There was great delight and pride in our school last week as Callie, a student in 1st class, won the Zurich Young Portrait Prize. Callie entered a picture into the competition - a picture she created of her Senior Infants teacher, Sarah C. She went to the National Gallery of Ireland last Tuesday for the grand opening of the exhibition, only to find out that she had won in her age category!

A huge well done to Callie, we are all very proud of this brilliant achievement. The exhibition is on display in the National Gallery until the 12th January 2020 - you can read more about it here.

As October begins, take a look back at a very busy September in Citywest ETNS. Have a read of some of the big events happening in the school!
 
New staff and students 
We welcomed our new students to Junior Infants and to other classrooms throughout the school. We also welcomed new staff members – read all about our staff here.
 
School Strategy Plan 
We published our Strategy Plan for 2019 - 2021, which is an overview of the various projects ongoing throughout the school. It lists various aspects of our school life as being in the Embed phase (part of school culture), Implement phase (have been piloted and just need refining) or Pilot phase (will be tried and tested). The Strategy Plan outlines a shared vision of the school aims for the next 2 years. 

Staff Training 
Teachers had a curriculum training day, which provided information on the implementation of the new Language Curriculum. This curriculum is now in place for all classes. Read more about the new curriculum here. 
ANAs also took part in First Aid training during the month of September. We now have 16 Occupational First Aiders on staff. 

Core value for September
Each month we celebrate one of the core values of the Educate Together curriculum. For September, our value was kindness. We had a record number of children in the Golden Book for showing kindness. 

Fundamental Movement Skill
Each month, we focus on a fundamental movement skill to practice at assembly, on yard, at home. This month, we were learning about kicking. Click here to find out which skill we will be learning about each month. 

Parent Information Evening
On Thursday the 19th September, we held our annual Parent Information Evening, where parents and guardians are invited to classroom talks by their child's teacher. In addition, Caitríona held talks on the School Strategy Plan for the coming two year. There was also an excellent anti-bullying talk, which was facilitated by the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre. 

Strike for Climate
On Friday the 20th September, our school took part in the global Strike for Climate movement. It was incredible to see such a powerful representation from our students, who really made their voices heard. You can read more about it here.  

2nd Level Campaign meeting
Our school hosted an important information night as part of the Educate Together 2nd Level Campaign, who are seeking to ensure that the new secondary school in Citywest will be under the patronage of Educate Together. You can stay up to date with the latest developments here.  

We were in the Echo
Believe it or not, we were featured in the Echo newspaper twice this month! The first article featured our new Junior Infants, while the second article was about our Strike for Climate. 

Sports Training
Sports training has returned this school year, with GAA training now taking place for 5th and 6th classes during various breaks throughout the week. Basketball training has also commenced twice a week for children in 4th class. 

New school song
Our new school song for this term is 'All You Need is Love' by the Beatles. We are looking forward to performing it together at the end of our assemblies.


It has certainly been a busy September. All of this, not to mention all of the learning taking place in classrooms, team teaching commencing, fabulous artwork being created, small group work on handling conflict, new ipads arriving to the school.. it's hard to keep up! Check back to see what is happening in October!

School attendance is very important to us, and as a community, we work hard to maintain high levels of attendance. Last year, we were so delighted that we broke our attendance records in almost every month of the year - it was such a fantastic achievement. The annual average attendance reached an all-time high of 92.3% - the first year this figure was over 92%!

Attendance is called each morning in all classrooms, before 9.30am. You can read more about the obligations of the school regarding attendance here. Parents and guardians can notify us of a child's absence through this form. 

With 3 school days left in September, we look set to beat our previous September record of 94.5%. At present, our September attendance for 2019 sits at 94.7%. What a brilliant start to the year!

WOW!!! What an incredibly inspiring and motivational day we had today, as the children in our school (assisted by our staff) went on strike for climate change. Over the past week, we have been engaging in lessons about climate change, global warming, recycling and identifying how we can make a difference in our world today. Children are the future of this world, and the children of Citywest ETNS made a very powerful statement today! 

The strike took place at 10.45am and was in solidarity with millions of other school children from all around the world, who are demanding more from their governments. Our students are demanding change. Today, they used their voice to show their concern for the climate crisis. Well done to all involved, we are so incredibly proud of our school today!

We have a wonderful line-up for you this Thursday!


