Dear School Community,
30th May 2019
IMPORTANT ADVANCE NOTICE:
Homework club Finish Date – Please note, today Thursday 30th May is the last homework club for this school year.
May Homework Club/Aftercare Billing – May bills will go out next Tuesday 4th June.
Term 3 Extra-Curricular Fees – Reminder that extra-curricular fees must be paid in full by Friday 31st May 2019.
Sports Day – Tuesday 11th June.
Bike to School Day – 12th June
Blood Transfusion Board Clinic – Tuesday 25th June & Wednesday 26th June
6th Class Graduation – Thursday 27th June
Summer Camp – WETNS Summer Camp – Monday 1st July – Friday 5th July and Monday 8th July – Friday 12th Jul. We have a few spaces left in our summer camp. If you are interested in booking a place, please contact [email protected]
Swimming Arrangements for 2019/2020 – Currently swimming lessons run for 10-week terms for each class 2nd to 6th class. The Board of Management has conducted a review of current practice. We are pleased with the service offered by Coral Leisure and that children are making progress and enjoy the experience.
We are aware that 6th class have a wide range of sport opportunities, participating in GAA, rugby and various events and competitions as they arise, we wish to build on this. Therefore instead of swimming next year 6th class will participate in other sport and physical education activities.
With a full pupil number across the classes the overall annual cost to the school to run swimming currently is €10,000. We cannot sustain paying this amount. As a result a decision has been made to include swimming in the sundry bill of all children 2nd to 5th classes. This will be €20 per child and will cover 50% of the cost with the school continuing to supplement the other 50%. This works out at €2 per lesson per child
We are very committed to continue the rollout of a swimming programme during the school day that will benefit all children during their time in primary school.
When the sundry bills for 2019/2020 issue shortly you will see that the swimming cost has been added for classes 2nd to 5th.
It will be decided at a later date whether or not we will organise a bus for the return journey for the children in 2nd class for their term. If so, there will be an extra charge – approx. €22 to cover the cost of this bus.
Outstanding Fees – As we approach the end of the school year 2018/2019, we would like to remind parents/guardians that all outstanding bills must be paid in full as a matter of urgency. Thank you to all of those who have already paid throughout the year.
If you have a balance outstanding for any of the below, you will already have received correspondence from our school office requesting payment. Late payment not only impacts our school’s financial position but also significantly increases the admin work in our school office.
Today we will contact all those with an outstanding balance by text, confirming the amount outstanding. Please ensure this is paid online or at the school office as priority.
Please note, any outstanding balance must be paid in advance of paying for your child’s school tour.
- Sundries
- Book rental
- Forest School
- 2nd class swimming bus
- Denise/Joe/Cathy’s class monthly trips & swimming
- Homework club
- Aftercare
- Extra-Curricular fees – to be paid in full by Friday 31st May
Toy and Book Sale – The Student Council are organizing a mini toy and book sale on Friday 7th June, all pupils are welcome to bring in 1-2 euro to spend on the day. All proceeds will go to their nominated charity for the year. If you are spring cleaning your toys/books and would like to donate them for the sale, please drop them into the front foyer at the piano over the next week. Many thanks
School Reports – School reports will be available to view on the Aladdin Connect App on Monday 17th June. If you have not already installed the Aladdin Connect App on your phone you will need to do this to access the reports. Please email [email protected] if you have any queries and we will respond as soon as we can.
Sports Day – Our Sports Day this year will be held on Tuesday 11th June. Children from Junior Infants to 2nd Class will be having their Sport’s Day on our school grounds starting at 9am. 3rd – 6th Class will have their Sport’s Day at the Wicklow Rugby Club grounds starting at 10am.
All parents are welcome to come to watch. As always for sports day to be successful we rely on parent volunteers to help out on the day. If you are available on the day, please inform your child’s class teacher. All help on the day would be greatly appreciated! Volunteers must be Garda vetted.
School Tours – Our school tours for this year are now confirmed. Please see attached a full list of tours, dates and fees. The Aladdin link for online payments was sent last week and we would ask as many families as possible to pay online. If you are paying by cash or cheque, please put the exact amount in an envelope with the permission slip, your child’s name, class and the amount written on the envelope and give to your class teacher. School tours must be paid in full one week before the tour. Please note, the school office cannot provide change so please ensure you have exact amounts when making payment.
| WICKLOW EDUCATE TOGETHER – SCHOOL TOURS – 2018/2019 | |||
| CLASS & Teacher | LOCATION | Day & Date | Total Cost Per Child |
| Leanne & Sharon Junior Infants | Glenroe Farm | Thurs 13th June | € 12 |
| Amy & Gina Senior Infants | Tick Tock Farm | Mon 24th June | € 12 |
| Festina Lente | € 25 | ||
| Sally & Ian 1st Class | Fri 14th June | ||
| Paul & Michelle/Edele 2nd Class | Clara Lara | Mon 24th June | € 27 |
| Laura & Brian 3rd Class | Hidden Valley | Fri 7th June | € 27 |
| Kate & Alan 4th Class | Hidden Valley | Tue 18th June | € 15 |
| Alison & Barry 5th Class | Fort Lucan | Thu 6th June | € 23 |
| Eamonn & Rory 6th Class | Gravity | Wed 19th June | € 39 |
| Joe & Denise Classes | Glenroe Farm | Thur 30th May | € 18 |
WETNS SAFE SET DOWN – We are seeing a significant increase in traffic issues with parents stopping at the bike rack to let children out & holding up all the traffic behind them going out on to the Hawkstown Road. Please see below our WETNS Safe Set Down & parking rules.
