This weeks newsletter

Dear School Community, 24th May 2017

Paper copies of the newsletter are available beside the new noticeboards in the main foyer.

Contact Information – It is imperative that we have up to date address and phone contact details for parents/guardians of all the children here at the school. If you have changed your address or phone number, please email your new details to [email protected] as soon as possible.

Extra-Curricular Activities – Reminder that Chess and Homework club will finish on Thursday 1^st June. All other extra-curricular activities will finish on Thursday 22^nd June. We would ask that you ensure the children have extra water and sunscreen/sun hats for outdoor activities when the weather is good.

School Photos – School photos will be taken on Wednesday 31^st May. Photos will be taken of all children unless you inform the school in advance. It is not obligatory to purchase these photos. Sample photos will be sent to you so you can decide if you wish to purchase them.

Graduation 2017 – 6^th Class graduation will take place on Thursday 29^th June in the school hall at 12 noon.

Book Rental & Sundry Payments 2017-2018 are now due, please keep as separate payments, online payments option will be available this week. You will receive an email request so you can avail of our new E Payments online system. If you are paying in cash at the school office, where possible, please bring exact change. Many thanks

ZEEKO Safety On Line Seminar for Parents – WETNS has organised a safety on line seminar for parents on Wed 7^th June from 7-8pm. This will take place in Room G20 (opposite the main hall). The seminar will cost the school €250 so we are asking for parents to give €5 towards the cost of this or whatever they can afford. If you haven’t already put your name down for this and would like to attend, please phone Fran 0404-62786 so that we can gauge the numbers expected on the night.

Active Month We will be celebrating everything Active in WETNS throughout the month of June. Sports Day will take place on Thursday 15th June-Infants to 2nd class will be at the school, and 3rd-6th venue to be decided, further details will follow shortly. We will again take part in the Bike to School event. There will be many other in- school activities planned as well as school tours. All pupils will be encouraged to keep active and there will be no homework apart from reading homework throughout the month.

W.O.W. (Walk/wheel on Wednesdays) – We are very excited to announce that W.O.W. (Walk/wheel on Wednesdays) is starting on Wednesday the 7th of June! We want as many children and staff as possible to walk to school on the day. There are lots of great reasons for this. Firstly, travelling by car causes lots of pollution, it also uses lots of resources and causes traffic problems too. By walking to school, you can stay fit and healthy and be wide awake for school! Children and parents don’t travel as part of a formal walk to school scheme like a walking bus, they walk their own route & at their own time.

Don’t worry if you can’t walk on the day, there are lots of other ways to travel that are good for you and for the environment! You can scoot, cycle, use the school bus, car pool or “park ‘n’ stride”. If you do have to come to school by car, try stopping a little bit further from the school than usual and walk the rest of the way. The class that scores the most points for coming to school by walking, scooting or cycling, car-pooling, “park ‘n’ stride” or by bus, will win the ‘Golden Boot’ Award! The winning class will be announced at assembly every Friday!

Be safe, be seen! Please wear hi-vis vests if you have them. So, get those walking shoes on and we will see you all bright and early on Wednesday June 7^th!

Bike to school day – Wednesday 14^th June will be our bike to school day this year. Currently we are looking into which meeting points will be the best for our new location. We are also looking for volunteers to escort the cyclists safely to school on that day. Please contact Sue Martin on 087 6700869 or [email protected] if you would like to help. Please note bicycles only on the escorted cycles as roller skates, skateboards, scooters are unsuitable modes of transport on a public road.

Rock Climbing by Holly in 4^th Class– At the climbing competition we were divided into groups of four. Every person in the team had to do five climbs each: four skill climbs and one speed climb. It was complete mayhem as our grade (primary senior) was the most popular grade. You had to queue up for ages and by the first hour none of my team had done their first climb. Even though it was chaos, it was REALLY fun. The climbs were challenging and it was a team effort and you also got free t-shirts. My team didn’t win but my little brother and his classmates won first place in their grade and they won a trophy for the school. They also won free gifts which were worth €12.99 but the main thing was it was lots of fun.

Chicks in Cathy’s Class– We have attached a photo of one of the chicks that recently hatched in Cathy’s class. The children were delighted to get an opportunity to see the chicks in assembly last week.

Communion/Confirmation – We would like to wish all the very best to the children from WETNS making their Communion on 28^th May and Confirmation on the 4^th June.

