Staffing

Belmayne Educate Together N.S. opened on the 1st of September 2008 in a new building. We have had a very enjoyable and busy year! As a new school we had fifteen children on our first day with Sinéad O Meara as Principal and Fiona Ni Ghloinn as the second mainstream class teacher, who is now the Vice Principal. Claire Kellegher joined us as secretary before mid-term. Claire’s own children attend an Educate Together school and Claire has a great understanding of Educate Together’s ethos. We welcomed new members to our teaching staff this year: Joeseph Kavanagh, Geraóid O Flatharta, Vivienne Gaynor and Deirdre Keegan. We also have Elaine Moran as an SNA and Elaine is invaluable as a staff member having volunteered for the year last year. All staff members are very talented and dedicated and are instrumental in the development of Belmayne ETNS. Joe is our singing teacher and is often seen and heard with his guitar in class and also in the afterschool classes. Fiona is also very musical and teaches tin whistle in the afterschool classes. Gearoid and Deirdre are interested in sports and are promoting athletics and rugby in the school. Viv is our media teacher and has been instrumental in developing our website, our newsletter and some film production with the children. As a school we have in excess of seventy five students this school year, ranging from Junior Infants to Fourth Class. Due to the surge of interest in our school, we currently have students pre enrolled up to and including 2015. While many of our students will come from the local Belmayne/Castlemoyne/ Malahide Road and Clongriffin area, we will also have students attending from Baldoyle, Howth, Malahide, Portmarnock, Sutton,Beaumont, Drumcondra and Artane. Belmayne ETNS strives to ensure that all children reach their potential both in academic subjects but also in Sport, Music, Drama, Art etc. We place a strong emphasis on the Irish culture and language. Many of staff have been educated in Gaelscoils/Coláiste Mhuire Marino.

Ethos

During our first year we have had many successes, not least due to the great support given to us by the parents involved in our school, the pupils and also our Board of Management. Some of our successes in our first year include • All classrooms are now interactive as we had interactive whiteboards installed in all mainstream classes. Children benefit greatly when using computers and have no fear of using IT. Computers also support teachers making lessons visual and therefore more stimulating. There are also computers in each classroom and we hope to add to this store of computers annually. • A parent and toddler group runs in the Parents’ Room each Tuesday from 11.30 a.m. This facility is open to the community also. • Afterschool clubs run daily with a varied programme. Activities this year include Irish Dancing, Sport, Tin Whistle, Music Theory in preparation for Royal Academy Examinations , Homework Club, Guitar and much more. The clubs run daily from 1.20-3.20. Teachers are also involved in the delivery of these programmes. For further information and to register contact Helen Moore @ 086- 8729673 / e-mail address is b2gether@hotmail.co.uk • A gardening club was initiated by Fiona Ni Ghloinn, helped weekly by Parents and students. The garden is a vegetable garden but we also presently have flowers growing. Vegetables in the garden include potatoes, lettuces, carrots, peas and spring onions. Marrows and corn came up over the summer and were ready to be picked when the children returned to school!We are also looking forward to the arrival of our hens and chickens who are coming at the start of March.Each family will hopefully enjoy eating an egg!Families who wish to be involved in the Chicken Club please contact Fiona.

Parental Input

A parents’ group has been established. The current Chairperson is Celine Mc Loughlin. We would encourage parents to be involved in any way they can. Parents help in different ways-for example speaking at assembly,parents are involved in the Gardening Club, parents give input into policies,parents are involved in fundraising and supporting events etc.Families devised our logo and our school crest. Our logo is 'Ag Fás le Chéile'. • We had an official Open Day last year and will also have one in the last term this year• We were involved in the Primary Science Programme and all students received their certificate and we also received a plaque for the school after completion. • Parents organise some social events during the year. These events are instrumental in developing the positive relationships that exist between parents and staff. Upcoming events this year include-Parent/Child Literacy programme-commencing on the 24th Feb-24th March- the arrival of our chicks and hens-many families are involved in this initiative, the gardening club for parents and children, Joe’s fundraising gig on the 12th of March, our Cake Sale through Irish for parents and children-Irish phrases going home soon- Irish classes-6 weeks with Sinéad during the day and fulltime on Wednesday nights from 7.30-9pm.These classes are free of charge. Fathers’/Male Soccer Blitz-last term and our Sports’ Day.