Normally at this time of the year we would get a chance to take our new pupils on a tour of our school. This year, for now, we have to take a virtual tour. The tour is aimed primarily at the little ones. We will be welcoming several boys into our older classes this year too. They will find this tour helpful but we will return again with another post showing our facilities for the older children.

My thanks to the technological wizardry of Ms Milne, the photos from Ms Campbell and the wonderful inspiration of one of our parents, Ms Aideen O'Neill, for all their work here!

Aideen runs LIttle Learners Montessori School in Coney Hall. She has been busy preparing booklet and powerpoints for her parents and children to help them with their transition to big school. And has kindly shared them with us.

​We are really looking forward to meeting some of the Little Learners in our school as soon as we can safely do so. And perhaps have tours for safely distanced groups if allowed at some point before school reopens.

But, in the meantime, enjoy the slideshow, the gallery, and the video!

May brings sunshine, blossoms and, for all in Mornington parish, the First Holy Communion for our children.

This year, of course, it will be somewhat different.  The Communion class of 2020 will always remember this as a very special occasion indeed, for it is definitely the very first time a Communion has been deferred in the parish because of pandemic! 

They will have their special day, of course. Just not this term. But, as the parents of these children know already, Ms Smith and Ms Callan are already working away to create a special commemoration of 16th May 2020.
They have asked for photos from every boy in their class and will make a slideshow of photos for you all to see on their blogs.

This will also be a lovely way to remind the boys about their classmates as it has been so long since they were all together. 

Fr Joseph really misses coming to our school to visit our classes. And we miss Fr Joseph too! But on Saturday morning he will say a special Mass for all the boys who should have been making their communion. And he will call them each of their names during the Mass.

Unfortunately the Church cannot broadcast the Mass live but will instead send me the link and I will notify you all when it has been uploaded.

It would be a nice idea to light a candle, and listen to that Mass with your family- a way to mark the occasion and also to support your son with his faith.

And this is not a time to be sad- our children will have their Communion day! Just not for another while.

It is a time to remember those who will never have another happy occasion, a time to remember those who are less well off, to think of our classmates, our neighbours, our friends. And those who are doing a magnificent job caring for the sick.

Let us a light a candle tomorrow,

                                                Listen to the Mass(or say our prayers, or just be still)

                      And be grateful for another beautiful May day!

     Thank you so much for your response to our recent survey!

And for taking the time to email us and respond to our phone calls.

As expected the survey revealed the broad scope of the challenges so many of you are facing and the inventiveness with which you tackle those challenges. 

Our phone calls in particular revealed the depths of those challenges-people who are worried about loved ones with health issues, worried about grandparents feeling isolated, worried about the job loss and layoffs.

And we continue to be acutely aware of the many parents in our community who work as nurses, doctors, care workers and cleaners in our Health Services right now. We also have members of our staff who are directly connected with people working in the front line and staff members who have volunteered to work in support of the frontline.

Every Little Helps
Most of the boys spend between 30-60 minutes working each day.  Some of you mentioned that your son can only work for short spurts-twenty minutes at a time, say. Or when the mood takes him.

That's fine. Often a little motivation can help-`do this first and then...`offering him some play with something he enjoys after or whatever little reward that will help build his discipline for work.

Setting up a routine and structure to the day is vital. Some days that will go out the window too but routine for us all can help us stay the course on days when we feel least like it.

Most of you favoured worksheets and working in books. The challenge of not having all of the school books at home is acknowledged. We currently are not allowed to access the school for those books but have plans in place to do so as soon as government restrictions are changed to allowed for this.

We have developed our blog pages to include audio and/or video tutorials in response to parent and teacher feedback. We have also revisited our Acceptable Usage Policy in relation to email.Suggested work is sent both via the teachers' blog pages and Aladdin. Most parents now are engaging with the class teachers via the class emails.

We know learning is not about school work but about the every day life experiences each of us have and our learning constantly adjusts according to the challenges we encounter.

We know the vast majority of respondents are appreciative of the work given by our staff but we know there are bigger challenges for you outside of having your son engage with work from school as this comment from one parent reveals...

"We are adjusting to this uncertain time...we are trying to keep a safe, happy home. The last thing we need is to be arguing with kids about school work. They are learning great life skills now about empathy, kindness, pulling together as a family"

• When school returns we teachers expect there will be learning gaps to fill.
• You son is learning things right now from you that will enrich his life.
• We are here to help and support in whatever way we can.

Thank you so much for responding to our calls, to the survey and for your emails! And thank you for your supportive, kind and encouraging words! All of us are engaging with webinars and forums via Navan Education Centre, the Primary Development Support Team as we continue to grow and amend our supports as we steer through these unchartered waters.

Do encourage your son to comment on his class blog.
He may also email teachers with his parent`s email address. Reponses will be addressed to parent and son.

The following are the email addresses of each class. Click on the link! :-)

Gliondar Mara
Junior Infants
Senior Infants
First Class
Second Class
Third Class
Fourth Class
Fifth Class
Sixth Class

And all our class blogs are here!