WETNS Teddy Bears’ Picnic – Our annual Teddy Bears’ Picnic for the Sept 2017 incoming junior infants will take place on Saturday 26^th August in Kilmacurragh from 11 – 1pm. (Please note time change!). All are welcome to join us on the day. Don’t forget your teddy!

https://wicklowetns.com/2017/05/22/teddy-bears-picnic-colouring-sheet/

Library Update – Donations of Books – NO MORE FOR THE MOMENT PLEASE. Thank you so much for the kind donations of books for our library. We need to finish off processing the ones we have, before we accept any more. Next academic year we will draw up a ‘wish list’ based on suggestions from pupils, teachers & parents. Books on this wish list may then be donated – good second hand or new. More information will follow in September. Thank you everyone.

Library – new email address – Our new email address is [email protected]. It will be checked by some of our committee as regularly as we can but not daily, so please do not use it for anything urgent.

Library – Suggestions for how our library should look – As you may know, the current layout and furniture in the library are temporary. Classes are beginning to use the library and we are learning to run this as we go along. We need to finalise our furniture order soon and would like to hear your ideas about how the library should look. Everyone in the school community is welcome to put forward suggestions. These will be taken into consideration as we finalise our furniture order and following that, as we decorate the library. Obviously, we will not be able to act on every suggestion but they will all feed into and influence the outcome. Please place your suggestions in the suggestions box in the Foyer or email them to [email protected] by Wed 7^th June.

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. The children have worked hard over the last few days sorting all the lost property and returning any labelled items to their owners. All remaining unlabelled items are now on individual hangers in the main foyer. One rail for smaller items and one for larger. Please click on the link below to see 3 short videos of all the individual items in lost property. They can be collected in the main foyer.

https://wicklowetns.com/2017/05/22/lost-and-found-22052017/

Family Shore Ecology Walk Wicklow Town 4-6 pm – All are welcome to attend this special biodiversity outing on Friday 26^th May from 4-6pm to explore the seaweed, plants and animals along the tideline and splashzone at Wicklow Harbour. Meet at the Rowing Club @ 4 pm and join Coastwatch on a walk to discover birds and botany along the banks of the Leitrim River Special Protection Area (SPA) to the Murrough. Find out more about Nature on Your Doorstep, with a Mini beast treasure hunt and activities for kids. Finishing at 6 pm with refreshments hosted by Wicklow Tidy Towns in celebration of the launch of the Wicklow Town Local Biodiversity Plan. This is a FREE event hosted by Coastwatch, Wicklow Tidy Towns and the Heritage Office of Wicklow County Council to celebrate National Biodiversity Week. No booking needed. For more information, Deirdre Burns, Heritage Officer Wicklow County Council [email protected]

Board of Management – Vacancy for Male Parent Nominee

There are 8 members of the Board of Management (BOM) of a National School. Two are nominees of the Patron body (Educate Together), two are Staff Nominees (the Principal and an elected teacher), two are elected by the parent body to be the Parent Nominees (one male and one female) and two further members are nominated as Community Representatives.

We now require a nominee from the male parents of children enrolled in our school currently and who will continue to be enrolled until June 2019. Under the Education Act (1998), the Board of Management must undertake to run the school according to the ethos determined by the Patron. Members of the Board of Management participate as volunteers in the school community and generally serve for a four-year term of office. Boards operate under Dept. of Education & Skills (DES) rules which are clearly laid out in the Governance Manual for Primary Schools 2015-2019.

The BOM acts professionally, collectively and on the basis of consensus i.e. the board acts as one unit in terms of its function in addressing the business of the school. The elected parents and teacher, once elected, do not act as a representative of those who elected them.

Parent/Guardian Nominee Election Process

The BOM is following Option 1 from the DES Governance Manual (Appendix B)

*Please note: Parents who are employees of the school cannot be on the Board of Management. Parent nominees should be from separate families and should bear no relationship to any staff member.

31^st May (Wednesday) at 7.30pm – Please note change of date!

Parents are invited to a meeting at 7.30pm to nominate one male parent to the Board. This meeting will be chaired by Caoimhe Doyle (Chair of Parents Association) and Rob Greene (Chair of Board of Management). Those standing do not have to attend but will need to have a proposer and seconder present on the night. If only one person is nominated they will be deemed elected, otherwise a postal election will be held. Ballot papers on which nominees can include a short piece about themselves (if all candidates agree) will be issued to all parents/guardians.

Voting will be on a ‘first past the post basis’ i.e. each person shall have one, non-transferable vote. Posted votes should have envelope clearly marked ‘Parent Elections’. Alternatively, a locked ballot box will be in Fran’s office for hand delivery.

