A beautiful picture of the Sun rising behind our school this morning - Submitted by Simon in 5th Class
We wish you all safe and happy holidays as
our school closes on 22nd December for our Winter Holidays
(staggered finishing times have been emailed to each class)
and
we look forward to seeing everyone again on January 6th 2021.
As the Winter Holidays begin please see link below to a letter
from the CMO to parents/guardians in our school community:
https://assets.gov.ie/109189/dd73b698-b003-4398-9cb2-8a82f7d50366.pdf
Further advice and support is available on our Home Learning/Covid19 tab of this website.
Pre-Enrolment Applications
Please click here to submit a pre-enrolment application form
Admissions for 2021-22
Details of our new Admissions Policy and Admissions Notice
for the 2021-22
school year is now available to read on our Admissions Page:
http://www.firhouseetns.ie/admissions.html
Junior Infant 2021 Applications will be available online
from 6th October 2020 and will close 2nd November 2020.
Details of our new Admissions Policy and Admissions Notice
for the 2021-22
school year is now available to read on our Admissions Page:
http://www.firhouseetns.ie/admissions.html
Junior Infant 2021 Applications will be available online
from 6th October 2020 and will close 2nd November 2020.
The Children have been busy decorating the school corridors with their wonderful artwork!
Firhouse ETNS is reopening on September 1st 2020. The arrangements below outline the new procedures for pupils' arrival at and dismissal from our school. Please note that these arrangements may change, if required.
Arrivals:
Junior Infant Classes:
Children in Junior Infants will enter the school at 08:30 from 7th September 2020. Children will enter through the door of the GP Hall of the school, keeping their distance from the children in front of them and proceed to their classrooms along the one way system within the building. (On Monday 7th September if one parent/guardian wishes to bring their Junior Infant child to the classroom door they may do so between 9am and 9.15am for this one day only. The areas used will then be thoroughly cleaned at 9.15am).
On 3rd and 4th September Junior Infants will be brought to door of their classroom by one parent or guardian for 9.30am with the required social distancing.
Senior Infant Classes: Children in Senior Infants will enter the school at 08:30 from 1st September 2020.
Children will enter through the back door of school keeping their distance from the children in front of them and proceed to their classrooms along the one way system outside and within the building. One parent/ guardian may accompany a child to the back door but this is not necessary as school staff will be in the grounds to ensure the children enter the building safely. Parents/guardians who choose to walk with their child to the back door must then exit via the one-way system.
Children in 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Class (as well as any siblings of these children) should enter the school at 08:20.
Children in 1st and 2nd Class (as well as any siblings of these children) should enter the school at 08:25.
Children in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Class will enter through the front door of school, keeping their distance from the children in front of them and proceed up the main stairs to their classrooms along the one way system within the building. Parents/Guardians are requested to refrain from approaching school doors. Please let your child / children walk to the school doors without you as you can watch them from a distance and our staff will be out in the grounds to ensure the children enter the building safely.
Dismissals:
Junior Infant Classes:
3rd and 4th September at 11.30
7th to 11th September at 12.15
14th September onwards at 13.05
Clíona’s Junior Infant Class: One parent/guardian can collect their child/children in Clíona’s Junior Infant Class from the main door to reception at the front of school
Bláithín’s Junior Infant Class: One parent/guardian can collect their child/children in Bláithín’s Junior Infant Class from the door to G.P. Hall yard at the front of school.
Senior Infant Classes: Using the one-way system, one parent/guardian can collect their child/children from the yard at rear of school at 13.05.
Pupils in 1st - 6th Class: Pupils will leave the building at staggered times and through different doors to prevent a mixing of classes and to promote physical distancing. There will be three distinct departure times with three doors used at each time. Please see the table below to find the relevant time and door for each class group:
Below you will find all the memorable events in the short history of Firhouse ETNS. Have a look at how we realised our dream of our own school building, a glimpse of what it would look like if we were relocated to the Arctic and some events from Home Learning!
School Assembly Friday 1st May 2020
Are you ready to join in?
At our school assembly Michelle will show you the alphabet in sign language. Click on file below to practise so you can join in at our school assembly.![]()
Join in our school assembly to see our Caretaker Brendan's dog Zeus and see how the birds and bird feeder are doing. You can send in your nature notes and pictures of your garden too. |
Winners of our Madhatters' Competition
We would like to thank each and every one of you who worked so hard to make such fantastic hats for our school's Madhatters' Competition and we hope you all enjoyed making them. They look amazing! Well done to everyone!
See the winning entries below. Congratulations to all four of you!
Prizes will be sent to your home by post.
See the winning entries below. Congratulations to all four of you!
Prizes will be sent to your home by post.
Memories and Kind Thoughts!
Hello again.
Can you remember where in our school you have seen the pictures below?
St. Patrick's Day Parade
designed by our Pupils and displayed in their Home Windows
on St. Patrick's Day 2020
A great big "Thank You" to everyone who sent in their art work and photos to celebrate
"Lá Fhéile Phádraig 2020".
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir!
"Lá Fhéile Phádraig 2020".
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir!
We have started our Seachtain Na Gaeilge celebrations -
check our website later in the week for more photos and updates
check our website later in the week for more photos and updates
Congratulations to 3rd, 4th and 5th Class who participated
in the ESB Science Blast at the RDS
We were delighted to welcome Apple, a Service Dog, to visit some classes in our school today. Apple was brought in by Alex who is joining us this week as part of his Transition Year Work Experience. Thank you Alex and Apple for taking the time to call to us and telling us about the work of a Service Dog and the difference that they can make to a child with additional needs.
Please see the link below to the online petition that Parents/Guardians in our school have started to highlight, to the Department of Education & Skills and the NCSE, that meaningful supports need to be put in place for the introduction of the Right Inclusion Model for Every Child.
http://chng.it/FzbBtCfn
http://chng.it/FzbBtCfn
There will be a Public Meeting this Tuesday 28th January at 8pm
to discuss our campaign for
"The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child"
As this effects children in all schools we invite everyone in the community to attend and meet with local councillors and general election candidates to share your concerns over the proposed model.
to discuss our campaign for
"The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child"
As this effects children in all schools we invite everyone in the community to attend and meet with local councillors and general election candidates to share your concerns over the proposed model.
Please join us at our coffee morning this
Friday 24th January at 8.30 am
in our school hall to discuss our campaign for
"The Right Inclusion Model for Every Child".
We had a visit from the Sam Maguire this week. Thank you to Adam from St Anne's GAA Club for organising, everyone had so much fun!
Dublin Fire Brigade’s Community Fire Safety Art Competition
Prize giving ceremony.
Congratulations to Aidan in Fourth Class for winning the Dublin Fire Brigade's Community Fire Safety Art Competition for the second year in a row!
Aidan, his family and his teacher Paul were invited to the prize giving ceremony at the Mansion House in Dublin and met the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Paul McAuliffe. |
Firhouse ETNS are proud to participate in the
Every School Day Counts Campaign!
Gardening on Saturday 7th December 2019
Thank you so much to Colm who led the gardening team of parents last Saturday Morning with Jenny, Robert, Susan, Sandra and two of our pupils who are going to make potato salad tomorrow with the potatoes they dug up. Watch this space for potato salad photos.
