Newsletter
9 05 2025
Junior Infants on school tour this week
Dear Parents and Guardians,
What a busy and brilliant week we’ve had here at D7ETNS!
As part of Active Week, the whole school came together in a fantastic team effort. Led by Padraig, our staff enthusiastically shared their skills to teach the children a range of exciting activities—including self-defence, tennis, badminton, dance and even archery!
We also enjoyed some thrilling camogie and hurling matches, and we’re delighted that we won both games!
In addition to all the sporting action, our Junior Infants had their first ever school tour in Newgrange Farm, full of fun, animals, and hands-on learning.
We were also delighted to welcome our incoming Junior Infants for a brief classroom visit this week. The rooms empty on school tour day so they had a calm opportunity to explore what will be their new learning space next year—an important first step in helping them feel comfortable and excited for September.
With our hurling winning streak, the energy of Active Week, our Junior Infants’ first school trip, and the beautiful sunny weather, it’s been a week to remember at D7ETNS.
Dubray Books
On Thursday all three first classes went to Dubray Books to meet the author, Paddy Donnelly. In preparation for our trip, we read his book Fox and Son Tailers before we left so that we could talk about his books.
We have been very lucky this week with the weather, and it was dry and warm for our walk into town.
When we got to Dubray Books on Henry Street Paddy read us his new book, Badger Books. We then helped him tell and illustrate a new story with our own Tom Kenny as the hero. Tom was swallowed by an octopus, inked out up to the moon, and then shot back to Earth by an alien cannon. It was very funny!
Lastly, we were given paper and pencils and allowed to make up our own stories. We learned that as an author / illustrator we can tell our stories using words or pictures or both.
On our walk home from town we were able to detour into Grangegorman and catch the end of the 6th Class V Teachers match and give Rebecca a chance to take to the pitch for the teachers.
We had a great day!
Róisín, Michelle, Rebecca, Gemma and Ivanna.
Irish language lessons
The second five-week block of Irish language lessons for parents/guardians will be starting on Wednesday 21st of May at 7 o clock in the school. The following week the class will take place on Tuesday 27th, but after that, lessons will revert back to Wednesdays, the 4th, 11th and 18th of June. Cost is five euro per person per class, 25 euro in total which can be paid to the teacher at the first lesson.
I have spoken with parents and as those seeking to take intermediate lessons are happy to wait until September/October, this five-week block will be for beginners. Parents/guardians who took part in the first block of lessons are more than welcome, though if there is more interest than capacity those who have not had lessons yet will have priority. The parents/guardians ciorcal comhrá will take place at the same time as the lessons in the school and all are welcome to attend.
Please email patrick@d7educatetogether.com to register for the lessons
Thanks so much Patrick for coordinating.
Ciorcal Comhrá
Conversation sessions in Irish (Ciorcal Comhrá) are now taking place at 7pm on Wednesdays in Pádraig’s 4th Classroom (on the third floor of the school, next door to the Irish beginner classes in Patrick’s classroom). All levels are welcome, and our emphasis is very much on informality, on learning from each other in small groups, sharing resources and so on. You can attend weekly, or drop in as fits your schedule. To indicate your interest, please email jenmc76@gmail.com.”
Senior camogie and hurling Team
Huge congratulations to the Senior Girls Camogie Team from D7ETNS on their fantastic win this week, with a final scoreline of 3.1 to 1.0! The girls got off to a flying start, scoring two early goals that set the tone for the rest of the match.
It was a strong team effort from start to finish, with all the players giving it their best on the pitch. There was a moment of drama when a player from the opposing team received a yellow card, but our girls stayed focused and composed throughout.
We were also delighted to have lots of support from other classes, whose cheering from the sidelines made a huge difference.
We’re already looking forward to our next match on Thursday against St Mochta’s—best of luck to the team as they prepare for another big game!
