Firhouse ETNS

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you've all settled back into the spring term. January is nearly coming to an end and we're looking forward to brighter mornings in the coming weeks and months. Please see below some updates/information about things in our school.

28th January: 6th class Gurdwara Trip

2nd February: bank holiday (school closed)

5th February: school closed for staff training

6th February: Fáilte Friday

11th February: School pictures day (County photos)

13th February: Love Day (children can wear pink/red etc. to school)

16th February - 22nd February: school closed for February midterm

24th, 25th and 26th March: Spring show (times to be confirmed)

I am expecting a baby in late April/early May and will begin maternity leave after the spring holidays. During this time, the day-to-day running of the school will continue as normal, with Heather O'Doherty, Deputy Principal, acting as Principal and Anna Colgan, AP1 acting as Deputy Principal.

I'm currently working on hiring a substitute for my maternity leave to replace Heather's SET role.

PGTA Food Drive – Friday 6 February
The PGTA will be holding a food drive in aid of the Ballycullen Food Bank on Friday 6 February, and we’d love your support.
We are gratefully accepting donations of:

• Non-perishable food items (unopened and in date please)
• Toiletries
• Household/cleaning supplies

We can also accept gift vouchers for local supermarkets, as well as cash or card donations on the day, which will be added to the Dowling's butcher account.

Donations can be dropped to the school at 8.25am, 1.05pm, and 2.05pm.
Thank you for helping us support those in need in our community

FETNS is pleased to introduce a new parent/guardian peer support network, launching soon. This monthly online, peer-led space will bring parents and guardians together to connect, share experiences, and support one another around common parenting topics. Sessions will include open conversation, themed discussions guided by participant interest, and occasional guest speakers from relevant organisations.

The network will be open to all parents and guardians within the FETNS community, with no requirement to attend every session; participants are welcome to join as often or as little as they like.

Further details, including the launch date and how to get involved, will be shared shortly.

As a school, we do not share children's faces on our website or social media. Children's faces are shown only on password protected padlets (when permission has been received from parents.)

We are delighted to announce that Spring Show time is upon us again. Shows this year will be held on 24th, 25th and 26th of March. If you would like your child to perform as a soloist in one of the shows please email springshow@firhouseetns.ie before the 6th of March with the following details:

Child's name:

Class:

Act:

Please note that the solo acts should be no longer than 3 minutes. Soloists will only perform on one of the dates, we will let them and their families know well in advance of ticket sales so that they know what day to purchase a ticket for.

This was a huge success and we were delighted to see such creative 'bags' being brought to school!

County Photos will take the school photos again this year. They will take individual photos of children in Junior Infants and 6th class and any child who does not have a sibling in the school.

They will then take sibling photos for every one else.

They will also take class photographs.

If you would like an individual photo of your child (even if they have a sibling) - please let your child's class teacher know by sending a message on Aladdin before Monday 9th February.

Our hot school meals began on Monday 26th January. The children were very excited to try the meals and the feedback has been really good so far!

Apples and oranges are provided to each class every morning. If children usually eat more for their small break, this needs to be provided by parents/guardians. If your child doesn't typically eat much for breakfast, please ensure they have a big snack as the hot meals are at a set time each day (after second yard for Junior classes and before second yard for senior classes).

In November, our 6th class pupils participated in a handball competition. This was a brand new sport to our school and two of the teams (from Anna's 6th class) got through to the Dublin County Finals. The school invested in new goals and equipment as well as training for the teams. The finals were held in the National Sports Campus in Blanchardstown on Monday. The two teams played fantastically and made the school really proud. The girls team even arrived home with a silver medal! We are so impressed by their perseverance in a brand new sport and for playing their hearts out and making us all very proud! Well done to everyone involved and to Anna for organising!

Please email firhousecamp@gmail.com with the following details:

Child’s name:

Child’s class:

Guardian’s name:

Guardian's phone number:

Who will be collecting:

Any medical/ allergy/ dietary/ other info?

Breakfast club?