NEWSLETTER 24.03.2023 - Canal Way Educate Together National School, Dublin 8

THREE special enrolments have arrived in our school –

Look out for them on Monday at drop off – thanks Ciaran for organising this – serious amount of work and we really appreciate it !

School Calendar 2023 / 2024

The calendar for 2023/2024 school year is now on the website – ~HOME PAGE (scroll down)

Our first day back will be August 31st 2023.

School Closures Term 3

School will close for Spring holidays with a half day on Friday 31st March and re-open for Term 3 on Monday 17th April.

Please note changes to our school calendar for Term 3 – School will be closed for an additional day on June 2nd, for staff training.

Not returning to School 2024 ?

If your family will not be returning to our school in September for any reason please let the school know as soon as possible as we need to plan our classes for September. Please spread the word in the community and advise families to tell us if they have not already.

SCHOOL TOURS

This years tours are currently being planned and once everything is booked we will send out information and set up a payment option on Aladdin Connect. We are trying to keep costs as reasonable as possible but many providers, particularly the bus operators, have increased their costs since last year. If anybody has trouble paying for these, please drop a line to [email protected]

PARENTS ASSOCIATION UPDATE

SUMMER BBQ

We are working on the upcoming School Summer BBQ which will be held on Saturday June 17th, this is the biggest fundraising event in the school year and this year is also a celebration of the schools 10th birthday. The PAC will be discussing in more detail next month and will shortly thereafter be coming to you looking for volunteers to help put on the best Summer BBQ the school has ever seen!

TRAFFIC

We are listening to and solution focused with concerns that have been shared around the traffic situation close to the school and the Wellbeing Survey results, more information on both of these will be shared shortly.

AFTERSCHOOLS

After Schools activities for the upcoming third term are being organised and registration for these will open over the next few weeks, more details will follow. Thank you to Aline for the hard work managing this.

PAC AGM and CONSTITUTION

A big part of the PACs role is around governance, both locally within the school and as part of the National Parents Council. We have spent some time reworking the PAC constitution which will be presented at the next Parents Association AGM, this defines the role of the Parents Association and how it runs. The AGM is open to all parents and is a great opportunity to engage with the school, we will share more details on this closer to the time. We also have our Canal Way Parents Association representative, Liam, on the National Parents Council, this is really important as it gives us a voice on the national stage.

THANKYOU

Finally a huge thank you to Helena, Liam and Jason for a night of laughter, puzzles and community building at our annual quiz night. We raised over €500 and most of this money has been donated to a charity supporting the victims of the Earthquake in Syria and Turkey.

COMMUNICTION / WHASAPPS & SCHOOL

Please remember that anything directly concerning your child as an individual should be brought up with the class teacher / Dermot and not on the class whatsapps.

SURVEY – English / Irish

We are writing our new language policies following the introduction of the new language curriculum. We are consulting with parents on these policies, and would like you to fill out these two surveys.

Thanks – Aileen and Ciara (Assistant Principals)

ENGLISH SURVEY

IRISH SURVEY

POLICIES Tech Policy Under Review – please read and contribute

We have reviewed our Digital Technology Policy. Given how quickly technology changes, this draft has more or less been rewritten and is on the link below. We want you to read this and send us any thoughts or contributions you would like considered.

Personal and school life is blurred in the online world and the world of technology, and we ask that you please read this document and consider our policy carefully. We need your input and support in this document. We would like your feedback by 07.04.2023 and after that we will present it to the BoM for final ratification.

Digital Technology DRAFT Policy 23 TBA

SCIENCE FUN NEXT WEEK & EGG DROP

CWETNS will be having a Science fun week coming up to our Spring Break. We are excited to announce our school’s annual egg drop challenge, which will take place next Thursday. This is a fun and educational activity that promotes critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and creativity. In this year’s egg drop challenge, we are taking a more environmentally conscious approach. Families are to design and make this at home, and bring to school on Thursday, when contraptions will be dropped from the flat roof of the school – use biodegradable materials to construct their egg drop contraptions. Please support your child in this challenge by helping them gather and use biodegradable materials to create their egg drop device. Here are some examples of biodegradable materials that could be used:

Cardboard
Paper
Hay or straw
Biodegradable plastic

NOTE – The egg must be visible in the design !

We look forward to seeing the creative and eco-friendly egg drop designs that our students come up with.

STUDENTS SECTION

Canal Way Football Team by Flora

Canal Way’s first ever 11 a-side football teams were established this year. There was also a girls and boys 5 a-side football blitz and each team played a couple of matches. Our 11 a-side football teams consisted of students from 4th, 5th and 6th class. The girls played against Donabate/Portrane ETNS and St. Patrick’s National School. The boys played against St. Brendan’s National School and Mother of Divine Grace. A lot of people had tons of fun playing. A big thank you to our parents who volunteered to help out also. This is an amazing accomplishment for Canal Way!

