Newsletter - Canal Way Educate Together National School, Dublin 8

Message from Dermot

We are approaching the end of term this week, and we look forward to a nice remainder of the week before the midterm break. It’s been an exciting term here in CWETNS, with our sports teams winning matches, and we had STEM Week including dissecting of squids and ye can rest easy —the fish are still alive in the foyer!

This month, our core value has been Respect, and as we move into the next term, we’ll focus on Friendship. We will also be working on important lessons around bullying and anti-bullying, with Anti-Bullying Week planned for Week of 18.11.2024.

Please find the school times and closure details for the midterm break below. We also look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming parent-teacher meetings next month, and fancy dress this Fri of course – details below.

Tóg go bog é – Dermot.

Whole School Evaluation (WSE) – We Need Your Feedback

Our school will have a Whole School Evaluation (WSE) starting November 5th. This is a review by the Department of Education to see how our school celebrate our accomplishments and to suggest improvements.

The inspectors will visit for three days and then provide a report to guide us in the future. We need your input! Please take 3 minutes to fill out a survey by Friday. Your feedback is very important for this process.

https://dessurveys.education.gov.ie/surveys/wse-primary-parents-survey

Thank you.

Board of Management

The BoM met this week. Agreed Report in on our website on BoM page / scroll down.

Ongoing Self-Evaluations: Handwriting, Spelling, and Wellbeing

As you know, we are currently conducting three School Self Evaluations in the areas of handwriting, spelling, and wellbeing. These evaluations are part of our ongoing efforts to improve teaching and learning in CWETNS. Our School Improvement Plans (SIPs), including the latest Wellbeing SIP, are available for you to read on the publications page of our website. Please have a look and stay informed.

Thank you for your input in this ongoing evaluation process, including completing surveys and providing feedback. Your involvement is greatly appreciated.

SSE SIP Wellbeing 2022-2025

Thank you for your continued support

Mid Term Break Reminder

School will finish at the usual times on Friday, October 25th (1:10 / 2:10),

We will remain closed until Monday, November 4th.

We look forward to welcoming everyone back when we reopen at 8:30 a.m. on that day.

Student Newsletter – Latest Edition

Our first ever student newsletter called ‘the Canal Way Times’ celebrated it’s first anniversary just over a month ago. CEO’s Evelyn, Jacob, and James would like to thank their editors David and Lucas for their hard work. They would also like to thank their reporting team Caoimhe and Maya and all of their writers Ibrahim, Ella, Patsy, to name but a few.

Please find their latest edition attached – please click on the image to download this edition. It is a great read.

Well done all !

Annual Fancy Dress Fundraiser – Friday, October 25th

On Friday, October 25th, we’ll be hosting our annual fundraiser One Day Together for Educate Together, celebrating our equality based ethos that make our school community special.

We encourage all students to join in the fun by wearing fancy dress. Please keep in mind that costumes should not include accessories or weapons that could get lost, and avoid anything too scary for the younger ones.

We kindly ask that each child brings in a few euro on the day, and for your convenience, donations can also be made through Aladdin payments.

Thanks to out student council for helping with this initiative.

Parents Association

Winter Quiz – Save the Date!

Please pencil, Sunday the 1st of December at 5pm, into your diaries for lots of brain exercise, fun and fantastic prizes. Many thanks to the parents and businesses who have already come forward to donate prizes.

Coffee Mornings

Bring a baked treats (no nuts or seeds, please!). Cash donations are greatly appreciated.

Senior Infants Coffee Morning: Join us on Friday, October 25th, from 8:30 to 9:30 in Room 1 for a coffee morning. Feel free to bring a baked treat (no nuts or seeds, please!). Cash donations are greatly appreciated.
Junior Infants Coffee Morning: Mark your calendars for Friday, November 8th. More details will follow after the midterm break.

A Big Thank You

The PAC would just like to say a big thank you to everyone for contributing to the Winter Cards and to the teachers and children for getting the Winter Cards completed so quickly.

