We are all truly devastated at the news today that we did not win patronage of the secondary school for Citywest & Saggart.
We were always up against it but we fought long and hard to even get a secondary school for our area in the first place and we could not be more proud and grateful to each and every one of our amazing supporters over the past 5 years ❤️
More information can be found here:
https://www.education.ie/…/2019-press-rele…/PR19-12-17a.html

****CALLING ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS LIVING IN CITYWEST, SAGGART, TALLAGHT, RATHCOOLE & NEWCASTLE****
You are invited to a public meeting being held to provide important information to voters now that the Online Patronage Process System is officially opened for voting on the patron of the new secondary school opening in Citywest in 2020. 🗳

• ➡️ When: Monday, 16th September
• ➡️ Time: 8pm
  
• ➡️ Where: Citywest Educate Together NS, Fortunestown Lane, Citywest,         D24 (opposite Saggart Luas stop)

We have a number of speakers joining us on the evening to share their experiences, and insights on education and the Educate Together model.
Speakers include:
Claire Matthews (Principal) and students from Firhouse
Educate Together Secondary School
Paul Murphy TD
John Lahart TD
Caitriona Hand - Principal of Citywest Educate Together NS
Parents from Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School
Jennifer Buttner - Educate Together Regional Development Officer

It's time!! Let's get voting, your community needs you to #VoteEducateTogether
Please see the information below on how to vote:

• Get your child/children’s PPS numbers and your eircode to hand.
• Go to: http://bit.ly/VoteETCitywestSaggart
• Follow the instructions and make sure to #VoteEducateTogether

The vote is open to all children in the defined geographic area of the Tallaght and Rathcoole/Newcastle School Districts, between 2nd to 6th Class, with parents getting one vote per child, voting will take place from 9th September to 4th October 2019. This is a unique, historical opportunity for you to shape the future of our wonderfully diverse and vibrant community.

We cannot stress enough how important it is to use your vote!!
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Thank you for your time and most importantly for making the choice for real equality based education for the whole community!
#VoteEducateTogether

A Parent's Educate Together
Secondary School Story

July 23, 2018

Maeve Majewski, a parent of three sons, shares her experience of sending her eldest son Luke to North Wicklow Educate Together Secondary School. 
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My decision to send Luke to Educate Together in Bray wasn’t one I made easily. I found that  I felt an extra element of pressure in choosing a secondary school compared to what I had felt when I  chose a primary school.  For me, choosing my children’s primary school mainly came down to their happiness. I wanted somewhere where they would be happy.

In choosing a secondary school, I felt I needed to consider a whole other list of priorities. Mainly, will this school help my child reach their full potential; will this school prepare my child for college, the work force and the life that lies ahead of him? It was these priorities that brought me to decide upon Educate Together.

Educate Together Secondary Schools are moving away from the Irish system of “teaching to the test”, i.e. the leaving cert. They have recognised and acknowledged a massive issue in our education system, one which becomes particularly obvious at third level. Teaching our young people to solely develop the skill of regurgitating information in the leaving cert. does not prepare them properly for life. On average, one in every six first year students in Ireland drop out of their college course; I think that’s really concerning.

So, while I obviously recognise the importance of the leaving cert as a necessary door into third-level education, I also want my children to have a balanced and holistic education that prepares them for life.
Educate Together places an emphasis on students developing skills such as creative and critical thinking, teamwork, research, and leadership. These are skills I want my children to have, especially considering the work force that their generation is entering: one where people will need to be adaptable and capable of managing many career changes. And also working in new careers and industries, some of which don’t yet exist today!

Something that I am asked about regularly, having a child in an Educate Together Secondary School, is “does the school follow the national secondary school curriculum?” And the answer is yes. Luke is taking 5 core subjects and 3 optional (Business, Art, and Spanish) for his junior cert. Educate Together have also, alongside these subjects, introduced short courses into the weekly time table, and Luke has found these to be really interesting. Some of the short course subjects offered in Bray are Forensic Science, Coding, and Philosophy. I can genuinely say that Luke is stimulated and interested most days at school. And I think that is pretty rare for a 13 year old!

Luke’s school has an AMAZING Guidance Counsellor. She has introduced a “careers’ night” into the first year calendar and hopes to roll it out as a yearly event. The students prepared for this event by choosing their DREAM career and then they researched what college courses or training might be needed to access it. At Luke’s careers’ night we heard speakers from Trinity College Admissions Office, the VEC, and many others speakers. It was a brilliant way of getting the kids to focus on figuring out what they really enjoy doing and then using that realisation to lead on to focusing on how to make that an achievable career path.

