Blog Archives

Family Fun Day

27/5/2017

Family Fun Day took place yesterday at our school, and yet again, the weather was perfect!! We had a great turn out to enjoy the stalls that were run by the children from 3rd and 4th Class. Parents came along and brought picnics and it was a joy to see them dotted around the yard soaking up the summer atmosphere.
Bouncy castles, face painting, we had it all! Well done to the team that organised this wonderful day!

Bumbleance Visits Our School

22/5/2017

On May 17th, The Bumbleance visited our school. The Bumbleance is a special children's ambulance which allows very sick children to take important journeys in a fun, state of the art and safe vehicle. The children in first, second and third class were very impressed by the ambulance's unique and bright interior. The driver John let the children explore the ambulance, see lots of games and answered any questions they had.

Summer Camps at our School!

21/5/2017

We are very happy to announce a programme of summer camps. Please contact camp organisers to book places:
Bricks4Kidz LEGO camp

Monday 17th to Friday 21st July 9am to 12pm each day
Monday 17th to Friday 21st July 2pm to 5pm each day
Monday 21st to Friday 25th August 9am to 12pm each day
Monday 21st to Friday 25th August 2pm to 5pm each day

Contact Elaine Bowden, phone 086-7809213, email [email protected] or visit the Bricks4Kidz website

ArtZone Art camp

Monday 24th to Friday 28th July 10am to 2pm each day

Contact [email protected] or visit the Artzone website

Irish Community Living Unconference taking place at OUR school!

21/5/2017

We are very happy to host the Dublin Irish Community Living Unconference at our school on 10th June. As you know, community is a priority for our school and we have been working hard to build and encourage community spirit since the opening of our school. Furthermore, the ideals of this group fit particularly well with our broader ethos. Please see information below, which was forwarded to us by the organisers:

The Irish Community Living Unconferences are a series of 1 day events which aim to offer people interested in the areas of Community Living, Co-operative Housing and Eco Villages an opportunity to meet, knowledge share, problem solve and create support networks. This will be achieved through participant generated discussions, communal feasting (potluck meal), and knowledge harvesting.

Our goal with organising these unconferences is to bring people together - the experts, the enthusiasts and those hungry to learn about sustainable community living so that we can connect with each other and start to form the critical mass that Ireland needs to be able to create these societies.

We want to inspire and support those on their path to creating these communities and we want to show those who don't know, what can be done when people get together and begin to enact the change that they want to see in the world.

Through the unconferences we hope to identify and address the obstacles to achieving community living, co-housing, cooperative housing, eco-villages and intentional communities in Ireland.

The nature of an unconference is that there is no set topics of discussion, we will set the theme and tone of the environment and help facilitate and record the sessions. However it is up to the passionate individuals attending to bring the issues they are facing forward whether it be legal, financial, governance, logistical, infrastructural or other and benefit from the collective expertise in the room to find solutions.

We want to learn from others and get to work on creating a sustainable culture. The areas in which we can do this are as varied as each individual. Through agriculture, design, community engagement, socialising, having fun, working hard, social entrepreneurship... we can achieve a better, happier and healthier future.

The Irish Community Living Unconferences are happening in Cork - 27th May, Galway - 3rd June and Dublin - 10th June.

Further information and ticket booking at
http://irishcommunitylivingunconference.weebly.com/

New ePayment system for our school

21/5/2017

Our school is delighted to announce that we are rolling out the Aladdin ePayment system to parents and guardians of children in our school.

Our school uses the Aladdin software service for administrative purposes and the ePayment system will give you access from an internet browser on your computer, phone or tablet to make secure payments to the school using your credit or debit card. The purpose of the ePayment system is to facilitate the easier payment of school money collections for parents and guardians and to reduce the amount of cash and cheques being sent into our school in line with recent central bank directives.

Aladdin uses state-of-the-art security to safeguard information entered by you and the school and data is stored and processed in strict compliance with Irish data protection laws.

Going forward, when money is due for any school activity that is relevant to your child(ren), you will receive a text or email message containing your payment access link. This will bring you to a parent payment page which will contain all payments requested for all siblings in a family. There is only one link per family, ensuring you have the option to pay all amounts due for all your children in one transaction. Once you have completed your payment, you will be issued with a reference number. You will also receive an email receipt which will contain details of the transaction and reference number. Please quote this reference number in any queries you may have as regards this payment with the school.

We hope that you will find the Aladdin ePayments facility useful and that it is a very successful system for all. We will welcome any feedback or questions you may have.

