News & Events
December 2021 Newsletter
Principal’s Message,
As the festive season is just around the corner, I want to take a moment to thank the entire school community for your support and dedication in giving our students the best educational experience. We are very grateful for the wonderful contribution from the PA in organising a very successful Christmas raffle, coordinated to obtain funds to refurbish the junior school play area. In addition, they created a magical Grotto for Santa’s visit. A special mention to the Cogley family who presented each student in the school with a Christmas annual! Thank you for such a generous gift! As usual, the dedicated and hardworking staff of OLF have continued to adapt to the ever-changing covid-19 situation and have made Christmas a special time for us all. Our Christmas Wellbeing Committee worked tirelessly in ensuring we had fun filled activities and treats during the month of December. Thank you to the team, led by Mr. Bridges. As you will see below, the annual Lámh video is a sincere effort that displays a great sense of collaboration and fun amongst all staff in OLF. A big thank you to Emily and John for creating and directing another masterpiece! I would in particular like to thank our students, who come to school every day, happy and eager to participate, with little or no complaining of current restrictions! Have a wonderful holiday, and come back to school, refreshed and ready to take on 2022! We think of both The Murphy and The Kehoe family this Christmas. You are in our thoughts and prayers. We think of Leon, Tyler and Mikey and how lucky we feel, that they were part of our family in OLF. On a personal note, I wish to thank most sincerely our Board of Management, Parents’ Association, Ms Leacy (Deputy Principal) & ISM, Teachers, Special Needs Assistants, Secretaries, Caretaking, Cleaning Staff and LWR team who have all worked hard throughout this term to keep school life enjoyable, safe and happy for all our students. I wish all of you a very happy and restful Christmas holiday and look forward to the New Year ahead in Our Lady of Fatima School.
Warmest Regards,
Glenda McKeown
Sensory Garden – Mikey
On the 17th of December the school community remembered our beloved Mikey Kehoe. Students and Staff took time out for some valuable reflection within our new sensory garden that was dedicated to Mikey. The day was marked with a visit from Mikeys parents and sister who gathered with Father Billy Swan, other BOM members and Mikeys previous teachers and SNA’s. Below are some images and the prayer that all classes took time to respectfully reflect upon, for our dear Mikey…..
Christmas Activities at Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima School has been very busy this Christmas with lots of fun activities to celebrate the season of goodwill. A Christmas Wellbeing Committee was set up and worked on organising and coordinating the Christmas activities. A big thanks to the Committee for their ideas, efforts and dedication. Thanks to all the staff that contributed to providing a wonder 2021 Christmas experience for everyone.
Christmas Door Competition
The Christmas Wellbeing Committee ran a Christmas Door Competition. Students had to design a Christmas themed door for all the school community to enjoy. The entries were all amazing. The Parents Council kindly took time out to view each classes entry. They were delighted with the effort and found it very challenging to choose a winner. They voted and the result is:
Winner Middle 2
Hot Chocolate
As part of her role on the School’s Christmas Wellbeing Committee our new teacher Ms Harney treated the school to some delicious hot chocolate. Both students and staff were delighted and all needs were catered for, thanks Ms Harney.
Christmas Tree
A huge thank you to the Parents Association for arranging for our beautiful Christmas Tree to be delivered to the school. It was an amazing Christmas Tree and we are very grateful to Killeen’s Garage for their donation to our school. If parents are shopping in Killeens please give a big thank you from Our Lady of Fatima school for their generosity. It is very much appreciated. See below that Junior 2 did a wonderful job decorating the huge Christmas Tree for the entire school to enjoy on entering the building.
Community Involvement by our Students
Christmas Cards were designed throughout the school and collected by Ms Weld again this year. They were then delivered to the local nursing home residents by the students. Well done for making the elderly experience of Christmas nicer and it is a real thoughtful way to give back to our community.
The Nativity
Junior Two had great fun rehearsing and performing the Nativity this Christmas. They really enjoyed learning the story about the birth of Jesus and loved wearing the costumes and acting. They provided great entertainment with their creative performances. We are so proud of them! Definitely some stars in the making.
Mr. and Mrs. Claus
Mr. and Mrs. Claus dropped into Our Lady of Fatima on Monday 20th of December. They were a big hit with all the students. A big thanks to the Parents Council who built the wonderful Grotto and donated all the extras such as the tree, stove, lights etc. It was a delighted experience for all and well-done Gavin and Mary for all your effort.
