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.

Confirmation: The sixth class Confirmation candidates recently chose their Confirmation names. We selected names that were Catholic saints or names that were significant in the Bible. We researched our chosen names and found out very interesting facts and information. We wrote our Confirmation names on cards and created a tie dye effect using water colours. We cut them out in the shape of a flame to resemble the tongues of fire that descended on the disciples at Pentecost. The flames look very vibrant. We are all really looking forward to our Confirmation Day on March 31^st. By Grace Meares.

This term Ms. Connaughton’s sixth class were learning about WWII and Anne Frank in History. We all made wonderful WWII projects which we displayed outside our classroom for a walk-by exhibition. Some of the crafts included a gas mask, an evacuee’s suitcase, an Anderson shelter and a Luftwaffe aircraft. By Arwaa Idris.

Ms. Connaughton’s sixth class were paired up with Ms. Fallon’s second class for the Cloonakilla Champions League, which was organised by the Active School Committee. We taught second class how to play simple games that they can play at break time or during their active break with Ms. Fallon, such as ‘Snowflakes and Sunrays’, ‘Red Nose’ and ‘Gladiator’. Second class really enjoyed playing the games and learning a new game every Friday. They especially loved it when we joined in for the final game at the end. This has been a great way for us to practise giving instructions, which we have been studying in oral language. 

This term Mr.Ó hÓgáin’s sixth class also learned about WWII.  We discovered the role played by propaganda during the war and created propaganda posters.  Each student took an aspect of the war to explore in  more detail and we created powerpoint presentations which were displayed on Seesaw and presented to the class. We also collaborated to create a timeline of the major events of World War II.

Mr. Ó hÓgáin’s sixth class were paired with Ms. Donnelly’s first class for the Cloonakilla Champions League, an event organised by the Active Schools Committee. As part of our learning of procedure writing, we prepared games that could be played by first class at break time.  The sixth class pupils enjoyed practicing their instructional language with their first class counterparts in a fun environment!