Nuacht 25/02/2020
Dates for your diary
02.03.2020 Lost & found items including clothing & cake sale items in school hall 9am-3pm
04.03.2020 Science Blast RDS 5th & 6th classes
Cross Country Running in John Paul Park, Cabra
06.03.2020 Senior Infant Learn Together assembly @ 9:30am in the school hall
World Book Day
07.03.2020 PTA Céilí in the school hall. Time to be confirmed.
09.03.2020 Seachtain na Gaeilge starts @ CETNS
16/17.03.2020 School closed
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Learn Together Assemblies
4th classes hosted a wonderful Learn Together assembly for us before midterm all about being mindful and taking time to appreciate all that is around us. Well done to staff and children for teaching us how to be more aware of the everyday stresses in our busy lives and in particular how we can ensure we take some time out for the important things in our lives. We were treated to a mix of song, drama and especially some very good advice on the day. We especially enjoyed all our assembly visitors coming to see us on the day. Maith sibh Rang 4, Ailish, Lisa and Eileen!
Senior Infant classes will host the next Learn Together assembly on the 6th March. As part of our Learn Together programme the children are also currently working on Fairtrade topics.
Resources Monies
We would ask all parents who have not yet paid resources monies in full to please arrange payment with the school as soon as possible or to discuss the lack of payment in confidence with us. The school will be in touch with individual families shortly to discuss the matter.
Car parking, set-down area & health and safety
There are some serious issues with parking and cars on the school premises, in particular at arrival and dismissal times. While we repeatedly ask parents/minders to take care on school grounds during the school day and observe the signs around parking in particular on the set-down area it appears to be falling on deaf ears. Parking on the set-down area is not permitted at any point during the school day. We have very limited space for parking and we are seeking the co-operation of all with the system within the car park. We continue to ask all parents to communicate the system for parking at CETNS to those designated to collect your child(ren).
We are particularly asking all adults driving on school grounds to please be mindful of children at all times, crossing from the car park, especially when things are busy and hurried and this includes the manner in which both staff and other adults are spoken to in front of children or otherwise. There have been far too many incidents of abusive and aggressive behaviour and this is not acceptable.
Due to the building at the corner of Beechpark Avenue next to the Tennis Club, we are asking all pedestrians to cross with Ann, the lollipop lady, as this is the safest route for crossing the road, it is dangerous to cross at the builder’s hoarding.
For the next number of weeks the set-down area will be blocked off to cars during school times as it is impossible to manage individual cars daily that continue to park on the set-down area despite repeated requests not to do so. Parents can enter the school and park in the parent car park if there is a space available or otherwise proceed out onto Beechpark Avenue until the set-down area is open for collecting pupils. It remains a no parking zone at any point other than the one disabled parking bay at the top end.
Green Travel Slogan competition.
The Green Team recently held a slogan competition to raise awareness of our new Green Travel theme and to find our official green code. Here are the winning slogans:
Junior & senior Infants - Travelling together is even better!
1st class Pat ‘Carpool, walk to school.
Get the train or bus or luas if you can.
Don’t destroy the environment!’
by Annie Lee Coyne
1st class Sarah
‘Polluting our planet isn’t working.
Save our planet. Save nature!’
by Aoife Ni Cheilleacháin
2nd class – Bláthnaid
‘Don’t take the bus.
Come and walk with us! ‘
by Anna O Farrell
2nd class – Ruairí
‘Lead the scene and keep it green!’
by Jane Butler and Zoha Basit
3rd class – Paula
‘Don’t be a fool.
Walk, cycle or scoot to school.
Save our planet and save fuel!’
by Aoife Curtis
3rd class – Conor
‘Go really far and stop using your car!’
by Seha Cooray
4th class – Lisa
‘Why aren’t we helping the earth that’s warming?
Don’t we already have enough warning?’
by Clementine
4th class – Ailish
‘Go green to keep the air clean!’
by Zoe Ffrench
5th class – Liz
If you drive, Earth won’t survive,
Take the bus, it’s better for us!’
by Aoife & Molly
5th class – Éadaoin
‘We need sustainable travel
or our earth will unravel!’
by CiaraMoonman
6th class – Isla
Reduce environmental degradation,
Use green transportation
by Umer Haseeb
6th class – Ana
It’s crucial now for us all to transition,
and work to reduce our carbon emission.
Walk, cycle, run or sprint
And you can reduce your carbon footprint.
by Conor McGuirk
The overall winner is Conor McGuirk. His slogan will become our official green code for our Green Travel Flag. Maith thú Conor & well done to all children who took part in the competition.
Safer Internet Awareness
In light of recent happenings in the media, we, at CETNS would like to encourage everyone in the CETNS community to be safe and kind online and in text messages, WhatsApp groups, discussion forums, comments on Instagram or any other social media platform. Unkind words can cause untold hurt to the person(s) and their entire family. If you see an unkind message, please take a screenshot and report it. We can all make a difference.
