Newsletter 15/01/21 - Canal Way Educate Together National School, Dublin 8

Message from Dermot

Happy New Year to everybody. We have returned to remote learning, and we thank you for your support with this, and for embracing the new elements. Thank you to the staff for their commitment, as they work at home with their families also. Hopefully Level 5 will end soon and we can all return to school safely and get the children back and get Canal Way Educate Together open again.

I would personally like to thank the Parents Association Committee for organising the online quiz, and a big thanks to our community for attending and donating so generously; raising €5,302. This money will be spent on I-Pads for your children and we will be in touch when the consignment arrives.

I hope that the new year will bring happiness and brighter days for us all.

Practical updates

School Re-opening

Canal Way ETNS note yesterday’s announcement from the Minister for Education on the planned phased return of children with significant additional needs in mainstream school beginning on 21 January. We have been informed there will be clarification on this and we shall keep you updated accordingly.

Contacting the school / your teacher.

During this period of remote teaching & learning should you need to contact the school for any reason please do so by emailing – [email protected] – emails will be forwarded to teachers during the school day – 08:30 am to 2:10 pm. Non-urgent emails received after this time will be dealt with on the next working day.

IT issues

If you have any issues with Google Classroom / Zoom / IXL / Seesaw please let us know immediately by email and we will get back to you with a solution as quickly as we can.

Housekeeping

During last week’s book drop off we realised that we had old addresses for some families on our system and we have rectified most of these now. Can you please ensure that if your details have changed at all recently – address, phone numbers, and email addresses that you contact us and let us know.

Review of the Year

2020 brought many challenges but we still managed to achieve so much. When we got back to school in September, even with the challenges, there was lots of enthusiasm from students, staff and parents.

Here is a taste of the last term in 2020. There was Maths Week, Science Week, A science expo, Human Rights Fortnight, Dress up Thursday, the Halloween parade, Values of the month (such as Belonging, Equality and Hope), Festival in a Van, spending more time in the garden, gardening and outdoor learning and connecting with the Nursing Home. As a finale to the year, there was the fantastic cookie bake fundraising that sixth class did for Focus Ireland, raising over €1300! Well done 6th class!

Head over to the Gallery page and review the year in pictures and videos.

If you missed out on any Newsletters, they are here.

Getting to know you…Dermot!

Families, in the first of our series Getting to know you... Here is…Getting to know you Dermot!

What is the funniest thing you’ve ever done? Some years ago, I dressed up as my mother and ran the Women’s Mini Marathon for charity.

What makes you feel proud? When we’ve worked hard on a project in the school, and our community enjoys the outcome.

What do you like most about yourself right now? I like that I am healthy. I sold my car last year and I am now a full-time cyclist. It feels great.

What are you good at? I am good at working creatively. I enjoy art, drama and music.

What makes you happy? Spending time with family and friends. I miss going out with my friends, but I make sure I keep in touch online, and talk to them on the phone.

What’s the best thing that has happened to you lately? I spent an hour on Christmas Day in The Phoenix Park, having a picnic with my two sisters and our families. We decorated a tree and exchanged presents. It was happy, sad, cold & safe – all at the same time!

What do you do when you feel sad? When I am sad, I talk to someone about it, and when I am very, very, very sad, I cry.

What are your hobbies? Performing and playing music.

If they made a movie about you, who would play you? Bruce Willis.

What superhero or cartoon would you hang out with? Bat Man (Soundtracked by Prince)

What will we never see you doing? Parachuting, bungee jumping, riding a cable car, flying in a helicopter, or standing on a chair!

What is your least favourite food? Bolognese in any shape or form.

Beach or Mountains? Low lying hills.

Who is your favourite musician? At this very minute – Bryan Ferry (again).

Three wishes: I wish that

The COVID pandemic would end.
I understood how and why the cosmos exists.
I could sleep through the night without waking up.

Keeping safe during these Covid times

As per NPHET advice, during this Level 5 lockdown, it’s really important we all try our best to keep our contacts to a minimum, stay at home and act like you are a close contact. Doing these things, plus washing hands, wearing a mask and keeping a two metre distance should really help and hopefully we will see the numbers go down. Happier times will return. Let’s make the lockdown work for us so we can get back to school ASAP. For updated COVID information, see here and here is a letter front the Minister of Education.

Bottle Top collection for charity

A parent in Amy’s Senior Infants class is organising a bottle top collection. This is to help a family in Poland purchase a wheelchair for their son Kamil. He was left paralysed after an accident in a water park. Can you collect them over your time at home? Once we are back at school they will be picked up. The bottle tops can be milk, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, ketchup, coffee — any plastic bottle top. Many thanks!

Video Library

Keep an eye of the Film Library where you will find films the staff have made, reading books, making things and more! This page will continue to be updated.