Spring in 3rd and 4th Class

We have been busy bunnies during spring and I couldn’t be more proud of all of the work and participation that has taken place in my  classroom over the last few months.

In English, we have spent lots of time working on our comprehension skills, looking at explanation writing and focusing on the use of prepositions, plurals, pronouns and synonyms.  We wrote our own explanations, using the features of explanation writing. We used procedural writing to write a procedure on how to make a Leprechaun mask. The children also designed and wrote about their own Fairytale characters.  They  also completed their own spring acrostic poems and shape poems within Easter Eggs.

In Gaeilge, we focused on the themes of Caitheamh Aimsire, Bia agus An Cháisc and have learned lots of vocabulary around these themes.  We loved taking part in the Irish songs and poems. We participated in various role plays surrounding the themes mentioned and I loved the drama we did in the restaurant, in particular.  You can see this on our Facebook page.

Maths involved lots of practical challenges around the topics of multiplication, division , fractions, decimals, weight  and length  and we used lots of different strategies to work out math’s problems.  As always we got plenty of use out of our Six Bricks in our challenges and in our tables activities.  We completed lots of practical challenges and we also loved playing games on the Toolkit4maths and Topmarks websites, to help consolidate newly learned skills. We have introduced an ‘Estimation Station’ to our room, giving the children a chance to guess the answer to a question relevant to the topic being taught.  The person with the closest answer gets a small prize.

In S.E.S.E, we learned about farming in the past and changes that farming has undergone over time.  We learned about Ireland and each child researched a different county.  All research was combined to make a class book, which we have sent off to be published! We learned about the Romans and Italy and worked in groups to make fantastic booklets on these. We learned about rocks and soils in Science and looked at different samples of these and examined their properties.

In S.P.H.E.,  we learned dealing with strangers, how to be a good friend, road safety and how we grow and change over time.

In Music, we learned lots of songs and learned about different Irish instruments.  We are progressing nicely on our tin whistles and can now all play several tunes.  We are also practicing for the First Holy Communion Choir in May.

In Art, to mention a few things –  we made lots of Saint Patrick’s day crafts, made papier maché Roman helmets and used collage to make Easter bunnies and Easter wreaths.

In P.E., we had our Gaelic coach in to teach us lots of games and ball skills. We also were very lucky to get to practice our hip-hop skills in our dance lessons. We have some future professionals in our midst.

We also had a visit from Doran Motors, with a very informative talk on the advantages of electric cars and we even got to see and sit in some cars from the range.  We finished the term with a visit from the ice-cream van and some bun decorating! All round another busy and productive term.  Enjoy your well deserved Easter break everyone! Hope the Easter Bunny comes! See a few samples of our work below!

Amazing work in 5th & 6th Class

Lots of learning and fun took place in the senior classroom between Christmas and Easter.

The pupils were intrigued by exploring the unique craft of making St.Brigid’s Day crosses to honour St.Brigid’s feast day.

Pancake Tuesday as always was a huge hit and thank you to our wonderful parents for facilitating it and making it possible!

The Irish language was authentically used by taking part in a Tráth na gCeist for Seachtain na Gaeilge among other activities.

In English we are thoroughly enjoying starting our Novel ‘The Boy in Striped Pyjamas ’ by author John Boyne and engaging in a variety of literacy activities based on it which we continue to work on. We are also learning the purpose and features of the Persuasive genre which will be put into action next term in our debating. World Book Day was another success where the pupils continue to inspire us with their love of reading!

We learned about The Digestive System and organ functions in Science. The pupils also worked co-operatively in their buddy groups to plan, research, display and present amazing projects on The Famine and World War 2 in SESE. Super learning everyone!

Length in Maths was fun as we took to some measuring outdoors and investigated making a variety of angles with varying resources. Most recently the properties of 2D & 3D shapes were explored!

We have had an exciting and enjoyable term together which came to a close with some momentous and special occasions shared together such as 6th Class Confirmation, Primary 5’s FAI soccer, a trip to the park and a surprise ice-cream treat in the sun! What more could you ask for!

Have a wonderful Easter everyone and here’s hoping the Easter Bunny comes!!

 

 

Green School Travel Theme

The Green School Committee have worked tirelessly over the past two years on the Travel theme. Travel surveys, walkability audit, mapping activity, Bike Week, bike safety lessons, WOW & COW days, inviting guest speakers are a few of the activities that they planned, organised and engaged in. Our most recent success was partaking in our fun packed Green Schools Travel Action Day.

A massive thank you to one of our parents Gerard Boylan for delivering an inspiring presentation on sustainable travel not to mention the enjoyment we derived from the three show-stopping cars we had on site. Thank you to Gerard and the Doran Motors team for making our action day one to remember.

Thank you to our Green School Committee, 5th & 6th Class, for their dedication and support over the past two years . We appreciate all your hard efforts as we prepare to submit our application for our Travel flag.

Hip-Hop in 2025!

During the month of March, we have been learning some hip-hop moves with our dance instructor. A massive thank-you to Emma Courtney who has been absolutely fabulous with the children. The children really did enjoy every moment!

Active Breaks 2025

Our Active Schools Committee of 2025, have been busy planning, organising and playing lots of games with our pupils on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at lunch-time. They are great leaders and the children are all having a ball!

Term 2 in 3rd and 4th Class

The girls and boys in 3rd and 4th class have been super busy from Halloween to Christmas.  In Gaeilge, we have been looking at the theme of An Scoil and learning lots of vocabulary around this theme.  We have been singing songs and practicing poems in this subject too. In the last week, we have been looking at An Nolliag, learning lots of Christmas vocabulary, alongside making Irish Christmas cards.