Genius Hour by Alba

From February to March Mick’s 6th class have been doing Genius Hour. Genius Hour consists of groups of people doing projects on a topic of their choice. For example, students could choose to do it on music, an endangered species, clothes etc. Sahar, Flora and Gabriella, made a website where you can learn about different ways to take care of your pets. Max, Iseult and Harlow instead made a movie called ‘Bananas Out’. They acted, edited and filmed everything themselves at home and in school. Robin, Ettienne, Gus and Hassan did a project on chess. Cillian and Lily learned about countries around the world. Lastly, Alba and Natalie made a project on clay where they learned about its history and how to make things such as candle holders and mugs. These were only some of the great projects that we did during Genius Hour. Check out the Pet Site below: https://sites.google.com/canalwayetns.org/petsite/home

Lá Glas & SNAG

Our annual Seachtain na Gaeilge and our Lá Glas were a great success this year. Over the busy week children took part in tables quizzes, poster competitions, watching Irish language films, daily Cé hé Teidí videos and of course the madness of our annual céilí. It was great to hear the children using Irish around the building- Beatha teanga í a labhairt! A big thank you to our sixth class Coiste na Gaeilge who were a great support to the staff during the week and including being enthusiastic fáilteoirí for our community every morning.

GIRLS FOOTBALL TEAM

Our first ever 11 aside girls soccer team has lined out twice to represent Canal Way ETNS. We played our first match against Donabate Portrane ETNS at our unofficial home grounds Larkview FC. The whole team played so well together and supported each other both on the pitch and on the sidelines. The match was close but unfortunately we lost to a very experienced team made up of players from sixth class.

Our second match out was in very challenging conditions. The rain was pouring down and everyone was soaked through and weather-beaten. Again, there was only sixth class playing for the opposition. Despite this, we played well and scored our first goal as a team. Congrats to all the players involved in getting the ball out from the back line and to Leila for finishing and getting the ball in the back of the net. Also a big mention to all the girls in the team who stepped up and took a slot goalkeeping Laura, Lily Rose, Hannah, Megan and Tara, – their heroic efforts kept the score line close. Well done to the fourth class girls – Emily, Ava, Lara and Hannah – who really held their own on the pitch against an opposition made up of sixth class. Great efforts again in the harshest conditions well done to the whole team.

Big thank you to all the parents who helped with lifts – it made our footballing adventures possible.

Soccer Blitz – Well Done

On March 3rd a group of 6th Class participated in a soccer blitz with other schools from D8 down at St Catherine’s sports hall . They were a credit to Canal Way offering encouragement for each other throughout the day and supporting other teams . They also won two matches despite an early injury to a key player which you may spot in the photo .Well done 6th class

Ciaran’s Senior Infants

Ciaran’s class are growing ‘pacino’ sunflowers (they only grow to 60cm) in Senior Infants and learning all about The Garden Centre and how plants and flowers grow. They are also making our very own clay pots to plant the sunflowers in once they begin to grow.

4th Class – Growth !

Fourth class has been investigating surface bacteria. We wiped the bread on different surfaces and then placed them into a sealed bag. We monitored the bread to see what would happen. The surfaces that had the most bacteria were the bin and IWB pen.

We have also planted carrots, potatoes, lettuce, spinach, turnip, chives and strawberries. You might be able to see our plants as you pass our window in the modular building. They are growing inside for now but hopefully they will move to the school garden after the Spring holidays. We plan to (or hope to) harvest and eat our produce before the end of the school year.

Mr Fox at Large

WANTED: Dangerous Fox at Large!

2nd class have been reading Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl. We have created our own ‘Wanted’ posters, offering reward for his capture!

Linear Park – Historic Finding

Many of you will notice the new liner park being build at the top of the road. This will be a great addition to the area and our school

During the works, DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL workers have unearthed part of the old city reservoir that once supplied the south of the city with drinking water, and was considered the go-to place for outdoor socialising in the 1830s. See article here and pics. ARTICLE HERE

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Film Making in Community – Family Call Out

Jijo Sebastian is a collaborative filmmaker who has won a commission from Hugh Lane Gallery and Create, the national agency for collaborative arts to make a feature length or multiple short films. They are seeking individuals and families from all backgrounds living in Dublin to take part in the collaboration. Please find attached a poster and a call out brief for more details. Participants will be remunerated for their time.

We have no connection with this filmmaker, do not endorse this project but are passing on as it looks interesting.

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