Dear Parents/Guardians,                                                                             15th 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 FRIDAY,17thMARCH2017

Arrangements for the Parade are gathering speed and we’re nearly there!  Most costumes have been allocated now.   If you have returned an entry/consent form for your child to participate and you have not received a text giving you details of your child’s costume please immediately text 089 418 5867 or email [email protected]. 

Please collect costume pieces (where indicated in the text) from the school library tomorrow, Thursday, 16th March between 1 pm – 3.30 pm.  If you cannot collect between those times you can text the number above to make alternative arrangements.  If you haven’t sent in an entry/consent form and your child changes their mind at the last minute and wants to join in please text the number above and we’ll see what costumes we have left for them.

Paraders are asked to come to Whitegates (garage beside Tesco in Wicklow) from 2.30 pm on Friday, 17th March in costume and ready to go.  Parade leaves at 3.15 pm sharp and will conclude at Wicklow Gaol.

Children from Junior Infants to 3rd Class inclusive need to be accompanied by an adult.  There will be no supervision for unaccompanied children either during the Parade or at the Parade end at Wicklow Gaol.  Please also note photographs and video footage of the Parade may be taken by the public and/or local media and is beyond the control of WETNS Parade Committee.

If you collect a costume piece and your child for whatever reason cannot participate please contact us immediately so we can re-allocate the costume piece.  We will not be in a position to take back costumes directly after the Parade but ask that parents return them to school on Monday, 20th March so we can re-use them for future parades/events. 

See you all on Friday, suited and booted and ready to rock the town!

Extra-Curricular Activities                                                                                         We are delighted to see so many children participating in term 1 of our extra-curricular activities programme. Please note term 1 will finish on Thursday 6th April. Term 2 will begin on Monday 24th April after the Easter break. A detailed note will be sent out next week confirming term 2 timetable and registration process.                                                                                                                               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 further 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. 13thApril

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.

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;

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

Internet Safety Week/StaySafe

Many of the classes in school have been learning about internet safety and a workshop for all pupils from 2nd -6th class will take place in school on Friday 31 March. This workshop will be provided by Zeeko and will cover cyberbullying, inappropriate content, social media, digital stranger danger and data privacy, for further information please visit the website at zeeko.ie We ask that all pupils bring in €1 to help cover the cost of the workshop.

Additionally, we have been made aware that some of these issues may be affecting some of our pupils. If there is a particular area that you feel an expert could cover please let us know at [email protected], and we can make that request on your behalf.  Zeeko also run parent workshops – if you would be interested in attending please let us know by email or there is a sign up sheet at Fran’s office. If we get enough interest we will book a workshop for parents in the summer term.

Student Council News                                                                                           Student Council meet every month to discuss issues around school life at WETNS. The representatives have been working hard to represent the students and have put a number of initiatives in place.  Below are just some of the items they have been working on.

  • They have been busily supporting infant classes over playtime, as part of a buddy system.
  • Through consultation with the students, they have decided on The Irish Wildlife Trust and Wicklow Hospice as the charities which they hope to support this year.
  • They are coordinating a Fortnight of Friendship, which will culminate in a Friendship themed assembly for pupils in April.

At the moment, Student Council are looking for wool and embroidery thread for a project which they plan to undertake.  If you have any spare wool or embroidery thread and would like to donate, please leave it in the box in the main foyer.     Many thanks,   Student Council

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.

Seachtain Na Gaeilge                                                                                           Seachtain na Gaeilge takes place this week and throughout the week there will be lots of activities here at the school, including tráth na gceist (table quiz), Irish dancing and Gaeilge themed assemblies. We will also be running a stationary Siopa for all children on Tuesday 14th March and Wednesday 15th March. REMINDER that children should bring in their 50c to spend in the SIOPA and give it to their teacher. Please encourage your children to use Gaeilge at home throughout the week. Simple phrases including Go raibh maith agat (thank you), Oíche mhaith (good night), Slán (goodbye).

Wicklow Tennis Club                                                                                               Thank you to Wicklow Tennis Club who ran a free tennis class for 1st – 6th class here at the school yesterday. A great day was had by all!

————————————————-

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION PIECE               

Engineers Week 4th – 10th March                                                                                                                                       The children had a great time last week making their Doodlebots. Thank you to all the people who came in to help throughout the week. It was a huge task to get through and a great success!

 PA Event suggestions                                                                                                                                                                                              In early April, we will be submitting our calendar of PA events from now until the end of October to the Board of Management for their approval. We welcome all ideas new and old and would ask that if you have a suggestion for an event you would like to see take place in or on behalf of the school then please prepare a summary of your suggestion and pop it along with your contact details in the suggestion box in Fran’s lobby. All suggestions will be considered at the next PA committee meeting.

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.