Events
The PA organizes events all year round. Please see below for our list of events, upcoming and past, for 2023!
Upcoming Events:
As we approach the summer holidays, we have reached the end of the PA’s long list of events held this year. Please check out below all the amazing activities organised by the PA for the children of St Louis Infant and Senior Primary Schools. We had such fun and we hope we helped create some great memories of school for them to take with them into 2023/24!
Past Events:
Summer Carnival – 2 June.
On 2 June, all children took part in some Jungle Madness, learning an exciting Dance Routine with a professional dancer. Children came to school dressed in colourful clothes for the day and enjoyed a fun carnival atmosphere with their friends, with spot prizes and treats aplenty!
A big thank you to all parents, families and friends who sponsored their Jungle Dancers for this last PA fundraiser of the year. All proceeds go to the school.
Spring Art Competition.
The theme for this year’s art competition was SUMMER! The winners were announced to much excitement at the Infant School and the Senior Primary School on Thursday 1 June. The winning entries were displayed at the schools, on Williams Park and in Rathmines Village, for everyone to see all the wonderful artwork created by our amazing kids!
See the full list of winners here: PA Art Competition
The PA Pub Quiz.
On 17 May we held our annual Pub Quiz in Rody Bolands, Rathmines. We had a full house and so much fun with our Quiz Master, Colman Walsh! We had fabulous raffle prizes throughout the evening, all donated by generous parents and businesses in our wonderful local community!
All proceeds raised go towards PA fundraising for the school!
To mark World Book Day, on the 2nd of March, the PA organised the following events:
St Louis Reading Rocks Readathon 2nd – 24th of March.
The Parent Association, in conjunction with the school, held the St Louis Reading Rocks Readathon 2023. At assembly on Thursday the 2nd of March, the children of 1st and 2nd Classes were joined by Síne Quinn, a writer, editor and creative writing facilitator with the Bookmarks Programme at Trinity College; and the children of 3rd to 6th Classes were joined by Claire Hennessy, who had her first book published before she turned 14 years old and is Founder Director of The Big Smoke Writing Factory. Síne and Claire had lots of fun answering all the children’s questions and encouraged them to use the month of March to read more, and to show them that everyone can be a creative writer. What a treat!
The Readathon ran for 3 weeks, until 24 March. Children were encouraged to ask for sponsorship from family and friends for the books they read during the Readathon. Together they raised nearly €3,000!!! This sponsorship money goes directly to improving the facilities for the children in the school. Thank you for all your support!
As well as raising important funds for the school, the most important thing about the Readathon is that children read or be read to – our core objective is to get our children reading more for all the lifelong benefits that it will bring them. During the Readathon, there was more DEAR (Drop Everything & Read) time in the Infant and Senior Primary Schools to facilitate children reading for pleasure both in school and at home.
Creative Writing Competition.
We ran a creative writing competition for all children in the Senior Primary School. Nadine O’Regan, an award-winning Journalist and Editor, kindly agreed to judge the competition. Children made submissions of all types of creative writing – stories, poems, graphic novels, comic style. They were able to enter the competition themselves or made a joint submission with one other friend. All entries were submitted by Friday 24th March. And what a treat for Nadine and her team who went through all the entries, with Nadine choosing the final winners. We had a winner and a runner up for each year from 2nd – 6th class. There were some fantastic prizes to be won including the opportunity to go to a Creative Writing Workshop run by award winning author Claire Hennessey!
See photos of our wonderful winners!
Free Children’s Book Giveaway and coffee morning.
On Friday 3rd March from 8.45am-9.30am the PA organised a Free Children’s Books Giveaway in the school hall, when we had a selection of (new and nearly new) children’s books for parents and guardians to take away FOR FREE! Parents were able to stock up on popular children’s books to encourage children to read and take part in the Readathon! While they were there, they were able to grab a cup of coffee with us.
6th Class Hoodies. Back by popular demand, the PA organised hoodies for 6th Class again this year! We worked with our 6th Classers and had them kitted out for the Spring Term.
Santa Visit and Christmas Crown Celebration. This special guest visited the Winter Wonderland in St Louis on 19 December (Infant School) and 20 December (Senior School). The children helped transform Halla Cullen into a Winter Wonderland with their beautiful artwork! Each class had its own handcrafted wooden Christmas tree, which were made specifically for St Louis children as a gift to the school by a talented parent Shane McAvinney. As part of the event, we sent home a festive envelope into which voluntary donations could be placed, along with a special note to Santa from your child or a letter to Rudolf or the North Pole Elves. Santa collected the envelopes in his sack during his visit.
Christmas Cards. The PA organised the much-loved Christmas cards, designed by the children, again this year. Order forms were sent home with a copy of each child’s individually designed cards in time for cards to be ready in early December.
Christmas Toy Sale and Coffee Morning. The PA helped parents get a head start on their Christmas shopping again this year. On Tuesday 29 November, at 9am, the Christmas Toy Sale and Coffee Morning was held for parents/guardians only, after school drop-off, giving everyone the opportunity to grab a coffee with us while picking up some bargain stocking-fillers. We asked for donations of new / good-as-new toys for this event, and we’re grateful for all the generous donations that were made.
Halloween Mosh. This year’s Halloween Monster Mosh was held on Friday, 28 October! Our amazing dance coordinator, Aine Whelan, came to the school again this year to organise some Halloween fun with all the children. They danced their spooky legs off and showed us their ghoulish moves, fantastical grooves & magical moonwalks! This is a PA fund raising event and all children were given a sponsorship form. Your little monsters did an amazing job getting sponsorship from family, friends and neighbours to raise important funds for the school!
Coffee Morning & Pre-Loved Uniform Sale. We had Coffee Morning & Uniform Sale after school drop-off for both the Infant and Senior Primary Schools in Halla Cullen on Thursday, 22 September, 8:45am-9:45am for the Infant School and on Monday, 26 September, 8:45am-9:45am for the Senior School. They were a great success so thanks to everyone that attended! It was lovely to be back in the school for these events too, especially for those of us who have never been in the school until now due to Covid restrictions.