The week kicked off with Yóga Óga in the hall for our senior classes - Yoga through Irish! It was great fun and a great chance to participate in an activity fully through Irish.
Last week, we celebrated Seachtain na Gaeilge (SnaG) in our school. This is a fantastic week, where we celebrate our Irish language and culture. The week kicked off with Yóga Óga in the hall for our senior classes - Yoga through Irish! It was great fun and a great chance to participate in an activity fully through Irish. On Wednesday, our junior classes participated in some Irish Dancing with Lisa Kelly, who runs our after-school class. This was lots of fun and a great success. Thanks, Lisa! Classes participated in lots of other activities throughout the week, all with an emphasis on speaking as much Gaeilge as possible. Seachtain den scoth a bhí ann!
Friendship Week took place in February. The children celebrated friendship in their classrooms and the school community raised money for Amnesty International. With the help of the Parents' Association we raised €719.04. A massive thank you to all who were able to donate and to the parent volunteers who braved the cold weather to collect money at the school gates.
Following two rounds of offers, all places in Junior Infants 22/23 have now been filled. In total, 101 offers were made and 50 places have now been filled. This leaves 82 names on our waiting list, as follows:
We understand that Rathcoole ETNS has places available for Junior Infants 22/23, as well as for Senior Infants and 1st class. Every Thursday afternoon, we are delighted to see lots of children from across the school participate in Gaelic football training. The children have been learning new skills every week - kick pass, hand pass, catching, soloing and lots more. We can't wait to play our first match against another local school and see all of our skills come together!
In Round 1 of offers for Junior Infants 2022, 84 offers were made and 42 places were accepted. The deadline for accepting offers has now passed.
We are now proceeding to Round 2 of offers. In Round 2, 17 offers are being made. These are for children who are in Category 2 of our new policy i.e. children who do not have siblings in the school, who were pre-enrolled by 31/1/22 and who turned 4 years of age by 31/12/21, starting with the oldest. Those being offered places in Round 2 have dates of birth ranging from January 2017 to May 2017. These families will have one week to accept these places. Should places remain, we will proceed to Round 3 of offers. All families who applied will receive a decision email from us by 21st February. Category listings on the waiting list are now as follows:
It's 1st February and it's a big day in our calendar, the day on which we send the first round of offers for places in Junior Infants for the new school year.
As for previous years, our school is heavily oversubscribed. We received 177 applications for 50 places in Junior Infants 2022/23. These applications were categorised as follows, as per our Admissions Policy:
First-round offers were sent this morning for children in categories 1 and 2 above i.e. those who were pre-enrolled by 30/1/2020 and siblings who will be 4 by 31/3/22. Those families have one week to respond to the offer. We will continue to offer places over the coming weeks and months according to the list set out above. Within each category, children are listed according to date of birth i.e. older children at the top of each category list. We understand the frustration and worry that might be present for those awaiting an offer. Please understand that we are not in a position at this time to let you know your place on the waiting list. After the first 3 weeks, we expect movement to settle down and, if you have not received an offer by that stage, we would be happy to let you know where your child is on the waiting list. On Tuesday 11th January, we were delighted to host Ireland AM, live from our school building. It was a wonderful opportunity for us to show off our new building, with camera crews recording live segments from our PE Hall and one of our classrooms.
Caitríona (our principal) and Jessica (the chairperson of our PA) both spoke brilliantly about the challenges faced by schools all around the country due to Covid. You can watch the show here. We were pleased to welcome RTE Prime Time to our school yesterday. Prime Time is the flagship current affairs programme of Ireland's national broadcaster, RTE.
They interviewed our principal Caitriona & took some video around our school. Watch the segment here. It lasts one minute, starting at 04:00. Caitriona's key message was that worry, stress and anxiety is the biggest challenge facing school communities and that parents and school staff need to feel reassured that measures are being taken to keep schools safe. Measuring the level of Covid in schools would be a logical starting point. Caitriona also pointed out that creative solutions are required, particularly in the area of staffing for schools. We are looking for a hardworking, reliable and enthusiastic caretaker to join our dedicated team at Citywest Educate Together National School. A suitable candidate: - is competent, can problem-solve and takes pride in their work - understands their role as a supportive member of our school team - will be responsible for the care and maintenance of the school buildings and grounds - has a business / trade qualification (plumber, electrical, carpenter etc.) and/or experience as a caretaker: although these are not essential - will uphold our school values. The job is listed here on Education Posts.ie - please view it and use the email address listed to apply. Our school is committed to the use of Restorative Practice, which is all about building relationships through positive communication.
Over the past number of months, we have hosted two information evenings to share an overview of the philosophy. For the coming two months, we are sharing weekly videos with families via email. These videos share a restorative lens through which to view our daily interactions with our children and others. They are light and invitational - we hope they can give you food for thought. Many of the topics Michelle discusses in these videos overlap with the learning that is taking place in our classrooms. You may notice that your child recognises some of the images/ language shared with you by Michelle. We hope you enjoy and benefit from this resource as much as we are! |
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