Newsletter No.140 Monday 02-05-22
Semester 3 Week 7
For more news and pictures of the many activities that happen in our school every day, please follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/cpsetanta
6th Year News.
Qualifax https://www.qualifax.ie/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=22 or Careersportal https://careersportal.ie/ to select the events you wish to attend.
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CareersPortal
CareersPortal is Ireland's leading Careers Guidance website. It is a one-stop-shop for people of all ages who need information and guidance regarding their next career decision.
careersportal.ie
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State Examinations Timetables
Please visit our school website for details on the state examinations timetables.
https://cpsetanta.ie/page/State-Examinations/92625/Index.html
Guidance Department News.
SUSI Grant
Application Open Date 28th April 2022
Student Universal Support Ireland (SUSI) SUSI
Saturday 30th of April
Tuesday 3rd May
- NUI Galway Engineering & Computer Science Taster Day
- UCC Biological & Chemical Sciences Information Day
Wednesday 4th May
Thursday 5th May
Friday 6th May
- NUI Shannon College Taster Day
- GMIT May Open Afternoon
Saturday 7th May
- IT Sligo Open Day
- IT Carlow Open Day
- MTU Kerry Campus Open Day
Useful Links
Further Education Courses. https://www.fetchcourses.ie/
Apprenticeship Opportunities. https://www.apprenticeship.ie/
Many thanks,
Ms. O’Donovan and Ms. Galbraith
CSPE Project
Dear parents/ students ,
Our 3rd year class Rang Iseult will be hosting a non-uniform day this Friday the 29/04/22 as a part of their CSPE project. The cost to wear your own clothes will be €1 and will go towards the Jack and Jill foundation. This foundation provides comfort for children in their last moments. We highly appreciate your participation.
Professional stay in the Coláiste Pobail Setanta educational centre in Dublin, Ireland.
28th March- 8th April 2022
My name is Belen, I am a Physics and Chemistry teacher at IES Rodrigo Caro de Coria del Río, this year I finish my term as principal.
During the last week of March and the first week of April I was doing my professional internship in an Irish school. When, last year, the possibility of applying for such a stay arose, I did not think twice. We were finishing a very difficult course with all the COVID measures and blended learning and, I thought, it would be very lucky if it could be carried out.
As my school was participating in an Erasmus+ program, which started in the 2019/20 academic year, with this Irish school, I asked them for the invitation and they very kindly granted it. I was not very sure if I would be able to do it because of the pandemic and because, a month before, the war in Ukraine started which could leave everything up in the air.
Fortunately, it was possible to carry it out and it is an enriching experience and one that I recommend to any teacher.
For me it was a challenge since I am not a language teacher, it forced me to get out of my comfort zone, I have more than thirty years of professional career. I had to face a new centre, a different language, etc. But all the initial nerves were worth it and I return with a suitcase full of experiences.
The centre is called Coláiste Pobail Setanta, a Gaelic name, which means Coláiste = College; Pobail = public Setanta = name of a historical hero of great courage and valour. It opened its doors in August 2008 and quickly grew in student body and staff.
It is located in a town 14 km from Dublin, in an area of growing development with young families with school-age children. It is located next to the primary school and other community buildings. Uniforms are compulsory and girls can choose to wear skirts or pants, periodically they have a non-uniform day for which they must donate a sum of money to charity.
Classes start at 8:30 a.m. (so as not to coincide with the entrance of the primary school students from the adjoining school) and end at 3:16 p.m. The students attend equivalent studies. The students attend classes equivalent to ESO and Bachillerato.
Classes are 58 minutes long and students and teachers move around the centre to change classrooms in each subject. On Fridays they only have a half day, so they finish at 12:20 pm.
To get to the centre, I had to take a city bus, line 39A, which took an hour to get there and then walk a few meters to the facilities.
I was pleasantly surprised by the facilities available. As a member of an educational team, I am aware of the lack of space in our schools. Here there is room for everything.
It is a three-story building, each one differentiated by a colour, blue on the first floor, red on the second floor and yellow on the second floor. On each floor there is an office for one of the vice-principals. It has two entrances, one specifically for students and the other for visitors, staff and late arrivals.
There are 40 classrooms distributed among the different floors, with sufficient toilets for students and staff on each floor. On the first floor on the right is the administration area, the canteen (due to the incidence of the pandemic it has been transformed into two classrooms called C1 and C2, the gymnasium, student changing rooms and fitness centre and the workshops of the Home economics course. On the left we find the library (not operative due to the incidence of COVID19), the stairs and the different workshops for the practical subjects: art, graphics, technology, construction, Wood and engineering, all very spacious and well equipped.
It is called the heart of the school: The Croí Centre. It consists of two classrooms, a multi-sensory room, a wellness room, an educational room, showers, offices, a kitchen and a multi-sensory garden. Each classroom can accommodate a maximum of 6 students, which allows us to work intensively with each student to meet their specific needs and challenges. As an inclusive centre, students move freely in all areas and attend mainstream classes whenever possible. During my visit we spent time with some of these students. The educational program offers a wide range of subjects and levels tailored to their specific needs. During my stay I was fortunate to attend one of the classes in which an Irish "White soda bread recipe" was prepared, we helped the students to prepare the dough, bake it and taste the bread with jam and a cup of tea (one of the photos shows this moment). I will certainly make this bread in Spain and remember the heart of Coláiste Pobail Setanta. One of the students drew me a portrait that he gave me at the end of the class.