Teacher Shortage Crisis in Dublin – Please Help

As you are most likely aware, and may have heard in the news this week (RTE LINK HERE), there is an ongoing teacher shortage across Dublin. This year, CWETNS had eight teaching positions to fill. After much searching over the summer, we successfully hired seven teachers, leaving us with a net of one unfilled position. This is relatively good compared to other schools, but we may not be so lucky next year.

The teacher shortage also affects our ability to cover absenteeism. Substitutes are extremely hard to come by, and when I cannot find a substitute, I have three options:

Split the absent teacher’s class across other classes.
Deploy special education teachers to classrooms.
Send classes home.

This is a serious issue that affects your child’s education, and it’s not getting the attention it deserves. There is a general election approaching, we are asking you to raise this issue with any local representative who may knock on your door.

Please ask them to focus on the following key solutions:

Provide a city allowance for essential workers, including teachers, Gardaí, and healthcare workers.
Create incentives for teachers to return to Ireland and fill open positions.
Address the housing crisis that prevents teachers from being able to live in the city.

Parents voices can help make a difference here. Thanks for your supoprt.

Lost & Found

Please come to the yard daily to collect lost items. they will be donated to charity on Thursday.

This month we saw a huge increase in our lost property. We are encouraging everyone to please ensure that coats, jackets and hoodies are labelled with your child’s name, especially coming into the Winter months. Please put the names on the inside of bags and coats, and not on the outside, for your child’s safety and protection.

School Hoodies Available: Order Now and Size Up!

We wanted to remind everyone about the availability of our school hoodies, especially with new families joining us. The hoodies can be purchased through the following link:

Canal Way Educate Together School Hoodie

Although the preview shows a plain hoodie, your order will come with the school logo. Please note, the hoodies run small, so sizing up is recommended.

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STEM WEEK:

STEM Week at Canal Way

Last week’s STEM Week was full of exciting and hands-on activities for all students. Our senior pupils took charge by leading maths trails in the garden, conducting science experiments, and hosting a maths bonanza in the hall. First Class welcomed students from St. James Primary School to join them for a collaborative maths trail, and Third and Fourth Classes had a fascinating time dissecting squids, learning about their anatomy.

Second Class got into the Halloween spirit with a special experiment—Frankenstein’s Moving Hand! Each student decorated their spooky cup, then donned their scientist caps to complete the experiment using vinegar, baking soda, and a glove. They watched in amazement as their “hand” slowly came to life! There were bridges built and racing car balloon contraptions.

Throughout the week, all students enjoyed beautiful autumn weather during garden trails, measuring the age of trees by their girth and identifying just how many trees we have on-site (hint: it’s a lot!). Sixth Class even participated in an online maths challenge using Izak 9 cubes and designed challenges for younger students.

A huge well done to all our budding scientists and mathematicians for making it a fantastic week! Thanks to Clíona and Siobhán for organising a fab week.

Cultural Day

Thankyou to all our families who partook in Cultural Day. We had stories and artefacts and visitors from all around the world.

We had culture from Ireland also with Thomas visiting 6th our class to tell us all about Pavee Point and life for the Travelling Community. We learned a great deal, especially about prejudice. Thank you Thomas!

Special Education

This year we continue to implement the new model for Educational Support in our school, as set out in the NCSE guidelines. Our Special Education Teachers (SET) work with our class teachers to identify how best to allocate resources, following the principle that pupils with the greatest level of need have access to the greatest levels of support.

Our support covers a wide range of areas, including English as an additional language, extra help in English and Maths, social and emotional needs, language and communication skills, motor skills and topic based projects.

We use a variety of approaches to meet pupils’ needs, such as classroom based support, small group or individual support.

Please note that it is common practice in our school for all children to participate in group work outside the classroom for various educational activities at different times throughout the year. This note is simply to raise awareness that your child may work outside the classroom and join in these activities with our support team.

Thank you for your cooperation and continued support.

Library Visit.

Last Monday, Luke’s 3rd class visited Inchicore Library @ Richmond Barracks for an illustration workshop with Tarsila Kruse. The class enjoyed a beautiful walk on the canal and created fun Halloween art in the library.

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Harvest Time

Senior Infants harvested apples, berries, tomatoes and potatoes from our school garden. They then got to eat some delicious chips made from the potatoes, topped with rosemary, yummy!