of the Dublin Interschools' League in their first year to enter the competition, and then surpassed this achievement in May this year by winning the FAI Dublin Schools Division 3 title in style with a great win over Monkstown ETNS in Wayside Celtic's ground in neighbouring Kilternan.
Flags have played a large part in the life of the school over the last ten years. Due to the great work of successive Green Committees, we have been awarded five Green Flags for waste management, energy conservation, water conservation, transport initiatives and biodiversity. The current committee was awarded the fifth Green Flag for work on biodiversity, which was presented to us in May 2018. We also achieved our first Active Flag in June 2018. The Active Flag committee has introduced many fitness initiatives such as the Daily Mile where each class has fifteen minutes scheduled exercise in the yard, apart from the normal breaks. We had a double flag raising ceremony for the Active Flag and Green Flag at the end of June 2018.
School Choir & Sports
While academic studies are central to our children's education, the school also promotes a rounded approach. Our school choir takes part every second year in the National Children's Choir. Needless to say, the choir also sings at the Sacraments of Confirmation and First Holy Communion. We also nurture a long tradition in sporting activities, especially athletics in which we have enjoyed great success in the annual Santry Sports. Our girls' football team made history in October 2016 by playing in their first Cumann na mBunscol final in Croke Park. On 22nd October 2018, our boys' senior football team came within a whisker of winning a final in Croke Park when they launched a stirring rally after being well behind against St. Patrick's Ringsend. They equalised with a few minutes to go but then lost out to a last minute goal. We are immensely proud of them. Last year, the boys' soccer team reached the semi-final of the Dublin Interschools' League in their first year to enter the competition, and then surpassed this achievement in May this year by winning the FAI Dublin Schools Division 3 title in style with a great win over Monkstown ETNS in Wayside Celtic's ground in neighbouring Kilternan.
St. Mary's Woodside N.S.
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Parents!! Parents!!
Over the years, our children have benefited hugely from the active participation of many dedicated parents who willingly contribute their time and resources to raise funds for the school. Interactive whiteboards and wifi have been installed in all the classrooms and many other improvements have been made to the school due to the efforts of the Parents' Association. Particular thanks to the PA for funding our three football kits. We are very grateful to the individual parents' companies who have also sponsored our soccer and athletics kits. Please take the time to look through the rest of our website. If you would like to know more about our school, please feel free to make an appointment to come to the school. |
