Esker Educate Together Newsletter December 2024

Seasons Greetings to all our parents, guardians and extended family members! Our first term is drawing to a close, and excitement is building amongst children and staff members as the holidays approach. As I write, the children are practising hard for the Winter Showcase which is taking place on Wednesday, 18th. As always, this is an important and happy event in the school calendar. The children are delighted to have an opportunity to perform for their loved ones and for each other, and it is always an enjoyable occasion. We look forward to seeing as many as possible of you on the day. Junior Infants -Third Class Concert begins at 10:00, and Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Classes at 11.30am.


We’ve had a busy and productive first term. The children have worked hard and learnt lots! Below is a quick snapshot of some of the activities your children were involved in this term.


Junior Infants Red with Ellen
Junior Infants Red have been hard at work rehearsing for their Winter Show!

Junior Infants Green with Louise 
Junior infants Green have enjoyed working at the different Aistear stations. This month the theme is 'Winter Wonderland'. The role-play area is a particular favourite, from making hot chocolate to ice fishing!

Senior Infants Red with Bríd
Senior Infants Red have been learning all about the Arctic, the Antarctic and Polar Explorers this month in Aistear! Aistear is our way of learning through play. As a subject, it involves science, maths, art, oral language, literacy and imaginative play. We have also been practising for our Winter Showcase and we are really excited about performing for the parents!

Senior Infants Green with Michelle
Senior infants have had a great first term. They have settled well into their routine and have explored lots of new topics. In September they enjoyed learning all about the farm. They developed lots of new vocabulary and learned so much about farm animals and the role of the farmer.
 In October they had great fun exploring the topic of 'The Vet'. Lots of children showed the class pictures of their own pets and talked about how they care for them. The role play area was very busy as the children took turns at being the vet, the vet nurse and even the patient! 
Dinosaurs was our topic for the month of November. This proved to be extremely popular with the children and they produced some amazing pieces of dinosaur art as well as expanding their knowledge on the various species of dinosaurs whilst learning lots of new rhymes and songs.
We are currently learning all about winter and our topic for the month is 'Polar explorers' The children are really enjoying this topic so far and are developing lots of new vocabulary around cold climate animals such as penguins and polar bears to name but a few. The children have produced some amazing pieces of work this term and I am so proud of their accomplishments. 

First Red with Tania
1st Red have had a great first term! We've adjusted to the longer days, are enjoying using the BIG yard and have started extra curricular activities for the first time. We have had parents teach us about celebrations in their family including Diwali, Christmas and Hanukkah. We did an assembly performance on kindness. We have been working very hard on our class work too. We are looking forward to Term 2!

First Green with Shannon
1st Class Green was excited to win the junior Golden Boot for two weeks in a row in October, as part of the Walk on Wednesday initiative. We are still working hard to make green choices that are kind to the environment!

Second Red with Aisling
2nd Class Red recently tried out coding. We used the Lego Wedo programme. Our first task was to build a fan with the Lego and then we used the iPad to programme the fan. We really enjoyed this introduction to coding. 

Second Green with Síne
2nd Green have been trying their best with Walk on Wednesday. This is us with the Golden Boot! We are trying to set the record to win it the most!

Third Red with Linda
For science week, 3rd class red did a taste test. We tried something sweet- chocolate, sour- lemon, bitter- grapefruit and salty- crisps. Four brave children did a blind taste test and when they tried the grapefruit blindfolded, they only tasted orange!!

Third Green with Emer 
3rd Class Green also had a trip to Lucan Library in December. Meabh, the librarian,  welcomed us and explained to the children how the library works. We did a treasure hunt with books and then got to choose one book to borrow. Meabh also gave each student a  bookmark to take home. It was a lovely trip and we were also very lucky with the weather on our route there and back. 

Blue Class with Arlene
Since September we have had a busy few months in Blue! The boys have settled in really well and established some great routines! Since September we have done so much and achieved so much! We have had birthday celebrations, Halloween dress up and  art lessons to name just a few of our activities.  The boys are working really hard on their own learning tasks. We are looking forward to the winter break, and excited about coming back in January for another term filled with lots of fun and learning!