22nd June (Tuesday)

2.30pm: closing date of polling.

There will be an open count of ballots that evening (time tbc) by Caoimhe and Rob.

In the interests of clarity please note that the term “Parent” includes a foster parent, a guardian appointed under the Guardianship of Children Acts, 1964 to 1997, or other person acting in loco parentis who has a child in his or her care subject to any statutory power or order of a court and, in the case of a child who has been adopted under the Adoption Acts, 1952 to 1998 or, where the child has been adopted outside the State, means the adopter or adopters or the surviving adopter.

This is your school so please get involved and if you have questions feel free to call or talk to any member of the Board of Management.

Rob Greene (Chair) 086 167 6270

Koryne Smyth (Parent Nominee) 086 326 3840

Jerry O’Neill (Parent Nominee)

School Garden Design – Thank you to everyone who submitted some wonderful designs for the school garden. Remember design templates are available in the school foyer and we invite all interested students/parents/staff to complete one and return to the garden postbox located in the school foyer. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to use all the lovely designs submitted; however, all of the plans will form a folder of ‘Garden Ideas’, which we may use for further development of the garden in the future. The closing date for submissions is May 26th. We look forward to working with all everyone to create an inspiring and educational space that the children will love using. If you have any queries or wish to get in touch with the committee, please email us at [email protected]

Percent for Art Committee – The Percent for Art Committee has been diligently working on a Brief where artists can make submissions with ideas of their vision for Art that represents the vitality that is WETNS. Christine and Eileen worked with teachers and students to facilitate a mind-mapping exercise whereby posters were created in each class with words that expressed what WETNS meant to students and staff. Additionally, Christine is working on an Art Box to receive submissions from students and the school community with ‘What can you imagine in the school’. Both of these exercises will hopefully provide inspiration to artists for their submissions. We are keeping an archive of all these works. We are hoping to have the Brief ready for roll-out by the end of May.

School Tours

WICKLOW EDUCATE TOGETHER – SCHOOL TOURS – 2017

CLASS	LOCATION	Date	Time Leaving School	Time Returning To School	Cost Per Child
Kate – Jun Infs	Kia Ora Farm	Wed 21^st June	9.15am	1pm	€12.00
Eileen – Jun Infs	Kia Ora Farm	Wed 21^st June	9.15am	1pm	€12.00
Paul – Sen Infs	Tick Tock Activity Farm	Fri 16^th June	9am	1.15pm	€14.00
Brian & Caoimhe 1^st Classes	Festine Lente	Tue 20^th June	9am	2.15pm	€21.00
*Sally & Leanne* 2^nd Classes	Clara Lara	Fri 23^rd June	9am	2.15pm	€26.00
Alison x 35 3^rd Class	Squirrel Scramble	Mon 19^th June	9.30am	2.15pm	€25.00
Adele & Janet 4^th Classes	Fort Lucan	Thu 08^th June	9am	2.15pm	€26.00
Rory 5^th Class	World of Adventure Courtown	Fri 02^nd June	9.30am	2.20pm	€30.00
Edele & Eamonn 6^th Classes	World of Adventure Courtown+Archery	Fri 16^th June	9.30am	2.20pm	€36.00

PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION PIECE

Family School Events Coming up –

Coffee morning Friday 26th May – Parent Bake sale and Coffee Morning this Friday 26th May. The proceeds from this event will be donated to the Martin Family Trust which has been set up to assist a young family neighbouring the school who have received devastating medical news relating to their children.

The bake sale will be a parent only bake sale and will commence at 9am (not a baking homework event). Please bring cakes, buns, bread, tarts, pies etc to the hall at drop off on Friday morning. These can be purchased by parents to take home or enjoyed in the hall with a tea or coffee on the day. Younger siblings and all the family will be welcome. The school children will not be participating in this bake sale. If you would like to support this event please bring a cake, buy a cake or show up to help on the day! As always this will be a NO NUTS NO STRAWBERRIES bake sale!

Family Active Day June 10th – please save the date! This will be a fun day for all the family and funds raised will go to benefit the school teaching garden. More details and information on how you can get involved will be sent by separate email on Friday.

https://wicklowetns.com/2017/05/16/upcoming-family-events/

Minutes of PA committee meetings are available in the Parents area of the website:

https://wicklowetns.com/2017/04/26/minutes-pa-committee-meeting-25th-april-2017/

Cathys class chicks Rock Climbing photos