Our school, along with Firhouse ET Secondary School,
are proud to be supporting
Stand Up Awareness Week!
Congratulations to the girls in Fourth and Fifth Class who participated in our school's first ever Cumann na mBunscol match today!
The very best of luck to the boys who will play tomorrow in St Anne's GAA Club at 1pm.
Welcome back to all our pupils and their families!
Our school will start the new school year with a focus on Friendship and how to be a great Bucket Filler.
Have you filled someone's bucket today?
Have you filled someone's bucket today?
Our 2019 Sport For All Day was a Great Success
Check out the photos below:
Thank you so much to all of you for your wonderful support for our school's
Family Fun Day yesterday.
Your help, your support, your donations of prizes, your cooking, your baking and
especially your time is all very much appreciated.
The Parents and Guardians on the PGTA Committee did fantastic work organising the event and co-ordinating everything and I congratulate them on a wonderful day.
This year we had amazing support from so many of you who volunteered
to help out on the day. Sharing the jobs with time slots worked so well.
More people than ever were involved and got to enjoy the day as well as volunteer.
Thank you to Catrin (parent), our MC, who did a superb job for the three hours at the Wheel of Fortune
and encouraging classes to sing and much more.
Thank you Andrew (parent) for organising the sound system and working it for the three hours.
Thanks also to our school staff for their support as well as to all your families and friends who came along to support the event in so many ways.
It was lovely to see everyone enjoying a good day of fun together.
We had great fun on our Intercultural Day on May 16th 2019
This week we celebrated
World Book Day
and our photos can be seen on our class pages.
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As part of World Book Day children dressed as their favourite characters from books.
Here we have two of our 4th Class reading as Gaeilge. We hope you enjoy!!!! |
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Look at the amazing hats our pupils recycled and up cycled for our school's very first
Madhatters' Parade.
Well done to all for such brilliant creations.
Congratulations to AJAJAA Team
in
Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
on Winning 2nd Prize in the Steps Engineering Awards 2019
We are so proud of you!

Conor and Suzanne are delighted to inform you that our
AJAJAA team has won 2nd Prize
in
Ireland's Young Engineers Award.
We are so proud of the team and all the work everyone in
3rd and 4th Classes put into the Engineering Projects.
How will we celebrate tomorrow?
Congratulations to the winning team AJAJAA from all of us in Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
Well Done Everyone!
….. And The Winners Are…
1. ‘The Carrots’ from Bunscoil Rinn an Chabhlaigh who designed and built a solar chip prototype to charge a mobile phone. This was a fantastic project that the judges thought demonstrated exceptional engineering aptitude at a young age. They also commented that the prototype was an engineering concept that would be highly desirable on the market. Well done to these brilliant Young Engineers!
2. The Runner Up was AJAJAA from Firhouse Educate Together National School. Their project was a ‘Basketball Bin’. This clever team came up with a solution to litter in their community (and potentially all communities). Their bin provides a fun way to throw away litter: you aim the rubbish at the bin, which is fitted with a hoop, a camera and lasers, and score points for shooting the litter in the bin. It is a 'Smart Bin' that encourages people to keep their community clean.
Have a look at the front page of the Irish Examiner t read all about the winning school here: https://twitter.com/irishexaminer/status/1102697890311479297
Last month, 6 Engineers Ireland Engineer Judges from a diverse range engineering disciplines, working in top Irish and international engineering companies (intel, Jacobs Engineering, Dromone, IBM, Roughan and O’Donovan and Winthrop), meticulously read the hundreds of projects that were submitted. The judges picked a short-list of 30 projects. These projects were considered to be excellent projects in their own right and the judges fought hard amongst themselves to choose a winner.
Eventually they narrowed the shortlist down from 30 projects to 5. From these five, the judges chose the winner and the runner-up. The remaining three were given the title of Highly Commended.
The Highly Commended Projects were:
The full short list will be printed and available on the website shortly so keep an eye out for it.
Thank you very much to everyone who took part. I really hope that You (especially) and your class enjoyed participating in an engineering adventure. All participants will receive a certificate in the post in the next week (they will be sent to the teacher).
Please keep an eye on our social media pages and Engineers Week blog on engineersweek.ie where we will be profiling and showcasing some of the excellent projects we received from schools all over the country over the coming weeks. We will also be writing about the competition more formally in the Engineers Journal – reaching the wider community of engineers who are all very interested in inspiring the next generation.
If you, or your colleagues, are interested in taking partin the STEPS Young Engineers Award 2019 please register your interest here to be the first to hear when applications open.
Thank you very much again for helping us to make this competition a success in its first year, and for introducing your young students to engineering in a fun supportive environment.
Happy Engineers Week to Everyone!
Marita and The STEPS Team
AJAJAA team has won 2nd Prize
in
Ireland's Young Engineers Award.
We are so proud of the team and all the work everyone in
3rd and 4th Classes put into the Engineering Projects.
How will we celebrate tomorrow?
Congratulations to the winning team AJAJAA from all of us in Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
Well Done Everyone!
….. And The Winners Are…
1. ‘The Carrots’ from Bunscoil Rinn an Chabhlaigh who designed and built a solar chip prototype to charge a mobile phone. This was a fantastic project that the judges thought demonstrated exceptional engineering aptitude at a young age. They also commented that the prototype was an engineering concept that would be highly desirable on the market. Well done to these brilliant Young Engineers!
2. The Runner Up was AJAJAA from Firhouse Educate Together National School. Their project was a ‘Basketball Bin’. This clever team came up with a solution to litter in their community (and potentially all communities). Their bin provides a fun way to throw away litter: you aim the rubbish at the bin, which is fitted with a hoop, a camera and lasers, and score points for shooting the litter in the bin. It is a 'Smart Bin' that encourages people to keep their community clean.
Have a look at the front page of the Irish Examiner t read all about the winning school here: https://twitter.com/irishexaminer/status/1102697890311479297
Last month, 6 Engineers Ireland Engineer Judges from a diverse range engineering disciplines, working in top Irish and international engineering companies (intel, Jacobs Engineering, Dromone, IBM, Roughan and O’Donovan and Winthrop), meticulously read the hundreds of projects that were submitted. The judges picked a short-list of 30 projects. These projects were considered to be excellent projects in their own right and the judges fought hard amongst themselves to choose a winner.
Eventually they narrowed the shortlist down from 30 projects to 5. From these five, the judges chose the winner and the runner-up. The remaining three were given the title of Highly Commended.
The Highly Commended Projects were:
- The Magnificent Machine Makers (Templeorum National School, Kilkenny) with The Health Friend
- ZEMCIG (Stepaside ETNS, Dublin) with The Lighthouse Helpers
- The Enthusiastic Engineers (also Bunscoil Rinn na Chabhlaigh, Cork) with Safe Driving
The full short list will be printed and available on the website shortly so keep an eye out for it.
Thank you very much to everyone who took part. I really hope that You (especially) and your class enjoyed participating in an engineering adventure. All participants will receive a certificate in the post in the next week (they will be sent to the teacher).
Please keep an eye on our social media pages and Engineers Week blog on engineersweek.ie where we will be profiling and showcasing some of the excellent projects we received from schools all over the country over the coming weeks. We will also be writing about the competition more formally in the Engineers Journal – reaching the wider community of engineers who are all very interested in inspiring the next generation.
