Last Tuesday evening, we invited parents and members of the Board of Management to attend a meeting here in the school, where we would have an opportunity to consider how we can get parents even more involved in school life.
The meeting was really well-attended and threw up some exciting and inspiring ideas. It was so encouraging to see the energy and passion that so many of our parents and guardians have.

Above are some bullet points that give an idea of the kinds of discussions that we had. 
These ideas will provide plenty of inspiration for the school staff and the Parents' Association members as they plan for the months and years ahead.
If you have any other ideas, please don't hesitate to let us know!

Now that we are finally free to have visitors to our school again, we are looking to trial an initiative to inject some extra fun into Maths time!

We are seeking volunteers from our community to help out for a block of six weeks, leading Maths games at stations in classes from Junior Infants up to Fourth Class. At these weekly Maths Games sessions, children will move from table to table, playing age-appropriate games that are tailored to help them improve their mathematical skills. Each parent will lead the playing of one simple game, while the children rotate from game to game.

Maths Games will take place 9.00-9.45 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Parents are invited to pop to the staff room after dropping their children to school to have a cuppa and a chat while the kids settle into their morning routine. Parents will then bring the games and resources to the classroom and let the games commence!

Ideally, we would love to find volunteers that could do BOTH Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but if you can only do one, please do fill in the form and we'll be back in touch.

All volunteers will be Garda Vetted by our patron, Educate Together and a brief training session will be provided in advance for all volunteers.

We are hoping to schedule the games as follows:
November-December: 1st/2nd Classes
January-February: 3rd/4th Classes
March-April: Junior Infants/ Senior Infants.

Please leave your details on this form if you think you can help.

Last Thursday night's talk for parents was a great success! It followed on from a Digital Citizenship day at the senior end of the school, where children from 3rd to 6th classes participated in workshops with John Wills from schoolsupports.com.
Later, it was the turn of a room full of parents. John's comprehensive talk covered the topics listed below and answered parents' questions, too. 

• Understanding what apps are being used by children and how they work
• What steps can be taken to keep children safe online
• Managing Challenging online content
• Cyber Bullying
• Setting boundaries around the internet
• Working with the school if a problem arises
• How to tackle Cyberbullying

We are delighted to see parents in our community taking their role in raising good digital citizens seriously, and to be able to help facilitate this by providing workshops like these.
Check out John's website; https://www.schoolsupports.com/cyber; for useful links and some of the resources John directed us to during his talk.

We are delighted to announce that we will have a guest speaker at the school on January 31st, speaking about the topic of Cyber Safety. John will be speaking to pupils in the Senior Classes (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th) during the school day, and will then give a talk for parents from 7.00-8.30pm that evening.

We strongly encourage parents, particularly those with children at the Senior end of the school and those parents who engage with social media themselves, to make an effort to attend this talk, as social media has become such a normal part of many children's lives and of our own lives. As well as educating ourselves on the possible dangers of our own behaviour online, it is crucial that parents inform themselves regarding the apps and platforms that their children are engaging with, and to be aware of the steps that can be taken to prevent children exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. 
The talk will address some of the following issues, all of which are relevant for adults as well as for children:

• Cyber bullying
• Technophobia
• E-safety culture
• Digital footprint
• Applications  (Apps)
• Sexting
• Online gaming
• Discussing cyber bullying, including with your child
• Parents' responsibilities with regards children’s online activity

John will also be happy to answer any specific questions you may have around this topic. We hope to see a great turnout on the night. 

As you know by now, at Citywest ETNS, we operate a programme of educational experiences designed to increase our children’s understanding of, and appreciation for, a variety of belief systems. It is our hope that, during their time at Citywest ETNS, each child will have the opportunity to meet with a religious leader and/or visit the place of worship of each of the main world religions, as well as some non-theistic belief systems. 

So far this year, different classes in our school have had visits to a synagogue, a Buddhist centre and a church, and have been visited by speakers from Atheist Ireland and the Humanist Association. These visits provide a real-life context for the learning that is already taking place at school. Learning about the beliefs and customs of various world religions encourages understanding and mutual respect of diversity in all aspects of life. There is no faith formation element to any of these visits. The focus is on information about the faith.

Unfortunately, we have yet to establish a strong relationship with a Hindu temple. While in the past, we have had a visit from a leader of the Hindu community, we would love to make a lasting connection with a temple that we could visit. 

If you are a member of the Hindu faith, or if you know somebody who is, could you make an introduction for us? We would love to establish a relationship with a leader of the Hindu faith that is based in a local temple. That way, we will be able to arrange yearly visits to the temple for various class levels. 

So if you do have a connection, please get in touch with Aoife, via the school office!

We are delighted to announce that we will have a guest speaker at the school this Wednesday, 22 November, speaking about the topic of Cyber Safety. John will be speaking to pupils in the Senior Classes (3rd, 4th, 5th) during the school day, and will then give a talk for parents from 7.00-8.30pm on Wednesday evening.
The talk will address some of the following issues:

• Cyber bullying
• Technophobia
• E-safety culture
• Digital footprint
• Applications  (Apps)
• Sexting
• Online gaming
• Discussing cyber bullying with your child
• Parents' responsibilities with regards children’s online activity

We would encourage all parents to make an effort to attend this talk and hope to see a great turnout on the night.

Did you see that we have another trip for adults planned? Book your place on the trip here!

As part of Maths week 2016 the Dublin West Education Centre is holding a workshop for parents on Tuesday, 18 October 2016. It promises to be a practical, hands on session for parents  who wish to support their children's mathematical development.
​
Please see the flyer attached for more information. 

Jacob Miller is currently running a course for parents at Trinity College, Dublin, entitled - 

"Learn to teach your children chess"

Why should my child learn chess?

Chess develops critical thinking, life skills and learning discipline.

The following articles emphasizes the many benefits of chess.
Why kids should learn to play chess
Playing Smart - The Benefits of Chess for Kids

Why should I learn chess?

Apart from all the reasons listed above, you will be able to teach your children chess!! That's wonderful. 
While there are chess programs in many Dublin schools, it can be difficult for children to learn a game like chess in a group setting. Nothing compares to 1 on 1 teaching, especially between child and parent.
Finally, its an opportunity for you! A chance to get out of the house, to socialize, to meet new people and to learn something new! You might find you fall in love with the game like so many others.

Why is this a great course for me?

• The course is fun, dynamic and designed specifically for parents. 
• The first few lessons of the course are designed to teach parents the basics of chess.  
• You don't need to be a great chess player to be a great chess teacher!!!
• We will then cover methods for introducing young children to chess.
• The most important thing is that your child is interested. We will show you a few little tricks to help your child fall in love with the game!!
• We'll then cover how to improve at chess and when to start going to a chess club.
• We'll help you find a chess club near you and get you set up and ready to go. 
• Lessons are fun, entertaining and always a good night out. 

If you are interested or have any questions please email me at millerjr@tcd.ie. 


Best wishes,
Jacob Miller