We have come to the end of Term 2 - what a term it has been! We were very happy to be able to come together this morning to celebrate our last assembly of the  month of March, with a focus on the value of cooperation. Check out our nominations this week:

• Maja, Millie, Hana and Grace in Amy's 3rd class are nominated for showing great caring this week - when another pupil was upset on yard these girls checked to see if she was OK. They were very kind and helpful and helped this girl to join in the game again.
  
• David in Sarah's 4th Class is nominated for trying to be respectful outside another classroom and asking his friends to be quiet.
• Ben in Deirdre's Senior Infants is nominated this week for showing great cooperation at tidy-up time. Well done, Ben!
  
• Shubhangi in Sarah L's class walked safely in her line - keep it up!
  
• Well done to Alison in Sarah's 4th Class for always doing great physical distancing.
  
• Ritvika in Lisa's 2nd Class has been a great team member to her classmates and her pod. She is always kind and helpful to everyone.
  
• Well done to Jake in Orla's class for showing wonderful cooperation this week, even with some changes to his classroom routine. He has also been making lots of people smile and giving High Fives - well done, Jake!
  
• From Laura's SI, well done to Lake, Marcel, Khadijah, Maja and Isabelle (Blue Pod). They co-operated with one another to create a wonderful structure during play. They showed kindness and patience to one another. Well done!
  
• Borys in Aoife's 4th class carried his friend's bag, as his friend's arm is injured - well done, Borys!

Well done to everyone. When we return to school after the spring break, our Learn Together value will be responsibility. 

Since filling all places in Round 1 of offers in early February, there has been significant movement on our waiting list as 14 families who had originally accepted places changed their minds for a variety of reasons. Due to this, we have been able to offer places to a further 22 families over the course of the last month.

This brought us to an important milestone this morning in reaching the end of the list of applications from before January 2020. The next place that becomes available will be offered via the new enrolment policy.

This leaves 59 children on the waiting list, all categorised according to our new enrolment policy, as follows

• 4 children in Category 5 (older siblings)
• 26 children in Category 6 (older non-siblings)
• 9 children in Category 7 (next oldest non-siblings)
• 1 child in Category 8 (younger siblings)
• 6 children in Category 9 (younger non-siblings)
• 13 children in Category 10 (late applications)

With our classes returning to the school building over the past few weeks, they have been doing lots of wonderful work. A walk through our corridors is such a treat, with lots of new projects and artwork on display! 

It has now been over a year since we could have parents, guardians and family members into our school building and we really miss giving them the opportunity to see around our school... we hope this helps just a little! 

Our Golden Book nominations for the month of March are for showing the value of cooperation. Have a read!

• From Deirdre's Senior Infants, the Green Pod (Erik, Cillian, Muireann, Olivia and Joshua) co-operated really well during their play rota. They all worked together and helped each other build a big house with polydrons.
  
• ​Well done to Jude in Orla's class for showing wonderful cooperation this week. He is doing great work transitioning to each new activity and following instruction. He is also doing super Groupwork in class!
  
• Well done to Hannah from Andrea's class for remembering the first aid box every breaktime.
  
• Well done to Charvi and Irene from Laura's class - they co-operated well with one another to solve problems that arose during play.
  
• Sarah in Sarah L's class worked so well this week. She co-operated with her pod to tidy up quickly.
  
• Well done to Anvi from Ruth M's Junior Infants for encouraging others to work as a team!
  
• Nelly has been working really hard in class and sharing lots of smiles and fun with all her classmates.
  
• Jordan from Ruth Maxwell's class saw an adult approaching and stopped to let them by - well done, Jordan!
  
• Amelia Rose in 2nd class is nominated for always offering to do class jobs. Keep up the great work!
  
• Noah in Andrea's class is in the Golden Book this week for having great jokes to tell his teacher. What a lovely way to make your teacher smile, Noah!
  

What wonderful examples of cooperation around our school this week. Well done to everyone!

During the period of distance learning in January and February, we missed having our Friday assembly. However, since we have had children back in the building, we have been able to attend our virtual assembly once again! It takes place on Friday mornings on Zoom and is a lovely chance for us to come together and celebrate another week of learning. 

Our value for the month of March is cooperation. Take a look at the Golden Book nominations over the past two weeks, with lots of wonderful cooperation on show!

• ​Erik in Deirdre's class is nominated for taking great care of his friends.
• Adya and Freya in Sarah C's First Class impressed Sarah and Dorothy by getting the sweeping brush and dust pan and cleaning the floor around their table after art. That showed respect for their classroom!
• Joshua in Deirdre's Senior Infants showed lovely cooperation by playing nicely with others at his new pod.
• Fiona in Sarah L's class did so well this week and co-operated so nicely with the others in her pod. Well done!
  
• Well done to Aleksandra, Paddy, Xander and Claudia (the yellow pod) in Laura's Senior Infant class - they co-operated so well with one another when tidying up after play rota. They are a good team!
  
