05.12.13The parents opinions on what factors should be taken into account when

deciding our policy on clothes worn by the children during the school day.

The same school clothes worn by all the children in school eliminates the arguments and time wasted deciding every morning what children wear. 

(which is especially difficult for dads!)

It's important to have "work" clothes and "leisure" clothes. When you wear the clothes it helps to remind you what you are supposed to be doing at the time.

The same school clothes worn by all are a symbol of commitment and discipline.

Children wearing the same school clothes contribute to team spirit and equality for all children.

The same school clothes should be worn every day except PE days.

Maybe the children could wear their own individual tracksuits on PE days as a treat.

Children can wear their own coats and hats to express their individuality.

Nobody stands out (as inferior or superior) when the children all wear the same clothes in school. 

There is no "Brand Pressure" when all the children wear the same clothes at school. 

Generic school clothes could be used (Dunnes/M&S are much cheaper) - it's not necessary to choose clothes supplied by the school or exclusively

appointed shops.

Children have to all wear the same clothes in secondary school so they should get used to it in primary school. 

All the children should have to wear the same clothes in school. It should be compulsory, not optional. 

A badge could be sold in the school for €2 and ironed on or sewn on to generi school clothes.

Girls should have the option of pants or skirt.

A tie should be optional

Soft polo type shirts are a good idea.

It's easy to keep track of children during a school outing if they are all wearing

the same clothes. 

There should be a summer version of school clothes too eg shorts and T-shirt

Children should wear black shoes.

There should be a tracksuit alternative.

School clothes should be suitable for activities in school.

There should be no blazer.

Some people think that our school isn't a real school because the children don't all wear the same clothes.

When pupils wear the same school clothes, it makes them look like proper pupils, clean, organised and they have a sense of belonging.

The teachers opinions on what factors should be taken into account when deciding our policy on

clothes worn by the children during the school day.The clothes worn by children during school time or outside school time is a

matter for their parents.

The final decision should be regulated by everyone out of respect for the choice of the majority.

The final decision should be adhered to by everyone even if it isn't their personal choice. 

The clothes that children wear in school should be suitable for purpose. Blazers, stiff collared shirts, ties and creased trousers look very impressive

but they simply are not suitable for how children learn in modern primary schools. 

The clothes worn in school should be comfortable, warm, flexible, easy to open/close and versatile.

The clothes worn in school should be easily opened/closed for toileting purposes. 

The clothes worn in school should be suitable for the running, hopping, chasing and skipping games that the children play in the playground. 

The clothes worn in school shouldn't distract other children.

Because of the Revised curriculum that we use in our school, the children are moving around a lot more in the classroom than children did years ago.

Restrictive clothes or footwear (shirts, ties and heavy shoes) are not suitable in this regard.

Criticism, arguments and fashion parades are avoided especially amomg girls in older classes if all the children wear the same clothes in school. 

To be consistent with the EDUCATE TOGETHER ethos, the final decision should be "optional" to facilitate everyone's valid preferences.

Purely from a teacher's educational and learning perspective, a tracksuit is the most suitable type of clothing for primary school children. 

Having an "optional" element to the policy eliminates all divisive possibilities and makes it self-regulating. 

On an organisational level, it could generate much needed funds for the school and could be operated by the Parents committee - a great opportunity

for the parents to be involved in school

If the decision included an "optional" element it would also have to include a caviat of "appropriate clothes"

 

17.11.13Last week was packed with variety for the children's learning. New sounds and morning acivities, visiting the shopping centre

in the Aistear Room, visits from parent cuiditheoiri, making a fruit salad as part of the Food Dudes Initiative, copying Kandinski's art, our first Whole-School assembly and a Book fair on Thursday and Friday! 

Phew, we did a lot in one week!

For those parents who were unable to attend the last Parent Information Evening, a bulleted summary of our 2 topics is given below.

1. SPHE. Social, Personal and Health Education   - a curricular area learned by the children.

MYSELFSelf-awareness, developing self-confidence, making decisions, taking care of my body, food and nutrition, as I grow I change,

New life, feelings and emotions, safety.MYSELF AND OTHERS

My family, my friends and other people, relating to othersMYSELF & THE WIDER WORLD

Developing Citizenship, my school community, living in the local community, environmental care, media education.

We use various teaching methods, programmes and resources to teach SPHE in our school. 

The Walk Tall   programme builds the children's confidence sufficiently to say "no" to harmful drugs when they are older.The STAY SAFE   programme teaches the children to be safe when on the road, with water, fire electricity etc.

The RSE programme   nurtures the children's knowledge of relationships sufficiently to be content and cherished team members, family members, neighbours, spouses and colleagues.

Each of the above programmes have a dedicated website and have sections especially for parents/guardians who may like to inform themselves more about the content of the particualr programme. The children may bring home a phoocopy related to the topic that has been discussed in class. These photocopies have short instructions at the bottom of the page to indicate

how the parents might discuss the topic with their child. 

A big word of thanks to Theresa, one of our SNA's who visited all the classes last week and made fruit salads with the children. Theresa will do one cooking lesson per term this year with all the classes. If any chefs result in the future we'll know

where it all started!

We had a wonderful whole-school assembly last Friday morning. All 141 pupils and 8 teachers gathered in the hall to celebrate being together. We recited our school promise, sang about Miss Polly's Dolly, did some clapping rhythms, sang a fab song

about keeping off the grass, did some primary movements, senior infants performed an action song and we ended up with the "Goodbye" song. 

Our school Bookfair was a marvellous success. It was so nice to see parents/guardians and the children browsing through the books and discussing the pros and cons before making their decision as to which one they would buy. Our school is given commission (in books) based on the number of books sold and we estimate that we should get approximately €500 worth of

books for the library trolley in each class. Thank you to all concerned. 

More snippets next week,Fergal

20.09.13The weekend weather forecast is for sunshine so I

hope that it comes to pass. Best of luck to both Dublin and Mayo in the All-Ireland football final in Croke Park on Sunday. We had a small cheering

practice during assembly on Friday morning and a lot of Dublin flags were on the agenda for this

week's art lesson!

As mentioned before, on Monday 4th of November our school name changes to "Hansfield ETNS". Nothing apart from the school name changes.

Our two Senior Infant classes are now equipped

with "Smart" interactive whiteboards and visualisers. Joe's class has an interactive data projector and a visualiser, Julie's class has a

visualiser and a data projector while Niamh and Fergal's class have a super large wall-mounted TV

monitor. All classes have an all-in-one PC with wireless mouse/keyboard and access to the internet.

No school on the day of the referendum as the state take over the entire campus and for Health & Safety reasons can't have children where there is moving

traffic. It's important to vote if you are entitled to and independent information booklets have been sent to every household in the country explaining the "pros

and cons" of the 2 referendums. 

We are really excited about embarking on the "FOOD DUDES" initiative beginning on Monday

September 30th for 16 days. Research has shown that if children taste something 3 times they will

develop a long-term taste for it. The children will be given the opportunity to sample each different fruit and vegetables 3 times during the 16 days and will be given a small prize every day they eat the two

samples. The Irish food Board (Bord Bia) will provide the food and the prizes. Once the sampling

part of the initiative has ended, the children will receive a small plastic container to bring their

favourite fruit and vegetable from home to school for snack time.

Parents of Catholic children presently in our 1st Class are invited to meet the parish organiser of

Faith classes on this Wednesday @ 2:15pm for 10 minutes. Meet in Fergal's Office. 

Our annual information meetings for parents of new children to the school (mostly Junior Infants but

some in Seniors and 1st Class also) will take place on  Thursday 3rd October @ 7pm and Thursday 7th

November @ 7pm in the hall. It is important to attend and familiarise yourself with our approach to

learning so that you can reinforce at home and participate in your child's learning in a fun way!

We now have in excess of 135 pupils (270 parents/guardians) and would like to follow through

on a promise made in our first year to make a decision on the subject of a school uniform. This is

an important topic to many parents and we hope that every parent/guardian will participate

by voting their preference.

