Dear school community,

18th October 2017

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]

School Official Opening

The school official opening will take place this Friday 20th October 12.30 in the school hall. Refreshments will be served. We look forward to welcoming Simon Harris TD, Minister for Health & Paul Rowe CEO of Educate Together. As well as the official opening we will be raising our flags and there will be tree planting in memory of Laura Hussey-O’Brien, Breda Harpur, Arthur O’Brien & Brendan O’Connor.

All parents, guardians, family members & friends of the school welcome. We anticipate that the event may run over time, the infants will be collected from the side gates, as usual, but it may be a little later than 1.30. Children from all other classes will return to their classrooms, and parents who wish to collect their children earlier than 2.30 can call into reception, where they will need to be signed out.

Official School Opening Ceremony Parking Arrangements:

For this important occasion, on Friday October 20th the WETNS staff carpark and set down area will be available to parents/guardians who wish to attend the ceremony.

If possible, it would be much appreciated if parking priority could be given to parents/guardians of infant classes as they will be exiting the school grounds first at 1.30pm, ahead of the older classes.

Once the carpark is full, for safety reasons the school gates will be closed. Thus, please ensure you have a back-up plan for parking on the day.

As always, when parking in the vicinity of the school, please show due consideration to our neighbours and fellow road users.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Whole-School Evaluation – Management, Leadership and Learning (WSE-MLL)                                                                              The school has been informed that a Whole School Evaluation will take place in the school the week beginning 6 November. This evaluation will be undertaken by three DES Inspectors and will be completed by the end of that week. The main focus of the evaluation will be on the quality of teaching & learning in the school. As part of the evaluation process there will be a questionnaire for all 4th & 6th class pupils. A parent questionnaire for 50% of parents, & interviews with the principal, in-school management team, members of the Board of Management and the NPC affiliated PA committee. The inspectors will be visiting all the classrooms and all teachers will complete questionnaires. An evaluation report will be published later in the year, this will be available publicly.

Start & End of School Day                                                                                                                                                                           In the interests of making our morning entry to the school building as smooth and calm as possible for the children, we would like to organise the following:

  • Some classes will have new line up places.
  • We would like parents to gather away from/behind their child’s class line, so that the teacher can lead the class in swiftly and calmly. The parents can then follow in, if they wish.
  • From about 8:45, please encourage your child to stand in their class line with their classmates.

This worked very well, when we tried it on a recent wet morning in the hall. We understand that, in some cases, it may take a little time for a child to get used to the change and so the change may need to be gradual. However, we feel it is very important to work towards building each child’s confidence and independence. We also encourage parents to drop their children punctually to school. The 2 side pedestrian gates open at 8.40 each morning so that children can begin to gather in their yard to chat and play with their friends safely away from the drop off of vehicles at the front of the school. Please remember that children arriving to school earlier than 8.40 are not the responsibility of the school. All back doors and side gates are closed at 9am. If arriving after this time we ask that you sign your child in on the pupil’s sign-in sheet at the main office hatch whilst your child makes their own way to class. Fran or Lisa can escort younger children directly to their classes after 9am.At the end of the school day (1.30 for Infants & 2.30 for all other classes) we ask that pupils are collected on time, late collection can be very upsetting for children.

Parent Teacher Meetings – Due to the whole school evaluation, the parent teacher meetings will now take place on Wednesday 22nd and Wednesday 29th November.

Sundry Payment 2017/2018 – Thank you to all parents/guardians who have paid their 2017/2018 sundry payment. If you have not already done so we would like to remind you that the sundry payment of €70.00 (or €120.00 if more than one child in the school) is now overdue.

Mobility Subcommittee                                                                                                                                                                                    Well done to all our WOW participants last Wednesday who dodged the rain drops & walked, scooted or cycled to school! Good job all those who parked down the road & sprinted in too! Next Wednesday will be your last chance to notch up some points for your class before this months’ winners are announced at assembly on Friday 27th.

The county council have placed a traffic monitor on Hawkstown Road to assess traffic volumes, vehicle types & speeds. The data gathered will be very useful in our campaign to implement appropriate school road safety measures.

An important notice regarding parking & set down will be sent home in school bags on Friday. Please keep an eye out for it.

WETNS Extra-Curricular Update 

Registration Fees final payment – reminder that the second instalment of the extra-curricular registration fees are now due. Please ensure any remaining balance is paid in full before Friday 27th October. 