Some helpful reminders for Safer Internet Awareness from pupils in Paula’s 3rd class
- Be careful what you click on. Look for a padlock and https in the search bar.
- Never tell your name, age and address.
- Don’t listen for fake news.
- You have a digital footprint so be kind online and don’t say rude things to people.
- Choose your usernames wisely.
- Don’t click on online ads.
by Dina
- Be careful what you click on. Look for a padlock and https in the search bar.
- Never tell your name, age or address.
- Fake news is everywhere.
- If you see something scary stop,block,tell.
- Everyone has a digital footprint.
- Always be kind online.
- Choose usernames carefully.
- Don’t click on online ads.
by Eve
Red Day Cake Sale Fundraising Day
Congratulations to all the children, staff and parents on raising quite a sum of money for the general school fundraising February 14th. Besides being a tasty fundraiser, the day is one of the most colourful and enjoyable days at CETNS. Everyone is encouraged to participate and the sea of red clothing on the day was a pleasure to see. The biggest thank you should go to both staff and 6th class pupils in particular for their work organising the cake sale for the whole school. It is a great achievement and learning experience for them and we are all very proud of their work. We raised a total of €1,979! We will put this money towards replacing basketball posts in the yard and any monies left over will be added to sums already collected in order to purchase both a library database system and a sound system for the hall. Thank you again to every parent & child who baked and contributed in any way on the day. See http://www.cetns.ie/News/Red-Day-Cake-Sale/2940/Index.html
Visitor to 5th & 6th classes
We’d like to say a huge word of thanks to Marcus who came in to visit 5th & 6th classes and spoke to the children about the Stock Exchange and how it all works. The children learnt so much from him about how Maths is important within this work but about also looking forward and trying to guess the next and most lucrative commodity. We were delighted with the childrens’ interest in the subject and also their theories about why Bulls and Bears are so called within Stock Exchange circles. Thank you again to Liz, Éadaoin, Isla & Ana for preparing the children so well so they got the maximum out of the visit. Thank you again Marcus!
A Community Connection with 6th classes
On Thursday 13th February pupils from both 6th classes welcomed in some residents from Elm Green Nursing Home as part of our commitment to working within our community this year. Our visitors were delighted to come along and spend time with the children and while residents saw them sing some songs, play music and recite some poetry, the highlight of the visit was the discussion they had with residents about their lives and their school experience many years beforehand. They learnt so much from each other and it was a pleasure to watch them all chatting away happily to each other over a cup of tea. The children treated them to a shadow puppetry performance at the end of the visit and children and staff are to be commended for the preparation of the hall and clean up afterwards. It is a lovely way of reaching out to our local community and we hope to continue with this and build a relationship with the nursing home into the future.
Science Blast
5th & 6th classes will attend Science Blast in the R.D.S. on Wednesday 4th March. The bus will leave at 7:45am sharp. Children are due back at the school at their usual 2:40pm.
Community Credit Union Quiz
Congratulations to our teams for taking part in the Community Credit Union Quiz. See more information on http://www.cetns.ie/News/Congratulations/2589/Index.html & http://www.cetns.ie/News/Congratulations-again!/2823/Index.html
The children will compete again on the 1st & 7th March and we wish them the very best of luck on both days. Well done to Ben, Oscar, Conor, Nicole & Rory from 5th & 6th classes.
Cross Country Running
Our school has entered The Primary Schools Dublin Race Series which kicks off next Wednesday 4th March with the annual favourite in John Paul Park, Cabra. The races begin at 11am and will be finished around 12:30pm. Due to the incredible interest shown by the children in our school in running, we had to hold trials to pick our teams. Trials were held yesterday in very unpleasant conditions. The field was very wet and muddy and the ground was very heavy to say the least. Children from 1st class right up to 6th class took part in the races. All the children who took part deserve great credit because they all ran with so much enthusiasm in difficult conditions which was wonderful to see. We look forward to next week's first cross-country outing. We have organised a bus for transporting the children to and from the park. Price and children will be finalised over the next few days but a provisional price of €5 may be charged.
Lost & Found items
All lost & found items in the school will be displayed in the school hall on Monday 2nd March from 9am until 3pm. These items include items of clothing left at the school over quite a number of months and also plates/trays etc left over a long period from various functions including cake sales. We would like to reunite them all with their owners but after 3pm on Monday March 2nd all remaining items will be donated to charity. Please use this opportunity to pop in to have a look through the items.
Castleknock Tidy Towns
Castleknock Tidy Towns are helping the school in various projects this year. If any parents are available to help them in their efforts to tidy up the locality on Saturdays (10am-12pm) and Wednesdays (7:30pm-9:00pm) you can contact them directly at castleknocktidytowns@gmail.com or view their website for further details at https://www.castleknocktidytowns.com/
Castleknock Community Games
Those interested in helping out with Castleknock Community Games they are seeking helpers for this area. Further information can be found at St Brigid’s Community Centre up the road from the school.
Beir bua,
Aedín