For the month of December, Fatima FM became Fatima Christmas FM. We have been greatly entertained by our resident DJ Ms Sheehan. During each show, there have been numerous birthday and song requests. In addition we had a return of the, “Just a minute quiz”, where staff members have attempted to answer correctly as many questions as possible, within the 60 second time limit. Ms Sheehan with the help of Ms Leacy (Camerawomen) provided the school with an experience of all the Classroom Doors for our competition.
Thanks Ms Sheehan
Junior 2
Junior 2 had a fantastic time meeting Santa Claus and Mrs Claus. Santa told us we have all been very good this year and we are all definitely on the nice list!
We had a very special time remembering our friend Mikey in the sensory garden. We blew bubbles and watched them float up to the clouds.
We worked very hard practicing for our Nativity. We did a super job remembering our lines and are excited for everyone to see it!
We did lots of artwork in December, each piece of cotton wool was carefully stuck to create Santa’s fabulous beard. We really enjoyed decorating our classroom door.
Junior 2 decorated the beautiful Christmas tree in the foyer of the school. We picked lots of beautiful red and blue baubles for the tree.
Junior 2 would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas!
Middle 1
What a busy term we are after having. Hard work & great achievements were made from all the boys & girls in Middle 1.This term we worked on various topics ranging from beginning our new school year, planting, drama, art, science week & zoom assemblies.
Congratulations for the fantastic handwriting we have in Middle 1 keep up the great work.
Wishing you all a very Happy, Safe & Healthy Christmas & New year.
Middle 3
Middle 3 class got a great gift from Grace Cogley’s parents of a lovely album to keep everyone busy over Christmas. All the students in the WHOLE school got one as well. Thank you so so much from all the students.
Middle 3 were busy making Christmas Cards for residents of a nursing home. Just a little bit of cheer for Christmas.
Middle 4
Middle 4 have thoroughly enjoyed their 4 week block of Forest School. They made beautiful crafts including a mini raft – which they then raced in the stream -, a medallion, a wand and a gorgeous Rudolph face! They popped pop corn kernels over the camp fire, heated milk and made hot chocolate and melted marshmallows for smores. They played games in the forest and overall they had great fun. Also, this month we enjoyed creating our Christmas Door and admiring the other lovely Christmas doors around the school. We contributed to the decoration of the whole school by decorating one of the trees in front of the school. We enjoyed our Lámh Christmas song and we’re looking forward to seeing the full production of “Lámh Factor” very soon, where we will get to see all the other classes in action. We had a very interesting History Tour of Wexford where we learned more about the Vikings. We stood on the spot where the remains of 11 Viking houses had been discovered and we saw the remains of a church they build. We learned that Oyster Lane in Wexford was so called because it was an area plentiful in oysters and we learned that “Keyser” means “Way down to the sea” – which is where “Kaysers Lane” got it’s name. Middle 4 would like to wish our family and friends and very Happy and Peaceful Christmas and we look forward to welcoming Ms Harpur back in January.
Senior 1
Senior 1 had a very busy term. The students continued their learning in depth of their Junior Certificate subjects, particularly the examination subjects of Home Economics and Art. Above and below are some of their lovely Christmas puddings they made with Mrs Elliot, highlighting their cooking skills. The students completed their Classroom Based Assessments CBA’s and produced some lovely craft pieces with the support of Ms Leonard. Students enjoyed continuing their tennis lessons at the local tennis club throughout the term. They created Christmas Cards for the residents of a local nursing home. Senior 1 took part in the Christmas Lamh Factor competition by learning the signs for the song Santa Claus is coming to town. Students decided on the decoration of the classroom door for the Christmas Door Competition and put a lot of effort into decorating their door. Students visited the local library and took part in a live webinar with an author.
Senior 2
Senior 2 and senior 4 took part in the heritage schools visit. This involved a full day of workshops on Geography activities including a study of Geology, map reading and creating a map. A fun filled educational day outdoors for all! Lili O Brien, Darragh Moran and James Tompkins won prizes in the Credit union art competition. Senior 2 also took part in science week. They firstly took part in a murder mystery involving star wars characters and we WON. We got a shout out on the Science Week TV show. The second activity was a interactive chat with the weather lady Joanna Donnelly. We found out about the role of a meteorologist and how they forecast the weather. An exciting morning was had.
Senior 3
This term senior 3 have enjoyed going to horse- riding every Monday. The students have made great progress and some of them are now riding solo. Well done guys.
We have concentrated a lot on life skills this term especially grocery shopping and cooking.
Senior 3 really got in the Christmas mode this month and did tremendous work helping to decorate our school both inside and out to make it look extra Christmassy.
Well done to Matthew (student of the term).
