Tots to Teens: Sustainable competition back in class
Willowwarm Christmas Heading Tubridy: The Ryan Schools Up Petition
The WillowWarm Schools Christmas Competition is back, offering primary schools across Ireland a chance to win a book reading with Ryan Tubridy, one tonne of WillowWarm briquettes for the winning teacher, and a cash prize of €1,000 for the winning school.
To enter, classes are asked to show what their school is doing to be sustainable.
This could be a short story, illustration, photo, or video.
Entries can be emailed to Competitions@WillowWarm.ie and must contain details including each child’s name, class and school, as well as an email address and mobile phone number.
- The closing date of entry is noon on Wednesday, December 4, and full details are available from willowwarm.ie
The Irish College of GPs is urging parents of young children to get their babies vaccinated against whooping cough.
Also known as pertussis, this highly contagious respiratory tract infection can seriously impact a baby’s health.
Among all babies hospitalised with the infection, more than half require intensive care.
Cases are increasing in Ireland. As of November 3, some 551 cases had been reported — compared to 18 for 2023.
About one-fifth of these were children under the age of five.
The Irish College of GPs wants parents to know that preventing children from catching whooping cough is possible.
By getting the whooping cough vaccination during pregnancy, mothers can protect newborns until they are fully vaccinated at six months.
Irish rugby star Rob Kearney has launched Christmas Jumper Day 2024, a Children’s Health Foundation fundraising initiative.
He’s calling on schools, workplaces, clubs, and organisations across Ireland to host their own Christmas Jumper Days and raise money to support sick children.
All they need to do is sign up at childrenshealth.ie/christmas-jumper-day.
They will then be sent a pack that includes posters, stickers, and other publicity materials.
It’s up to them and their friends or colleagues to wear their most festive jumpers and give what they can to help fund life-saving equipment and care for the young patients attending Crumlin, Temple St, Tallaght, and Connolly hospitals.
With its colourful pictures and charming rhymes, this book is a lovely way of teaching young children about snow and the chilly weather we often have at this time of year.
It’s available from wonderfullyweatherybooks.com for €10 and is suitable for children aged three to six.
Lynn Agnew has been a counsellor and psychotherapist for over 15 years and is the proud mum of three grown children.
She draws on both experiences in My TalkHere, a range of accessible and interactive wellbeing kits for young people.
Designed for children aged five to nine, these kits feature printable worksheets, games, projects, and activities they can complete alone or with their families.
Everything is colourfully illustrated, and there’s also audio content to encourage a deeper sense of calm and focus.
Agnew hopes her kits will teach children to trust their inner voice, respect and value themselves, and manage their emotions.
She does this by covering topics such as mindfulness, affirmations, communication skills, how to cope with anxiety, building confidence and self-esteem, self-awareness, and more.
The kits are available from mytalkhere.com, with prices starting from €12.