School News
ASSEMBLY - June 2022
GAA NEWS
Congratulations to our GAA teams who reached the finals of the Corn Cois Farraige and Cooney Cup. The boys were victorious against St Mary's Parish Primary School and brought home the Cooney Cup for the third year in a row! Our Corn Cois Farraige team however were defeated by Le Cheile. Thank you to our super talented & dedicated coaches Ms Smith, Ms Rice, Mr Duffy & Mr Lynch and also St Colmcilles GAA (Conor Brennan) for coordinating the schools coaching programme.
Standardised Tests & Results
As you are aware, all classes from 1st to 6th undertook standardised tests at the end of May. This year we will use Aladdin Connect to report standardised test results to parents as they will be included in the school reports.
This year we administered new up-to-date English tests from the ERC (Educational Research Centre, Drumcondra). The tests were redeveloped as research suggested that tests generally get easier over time, as familiarity with content increases.
For some children this may mean the result in their standardised English test (compared with previous years) may be significantly lower. It is important to remember that by comparing with last year or previous results, you are not comparing like with like, these are new tests, with new standardised norms. Please see the attached link to a letter from the ERC, which explains the changes in further detail.
The most significant change in relation to the English test used for 1st class is that this test is now a screening test, and as a result there is no STen score generated. Instead there will be a standard score included in your son’s report.
Drumcondra maths tests administered this year were the same ones used in previous years but in May 2020 the pupils will be tested using the new maths tests.
Please refer to the links below for an explanation of STen scores, standard scores and also further information regarding the new Drumcondra tests.
https://www.ncca.ie/media/1429/understanding-standardscores_eng.pdf
https://www.ncca.ie/media/1400/english_tip_sheet_sten.pdf
http://www.erc.ie/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Letter-for-parents-New-Drumcondra-tests.pdf
Invitations
Parents/Care givers, Please note that we do not allow invitations to parties to be given out in our school or on the school grounds. This is because it is a potential source of disappointment and hurt for those who are not invited.
RUN A MILE….…or a kilometer!
Our footprint track in our backyard measures 250 metres. So everyone tries regularly to run four times around it to clock up a one kilometer run. In addition many of our classes work out indoors to Go Noodle and RTE programmes. Fitness for ALL is something we are striving to achieve and maintain.
PEANUT FREE!
In addition to our Fitness initiatives, we also cherish healthy eating habits. A quick look around our school at lunch times shows a great commitment from our parents to ensuring their children eat incredibly well. As some of our children also have peanut and tree nut allergies, we’ve also had to insist on keeping lunches nut free too
LITERACY
This term Ms Carragher and Mr Fox's Senior Infant classes completed Literacy Lift Off.
SMART WATCHES AND PHONES
A reminder that pupils are not permitted smart watches, mobile phones or similar devices in school.
*Please note we have regular updates on donacarneyschool.ie with Notes for Parents and the Principal`s Blog sections. We also feature regularly in The Meath Coaster