The days that each class have PE lessons have been posted on the windows in the front of the

school. The children really enjoy these classes and it would be great if parents could ensure suitable

footwear and clothes are worn on those days. thank you all so much. 

Homework plays an important role in the learning process. Just like the Food Dudes theory, we are

informed by research that if children reinforce what they have been taught in school within 4 hours the

chances of internalising the learning is greatly increased. Junior Infants won't be getting formal

homework until week 14 approx but in the meantime parents can practice with their children the

essential skills of "matching" "putting things in sets"  colouring accurately, cutting with scissors on

straight, curved and zig-zag lines and most important of all reading books with your child. 

On Friday next we will be having our first whole-school assembly in the hall. It will be the first time

all the children and teachers will sit down and learn together and we're really looking forward to it. 

 

More snippets next week. a great week everyone!  

Fergal 

06.09.13A big "WELCOME BACK" to all our 135 children, their parents/guardians, our 8 teachers,

Theresa our SNA, Bernie our secretary, Hazel our cleaner and all the other brilliant people from the wider community who help us out during the school year.

It certainly was a super summer wasn't it?? We haven't seen so much sun in a good number of years. I hope that everyone took full advantage of the glorious sunshine that was well due to

us all following the particularly harsh winter.

It's lovely to hear the children's stories about the variety of places around the world that they visited during the summer months. The grannies and grandads are probably worn out at this

stage from looking after their "bundles of joy" during the holidays and are now heaving a sigh of relief while recovering in their rocking chairs worldwide!! 

A special word of welcome to the most important people in our school; our 63 new junior Infants who have all settled in and are now well used to the school routine. They are slowly

building up their time in school and will be staying this week until 12 noon every day. It will be a big change for them as the real work will begin and will probably be quite tired at the end of

the day. 

We have a first class also this year (and a "man teacher" Joe) who finish each day at 2:10pm which represents a significant change from their previous two years in school. The academic

element to their learning begins in earnest this year and parents can expect exhausted students (but full of knowledge)arriving home for a few weeks yet. 

I was asked recently to clarify at what stage would children be allowed to go home on their own after school daily. Children should be collected at "home time" by an adult until the end of

second class. Beginning in 3rd class, with written parental permission and a "buddy" to accompany them, the children will be permitted to go home from school without being

collected by an adult. 

Contact details for the Catholic Parish Administrator (Clinton) are posted on the parents' Notice Board. Parents of Catholic students in first class who wish that their child be prepared to receive the sacrament of communion at the end of second class should contact Clinton. An short information meeting with clinton about the process will be held in the Fergal's office on 

Wednesday 25th September @ 2:15pm.

Our new permanent building should be ready for us to move into during the summer holidays 2014. As it will be located in Hansfield, we have decided to change our school's name before

we move there   to: HANSFIELD EDUCATE TOGETHER N.S

Apart from our website address and school name, nothing else will change. Our crest, phone numbers, enrolement records and personnel will all remain the same. If you have already

applied for a place for your child in our school, it is not necessary to reapply when we change our name.

There are many children (and teachers) cycling or "flickering" their way to school this year now that we have a brand new cycle lane linking all the estates in the area to the schools.

Remember to lock your bicycle securely to the railings as the campus is open all day and our school can't take responsibilty for theft. A cool cycling helmet and a luminous jacket or a

"Sam Brown" belt are a great idea too!!

The wonderful parent "Cuiditheoiri" will be back in action again this year and hopefully will begin their participation in the children's learning this week. Julie will coordinate parents and classes. Once the routines have been established, we will ask new parents to join in following

their training session.

Our Parents' Evening Meetings will resume again soon. We plan to cover topics such as the Learn Together Programme, Aistear, Jolly phonics, Ready, Set, Go maths, PTA, Student

council, new building etc

If there is anything that you are unsure about (as a parent of a child in our school) Please use any of our communication links to get an answer to your query. Bernie/Fergal/Julie will be very

happy to help.

E-mail: bwetns@gmail.comLandline: 8232406

Mobile: 085-8722323Your child's blue notebook

Drop into the school 

Best of luck everyone for an exciting year ahead.

Fergal

28.06.13We have come to the end of our second year in Blanchardstown West and what a year it has been! Everyone has been so

busy making sure that the children do their very best learning. Parent Cuiditheoiri have been in our classrooms helping the children with their reading and their maths and a myriad of other jobs that need to be carried out in infant classes. We really

appreciate their help and they have made so many little friends in all the classes which is lvely to see.

And next year we have our very first First Class. This really is a big step to take and the children will be exhausted for a few weeks until they get accoustomed to the quantity of work and the long day from 8:30 to 2:10. But you know, Lisa has them

well prepared and we are all proud of what they have learned in Senior Infants. 

This is the time of year to say thanks to everyone. We'll begin with all the teachers, Martina, Jacqui, Theresa, Julie, Aisling, Ursula, Mary and Lisa. The amount of work involved in a new school takes up a lot of time and the teachers in our school have

been extraordinarily resourceful and generous with their time and always so cheerful. Go raibh maith agaibh.

A big "thank you" to Bernie from all the children, parents and teachers. Bernie keeps everyone happy helping them out doing lots of really important jobs every day.

Our Board of Management work away in the background guiding the school strategically and we are very appreciative of their time that they give voluntarily.

Séanna keeps us safe at the entrance to the school every morning and evening and keeps us all guessing what hat he's going to be wearing. We like to help Séanna by parking safely and respecting the great job he does.

And finally, we all have to thank our children for making life so "interesting" while helping them along their path to life-long learning. We had a story-teller in school on Wednesday and he wsa so enthralled with them all. He commented on how

imaginative and "spirited" they were!

And finally . . . . .finally, finally TEN quick points to finish up with . . .   .

1. Great to see children coming to school on bikes but they will unfortuately have to be securely locked next year.

2. Because we have been allocated fewer teachers than expected we have to bring the 3 present Junior infant classes into 2 Senior Infant classes. This means completely new class groupings. We have to think of the whole class dynamics when

deciding into which class children are placed. Children won't know who their teacher will be next year until they return to school in August.

3. Homework folders that weren't brouhgt into shool on the last day of term should be retained safely for next year.

4. We have a magnet photo of Grandma and Grandpa Tarr since the grandparents day. Talk to Bernie if it's yours.

5. We also have a child's medical record booklet with no name. if it belongs to your child, talk to Bernie.

6. If you would like to know more about the content of what your childis doing in the core subjects in school, you can read information (in many languages) and watch video clips onwww.ncca.ie Click on "Parents" across the top of the screen and

explore all the information about your child's class level.

7. Don't forget the most valuable resource of all . . our public library in Blanchardstown Shopping centre. It is the largest library in Ireland and is packed with resources that your child will love. It's a "Learning Playground" and It is the most

wonderful place to bring children to visit. And it's free !!!

8. There are a number of playgrounds, parks, museums and art galleries in Dublin that children would love to visit. They are all FREE and have an education officer to guide children around the facility. The summer holidays present a perfect time for the

whole family to visit these places.

9. Hansfield train station (near our new school) is opening today and will connect you to all these places. Hansfield to Dublin City takes 25 minutes.

10. Our school's name is going to change to Hansfield ETNS in October next as this is the name of the area our permanent building will be located. 

Wherever the holidays take you, whether it's around Ireland or abroad I wish you all a peaceful, relaxing and mostly SAFE holiday time. Hopefully we'll see you all back here in Blanchardstown West ETNS on Thursday 29th August.

Fergal05.06.13

Multiple apologies to everyone for the lack of updates in our website recently. The gremlins were at work and did a right good job on our blog. Everything should be retrieved at this stage and we should be

able to carry on our merry way until the end of the school year which is fast approaching.

This blog and our home page will be updated during the summer holidays as news becomes available which may not be as regular as weekly.