• Bobby and Artas in Laura's class worked well together during an important task and showed good problem-solving skills. Well done!
  
• Sisi in Ruth Mc's Junior Infants has been doing lovely sharing and using "please" and "thank you" when working with others in her pod. Well done, Sisi!
  
• Arav, also in Ruth's Junior Infants is nominated for being a terrific pod superstar this week and remembering to keep his distance from the other pods when walking in the line.
  
• Dean in 2nd class has been really helpful to the teachers helping with Covid checks this week and also working hard and doing his best in class. Well done Dean!
  
• From Laura's Senior Infant class, Isabelle, Maya, Khadijah, Marcel and Lake (Blue Pod) are nominated this week. They co-operated well with one another to create a wonderful structure during play. They worked as a team. Well done, Blue Pod!
  
• Well done to Ollie and Xander from Laura's class - they solved a problem by having a meaningful and respectful conversation with one another. Well done!
  
• Eoin, from Ruth Mc's Junior Infants, has been showing respect to his friends in the classroom and allowing them to learn by using his listening ears. He has worked well in his pod and is waiting to take his turn.
  
• Matejus and Rìan in Sarah L's class worked together to lift a box safely. Well done!
  
• In Orla’s class, Bennie is nominated for working really hard on sharing and cooperating with his friends and with the adults in his classroom. Well done, Bennie!
  
• Akshar from Deirdre's class is nominated for playing nicely with his pod at playtime.
  
• Andrea's whole class are in the Golden Book this week for doing a great job lining up at their new pod stations in the mornings. Keep up the great work!
• Robyn & Hugo in 2nd class have been showing extra manners to their teachers by standing back in doorways.
  
• Well done also to Bobby, Arti, Lakshiv and Timur in Laura's Senior Infants. They are co-operating so well and safely when moving around the school building and in the classroom. Well done!​
  

Our certificates on the 12th March went to the following classes: 

• Friendliest class - both 1st classes, with a special mention for the wonderful effort being made to greet one another and Caitríona as Gaeilge each morning. 
• Cleanest classroom - Emer's class
  
• Cleanest bathroom - Sarah C's class
  
• Best líne - Deirdre's class

As part of our whole-school SPHE policy, the teaching of Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) takes place over the coming weeks. Lessons are taught in all mainstream classes and follow our school policy. You can read more about the programme here and check out lessons for each class level.

Tá Coicís na Gaeilge ar siúl i Citywest ETNS ón 8 - 19 Márta 2021. 

Irish Fortnight is running in Citywest ETNS from the 8 - 19th March 2021. This is an opportunity for us to celebrate the Irish language and culture. We have a whole padlet created to give ideas for ways to celebrate Coicís na Gaeilge - be sure to check it out here!

On 23rd February, our government announced that children in the junior end of primary school (Junior Infants - 2nd class) would return to in-building education on the 1st March. Following this announcement, our staff and Board of Management got to work to prepare for this return. 

​On Friday morning, our Board of Management ratified the Response Plan for the reopening of these classes - have a look at it here. 

On Monday 22nd February, our two autism classes returned to in-building education, as part of the phased return to school.

Both Claire's and Orla's classes had a super week, with the focus on getting back into routines and having fun. The children also enjoyed having the building to themselves, taking full advantage of the empty yards and running track.​

It was wonderful to have children back in the building and we now look forward to welcoming back our Junior Infants - 2nd class pupils on the 1st March. 

With 50 places on offer for Junior Infants 2021, we sent out 99 offers of place on 1st February 2021. All places were filled from Round 1. This is the first time in the history of the school - 10 years of filling Junior Infants places - that this has happened.

This leaves 79 children on the waiting list for places in Junior Infants 2021 in our school. We are so sorry to disappoint so many families, in particular the 9 families who already have children in the school. The commencement of Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018 (Admission Policies and Admission of Students) Regulations 2020 last year means that we must offer places to all those who pre-enrolled prior to 31/1/2020 before we can offer places to any family who applied after that date. There remain 26 children on the waiting list who applied prior to 31/1/2020, categories 2, 3 and 4 - see below.

Parents of all children remaining on the waiting list received an email this morning, letting them know that all places have been filled.

Numbers on the waiting list are currently as follows - see details for each category here.

• Category 2: 7 children
• Category 3: 4 children
• Category 4: 14 children
• Category 5: 4 children
• Category 6: 29 children
• Category 7: 9 children
• Category 8: 1 child
• Category 9: 6 children
• Category 10: 5 children

We have asked those who secured places with us to let us know as soon as they make a decision not to use the place in our school so that we can offer available places to those remaining on the waiting list as early as possible.

We recommend that families apply to other schools in the area such as Rathcoole ETNS and Scoil Aoife CNS. We are also delighted to hear that another new school will open in the area this September, clearly much-needed: Gaelscoil Lir.