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!

Now that works have been completed in the New Wing, and we are well settled back into the New Year, we have begun what we hope will be a weekly tradition of having a whole school assembly on a Friday afternoon.
This is an opportunity for all of the staff and children to gather together and celebrate new additions to the Golden Book. We also sing a song that we learned during Friendship Week: You've Got a Friend In Me. 

Here are photographs of some of the children whose kind deeds were celebrated last Friday. Keep up the good work everybody!

To help us mark STEM Week, we decided to try to spell something with our bodies. All of the staff and children came out to the yard to spell out a word in giant letters. Can you make out what it says??





Maybe the picture below will help a little?

Yesterday, the whole school participated in Maths Games as a part of STEM Week. Older children from around the school visited the classes of younger children, and worked in small groups to teach their younger friends how to play the games.
There was a great buzz around the school during and after this lovely activity, and it was a lovely way for children of all ages to get to know one another.
Definitely one to revisit!

This week is S.T.E.M Week - S.T.E.M. stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths - and it is an opportunity for us to really focus on these aspects of our learning. The STEM team have been busy planning a programme of events for us as well as some nice activities that we can try out in class.

Today we had great excitement as our brand new laptop trolley was rolled in to classes across the school, and children had an opportunity to explore the artistic possibilities of the Paint programme.
Thanks to Symantec Ireland, who generously donated 20 reconditioned laptops, as part of their charity partnership with Educate Together. We were able to buy 10 more laptops to make a full class set, as well as a laptop charging trolley to transport them around the school.
Following today's introduction, classes across the school will have regular access to the laptops to aid in their learning.

Later in the week, we will have Maths games, Bingo, and a Science demonstration, as well as lots of other fun activities in our classrooms.

Yesterday, Davy Byrne - corner back for the Dublin Senior Men's Football team - visited our school, along with another very special guest - the Sam Maguire Cup - the trophy the Dublin team won when they beat Mayo in the All-Ireland Football Final in September.

They were also accompanied by Peter, our local GAA outreach officer - who is currently teaching the boys and girls in Second Class how to play football and hurling.

The whole school assembled in the PE hall to welcome them and they arrived to a chorus of 'Come On You Boys in Blue'! Some children had an opportunity to ask Davy some questions about the experience of playing a final in Croke Park and getting to lift the Sam.

Then each class had their pictures taken with it. 

We would like to put together a display that communicates the importance of family in our school, and the sense of family that we all feel here.
We would LOVE to have a picture of your family to add to this display! If you have a standard sized photo of your family, that you would like to contribute to this display, please leave it with Nicola in the office. Please note that we will not be able to return this photo to you.

Yesterday, on the last day of school, we had our biggest ever Family Fun Day. There were all kinds of attractions spread all around the school campus - from Fun Fair Activities like a putting green, bowling and Angry Birds, to bouncy castles, a reptile zoo and also demonstrations of our range of After-School Activities.
Well done to the children of Third Class who designed, made and ran all of the Fun Fair Activities - they worked really hard to ensure that everybody had an action-packed day. And thank you to the families who came along to support the day. What a great high to end the school year on!
From all of the staff at Citywest ETNS, we hope you have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you back here on 31st August!

Sports Day was back with a bang this year - and it was bigger and better than ever! Thanks to the tireless work of the teachers, SNAs and a dedicated group of parent volunteers, the children had an action-packed day, visiting stations where they practiced all kinds of physical skills - from balance to hand-eye coordination and from speed to patience!
Sincere thanks to everybody who helped out and to St. Mary's GAA Club for being so flexible and accommodating of us. 

Today we did a flashdance in the yard for Active Schools Week. We have been practicing this dance in our classrooms over the past week and this was the first time we all tried it together - we are pretty proud of how it turned out!
Junior Infants to Second Class were involved in this activity - Third Class were visiting the local Retirement Home to entertain its residents with their singing and tin-whistle playing!
Our Cha Cha Slide is just one part of an action-packed Active Week here at school. Our Active Week will culminate in Sports Day this Friday - don't forget to let us know if you are available to help out because without your help it can't be the success last year's was!