September 2025

Welcome to the 2025-26 School Year

The first week of the school year is always an exciting time for everyone. We're all getting to know our new teachers, SNAs and everyone else and the children are getting to see their friends, meet new friends and get used to new surroundings. Our new Junior Infants have already settled into the routine of school and we're delighted to welcome them to Carlow Educate Together. We're also very happy to welcome lots of new families to our school. They have settled into their new classes really quickly and it's fantastic to see them playing outside with their new friends. 

This year has been a very poignant one for us as we start our school year without Emer, our much-loved deputy principal. I want to again take the opportunity to thank all of you for your cards, kind wishes and support. 

Our newsletter is designed to keep you informed of what's happening in our community. If you'd like to share anything interesting, please make sure to let us know. We're happy to share any community events or volunteering opportunities or courses that might be going on. 

Simon

When I started teaching the only thing Aladdin meant was a character in a Disney film. Nowadays it is one of the first apps any parent with school-aged children has to download on their phone. Those of you that have used it before will know that you can use Aladdin to send in an absense note, pay for school trips and even share your details with classmates for birthday invites and so on. 

This year Aladdin have added a feature that lets you directly message your class teacher and/or the school through the app. We are going to try this out this year to see how it works instead of email. Your class teacher has likely already sent you a message from Aladdin. If you want to get in touch, open your app, go to Notice Board and click Conact School. You then select the teacher's name(s) and then send your message and your done! As with email, please allow up to 5 days for replies though they are likely to be quicker than that. If you have teachers that are job-sharing, be sure to tick both their names on the app,

You can still ring or email the office any time if you need anything. The purpose of this tool is to ensure messages between school and home don't get lost. We'll see how it goes and look forward to your feedback.

Just a reminder for everyone about our traffic management system. Please remember, we have over 300 children leaving the building at 2:30pm and many are now walking or cycling home and will be crossing the roads. Please ensure to drive under the speed limit of 10kph and please do not use your phones while driving. As you know, children can run out on the roads very suddenly, and it's simply not worth the risk.

We also ask you not to arrive before 2:25pm any day. We can only fit 32 cards in the queue around the site so we don't have space for much traffic. Cars are not allowed to move until all buses are gone so arriving before then makes little sense. We have everyone picked up within 10 minutes so you won't be waiting around very long. We need to keep the Athy Road free from traffic and we appreciate your coooperation. If you find yourself here early, please consider supporting some of the local businesses like the Delta Centre in Strawhall who have a lovely café and loads of parking.

As many of you know, secretaries and caretakers across the country are taking indefinite strike action as they fight for equal pension rights and sick leave as their colleagues. There will be pickets set up outside the school. School staff have been instructed not to take on any of the duties of the people striking.  The impact of this will differ from school to school, depending on the roles that the caretakers and secretaries took on.

It is possible that we will see a number of schools closing in the coming days and weeks ahead as toilets become blocked, heating systems break down and bins begin to overflow. We will keep you up to date on our own situation. 

The Smartphone Policy was ratified just before the summer holiday by our Board of Management. As part of that policy, families must now fill in a permission form if they need their child to have possession of a smart device on the school premises. You can fill out the form here: https://forms.gle/duvoiiWoeABVPAtB8 

Some classwork and homework will be shared with you on the above platforms. You will hear from your teachers in the coming weeks about getting set up for the year.

In the next couple of weeks, 4th to 6th class will be engaging in a new programme called Workshop Wednesdays. The idea behind the scheme is to give children access to curriculum subjects on a deeper level including some new subjects. Children will be divided into groups of 15 and throughout the year they will take part in 5 different workshops. They will be: Modern Foreign Language (either French of Portuguese), Physical Education through Irish, Literacy through Technology, Science through Outdoor Education, and Visual Arts. Children will have 5 weeks in each workshop and we're loking forward to hearing what they think.

We have lots of after school clubs running this year. A full timetable will be produced in the coming weeks but keep an eye out for something that might interest you. From Sports to French to Yoga to Keyboard lessons, there's something for everyone!