1. Anti-bullying talk for parents
Earlier this year, our pupils and staff had anti-bullying training provided by Liam Challenor, a doctoral researcher with the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre in DCU.
We are absolutely delighted that Liam's colleague Helena Murphy, also a doctoral researcher with the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre in DCU, is coming to our school this Thursday to provide an anti-bullying talk for parents.
Most of the bullying relationships we discover in our school started outside of school. By the time they happen in the school, patterns between the children are well established and so are much harder for us to discover and to eliminate. In discovering and eliminating bullying, the most important person is the bystander. And every person will be a bystander at some stage of their life.
This is a wonderful opportunity for you to learn about bullying and to learn how to prevent bullying and how to help your child to be a bystander who acts for good rather than either joining in or doing nothing. 
We are very grateful to our Board of Management for paying for this. Pupils and staff learned a lot from Liam's visit and we really hope that you will take this valuable opportunity to learn about bullying. It is only when we are all educated and working together that we can build a strong community where bullying does not go unnoticed. This is not something school staff can do on our own.


2. What happens in your child's classroom
Each class teacher will give a presentation on the priorities for their class for the coming year. This is a great chance to find out what systems will be in place for your child this year so that you can support them and we can work together all year with a shared understanding.


3. Strategy Plan for our school and new Board members needed
I will talk about the new Strategy Plan for our school and what it means, including opportunities for parents to get involved in the daily life of the school. As we approach the appointments of new Board of Management members, I will talk about what is involved in being on the Board of Management. 


4. Enjoy a cup of tea or coffee while chatting with other parents and staff members
School staff will serve tea, coffee and biscuits throughout the evening and will be available to chat. This is a rare opportunity for us to talk adult-to-adult.


Schedule for the evening - all parents and guardians are asked to arrive promptly for 6.35pm and to stay until 9.10pm:
6.35pm Doors open - Note: This is an adult-only event. Children will not be permitted on the school premises.
6.40pm

• Parents of children in Junior Infants and Senior Infants are welcome to have a cup of tea or coffee with school staff in the GP Hall
• For parents of children in 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th classes: Caitriona will present our Strategy Plan and information about the Board of Management in Shane's classroom
• 3rd class teachers give presentation in their own classrooms
• 4th class teachers give presentation in their own classrooms

7.00pm

• Junior Infant teachers give presentation in their own classroom
• Senior Infant teachers give presentation in their own classroom
• Parents of children in 3rd and 4th classes are welcome to have a cup of tea or coffee with school staff in the GP Hall

7.20pm

• For parents of children in Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 3rd and 4th classes: Caitriona will present our Strategy Plan and information about the Board of Management in Trisha's classroom
• Parents of children in 1st and 2nd classes are welcome to have a cup of tea or coffee with school staff in the GP Hall
• 5th class teachers give presentation in their own classrooms
• 6th class teacher gives presentation in his own classroom

7.40pm

• 1st class teachers give presentation in their own classrooms
• 2nd class teachers give presentation in their own classrooms
• Parents of children in 5th and 6th classes are welcome to have a cup of tea or coffee with school staff in the GP Hall

8.10pm

• All parents attend anti-bullying talk in Laura's Junior Infants classroom

As you can see, we have put a lot of work into planning an evening worthy of organising a babysitter! Please come along and make the most of the evening!
See you then!
Caitriona.
 

****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

As you all are aware by now, a new secondary school will open in Citywest in 2020 following many years of hard work and dedication by parents, students and staff in our school community. The patronage of this new school will now be decided by an Online Patronage Process System (OPPS) where parents/guardians will get to vote for their preferred patron to run this school. 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!!
​
​Thank you for your time and most importantly for making the choice for real equality based education for the whole community!
#VoteEducateTogether

This week at assembly, we had a record number of students nominated for the Golden Book. We couldn't believe how many names Caitríona read out and were so impressed by all the acts of kindness which had been spotted around our school! Here is a photo of some of the nominations, who were in attendance at the second assembly of the day. Well done to all!

We have settled into the new school year very nicely! This is the final time we will be returning from the summer holidays to our current building, as in September 2020, we will be returning to our lovely new school building!

There has been lots happening over the last week and a half, as everyone settles into their new classrooms and routines. Our Junior Infants have been learning the ropes,  getting to know lots of new faces and even joining the rest of the school on yard last week! Team teaching begins in some classes tomorrow, with lots of great learning activities planned. After-school classes started back today, with familiar providers back for another year. The first assembly of the year will take place this Friday. 

Some important dates coming up:
- Tuesday 10th September: PA Meeting @ 7.30pm
- Wednesday 11th September: formal Junior Infant & sibling photos
- Tuesday 17th September: School closure for staff training
- Thursday 19th September: Parent Information Evening 
- Late October: Anticipated move to new school building (exact date TBC)

Be sure to also check out the school Twitter and Facebook pages for more news and updates.