Upcoming School Closures
A reminder that the school will be closed for two weeks for the Spring Break beginning Monday, 3rd April through Friday, 14th April. It will be an early dismissal on Friday, 31st March, with infants finishing at 11.50 and all other classes finishing at 12.00. Afterschool @KETNS is operating two four-day camps during the break. Also, while it was announced as a half-day closure, it will now be a full-day closure on Friday, 28th April to facilitate further professional development for the staff on the Primary Language Curriculum as well as an overview of the new Primary Curriculum Framework that was recently launched. A one-day camp will be organised by Afterschool @ KETNS.

Preparations for the Spring Fair
The Spring Fair takes place on Saturday, 13th May. As the raffle is a major component of our fundraiser, we are looking for prizes. If you are able to approach a
local business, that would be great. A letter for requesting donations can be collected from Claudia in the office. The deadline for gathering the prizes is this
week, Friday, 31st March. Many thanks for your assistance!

Swimming Lessons
All classes from 1st to 4th Class will have six swimming sessions at Leisureland in the final term and 5th and 6th Class will have five. The cost for these lessons will be
€38 (1st to 4th Class) and €32 (5th and 6th Class) for the 45-minute swimming lessons as well as the transport to and from school. You can pay in cash to the office
or online via bank transfer (please use your child’s name and note the payment is for swimming). As always, please speak to Claudia or Matt if this presents a hardship for your family or if you would like to pay in instalments. Lessons will begin the week after we return from the Spring Break. The specific schedule for your child will be emailed this week.

School Expenses and Voluntary Contribution

The Department of Education has confirmed that schools will receive a grant to purchase school books directly this autumn. As this has been our practice
since we opened the school, it will be a smooth transition for us. It does mean that we can greatly reduce the school expenses we have asked for previously. This autumn the Board of Management as agreed to only ask for €20 per child for school
expenses for the 2023-2024 academic year. With the grant from the government and this modest amount from families, we will be able to continue to provide all
schoolbooks, pupil stationery, arts and crafts materials, photocopying, the Educate Together subscription and pupil personal accident insurance. We will look for this
payment in September.

This week we will be sending out the annual request for voluntary contributions. You will receive a letter, a small white envelope and a response slip. The Board of Management wishes to stress that this is a voluntary request. These contributions have helped the school purchase equipment, provide transport for excursions and competitions and ensure that costs are kept low for all families. We recommend a €50 contribution, but we are grateful for any amount. We also acknowledge that for many families their personal expenses due to cost-of-living increases make it impossible for them to consider a contribution. For some who wish to contribute more, we can avail of additional support from the charitable tax relief scheme for contributions above €250 annually. Thanks in advance for your ongoing support of our school.

Active School Survey
As part of our work towards renewing our Active Flag, parents are asked to complete a short online survey: https://forms.gle/PR59FgRvUNoseLhN9. Many thanks for your assistance.

Give Racism the Red Card
On Friday, 31st March, the school will participate in the Give Racism the Red Card project. Everyone is invited to wear red that day to show their support for this
campaign, and all the classes will be talking about how to be anti-racist and inclusive.

Afterschool Clubs
A new group of afterschool clubs will commence in the third term. Sign up will begin Wednesday morning, 28th March from 8.50 at the school office. We’d kindly
request full payment to secure a spot. Clubs for infants take place from 13.30-14.30 and clubs for other classes take place from 14.30-15.30, unless stated otherwise.

Mondays – Lego with Niall
Junior and Senior Infants
17th and 24th April
2 sessions – €10


Mondays – Choir with Matt, Lisa and Sarah
1st – 6th Class
17th Apr until 19th June (no sessions on 1st May and 5th June)
Current choir members do not need to sign up again; new
members may join the choir and will need to pay a reduced
€15 participation fee


Tuesdays – Art with Fran and Paula
Junior and Senior Infants – 13.30-14.30 – 1st to 6th Class – 14.30-15.30 – maximum 16 participants 18th April until 20th June (no session on 6th June) 9 sessions – €100 (including materials)

Wednesdays – Radio and Podcast Production with Claire and Claudia
4th to 6th Class – maximum 12 participants
19th April until 21st June
10 sessions – €55

Wednesdays – Hand and Machine Sewing with Arike
1st to 3rd Class – maximum 12 participants
19th April until 21st June (no sessions on 17th and 31st May)
8 sessions – €60 including materials


Wednesdays – Soccer with Enda
1st to 6th Class – maximum 20 participants
19th April until 21st June
10 sessions – €50


Wednesdays – Lego with Padraic and Ciara
2nd Class to 6th Class
19th April until 21st June
10 sessions – €50


Thursdays – Superhero Training with Miss Laurie
Junior Infants, Senior Infants and 1st Class – 14.30-15.30
20th April until 22nd June (no session on 1st June)
9 sessions – €60


Thursdays – Evasion Games with Christian
Places remain for Senior Infants, 4th, 5th and 6th Class
20th April until 15th June (no session on 1st June)
8 sessions – €40


Fridays – Hand and Machine Sewing with Arike
4th to 6th Class – maximum 12 participants
21st April until 23rd June (no sessions on 28th April, 19th May
and 2nd June)
8 sessions – €60 including material

Fridays – Soccer with Enda
1st to 6th Class – maximum 20 participants
21st April until 21st June
9 sessions – €45

Scholastic Book Order
A leaflet was sent out approximately a week ago from Scholastic. Parents can browse and purchase books at this link: https://schools.scholastic.ie/knocknacarraetns/digital-book-club. The school will benefit as we earn award points for use by the school to purchase books and resources. Deadline for submitting an order is Friday, 14th April, and books will be delivered free of charge to the school, arriving in mid-April.

Soccer Tournament
For the past six weeks, seven teams from 3rd to 6th Class have been playing matches in a soccer tournament in the yard. The mixed-age teams did a great job, and special thanks goes to the children who refereed matches as well. The final was between Teams 4 and 6. It was an exciting match, with Team 6 edging out Team 4 by one goal. Last week the 3rd place match was played between teams 3 and 5, with Team 3 winning.

The champions, Team 6
In second place, Team 4

School Plan
Based on the consultation process with parents, staff members and children, the Board has agreed a draft School Plan for 2023-2027. All stakeholders are invited to give any feedback regarding the draft plan. The Board of Management intends to formally ratify the plan in May.

Next Year’s Calendar
The academic calendar for the 2023-2024 school year is now available, a hard copy can be requested via the Office.