Please drive all the way through to the SET DOWN area. Do not allow your children to alight at or near the bike rack. It is not safe and it causes traffic congestion.
Please do not stop or park on school access or exit roads.
There is NO PARKING within the school grounds. Parking spaces are for staff and visitors with business in school only. Drivers will be asked to move their car and notices will be issued to illegally parked vehicles.
Vehicles are permitted to enter the school grounds for SET DOWN ONLY (i.e. driver does not leave the vehicle) & for a maximum stay of 2 mins.
Please do not “double park” anywhere alongside vehicles in the set down zones.
Please do not park on pedestrian crossings.
Safe school set down & parking rules are in place to protect our children. Please don’t park inappropriately as you are putting children & other drivers at risk because visibility is compromised.
Maximum speed within school grounds 10km per hour.
School Transport for school year 2019/2020 – The School Transport Scheme supports transport to and from school for children who reside remote from their nearest school. The scheme is operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.
Please note that if you are considering starting to use School Transport for the next school year 2019/2020, you need to apply on-line directly to www.buseireann.ie/schooltransport
The closing date was 26th April so it is very important you apply immediately if you are to processed in time for the end of August.
Eligible Primary Schoolchildren who live more than 3.2 kms from their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann.
Currently Wicklow Educate Together NS is served by 3 school buses routes.
Applications
- Please note that only new pupils need apply, for example pupils starting Primary school or moving to Post Primary School.
- Applications for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) arising from a diagnosed disability should be made through The National Council for Special Education
Details of all existing pupils who currently hold tickets are already recorded and the email address provided in the registration process previously is used to communicate with families in July when it is time to pay the school transport charges for the new school year.
Book Rental Text Books – Library Books – Oxford Reading Tree Books (Homework Readers) – Hi everyone, it’s that time of year when we are beginning to return all our book resources to the correct rooms etc. Could you have a look around at home, in case you have any books belonging to the school which your child is not using at the moment? If you find any, please return them to the school office. We’ll be collecting all books back in from the 17th June. Thank you.
Lost Property – We have a large amount of Lost Property here at the school and would really like to return all the coats, jackets, hoodies, cardigans, t-shirts, hats and gloves to their owners before we close for the Summer break. Our lost property rail will be outside the main doors at collection time each day. All unclaimed property will be donated to charity on 28th June.
Are you leaving WETNS? If you are planning to leave the school at the end of the year please let us know, in writing, at your earliest convenience. It is better for the school to know as soon as possible as we have waiting lists for most classes in the school.
Aftercare Job Vacancies – Wicklow Educate Together N.S.
We are currently recruiting for enthusiastic people to join our aftercare team here at the school. Initial working hours will be 12.45pm – 6pm Monday to Friday on a shift rota. Qualifications and experience in childcare required. Applicants must be highly organised and computer literate. If you are interested in applying, please send your CV to [email protected] by Friday 14th June 2019.
PTA Update
Dates for your diaries
Parental help needed on each of these days!!!
Sports Day 11th June – Parents needed to serve fruit snacks to children.
Bike to School Day 12th June – Parents needed on all routes and to help at school to park bikes. Details to follow.
Bag Pack in Supervalue – We will be holding a bag pack in Supervalu Wicklow Town on Friday the 14th June. We are looking for volunteers to help out on the day, please email [email protected] if you can spare an hour or two.
Teddy Bears Picnic on Saturday August 24th in the Abbey Grounds.
Family Coffee Morning & Children’s Bake Sale– Thank you to everyone who came along to our Family Coffee Morning and Bake Sale supporting the Dunne Family fundraiser in memory of Siobhan Dunne, to purchase a defibrillator for Rathnew Main Street and raise funds for the Irish Heart Foundation. We are delighted to confirm we raised €885.00 for this wonderful cause.
We would like to thank all those who attended the AGM on Monday 27th May. We would especially like to thank the outgoing committee for all their wonderful work over the last two years .
We are preparing the minutes of the AGM and they will be available to view on the school website shortly.
We are delighted to welcome our new committee.
Chairperson: Niamh O’Toole
Secretary: Sarah Jolley
Treasurer: Maeve Majewski
Teachers: Edele Harty/Sharon Hogan
Committee members: Jen O’Connor, Monica Reade, Aoife Kelliher, Sarah Macartain, Vanessa Shipman, Jenny Dunne, Erinn Elder, Johanne Harris, Adele Meenan, Izabela Lacek and Anne Marie Glynn.
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Please keep up to date with information from Wicklow Educate Together NS which is available through weekly newsletter, texts to parents, school wide notices, notes in bags, homework diaries & school website wicklowetns.com. Wicklow Educate Together N.S. is not on Facebook, Twitter or any other social media. For any queries, questions or feedback please approach your child’s class teacher in the first instance or the school office Fran or Lisa (0404 62786) email [email protected] Please contact Sinead school principal for any further clarification or information on [email protected] Please note that we will only promote school sanctioned events or those that benefit a registered charity in our newsletter.
We would like to remind parents/guardians that our enrolment policy is on a first come first served basis and would ask that you complete pre- enrolment forms for all younger siblings as early as possible. Our pre-enrolment form is available on our school website https://wicklowetns.com/.