Hello Everyone,
February has been a great success as our new school logo has been completed (see below) and we've seen our Forest School take off with the children enjoying a picnic outdoors last Monday. We are really excited about the bark shavings and soil which will be delivered shortly so as the children can do lessons in the forest school area and plant vegetables in the patch outside the yard fence at other end of yard. If you've any gardening tools or oil cloths you can donate we'd be delighted to have them.
First Class has a new teacher Bébhinn Nugent who we're very pleased to announce is on contract until June 30th. I'm sure you'll all join with me in welcoming Bébhinn and wishing her and First Class many happy days together in our school.
Regarding enrolments for next year, I am very very sad and sorry to say that, so far, the Department of Education and Skills has not provided for a second stream of Junior Infants in our school in September 2016. This leaves many many families on our pre-enrolment list, including siblings of current pupils, currently without a place for their child, in our school and in the school ethos of their choice.
Shoe the Children Appeal:Talk Monday 29th February: We are very happy that Kevin, the leader of this project, will be in our school tomorrow 29th February at 10am to talk to parents about this appeal. It promises to be an inspiring talk and you are all very welcome. It’s not so long ago that Irish children went barefoot to school and Irish people were immigrants throughout the world. As we approach the centenary of the 1916 Rising which paved the way for Ireland’s independence, I feel it’s a very appropriate time for us to reflect on and support the children in families who need to leave troubled lands. Come along and join us for the chat at 10am tomorrow if you can.
World Book Day Celebration Thursday 3rd March: We would like parents and or grandparents to volunteer to read a short simple story in one’s native language or any language of their choice to a class on World Book Day? Please let your child’s teacher know if you or a grandparent can do this at any time on World Book Day. We are also asking the children to dress up as a character form their favourite book on the day.
World Book Day Thursday March 3rd Collection of books: If you have any books of any sort or genre (fiction, information etc for adults or children) to donate please bring them in on Thursday 3rd March. We will ask you to help us catalogue the books (keep any children's books that are useful for school) and then we'll sell them to Chapters bookshop to raise funds for our school!
Parking: Firstly, the Department of Education and Skills has handed the car park at the back of school over to South Dublin County Council (SDCC) who are responsible for opening it. I have not received any information from SDCC as to when the car park will open.
This is a very frustrating matter for all of us as parking is a problem in the front of the school which is really only designed as a drop-off area. Also I must request our parents/guardians not to park in the staff parking area of Gaelscoil na Giúise or indeed our school as our staffs need to park when they arrive at work (note: our Resource Teacher arrives at 8.40 - 8.45). To try to alleviate the difficulties of parking in the mornings the PGTA are commencing a Drop-Off Zone at the Lay-By at Gaelscoil na Giúise entrance from Monday 29th February. We would ask all parents to help out with this initiative. We would like to see parents who have time to wait in yard until 8.30am, offering to walk with children, who are dropped off, to the yard at the back of the school. From this new Lay-By Drop-Off Zone parents can also see their child walking to yard.
New LOGO and signage: Thank you so very much to Dora and Pawel who designed our new school logo:
We hope you like it as we are all very happy that the coloured leaves on the tree are made up of the thumb prints of the children who started in our very first Junior Infant Class in September 2013. Putting their thumb prints on paper is something they all remember doing with me and now they will be part of our school logo forever. You may have noticed the logo in frosted form is now on our school door windows and the main sign will be put up in the coming week.
Weeding School Grounds: Thanks again to Rachel and Lisa and all of you who join in when you can with pulling up the weeds in the school grounds. I've invited Gaelscoil na Giúise to join in with this initiative by our parents. The grounds are continuing to look impressively better. So thank you to you all for every single weed that has disappeared and to Lisa and Derek who took the bags of weeds away to the recycling centre. Remember everyone can join in this and it creates a great sense of community when we're all contributing in doing things for our school. (There have been many issues to sort regarding a shared caretaker and at the moment we don't have a caretaker).