Fourth Red with Tara
4th Red have had an exciting first term with lots of fun activities and special events. Maths week involved lots of interesting maths tasks, the most popular of all being a Maths Trail in which parents got involved and joined the teams. 
4th Red have also been taking part in the Mighty Oaks Public Speaking programme in which they have learned all the skills necessary to be a good storyteller. The children also took part in Spanish lessons as part of the “Say Yes to Languages” programme. 
The class had lots of fun celebrating Halloween before midterm. We went on a local field trip to Saint Finian's Church and took part in the annual Esker Halloween Parade. 
Finally, 4th Red were excellent in their Learn Together Assembly performance which explored the value of respect. Well done to all.

Fourth Green with Seán
4th Class Green have been very busy this term.
The children got stuck into  maths trails during maths week, making straw rockets during science week, visiting St Finian's graveyard and participating in our Halloween parade and quiz.
Currently we’re all  very excited about the upcoming Winter Showcase!

Fifth Red with Rob
The first term in 5th class was a fantastic journey of hard work and learning! We explored the wonders of Space, diving into planets, stars, and galaxies. Our maths lessons were packed with challenges that pushed us to think deeply and solve complex problems. We also had the chance to work together for our Learn Together assembly, where we shared the story of St. Nicholas Day. Everyone gave their best effort, showing dedication and teamwork throughout the term. It was a great start to the school year! 

Fifth Green with Aoife
This term, everyone in 5th Class Green took part in the public speaking programme Mighty Oaks. This programme helped students speak confidently and without fear in front of others—skills that came in handy during their assembly performance and when running for committee elections. The class has also been learning a lot about the value of the month, Kindness, and the children are looking forward to performing their assembly performance again for their parents at the upcoming Winter Showcase. Students also learned about the weather, explored its changing impact on a nature walk, and made DIY windmills. We also won the Golden Boot award for Walk on Wednesdays! The class even made rice crispy buns while practising their procedural writing skills. It’s been a very productive three months!

Sixth Red with Heidi
Sixth Class Red have been learning about how to keep themselves safe while cycling.  We know the importance of wearing a helmet, improving our visibility and how to make left and right hand turns safely. We are having such a great time cycling around the yard with our class and we’re getting ready to venture out onto the roads soon! 

Sixth Green with Sarah
Sixth Class Green have had a busy first term! We visited the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham in October, Kilmainham Gaol in November and we are hoping to round the term off with a trip to the cinema in December! We have been learning to be safe cyclists with Mike and Dom. In January, we will use the skills we have learned to cycle in our local area. We had a workshop from Finbar from AsIAm where we learned about what it means to be neuro-diverse. We participated in lots of experiments for science week such as creating an explosion with diet coke and mentos! We held elections for our student committees. We have met with our Junior Infant buddies and had the best time playing with them during Aistear. Of course, there has been some English, Gaeilge and Maths (among other subjects) squeezed in too! We are looking forward to continuing our action packed year in term 2. 

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Clubs
Every afternoon after school there has been a variety ECAs (or after school clubs) for children to attend. The options included activities such as Frisbee, Movies+Games, Coding, Spanish+ Art, GAA, Arts+Crafts, Lego and Variety Club which included a little bit of everything! I want to thank the teachers who gave of their time to run these clubs, which were enjoyable and educational at the same time

Tuesday+ Thursday  Variety Club with Tania, Aisling G, Síne + Louise (First-Third Class)The children have really enjoyed the different activities involved in Variety Club, such as arts and crafts, Lego, P.E, Board games, baking
​and much more! 

Ultimate Frisbee with Emer (Third-Sixth Class)
Here’s a photo of the Ultimate Frisbee club, 3-6th class. Running strong for a second year, with the club running each term. This term saw the most girls to ever join which is great!
We also had a visitor from the Youth Ultimate Federation, Dominick Smyth in September (I forgot to take a photo! I know!) He promotes the sport in primary and secondary schools and was delighted to see enthusiasm in players in Esker ET.

