Assembly

Assembly- New Year

This week’s assembly focused on the New Year and the idea of new beginnings. While new beginnings can sometimes feel a little scary, we are reminded that we are never alone. We have many people around us who support and guide us — our families, friends, teachers, and God.

As we step into a New Year, we are reminded that God walks with us always. His message encourages us to be kind, forgiving, patient, and inclusive of everyone.

We are delighted to welcome three new pupils to Hewetson NS, and it has been wonderful to see how kind and supportive our pupils have been in helping them settle into our school community.

Our Frása na Seachtaine is “An féidir liom imirt leat?” (Can I play with you?), reminding us of the importance of inclusion and friendship.

We finished our assembly by singing “This Little Light of Mine”, celebrating the light and kindness we can share with others.

Christmas Carol Service

Our Christmas Carol Service took place on 18th December and was a truly special occasion. Through song, drama, scripture readings and poetry, we explored the real meaning of Christmas.

The children especially loved seeing so many mums, dads, grannies and grandads there to support them, which made the celebration even more meaningful.

As we head into the Christmas season, we hope everyone takes a moment to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

At Christmas, we celebrate far more than a special time of year. As Christians, we remember and rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ, God’s greatest gift to the world. Jesus was born in humble surroundings, reminding us that God comes to us in simplicity, love and peace rather than wealth or power.

The Christmas story teaches us about love, hope and kindness. Through the birth of Jesus, we are reminded that every person is precious, that we are called to care for one another, and that light can be found even in the darkest of times. Christmas invites us to open our hearts, to show compassion, and to share God’s love through our words and actions.

As we celebrate with family and friends, exchange gifts and enjoy traditions, we are encouraged to keep Christ at the centre of our celebrations, remembering the message of peace on earth and goodwill to all.

Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir.

Assembly- Festive Fun

This week’s assembly was full of festive cheer. The Student Council organised a Christmas Jumper Day to raise money for the wonderful Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation. Everyone made a fantastic effort, and the Student Council even awarded a small prize for the most creative jumper.

We enjoyed singing Away in the Manger and Come and Join the Celebration, which really added to the Christmas spirit. Our Frása na Seachtaine is “Nollaig Shona Duit.” We learnt a lovely prayer all about Advent.

Every class has been working extremely hard, so as a special treat they will all enjoy a Christmas movie today, complete with hot chocolate and cookies.

Assembly- Advent

We were delighted to have Rev. Ruth with us today to tell us all about Advent, which is the countdown to Christmas. We celebrate Christmas because it marks the day baby Jesus was born. Rev. Ruth explained how waiting can sometimes be difficult when we are looking forward to something special.

We learned about the meaning of each candle on the Advent Wreath—hope, peace, joy, and love. The candle in the middle is lit on Christmas Day to represent the birth of Jesus.

To stay in the Christmas spirit, we sang Feliz Navidad and Away in a Manger.
Our Frása na Seachtaine is “Conas atá tú?”

A reminder that next Friday is our Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Jack and Jill.

Assembly- Library Time

Our school assembly took place on Wednesday this week, and we were delighted to welcome two very special visitors: Carl and Charlotte from Kildare Library Services.

They spoke to the children about the wonderful range of resources available through Kildare libraries—from books and audiobooks to events, workshops, and online services. The pupils were extremely engaged and are now eager to visit their local library to explore even more.

Carl and Charlotte also very kindly gifted the school a selection of beautiful new books, which will be added to our class libraries and our new school library. We are very grateful to them for their generosity and for inspiring a love of reading in our pupils.

Assembly- Gaeilge

5th and 6th Class hosted an amazing assembly all about an Ghaeilge agus an cultúr. It was wonderful to hear the Lord’s Prayer, Ár nÁthair, recited as Gaeilge. The classes also created their own beautiful prayer, which they proudly shared with us.

Some of the pupils then presented fascinating facts about different Irish sports, which everyone really enjoyed. We finished the assembly with one of our favourite Irish songs, ‘Óró, Sé do Bheatha ‘Bhaile’.

Our frása this week is “Cad is ainm duit?”

Maith sibh, Rang a Cúig agus Rang a Sé!
Bhain gach duine sult as an tionól inniu.

Assembly- The Power of Our Words

Today in Assembly, we explored the power of our words. We listened to the beautiful story Say Something by Peter H. Reynolds, which reminds us that our voices matter and that every kind word makes a difference.

We also practised our new Irish frása:
“Cé leis é? – Is liomsa é.”
The children really enjoyed using it together.

Mrs. Elliott presented this week’s awards, celebrating kindness, effort, and hard work across the school. She also presented the vouchers for the book fair. Each child created an amazing bookmark. Carol has very kindly laminated them all so they can be put to great use. Everyone will get the chance to visit the book fair to have a look at all the wonderful books today.

To finish, we got into the Christmas spirit by singing some festive Christmas songs—there was great excitement in the hall!

Assembly- Halloween

This week, 3rd and 4th Class put on a wonderful assembly! They told us about Halloween all around the world, we learnt how Halloween is celebrated differently in different countries. We can't wait to go Trick or Treating in Ireland.

They also led the school in singing their favourite 'Halloween Song' they had the whole school singing along. 🎶

A big well done to all of our award winners this week.

Our Frása na Seachtaine is “Bob nó Bia” (“Trick or Treat”).

Oíche Shamhna Shona Daoibh go Léir 🎃

This week, 1st and 2nd Class put on a fantastic assembly! They acted out lots of different scenarios showing how we can all “Bí Cineálta” (Be Kind). The children reminded us just how easy it is to show kindness to one another.

They also led the school in singing “Father, We Adore You.” Mrs. Veighey then divided the school into two groups and had everyone singing in rounds — it sounded beautiful! 🎶

A big well done to all of our award winners this week.

Our Frása na Seachtaine is “Fáilte Romhat” (“You’re Welcome”).

Finally, Mrs. McMurdock announced some exciting news — there will be no homework next week as we have a fun-filled week of Halloween activities! 🎃

Assembly- Kindness and The Shoebox Appeal

This week Junior Infants hosted assembly. They created and taught us actions to go with our ‘Kindness’ song. Mrs. McMurdock handed out the Merit Awards, Gaeilgeoirí na Seachtaine and the Kindness cup. Our Frása na Seachtaine is ‘Go raibh maith agat’, everyone is going to make a big effort to thank each other as Gaeilge. Mrs. Milsom told us all about the wonderful Shoebox appeal that we are going to take part in this year. We watched a video on how to make up the shoeboxes and saw pictures of children who were very happy to receive their shoeboxes.

Assembly- Bí Cineálta- Be Kind

Today we had our first assembly, it was so wonderful to have the whole school together. We started by getting the teachers to complete a taste test to see if they could find the correct drink. We talked about us all having a secret ingredient- kindness and ways in which we can show kindness. We listened to and discussed the story of ‘The Good Samaritan’. Our Frása na Seachtaine this week is ‘Bí Cinéalta’. Next week Mrs. McMurdock will be awarding the kindness cup to a child who has been really trying to be kind. A different child will be presented with the cup each week. We will also have a Merit Award and a Gaeilgeoir na Seachtaine from each classroom every week. We discussed setting up own on Student Council to help guide the teachers on things that we could do in Hewetson NS. A boy and girl from each class will be picked to form our first Student Council. We can’t wait to hear about all the wonderful ideas that they have. Every class are currently working on designing a ‘Bí Cineálta Poster’ to help reinforce and promote our Bí Cineálta policy. We finished our assembly by listening to ‘The Kindness Song’ that we are all going to learn.