If you, or your colleagues, are interested in taking partin the STEPS Young Engineers Award 2019 please register your interest here to be the first to hear when applications open.
Thank you very much again for helping us to make this competition a success in its first year, and for introducing your young students to engineering in a fun supportive environment.
Happy Engineers Week to Everyone!
Marita and The STEPS Team
Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
is delighted to welcome members to the
Educate Together General Members' Meeting
on
Saturday 2nd February 2019.
Winner of Dublin Fire Brigade Art Competition
Aidan in 3rd Class
We have some wonderful news to share. One of our pupils, Aidan in 3rd Class, won a fantastic prize in the
Dublin Fire Brigade Fire Safety Art Competition.
Aidan Lee won a €500 voucher for our school as well as a €100 voucher for himself and a €5 voucher for each of his classmates. In addition Aidan’s artwork is published in the Dublin Fire Brigade Calendar for 2019.
Aidan and our teacher of 3rd Class, Conor, went to the Mansion House to meet the Lord Mayor, Niall Ring, who gave Aidan his prizes.
Congratulations to Aidan who did this artwork (see below) last year when he was in Jen’s 2nd Class.
HIs attention to detail and creativity in his picture is wonderful.
Well done Aidan!
Dublin Fire Brigade Fire Safety Art Competition.
Aidan Lee won a €500 voucher for our school as well as a €100 voucher for himself and a €5 voucher for each of his classmates. In addition Aidan’s artwork is published in the Dublin Fire Brigade Calendar for 2019.
Aidan and our teacher of 3rd Class, Conor, went to the Mansion House to meet the Lord Mayor, Niall Ring, who gave Aidan his prizes.
Congratulations to Aidan who did this artwork (see below) last year when he was in Jen’s 2nd Class.
HIs attention to detail and creativity in his picture is wonderful.
Well done Aidan!
We are delighted to say our school building has passed recent safety assessments and
we are all set to re-open as usual
at 8.25am on Monday 5th November 2018.
Our whole school community sends our best wishes to all schools
who have not received such good news and
we hope the issues will be sorted as soon as possible for all of them.
Halloween Harvest Festival Fundraiser
For the first time our school PGTA held a Halloween event
to raise funds for school readers.
There were lots of fun and games for everyone to enjoy and
the Pumpkin Competition was amazing!
This event also succeeded in raising €1,125
Thank you to all who organised and supported the event as well as the team who did a fantastic job of cleaning up afterwards.
A special word of thanks to Kristina whose idea it was to have
a Halloween event similar to those celebrated where she grew up
in the United States of America.
3rd Class enjoyed their workshop with Lisanne and Steve of Heritage Ireland
Invitation
to the
First Performance
of
Knocklyon Concert Band & Firhouse Educate Together School Choir
on
Wednesday 26th September at 8pm
in our
School Hall
September 2018: Opening of our two Evergreen Classes and two new Junior Infant Classes
It is a very exciting September this year as we welcome four new classes of pupils into our school: two Evergreen Classes and two Junior Infants Classes and it is great to see them all settling in so well. Check out the Junior Infants' Fairy Gardens below and the Cool Bikes in our Evergreen Classes. We are also delighted to welcome eight new Teachers and two new Inclusion Support Assistants and we are all looking forward to working with all of our pupils and families in the year ahead.
Our Shared Calendar has many events and celebrations up for the term ahead and you can also find more information on events in the Principal's Newsletters. Please be sure to apply for Garda Vetting to volunteer for our initiatives like Green Flag and Yellow Flag committees. We really do need your help and will be delighted to have you help out and support all of the children in our school.
Call us if you'd like more information on volunteering.
Very best regards,
Collette
Our Shared Calendar has many events and celebrations up for the term ahead and you can also find more information on events in the Principal's Newsletters. Please be sure to apply for Garda Vetting to volunteer for our initiatives like Green Flag and Yellow Flag committees. We really do need your help and will be delighted to have you help out and support all of the children in our school.
Call us if you'd like more information on volunteering.
Very best regards,
Collette
Welcome Back to Cool School!
We're looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow August 30th 2018 at 8.25am.
There are many surprises in our school this term..... see you in the morning!
Our school in the snow in February 2018
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Many thanks to our Caretaker Brendan for taking this video and the above photographs when he was in looking after our school during the snow storm. |
Please forgive our delay in getting website up to date since we moved into our new building in November 2017. This is because we had no internet access from end of October 2017 to mid February 2018. We are currently updating our site and look forward to sharing all the great things the children are doing with you as well as updating newsletters, policies etc.
Many thanks for your understanding and continued support.
Yes!
We have moved into our beautiful new building and opened there for pupils on Wednesday 9th November 2017
and
it is wonderful.
We would like to thank the Department of Education and Skills (DES)and all the building team at Western and everyone involved in getting the project designed and built. Particular thanks to Ciarán from the Forward Planning Unit for all his help and support throughout the build and to our Patron Educate Together for establishing our school and advising us along the way. In addition many thanks to all the Politicians and Councillors who helped in so many ways, to Tymon Bawn Community Centre and Firhouse Community Centre for housing our school and being so welcoming and especially to our parent and wider school community for their hard work, help and support over the past four years.
You did it!
You all ensured this wonderful school building was built for the children of Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
Thank you so much.
From all of our Staff and Board of Management.
Budget Video Link: Have a look at what some pupils in Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
would like the government to spend on:
http://www.independent.ie/business/budget/everyone-should-get-a-cuddly-toy-schoolchildren-have-their-say-on-budget-2018-36207634.html
See photos of our new school building below taken on August 3rd 2017.
A very busy end of year in June 2017:
Firstly a great big thank you to all of you for supporting our Family Fun Day and to our PGTA Committee and all who helped to organise the day. It was a most enjoyable day and raised much needed funds for our school too.
Secondly the children enjoyed their tours to the Mill Theatre, Glenroe Farm, Imaginosity, Lullymore Heritage Park and visits to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Firhouse and the Mosque in Clonskeagh as well as a great Sport for All Day in the field beside Firhouse Community Centre. We also had Dogs' Trust to visit each class and a wonderful performance by 'Seo Linn' ( a group of teachers whose band is doing very well and regularly perform in places like Vicar Street but who are also keen to bring live music into schools with an emphasis on Irish language and music).
We are now looking forward to an even more exciting year ahead in 2017/2018 as we move into our permanent school building as soon as it is completed this Autumn.
Secondly the children enjoyed their tours to the Mill Theatre, Glenroe Farm, Imaginosity, Lullymore Heritage Park and visits to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Firhouse and the Mosque in Clonskeagh as well as a great Sport for All Day in the field beside Firhouse Community Centre. We also had Dogs' Trust to visit each class and a wonderful performance by 'Seo Linn' ( a group of teachers whose band is doing very well and regularly perform in places like Vicar Street but who are also keen to bring live music into schools with an emphasis on Irish language and music).
We are now looking forward to an even more exciting year ahead in 2017/2018 as we move into our permanent school building as soon as it is completed this Autumn.