Lego Club with Arlene (First-Third Class)
Some children from 1st Class onwards enjoyed attending Lego Club for a number of weeks over Term 1. Lego Club has been a hub of creativity and fun every Monday! Each week the children worked on their own creations or worked together as a team - either creating rockets, towers, their favourite cartoon characters and much more!!"

Coding Club with Tania (Third-Sixth Class)
The Coding and Robotics club had a great time using Scratch and using Lego We Do to build and code Lego robots! We worked on collaborative projects and shared our skills with one another.

Crafting Club with Tara (Third-Sixth Class)
The Crafting Club with Tara has gotten off to a brilliant start with children from 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes taking part in a variety of crafts. The children have made yarn paintings, clay trinket trays, clay ornaments, jam jar lanterns and winter decorations. The children have also really enjoyed the music and chats that go along with the crafting club. Well done to all the children that have taken part!  

Karaoke Club with Paula (First -Sixth Class)
Paula started a 'Karaoke Club' ECA this term. Karaoke is really popular in Japan.The children had a great time singing karaoke songs in English, Romanian and Telagu. It was so much fun! We have some very talented singers and performers at Esker. 

Spanish Club with Carmen (1st-6th)
Carmen ran the Spanish Club this year for a group of children from 1st-6th. The children learned some Spanish words, some aspects of Spanish culture and worked on some Spanish art.

Games & Movies Club with Carmen (1st- 6th)
A group of 1st-6th class children participated in Games and Movies Club this term. We had lots of fun playing different games and watching movies.

And our big announcement for term two …
School Musical 
We are delighted and excited to announce that in April we will be performing the Esker version of the popular and well-loved musical, The Jungle Book.
The musical is being staged by children from 3rd to 6th class, who are being helped by Paula, Catherine, Ciara and a large team of Esker Staff members. 
Currently we are at the audition stage, and hope to be able to announce the cast by the end of term.
More news to follow!

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Committees
Green School Committee with Grace
Grace is delighted to announce the new Green School Committee. 
This year they will be working on Global Citizenship - Litter and Waste
 
6th Green
Urwa
Sahib

6th Red
Emily
Mateo

5th Green
Soban
Rajveer

5th Red
Arham
Zulaika

4th Green
Olivia
Ahmed

4th Red
Aaron
Victoria

3rd Green
Meerab
Nora

3rd Red
Surya
Zara

Student Council with Catherine
The council is composed of ten members, two from each of the Sixth Classes, and one from each of the other classes from 3rd to 5th. Each of these members represent two classes, their own, and a class from Junior Infants to Second Class.
The  Council runs from December to December. During the first term of the school year, the prospective candidates prepare a presentation, and elections are held. These elections were held in early December, and Catherine is delighted to announce the names of those elected to the new Student Council.

Membership of the Student Council is a very important and responsible role. The council meets at least once a month, more often if they are organising an event. They check in with their classes in advance, and bring any points raised by the children to the Student Council meeting for discussion. The Council discusses the points raised, and bring the most relevant ones to Gemma or the Board of Management. When a decision has been made by school management, this is reported back to the Student Council, who in turn disseminate  the information to the classes they represent.
The first event being organised by the new Student Council is a fundraiser for UNICEF. Council members will be collecting money at the Winter Showcase and all funds collected will be sent to this very worthy charity. The Student Council PROs Ross and Hanna will be in touch in the coming months with news of future projects.
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And so 2024 draws to a close.
To those of you who celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, both of which occur on December 25th this year-Seasons Greeting to you all!
And to the entire Esker ETNS school community, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and peaceful New Year, and a restful and restorative winter holiday. 
See you all on Monday 6th January, 2025.

With very best wishes,
Gemma and all the staff of Esker ETNS.

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