We are delighted to see so many positive initiatives starting in our school this year:
Our GREEN SCHOOL committee had its second meeting last Friday morning at 8.30am. Our waste audit is taking some time to complete. We have simplified the waste audit record sheet for our Junior Classes and we need to get weighing scales that are easy for children to use. Thank you to Greta who chaired that meeting last Friday as I couldn't leave my class, (as planned, with our Resource/LS Teacher) due to unforeseen event. The children are enjoying the process and have ensured their teachers are teaching the list of explanatory terms and concepts they took back to class after the last meeting. Next meeting will be before the Spring holidays. Date to be agreed with parents in coming days.
After School Activities (After School Activities on PGTA page): I'm delighted to see two classes going ahead this term: Science for Infant Classes and Alive-O for First Class and we look forward to more classes starting in term 3 and indeed next September when the numbers for Infants and First/Second will make it easier for classes to have enough numbers to go ahead.
1916-2016 Commemoration Day on 15th March 2016: Please let me know if you would like to take part in our display of Irish culture on the day: music, singing, dancing, ag labhairt Gaeilge (speaking Irish) and reading some history of the people involved in the 1916 Rising. If you would like to play music, tell a story, sing, dance etc. for us or if you know someone who'd like to please let us know. The staff are practising their dancing! Let us know if you would be interested in a parents' group for set dancing on the day.
Dogs' Trust: Our visit from Dogs' Trust has been rescheduled for Wednesday 16th March and will be a nice ending to the term. The children will be introduced to an assistance dog and will have the opportunity to find out how he was trained and how he is of help to people. This is the third year that Dogs' Trust have visited our school and we have not yet given them any donation so I propose each child to bring 50cent or 1euro as you see fit to donate to Dogs' Trust on Wednesday 16th March. Come in and have a chat with me if you'd like to comment on this either way.
Thank you all for your ongoing support, help and enthusiasm.
Very best regards,
Collette
Collette Dunne: Principal: Firhouse ETNS Tel: 087 330 1332
February has been a great success as our new school logo has been completed (see below) and we've seen our Forest School take off with the children enjoying a picnic outdoors last Monday. We are really excited about the bark shavings and soil which will be delivered shortly so as the children can do lessons in the forest school area and plant vegetables in the patch outside the yard fence at other end of yard. If you've any gardening tools or oil cloths you can donate we'd be delighted to have them.
First Class has a new teacher Bébhinn Nugent who we're very pleased to announce is on contract until June 30th. I'm sure you'll all join with me in welcoming Bébhinn and wishing her and First Class many happy days together in our school.
Regarding enrolments for next year, I am very very sad and sorry to say that, so far, the Department of Education and Skills has not provided for a second stream of Junior Infants in our school in September 2016. This leaves many many families on our pre-enrolment list, including siblings of current pupils, currently without a place for their child, in our school and in the school ethos of their choice.
Shoe the Children Appeal:Talk Monday 29th February: We are very happy that Kevin, the leader of this project, will be in our school tomorrow 29th February at 10am to talk to parents about this appeal. It promises to be an inspiring talk and you are all very welcome. It’s not so long ago that Irish children went barefoot to school and Irish people were immigrants throughout the world. As we approach the centenary of the 1916 Rising which paved the way for Ireland’s independence, I feel it’s a very appropriate time for us to reflect on and support the children in families who need to leave troubled lands. Come along and join us for the chat at 10am tomorrow if you can.
World Book Day Celebration Thursday 3rd March: We would like parents and or grandparents to volunteer to read a short simple story in one’s native language or any language of their choice to a class on World Book Day? Please let your child’s teacher know if you or a grandparent can do this at any time on World Book Day. We are also asking the children to dress up as a character form their favourite book on the day.
World Book Day Thursday March 3rd Collection of books: If you have any books of any sort or genre (fiction, information etc for adults or children) to donate please bring them in on Thursday 3rd March. We will ask you to help us catalogue the books (keep any children's books that are useful for school) and then we'll sell them to Chapters bookshop to raise funds for our school!