Our big concern this week is that we get all the Resource Money in to the school. €150 per child. Our suppliers, who would have traditionally given schools some credit, require cash on delivery now as their suppliers expect the same. If you have

difficulty paying the Resource monet in one payment please call into the school and speak with Fergal about arrangements that can be made in such circumstances. We would like to have all the supplies organised for each classroom as soon as

possible and thank you for your cooperation in this regard.

Our sports day is on this Friday coming (7th June) as the weather forecast is suitable for that day. The only thing that will be different on the sports day in comparison to any other day will be that the children will be spending a lot of it outdoors and the

clothes they wear should be suitable for running races and other physical activities. We intend to have "stations" and then running races with the audience cheering. Parents are most welcome to attend.

The children's end of year repots will be posted to each family home next week 10th -14th June. Please keep these documents in a safe place. 

Our term 3 fund-raiser has 3 parts.1. Framed children's art2. DVD of class photos

3. Raffle for super prizesEach child in the school will have one work of art framed and displayed in the school hall on Friday 21st June. 

Parents can come along to see their child's framed picture and can buy it for €7 if they wish.  

We will also have a DVD of each class' photos during the year for sale at €5.Anyone purchasing both the framed picture and the DVD can get the two for €10. We also have fantastic prizes for our

raffle with tickets selling @ €1 each. 

Our 3rd fire drill was a great success on Wednesdy morning with all children and staff out of the building in under  minutes. Well done everyone!!

More news next week,Now to see if this will publish!!!

Fergal04.13

Now I don't want to put the mockers on the weather but hasn't it been great for the last few days? Everyone has a spring in their step and delighted with the

chance to wear their sunglasses and summer clothes.

Bernie and her mum Bernice took advantage of the great weather during the

weekend and washed all the windows on the outside of the school, put up a dozen hanging baskets and planted some beautiful summer bedding plants.

The grass at the road side of the school was cut so we're looking really "summery". 

Our Senior Infant class painted fantastic pictures of sunflowers Van Gogh style last week and recited a great rendition of Noah's Arc during assembly.

And to make it 3 in a row thay won the trophy again for being the best class for lining up in the playground. Well done to all the boys and girls in Senior

Infants.

All the children have planted cress seeds and are watching their progress daily.

In the latest edition of the Blanchardstown Gazette there is a small article about our new location and the secondary school that will be with us in the

same campus in Hansfield.

Enrolment day for new students will take place on this Thursday in the school hall from 

2pm to 4pm and from 7pm to 9pm. Letters of offer have been sent out to all parents of new students. We hope to have approximately 160 students and 9

teachers next September. 

Following our enrolment day, we will have a short Open day on Thursday 23rd May when the new chidren get a chance to meet teachers and their future

classmates in the school. It also gives the school a chance to talk to parents and give some information about the school and how to make sure that the

children will be ready for school in September.

I came across a very useful website for parents of children in primary school recently - maybe you will check it out when you get a

chance. www.helpmykidlearn.ie 

Our means of communication with parents and visa versa is through the little notebooks that each child has in his/her folder. PLEASE check this notebook on a daily basis and if you do write a message to the teacher please keep it

brief, date it and leave the notebook open so that the teacher knows there's a note to read. Many thanks. 

It would be great if there was a parent with a ladder suitable to clean the fascia board and gutters. They only require a wipe with a damp cloth and would

brighten up the building no end. Talk to Fergal, Julie or Bernie if you can help. Thanks.

We will be closing for a week's holiday starting on next Friday 3rd May @ 1:10pm. The school opens again on Monday 13th May @ 8:30am

More snippets next week,Fergal

21.04.13Oh! At last, I think that we might be getting weather that we could call spring or even summer. 

It certainly has been a long winter and as long as the heat we have presently remains, the buds and leaves will pop out and make a welcome appearance.

Whether it's hot or cold, our children's exciting learning continues. There is always something to be learned whatever the situation and we took full advantage of the Garden Centre's proximity to our school to visit and discover the wonderful array

and variety of plants and accessories. 

The theme in our play-based learning this month is "The Garden Centre" and what better way to discover what goes on there than to visit. Staff in the Garden Centre were super and facilitated us in every way they could. The children broke up into 3

groups and toured the centre learning about plants, flowers, ornaments, furniture and tools. Naturally, Len who is famous for hiding appeared in the Garden centre much to the delight of the children. Our parent cuiditheoiri were out in force and we

appreciated their help so much throughout the trip. 

After a quick picnic we went off in our double Decker bus and crossed the railway lines to Beech park playground. The children saw cows in the fields and loved watching the train hurtling past and waved to the man opening the gates at the level

crossing. Just as we left the playground, the rain came down and everyone made a mad dash back to the bus. 

Last week was also the week when FROGS came to our school! They were imported from County Wicklow so we're not sure how they'll take to living in Dublin. Many thanks to Jacqui for bringing the spawn and their pond water to the school and we

watch them every day in the tank as they grow from spawn into tadpoles to froglets and finally into adult frogs. Naturally they will be returned to their place of their birth before they hop into classrooms and become difficult to catch!! ribbit, ribbit.

We also had a visitor last week from the Department of Education - An Cigire (The Inspector). She complimented our school on how happy the children were and how busy everyone was teaching and learning. Well "Dunne" to everyone!!

Offer letters for places in Junior Infants for September 2013 will be sent out within the next week followed by invitations to attend formal enrolment. We should have three small classes of Junior Infants again next year. We are really happy about this because the children get a great start to their education and are happier and more confident as a result. Please reply to offer

letters as soon as you can. Thanks. 

We are calculating at the moment how much each expense has cost us during the year so as to ascertain how much "Resource Money" will be for next year. From calculations so far, it looks like there will be a charge of €150 per child. This

includes the textbooks, pencils, copies, excursions, ET fee, 24/7 insurance, art materials, photocopying etc.

The whole debate about school uniforms will take place again soon as we decided last year to wait another year before asking the parental body once more. Hone your opinions and views for the debate!!

Just to remind everyone that our school will change its name next October/November to Hansfield ETNS. This change has no effect on the students/Parents/teachers apart from our headed notepaper, the sign outside our door and remembering to

answer the phone with the correct name!! Obviously, the reason for the change is linked directly to where our new school will be located. Our beautiful school logo of the world surrounded by multi cultural children holding hands will not change.

Written School Reports will issue mid June this year. We ask parents to purchase a folder to keep these documents safely.

More snippets next week,Fergal

If your telephone number or address changes please inform Bernie in the office as soon as you can. 

More snippets next week,Fergal

Happy holidays greetings everyone!

I hope that wherever you are during our spring break that you will share a wonderful time with your family.

Our end of term activity/fund raiser was really a marvellous success last Friday. It was obvious that a lot of happy family time was spent at home creating hats for the children from recycled materials. The children were so proud   as they showed their

hats to their friends and explained to each other how they made them and who helped at home. We obviously have very artistic parents & brothers/sisters because the hats were out of this world. 

As the day wasn't kind to us weather-wise we decided to opt for the indoor version of the event! Each class took their turn and paraded around to the other classes to show off their creations. Our percussion instruments added to the marchers intrigue. 

Recycled materials used included shredded plastic bags, scrunched up tissue paper, bubble wrap, a newspaper, paper plates, an upside down bucket, milk cartons, cereal boxes, ribbons, bottle tops, yoghurt tubs and of course every child's favourite -

glitter! Some photos of the hats are displyed in the ramp inside the front door for all to see. 

After a feast of hot cross buns with butter and honey(traditional Easter fare) we went to the hall for school assembly. We sang songs, learned a new nursery rhyme and had 4 really exciting raffles. Naturally we were disappointed if we didn't win one of

the prizes but we learned that we have to be brave and be happy for those who won the raffle!!! 

A big THANK YOU   to all the parents who collected sponsor money for our Mad Hatters' Walk. Bernie counted the money collected and the total was a little over €1,000. We are so thankful to you all and rest assured the money will be spent very

wisely for the benefit of all the children. 

