Dear principal,

The School Transport Section in the Department of Education has prepared an information note to assist families and schools when applying for school transport with special educational needs (SEN). We would be grateful if you could please issue this note to families who wish to apply for school transport for children with special educational needs or those who require further details about the scheme.

This note aims to:

• provide information to families and schools on how to apply for SEN transport,
• ensure families have full information regarding  grants that may be available to them,
• provide information on timelines involved in applying for transport
• provide contact details for School Transport and Bus Éireann. 

Further information in relation to the School Transport Scheme is available on gov.ie/schooltransport

Well done to our Ember team (Weronika Stepniak, Daniel O’Rourke, Ruby Butler and Sarah Brennan) who worked with our 1st years for the first time this year. 

The Ember team planned an interactive session for the 1st years throughout the week where they introduced themselves and explained what the Ember team was all about, presented the school values upheld in CPC and facilitated some interactive and inclusive games with the 1st years.

These sessions gave the 1st years an opportunity to speak to and have some fun with their peers in other class groups. 

We were delighted to welcome Minister of State Martin Heydon to officially raise our Erasmus+ flag this morning in the presence of TY and 6th Year students, senior management, teaching staff involved in bringing the scheme to Cross and Passion College, Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer and local journalist Brian Byrne. Our thanks to 5th Year students Dylan Labuschagne and Mikey Arthur who played the harp and violin beautifully.

Our 5th and 6th year LCA classes enjoyed a full day of activities today.

We started of with a visit to Jump Zone in Liffey Valley where great fun was had by all. 

We then headed to Cloverhill Prison for a guided tour. In LCA our students complete a Social Education course which includes studying the Law and the Legal Systems in Ireland. This tour was very informative and interesting. We were guided by experienced Prisoner Officer Phillip O Rourke and we are very thankful to him for this opportunity to see inside a working prison and learn about its operations. 

In the afternoon we visited the World Skills Exhibition in the RDS. Worldskills Ireland is a partnership between enterprise, industry, education, training and government that raises the profile and recognition of skills and apprenticeships. A large number of apprenticeship opportunities were on display to our students.

Well done to all of our students who showed exemplary behaviour throughout the day.

Overall a great day was had by all..

To celebrate European Day of Languages, lots of initiatives happened in our classrooms today. Students used their linguistic skills in French and German to chat with each other through active learning experiences. Other students updated their digital portfolios while researching new words and phrases from different languages. We are delighted to have a school with such rich language diversity. As a whole school initiative, we shared a video to showcase these languages as well as hearing some students speak their second language over the school PA system. We would like to thank members of our school community who gave us an opportunity to sample all these wonderful languages. In 2024, the European Council is marking European Day of Languages under the motto ‘Languages for Peace”, highlighting how linguistic diversity and language education can play a key role in promoting a culture of peace, living together and democracy.

Come meet Emily Sweeney, author of Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life!

Join us on Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 7:30 PM for a special event. Hear about the inspiration behind the book, ask questions about the real John “Dropkick” Murphy, and even get your copy signed!

Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity to connect with Emily Sweeney and delve into the world of Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life.

Admission is free but places must be reserved, either using EventBrite or contacting the bookshop directly.

Newspapers called him the “the man with the cast-iron toes,” “the best drop-kicker in wrestling,” and “one of the mat game’s biggest box office attractions.” But Dr. John “Dropkick” Murphy’s legacy extends far beyond the wrestling ring. Decades before the Betty Ford Center became a household name — and long before the band the Dropkick Murphys named themselves in his honuor — the phrase going to Dropkick’s meant a person struggling with addiction needed help and would soon get some.

This book chronicles for the first time the unbelievable life of Dr. “Dropkick” Murphy, a professional wrestler who put himself through medical school during the Great Depression and then opened Bellows Farm, a one-of-a-kind institution that served as both a facility where elite athletes could train as well as a secluded place where down-on-their-luck alcoholics could go to sober up discreetly.

The celebrities who frequented Dropkick Murphy’s farm were many, and numerous professional athletes would go there to focus on their training and work out in his state-of-the-art gymnasium. As a result, Bellows Farm featured an unrivaled and revolving cast of colorful characters who brought it to life. Drawing on years of research and interviews, author Emily Sweeney goes behind the scenes to reveal the untold story of Murphy’s life, his farm, and the legendary events that unfolded there.

Emily Sweeney is a journalist for The Boston Globe, covering local news and writing “Blotter Tales,” a weekly column that appears in the Metro section every Sunday, and “Cold Case Files,” a new series and newsletter about unsolved crimes.

Her areas of expertise include history, crime, and technology, and she’s the author of several nonfiction books, including “Boston Organized Crime,” “Gangland Boston,” and “Dropkick Murphy: A Legendary Life.”

A proud native of Dorchester, Sweeney graduated from Boston Latin School (where she made history as the first girl ever to play on the boys’ varsity ice hockey team) and Northeastern University (where she played on NU’s championship-winning Division 1 women’s ice hockey team).

As a journalist Sweeney has written about a range of topics — from the business of mining conflict minerals to overcrowding in prisons to living conditions in state institutions for the disabled — and she’s been featured on many TV and radio programs, making appearances on Court TV, the Travel Channel, Science Channel, BBC Radio, Beat the Press, Bloomberg Radio, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, NESN, and other media outlets.

She was most recently featured as a guest expert in “Bloody Boston,” a documentary series about organized crime in Boston, and she’s slated to appear in the forthcoming Netflix series “How To Become a Mob Boss.”

She currently serves on the board of directors for the New England First Amendment Coalition and the New England Society of News Editors.

www.woodbinebooks.ie/event/meet-emily-sweeney-author-of-dropkick-murphy-a-legendary-life/

Dear Parent/Guardian.

One of our areas of targeted improvement this year will be in the area of Literacy and 'reading for enjoyment'. We are asking all students to bring in a book in their bag to be accessible during breaks and class periods where they have completed their work and teachers have given permission for them to read. Please help your child to select and pack a suitable book to boost their reading enjoyment. Your support of this initiative is much appreciated. 

We were delighted to welcome Aisling O'Toole who spoke to our Beekeeping and Career Exploration classes today. Aisling very generously donated her father Pat Enright's beekeeping books to our school library for use with Dr Higgins beekeeping classes. Pat was a dedicated beekeeper who sadly passed away a number of months ago. He was a member of An Garda Síochána and an enthusiastic photographer who recorded the passing out classes from The Garda College in Templemore, Co. Tipperary for many years. Aisling spoke about her career as an Occupational Therapist and how her love for baking resulted in winning the Aldi National Brown Bread Baking competition. She outlined the journey from kitchen to supplying Dunnes Stores along with other stores such as our very own Nolans and EuroSpar here in Kilcullen. It was really interesting for our students to hear about how people's careers can evolve into other areas throughout their lives. We were very fortunate that Dr Higgins gave some of the honey her own bees produced for students to enjoy along with Aisling's Brown Bread. A wonderful insight to the importance of artisan and small businesses. 

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