Parking: Firstly, the Department of Education and Skills has handed the car park at the back of school over to South Dublin County Council (SDCC) who are responsible for opening it. I have not received any information from SDCC as to when the car park will open.
This is a very frustrating matter for all of us as parking is a problem in the front of the school which is really only designed as a drop-off area. Also I must request our parents/guardians not to park in the staff parking area of Gaelscoil na Giúise or indeed our school as our staffs need to park when they arrive at work (note: our Resource Teacher arrives at 8.40 - 8.45). To try to alleviate the difficulties of parking in the mornings the PGTA are commencing a Drop-Off Zone at the Lay-By at Gaelscoil na Giúise entrance from Monday 29th February. We would ask all parents to help out with this initiative. We would like to see parents who have time to wait in yard until 8.30am, offering to walk with children, who are dropped off, to the yard at the back of the school. From this new Lay-By Drop-Off Zone parents can also see their child walking to yard.
New LOGO and signage: Thank you so very much to Dora and Pawel who designed our new school logo:
We hope you like it as we are all very happy that the coloured leaves on the tree are made up of the thumb prints of the children who started in our very first Junior Infant Class in September 2013. Putting their thumb prints on paper is something they all remember doing with me and now they will be part of our school logo forever. You may have noticed the logo in frosted form is now on our school door windows and the main sign will be put up in the coming week.
Weeding School Grounds: Thanks again to Rachel and Lisa and all of you who join in when you can with pulling up the weeds in the school grounds. I've invited Gaelscoil na Giúise to join in with this initiative by our parents. The grounds are continuing to look impressively better. So thank you to you all for every single weed that has disappeared and to Lisa and Derek who took the bags of weeds away to the recycling centre. Remember everyone can join in this and it creates a great sense of community when we're all contributing in doing things for our school. (There have been many issues to sort regarding a shared caretaker and at the moment we don't have a caretaker).
We are delighted to see so many positive initiatives starting in our school this year:
Our GREEN SCHOOL committee had its second meeting last Friday morning at 8.30am. Our waste audit is taking some time to complete. We have simplified the waste audit record sheet for our Junior Classes and we need to get weighing scales that are easy for children to use. Thank you to Greta who chaired that meeting last Friday as I couldn't leave my class, (as planned, with our Resource/LS Teacher) due to unforeseen event. The children are enjoying the process and have ensured their teachers are teaching the list of explanatory terms and concepts they took back to class after the last meeting. Next meeting will be before the Spring holidays. Date to be agreed with parents in coming days.
After School Activities (After School Activities on PGTA page): I'm delighted to see two classes going ahead this term: Science for Infant Classes and Alive-O for First Class and we look forward to more classes starting in term 3 and indeed next September when the numbers for Infants and First/Second will make it easier for classes to have enough numbers to go ahead.
1916-2016 Commemoration Day on 15th March 2016: Please let me know if you would like to take part in our display of Irish culture on the day: music, singing, dancing, ag labhairt Gaeilge (speaking Irish) and reading some history of the people involved in the 1916 Rising. If you would like to play music, tell a story, sing, dance etc. for us or if you know someone who'd like to please let us know. The staff are practising their dancing! Let us know if you would be interested in a parents' group for set dancing on the day.
Dogs' Trust: Our visit from Dogs' Trust has been rescheduled for Wednesday 16th March and will be a nice ending to the term. The children will be introduced to an assistance dog and will have the opportunity to find out how he was trained and how he is of help to people. This is the third year that Dogs' Trust have visited our school and we have not yet given them any donation so I propose each child to bring 50cent or 1euro as you see fit to donate to Dogs' Trust on Wednesday 16th March. Come in and have a chat with me if you'd like to comment on this either way.
Thank you all for your ongoing support, help and enthusiasm.
Very best regards,
Collette
Collette Dunne: Principal: Firhouse ETNS Tel: 087 330 1332