Dear Parents/Guardians, 22nd March 2017

IMPORTANT REMINDER: School will close early at 12.30 on Friday 7th April and will remain closed for the Easter holidays up to and including Friday 21st April. All school buses have been informed.

ST PATRICK’S DAY PARADE – THANK YOU A huge and heartfelt thank you to all involved with bringing the WETNS Parade entry to life yet again. This was absolutely a team effort and we appreciate all the many people who gave up their time and their skills or contributed in any way. In no particular order, for dealing with official channels – Janice Doyle, Sarah Coker Voigt and Paula Ryan. For costumes and props – Janice Doyle, Sarah Coker Voigt, Jane McCoy, Lynne Baillie, Nicole Fallon, Louise Nelson, Anthea Lang, Richard Hughes, Margaret Kennedy, Sophia Cussen, Fran Manning, Yvonne Garrigan. To our impromptu facepainters at Whitegates – Damien, Izabela, Rik and the many other parents who stepped up to the task. Never realised we had such a wealth of untapped talent in our midst. Anybody who helped handing out banners and flags etc at Whitegates and anybody who helped the children adjusting their costumes. Netty Ludlow and Máire McCann for photos (photo board will be available for viewing by the end of the week), Barry our man with a van, Billy for being open all hours, Tara for the mountain of such sweet-smelling bubble wrap to float our Jellies. To Magda, Chris and Brian – our Fabulous Big Butterflies.
To all the parents who did what was asked of you at all times and arrived with your children suited and booted and carried or wore whatever was thrust upon you. To all the children who participated. Despite a slightly damp start, your smiling faces and good spirits lit up the Parade. We are so absolutely proud of every last one of you. A special mention to our little Brendan’s. Thank you, Kai, Sam & Aran. We know you struggled with the facial hair (!) but your presence was much appreciated by Brendan’s family and the WETNS Paraders were so happy that you were representing our very good pal in the Parade. Commiserations to the children who couldn’t join us this year through illness or ill-luck. Hope you’re all feeling better soon and will be on form to join in next year. A big thank you to all those who contributed to the handmade card which was discovered after the Parade. Very much appreciated. Oh, the icing on the cake – we brought home the award for Best Fancy Dress.

P.S. We would ask if you have Sea costumes and/or any other costume pieces that survived the trip to please return to the box in the foyer before Friday as we need to have all costumes and props safely stored asap for re-use for future parades, projects and events. Many thanks.

Morning Routine – A gentle reminder
8:40: Yard Gates open & supervision is provided in the yard until 9am. Children gather and gradually line up.
(Wet mornings: Pupils come into the yard and then into the hall. They line up immediately as it is not safe for 360 pupils to run around in a confined space, wearing wet shoes.)
8:50: School starts. Teachers collect their classes from the yard. The middle door in the yard stays open and is supervised until 9am. The Reception door opens for people who have business in the school office.
(Wet mornings: School starts. Teachers collect their classes from the hall. The hall door stays open and is supervised until 9am.)
9am: The yard door closes. Any pupils arriving after this time should come in by the Reception door and sign in.

Extra-Curricular Activities Please see separate email sent today detailing our plan for term 2 of our extra-curricular activities programme. During the Easter break we will have our first Easter Camp here in our new building. See separate note below from Shamwari Arts. Please also watch the newsletter over the coming weeks for details of Summer camps!
Shamwari Arts Easter Arts & Crafts Camp – 4 Day Camp €85.00
*Creative crafting *Felting *Printmaking *Sculpture*Mixed Media *Collage *Plus lots more fun activities! Our fun & imaginative arts programme is designed to nurture, inspire & stimulate children’s imagination. At Shamwari Arts we encourage each child to tap into their creative-self in a warm, friendly & stimulating environment. Date: Mon. 10th – Thurs. 13th April Time: 10.00am – 2.00pm Venue: Wicklow Educate Together NS
For bookings contact Siobhan 087 799 1221 or Shanon 087 973 7739 email [email protected] Facebook Shamwari arts www.shamwariarts.com Book now, limited places, Garda Vetted.

Garda Vetting Any parent who is helping out in the school, and who has not already been Garda Vetted for our school, is invited to apply for this now. The process is quite simple. Please collect a form from Fran at the school office. Please complete the form in blue pen and bring it to the school office with photo ID (Passport or driving licence) and proof of address (a utility bill).

Library Notice Thank you so much to our two new volunteers. Our cataloguing and covering is progressing nicely and we are starting to roll out use of the library system with a pilot group of pupils. We could still do with more help as we would like to have more books for them to choose from and we still have a large volume waiting to be catalogued and covered.
Times to help:
• Mon, Wed from 9am and Fri mornings from 9.40
• Every second Monday from 7.45pm to 9.30pm. Mon 20th March; Mon 3rd April;
If you have already been shown what to do, you can come in at any time that suits you. Please contact Paula in advance if you can come on a Monday evening.

School Transport Applications 2017/2018 Bus Éireann’s on-line application system for school transport is now open for the 2017/2018 school year. The closing date is Friday 28th April 2017. Apply on-line www.buseireann.ie

Zeeko Internet Workshop This workshop will take place in school on Friday 31st March for 2nd -6th class pupils. The workshop will cover cyberbullying, inappropriate content, social media, digital stranger danger and data privacy. In preparation for this workshop each child will complete a short survey in school, which can be viewed here https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DFR7NQ3 The information gathered though the survey will help inform the workshop. Additionally, if there is enough parental interest a parent workshop can be arranged for the summer term. Information gathered through the survey will be fed back to parents at the workshop. Please sign the expression of interest sheet at Fran’s office. Please send in €1 to your child’s class teacher to help cover the cost of the workshop.

July Programme
July programme, an educational programme that provides funding for an extended school year for children with a severe or profound general learning disability or children with autism. The scheme operates in two ways, home based provision and school based provision. This year Wicklow Educate Together is not providing July Provision but the school will remain open to facilitate the teachers who are participating in the home based programme. The application forms will be available from the Department of Education shortly. Please visit http://www.education.ie/en/Parents/Services/July-Provision for more details. Please contact Denise Delaney at [email protected] if you would like help in locating a tutor for this year’s programme.
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PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION PIECE

Lost Property Please also check the lost property rail in the corridor if your child has lost any clothing at school.

Minutes of PA committee meetings Minutes of committee meetings will be available to view shortly on the Parent section of school website. Thank you for your patience.