Dear Parents / Guardians,

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Welcome back to another year at St. Martin de Porres NS. It is so wonderful to be able to open our doors once again and welcome you, our pupils and our staff back after recent closures. This has been an extremely strange and challenging time for all of us and I am extremely proud of how our school community has come together to support the reopening of the school so successfully. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all so much for this.

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Although the format of our school day has changed quite a bit with new routines and procedures to get used to, our main priority and focus remains the same – the safety and happiness of the children and staff. Our teachers have been working tirelessly for the past number of weeks helping the boys and girls to settle back into school life, to feel happy and secure and to re-engage with their learning. We have been prioritising the curricular areas of wellbeing, PE and SPHE, including the Stay Safe Programme and will continue to do so in the coming months.

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Our new Junior Infants have settled in beautifully and taken to life in ‘big school’ like ducks to water. We are also absolutely thrilled this year to open our very first ASD Class and are delighted to report that it has been a great success.

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Although we are not out of the woods yet, there are many positives to be taken from this time. We have come together, supported one another and still found ways to smile and laugh. As Emily Dickenson wrote, “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all.”

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Is mise le meas,

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Valerie O’Loughlin

Príomhoide