Niamh B
Hurling Result D7 ET 7:5 OLV 5:2
D7 Boys finished their group campaign with a third win in a row this afternoon in TUD. Playing against a side from OLV Ballymun, our lads started confidently grabbing the first few scores. Our build up play was excellent, but our shooting was a bit wayward, and we allowed our opponents to gain a foothold in the match. A few scrappy goals seemed to boost their confidence, and we soon realised that we had a game on our hands.
We finished the half with a flourish and took a healthy lead into the break, 6:4 to 3:2. Following several positional changes, we found it hard to find our rhythm in the second half and the tall OLV forward began to get a lot of possessions and pinned our defenders back with some valiant defending required from the D7 lads. The game was played in a good spirit but as the game wore on, our opponents tried a more robust approach which didn’t unsettle the D7 lads.
In the end we claimed a hard-fought victory but will need to be more clinical the next day out. We await the draw for the knock-out series and will be back in action in a few weeks. Back to the training ground on Monday to see how we can improve our game for the next outing.
Padraig
Active week
Well, that’s a wrap for another year. In a short week due to the bank holiday, the children packed in plenty of activities. The week kicked off with some Pickleball in Aughrim St courtesy of Paula, badminton in the school coached by Michelle and soccer on the roof under the guidance of our talented 6th Class Active Committee. Wednesday saw the visit of Bohs outreach programme with more soccer coaching, beach games in the yard and some old-fashioned hopscotch and skipping under the watchful eye of the 4th Class helpers. Our 6th classes visited the Velodrome in Crumlin for some cycling tuition and Patrick’s 4th Class received a tour of the Aviva Stadium.
Thursday saw the renewal of rivalries between the Staff and 6th classes with the inevitable result. Back on the roof in the afternoon, the whole school partook in Dance Moves under the leadership of Eimear, Emily and Rebecca in a hugely enjoyable session which included a classic Rock the Boat. All of the 6th Classes received some life skills lessons from Mauro as he took them through some self-defense tips.
We finished off on Friday as the Infants had a very busy morning with GAA on the roof and tennis in the hall while the 5th classes engaged in some dodgeball in the back yard. First and Second classes didn’t miss out on the fun as they enjoyed some volleyball and archery in the lower yard. I think we’ll all sleep soundly this weekend. Thanks to all the contributors that helped to make it a great success.
Velodrome
Colm, Cycle Right tutor said our 6th class children were absolutely superb on the track. He would be delighted to see some of them return for regular training sessions. If your child does show an interest in returning contact Colm – 087 6811984. He organises all of the youth activities at the velodrome. There is training and/or competition two days per week during the summer (Tuesday 7pm & Saturday 12.30pm).
Sports Day
Sports Day 2025 – Our Sports Day will take place on: Thursday, June 5th from 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM on GAA Pitch, TU Dublin Campus
- 6th Class will lead activity stations for the younger classes.
- Parents are welcome to attend — please note: no entry onto the pitches due to limited space.
- A family picnic is welcome after the event, but not on the pitches (per GDA).
- Infants can be collected at 1:10 PM from the pitch.
- 1st–6th Class students finish at 2:10 PM and can be collected from the pitch.
- Stay & Play will collect directly from the pitch on the day.
Bí Cineálta: Shout Out to Artists!
We are in the final stages of developing our new Bí Cineálta policy. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback earlier in the year. We will be sending the policy out to families for feedback before the end of the month.
We are also developing a student-friendly version of the policy. Knowing that our students are a talented and creative bunch, we would love to ask them to develop some artwork for it.
Suggestions:
The words “Bí Cineálta”, “Be Kind” or “Be an Upstander”
Pictures that show children playing together, helping each other, telling an adult or being kind.
We welcome submissions from all ages!
Some submissions will be chosen to be a part of our official policy, and all will be displayed in the school.
Please drop your pictures into the office before Friday, 23rd May.
Míle buíochas!
Ciara
Newgrange Farm
Phizzfest
Phizzfest are hoping to see lots of our families at the community and family day. They have sent us this flyer.
Have a great weekend,
Fionnuala