Dear parents,
Well, what a year it has been!!Pods, bubbles, sanitizers, masks, isolation rooms, temperature checks, social distancing, See-saw, video clips, down, restricting movements, re-opening, protocols, one way systems, building works, construction workers, hard hats, diggers, new classrooms, all have become part of a the routine of a year like no other!!
Throughout all of this, our wonderful pupils have adapted, learned, played, become more resilient and I believe will move forward to a new school year with a broader perspective on life. Thank you our pupils for your wonderful engagement this year, thanks to our parents for your patience, support, forbearance and goodwill throughout what has been a very challenging year.
I would like to pay special tribute to the fantastic staff who have had to teach through masks and adopt work practices and routines that were unheard of a year and a half ago, who have worked together and supported each other and their pupils throughout this year. Thank you.
To the staff members who are leaving to take up new positions or whose contract has come to an end, I would like to wish you the very best in the future and thank you for being part of the team here in St. Conleth’s Infant School.
To our Graduating pupils from rooms 10, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, wishing all of you the very best of luck in your new schools and thank you for being such a vital part of ours.
Finally, I hope you all have a wonderful Summer and Stay Safe!
Margaret Harnett
Thank you
On behalf of my nephew Charlie Gannon and my family I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the children, parents and staff of both St. Conleth’s Infant School and St. Conleth’s and Marys, for your generous contribution to our ‘Summer Clothes Day’ and to those who contributed directly to Charlie’s Go Fund Me page. We are so grateful for your support. We raised €4258 on Friday. Thank you once again for your contribution which will make such a difference to Charlie’s quality of life.
Wishing you a fun filled Summer with your families.
Sincerely,
Margaret Mahon
St. Conleth’s Infant School Time Capsule Ceremony
May 15th 2021 was a very special day in St. Conleth’s Infant school, Newbridge. After years of applications, appeals and lobbying, we finally had the wonderful opportunity of placing a special Time capsule into the foundations of our new school building.
St.Conleth’s Infant School has a long history in the town of Newbridge, having opened it’s doors in 1953 under the management of the Holy Family order. The first lay principal, Mrs Ann Dempsey, took over as principal in 2000.
Over the years as the population of Newbridge increased, more classrooms were added, both permanent and temporary. However, it soon became apparent that permanent classrooms were needed.
The school was sanctioned for building works in 2016 that included a major upgrade of the existing building while maintaining its distinctive character, along with nine new classrooms, two special needs classrooms, sensory rooms, sensory garden and a new hall. Included in the design will be a designated drop off area for parents, ball courts and the existing play area.
After a number of delays, work commenced on the site in December 2020. Included in the works is the construction of a number of temporary classrooms to the front of the school into which the children will decant while work in the main building as well as the construction of the new classrooms take place.
With great joy on May 14 representatives of staff and pupils had the opportunity to place mementos that are meaningful to our school and it’s culture into the foundations of the new school building, knowing that the wonderful culture and dynamic nature of the school will be carried forward into the new school building as St. Conleth’s Infant School begins the next phase of life in the town of Newbridge.
Scott and Vivienne placed a prayer and rosary beads as symbols of our Catholic School’s ethos, Jack and David placed a plant and a Green School’s award as a symbol of the schools’ strong links with nature and conservation, Ava placed a picture as a symbol of the children’s artistic endeavours, Adam placed a ball as a symbol of our love of sport, Eoin and Sophie placed a brick and lego as a symbol of new buildings and engineering, Senan placed a toy horse as a symbol of Kildare’s close association with horses and Aoife placed a book as a symbol of our love of learning..
It is a credit to our staff, pupils and parents that such progress has been made to date given that the construction is taking place in the midst of a pandemic. We look forward to the next exciting chapter in the life of our school over the near future where our children will continue to be educated in a state of the art facility, all the while maintaining the wonderful culture of our Infant School.
Margaret Harnett
Junior Infants
Well done to all of the Junior Infants for completing their first year of big school! The children have been very busy this term and are working very hard, with lots of time outside to enjoy the lovely sunshine also. The children have been busy revising their letter sounds and word families, doing lots of writing and practicing their blending and reading. The children have also been enjoying the summer weather while playing outside with sand and water. They have also enjoyed a few trips to the park where we spotted lots of fairy houses!
One of the highlights of this term was definitely our teddy bear’s picnic! The children had great fun playing football, having relay races, egg and spoon races and sack races. There was lots of music and dancing also. The children also had a real treat when the ice cream van came to visit! All of the children and teddy bears had a very fun and action packed day!
Well done to all of the children for working so hard all year, both in person and online. We wish them all the best going into Senior Infants and we hope they have a lovely Summer holidays, from the Junior Infant team.
Senior Infants
Senior Infants have been very busy this last term. The children have worked so hard over the last few weeks and had lots of fun too. The children have been learning more letter sounds, tricky words and word families and about length, weight, capacity and money in Maths. They have also been busy practicing their handwriting too. In June, we had Active Schools Week and so much fun was had. We had “Drop Everything and Dance”, playground games, “Walk a Mile with a Smile” and Jersey Day. The ice-cream van also made a surprise visit on the Friday. This was the highlight of the week for the children.
Sand and water play was also introduced for the month of June and the children loved this. We got outdoors in the lovely sunshine for lots of games, writing with chalk and trips to the local park to see the beautiful yarn bombing. The children really enjoyed their Teddy Bear picnic and gymnastics too. We are so proud of the children and all their hard work in Senior Infants. Well done to you all. Have a great Summer from the Senior Infant team. J
First Class
It has been a very busy term for our First Classes with lots of hard work and fun activities also. We were the first group to participate in gymnastics with our new coach Kieran. With the weather improving each class enjoyed sand and water play each week. There was great excitement as we each got to create an art mural to decorate the builders hoarding. These made a very bright and vibrant display. During active schools week, we all enjoyed activities such as walk a mile with a smile, drop everything and dance and our mini sports day. The highlight of our week was the arrival of an ice cream truck on jersey day. We were even lucky enough to get some football training from a Kildare county player, Shea Ryan!! The term was full of lovely trips to the park, teddy bears picnics, tours of the town and trips to the pitch. Our final week was marked with a wonderful graduation ceremony. The children danced, sang and even received a personalised letter from our president Michael D. Higgins. We look forward to watching a recording of our ceremony in the coming days. What a busy and fun term we have had!!
Active Week
Like everything, we undertook a different version of Active Week earlier this month. We began our week with a “Drop Everything and Dance” Tuesday, we danced to our hearts content. On Wednesday, we walked to the Patrician pitch to play some playground games. We walked a “Mile with a Smile” on Thursday all the way to the park. The school was full of colour and competition on Friday when we wore our favourite jerseys to school. Without a doubt, our favourite treat was when the ice cream van pulled up at the school!! Thank you to our P.A. who sponsored this lovely treat.
School holidays commence on Wednesday 30th June
School reopens on Wednesday September 1st.
Wishing you all a safe, happy fun filled Summer!