Educate Together AGM

21/5/2017

On Saturday 20th May 2017, our principal Caitriona and teachers Aoife B and Aisling attended the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Educate Together as delegates for Citywest ETNS. The AGM was held at Hansfield ETNS in Dublin 15. It was a very interesting day.

We enjoyed exploring the fabulous new building and picking up some tips for when we eventually move into our permanent accommodation (now expected to happen during the 2018/19 school year). We also got to explore the building of Hansfield Educate Together Second-Level School and dream about the day that we can walk across the road to Citywest Educate Together Second-Level School (still to be sanctioned but we live in hope!)!

We attended two workshops in the morning, one on the reconfiguration process and one on promoting Educate Together. Anyone not already familiar with Educate Together's Fair-Transparent-Equal campaign is encouraged to read up about it.

The formal business of the AGM included 4 motions put forward by Citywest ETNS. On the day of the AGM, we opted to withdraw 3 of the 4 motions, following updates from the ET Board of Directors that came out after our motions were submitted. These three motions were related to the Strategic Review for Educate Together that our school suggested last year. We are delighted to see the progress that Educate Together have made in relation to the Strategic Review and we look forward to taking part in the review and to learning about the outcomes from it over the coming year.

The 4th motion that we put forward was in relation to the dire lack of substitute teachers in Ireland at the moment. This motion passed. We look forward to seeing action from Educate Together in relation to this and we hope they will be supported in this action by the teacher unions, IPPN and other school management bodies so that less teaching time is lost to our children by unavoidable staff absences.

Caitriona felt honoured to be nominated to the Board of Directors of Educate Together by our Board of Management. Following elections at the AGM, Caitriona was elected as a Director. This is a voluntary, unpaid post which Caitriona will undertake in addition to her work at Citywest ETNS and other commitments. With Caitriona's vast experience within Educate Together and education, her personal passion for the Educate Together values and ethos and her open approach to challenges, our Board of Management feels that she has a lot of offer Educate Together on a broader level. We also know that this experience will be of benefit to our own school as Caitriona brings back a better understanding of the broader issues within the Educate Together community.

Our three delegates took part in debates on the various motions put forward by member schools, most particularly in relation to professional development for teachers and July Provision. With just one voting card per school, the three delegates took their responsibility as representatives of Citywest ETNS seriously and discussed each motion together before deciding how Citywest ETNS would vote. Motions included sharing information on new school buildings, teaching Irish in special classes for children with ASD, the school meals programme, posts of responsibility, support services for children with additional needs, inclusion and membership discounts for particular schools.

Speakers included Professor Kathleen Lynch, Joan Burton TD and Diarmaid Mac Aonghusa, outgoing Chairperson of the ET Board of Directors. Paul Rowe, CEO of Educate Together, presented an Annual Review. Aoife picked up a copy of the new Humanism lessons and will share them with teachers in our school.

This is the first time that our school was so well represented at the AGM and we look forward to continuing to take an active role in the national ET community, without which our school could not exist.

Many thanks to the three delegates for giving up their weekend time to do this for our school.

'Europe Day' - Our way!

12/5/2017

In our school, we are always looking for ways to embrace the ‘Educate Together’ ethos, which celebrates difference, diversity, and communities - local and global. The apple did not fall far from the tree then, when our 3rd and 4th Class pupils embarked on a new learning experience at the beginning of this school year…… The Blue Star Programme!

The Blue Star Programme is an education initiative for primary school pupils across Ireland. The aim of the programme is simple: to foster a better understanding and knowledge of the European Union and how it affects the lives of Irish citizens. And so, when our 3rd and 4th class pupils were challenged to get creative and think about Europe, they carried out projects and activities in relation to four key elements: the History, Geography, Culture and Creativity, and Institutions of the EU.

And not only that! Today, MEP Lynn Boylan visited our school to look at some of the work the children have been involved in! Needless to say, she was highly impressed when the children were able to showcase all that they know about Europe, through presentations, a quiz, and many discussions around their projects, which are all now on display in the new wing of our school. Over the next week, teachers Julie Ann & Eldon, will submit a report on all of the work the children have completed for the programme. Hopefully then, fingers crossed, the families, staff, and wider community of Citywest ETNS will be seeing a new flag for the school....this time, the EUROPEAN FLAG!

Check out the photographs above, taken from today's event! Well done to the teachers and pupils of 3rd and 4th Class for all of their hard work!
We are very proud of you!