A Community Orchard for Firhouse
planted by the children of Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
Today 18th May 2017, our 1st and 2nd Classes joined with parent Rachel, teachers Rachael, Lynne, Conor, Jen, Cillian, Julie, Collette, along with Adam of St. Anne's G.A.A. and Deirdre of Firhouse Community Centre to plant a Community Orchard of 10 Apple Trees on the grounds of Firhouse Community Centre. Our school is delighted to be able to be collaborating with members of the community to plant these trees in the community.
This initiative began with a suggestion from Rachel Freeman, a parent whose children attend our school, and who sourced the trees, stakes and equipment needed to plant the orchard. Firhouse Community Centre very happily agreed to the project and so we began planting today. Our school is delighted to be able to plant trees for the community to benefit from and we aim to work with the local community in maintaining this community orchard and in sharing out the apples in years to come.
This initiative began with a suggestion from Rachel Freeman, a parent whose children attend our school, and who sourced the trees, stakes and equipment needed to plant the orchard. Firhouse Community Centre very happily agreed to the project and so we began planting today. Our school is delighted to be able to plant trees for the community to benefit from and we aim to work with the local community in maintaining this community orchard and in sharing out the apples in years to come.
2016 - 2017 Firhouse Educate Together
Fantastic News: Our new school building is on schedule to be completed for September 2017 and therefore the Department of Education and Skills has approved a second Junior Infant Class for the 2017-2018 School Year.
Work began on site on February 1st 2017 and is making steady progress:
We really enjoyed singing our new School Anthem for all our families.
See the Board of Management page for more details.
Dr. Graham Finlay from U.C.D. visited our school to speak to the children about Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
Friday 10th February 2017: We had great fun this morning celebrating RTE's 10@10!
All Classes joined together for our Winter Presentation on 22nd December 2016
in Firhouse Community Centre.
Sam Maguire visited our school!
Our Sports' Day 2016
Thank you so much to all our parents who helped at our Sports' Day today and to
Adam of St. Anne's GAA Club and our staff for their great work and enthusiasm.......
and to the stars of the day..... our students. Well done everyone!
Adam of St. Anne's GAA Club and our staff for their great work and enthusiasm.......
and to the stars of the day..... our students. Well done everyone!
Planning Permission Confirmed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For further information see

an_bord_pleanála_letter_9th_june_16.pdf | |
File Size: | 255 kb |
File Type: |
Planning Permission Update 9th June 2016
We have heard on the grapevine that Planning Permission for our new school building has been granted with conditions. We have not had official notification yet, but as soon as we do we will inform our school community. We are beyond excited at this development..... Further information to follow as soon as we have it......
Our Family Fun Day was an enormous success. Thank you to each and every one of you who turned up to support our school. Thanks to our PGTA, especially Lisa, for organising such a successful event. We raised an extraordinary €6,000 for our school!!!!!!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Please review the more detailed catchment area map on our pre enrolment tab - this was provided to us by the DES.
We are now accepting pre enrolments for September 2017.
You are all invited to our join us at our Family Fun Day Fundraiser on
Saturday 28th May from 12 - 3pm
FUN FOR ALL THE FAMILY - BRING EVERYONE ALONG!!!!

Thanks to Fiona from The Dogs Trust
for visiting our school in March
and
to all of our families
who kindly donated
to make a total of €109
for this good cause.
Raising the National Flag to celebrate 1916 - 2016 on March 15th 2016
Firhouse Educate Together N.S. enhances the community:
Look at the lovely daffodils still blooming beautifully in 2016 where our very first Junior Infant class planted them in 2013 in the park outside
Tymon Bawn Community Centre as part of the
'Bulbs not Bonfires' initiative by SDCC:
22nd February - Our second Monday working on our Forest School initiative:
Wonderful News - Our First Class Student Mia has been chosen as a winner in the Ireland 2016 All-Island Art Competition “Imagining the Ireland of 2116” held by the Dublin West Education Centre - She has won a whooping €75!! See our three chosen entrants below and our award winning entry from Mia. Well Done!!!!!!
Our First Forest School Activities - Monday 15th Feb - THANK YOU Rachael and Rachael
We celebrated Chinese New Year
8th February 2016
Year of the Monkey
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If you know how I can turn these videos around, I'd greatly appreciate your help! Collette
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Our 2015 Winter Wonderland Show

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate our Winter Wonderland event with us. It was a huge success and our children's performances made us so proud!!! Thanks to Gwen for taking such fabulous photos... see below... Happy New Year everyone!!!!!
Our Community Gardaí visited us last week and gave us High Vis Jackets.
We also had a great chat with them about all the good things the Gardaí do to help us.
One Day Together Winner from Firhouse Educate Together!
Congratulations!
WONDERFUL NEWS - Our Junior Infant Marcelina and her family have won 1st Prize in the Educate Together One Day Together Raffle. They have won family tickets to see The Snowman in the National Concert Hall and an overnight stay in the Maldron Hotel, Dublin. We raised €134.70 for Educate Together. We are so proud of the generosity of our school community. Thank you to all of you for supporting this event.
Tha Happy Philharmonic Orchestra visited Firhouse Educate Together N.S.
on Tuesday 3rd November 2015
We raised funds for Educate Together on ONE DAY TOGETHER, Friday 23rd October, which was also our Self Expression Day
The Air Corps presented the National Flag to our school on Wednesday 14th October 2015
and we sang our National Anthem: Amhrán na bhFiann.
Wow! A colourful balloon event as Firhouse Educate Together opens on Ballycullen Drive.
Yes! We've moved in ......and the space is wonderful! Thank you to all of you who worked hard on getting this site and to all who came along to help us move in. (29th August 2015)
Our new premises is bright and spacious and well equipped for our classes to open on 3rd September at 8.30am. Thank you to everyone involved from the start: our parents and school community for campaigning for the site, the Department of Education and Skills and the Project Managers and Building Contractors for a fantastic job on getting the premises so well built in such a short time and to our staff and parents and friends who joined in to help us move in our furniture and resources on Saturday 29th August (see slideshows below and I'm sorry everyone who came along is not in the photos and that's simply because we were all so busy...... but you are remembered).
There is still a lot of work to do to be ready for our opening on Thursday and as soon as I know the time for keys to be handed over to us on Wednesday 2nd September I will let you all know by email.
Thank you to all the staff of Tymon Bawn Community Centre for all their support and kindness over the past two years and to the residents of Church Grove for their patience and understanding. We say farewell and wish you all the very best for the future.
There is still a lot of work to do to be ready for our opening on Thursday and as soon as I know the time for keys to be handed over to us on Wednesday 2nd September I will let you all know by email.
Thank you to all the staff of Tymon Bawn Community Centre for all their support and kindness over the past two years and to the residents of Church Grove for their patience and understanding. We say farewell and wish you all the very best for the future.
Some photos of us moving out of Tymon Bawn Community Centre: Saturday 29th August:
Some photos of our arrival in our new Ballycullen Drive premises: Saturday 29th August
28th August: All is on schedule for our opening on 3rd September.
We are all set to move our furniture and resources into our new premises tomorrow and we're looking forward to having many of you there to help out but on safety grounds we ask that children do not come along. Our pre-fab is the green one marked as School 1 on plan below.
