Congratulations to the students from St Gabriel’s who participated in a collection of writing and artwork facilitated by Eveanna O Meara and Dublin 1/7 School Completion Programme. Tales from the City is a collection of children’s artistic contributions showing what they feel is special about the city they live in. Eight students from St. Gabriel’s contributed to the book, in addition to young people from other schools and community projects in Dublin 1 and 7. Well done for creating such wonderful art, poetry and writing!

5th and 6th class had the privilege recently of being invited on a tour of one of Dublin’s most important historical buildings: Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin 2. After a short Luas trip and a quick look around Trinity College, we were met by our tour guide John at Bank of Ireland. He was very knowledgeable and funny and explained to the class all about the history of the building and local area; from pre-Viking settlement to modern times. He was very patient and answered all sorts of questions! The class learned a little bit about Irish politics and history and were lucky to be able to sit in the House of Lords of what was Ireland’s first Parliament. What a great trip!

Wednesday the 25th of January was a very busy day in our school. As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebrations, we invited grandparents to visit our school. Everyone was delighted so many of you turned up, and after having tea and a chat in our hall, our grandparents visited the children’s classes. Here we played games, read stories, asked questions and had conversations together. It was a wonderful sharing experience, particularly as our students can learn so much from the older generations. We even had some past pupils return; an extra special welcome to them, and a huge thank you to all who participated in this wonderful event.

As part of our journey using Restorative Practices, the first ever Love Bomb Week is happening in St. Gabriel’s N.S. from Tuesday 7th to Tuesday 14th February. This initiative is intended to promote Restorative Practices and kindness among everyone in our school community. The week will feature designated circle time, compliment games and activities, random acts of kindness, art activities and a whole-school assembly celebration. This is also another wonderful initiative to promote attendance during the month of February.

Restorative Practices is a values-based philosophy that promotes positive relationship building and conflict resolution. We have been using it in the school for many years but we have recently renewed our journey along with the School Completion Programme and Connect RP. Have a look at https://www.connectrp.ie or download the attached PDFs for parents for more information. Thanks!