She has also been incredibly proactive in encouraging the children to speak out and ask for help if they are struggling with any emotional or anxiety issues. She started the school year by giving each student a bundle of “appointment cards”, and explained that if they were ever feeling overwhelmed or worried about anything, that all they needed to do was drop one of their cards into her office and she would organise for them to have a chat. I believe the uptake has been considerable. This, and other similar initiatives, have helped to create an atmosphere where the students feel comfortable in asking for help. This is something I feel incredibly grateful for, as a parent, knowing that Luke has the support of adults that he trusts and respects while he is at school; that really is a true gift.

Another interesting example of the innovation that Educate Together is incorporating into their secondary school curriculum is “interdisciplinary learning”. This is where topics are taught by merging relevant subjects together. So Luke studies a subject called “World Studies” which merges history and geography, two subjects that are obviously linked and complement each other when pulled together.

Another example of interdisciplinary learning is a project that Luke was involved in called “Colonizing the moon”. This project included the science behind space travel, the math behind space travel, the ethical considerations, practicalities of construction in space and so on. Luke and the other first years were split into small groups. Each group researched and examined a different aspect of the topic and then each group presented their findings to the whole year. Luke’s group looked at the area of “The Wellbeing of the colony”, covering their mental, physical and social wellbeing. It was fascinating!

Another question that I get asked frequently about Luke attending an Educate Together Secondary School is “are there any after school activities?” So, just in case you were wondering, yes there are! The students in Bray can choose from football, basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, Cookery Club, and Dramatic Performance. And there are also some “drop in clubs” that go on at lunch time during the school day. One of them is called Friendship club. It’s designed to be a safe space where kids can go if they are feeling left out or isolated at lunch time.

I can really and truly put my hand on my heart and tell you that I have no regrets about my decision to send Luke to an Educate Together Secondary School. He is incredibly happy in school, and genuinely feels like a valued part of his school community. I feel really lucky that my son goes to the school he does.

The opportunity for an Educate Together for our community is coming with the parental vote expected to take place in September. Make sure you're kept up to date by signing up here: https://tinyurl.com/y83284pf
#VoteEducateTogether

School location update:
Thank you to The Echo Newspaper for this article informing families of the location of the new 2nd Level School opening next year.

This building is the current location of Citywest Educate Together NS and Citywest & Saggart CNS who will both move to their permanent buildings later this year. While this is a temporary building it is of a very high standard and will be a fantastic place to start for the new 2nd Level students next year.

Patronage is yet to be decided with the democratic parental vote expected to take place this September - keep up to date with developments here: https://tinyurl.com/y83284pf
​#VoteEducateTogether

http://www.echo.ie/tallaght/article/national-school-building-to-house-secondary-school

From all of us at Citywest Educate Together 2nd Level Campaign and these wonderful kids we would like to wish all of our amazing supporters a very happy summer break!

Look out for us as we will be working hard over the summer to make the dream of an Educate Together 2nd Level for Citywest/Saggart a reality.

Last Thursday the first ever 6th class of Citywest Educate Together NS students graduated 🎓
It was a truly memorable event demonstrating exactly how such a strong bond has been forged between these remarkable individuals over the past seven years ❤️
They now embark on the next exciting phase of their educational journey and we wish them all the very best!!
Sadly most of them will not be together for this journey and ALL of them will have to leave their community.
With the new 2nd Level School opening in Citywest/Saggart in 2020, we hope they will be the last local students to have to leave our community to attend schools outside the area.
Sign up here to be kept up to date on our campaign to make this new school an Educate Together: https://tinyurl.com/y83284pf
#VoteEducateTogether

Since our campaign began over 5 years ago we've had so many people talking to us about what Educate Together means to them and their families. Below are just a few testimonials from parents and students talking about the many reasons it is so important our community gets a 2nd Level School with an ethos based on equality, respect and inclusivity. One with a pioneering, progressive vision which prepares students for living and working in the 21st century!
​#VoteEducateTogether

We are delighted to have met with Independent Senator Lynn Ruane today who pledged her full support for our campaign to bring an Educate Together 2nd Level School to Citywest/Saggart.

During a visit to Citywest Educate Together NS this morning, Senator Ruane also met with the school's democratically elected student council providing them with an insight into political life. This was followed by impressive presentations from first and fifth class students of their work on a variety of themes including environmental concerns and democracy.

Observing the school's ethos in action the Senator expressed her hopes that the school's educational model, based on diversity, inclusion and respect, could be continued into its pupils 2nd Level education.
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Let's bring this model of education to the whole community of Citywest/Saggart! #VoteEducateTogether
Sign up here for updates on our campaign for patronage: https://tinyurl.com/y83284pf

Hard to believe that the 13th of April marked one whole year since the Department of Education finally announced a 1,000 Pupil Second Level School for Citywest/Saggart. This was down to years of unwaivering hard work and determination by parents in our community, for the whole community!

This lovely little video shows some of what we have been up to since this announcement - as our campaign continues to ensure this new school, opening in 2020 is an Educate Together school.

​Sign up here for updates on our campaign for patronage: https://tinyurl.com/y83284pf
#VoteEducateTogether