Science, Soccer, Guitar, Yoga and Playball – Missed Classes Mon 16th and Tuesday 17th Oct

As the school was closed on Monday and Tuesday of this week the children registered for the above classes missed a class. This will be rectified at the end of term 1. If you wish to continue for term 2 we will reduce the term 2 registration fee for the above classes by 1 day and if you decide not to register for the second term we will refund you the fee for 1 day.

Reminder. Our Junior and Senior Infants afterschool activities finish at 2.20pm each day. Please ensure children are collected promptly at 2.20pm.

Scientists – please bring an old t-shirt or top to science every Monday….it is going to get messy this term!!

Snack time – please remember to bring a snack and extra drink for the start of each activity.

WETNS Breakfast Club

The last two weeks have seen many new faces joining Breakfast Club.  We have been delighted to welcome these new children and their fellow classmates have enjoyed showing them around.  With the colder mornings upon us lots of children have been indulging in the warm porridge with many going for seconds!  Our fresh berries are cleared out each morning with the children mixing it into yoghurt, porridge or making their very own fruit salad.  Lego arrived last week and what excitement there was.  We couldn’t believe how quiet and relaxed the children were – lying on the comfy cushions helping each other build their very own creations.  Halloween is almost here and over the next week we will be decorating the Breakfast Club with our very own selection of scary designs…..so keep an eye out in the Assembly hall to see what we’ve created!

Contact us at [email protected] for more information. Registration forms are available in the foyer outside the office. Many thanks Lisa, Kate, Margarita & Olwyn.

Expression of Interest Aftercare post 3.30pm – If you are interested in aftercare post 3.30pm please ensure you complete the Expression of Interest form in the foyer and place in the blue box at the office.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions re any of the items in extra-curricular.

Autumn Arts & Crafts – 3 Day CAMP – ‘Bracken Arts’

Dates: Wed 1st Nov – Fri 3rd Nov

Time: 10.00am – 2.00pm

Cost: €60

Location: Here at Wicklow Educate Together

Creative Crafting . Printmaking . Clay . Sculpture . Drawing . Paper Maché . Mixed Media . Collage . Plus lots more fun activities!   Our fun & creative arts programme is designed to nurture, inspire, encourage & stimulate children’s imagination. For bookings please contact 087 9737739 directly

E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: Bracken Arts

Book Now | Limited Places | Garda Vetted | Paediatric First Aid Certified

Parents Association Update

School Calendar

This year the teaching staff and the Parents Association are working together to produce a school calendar. These will take the place of the holiday cards. Each class will represent a given month and will be asked to dress up to match the chosen theme. Your child’s teacher will explain their theme and will advise on how to dress up, if dress up is required. The class photographs will be taken on 25th and 26th of October by the talented teachers Damien and Isobel. The calendar will be populated with all the important school dates. The calendars will be for sale in mid to late November. Each child will receive a note in their school bag this week. If you do not wish your child to participate in the school calendar please indicate this in the form included in the note and return before Tuesday 24th October.

WETNS MAKERS FAIR NOVEMBER 19th 2017

https://wicklowetns.com/2017/10/03/makers-festival-2017/#iLightbox%5Bgallery1771%5D/0

This year we will be hosting the inaugural WETNS Maker’s Festival on 19th November 2017. We are calling all makers and crafters who would like to take a stall at the fair to sell their craft.  We would especially love to see crafters who can demonstrate their craft on the day to all their visitors. For those of you who cannot take a stall but would like to get involved we would love if you could come and help on the day and teach a little crafter skill to the children. We are hoping to have hat upcycling, decoration making, plate painting, gingerbread decorating and much much more. We will also be running a toy shop on the day to raise funds for your school. Please gather all forgotten or unloved toys and books in your house and we will collect them in the coming weeks. A toy shop will be created at the fair and sold at pocket money prices. Stalls at the fair will be €25 for school families and €30 for members of the public. Please apply for a stall to [email protected] with 3 pictures for your products.

HALLOWEEN BAKESALE Friday Oct 27th This year there will be baking homework for Junior and Senior Infants and 1st and 2nd classes on October 26th. We will let you know the baking delivery arrangements next week. Parent volunteers will be needed on the day to help with the bakesale. The children love to see their parents being shop keepers for the day so please come and help out and spot your child in action. Feel free to join your child in fancy dress for some added fun! Please let us know your availability via email [email protected]