Newsletter 29/06/2021
Important Dates
Today, Tuesday 29th June, marks the end of the 2020/21 school year. Our school will close for the summer holidays. A huge thanks to all the parents for their support throughout the year in making this year the success that it was. Please note the following collection times to comply with public health guidelines to schools:
| Time | Group |
| 11am | Both 6th Classes |
| 11.20 | Both Junior Infants collection |
| 11.30 | Both Senior Infants collection |
| 11.50 | All buses leave |
| 12.10 | 1st – 5th Classes – surname beginning L – Z |
| 12.20 | 1st – 5th Classes – surname beginning A – K |
The school will re-open on Tuesday 31st August 2021. We will be in touch closer to the time with arrangements once they are confirmed. Please ensure we have your up to date information and let us know if email addresses, phone numbers or any contact info changes over the summer. Thank you.
Sixth Class Thank you, we will miss you all and we extend every best wish as you continue on your educational journey. We also extend heartfelt thanks and farewell to the many families who have been with us for a number of years but with children finishing 6th class their time with us comes to an end.
We are very proud of our graduation class, all 58 of our 6th class students are well prepared and ready for their move to secondary school. They will be attending Educate Together Secondary School Wicklow, North Wicklow ETSS, Coláiste Chill Mhantáin, Dominican College, East Glendalough School, Arklow CBS, Gaelscoil Arklow, John Scottus, Avondale Community College and Loreto Bray.
Staff Huge thanks to all staff who have worked tirelessly throughout a very challenging year. We wish Damien well in his upcoming marriage. We also extend best wishes to Louise West on her upcoming marriage. We will be saying farewell to Kevin who has been support teacher with 2nd class this term.
As you know Mary Dee, Deputy Principal, retired in January, earlier this year.
Mary was one of the first teachers in Wicklow Educate Together, joining the school in 2004 in Marine House. She helped to shape the ethos of the school as a mainstream teacher, Support Teacher, Deputy Principal and Board Member for many years. Mary also had an interest in Drama and staged school musicals in the early years.
If any pupil, parent or family would like to wish Mary well for her retirement, a card can be dropped into the school or posted to the school before Thursday 26th August
Aftercare We had hoped to reopen after care after the summer holidays. Unfortunately, this has been such a busy term we haven’t had time to put in place the necessary planning and staff arrangements. Our priority in the coming months will be our August 31st reopen. Therefore, we will not be in a position to reopen aftercare yet. We will keep you updated early next term.
Cycle to School Day last week, WETNS held our annual Cycle to School Day. Luckily, we had great weather and it was great to see so many of the school community support the event. Children cycled from the Grand Hotel, Hudson Garage and Broomhall Business Park. Many thanks to all of our parents who volunteered to drive, cycle or walk with the children – Eamonn O’Hanrahan
Run a Mile Challenge Congratulations to all of our 6th class children who completed the Run a Mile challenge on Hawkstown Road on Monday last. It was a tough challenge on a hot day, but everyone enjoyed themselves. Well done to some of our other classes who are also completing the Run a Mile challenge on our school field– Eamonn O’Hanrahan
Tour at Home 2021 – Junior and Senior Infants: Junior and Senior Infants had their Tour at Home on Thurs 24th. Each class was highly entertained by Reuben with a mixture of jokes, magic and puppetry. Everyone also availed of the picnic benches for lunch and we couldn’t have asked for a sunnier day. Check out the link below to see photos from the great day which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. A big thank you to Sharon for organising the event. Blog – Wicklow Educate Together National School (wicklowetns.com) Edele Harty
Culture Week 2021: This year, due to government guidelines, many of our usual events or activities have had to be curtailed. Culture Week, having grown to be one of the highlights of our school calendar, was one such event. Recently we were able to hold a Culture Week celebrations within each class as children learned about different cultures from around the world. We were delighted to see their wonderful, colourful Culture Week artwork once again fill the school corridors and to be able to continue our proud tradition. Alan Bedford
Outdoor Classroom/Facilities: You may have noticed some new outdoor blackboards and picnic benches on the grass outside the reception area. We were delighted to get some funding from Wicklow County Council to help us develop a space that will be used as an outdoor classroom for the children. This will be a key area for us next term as we continue to grow and develop our school grounds. Alan Bedford
Summer Reading: We have a great love of reading and literacy in the school so we wanted to bring the following to your attention:
- Summer Stars 2021 has begun with Libraries Ireland. Call into Wicklow Library to collect your reading card and goody pack and enjoy reading over the summer. BorrowBox and PressReader are free to use apps for library members. eBooks, audio books and comics/magazines can be downloaded and listened to via these apps for free.
