St. Philomena's will close from Monday, October 25th until Friday, October 29th for mid-term. School re-opens on Monday, November 1st. Happy Hallowe'en.

Please see our updated School Response Plan below:

​ St. Philomena's will re-open on Monday, August 30th. These are our drop off and collection procedures:
We will be using the four entrances to the school: front door, side door, side gate into the yard and back door. Parents/Guardians of girls that are entering through the back door are asked to park on Store St. and escort your daughter to the back gate, or your daughter may walk up the path. A teacher will be present on the path just before 9.00am. You are asked to avoid driving up Benburb St as it is very narrow. 

We will have 3 opening times and you are asked to only arrive at the appointed time. The girls will go directly to their classrooms on entering the school.

• 9.00a.m. Front Door: Ms O Meara (Room 5) 3rd Class

                          Side Door: Ms Madden (Room 8) 6th Class
                          Back Door: Ms Higgins (Room 7) 5th+6th Class
                          Side Gate into the yard (An Cuan) 

• 9.10a.m. Front Door: Ms McDonnell (Room 2) 3rd Class

                          Side Door: Ms Lee (Room 3) 4th Class
                          Back Door: Ms Kenny (Room 6) 4th Class

• 9.20 a.m. Side Gate into the yard: Mr. Murphy (Room 4) 5th Class

There will be staggered closing times also. 

• 2.40p.m. Front Door: Ms O Meara 3rd Class

                         Side Door: Ms Madden 6th Class
                         Side Gate: An Cuan
                         Back Door: Ms Higgins 5th + 6th Class

• 2.50p.m. Front Door: Ms McDonnell 3rd Class

                        Side Door: Ms Lee 4th  Class
                        Back Door:   Ms Kenny 4th Class

• 3.00p.m. Side Door: Mr Murphy 5th Class

Parents/Guardians are asked to keep a 2 metre distance from each other.
The girls will have 2 breaks, one ten minute break in the classroom and one half hour break outside. The outside break times will be staggered and there will be 2 or 3 classes on the yard at a time in their designated areas.

If a child needs to be collected during the school day, please let the school know in advance. 
Visitors to the school will only be seen by making an appointment. A form will have to be completed upon arrival for contact tracing purposes.
Remember: Please do not send your child to school if they have a high temperature, a cough, shortness of breath or loss of smell or taste. Any pupil displaying these symptom will be escorted to the First Aid area and parents/guardians will be contacted.
If you have any questions, please contact the school.

St. Philomena's will re-open on Monday, August 30th.
​ Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Well done to all the girls that made a big effort to come to school each day this year. They were awarded certificates and medals on the last day of school. A special congratulations to Angel who never missed a single day during her time in St. Philomena's.

Every year, the Parents' Association ask the 6th Class what they would like to leave behind for the rest of the school when they are gone. They came up with some lovely ideas:
Homework Pass
Wear one colour for a day
Birthday cushions
Picnic in the Park
Each 6th Class leave their fingerprint on the wall of the school
Non-uniform Day
Movie and popcorn
There is also an annual raffle for a voucher for a uniform and a voucher for school books. 
Well done to Ada, Kayla, Leah, Leah and Emily for winning the prizes.
Thanks to the Parents' Association for organising this lovely idea annually.

On Wednesday night we were delighted to welcome out 6th Class girls and their families to our virtual graduation ceremony. It was a lovely event to mark the end of the girls' time in our school. Thank you to all parents and staff involved, and a special thank you to our 6th Class for your wonderful contributions! 

Class of 2021 - you are amazing and we are so proud of you all. You will be missed in St. Philomena's but we know that you all have bright futures ahead.

Enjoy your 'best moments' in the slideshow below!

The Parents' Association adopted a snow leopard from Dublin Zoo for the school. We had great fun choosing which animal we wanted to adopt. We then had to choose a name for our snow leopard. Emily chose the name Cleo. So we now have a mascot for our school 'Cleo the snow leopard'.

The Parents' Association organised a fantastic Fun Day for our girls on Friday June 10th. Each class enjoyed a walk along the canal and were treated to a tasty ice-cream or slushie on their return. They watched a movie with popcorn and water afterwards. A raffle was held for a giant chocolate bar in every class. What a great day! Huge thanks to the Parents Association for organising such a special day.

On Thursday 3rd June,  both 6th classes went to Bay Sports for their school tour.  We were so thankful to be able to go on tour and we had such a fun time. We made some good memories - ones we will always treasure as we near the end of our time in St. Philomena's. 

We are participating in Laois/Offaly's first Rainbow Day on Friday April 30th. This is an autism awareness fundraiser and all money raised will go to Laois Offaly Families for Autism. All the girls may wear a coloured t-shirt or top to school and bring a donation on the day.