PJP School News

It is hard to believe that we are well into October already. A big thank you and well done to all members of the school community; students, staff and parents alike who have made settling back to school so easy and seamless. Our new students and staff members are beginning to feel like they have always been part of PJP!

We are looking forward to the PA AGM and are hoping that we will have interest in two parents joining our Board of Management.

We have a busy month approaching! Here are some key dates for your diary:

October 8th - World Dyslexia Day

Wednesday 11th October - Flu Vaccinations for students and staff

Monday 16th - Friday 20th October - Maths Week

Friday 27th - Halloween costume day

Monday 23rd - Thursday 26th - Possible Boys and Girls finals in Croke Park on one or two days

Ms. Hayden would like to say a huge thank you to all the families who very kindly donated Lego to the school. We are very grateful and are looking forward to using the lego in STEM lessons in the coming weeks and months!

This year PJP II will take part in Microsoft’s Dream Space Ambassador Program. This is a student leadership and training program that’s open to schools across the island of Ireland. It is designed for students in 5th class and Transition Year.

During the academic year, our Dream Space Ambassadors will participate in virtual training sessions with the Dream Space Team. Each training session will focus on a different topic related to STEM education.

After completing the virtual training, our Dream Space Ambassadors will become pioneers of the Dream Space STEM experience in our school. They will support, train, and mentor fellow students and teachers, helping to spread the benefits of STEM education across our entire school community.

Dream Space will host a graduation day in May 2024 to celebrate the outstanding work of all participating Dream Space Ambassadors. Our team will prepare and present their work during the graduation day at Microsoft Ireland HQ.

We congratulate the ten lucky students who were selected for the program, and we thank all who applied. We wish our ambassadors all the best with this program, and we look forward to benefiting from all of their learning throughout the year.

We have many wellbeing activities planned for the year ahead. The students and staff are all very excited about our wellbeing initiatives for October. Teachers have been busy creating their classroom wellbeing spaces. We want happy, healthy lives for our students. Our classroom meditations will be stating shortly. The aim of introducing the morning meditations is to give our students a jumpstart to accessing the many benefits of meditation. We hope that the children will gain from this experience and develop positive traits such as increased self-control, better attentiveness in class, and more empathy and respect for others.

Watch this space for our Healthy Body, Happy Mind healthy eating initiative in November. The children will be encouraged to eat as many colours of healthy food as possible, so this may be something you might like to encourage.

Last year, we surveyed the children of PJP and they informed us that more could be done to promote healthy eating in our school. We listened to that and have devised a 'Healthy Eating Guideline' which you can see below.

Join us to celebrate Dyslexia Awareness Month this October. This year’s campaign focus is Dyslexia Rights, namely the Right to Assessment, the Right to Identity and the Right to Supports. We will highlight why these rights are important to dyslexic people, what improvements can be made around these rights in Ireland, and share the impact of these rights for dyslexic people. Together we can create awareness and change.

Dyslexia Rights

Right to Assessment – Access to dyslexia assessment remains challenging for both children and adults. We will be campaigning for greater access to assessment in schools, and support for those left with no option but to seek a private educational psychology assessment. We are also calling for an increase in postgraduate training places for educational psychologists to meet the level of need.

Right to Identity – The difficulty accessing assessment means that the benefit of a dyslexic identity is denied to many, leading to a negative impact on the self-esteem and mental health of those left waiting. We are also calling for Government circulars and associated guidance to acknowledge the importance of the word dyslexia to those impacted by it and include the word in all relevant documentation.

Right to Supports – Individuals with dyslexia of all ages experience challenges accessing supports. Mandatory training of teachers at all levels is needed to ensure that better evidence-based support is provided to dyslexic learners. Schools and workplaces should be supported to create clear policies on how best to support dyslexic individuals. Guidance from Government departments and agencies should be updated to only recommend programmes fully aligned with Science of Reading research. An improved scheme of reasonable accommodations in state exams is needed, with the introduction of extra time for dyslexics and increased access to assistive technology.

Aims of Dyslexia Awarness Month

This Dyslexia Awareness Month we will be shining a light on the rights of dyslexia people, sharing voices of dyslexia, and providing information and advice on how to help. We will be raising public awareness about the changes that need to be made to enable dyslexic people to access these rights. We will do this via all of our social media channels and in the wider media, where we will be sharing perspectives and personal insights of dyslexic individuals. We will also be making a presentation in the Oireachtas on October 4th to highlight these key issues to government.

Get Involved

Together we can raise awareness of the importance of rights for people with dyslexia and create momentum for change. This will build understanding towards a more dyslexia-friendly society. Together, let’s make the most of this opportunity to develop awareness and deepen understanding of dyslexia.

To support Dyslexia Awareness Month you can:

· Encourage your school, college or workplace to learn more about dyslexia and support those with dyslexia. Please share why assessment, identity and supports are important and help to advance dyslexia rights.

· Post a photo on social media of yourself holding a sign saying Dyslexia Rights, saying why these rights are important to you, and use the #DyslexiaRights hashtag. You can also share others’ posts, videos and stories. You can also share our posters (see below).

· Hold an awareness-rasing event of your own and tag @DyslexiaIreland, so we can like and share your awareness-raising efforts. Don’t forget to also use the hashtag #DyslexiaRights.

· Attend one of our range of webinars and courses that we will be running over the course of Dyslexia Awareness Month.

We hope you will participate in some way to show your support for the 1 in 10 who have dyslexia. Visit our websites www.dyslexia.ie and www.dyslexiahub.ie, follow us on social media, run a fundraiser, have a conversation.

Samuel Cowley in Ms. Reddy's 2nd class was amongst greats recently after he shared his South Africa Rugby Jersey design with the Springboks via email. Samuel has South African Heritage which he is very proud of. He really impressed them and receieved this awesome reply from their background team!

Maths Week 2023

Preparations are well underway for Maths Week 2023! Maths week will take place next week from the 16th – 20th October. Each class will be participating in the Maths Eyes competition. Showcasing the wonderful maths that is all around us. We are also going bookless for the week keeping all our activities active, engaging and child centered. With lots of focus on maths talk and keeping maths fun for all.

We really hope all the children will enjoy the upcoming Maths Week, as we have plenty of exciting content to share. Don’t forget to check out our maths newsletter coming next week.

At PJPs, we have a lot of very busy teams in many sports. We are so proud of every single child who plays for our teams, attends trials and supports and builds up their friends who represent our school. Keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks for a dedicated sports newsletter!