There will be more news about helping on Wednesday when I have more details. It is all very exciting and we're all looking forward very much to working with all of our school community to make the year ahead a very special one indeed.
NEWS August 2015: School re-opening on September 3rd 2015 in Ballycullen Drive
We have been informed by the Department of Education and Skills that due to building control regulations / certification our school will open on Thursday 3rd September 2015 in our new premises on Ballycullen Drive.
As the earliest certification of the temporary accommodation for our school is the first day of September we will only have access to the building to set up on the 2nd September. The Department of Education has arranged for intake of our furniture and resources into the new premises on Saturday 29th August.
See up-to-date photos below of site. We're waiting to find out which pre-fab will be ours!
There is also great news that the Department of Education and Skills has lodged the planning application for our permanent school building. The notice below is up on site and plans can be viewed on the South Dublin County Council website: www.sdcc.ie
We look forward to seeing you all on the 3rd September for our first day in our new school.
Meantime enjoy the remainder of the holidays.
Very best regards,
Collette and all the staff at Firhouse Educate Together National School
As the earliest certification of the temporary accommodation for our school is the first day of September we will only have access to the building to set up on the 2nd September. The Department of Education has arranged for intake of our furniture and resources into the new premises on Saturday 29th August.
See up-to-date photos below of site. We're waiting to find out which pre-fab will be ours!
There is also great news that the Department of Education and Skills has lodged the planning application for our permanent school building. The notice below is up on site and plans can be viewed on the South Dublin County Council website: www.sdcc.ie
We look forward to seeing you all on the 3rd September for our first day in our new school.
Meantime enjoy the remainder of the holidays.
Very best regards,
Collette and all the staff at Firhouse Educate Together National School
News: June 2015
At the end of our second year we would like to say a great big ‘Thank You’ to our wonderful children for making our school so amazing and also to our fantastic parents who constantly support the school so well.
Thank you also to our wonderful Parents’ Guardians’ Teachers’ Association and each of you who volunteered your time to help out with Policy reviews, Maths and Reading stations, to join us on visits to the library, to Wooly Ward's Farm and our Sports' Day in St Anne's GAA club. Thank you also for organising, helping out with and supporting our Big Comedy fundraising event which raised almost €4,000 and to all of you who contributed throughout the year by making fun fruit treats and cupcakes / gingerbread men for and with our students, helping with signage and logo design, bringing items of great interest to the children such as amazing books, lids of all sorts, coins, frog spawn, plants and treasure chests and copying, cutting and laminating resources for use in class as well as getting us going with Zuu Chimp Movements and after school Alive-O and Music classes. Every little thing you do to help is very very much appreciated.
Thank you also to our Board of Management and staff who work tirelessly to see our school has everything it needs to develop and thrive and ensure all of our pupils receive the best possible education.
Teachers / staff for next year
Junior Infants - New Teacher
Senior Infants - Collette Dunne (Triona Ni Leanachain for first two weeks)
First Class - New Teacher (Collette Dunne for first two weeks)
Support teaching - New Teachers
SNA - Agnieszka Bien
Secretary - Leah Meegan
1st day back at school
School re-opens in our new premises on Ballycullen Drive on Tuesday 1st September at 8.30am. Please note the car park entrance for parents will be on the Killininney Road. We look forward to seeing you then.
Please take particular care in the new car park in September. It will take some time to settle in. We really appreciate you taking an extra few minutes to stay safe, to be patient and to allow everyone get used to the new routine.
From the second day back we will be organising children to line up in yard until their class teacher collects them at 8.30am. Please leave the car park promptly after your child’s class is called by their teacher, as parents for Gaelscoil na Giúise will be arriving for 8.50am.
We hope to establish a Drop Off programme from mid-September. We need volunteers to run this program. If you have 10 minutes to spare in the mornings and would like to get involved please let us know.
Enjoy the Summer!
We wish you all a most enjoyable Summer break with plenty of family time. We hope the children enjoy lots of play time in the fresh air and hopefully in sunshine too. Remember to include some visits to the library to keep the magic of books, and the special time your child can enjoy reading with you, uppermost in your child’s mind.
Thanks again for all your help and support throughout the past year and we look forward to seeing you in September for our very first year in our own premises.
It will be fantastic!
Very best wishes,
Collette, Anne, Triona, Agnieszka and Leah and also from our regular and dedicated substitute staff Rachael, Sheila, Lewis, Therese and Lily.
Thank you also to our wonderful Parents’ Guardians’ Teachers’ Association and each of you who volunteered your time to help out with Policy reviews, Maths and Reading stations, to join us on visits to the library, to Wooly Ward's Farm and our Sports' Day in St Anne's GAA club. Thank you also for organising, helping out with and supporting our Big Comedy fundraising event which raised almost €4,000 and to all of you who contributed throughout the year by making fun fruit treats and cupcakes / gingerbread men for and with our students, helping with signage and logo design, bringing items of great interest to the children such as amazing books, lids of all sorts, coins, frog spawn, plants and treasure chests and copying, cutting and laminating resources for use in class as well as getting us going with Zuu Chimp Movements and after school Alive-O and Music classes. Every little thing you do to help is very very much appreciated.
Thank you also to our Board of Management and staff who work tirelessly to see our school has everything it needs to develop and thrive and ensure all of our pupils receive the best possible education.
Teachers / staff for next year
Junior Infants - New Teacher
Senior Infants - Collette Dunne (Triona Ni Leanachain for first two weeks)
First Class - New Teacher (Collette Dunne for first two weeks)
Support teaching - New Teachers
SNA - Agnieszka Bien
Secretary - Leah Meegan
1st day back at school
School re-opens in our new premises on Ballycullen Drive on Tuesday 1st September at 8.30am. Please note the car park entrance for parents will be on the Killininney Road. We look forward to seeing you then.
Please take particular care in the new car park in September. It will take some time to settle in. We really appreciate you taking an extra few minutes to stay safe, to be patient and to allow everyone get used to the new routine.
From the second day back we will be organising children to line up in yard until their class teacher collects them at 8.30am. Please leave the car park promptly after your child’s class is called by their teacher, as parents for Gaelscoil na Giúise will be arriving for 8.50am.
We hope to establish a Drop Off programme from mid-September. We need volunteers to run this program. If you have 10 minutes to spare in the mornings and would like to get involved please let us know.
Enjoy the Summer!
We wish you all a most enjoyable Summer break with plenty of family time. We hope the children enjoy lots of play time in the fresh air and hopefully in sunshine too. Remember to include some visits to the library to keep the magic of books, and the special time your child can enjoy reading with you, uppermost in your child’s mind.
Thanks again for all your help and support throughout the past year and we look forward to seeing you in September for our very first year in our own premises.
It will be fantastic!
Very best wishes,
Collette, Anne, Triona, Agnieszka and Leah and also from our regular and dedicated substitute staff Rachael, Sheila, Lewis, Therese and Lily.
June 2015: Pre-fabs for our school have arrived on our permanent site at Ballycullen Drive.
The excitement is building too!
Firhouse Educate Together N.S. is enrolling for September 2015.
Pre-Enrol now by clicking on the blue button above and fill in a pre-enrolment form.