The design of the laboratories is striking, the worktables are similar to ours with lab benches with backrests (more comfortable than ours) and between each table with two seats is the sink with water and gas outlets. This arrangement allows all students to see the blackboard and the teacher, and the space is multitasking, both as a classroom and as a lab. Also, the arrangement of the desks in the classrooms differs from the most common in our country, in rows of one or two, here they are grouped in groups of four (after the elimination of COVID restrictions, last February), with some tables of 6 to reach the ratio of 30 students. Of course, the space available is much larger than in our classrooms and allows easy movement by the teacher to check the work of the students.
During my stay I have attended many classes, I have had meetings with the coordinator of special educational needs, with the management team, with the ICT department. I have been able to see that in the fundamentals there is not so much difference, but in the means available, in the less academic approach to the subjects and, very important in my humble opinion, the behaviour of the students in the classroom. It is impeccable, the respect for their teachers is remarkable without implying distance and lack of cordiality between teachers and students. Also, the respect towards the facilities and everything that surrounds them, it is gratifying to walk through the clean and well-kept facilities, with decorated walls, toilets and impeccable common areas. Regarding the use of the English language, it has been two weeks of brutal and very fruitful immersion. The first day was quite hard, but as time went by, I felt more comfortable and, by the end of the first week, I was already one more in the school. As you can see from my words, I recommend teachers to get out of their comfort zone and apply for these internships. They will not regret it.
6th Year Supervised Study
Supervised study is being offered to 6th Year students on Mondays and Wednesdays after school for two hours. It will commence on Wednesday 5th May.
If a child would like to attend they need to complete the '6th Year, Supervised Study. Expression of Interest' Form by the end of the day on Friday. https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=9cjWPhZMrUSe7WD4UYNKhD2rK4jsb5NLv7LQU_xjZ9ZUQ0cxTzNFRURUWkVaSVY3S0UyQTdBQ0JTUS4u
Students will be informed on Tuesday if they have a place.
In the event that demand exceeds capacity we will hold a draw to assign places fairly. A waiting list will be created also should places become available.
Students should be aware that if their behaviour is not acceptable they will forfeit their place. Also, if they do not attend and have not given sufficient notice in advance of the study session they may also forfeit their place.
There is no charge for Supervised Study.
Wriggle Store News.
The Wriggle store is open all year round so parents are free to makes their purchases at any time of year. The reason Wriggle ask incoming 1st Year parents to make their purchases between April 12th and June 14th is to ensure that the students will have their devices in time for the start of the new school year at the end of August. They cannot guarantee that devices purchased after June 14th will be ready for the end of August.
Basketball News
Some great news to start your Bank Holiday weekend! Huge congratulations to Ms Danielle Ryan and Ms Megan Byrne and their 2nd year Girls' Basketball team on winning both their All-Ireland quarter and semi-finals yesterday!
All players but in a huge effort and won in amazing fashion and with great sportsmanship.
The All-Ireland final is, in unfortunate circumstances, next Tuesday, when the school is closed. This makes it very difficult to gather supporters and I fear Setanta will be significantly outnumbered in this department by the other school. So, if you have no current plans for Tuesday, please bring whoever you can to help support our girls in Tallaght.
Fundraising News
For March 8th, our school participated in International Women's Day. This day consisted of a range of events and funds were raised for Women's Aid. The total raised was €1276.25. A huge congratulations to all staff and students who participated in the day.
Green Flag Awards 2022
Congratulations!
Dear Green-Schools co-ordinator,
I am delighted to inform you that your application for the Green Flag for Coláiste Pobail Setanta has been successful. Your assessor and the team at Green-Schools were very impressed with your application, congratulations!
We will be sending you details soon about our online Green Flag Award Ceremony on May 25th at 11am, which we will be inviting you, the Green-Schools Committee and your whole school community to attend virtually. The ceremony will last approximately one hour. Your Green-Schools flag and certificate will be posted out in advance of the event. On this date, we want to celebrate a National Green Flag Raising Day with you! Join the hundreds of other schools around Ireland receiving their Green Flag award on the 25th by raising your flag and sharing the celebrations with us and each other. We’ll be asking you to share images and videos from your flag raising online via social media using #GreenFlags22 or by emailing us directly. Let’s see if we can make your amazing achievement trend and bring your work to a wider – global – audience!
You all deserve a huge amount of credit for your efforts. The work that you are doing is really having a positive impact, and when the work of all schools is combined it’s truly amazing! Please pass on all our thanks to all the hard-working members of your Green-Schools committees, and everyone in the school. We look forward to seeing you all on the 25th! Further details and links will follow in the coming weeks.
Sincerely,
The Green-Schools Team
Environmental Education Unit
An Taisce - the National Trust for Ireland
5A Swift's Alley, Francis Street, Dublin 8 D08TN88
Finally
Have a lovely weekend,
Liam Walsh, Principal.
