Dear school community

Mid-term dates the school will be closed Monday 31st October to Friday 4th November inclusive with school reopening on Monday 7th November.

PTA AGM – The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) AGM will take place this Thursday 29th September in the school hall from 7.30pm – 8.30pm. All are welcome.

Volunteering to help in our school – At Wicklow ETNS, we are delighted that we can resume some of our external and internal activities this year for which we may require the assistance of our parent/guardian community. The types of activities include helping with: reading in our junior classes, sporting activities on and off-site, trips and nature walks in the local area to name but a few. If you think you will have some time to spare at some point in the year to help in the school, please can you contact the office to pass on your details and to complete your Garda vetting.

DCU Talented Youth – The Centre for Talented Youth Ireland (CTYI) have made us aware of their courses running nationally for eligible children aged 6-12 years. More information can be found on their website: https://www.dcu.ie/ctyi or by contacting them by email: [email protected] or by phone: 01-7005634

Dress Up We are really looking forward to Friday 28th October, the children may dress up if they wish and bring €2 on the day and a small treat (not for sharing) with their lunch. Dressing up is optional and if some children are not comfortable dressing up, they can wear their normal clothes to school on the day. No scary costumes, props, weapons or masks please. The emphasis is on fun not frightening. All proceeds from dress up will be used to purchase classroom board games.

Catholic Communion & Confirmation Information – The parish office has confirmed that religion classes have resumed in the De La Salle Pastoral Centre every Tuesday. Communion classes are 3.20pm to 4pm. Confirmation classes are 4.10pm to 5pm. It is a two-year programme in order to prepare for the sacraments. For further details please contact Geraldine on 086 1928686.

Dyslexia: Strategies for Young People at Home

Dyslexia Ireland are hosting a webinar with Wicklow Library Service which will cover the topic ‘What is Dyslexia? Strategies for young people at home’; they have provided the following information:

“Within this webinar, we will look to support parents/guardians in identifying and reinforcing their young person’s strengths at home. We will explore resources that support a young person’s reading, writing and spelling. 

The discussion will include references to games and activities for engaging in fun approaches to learning. This talk will close in looking at strategies for homework, study skills & organisational techniques.

The core focus throughout this conversation will be around how to navigate your young person’s self-esteem and wellbeing.

Setting appropriate expectations around their work can help you as a parent/guardian focus on building a healthy relationship with your young person and learning”.

Relay Competition Rathnew GAA Club – Congratulations to all of the children in 4th-6th class, who took part in a schools’ relay competition at Rathnew GAA club. We had a large number of children representing our school for the first time and the attitude and behaviour from everyone was excellent. Well done to all the children who participated.

Lunches, Healthy Eating and Allergies – The children have two discreet ‘eating’ times daily of equal length. Whilst they have adequate time to eat, please ensure that your child can open/close their lunchbox and drinks container easily to help maximise the time spent on eating rather than on accessing the food. We encourage healthy lunches with no fizzy drinks, crisps, sweets or chocolate. However, children may bring in one small treat on Fridays, if they wish. All lunch waste is kept in children’s lunch boxes and brought home. Sweet/treats are not given as rewards in school.

Due to allergies, no nuts or nut based products are allowed within the school building.

Dyslexia Parenting Talks