We look forward to welcoming you to our great little school which will be located on its
permanent site at Ballycullen Drive, Firhouse, for Septemebr 2015.
Breaking News: Work began on our new school site today 18th May 2015
7th May 2015: We visited our new school site and our Junior and Senior Infant classes were very excited to see where they will go to school in September. Everyone enjoyed the visit.
Thank you to everyone who supported our recent Comedy Night Fundraiser which raised almost €3k for our school which is fantastic. Thank you also to our PGTA for all their hard work in organising such a big event. It was great to meet you all on the night.
A new 16 classroom school building for Firhouse Educate Together:
Yes! The Department of Education and Skills' Building List for 2015 has been announced today (18th December 2014) and Firhouse Educate Together National School is listed for a NEW SCHOOL BUILDING.
Let the celebrations begin! We are all so pleased with this commitment from the D.E.S. and look forward to welcoming our new Junior Infants in 2015 to temporary accommodation on our permanent site at Ballycullen Drive while awaiting the completion of our new school building.
A great big thank you to the D.E.S. for ensuring Firhouse ETNS is on the building list for the coming year and to all our parents and supporters who worked hard campaigning for this result.
Great News on Our Permanent Site!!!!!!!!!!
We are delighted to report a fantastic result regarding a permanent site for our school. South Dublin County Council have voted by a majority (22 votes) to dispose of land on Ballycullen Drive to the Department of Education and Skills for two schools - Firhouse Educate Together and Gaelscoil na Giúise and have agreed the Part 8 which will allow for temporary accommodation on the site for both schools from September 2015.
Cake Decorating to Celebrate our Spring Holidays
Thank you to Lynn for organising it all for both Senior and Junior Infants

Laura Lynn Foundation:
Thanks to Everyone who donated to the LauraLynn Foundation
while participating in our Self Expression Dress Up Day -
It was a huge success and we got this lovely letter from LauraLynn.
Thanks to Everyone who donated to the LauraLynn Foundation
while participating in our Self Expression Dress Up Day -
It was a huge success and we got this lovely letter from LauraLynn.
We had great fun visiting The County Library in Tallaght 11/11/2014
Just look at Junior and Senior Infants sharing some fun on Self-Expression Day: 24/10/2014
Firhouse Educate Together National School began its second school year on Thursday 28th August 2014 and welcomed a new class of Junior Infants. Senior Infants were terrific in helping Junior Infants find their way around our school.
Senior Infants also received a very special card today from Senator Cáit Keane, with each of their names hand written on it and a most important message: Senator Cáit says she is working very hard to get a school building for the children. So, Senior Infants say a very big 'THANK YOU' to Senator Cáit and all the people she's working with, on behalf of all of us in Firhouse Educate Together National School.
GREAT NEWS!
Firhouse Educate Together is delighted to announce the Department of Education and Skills has confirmed our school will be moving to its permanent location for September 2015.
Firhouse Educate Together is delighted to announce the Department of Education and Skills has confirmed our school will be moving to its permanent location for September 2015.
Fun Day in Firhouse Educate Together National School on Midsummer's Day
21st June 2014
Superb Feedback from Coffee Morning
Firhouse Educate Together meets Department of Education and Skills' Adviser to Minister
Firhouse Educate Together National School is delighted to announce that following our coffee morning TD Eamonn Maloney (Labour) arranged a meeting in the Department of Education and Skills' Ministerial Office with three representatives from our school: Parents Jennie and Brian (Brian is also a member of the school's Board of Management) and Principal Collette.
The meeting was very positive and we were informed that:
In addition when I invited Niall to visit our school in September / October he said he'd love to. So we have a date with him and who knows....... he may well have some news for us by then.
We were all left with the impression that the site issue is firmly on the agenda of the relevant people within DES now and that Eamon Maloney, who has a lot more experience than we have in dealing with the dept officials was also impressed at the positive tone of the meeting.
So, well done to everyone on creating such a wonderful atmosphere at our coffee morning which inspired TD Eamonn Maloney of Labour to make a promise to Jennie that he'd do his best to set up a meeting with the DES. He has followed through on his promise as has Senator Cáit Keane on tabling a motion in the Seanad and Firhouse Educate Together is now a topic of conversation at the highest levels.
What a result! And we're such a small group of people and our school is less than a year old........ can you imagine what we'll achieve in the future????
Let's celebrate at our Fun Day on Saturday 21st June. All welcome!
Very best regards,
Collette
The meeting was very positive and we were informed that:
- the DES is looking at several site options for our school
- the DES will not disclose sites until contracts are signed
- the site at Oldcourt opposite the new Lidl is NOT an option for our school
- the DES and SDCC held a meeting yesterday (June 11th 2014) and both are now agreed that the Oldcourt site is zoned for future development in 10 to 15 years time and is off the agenda for our school
- SDCC are negotiating with the DES to secure a suitable site for our school
- the DES hopes to announce news of a site for our school within a 3 to 6 month time frame
- despite spending a lot on Tymon Bawn Community Centre this year (to put toilets into classrooms etc), this expenditure will not influence the DES' Planning Department's decision for location of our school at the end of the 2014-2015 school year
- Firhouse Educate Together will spend only one more year (2014 - 2015 school year) in Tymon Bawn Community Centre
- the worst case scenario will be our school opening in pre-fabs on its permanent site in September 2015
In addition when I invited Niall to visit our school in September / October he said he'd love to. So we have a date with him and who knows....... he may well have some news for us by then.
We were all left with the impression that the site issue is firmly on the agenda of the relevant people within DES now and that Eamon Maloney, who has a lot more experience than we have in dealing with the dept officials was also impressed at the positive tone of the meeting.
So, well done to everyone on creating such a wonderful atmosphere at our coffee morning which inspired TD Eamonn Maloney of Labour to make a promise to Jennie that he'd do his best to set up a meeting with the DES. He has followed through on his promise as has Senator Cáit Keane on tabling a motion in the Seanad and Firhouse Educate Together is now a topic of conversation at the highest levels.
What a result! And we're such a small group of people and our school is less than a year old........ can you imagine what we'll achieve in the future????
Let's celebrate at our Fun Day on Saturday 21st June. All welcome!
Very best regards,
Collette
Wow! Our Coffee Morning Wednesday 14th May 2014 at 11am
to raise awareness of our school's need for a permanent site and building was a terrific success.............
19 Politicians joined us to see the great work being done in unsuitable premises45 parents & relatives of Firhouse Educate Together National School explained our concernsFeedback is that it is unprecedented to have so many politicians across all parties at a single constituency event!Thank you to:
Minister Brian Hayes - Fine Gael
Senator
Cait Keane - Fine Gael
Councillor Brian Lawlor - Fine Gael
Karen Warren -Fine Gael
Alan Gallagher - Fine Gael
Councillor Colm Brophy – Fine Gael
Mayor Dermot Looney – Independent
Emmett Hegarty – Fianna Fail
Councillor Eamonn Walsh – Fianna Fail
Paul Foley - Fianna Fail
TD Eamonn Maloney - Labour
Councillor Chris Bond – Labour
Pamela Kearns – Labour Party
Councillor Maire Devine - Sinn Fein
Fintan Warfield - Sinn Fein
Brendan Ferron - Sinn Fein
TD Seán Crowe - Sinn Fein
Suzanne McEneaney – Green Party
Francis Noel Duffy – Green Party
We greatly appreciate your continued support and look forward to working with you in the near future to make our school site a reality ; )
A huge thank you to also all our parents, relatives, and prospective parents who turned up en mass to welcome the local politicians to our school & explain the urgent need for a school site.