We also had a raffle for the sponsors and Fergal will send Dragos' parents the winners' prize which was kindly donated by the Gibson Hotel (near the O2 venue).

Come on parents! a big brave smile for the winners!!!

We are still looking for some "arty" helpers to colour some cartoon pictures for our mini playground called "Tir na nOg". The pictures have been outlined in pencil and just need to be "coloured in". text/phone Fergal on 085-8722323 if you would like to

help. Any day @ 8:30 am.

And for those parents who would like to help the teachers out in the classroom, please text/phone Fergal on 085-8722323. You don't need any experience at all, just a willing heart and a big smile! 8:30 to 10am any day. 

The children in Junior Infants have started their second book called "Len likes to Hide". It is very important that parents listen to their child reading and discuss the picture on the facing page every evening. "Sight" vocab and sound cards should also be

checked every day. It should take no more than 10 minutes daily - a very small amount of time really to give your child the best opportunity. 

While Teachers would ideally like to listen to every child's reading, sight vocab and sounds every day there simply isn't enough time to do so! 

Your child depends on someone in your house to help them along and encourage them.

More updates in 2 week's time,Fergal

14.04.13

Hi everyone! 

It's been at least 2 weeks since I posted an update as we had been on spring holidays. I hope that you all enjoyed the time off and managed to get an

opportunity to go on some fun family outings. There are many places that

families can visit in the greater Dublin area that are either free of charge or just have a nominal charge. Many are educational and fun too! Try our good friend

"Google" for a list of such venues. 

Congratulations to the winners of our Raffle in conjunction with the "Mad Hatters' Walk". The winners were the parents of a little boy in Junior Infants, Dragos. Their prize is Bed and breakfast for 2 in The Gibson hotel in Dublin.

Every card that was returned on the day of the Walk was put into a hat and one pulled out. A number on that card was chosen and whoever had sponsored that number was the winner. Sincere thanks to everyone who supported our

first fund-raising event.

We celebrated "HOLI" the Hindu festival of colour last week and the children had SOOOO much fun. They were shown photos in books and videos found on the internet to see how people celebrate by throwing bags of coloured powder at each other. We then did a scaled down version by drawing a very large face

and coloured it using our fingers and different stripes of paint. I'm sure that the children would have preferred to do the real thing but told the teachers that

their parents would not be pleased if they went home like the Hindus after HOLI !!!

Len (a character from the children's reader) is proving to be a tricky little chap. He likes to hide and every day he appears in a different place in the school. His

sister Jen, likes to play tricks and goodness knows what she is going to do when the children read about her!!!! 

If you have a child for Junior Infants this September (2013) please ask Bernie, our morning receptionist/Secretary for an APPLICATION FORM as soon as you

can as we are coming near the end of our list. We will be offering places by letter at the beginning of May. Remember, our policy is

"First Come, First Served". It doesn't matter if you already have a child in our school; every child has to be

applied for separately.

Our CUIDITHEOIRI (In-Class parents helpers) started their second series of sessions last Monday. It's such a fantastic help to all the teachers having the parents in the classes listening to the children’s reading, lining their Aistear

copies, helping with maths games and the many other activities that they engage in. 

We are still collecting used batteries and mobile phones. If you have any lying about at home, we can use them in school. 

School begins @ 8:30am and ends at 13:10pm daily. Every child likes to line up with his/her friends in the mornings and also likes to see your face waiting

for them at "home time".

If you have written a note to teacher in your child's notebook, please leave it open so that teacher knows to read it. it is almost impossible for the teachers

to check EVERY folder EVERY day. Many thanks. 

If you know even at this early stage in the school year that your child will be attending a different school next year (for whatever reason) please inform

Fergal or Bernie in the office as soon as you can. Obviously we will not mention this fact to your child as you will not wish to distress them

unnecessarily,

Our current theme in Aistear (Structured Play) is "The Garden Centre" and we hope to consolidate and bring realism to the children's play by bringing them to our local Garden centre in Clonee this Wednesday. Parents don't have to

any different preparation for this trip as it will take place during school hours.

17.03.13Lá Fhéile Phádraig shona do gach éinne sa scoil seo againne.

Happy festival weekend to everyone. I hope that you get an opportunity to experience some of the wonderful events on offer

in Dublin city and the outlying towns and villages. We had a great surprise on Friday morning in school when we discovered a very colourful festival weekend display in the

main ramp. A big "Thank you" to the secret display artist!!

We are all looking forward to our "Mad Hatters' Fun Walk" on Friday morning next. 

The phrase "mad as a March Hare" and "The Mad hatter's Tea party" in the book Alice In Wonderland have given us the theme for our fun event to mark end of term and our fund-raising event. 

We are going to make our "Mad Hats" from recycled materials that we find at home - cardboard, plastic bottles, feathers, lollipop sticks etc. Our secret photographer will be out and about "snapping" all the wonderful creations and a colourful

display will record the best efforts.

If possible try to bring the sponsorship money into school during the week before the event as we are on Spring Break for two weeks following the walk.

The photos that parents ordered were delivered to the school last Friday and will be distributed during the week.

We have a great opportunity for any artistic parents to help out in our school. Six large cartoon characters are being painted on marine plywood at the moment to be located inTir na nÓg, our mini playground. Text Fergal on 085-8722323 if you would

like to help out. 

Our Spring Break will begin @ noon following the Madhatters' Fun Walk. School reopens @ 8:30am on Monday  April 8th.

We received good news from the Department of Education recently regarding our permanent building in Hansfield. All planning permission and other legal requirements have been granted/satisfied allowing our building to go ahead according to plan. Diggers will move on to the site in Hansfield this July and our Board of Management should be handed the keys one year

later.

Finally, this is a most unusual   request to have to request. Parents, when you are "dropping off" in the mornings or "picking up" in the afternoons please do not leave your babies in your cars with the engine running. It's VERY dangerous!

Until next week,Fergal

06.03.13The boys and girls have decorated a beautiful SPRING WALLin the ramp inside

the main door. It is filled with symmetrical butterflies, caterpillars, daffodils with yellow trumpets, lovely lambs with white fleece and all set on a fantastic

background of green hills and blue skies that the Senior Infants painted to begin the gigantic mural. Come in and have a look, you won't be disappointed!

If you are a parent with an artistic flair, we would be delighted if you could help us. The children in all the classes have had an election and voted for their

favourite cartoon characters. We are now going to paint these characters onto thick planks of wood ( 1M X 1.5M) and attach them to the railings in Tir na nÓG (our small playground at the back of the school). We will also be looking for an expert to attach the pictures securely to the railings as soon as they have been

completed.

Thursday (7th of March) is World Book Day. All the classes will be marking the occasion by engaging in DEAR time, teacher reading a book for the children or listening to a CD book with a wonderful tale. We are hoping to receive a book

token for every child in our school that can be redeemed in any bookshop for a specified book or as part payment towards any other book. Maybe you could

bring your child to visit the library to celebrate World Book Day or read a book with them at bedtime to give imagination to their dreams!!

And let's not forget all the mums in our school this Sunday (10th March) as Mothers' Day is celebrated throughout the world. Our mums work tirelessly throughout their lives to take care of their children (and it doesn't stop when the children grow up!!) and next Sunday is a great opportunity to show our

appreciation. Mums love squeezy hugs, so make sure that you give her one to remember!!!

Our enrolments for Junior Infants in September 2013 is almost at 100 at the moment. If you have a child for this class, please fill in an application form as soon as you can because all three classes will be filled soon. Download the form from this website or call into the school for a hard copy if you prefer.

The sample photos that were taken recently have all been returned at this stage and have been sent to the company with the correct money. We were not

given a date for their return but we will text everyone when we know.

