6th Class pupils are currently learning about Cycle Safety with weekly lessons given by tutors Dave, Darragh and Ross  from the RSA and Sports Ireland. Gaelic sessions take place weekly with Alan Fitzpatrick as well as our regular weekly PE stations and the regular active breaks. JEP (Junior Entrepreneur Programme) is well under way and the teams have been chosen. Guided Reading takes place daily and the groups started their new novels Goodnight Mr. Tom, Wonder and Private Peaceful in January. Confirmation takes place on March 30th and we have been diligently preparing in class and with a visit from Fr. John in February. The children have chosen names that are meaningful to them and have sent a slide image about their name to the parish for display in the church on Confirmation Day. The children and their families and teachers are very much looking forward to this special day in their young lives. We have also created some lovely World War Two-themed and Spring-themed art, as well as Confirmation artwork.

Term 1 2022

6th Class have been very busy in September and October! Ms Connaughton’s & Mrs Cronolly’s 6th Classes have been taking part in the ‘Energise’ STEAM programme with expert engineer Esdras Alves-Passes. This programme will run for a further 4 weeks after the midterm break. Mr O’hÓgain’s 6th will also have the opportunity to participate in the programme after the midterm. 6th Class enjoyed a local history trip to Meehambee Dolmen with historian Martin Curley during the month of October. The children are busy preparing for Halloween, and have created some wonderful Halloween-themed art and stories in English and Irish. Ms Butler also treated them to a wonderful Maths Trail for Maths Week and all 3 6th classes hosted children from Senior Infants and taught them some maths games and activities for Maths Week also. Tháinig Bean Ui Ruairc istigh chun Gaeilge a labhairt leis na paisti chomh maith. Bhiomar an-ghnóthach i rang a sé i dtearma a h-aon. 

In sixth class we have been learning about the phases of the moon which explains why the moon seems to change shape each night. As the Moon orbits the Earth, the Sun lights up different parts of it, making it seem as if the Moon is changing shape. We also learned about the Apollo 11 moon landing. We completed some art work to accompany this topic.

Sinéad Nolan from Teleflex visited our school on a weekly basis to carry out the Energize programme in partnership with Junior Achievement Ireland. We learned about a variety of science topics including chromatography, energy efficiency, how to detect Carbon Monoxide and natural gas. In our final session we studied reflection of light and built a periscope. During the science lessons we made observations, collected information and used logical thinking to solve tasks. We had the opportunity to experiment and work in teams. We had a lot of fun participating in the Energize programme.

Oral Language: Hot air balloon debate. In this activity we practised skills such as making initial speeches, giving responses to questions and addressing other people’s arguments. We all chose a character, e.g. a historical figure, a climate activist, etc. In the first round each person had to give a short persuasive speech explaining why they should not be thrown out of the sinking hot air balloon. We voted for the most convincing speech and that character advanced to the next round of the debate, and remained on board the hot air balloon.

Egg parachutes. We had to design and construct a parachute that would deliver an egg safely to the ground when dropped from an upstairs window of the school. We learned about the concept of resistance during this experiment. When designing the parachutes, our goal was to create more wind resistance to slow the descent of the egg. We had a lot of fun testing our “egg-cellent” parachutes.

6th class have had a fantastic first term. We recently took part in Maths Week and invited Senior Infants and First Class to our classroom where we played maths games, which we had created, with them. We also created some fabulous Halloween art pieces during our Arts and Craft Day. We are interviewing our grandparents for a history project, which we will complete before Christmas. We learned about the Titanic and took part in history trails with Martin Curley, who took us to visit the laneway at the back of the school in September for Hedgerow Week and to Meehambee Dolmen in October on a history tour. We had an Anti-Bullying Internet Safety Zoom and a local Community Garda called Linda came to speak to us about Halloween Safety. We have also been enjoying our novels The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket, Goodnight Mr. Tom and A Dangerous Crossing. The local secondary schools paid us a visit and we have been to the open days. Mrs. O’Rourke has taken us for weekly singing lessons and has also visited the classes for Gaeilge o bheal. We have begun preparation for our Confirmation, which will take place on April 18th.  Overall, term one has been a busy but productive one!