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!

Last week, our Parents Association organised a reading event to celebrate the linguistic diversity in our school community.

Throughout the week, each class in the school had a visit from one of our parents. The parent then read a book to the class in the parent's mother language. 

This is a fantastic way for us to recognise and affirm the linguistic diversity in our community. Many children benefited from having a language that isn't their own, flowing over their ears. They experienced story telling in a different way - appreciating tone of voice, facial expression, and the book's illustrations more than ever before.

Children were also supported by the parent reader, who took time to discuss the story in English.

To coincide with Educate Together's launch, of the new Learn Together Curriculum, we are focusing on our school ethos and reminding ourselves what it means to be an Educate Together school.
Being child centred is one of the core values of Educate Together schools. In December the staff examined their practice under a child centred lens. A noticeboard in the staff room prompted us to pause and reflect on our approach. At a staff meeting we discussed our understanding of child centeredness, how we can make small changes to improve our practice and explored the wonderful feedback from a group of children in the school. This group of children were from third class to sixth class. They formed a focus group and answered important questions about how they feel at school, how they are heard at school and how they think school could be better for them. Their feedback was and will continue to be  pivotal in helping all the staff to become more reflective practitioners who place the child at the centre of everything they do. Scroll through the power point below to see the questions that the group were asked and the insightful answers they gave.                                                                                 

As we approach the end of this calendar year, the first block of Maths Games with Parents is drawing to a close as well. Seven parents from across the school have been volunteering to come in to First and Second Classes, throughout the months of November and December. Each Tuesday and Thursday morning, the sounds of fun learning could be heard, as these parents led tables full of children in Maths Games.
We are delighted with how well this initiative has gone - thanks so much to the parents who volunteered, particularly for an untried initiative, when it was hard to imagine what the sessions would look like.
The children have thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had an opportunity to bed down some crucial number facts and number sense that will stand to them in their learning throughout the rest of the year, and beyond.
In January, a second block of Maths Games will commence in Third and Fourth Classes, and all going well we will extend the initiative to the infant classes later in the second term.
If you think you might be interested in taking part in a later block, read more here.

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!

At the moment, children in 1st - 6th classes are learning about cyber safety - how to stay safe online. These infographics below about social media and other apps might be useful for parents/guardians.