Christmas Activities in the Infant Classroom

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The last few weeks have been packed with fun, excitement and creativity in the Infant Classroom. The children engaged in a variety of Christmas activities such as learning Christmas rhymes, singing songs both in English and Irish; two of our favourites being ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Tá an Nollaig Buaillte Linn’. We learned about Advent, The Christmas Story and chatted about Christmas traditions both in Ireland and in other countries worldwide. We also enjoyed doing a Christmas quiz together. The children made unique Christmas tree decorations using lollipop sticks and decorated with assorted jewels and buttons. Our sticky fingers got to work on making edible Christmas trees covered with smarties and sprinkles…yummy!!

All of the boys and girls in Junior and Senior Infants are on Santa’s good list this year and so we are now ready for our holidays as we eagerly await Santa’s visit… only a few more sleeps to go!

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Winter Robins

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These beautiful robins were made by some very creative infants this Winter. Don’t forget to leave food out for them!

Construction

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The children in Junior and Senior Infants worked tirelessly in groups in order to design and make the most creative and unique buildings you’ve ever seen in conjunction with our SESE theme of ‘Homes and Houses’. There may well be some engineers or architects in the making!

The Science of Sound

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This week we looked at the science of sound and vibrations. We have been investigating how paper cup phones work. Children discovered that they work by transmitting sound vibrations along a tightly pulled string. The children tested which materials would be best to make their own paper cup phones and had great fun testing them out!

Hit the Button

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We were all very excited in Ms Atkinson’s classroom last month when we managed to fix the interactivity on our whiteboard. The children have really enjoyed playing Maths, English and S.E.S.E. games using the whiteboard this month. Check out the photos below to see some of the children practicing their times tables by playing ‘Hit the Button’.

Mini Me Yoga

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On the 10th of December, teachers completed a ‘Mini Me Yoga’ Foundation course with Natalie Boyle. We received lots of ideas for teaching children how to engage with yoga in a fun and active, but meaningful way.  We found this course an excellent resource for allowing us the chance to acknowledge each individual child and help them develop a positive self-image. This was another step towards helping increase the overall mental health and well-being of both pupils and teachers as part of our Health Promoting Schools Campaign.

Kickboxing Success!

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On Friday 30th November 2018, Annie, Molly and Maggie were graded in kickboxing. Annie received her brown belt, Molly received her purple belt and Maggie received her green belt.

Annie and Molly then had a kickboxing fight on Sunday 2nd December, with Annie receiving a silver medal and Molly receiving a bronze.

The girls attend kickboxing classes in Carrickmacross every week and have made fantastic progress over the past few years.

Well done girls!

Friendship Garden

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On Tuesday 4th December 2018, the children from Ms. Atkinson’s room had the opportunity to help plant some lovely fruit trees in our new friendship garden. All children in the school then got to put their name on a tree which they will watch grow as they progress through the school. Our friendship garden was organised by the Parent’s Association and is a very welcome addition to our beautiful school. The children really enjoyed being a part of this very worthwhile event.

We would like to thank our parent’s association for organising our garden, as well as Paul and Russell from Callan’s Garden Centre Donaghmoyne for their help on the day. We can’t wait to enjoy the fruits of our labour!

Friendship Slogan and Friendship Poem Competition

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To further encourage friendship and its importance in our school (as part of our Mental Health and Well-being Initiative), we held a ‘Friendship Slogan’ and ‘Acrostic Poem’ Competition. This was to encourage children to think about friendship and what a ‘good friend’ is.

We had lots of fantastic entries! Our chosen poem and slogans that represent the meaning of friendship can be seen below. Well done to all of the children that entered!

 

‘Friendship’
by Joseph
Friendship is caring,
Respecting others!
I think friendship is nice.
Everything about friendship is nice.
Nothing can break up friendship.
Don’t let anyone bully you!
Step up if your friends are getting bullied.
Helping others is friendship.
I like to play with my friends.
Please don’t be nasty to people and get more friends.

 

Friendship is …
by Ella 

 

Friendship is …
by Millie

‘Little Bo-Peep’s Christmas Mix-Up’

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On Monday 3rd December 2018, the children of St. Michael’s National School travelled to The Garage Theatre in Monaghan to see ‘Little Bo-Peep’s Christmas Mix-Up’. We all had a fantastic day!