Firhouse Educate Together National School
Firhouse Educate Together National School is a new and growing primary school which
opened in September 2013 with one class of junior infants.
September 2014 will see 54 families bringing 56 children to both junior and senior infants. Demand has been so high from parents for places that there is a very healthy waiting list for children from all over the local area.
Even at this early stage there is a great sense of community spirit developing, with parents, staff and friends supporting a comedy night in the local Maldron Hotel, local Gardai assisting with monthly visits to the Library, GAA training throughout the year and a sports' day with St Anne's Club, training with Thomas Davis too, Capoeira classes, joint ventures with Gaelscoil na Giúise and Citywest ETNS, parental involvement in gardening, baking, planning, ICT, logo design and class work, not to mention the ongoing
support of the Tymon-Bawn Community Centre.
The location of the school in TymonBawn Community Centre was intended to be temporary, with a view to moving to a permanent location in due course. The Department of Education and Skills is currently sourcing a permanent site for the new school in conjunction with South Dublin County Council.
In the meantime, the school will be in Tymon-Bawn Community Centre for the remainder
of the 2013 - 2014 and for the 2014-2015 school year.
Educate Together schools are national schools, teaching the full primary curriculum. They are child-centred and focused on the best possible educational outcome for children. The teachers bring the curriculum to life by encouraging children to think, question and engage both with their teacher and each other.
Educate Together's Ethical Education Curriculum - ‘Learn Together’ - supports children’s ethical, moral and spiritual development and teaches children about justice, equality, belief systems and environmental care.
This curriculum has been developed over 35 years in Irish primary schools and is an important part of making Educate Together schools welcoming and inclusive.
When Firhouse Educate Together National School opened in 2013, it became one of 68 Educate Together schools nationwide, and one of around 20 in the South West Dublin / Kildare area surrounding Firhouse.
Firhouse Educate Together National School is a new and growing primary school which
opened in September 2013 with one class of junior infants.
September 2014 will see 54 families bringing 56 children to both junior and senior infants. Demand has been so high from parents for places that there is a very healthy waiting list for children from all over the local area.
Even at this early stage there is a great sense of community spirit developing, with parents, staff and friends supporting a comedy night in the local Maldron Hotel, local Gardai assisting with monthly visits to the Library, GAA training throughout the year and a sports' day with St Anne's Club, training with Thomas Davis too, Capoeira classes, joint ventures with Gaelscoil na Giúise and Citywest ETNS, parental involvement in gardening, baking, planning, ICT, logo design and class work, not to mention the ongoing
support of the Tymon-Bawn Community Centre.
The location of the school in TymonBawn Community Centre was intended to be temporary, with a view to moving to a permanent location in due course. The Department of Education and Skills is currently sourcing a permanent site for the new school in conjunction with South Dublin County Council.
In the meantime, the school will be in Tymon-Bawn Community Centre for the remainder
of the 2013 - 2014 and for the 2014-2015 school year.
Educate Together schools are national schools, teaching the full primary curriculum. They are child-centred and focused on the best possible educational outcome for children. The teachers bring the curriculum to life by encouraging children to think, question and engage both with their teacher and each other.
Educate Together's Ethical Education Curriculum - ‘Learn Together’ - supports children’s ethical, moral and spiritual development and teaches children about justice, equality, belief systems and environmental care.
This curriculum has been developed over 35 years in Irish primary schools and is an important part of making Educate Together schools welcoming and inclusive.
When Firhouse Educate Together National School opened in 2013, it became one of 68 Educate Together schools nationwide, and one of around 20 in the South West Dublin / Kildare area surrounding Firhouse.
Thank You to everyone who helped us raise almost €4,000 at our Big Comedy Night:
Thanks to everyone who contributed to the inaugural Firhouse ETNS ‘Big Fun Night Out’:
Comedians – Al Porter, Willie White, Paul Woodfull, Joe Rooney.
Ruairí Campbell for doing MC & organising printing
Music by 'REDWOOD LIVE' www.redwoodlive.com
Parents, Grandparents and relatives of junior infants children
School staff: Tríona, Aileen and Agnieszka
Mc Loughlin Seafood
Kiernan Oil Company
Easy teeth Whitening, Mary Mall
Your Space Interiors
Hair by Suzanne
Lazer Treatment Clinic Tallaght
Claire Dwan Beautician
Dwan's Spar Woodstown & Old Court
BWG Foods
Tymon Bawn Community Centre
LW Flowers, Smithfield
Lawlor Office Supplies
Phillips Ireland
Chubb Ireland
Touchcom
Forever Living

Firhouse Educate Together National School: Fundraiser & Celebration of this New School
Big Comedy Fundraiser
?? QUIZ ?? Are you as smart as a 4 yr old?
Finger Food • Raffle & Auction of Skills!
Live Stand Up Comedy Featuring
Willie White & Al Porter
+ Special Guests TBC
Followed by Live Music with Redwoodlive till Late!
Maldron Hotel Tallaght Tickets: €20 www.firhouseetns.ie Tel. 087 330 1332
Friday 31st January 2014: 7.30pm-12.30am
Tickets on sale in SPAR shop Oldcourt (beside Scholar's Pub) as well as from School and from Parents
Big Comedy Fundraiser
?? QUIZ ?? Are you as smart as a 4 yr old?
Finger Food • Raffle & Auction of Skills!
Live Stand Up Comedy Featuring
Willie White & Al Porter
+ Special Guests TBC
Followed by Live Music with Redwoodlive till Late!
Maldron Hotel Tallaght Tickets: €20 www.firhouseetns.ie Tel. 087 330 1332
Friday 31st January 2014: 7.30pm-12.30am
Tickets on sale in SPAR shop Oldcourt (beside Scholar's Pub) as well as from School and from Parents
The first term in Firhouse Educate Together ended in a whirl of excitement as we celebrated with Citywest Educate Together and Junior Infants, thanks to the wonderful direction from Tríona and Agnieszka, performed their Winter Wonderland songs and poems for parents, guardians and grandparents. Thanks also to all the parents who helped make the pre-show coffee-morning a most enjoyable event and to our newly appointed chairperson and second patron nominee Declan Fahie and Thomas Frayne respectively who came along to meet everyone as well as to see Junior Infants perform.
Our visit to Citywest ETNS the previous day was great fun. We packed ourselves, our snowmen and snowy mountain scenery into the bus and set off at 10am. When we arrived we joined the four classes of Citywest ETNS to perform for each other. All of the class shows were brilliant. Then we visited different classrooms to play some activities.
At 12 noon we put our hand prints and messages from all the pupils and staff of both schools into a plastic box and when photos of this event have been put in, the box will be sealed as a time capsule that will not be opened for twenty years! In 2023 the current pupils and staff will be invited back for the opening of the time capsule. The reason Firhouse ETNS and Citywest ETNS jointly put this time capsule together is that both schools are open today because of four parents who began a campaign almost ten years ago for an Educate Together School in Dublin 24....... and now there are two! Thank you to these four amazing people whom we hope to interview and tell you more about in the New Year.