To begin saving money to buy so many things that we will need when we move into our new school in Hansfield, we are organising a "Mad Hatters' sponsored Walk on Friday 22nd March. We would love to have parents helping us on the day and joining in with the fun too! Get your children to make a "MAD HAT" from recycled materials that will stay on their heads as we do our sponsored

walk. We will be handing out sponsorship cards to the children closer to the day and hope that each child can get 10 sponsors. 

A big "THANK YOU" to Bernie for planting so many brightly-coloured and pretty flowers around the school and for getting Hyacinth bulbs for every classroom. The blossoms and their fragrance have been so spectacular! Spring has certainly arrived when the "daffs" start poping their heads up

following the long and cold winter that we have endured. 

Our school is going to change its name towards the end of 2013 to "Hansfield Educate Together NS". This is the name of the area in which our new building

will be located and also the name of the secondary school beside us and indeed the train station beside the two schools, so it makes logical sense to

have all three buildings with the same name. Isn’t it true??

This week I will fix a photo in the Parents' Notice Board of what our new building will look like in September 2014. Exciting isn't it?

More news next week,Fergal

 

17.02.13I hope that everyone had a marvellous mid-term break and that you feel refreshed after all the exciting activities you were

involved in during the break!

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us this Wednesday when we make a second attampt to go on our educational excursion to discover the services in our community. We have been focussing on the Post Office, The Restaurant and the Medical

Centre in our Aistear Room for the past few months and so we are off to discover other services in the village. 

From a parents' point of view, the day will be no different to any other. You can give your child the same lunch, drop off and pck up at the same times s you normally do. PLEASE parents, take some time to talk to your child about the trip and what they

saw. 

Our Pancake Tuesday went off a treat! All the children had an opportunity to mix the flour, eggs and milk to make a "batter" , "toss" the pancakes and most importantly, eat a pancake drizzled with maple syrup. A special word of thanks goes to Chef

Theresa who worked very hard to ensure everyone knew how to make pancakes (pancóga as gaeilge) and had enough to eat. 

We also had a four-legged visitor last week who went around to each class and helped Fiona from The Dogs' Trust to explain to everyone how best we should care for pet dogs in our homes. Both the children and the dog were on their best behaviour!

Many thanks to Fiona for her very interesting presentation and also to Mary who coordinated the visit.

Our BIG news this week is that all the Junior Infants will be starting to read their first ever "reader book". they have been practising their "sight words" for the last few weeks and now they are ready to put them together and make them into small

sentences in the books. 

WE NEED YOUR HELP PARENTS FOR THIS BIG AND IMPORTANT JOB!

First, have a nice little chat about what is happening in the picture and then read the words with your child, then listen to your child reading on his/her own and finally sign your name inside the front cover to say that you've done all this !!!

It's like magic! When you do this parents, with your child EVERY day they will make rapid progress with their reading, a skill that they'll have for the rest of their lives. You'll be amazed how quickly that they will learn and you will have been part of it!  

How amazing is that ????Many thanks to you all.

Finally, a short reminder to you all about any spare mobile phones that you might have at home. We're collecting them in the school so that we can get a defibrilator. Just pop them in your child's folder and "Teacher" will put it in the collection box.

More news next week,Fergal

10.02.13We have a lot of celebrations this week in school. It's the Chinese New Year (year of the snake), Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday,

Valentine's Day and of course a mini break from school on Thursday and Friday.

 Good news for BWETNS! Broadband was installed in our building last week. We are now going to arrange for wireless access and hopefully

in the not too distant future also install hardware to enhance the children’s learning by having access to the wealth of on-line

resources.

Parents PLEASE respect the parking arrangements our school is part of in the three school campus. I do understand that walking in the rain from the Spar Centre to the school and back isn't ideal. Between the three schools in the campus however, there are over 1,000 children

and clearly it just isn't possible to facilitate every parent parking outside the front gate at the same time. If you feel the need to

apologise to Seanna (the caretaker for Mary, Mother of Hope Schools) for your less than exemplary behaviour last week, please do so !!!

Our school will be closed on Thursday and Friday of this week for mid-term break. 

Our planned educational excursion last week had to be postponed due to the poor weather. We will make another attempt on Wednesday

February 20th. 

Plans for our new school building in Hansfield are on schedule. All the necessary planning permission has been granted on time and building is due to commence during July 2013. The school will be

ready for us to occupy eleven months subsequent to this. It is such an exciting time for our school and I hope that everyone, teachers,

parents, Board of Management and children all get involved to make it our own happy and busy learning centre. 

It is essential for parents to go over sounds, numbers and sight words with Junior infants EVERY day. We will be starting the

children's first reader book after the mid-term break and once we begin, we will be progressing at a fairly lively pace through the first book, then on to the second and third books in quick succession. 

The Chinese New Year has been celebrated in Dublin as a public festival for a good number of years now and despite the rain during

the weekend, celebrations went ahead as usual. This New Year will be the year of the snake and not very popular among the Chinese by all accounts, so much so that they avoid having children on this year as

it isn't the luckiest of years! 

The Chinese prepare for the celebrations by cleaning their homes, tying up any "loose ends" that they may have in their lives, purchase

a new set of clothes and prepare good luck charms to share with friends.

One of our Chinese students (Sin Wang Deng) has travelled to China with her parents to join in the celebrations with her extended family

and friends. Children get red envelopes (with money inside) from their parents during the celebrations. 

Gung Hay fat choy!

Shrove Tuesday or "Mardi Gras" as it can also be called is a Christian celebration. It is the last day before a six week period of abstinence (Lent) before Easter Sunday. Traditionally, any  fancy/sweet foods in the house were all used up on this day in pancakes. A thin batter mix (flour, eggs and water) is fried in a pan (pancakes) and the sweet or

fancy food rolled up inside. Yum, yum, Is maith liom! Theresa is going to make pancakes with every class on Tuesday in the teachers'

Room. 

The Dogs' Trust is also visiting our school on Tuesday to explain to the children how to look after their pets.

Thanks to Mary for organising this visit - ruff, ruff !!

Wednesday is the first day of "Lent" for Christians and they draw a cross on their foreheads with ashes to remind them of how their

leader died and their destiny in the soil. The ashes paste is made from burned palm leaves (from Palm Sunday) mixed with Chrism (perfume and balsam oil). Everyone chooses to refrain from a treat during Lent.

Children usually give up sweets or make a special effort to help at home during lent.

Thursday brings us Valentine's Day thought by some as no more than a commercial boost for card, chocolate and flower shops. The

romantics however will say that it's an opportunity to tell the people close to you that you love them. Take your pick!!!

No school on Thursday or Friday this week remember!

I think that's enough news for one week !!!!Enjoy all the celebrations

Fergal

03.02.13Happy Spring everyone!

There's always a big debate as to when Spring actually begins. Met Eireann base their date on the months and the weather, astronomers look to space for the answer and gardeners watch nature for new life begining. In any case for us in school, winter is coming to an end and we can look forward to longer, brighter days when nature wakes from

its winter sleep and "springs" into life once more. And more to the point we can go to the playground and play !!!

All the classes are keeping a keen eye on theirhyacinths which Bernie got for us some weeks ago. We are discovering what 3 things the

plants need to make sure that they blossom and we can experience their wondrful fragrance. Why not plant with your child/ren at home

too? It's a great way to introduce growing and caring and so interesting to see the wonder of nature in action.

All the children and teachers are off on a bus trip this Thursday 7th February. We hope to have a double decker so that we are all

together. On the bus we're going to sing all the songs we learned in school this year. Our trip is an educational excursion   to see all the

different shops/businesses in Blanchardstown village and in the shopping centre - a visit to our local community in essence. We plan

to walk through the shopping centre, have a picnic (please let the weather be ok!!!) and visit the playground. Everything remains the same on that day; Lunches, Drop off and pick up times. Rain coats

essential. If parents are available to assist, it would be great. Talk to Fergal. Leaving @ 9:15am and returning @ 1:00pm

Our in-class parent helpers are beginning their career this week! They will be known as "cuiditheoiri" which is the Irish for "helpers". They will be asssisting the teachers in a variety of ways; listening to sight vocab, Jolly Phonics sounds, art classes, Maths for fun stations and Aistear planning. The initiative is sure to be a great success.  Thanks to Julie for all the preparatory work she has undertaken - incredible!

