May 2023 Newsletter

Hello everyone!

Ah, the beautiful month of May! Fields full of flowers and butterflies, and happy children. All of the quiet determination and struggles of winter and spring blossom into effortless success.

Market Day at the beginning of the month again gave students a chance to show their creativity and entrepreneurial skills. Food stalls are always a big hit with pizza, french crepes, and homemade cakes and cookies taking centre stage. Some of the impressive wares on display included hand made bookmarks, comic books, and natural cosmetics, and of course our favourite books, toys, and bric-a-brac that we have outgrown, which become someone else’s new treasure.

We had two research students visitng this month, carrying out research into children’s rights, and democratic education. Emma McCormack, a Masters student in the School of Education in University College Dublin (UCD) studying Education for Children & Youth, and Alessandra Zappatini, a Master’s student at the international Master Programme in Childhood Studies and Children’s Rights (University of Applied Science, Potsdam- Germany). As always it was a pleasure to participate in academic research and to gain insights from the perspective of other professionals in education.

Our older student band, Uneducated, participated in the Music Generation concert at The Hawkswell this month and we look forward to our junior band The Majestic Frogs and other young musicians playing at Knocknarea Arena in June.

Students have completed their igcse exams and breathed a sigh of relief as they get to enjoy this last month of school and the gorgeous weather.

Summer camps are still open for booking. There are only a few places left so don’t delay!

Mark your Calendar
June 14th & 15th – Performance of The Boardinghouse by the drama club (Sligo Sudbury School families only)
June 21st – end of year party (Sligo Sudbury School families only)

6 students completed their Gaisce Bronze Award, undertaking a 2 day hike and overnight camp in Ballycroy National Park as their Adventure Journey. Gaisce, the President’s Award, is a challenge to young people to develop new skills and get involved in the community over the period of a year. Each participant is asked to take on a new personal skill, a community activity and a physical activity. These challenges take place over an extended period, 13 weeks for each element with an added 13 weeks of activities in any one of the challenge areas – 26 weeks in all. This is a big commitment and a great achievement, as well as being a lot of fun for all involved.

https://sligosudburyschool.com/2023/04/25/summer-camp-2023-booking-now-open/

Only a few places remaining

Book yours now

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Give every child the chance to learn on their own terms.

We have grown to maximum capacity on our current site and are planning a major extension of our school to offer self-directed education to more children and to provide an opportunity for industry, educators and policy makers to learn more about the long-term benefits of self-directed learning and democratic schools for children, educators, and wider society. Be part of making this happen. Support us in whatever way you can.

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If you are an Irish tax payer and donate €250 or more to a registered charity in any year, the charity can claim 45% in tax relief under the Charitable Donation Scheme.

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Any amount you can give, as a one-time donation or by committing to a fixed amount each month, will get us closer to our goal.

Thank you