Yesterday, our school participated in the Rathcoole-Saggart St. Patrick's Day Parade for the second year. The weather was glorious and we were all in great form as me marched along, led in song by Mila's Dad Gary!
We sang Amhrán na bhFiann, Noon's Song, and several rousing renditions of that Old School classic - 'Everywhere We Go!'.
Everybody had a great time. Thank you so much to the Parents' Association for organising it!

We had a whole-school assembly yesterday to mark the end of Term 2 and the end of Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish Week). We all gathered in our P.E. hall and listened to each class perform a song or a poem, all through Irish. Mary's class even brought their tin whistles and played a tune for us. It was a lovely chance for us all to see the hard work being done in every class in the school. 

Today was Proclamation Day, and saw the culmination of months of preparations at our school. Back in December, a flag was presented to our school by members of the Defence Forces and today was the day we officially raised the flag for the first time.
The flag raising ceremony was preceded by the reading of a short portion of the Proclamation of Independence that was written and signed by seven members of the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic, as they rebelled against British rule in Ireland.

The children in First, Second and Third Classes have been learning all about the 1916 Rising over the past number of weeks. They have consulted the Proclamation and also considered the items they would prioritise in a new Proclamation for Ireland in the 21st Century.
​Representatives from each class read passages of our new Proclamation today.

(Full text of our Proclamation:
​CITYWEST EDUCATE TOGETHER
TO THE PEOPLE OF OUR COMMUNITY

OUR PROCLAMATION

We believe that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated. This can be done by showing respect, being kind and helpful. This will hopefully get rid of crime, poverty and cruelty. It would also end bullying, which is not something that we want in our school or in our country. We want to show racism the red card and to make sure that everyone has equal opportunities regardless of their skin colour, age, gender or religion.

Education should be available to everyone – children and adults. We would like equal opportunities for all and everyone should be encouraged to do jobs that interest them, whether they are male or female. No one should be told they can’t do something just because of who they are. There should be more Educate Together primary and secondary schools which should teach computer coding, cooking and more languages to children.

Ireland is for everyone, but we recognise that people might have backgrounds in other countries. We would like everyone to learn about Irish culture and history, but also cultures and history from other places.

This is the vision that the pupils and teachers of Citywest Educate Together National School have for now and for the future. We declare this our Proclamation today, the 15th March 2016.

Signed:
Mary Treasa’s First Class           Orla’s First Class
Ciara’s Second Class                   Mary’s Third Class

Finally, the flag was raised as we sang Amhrán na bhFiann. 

Aisling said she thought her heart might have turned green while we were singing it. We all felt so proud, I think we all felt a little bit green!

We are MOST excited to announce that our parent education, engagement and fun programme continues to grow! On 6th April, Nicola Sherwood, who lives locally to the school, will start a Bokwa Fitness class for adults in our PE hall! The class will run from 8pm to 9pm each Wednesday evening. Watch this space for more details!

A huge thank you to all our families for donating books of all languages on World Book Day. We are filling up the shelves of our library very quickly.

If you haven't had a chance to donate a book, there is still time. Just hand it into your child's class teacher or to Siobhán in the school office.

Have a look below at Ross' class collecting the donations from around the school and enjoying all the new books under our reading tree.

Seachtain na Gaeilge has come to life this year more than ever before at Citywest ETNS, thanks to the efforts of Mary and her wonderful Third Class students.

We have been treated to a radio bulletin as Gaeilge each day, in which we hear a weather report, a news report, and Frása an Lae (Phrase of the Day), in which we are encouraged to try to use a simple phrase later in the day. We are all so proud as we listen to the children from Third Class reading with confidence.

Ach ní hé sin an méid (But that's not all)! We are also treated to a daily drama! Five children from Third Class visit us each morning and put on a little play for us. They are doing our school proud! Well done Rang a Trí!

Following stiff competition, and a very strong campaign, we are delighted to announce the election of our new Student Council!

Twelve candidates in total ran for the positions - four from each of First Class, Second Class and Third Class. The Council is now comprised of the top two polling candidates from each class, plus the next two highest polling candidates to represent Senior Infants AND an elected Staff Representative. 

Name                 Representing 
Elada                 3rd Class
Éabha                3rd Class
Adam                 2nd Class
Nikita                 2nd Class
Simon                 1st Class
Bella                  1st Class
Kornel                Senior Infants
Iva                      Senior Infants
Noah                  Staff

This Council will sit for one year and will be involved in decisions that affect the future of the school. They will also have an opportunity to effect change by making proposals to school management in relation to initiatives or ideas that they feel would benefit the school.

Congratulations to all of the children who ran for Student Council. We are very proud of them for all of the work they put in to their campaigns.

This week is Seachtain na Gaeilge - Irish week! (In fact, the 'week' stretches over a week and a half - from Monday 7th - Wednesday 16th March!) It is an opportunity for us to celebrate Ireland and the Irish language. As you may know, our school will be participating in the parade in Rathcoole/ Saggart next Thursday (17th March).
There will also be some festivities here in the school this week. 
We will have a Céilí Mór on Friday 11th March. A céilí is a traditional Irish folk dance. All of the children in the school will participate in this.
Tuesday 15th March will be our Lá Glas (Green Day). Everybody is invited to wear something green and children are asked to bring a small donation on the day towards Irish resources.
Lá Glas will also be the day when we hold our official 1916 commemorations, when we will finally have the opportunity to raise the flag that was presented to us back in December.
Finally, we will have tionól Gaeilge  (Irish whole-school assembly) on the final day of term - Wednesday 16th March. Classes will perform Irish songs and poems for one another.

We invite you to get into the spirit of Seachtain na Gaeilge at home! Mary has put together some vocabulary for you to try out with the family each day. Let us know how you get on!