It was Theresa's birthday   last week so if you see her around the school make sure to wish her all the best for the next 21 years !!!

If you wish to help your child learn his/her sounds but are unsure about the sounds that the letters make in english simply google "Jolly

phonics sounds" and you can learn the jingle, actions and the sounds. This would be a great activity to do with your child in the evening time. children love to show mum and dad all they know!!!

Don't forget the old mobile phones that you aren't using any more. We can get a dfibrilator for our school if we can fill the box in the foyer

with phones.

Speaking of the foyer, we have installed a small flat screen monitor there with a slide show of the childrenlearning in school. It's lovely to see the variety of ways the children learn and how hapy they all are. Thanks to Mary for the monitor and for putting together the slides. 

The children in junior infants have all made 3D snowmen out of recycling Actimel bottles. If you know of something nice the children

could make by recycling containers please tell one of the teachers and we can begin collecting. We have boxes in the teachers' Room for

recycleable materials.

More news next week,Fergal

27.01.13

It was lovely to welcome a new boy   into junior Infants this week. We hope that Josh will be very happy in our

school and make lots of new friends.

Our Introduction to being a parent"Cuiditheoir" last Wednesday morning was a great success. The parents

who attended have confirmed the mornings that they are available to help the teachers in the classrooms and we

will be starting the initiative next week. 

If you were unable to attend and would like to add your name to the list please speak with Fergal or

Julie. 

Parent/Teacher meetings   take place this week with time slots before school time, after school time and one evening slot. Teachers have sent home sheets with provisional time slots. If these times don't suit parents can suggest other times that may be more suitable. in any case, it is really important that all

parents meet with their child's class teacher in the coming days to discuss the learning progress being

made.

We are looking for some artistic parentsto depict characters from fairy tales/nursery rhymes on large plywood sheets. These murals will be bolted on to the railings at the end of the building and decorate

our mini playground called "Tir na nÓg". If you would like to get involved please talk to Fergal.

Aistear during February will focus on"THE HEALTH CENTRE". If parents are visiting their local health

centre, it would be great if you could talk with your child/ren about the people there, what they do, the things that are associated with the location, what people say there and when you return home try to

recreate the Health Centre by drawing pictures, talking about what you did there or maybe even

building it using junk materials. 

The children are making such a great effort keeping their promise to their school friends about making

healthy choices, especially during snack time. They are eating a variety of different fruits, sandwiches

and vegetables and drinking milk, water and juices. These snacks in conjunction with aerobic exercise allow their learning to be optimised during school

hours. 

Homework   is assigned daily (except Fridays) to all classes. Please participate in your child's homework as it validates and reinforces the learning organised

in school. Any questions, just ask teacher!

Parents who would like to set up a parents' Faith Formation Group could express this interest to

Fergal or Julie. We will formally visit this initiative in the third term of this academic year.

More News next week,Fergal

20.01.13A big "welcome" to our new teacher 

Aisling who will help out in our school every Wednesday by teaching small groups of children for

practice in speaking, playing, holding their pencils correctly or learning new words in english. Aisling is a lovely teacher and is shared between BWETNS, Castaheany ETNS and

St.Benedicts NS in Ongar.

We have recently installed a landline in our temporary building in order to facilitate a broadband connection. The landline number is 

01-8238406. Our morning receptionist Bernie can receive calls on this number and also on our new mobile

number which is 085 8722323. 

As soon as you receive a text from the new mobile you might add it to your contacts as the school's number. Thanks. 

Many parents have expressed an interest in participating in the learning process in school. We will have a meeting on 

Wednesday morning   of this week at 8:30am  

to outline how this will be a great success for parents, teachers and children. We'll meet in the staffroom at 8:30 and the meeting should take only a short time.

Our annual Parent/Teacher meetings will take place on Wednesday 28th ,  

Thursday 29th   and Friday 30th of January. 

This is a great opportunity for parents to have a quick chat (10 minutes max) with the teachers to find out how the children's learning is progressing. Details will be sent home this week

regarding times.

We have recently introduced a nice small playground at the end of the school for between 8 and 10 children at each breaktime. The line leaders from each class go to 

"Tir na nÓg" to try to get the basketball into the net, 

swing the hips with hoola hoops and try to learn how to skip with skipping ropes. Theresa our SNA is the BOSS in this fun play area. 

We are looking for some artistic parents to paint scenes from fairy tales or nursery rhymes on large wooden plywood sheets for this area. 

(Talk to Fergal if you're interested) 

The National forum for 2nd level Educate Together Schools 

is taking place on Saturday 26th January in the Hilton Hotel, Kilmainham. Registration is at 9:45am. All parents of children attending Educate Together school are welcome to attend.

At the end of each month (beginning at the end of January) we will be contacting parents of those children who are regularly late for school informing them of 

the total tuition time lost   as a result. It is something that we feel very strongly about and want to encourage both

attendance and punctuality. 

Children in junior Infants will be getting 

small items of homework   from this week on. Although each class follows exactly the same lessons, homework content

may vary depending how quickly each class gets through work during the day. Parents, please take the time to chat with your child while doing the homework. Remember that the blue

notebook in your child's folder is your line of communication with school. 

We all make a promise in our school to help each other make healthy choices. 

It's difficult to keep this promise when your child is eating biscuits, chocolate bars, crisps or drinking fizzy drinks at lunch time. Your child wants to keep their promise to everyone so

please help them to do this. Thank you all so much.

At "Drop Off" time 

on wet days, please bring the children to the hall. At "Pick Up" time, the ramp should be open so that you

can wait in relative comfort.

We are in 

the restaurant   this month for our AISTEAR focus and any chat you can have with your child about what goes

on in a restaurant or make a pretend dining room for the "waiter" to show you all he/she knows would be great. 

During the sharp, cold weather that is forecast for this week our building's water supply may freeze. If we can't provide water and /or heat, we will have to close the school until such time as we have both to provide. The school will open despite adverse weather conditions if we

have heat and/or water. In poor weather conditions it is up to each parent to decide if they can

get their child safely to the school gates.   The school personnel take responsibility from there on. 

If the school has to close, the days have to be "paid back"  

using days in our break in March.

More bits 'n bobs next week.Take care everyone and keep warm!

Fergal

31.12.12Last day of the year and I hope that everyone is

having a great winter holiday so far. We don't have any special traditions in Ireland really for this day apart from families gathering together at midnight

and holding hands while singing the words of "Auld Lang Syne" written by the Scottish poet Robert

Burns. "

Spaniards have a tradition of eating one grape at each gong of the midnight bell toll.

Whatever your own tradition, may the final day of 2012 be a happy one for your family and may 2013

bring many joys and dreams come true for everyone associated with BWETNS.

Speaking of our school's name, we hope to have it changed by June 2013 well in advance of our move

to Ongar and the opening of our permanent building. In addition we hope to develop a unique

school logo related to the Ongar area or our school's focus. Because the secondary school

beside us will be called "Hansfield" we feel that it would be too confusing to call ourselves the same name. We were thinking about "Ongar" or an Irish derivation of a local name place or geographical

feature. All suggestions welcome!

We will be in our new building in September 2014.The secondary school will be occupying the

third floor until their building is ready.

The restaurant is our Aistear theme during the month of January and if you have any "props" that will make the room more authentic they would be

most welcome. 

We are also collecting old mobile phones in school so that we can get a defribilator. This machine is essential where large groups of young people are gathered to minimise the risk of sudden death due

to cardiac emergencies. The collection box is located at the top of the ramp.