Before leaving we gave Caitríona, the principal of Citywest ETNS, 92 little snowmen that we made and asked her to give one to each of the children in her school. Caitríona was very happy with our handmade gifts and she said our two schools will have to meet again and we all agreed this is a great idea.
Our visit to Citywest ETNS the previous day was great fun. We packed ourselves, our snowmen and snowy mountain scenery into the bus and set off at 10am. When we arrived we joined the four classes of Citywest ETNS to perform for each other. All of the class shows were brilliant. Then we visited different classrooms to play some activities.
At 12 noon we put our hand prints and messages from all the pupils and staff of both schools into a plastic box and when photos of this event have been put in, the box will be sealed as a time capsule that will not be opened for twenty years! In 2023 the current pupils and staff will be invited back for the opening of the time capsule. The reason Firhouse ETNS and Citywest ETNS jointly put this time capsule together is that both schools are open today because of four parents who began a campaign almost ten years ago for an Educate Together School in Dublin 24....... and now there are two! Thank you to these four amazing people whom we hope to interview and tell you more about in the New Year.
Before leaving we gave Caitríona, the principal of Citywest ETNS, 92 little snowmen that we made and asked her to give one to each of the children in her school. Caitríona was very happy with our handmade gifts and she said our two schools will have to meet again and we all agreed this is a great idea.
Great to see Senator Cáit Keane's support for Firhouse ETNS! Thanks @sencaitkeane
I am pleased to announce that a new school is to open- Firhouse Educate Together, on September 2nd in Tymon-Bawn... http://t.co/4zTlLr0j7h
— Senator Cáit Keane (@sencaitkeane) July 15, 2013
Firhouse Educate Together is Online!

Educate Together NS launches Facebook & Twitter feeds. Please help us spread the word!
Keep up to date with the school's progress online:
Follow us: @FirhouseETNS
Like us: Facebook.com/FirhouseETNS
Our email: firhouseetns@gmail.com
Keep up to date with the school's progress online:
Follow us: @FirhouseETNS
Like us: Facebook.com/FirhouseETNS
Our email: firhouseetns@gmail.com
Firhouse ETNS @ Tymon-Bawn Community Centre
Temporary Location Arranged for September 2013 Opening
Tallafest 2013: Firhouse Educate Together Stand
Firhouse Educate Together enjoyed a lovely day with the local community on Saturday 6th July 2013

It was a beautiful day as we set up our stand at Tallafest. We had a great location just inside the gate of the Priory carpark in a lovely parkland setting.
Thank you to all the people who helped us, most importantly Ane Marie who suggested we get involved and Phyl of Tallafest for including us, organising permits and being there to answer all our questions on the day. Thanks also to Greta for all the emails, to Sharon, Vincenzo, Sandra and Betty for their help on the day and to all the people who took the time to stop and chat at our stand as well as those of you who took part in our thumb print drawing activity.
We hope you enjoyed meeting us as much as we enjoyed meeting you.
There was great interest in our thumb print drawing activity. The idea was to use your thumb print to create a picture because..
Thank you to all the people who helped us, most importantly Ane Marie who suggested we get involved and Phyl of Tallafest for including us, organising permits and being there to answer all our questions on the day. Thanks also to Greta for all the emails, to Sharon, Vincenzo, Sandra and Betty for their help on the day and to all the people who took the time to stop and chat at our stand as well as those of you who took part in our thumb print drawing activity.
We hope you enjoyed meeting us as much as we enjoyed meeting you.
There was great interest in our thumb print drawing activity. The idea was to use your thumb print to create a picture because..
Tallafest 2013
Join us in promoting our new school!

Firhouse Educate Together will have a stand at Tallafest this coming Saturday 6th July in Tallaght Village.
This is our very first involvement in the community and we are delighted to be doing it to promote our school and to show how strong our support is.
So, we are asking for your help. We need people to help at the stand throughout the day: giving out leaflets, talking to people about our school, encouraging children to take part in the diversity finger print drawing activity we will have at the stand ......... and generally just getting a buzz going!
If you have an hour to spare, please let me know: 087 330 1332 / principaletnsfirhouse@gmail.com
Collette
This is our very first involvement in the community and we are delighted to be doing it to promote our school and to show how strong our support is.
So, we are asking for your help. We need people to help at the stand throughout the day: giving out leaflets, talking to people about our school, encouraging children to take part in the diversity finger print drawing activity we will have at the stand ......... and generally just getting a buzz going!
If you have an hour to spare, please let me know: 087 330 1332 / principaletnsfirhouse@gmail.com
Collette
About Educate Together

Educate Together is the Patron body of Firhouse Educate Together National School, and of 68 other national schools nationwide and is committed to delivering an excellent education to your child. Our schools are learning communities where boys and girls learn together and parental involvement is encouraged.
Ethos & Mission
Educate Together is the representative organisation for primary & secondary multi-denominational schools in Ireland. It is an independent NGO that runs and supports schools that guarantee equality of access and esteem to children "irrespective of their social, cultural or religious background". Educate Together schools are learner centred in their approach to education and are run as participatory democracies, with respectful partnership between parents, pupils and teachers. The Educate Together national office is working towards an Ireland in which all people have access to an excellent education that is inclusive of all, irrespective of belief system, ethnicity, class, culture, gender, language, sexuality, family background and ability.
For more information on Educate Together's primary schools, visit: http://www.educatetogether.ie/our-schools/primary
Curriculum
Educate Together schools teach the Learn Together Ethical Education Curriculum, rather than the religious instruction programmes taught in denominational schools. This curriculum has four strands:
- Moral and Spiritual: children learn about feelings and values, the development of conscience, choices and consequences, stillness and meditation.
- Equality and Justice: children learn about wants and needs, rights and responsibilities; the promotion of equality and the nature of democracy locally (student councils are encouraged), nationally and globally.
- Belief Systems: children learn about the rites and ceremonies, celebrations, key figure and beliefs and values of the six main world religions: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism and Sikhism. Schools also address Atheism, Agnosticism and Humanism.
- Ethics and the Environment: children learn about appreciation and stewardship of the natural world. Educate Together schools have an ethos of respect, diversity & inclusion.
School community
As of September 2013, there are now 68 Educate Together primary schools in Ireland. The growth in the Educate Together school network continues to be driven by parental demand. In addition to our established schools we have start-up groups in communities hoping to have Educate Together schools opened in their area.
To locate your nearest Educate Together school or start-up group, visit: http://www.educatetogether.ie/our-schools
Second-level
In addition to opening and operating primary schools, Educate Together has campaigned successfully for a new model of second-level education. The first Educate Together second-level schools will open in 2014 in Blanchardstown, Lucan and Drogheda.
Educate Together's approach at second-level moves away from 'teaching to the test' and towards an emphasis on the learner. Students will develop skills in creative and critical thinking, communication, teamwork, research and leadership. Teachers in an Educate Together second-level school will use the best teaching and learning methods to make students’ learning active, relevant, challenging and enjoyable.
To learn more visit http://www.educatetogether.ie/our-schools/second-level