February Fun

The shortest month of the year was one of our busiest months with lots of things happening. Friendship Week was one of the highlights where all the children, staff and families got involved. We had a lovely cake sale on the Tuesday, where we had dozens of gorgeous cakes. On Friday we had two puppet shows as part of our multicultural day and they went down a treat. We also had our mid-year review of IEPs for children receiving extra support and updated programmes have been made by teachers. We also brought back a pilot of mindful homework and we will be in touch early next week to see what your opinions were of it. March is certainly looking as busy with our annual Childline Breakfast coming up on Friday, 3rd March. We're also delighted that 3 members of staff are heading to Wales this week for a European project, where they will be looking into language teaching. I hope you enjoy this month's newsletter and until next time, keep happy, safe and learning.

February Mindfulness

This month we focused on reintroducing mindfulness homework. We will be sending you out a survey shortly to get your thoughts. Please make sure to check your email.

Entrance Exams

6th class pupils are due to take their entrance exams shortly. If you aren't sure about these exams, please contact the school you will be sending your child and they will give you the dates. However, we have sent messages home to this effect with your children and by text.

Childline Breakfast

The annual Childline Breakfast will take place this Friday (3rd March). Please donate €2 or whatever you can afford. All money will go to Childline. Children can come to school in pyjamas.

Breakfast Club

Our Breakfast Club is open for all children from 8:30am Monday to Friday. Come and join Simon, Marita and Yousef for a slice of toast, juice and a chat before starting the day. There's no need to sign up - simply show up in the morning,

Cake Fridays

Join the Parents’ Group for their weekly Cake Fridays in the Parent Room after drop off.

Homework Club

The homework club is running well with nearly 20 pupils taking part. To sign up, contact the office and Marita will give you a call.

Attendance and Lateness

We are monitoring attendance carefully this year.

Attendance per month is

September: 95% | October 93% | November 92% | December 90.5% | January 94.3% | February 91.2%

Overall: 93% | Target: 95%

• 11 pupils have missed 20 days of school or more and must be reported to Tusla
• 26 pupils have been more than 10 minutes late for school more than 10 times.

Please ensure that your child is in school on time. The school opens at 8:30am for breakfast club and 8:35am for morning supervision. Classes start at 8:50am and all children must be in school by then. There are a number of children coming to school after 9am and classes are well underway by then. Our attendance team will be in touch to talk to families of children where this is proving to be a persistent issue.

Second Level Campaign

Please register your interest if you’d like Carlow to have a second level Educate Together school. https://secure.jotformpro.com/form/52224353965962. The group also has a Facebook Page, which we’d recommend you to join.

Volunteer

We’re always thrilled to have parents and families volunteering in the school. We had over 100 parents in school last year and we’d love to see more of you.

Nut Allergy

We have two pupils in our school with nut allergies. It is vital that no nuts ever come into our school. We cannot police every lunchbox so we are relying on you to cooperate with our nut ban.

Upcoming Dates For Your Diary

March

• 3rd: Childline Breakfast
• 17th: St. Patrick's Day (school closed)
• 20th: School closed

Social Media

You can find us on various social media platforms:

YouTube – Search for Carlow Educate Together

Facebook – http://facebook/com/carlowetns

Twitter – http://twitter.com/carlowetns