Have you decided on your New Year's Resolution yet? You might consider focusing on your child's school needs as your resolution for 2013 and see the enormous difference it makes. Being at school @ 8:25am, ready to collect at 1:05pm and setting

aside 5 minutes every evening to practice sounds/reading at home. See how you get on!

Thanks. 

Everyone will be delighted to hear that Martina had a baby boy just before the holidays. Mum, Dad and

son are all doing well! Congratulations to Martina's family from everyone in BWETNS.

More news next week.Fergal

17.12.12

2012 has been a wonderful year for our young school. During 2012 we have grown from one class to four, have added more fantastic teachers to our team, have gained more willing parent helpers and have lots more great students to be really proud of. Our school has been guided in a very practical and

commonsense fashion by our Board of Management who work behind the scenes as a group and deserve a lot of thanks and appreciation for their expertise.

We will be having short "Winter Celebration" Assemblies on Friday next (21st) and all parents are cordially invited. As our "hall" isn't large enough to hold all the children and their parents we will have 2

sessions. 

The idea behind the "celebration" is that we have a

lot of things to celebrate at this time of year (holidays, Christmas, Hanukkah, solstice) and we

should all celebrate together; teachers, parents and pupils. 

Our winter holidays will begin after the assemblies on Friday and we return to school for the second

term on Monday January 7th 2013.

Following some staff members doing a First Aid course we were encouraged to collect used mobile

phones in exchange for a defibrillator for our school. This piece of equipment is literally a life saver and to have one in our school would be a

source of great comfort to everyone. 

At this time of year with telephone upgrades being availed of and new phones being bought as gifts, it seems like the perfect time to collect the old mobile phones. We have a collection box located at the top of the ramp where all the phones will be gratefully

accepted. 

Our AISTEAR room will be changing its focus from the post office to THE RESTAURANT after the winter break. If you have any props that you think might be

of use we would be delighted with them. Just tell teacher what you have and we can arrange a time to

take them from you. 

I realise that the finances in every family are stretched at the moment but you might consider buying some books for your children during the

holidays. If this isn't possible maybe you could go to the Blanchardstown library on a family outing and

go to the kiddies section there. It's free and it's great fun too!

Just another quick reminder regarding gifts for teachers at holiday time - A word of thanks or a card

is greatly appreciated.

We had a very successful Parents' information meeting last week when we explained how the maths programme we follow in our school is

approached - "Ready, Set, Go" - and how parents can help so easily to support our work in school. We

all had great fun and eventhough it was a particularly cold evening there was a large turnout. Thanks to Lisa for providing the bright and cheerful

venue and all the preparation earlier that day. 

Only 20 lines left in our "Giant Teddy" raffle. We hope to "scratch the winner" on the day of the

assemblies so if you want to be in with a chance of adding a new member to your family who would be maintenance free send your €2 in the sound folders

to teacher!

Hope to see you all at our assemblies on Friday morning.

Fergal

10.12.12Hi everyone!

Our mid-winter break is fast approaching and the children are busy preparing for our "winter celebration" assembly which all the parents are most welcome to attend on the last day of this term. The children will sing some songs about Christmas and Hanukkah, their Jolly Phonics

sounds and some other action songs.

Our first fire drill was a great success. All the pupils in our school were evacuated from the building and acounted for in less than five minutes. It might be a good idea for everyone to

devise a fire plan for your home   and involve your children in making the plan. 

As you can imagine it is really cold for the children and teachers at the moment when we go out to the playground. Eventhough it is cold it is also very important for us all to get fresh air as it helps us to learn. Please make sure that your child has a nice warm coat   (if possible with a hood) and that they are able to put it on and take it off independently. If you would like to get

gloves, mittens are a great idea, easy on-easy off.

Our Junior Infants are now coming close to finishing all their single letter sounds and it is vital that they practice them every day at home. It takes less than five minutes so please try to fit it into your daily timetable at home. Once we begin blending our sounds there won't be a lot of

time to go back on work already completed. 

We have about twenty lines remaining in our Teddy Bear Raffle. If you would like a chance to win the Teddy Bear for the blind you can put €2 in your child's sound folder and teacher will

write the name on one of the lines. Thank you.

We will be organising a meeting in January for all those parents who would like to help out in the classrooms. Keep an eye on this section of the website and the parents' Notice Board.

A short reminder that gifts for teachers at this time of the year are not necessary or expected. Say something nice on a card or simply say "Thank You" when you see the teacher. 

Teachers love "Thank yous"

The teachers will be meeting with the parents of all the children towards the end of January to report formally to you on your child's progress in school. Times option sheets will be sent

home closer to the day in an affort to facilitate all of the parents' busy lives.

If you are thinking about buying something nice for your child this holiday time, please consider a book   and maybe let your child choose his/her book to buy. Another option is

to visit the library   in the shopping centre where there is a wonderful selection of books to borrow.

We now have seven teachers and a special needs assistant in our schooland all the children will benefit greatly from the very comprehensive allocation of assistance that we have

planned. When children's learning needs are catered for they are happier and love coming to school. We hope that with the extra help that we now have and with parents also helping out,

we will have the happiest school in Ireland! 

Don't forget the small birds   during the cold weather. When the ground is hard they find it difficult to forrage and rely on us humans to leave scraps out for them. Each class in our

school has a bird feeder filled with nuts and suet to look after our feathered friends.

More news next week.Fergal

30.11.12Last day of November today!

Boy, it's been a cold month, hasn't it? 

I hope that the month of December won't be as cold but I'm afraid the weather forecasters don't have great news for us on that front!

The whole issue of which months match which seasons has been further complicated by the meteorological Station informing us that they decide the "winter" months by temperature! For what it's worth,

our traditional Irish "Winter" months areNovember, December and January. 

On a more practical note, please ensure that the children are well wrapped up   in the mornings coming to school especially on a Monday

morning as the school hasn't been heated during the weekend.

Our "Aistear" theme for the month of December is"The Post Office" (Oifig an Phoist) and so if you are going there to post letters or

to get postal orders or to pay bills, it would be a great idea to bring your child with you and use the opportunity to talk about what people

do in a Post Office. 

We have more than half of our lines sold for The Big Teddy raffle   in aid of the Council for the Blind. €2 gets your name on a line and a one

in seventy chance of winning the Teddy.

We are having the first of our termly Fire Drills this week.   The children will discover how important it is to remain calm and walk in an orderly fashion to their assembly point. The chance of a fire breaking out in a primary school while the children are in class is minimal. The whole idea is that because most fires happen in the home the children will

encourage families to put a plan in place. 

We tell the children the day and time of this drill. During the next term we will tell the children the day but not the time   and in the final term

the children will know the week but neither the day nor time. 

Parents, please sign and date all notes   that the teachers write in your child's blue notebook to show that you have read the notes.

Notebooks should be checked every evening. Thanks.

Photos of grandparents   that were kindly sent to school for our display have been sent home last week or this week. Please check folders for

your photos.

Our WINTER CELEBRATIONS ASSEMBLY   will take place in our hall on the day of the holidays. Parents are invited to join with the children

and teachers to celebrate the children's learning, Christmas and Hanukkah. As we have 4 classes this year we are going to do two

"shifts". Julie's and Jacqui's classes and parents will go first followed by Lisa's and Fergal's classes. More details closer to the day. 

As you are all probably aware at this stage, we are due to move into our permanent building in ongar in September 2014. The name that we have for our school at the moment is one we chose as we didn't know where we would eventually be located. Now that we know it's going to be in the Barnwell estate in Hansfield, Ongar we want to

change our school's name. What do you think that it should be? If you have an idea, please email it to bwetns@gmail.com 

Remember, if it's raining when the children arrive at school in the mornings at 8:30, you should go to the hall and line up there so that

you don't get wet.

If the children are late any day, they have to buzz at the main door because the classroom doors are closed to keep in the heat. There's no need to buzz lots of times. Poor Bernie only has two legs   and if she is already bringing late children to their classrooms she can't

open the door at the same time! Please Be Patient. I'm sure that you agree that Bernie is not to blame for your tardiness! Thank you and a

smile is a better plan.It's nice to be nice!