Senior 4
Senior 4 started Tennis at Wexford Harbour Boat & Tennis Club at the beginning of November. We attend every Friday and the students absolutely love it. Senior 4 Parent – Teacher Meetings took place on the 8th November. Senior 2 & Senior 4 took part in a Geography Project with the “Heritage in Schools” on Monday 15th November. The students explored Rocks and Climate Change. A very enjoyable day was had by all.
Some students in Senior 4 received their Flu Vaccine on the 11th November. Students from the Senior classes have been taking part in RACE in preparation for their Junior Cycle Exams. HSE Profiling Interviews took place online on the 7th & 8th December. Senior 4 students have completed their CBA2 in English & Woodwork. Senior 4 have been very actively doing their Fyffes Fitness every morning!!Students in Senior 4 have been creative with their Christmas art for the Christmas Door Competition and with their window display. The Student Council Candidates have been preparing their speeches for the upcoming Student Council Election on January 14th 2022 . Their campaign will take place online via MS Teams and Ballot Sheets will be distributed via MS Forms.
Literacy Resource Update
This year we have for the first time we decided to have a Literacy Resource Position for Reading. I have had the very pleasant job of setting up this position and have engaged in some much-needed Literacy Initiatives along the way. With the help and support of all the staff and our Parents Association we have engaged in the following:
- Readathon – MS Readathon 11 students and 2 staff members completed reading tasks for the month of November, earning a combined total of reading tasks for the month of November, earning a combined total of €610. Well done all.
- New Class Readers and ebooks for the Middle Classrooms PM Readers.
- Children’s Book Festival – Wexford Library. We had Virtual Zooms by authors Sarah Webb and Alan Nolan.
- David Walliams Virtual Assembly (based on ‘Ganster Granny’)
- All classes are reading novel’s and some have acquired a bulk loan from Wexford Library.
The school has decided to participate in the National Wellread Award. We will be promoting Reading for Leisure and Pleasure. To receive the plaque and award we need to promote Reading and compile a Portfolio of our efforts. If we are successful, we will gain the Award and a plaque for our school. It is also a fun, interactive and positive way for us all to engage in the wonderful joy of Reading and its many benefits for our independence and wellbeing. The Committee will comprise of Staff, parents and Student volunteers, lead by Miss Sinnott. We will have activities throughout this year and next to promote this so all support and help will be needed and most importantly appreciated.
Finally, I want to wish the boys and girls that have worked so hard and diligently on the reading with me over the last term a very Merry Christmas. You have been amazing!!! Don’t forget you can read some ebooks over Christmas on
https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/user/sign_up.html
or
https://www.getepic.com/.
I hope Santa is very good to you all.
Melissa Sinnott, Resource Teacher For Literacy.
Home Economics
Middle 4 were busy providing Christmas Puddings for their families this Christmas.
Christmas Student of the Term
Well done to the following students who received a certificate and prize at the Christmas Prizegiving Ceremony:
- Junior 2: Gabby Whelan
- Junior 3: David Moran
- Junior 4: Leighton Kennedy
- Middle 1: Dominic McCarthy
- Middle 2: Tadhg O’Shaughnessy
- Middle 3: Mia Sutton
- Middle 4: Adam Sinnott
- Senior 1: Shane McGrath
- Senior 2: Darragh Moran
- Senior 3: Mathew Cleary
- Senior 4: Chantelle Campbell
Parents Association/Fundraising
A massive thanks to our Parents Association who organised a Christmas Raffle in the School. The prizes were extremely good, see below. It was a great success and will provide much needed support for our school throughout the academic year. Thanks for your backing and a big thanks to all the businesses and people that donated so kindly to the Christmas Raffle.
We would like to wish the pupils and all the staff of Our Lady Of Fatima school a happy Christmas with good health for the coming New Year.
– The Parents Association.
LÁMH – Christmas Songs
Students took part in our Lamh Factor Christmas Songs competition organised by the Christmas Wellbeing Committee. After each class was viewed via Teams then each class proceeded to cast their vote. The winning class with the most votes and after a very close race Junior 3 won our Lamh Factor Christmas song competition.
Fatima Facebook Video Links
A big thank you to Ms Murphy for keeping the online school community updated with the links to the videos and happenings within the school. Check out and enjoy the below link to see the students Lamh videos…..
And finally…..A Tribute to all the wonderful students in Our Lady of Fatima School from all the staff. Have a wonderful Christmas, we are so proud of you all!
A big thank you to both John and Emily for their hard work, putting this together!
Click the Link here to view the videos.
Return to school – Thursday 6th January 2021