ST ANNE’S NEWSLETTER APRIL 2016
Another busy month!
(see photos of events below on our website gallery)

Our new look!
You have probably noticed some changes to the exterior of St Anne’s buildings. Firstly it is great to see the promise of spring in the arrival of daffodils that the children sowed in autumn. Thanks to Tony for all the work on maintaining the grounds and for making it look so well for our special events
The main change is of course the Mosaic which is currently being installed by the artist Katy Palmieri. What you see to date is the first section of the mosaic….there is more to come so keep an eye on the building. It is a wonderful addition to the building with it vibrant colours and sense of energy and creativity. Children will be working with Katy also to create their own mosaic which will be housed in within the school building. We look forward to Katy telling us the story of the mosaic and to hearing all about how she works in this medium to create her vision

Sacrament of Confirmation.
Congratulations to all the 6th class children who received the sacrament of Confirmation on April 16th last. We are all very proud of how the conducted themselves on the day. Fr O Byrne and Fr Kelly concelebrated the mass and the choir sang beautifully under the direction of Ms Kelly and Ms O Connor, with Ms Gavin’s violin adding a special touch.
The party in the school after the ceremony was a great opportunity to meet with family and friends. Thanks to all in the PSG for the time and effort that went in to making this such a success and to all who donated food for the event.

Chess Club
Children in 5th class are continuing with their chess club in school. They linked up with students from Clongowes College recently for a session. The 2nd level students visited St Anne’s to offer share some of their expertise and they hope to do more visits before the year is out.

Athletics in Newbridge
Congratulations to all who represented the school at the athletics event in Newbridge this month. It was a great success for girls’ team and well done to the boys who performed so well also. Thanks to Liz for organising the team and to the parents who supported on the day

Sam Maguire Visit
We were lucky to have the Sam Maguire cup on a visit to St Anne’s during the month. Special thanks to Mr Tyndall who organised this for us. It was great to have this opportunity and every class had a chance to hold the cup and take photos (see our website). We learned from Sean Mc Garr that the cup was first won by Kildare…..we hope this will be the case again soon!

Book Fair
We had a very successful Book Fair at St Anne’s last week. It was great to see such interest! Thanks to our parents who assisted at the cash desk. The profits from the Fair are being used to purchase reading material for each class.

Ark Sculptures
The Director and Visual Arts Co-ordinator from The Ark Cultural Centre, who had loaned us the animal sculptures, came to visit recently. They were taken on a Nature trail through the school, stopping off at each sculpture to view the work that children had done based on the sculptures. Praise was high for the art work, stories written, comic strips, music and mostly for the creative way in which the team from 5th class set up the trail and arranged the event. Well done to you all!

Special Class
St Anne’s will be setting up a special class for children with Autism from September 2016. Application forms for places in this unit are available from the office

The Field
The committee of representatives of parents, staff and Board have been working to progress the development of the field. You have probably noticed that a temporary fence has been erected around the land that was purchased adjacent to the school. The area has been rolled and it is hoped that we will have it ready for use for Sports Day. More to follow on this!

Lotto
We continue to run the Lotto in association with the GAA club. Thanks to all who are participating in the draws- we receive valuable funding from this which goes toward many initiatives in the school. Your support is very much appreciated!

Cake Sale
Congratulations to all in 6th class and their parents who held a cake sale recently. Thanks to all who contributed to this. It was a great success.

Sports
Our sports teams are busy this term with many events being held. We wish all every success and enjoyment. 4th and 5th class children are currently involved in swimming classes and the senior girls have started basketball training.

Special Projects
The 5th/6th class, under the direction of Mr O Leary, are involved in an e-twinning project. They have created a wonderful video on life in Ireland- some budding actors and directors here! Have a look at this on our website