More bits 'n bobs next week,Fergal

23.11.12Dia dhaoibh go léir

(hi everyone)

Following a very comprehensive recruitment process last week, our Board of Management have appointed three new staff members.

1. An English Language Support teacher.2. A teacher for Martina's class while she 

is out on maternity leave.3. A Special Needs Assistant. 

Our school community welcomes Mary, Jacqui and Theresa and hope that they will have a great time guiding our children's learning and that they will

make lots of friends here.

A big "Thank You" to Deirdre who did a great job looking after the children in Martina's class while she was ill for some time.

The weather forecast people tell us that next week is going to be really cold   so the children and teachers should wrap up well coming into school and make

sure to have suitably warm coats for the playground. 

Parents, please make sure that the children can open and close their coats and shoes independently. 

The National Council for the Blind of Ireland have asked us to raffle a giant Teddy bear to raise funds for their great work. There are 70 lines to be sold

and when a hidden number is scratched away the number of the winning line will be revealed. 

Lines cost €2 each which you can put in your child's little sound folder for a chance to win the GIANT TEDDY. 

The raffle will take place as soon as the 70 lines have been sold. Best of luck everyone. 

We hope that the large group of parents who came to our Aistear information evening last Thursday enjoyed Julie and Lisa's super presentation. Thanks

girls!

We believe in the invaluable contribution of play in our children's learning and how valuable it is when parents continue the process at home. 

And it's fun too! 

Our next port of call will be to the Post Office so if you have an opportunity to bring your children there, ask them what they see and get them to converse

with the postmaster/postmistress.

We are flagging the whole topic of presents for teachersearly this year to make sure that our message is heard. Teachers DO NOT EXPECT gifts at the

end of the first term. Of course it is always lovely when your efforts are acknowledged and we are certainly not adverse to this. 

Gifts however, place needless pressure on parents at this time of the year when they have other things to be worrying about. The only things that we

accept are words of appreciation and home made cards.   Please join us in our wishes at this early stage in our school's life to make it easy for

years to come.

Final word this week goes to our Jolly Phonics sounds. Our children do two sounds every week. These should be practised at home every day and it would

be great if parents could ask the children if they know any words that begin with the same sound as the sound you are looking at. 

The next stage is to begin blending the sounds and then we begin with small

word attacking skills. The children really do have to know the initial sounds very solidly to progress through subsequent step comfortably. 

PLEASE parents practice the sounds EVERY evening at home. If the children repeat information within hours of hearing it, they have a significantly better

chance of recalling in the longterm.

More Bits 'n Bobs next weekSlán.

Fergal

 

13.11.12Happy Divali to one and all!

We have many children in our school who will be celebrating the festival of Divali - festival of light

with their families and friends for the next 5 days. it celebrates the victory of light over darkness or good

over evil. 

Hindus, buddhists and sikhs among others all use this particular time to celebrate apart of their own

particular faith system. The time of the year is governed by the lunar cycle - different to our

Gregorian calendar. For this reason, Divali occurs on different dates each year. 

Fireworks, food, rangoli patterns and mendi on people's hands feature among the traditions. 

I can recommend a great explanation video clip on Divaldi found on Youtube made by The National

Geographic Society. And isn't lovely to see Dublin City Council organising a Divali celebration for all

those from India living in Ireland.

Our Aistear Room is now fully set up and running and the children love the many visits they make

there each week. Our theme at the moment is the shopping centre and not surprisingly the fast food

outlets are a firm favourite. Shopping in clothes shops and constructing new stores are also

popular!

The National Council for the Blind of Ireland have asked us to raffle a giant Teddy bear to raise funds for their great work. There are 70 lines to be sold and when a hidden number is scratched away the number of the winning line will be revealed. Lines

cost €2 each. You can write their nameput €2 in your child's sound folder and we'll write their name on

the WIN A TEDDY CARD.

Our school has been allocated an extra teacher who will begin in December. Many teachers have applied for this position and the successful candidate will begin soon. We hope that this teacher will assist Ursula in giving specific help to our students for whom English is a second language and also to

those who have some small learning difficulties. The successful candidate will get a great welcome in our school when he/she arrives I'm sure. In addition to this, Martina will be going out on maternity leave

from next Monday and we have invited teachers to apply for this position also, so we should have 2

new faces in our school by the beginning of December. We wish Martina the very best in her happy times ahead and hope that she will bring

junior into visit the children when they're both well enough to do so. 

An appeal to parents: Please do not to send your child to school in hill-walking boots. The children

are not able to walk in this type of footwear nor are they able to keep the laces knotted securely and

regularly trip as a result.

Some classes have a small toy animal that travels to the homes of different children in turn and

participates in family life there for an evening or a weekend. The toy is accompanied by a camera and a

diary. The idea is that the toy becomes part of the family and is photographed doing the things that the

family does. A small picture is drawn in the diary of one of the activities with the child's name and date

written beside it. All 3 items are returned to the school the following day and the whole class view the photos on the computer and look at the picture drawn in the diary. 5 photos are sufficient and one

big coloured picture drawn in the diary. The children really feel proud when reporting back to their

classmates about the activities they engaged in. 

Thanks to parents/older siblings for checking the sounds with the junior infant children every evening. It will make such a huge difference when they begin

to blend and eventually read.

More snippets next weekend,Fergal

Samhain shona dhaoibh!Happy Halloween to you!

The Irish word for November (Samhain) is the same as the word we use for Halloween. Dating back to the time of the pagan Ireland, the feast of Samhain

was a major celebration in the celtic calendar. 

The Christian calendar has this time of year also set aside to commemorate the spirit of those who had died - All Souls Day. Thus all the ghosts, skeletons, magic and witches theme of Halloween. Maybe it isn't such a coincidence that

both earmarked that particular time of year as a celebration; Mother nature after all makes significant changes at this time. 

Whether coincidence or not we have inherited a "mish mash" of the celtic and Christian traditions and in my opinion why our present day commemoration is so widely misunderstood. Added to the cocktail of course are other influential countries' interpretation of our tradition, resulting in the commercial flurry that

we have but with very little understanding. 

Google "Halloween" and see what you can discover about this time of year!

The children's referendum will take place on Saturday 10th November. If you can vote it is important that you do vote and find out as much as you can beforehand in the little booklets

delivered to every household or go on-line to www.childrensreferendum.ie 

Many thanks to two Muslim mums parents (Sali and Fardana) , who kindly gave of their time to explain about Eid Ul-Adha to all the classes. They went to

a lot of trouble putting together a chart with photos of all the essential elements of the feast and also had a small traditional treat for each of the

children. EID MUBARAK

Thanks also to the dads who, at very short notice cleaned up some rubbish in our campus and filled a skip in extra quicktime. Much appreciated.

The healthy lunches the children bring to school are super! Try to make sure that the snack containers can be easily opened by the children. Your child

should also be able to open and close coats, shoes and school bags independently. 

Classes begin in BWETNS at 8:30am. The children should be waiting outside their classroom @ 8:25am. Children become very upset if they are late because they miss out on reception

time and then teachers have to repeat everything for late-comers. School is practice for adult living where punctuality shows consideration for others and isn't really an option. 

A special word of thanks to all the "collectors" who are waiting for the classroom doors to open @ 1:10pm. As you can understand, it takes the children quite some time to get ready for home because they have lots of "jobs" to do beforehand. If the door doesn't open at exactly 1:10pm this is

invariably the reason. 

If you provide a service that may be useful to other parents in the school, you can request that a small card be placed on the noticeboard at the front of the

school. 

Please return any clothes your child's teacher provides in the event of a toilet "accident". Underwear can be kept but I'm sure that you understand that we

need trousers and tops returned washed and dried. Thanks.

More news in 2 weeks time,Happy halloween!!!!!

Fergal