- National Book Tokens have their annual competition to win €5000 for our school library. All you have to do is nominate WETNS via this link: https://www.nationalbooktokens.com/schools Sharon Hogan
Staff for 2021-2022
Please find below the listing of staff for school year 2021 2022, please note that this may be subject to change
Junior Infants Blue: Edele Harty
Junior Infants Green: Kate Cahill
Junior Infants Support Teacher Maeve Doyle/Sharon Hogan
SNA: tbc
Senior Infants Blue Niamh Byrne
Senior Infants Green Niamh Small
Senior Infants Support Teacher Paula Ryan/Michelle Gilmore
SNA: Gillian Quinlan
1st Class Blue Caoimhe Devlin
1st Class Green Amy Lawless (Amy will be replaced by a substitute teacher in term 1 TBC)
1st Class Support Teacher Eileen Power
SNA: Lorraine Byrne
2nd Class Blue Adele Kelly
2nd Class Green Neisha Staunton
2nd Class Support Teacher Louise West
SNA: Lorraine Byrne
3rd Class Green Mercedes Russell
3rd Class Blue Damien Fegan
3rd Class Support Teacher Cathy Owens
SNA: Siobhán Savoie
4th Class Blue Naoise Dwyer
4thClass Green Sally Burnham
4th Class Support Teacher Eamonn O’Hanrahan
SNA: Hilary McGowan
5th Class Blue Rory Connolly
5th Class Green Janet Andrews
5th Class Support Teacher Paul Lowen
SNA: Debbie McGlade
6th Class Blue Alan Bedford
6th Class Green Laura Kirwan
6th Class Support Teacher: Alison Vines
SNA: Debbie McGlade & Julie Lang (part-time)
Additional Needs Classes
Purple Class Lorna Doyle
SNAs Fiona Deay Anne Graham & Diane Richardson
Blue Class Joe Kirwan
SNAs Caitriona Carey Deirdre Feeney Lynch & Hilary McGowan
Green Class Denise Delaney
SNAs Sophia Cussen Fiona Finn & Diane Richardson
Forest School will be led by Louise Nelson on a part time basis
Nurture Room will be led by Gina Condell
Leadership Team
Principal Sinead Watson
Deputy Principal Sharon Hogan
Assistant Principal Eamonn O’Hanrahan
Assistant Principal 2 Sally Burnham Alan Bedford Alison Vines Rory Connolly
Office
Facilities Manager Lisa Jervis
School Secretary Alma Culleton
Bus Escorts
Devena Kearns
Malgorzata Nowicka
Caretaker
Garry Murphy
Cleaning Company
AFM
Wicklow Helping the Homeless Backpack Collection – Thank you to those that donated backpacks over the last few days. The box will be outside the main office until 1pm tomorrow Wednesday 30th June if anyone else would like to donate their backpacks.
Lost Property – The final lost property list was sent out this morning. Any unclaimed items will be donated to charity this evening.
Please keep up to date with information from Wicklow Educate Together NS which is available through weekly newsletter, texts to parents, school wide notices & school website wicklowetns.com. Wicklow Educate Together N.S. are not on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media. For any queries, questions or feedback please email [email protected] or call the school office Lisa or Alma (0404 62786). Please contact Sinead, school principal, for any further clarification or information [email protected].