This year, our school is engaging in a self-evaluation process that focuses on Wellbeing. Earlier in the year, we surveyed various stakeholders to figure out whether there were any areas we could improve on. See the results of our research below.
 This year, the Student Council has led the student body in having their say in relation to the types of fun days and events that we have in the school. In previous years, we have had various types of themed days and events - themed around a number of activities and curricular areas, such as Maths Week, STEM Week, World Book Day, Seachtain na Gaeilge, Friendship Week, etc.
When the Student Council asked the children at the senior end of the school (3rd-6th classes) for ideas, they gathered dozens of fun, wonderful, creative ideas. They then shortlisted those ideas and took them to the children at the junior end of the school (Junior Infants - 2nd classes), and had those children vote for their favourite ideas from within that list. This democratic process made it clear that children across the school love Movie Days and Pyjama Days. Since these do not need to be centrally organised, the Student Council decided to simply communicate that to class teachers, and ask them to organise one of each of these days this year, at their own discretion. There was also overwhelming support for three additional themed days. These events have now been shared with the staff, who will get working in the background to bring the ideas to fruition. We think you'll agree that they certainly sound exciting! We have also listed the provisional dates for these events: Art Day - 27 February Rainbow Colour Run - 17 April Water Fight - 17 May These themed days will join the annual staple events of Sports Day(s), 6th Class Graduation, and 2022/23's new addition: Citywest Summer Games - all of which take place in June. Keep your eye on our calendar page for any updates to activities in the school! You may be aware from our 23/24 School Strategy and recent parent information night that this year we are focusing on deepening and broadening the learning experiences for the children through whole school collaborative and cross curricular projects.
When it came to considering how to do this, we reflected on our ethos and inclusivity within our community and our goal of striving to be even more "Educate Together". We have been reflecting as a staff community for quite a few years now on the way we name our classes and how we address them. Placing the teacher's name in the class name suggests a certain ownership of the class which we feel doesn't reflect on the actual practices and sense of community within our classes themselves. With our new building in place, classes set up and established in classrooms in the school, we feel the time is right to begin the project and name our classes officially. The project has been at the planning stage amongst our staff. We are bound to teach the National Curriculum as set out by the Department of Education and the Learn Together curriculum as set out by our patron Educate Together so the class names need to be someway incorporated into these curricula. We want to include the children's and communities' voices in the decision as much as possible so at the moment we are considering the best way to do this. The children will be made aware of the plans to rename the classes later in October (so don't spill the beans until then!) but we want to give you a heads up so that you can engage in the discussion with your child(ren). The children will be given a theme by their class teacher from which they will pick a class name. For example the theme could be sea animals from which the children will be asked to consider what sea animal they would like their class named after (sharks, dolphins, etc). This is not a sneak peak by the way!! We hope that this will prove to be a nice discussion topic for you and your child(ren) and develops further that link between school and homelife. Be sure to check in with your child(ren) over the next few weeks as the project progresses to see where their class is at with it. For now there is nothing for you to do but know that when your child announces that they want their class to be called the Shark class you will have a reference as to what they are talking about! Friday 25th June was an exciting day here at school, as we bid farewell to the Class of 2021. 6th Class had a busy day including a pizza party, a Guard of Honour by the whole staff and student body, individual graduation ceremonies on campus, followed by a Zoom graduation that gave us a trip down memory lane as well as an opportunity to look forward. It was a proud and emotional day for all of us. Here are some of the pictures we took. 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:
Last Friday, we had a lovely addition to our weekly assembly. For the first time, a class presented a piece of work that they have been learning about in the past couple of weeks. This sharing of knowledge is an important part of our Learn Together curriculum, and we were delighted with the standard set by Bobby's clever and creative Second Class.  Bobby's class have been learning about Islam and they made a fabulous display about the Five Pillars. They then presented the information they had collected, loudly and clearly, for the whole school to hear. We were so proud of them! Well done, Bobby's Class. We look forward to hearing from another class next month! 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?  #STEMYesterday, 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! |
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