School Crest and Motto 1st June 2020
Dear Parents, Guardians and Students The past few months have been a difficult time for our country. The outbreak of the Coronavirus has posed many challenges. As a nation, we have risen to meet these challenges and we’ve worked together to overcome them. In doing this, we have reinforced to others the idea that honour, resilience and unity of purpose are core values of the Irish people and are inherent in Irish culture. Culture is a very important concept and the culture of our school is something that matters greatly to the Board of Management and the staff at Scoil Naomh Mhuire. As school leaders and a staff, we want to model and develop a strong culture of mutual trust, respect and shared accountability. We want to foster a very positive school climate and encourage respectful interactions at all levels within the school community. However, developing a positive school culture is something that requires the effort and input of the whole school community - principal, staff, pupils, parent body and the wider local community. Over the years, a lot has already been done to develop a positive school culture at Scoil Naomh Mhuire. For instance, this year we have put a lot of work into various aspects of school life – e.g. working towards achieving both our Amber and GAA flags and getting our computer room and the school newspaper up and running. The work we do in these areas show that we are a school that promotes both positive mental and physical health and that we value the voices and opinions of our pupils and our parents. The work we do in our friendship groups demonstrate that we are a caring school that values teamwork and helping each other. We will continue to work in these areas and others next year and in years to come. I think we can be very proud, as a school community, of the work we have done to achieve what is already a positive school culture for Scoil Naomh Mhuire. We, the BOM and the staff, are so grateful to our pupils and their families for getting behind initiatives and supporting the school in everything we try to achieve. A school crest and motto are two other things that say a lot about a school. They let other people know what really matters to our school just like the things mentioned above. However, a crest and motto are permanent and therefore require a lot of thought and discussion. Also, the concept of a positive school culture is difficult to explain and therefore may prove tricky for your child(ren) to fully grasp. With this in mind, I am asking you to work with your child to devise a school crest and motto for our school using the template provided in the link below. I have included a little bit of history of the area for you to consider (in a separate document - see link below). You could talk to grandparents or older people from the community who remember other things about the school – because history is so important. However, obviously the present and the future are equally important and so before designing the crest and thinking of a possible motto, you might ask your child the following questions to focus them and help them to understand the concept of school culture:
I really hope this is something you and your child can enjoy together and that your child will be proud of the fact that he/she played a part in designing the first school crest for Scoil Naomh Mhuire. Please note that this is not a competition and we will possibly draw on different elements of pupils’ ideas as a final design. It would be great if as many children as possible submitted a design idea so please encourage your child to take part in this ‘project’ by sending their crests and mottos to staplestownns@gmail.com by Monday 15th June. Any questions can also be sent to the above address. Kind regards, Áine Crotty Principal ***You will find the template for our crest at this link Scoil Naomh Mhuire Crest *** ***You will find some information about local history by clicking on Local History.doc *** |