In English we focused on persausive and narrative writing. We discussed the impact of advertising slogans and jingles on our purchases and completed our own persausive ads, trying to convince people to buy ROBOTS. We also composed our own Christmas stories through narrative writing.

In maths, we have been focusing on multiplication and I am proud of how the boys and girls have mastered this. We have engaged in lots of maths games and hands-on activities to come to grips with this topic. We used our ‘maths bags’ to figure out some Christmas themed problems.

For Science Week in November, we looked at Light and Sound and we experimented with reflections in mirrors and identified sounds solely by listening.  We learned about the science of how we hear sounds with our ears.

We learned lots of interesting facts about our county and country in Geography. In History , we looked at Games and Pastimes in the past compared to nowadays, completing interviews with our parents and grandparents to explore this. We learned about the history of Christmas and traditions around the world.

In S.P.H.E.,  we have focused on the negative effects of smoking and also the importance of personal hygiene for our wellbeing.

In religion, we have been focusing on the theme of Advent and Christmas.

In Art, we completed drawings of local buildings, made clay decorations and elf door hangers and entered the Monaghan Shopping Centre Christmas colouring competion.

We have been busy practising for and taking part in our Christmas play ‘No One Wraps Like an Elf’. We have fantastic actors, singers and dancers in our class! They put on a fabulous performance in Lisdoonan Hall!

We took part in Friendship Day, the M.S. Readathon, Crazy Hair Day and also had a visit from Santa.

Well Done Boys and Girls on a fantastic term!  Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year to everyone!!

Term 2 in 5th & 6th Class

There was lots of amazing work going on in 5th & 6th class since Halloween as the pupils worked co-operatively in their buddy groups to plan, research, display and present outstanding projects on World War 1.

 

In Science the pupils enjoyed experimenting with Lego We Do which involved constructing & coding the most incredible Lego models.

In Gaeilge the senior classes planned and delivered exceptional Irish debates on comparing country and city life. I was amazed by their work and the cross fire was very entertaining!

 

In English we had lots of fun with the procedural genre where the pupils made slime and delved into planning and presenting their own procedures for authenticity of both the process and evaluation.

The lead into Christmas this year was a busy one, commencing even before Hallowe’en as we began the preparations for our very own Christmas Performance – ‘No One Wraps Like An Elf’. The wealth of talent on display from 3rd to 6th class was simply outstanding and to say we are proud of the performance is an understatement. Next stop Broadway!

Lots of Christmas festivities took place over the last few weeks from hot chocolate treats, cupcake decorating, making Christmas tree decorations to a seasonal visit from Santa!

 

Well done to the boys and girls in 5th & 6th Class for their commitment to their work and classroom activities this term. Now lots of treats have been well earned over the Christmas break! Merry Christmas everyone and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

 

Cumann na mBunscol 2024

Congratulations to our boys team on winning the semi-final of  the competition on Wednesday 23rd October.  Well done also on your fantastic display of football in Castleblaney in the final! Although we were defeated, you should be super proud of the quality of play on the day. Well Done Boys!!

Move to Improve 2024

All classes in our school engaged in the MOVE TO IMPROVE PROGRAMME, over six weeks from  September to October. 

Move to Improve is a fun based, active program that focuses on the development of kids vital motor and social skills. Move to Improve also promotes kids involvement in multi sports, many of which are not given enough exposure. This will help to increase the ratio of kids who continue an active, healthy lifestyle into their teens. A massive thank-you to Ryan Burns and his colleagues, who provided fantastic P.E. lessons for all our pupils!

autumn in 3rd and 4th Class

Everyone settled back to school well and teacher is extremely proud of all of the work and participation that has taken place in her classroom since our return.

In English, we have spent lots of time working on our comprehension skills, looking at recount and instructional writing and focusing on the use of full-stops, commas and apostrophes.  We wrote our own adventure stories, wrote instructions for our favourite sandwiches and composed instructions for a board game of our choice.

In Gaeilge, we focused on the themes of Mé Fein and Sa Bhaile and have learned lots of vocabulary around these themes.  We loved taking part in the rap song ‘Is Mise Seán’. We have some future rappers in our midst.

Maths involved lots of practical challenges around the topics of addition and subtractions and we used lots of different strategies to work out math’s problems.  We got plenty of use out of our Six Bricks in our challenges.  We partipated in math’s week and completed lots of practical challenges, including a school math’s trail, math’s eyes activities and we also loved playing games on the Toolkit4maths and Topmarks websites.

In S.E.S.E, we learned about various homes and houses and changes in houses over time.  We completed an interview with a family member to discover changes in their home over time.  We learned about people who help us locally and in school.  We also learned about our county and its natural features and compared our drumlin county to County Clare and the Burren.  We spent the last week of autumn learning about Halloween Traditions, listened to Halloween riddles and jokes and we played some Halloween games.

In S.P.H.E. we learned about ways to deal with feelings that we don’t like to experience.  We also learned about balanced diets and how to achieve this with the use of the food pyramid.

In Music we learned several autumn themed songs and started to learn the first notes on the tin whistle.  We have also commenced practising for our Christmas play.

In Art we experimenting with printing using autumn colours, drew our ideal homes and completed several pieces of Halloween themed art.

In P.E., we practised ball handling skills and also participated in the Move to Improve Programme.

We also had a visit from a famous author, a magician and engaged in our monthly assemblies.  All round a busy and productive term.  We are ready to engage in the M.S. Readathon on our return in November. Well Done Everyone!!