Third and Fourth Class November Assembly

Opening Prayer Advent Prayer

O Jesus the source of all wisdom.

The one who will show the way of peace.

Be the light that burns so bright, lighting up our lives.

Prepare for the one who is coming.

Let us welcome him into our hearts.

Welcome from Mr Kearins

In our assembly today we are going to talk about advent. We know that God is with us at all times. We know that God was with us in the brightness of Summer, in the freshness of Spring and in the golden colours of Autumn. We know that God is with us now this Winter. The end of November is the beginning of Advent. Advent means arrival and it is the season of waiting and preparing for the birth of Jesus. There are four Sundays leading up to Advent. The first candle in the Advent wreath symbolises hope. The second candle represents peace. The third candle symbolises joy and the fourth candle symbolises love. The last candle is lit on Christmas Day. The circle of the wreath reminds us of God. His endless mercy which has no beginning and no end. The evergreen branches and leaves symbolise the everlasting life which God gives us. During Wintertime long ago people would light candles on wheel shaped bundles of evergreen. The candle light gave comfort to people at the darkest time of the year.

Chloe, Alannah and Jason from Mr Ryan’s class read the prayers of the faithful.

Prayer 1 Advent is a season of waiting, waiting in joyful hope for the coming of Jesus. We all have to wait in our lives for different things. We wait for friends to come to play. We wait for parents to collect us and we wait for lunch break each day. To wait is part of all our lives. Mary and Joseph waited patiently for the birth of Jesus on that very first Christmas. We now wait too.

Prayer 2

Advent is a time of joy. As Mary and Joseph waited during the first advent , they waited with joy in their hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus. We remember and celebrate the joy that the people felt as they waited for the arrival of Jesus all that time ago.

Prayer 3

Advent is a time of hope. Mary and Joseph like all new parents were filled with hope as they waited . The people of Israel waited in hope for the coming of Jesus. We look forward to and wait in joyful hope to celebrate that first Christmas.

Awards/Prizes

Pupil of the month trophy

Room 9 Liva

Room 7 Kristopher

Room 19 Elizabeth

Room 20 Eva

Room 21 Thomas

Room 5 Caoimhe

Athletics Congratulations to the children who participated in the Cross Country Schools Athletics Championship in Bellewstown. Most of the children were in 5^th and 6^th classes but there were two children from 4^th class James Woodruffe and Hannah Lumley in Ms Jenkinson’s class. Well done. The team did the school proud on the day. Thank yu to Ms Kelly for training the children and getting them ready for the event and to Mr Mc Keown for going with them on the day.

Taekwondo

There were four children in our school who represented Ireland from Master Joe’s Taekwondo class last weekend in the English International Taekwondo Open Event in Manchester. They all won medals and we are very proud of them. There was one boy from 4^th class who went. His name is Jack Price from Ms Mooney’s 4^th class Room 20. Well done Jack. The other children were from 5^th and 6^th classes.

Twitter

Our schools twitter page is @decsash if any parents would like to follow us for up to date events happening in the school.

Pride Of Place Award

Well done to Evan Burdock, Emma Feeney, Carolina Tudorache, Evelyn Dunne, and Mollie Murray who designed No Dumping posters for the Tidy Towns last year. Their posters were part of the overall prize for the Pride Of Place Award that Garden City won for their estate. We have the award with us at assembly today. We are very proud to have been part of the award. The judges from the competition visited our school as it is in the middle of Garden City and they were really impressed with the children growing vegetables and our scarecrows. At the weekend Garden City won the All Ireland Pride of Place award in the estate category. They have given us bulbs to plant around the school. Thank you to Ms Coote who looks after the Green Schools in our school.

Dogs Trust

Thank you to Mr Mulroe for organising Audrey and her King Charles dog Lucy to come into our school last week and visit our three 4^th classes. Audrey spoke the children about how to care for your dog and the things you have to think about before you would get a dog. She did a workshop with each class about the safety of each breed of dog. Thank you Audrey and Lucy. It was very informative.

Gaelgeoir Na Miosa

Room 7 Eimear