Nuacht 10/10/2019
Dates for your diary (see parent calendar also on website http://www.cetns.ie/Page/Event-Diary/1887/Index.html)
18.10.2019 2nd class assembly @ 9:30am in hall
23.10.2019 PTA AGM @ 7:30pm – 9:30pm
25.10.2019 School Sponsored Spooky Walk @ 11:30am
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Here is some of the latest news from CETNS over the duration of the first 5 weeks of the school year. There are a number of events to come in the next few weeks also and we look forward to them with a sense of excitement each year.
6th Class Assembly
Last Friday both 6th classes hosted the first of the Learn Together assemblies of this academic year. The theme was all about Friendship. The children created a few scenarios where friendship themed behaviours were explored and the whole school learnt how we can best befriend everyone in our school. 6th classes also penned a few poems and performed wonderful friendship themed songs in English and as Gaeilge. Well done to both Rang 6 classes for leading the way as the senior pupils in the school this year. They have been a shining example to their younger peers. Go raibh maith agat to Ana & Isla for preparing the classes so well for their first assembly, a thank you to David for directing the music and to Sam & Luka who accompanied him with their final song ‘Just the two of us’.
Class Curriculum meetings
Thank you to all teachers for preparing information for the class curriculum meetings which took place in the first weeks of the school year. We hope parents found them useful and would like to take this opportunity to assure you if you have a concern about your child please don’t hesitate to arrange to meet with the class teacher. We would ask parents to arrange meetings through the school office or by putting a note in the school diaries.
Parent-Teacher Meetings
Individual parent-teacher meetings for Senior Infant-6th classes will take place in November on either 19/11/2019 or 21/11/2019. Junior Infant meetings will take place later in the school year in February. We are hoping meeting times this year will be booked online and we would encourage all parents to download the Aladdin Connect School’s app to use this facility. See email sent by Siobhán to all parents last month 19/09/2019 for further details. The app will also give you regular updates, allow for making online payments and give permission for attending various events throughout the year.
Car parking & safety
Please be mindful as the weather deteriorates and darkens that children should be dropped off at the set-down area no sooner than 8:50am and should be encouraged to wait carefully with friends away from the edges of the footpath. Please discourage your child from playing in this area as safety must come first around cars. Always remember to drive carefully & slowly in our school car park at all times to keep the children safe and please pass on messages about the car parking to minders or friends/family members who may be collecting or dropping your children off to school.
Parking on the set-down area is not permitted at any point during the school day. It is not acceptable to park in the area allocated for our buses. There are designated disabled spaces and these spaces are clearly marked and used for parents who are transporting children to our school. Please do not use them unless you have a disability sticker and require it. The staff car park is located to the left of the entrance gate of the school and is for staff use only.
BOM
The Board of Management met and approved the following policies for the school; Data Protection Policy, Privacy Statement and English as an Additional Language. The Board also agreed the Action Plan arising from the Communications Policy and is working towards its implementation.
The school’s annual spooky sponsored walk will take place on the 25th October and we hope parents will assist this fundraising drive for the school. It is noted each year that some parents object to the children participating in fundraising projects for the school. While there have been many attempts over the years to seek additional funding for primary schools from the government the costs of running schools has increased incrementally while funding to schools has decreased. The school asks each parent annually to pay the resources monies which covers the costs of art supplies, school programmes and many expenses incurred to provide children with books, instruments, website subscriptions etc to support their learning. Despite repeated requests, some parents have made no attempts to make these payments and therefore costs incurred by the school affect all pupils.
Staff Absences
On days where staff absences occur and when no substitutes are available, pupils in these classes may need to be redistributed amongst the remaining staff. Each class teacher ensures their classes are assigned enough work across appropriate curriculum levels to be completed during such days. Although it is far from ideal to have to do this it can be helpful to encourage children to focus on some of the positives about being in a different classroom, how it supports their independence and builds resilience and acceptance of change. Unfortunately, the lack of available substitute staff is a matter for government policy makers and not within the gift of schools to remedy.
Power Hour
Power Hour, our literacy initiative, is presently running in both 1st classes. We appreciate those parents who have volunteered to help with it. If any other Garda vetted parents are available to help out any day in the classes from 9.40am-10.40am from Mondays-Thursdays please let the office know. Please note in line with new procedures, parents beginning to support the school in this way will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement as the school needs to adhere to GDPR compliance. Please contact the school office for further details.
6th class in Glendalough
On the 24th September both 6th classes went on a trip to Glendalough. The children had an enjoyable day and we would like to thank Ana and Isla for ensuring the children had a great day out. We also thank the parents who came along to support staff and children on the day and appreciate the time they gave to the school.
Violin Project
We are pleased that we are able to continue the weekly violin lessons with the violin teacher, Sandra Mason and especially pleased to be able to roll it out to this year’s 2nd classes who will begin their first lessons after midterm. 3rd class will continue on from lessons last year also beginning their weekly lessons after midterm. It is important that all payments are made for these lessons, a further email will be sent by Siobhán shortly.
After School Activities
If your child is involved in an after school activity s/he will be collected by the ASA organiser and should be collected afterward from the set-down area. There are children often hanging around the school waiting for activities to start, please be aware your child must be collected after each activity and if a gap exists between the time one activity ends and another begins parents must make the appropriate arrangements to supervise the child(ren). Tigers Afterschool Care may be an option, however this is a matter for parents to arrange with Tigers staff.
Parent-Teacher Association
The PTA AGM will take place in the school hall from 7:30pm-9:30pm on the 23rd October. Parents of children currently attending the school are invited to come along and participate in the election of PTA officers for the coming year.
Castleknock Tennis Club
As you will have seen there is ongoing construction work at the tennis club. There is no longer any parking available on the road down to the tennis club. Pedestrian access is still available to the bridge.
Cabra Community College
On the 11th September 2019 the City of Dublin ETB and Educate Together signed an agreement to become patron partners of Cabra Community College in Dublin 7. From September 2020 we will be enrolling first year students under the Educate Together Ethos and both Educate Together and the Department of Education and Skills will fully support this change process over the coming years.
This is a very exciting development for Cabra Community College and we are committed to providing students with the highest quality, co-educational and equality based educational experience.
Enrolment is now open for first year September 2020 and application forms are available on our website (www.cabracc.ie). We will be holding an information evening for parents on Tuesday 22nd October at 7.00pm in Cabra Community College.
Beir bua,
Aedín