We have had a very busy month this November!

At the beginning of the month a few of the 6th class pupils had the opportunity to go to Christchurch Cathedral for a diocesan service. They had lots of fun singing hymns (while waving glow sticks) and seeing other schools. They also had the opportunity of going to the museum in Christchurch where they tried on lots of old outfits from history. 

We have also started Gymnastics this month which has been fantastic. We are having so much fun practicing handstands, tumbles, crawls and cartwheels. Each week we are gaining more confidence in ourselves and most importantly having lots of fun! 

Science week was a blast too! We were lucky enough to do a science workshop where we saw super cool experiments that explored things like static electricity, chemical reactions and forces. We also did lots of experiments in class like making a lava lamp. This month in science, we had the task of making a wind turbine out of recyclable materials. We were all put into groups and had to make a plan. We had certain criteria we had to adhere to e.g. our wind turbine had to be at least 30cm tall and stand and rotate freely. After lots of planning and deliberating, we worked together to bring our creations to life! When we were finished, we used a hairdryer to test if they rotated. Only one group got their wind turbine to spin!

One day this month our classroom turned into a courtroom and we got to experience a mock trial. Senator Barry Ward, who is also a barrister, gave us an unforgettable experience of participating in a real life court case. We were given a sample case in which somebody was accused of stealing a box of chocolates from the local newsagents. We all had big roles to play, some of us were witnesses and solicitors on the prosecution/defence team, others were the court registrar, exhibits garda and the jury. Before each witness shared their statement, they had to make an oath to the class to state that they were telling the truth. It was very serious and most of us couldn't keep a straight face when the witnesses were questioned by the real life barristers. In the end, the jury came to the decision that the defendant was not guilty. We then got to eat the stolen box of chocolates and try on the barristers gown. What an experience!

In history we have been learning about World War 2. It has been really interesting to watch videos and read newspapers from that time to see what life was like back then. We learned about propaganda posters and even made our own posters to persuade people to fight in the war. Oliver brought in an actual bullet shell from World War 2 and a rock from the rubble of Warsaw during the war. It was fascinating to have real life artefacts in our classroom. 

Geography and Science Projects

In school we have been doing projects. It has been really fun. Four groups had different topics: rocks, the earth's layers, earthquakes, and volcanoes. We have been doing them for around 2 - 3 weeks and everyone has enjoyed it and we hope to do more fun activities like this.  

By Eva

 Climate Action Workshop

A few weeks ago we learned about climate change and what we can do to help our world. I think we all really enjoyed it. It was fun especially the coding thing called Microbit. We got to make our own cool game. The only problem was it was very complicated, but it was still very fun. We got to do a quiz at the end, that was really fun aswell. 

 By Tristán

Art 

In October in 5th and 6th we did lots of fun art such as land art where we made art out of leaves, rocks, twigs, branches and flowers. We also recreated the painting 'The Scream' which was one of the most detailed paintings we have ever done. We also did African tribe paintings which were paintings that African tribes would have had on the walls of their huts. 

 By Ben

World Cup

As most of you know, Ireland made it to the quarter finals in the rugby world cup. So here are some things we did in school for it. We learned how to do the haka in Irish. It was really fun. We made big data posters in groups of the matches we won and the best players. Then we all sung ‘Ireland’s call’. We had great fun.

By Elizabeth

Maths Week

Before we started classwork, we always did maths riddles which made our brains work hard. Also, we had buddy time, we normally do art but because it was maths week, we did a maths trail with our buddies. For PE we did a long multiplication relay and it was really fun. For drama, we had to make up a drama about if we woke up one morning and all numbers were gone. This made us think as we wouldn’t have time, maths, money or speed limits, none of that!

By Tilda

Pollinator Workshop

This month we did a pollinator workshop. We saw dead wasps and bees and we learned the difference between wasps and bees. At the end we did a nature walk out in our garden. We saw different types of trees and flowers. We learned a lot of stuff and we did a scavenger’s hunt. It was a great experience.

By Lauren

We finished the month off with a fantastic Halloween disco organised by the student council. We all had great fun dancing, eating treats and playing games. Happy midterm and well done to everyone on their hard work this term!

Fifth and Sixth class have had an exciting start to the new year. We are very lucky to welcome a few new faces to our class including our new teacher Ms Webster.

The first three days of school were very exciting. We played lots of ‘getting to know you’ games and came up with a list of rules for our classroom. While learning about one another, we created split self-portraits where we drew our face on one side and drew other things that make up our identities on the other side. These portraits turned out fantastic and I can already tell our class is full of artists!

Buddies

As Fifth and Sixth class are the oldest classes of the school, they have lots of responsibility. The Fifth and Sixth class students have been paired with a Junior or Senior infant buddy. Once the students found out the name of their buddy, they made sure to introduce themselves to one another so that they were a friendly, familiar face to the Junior and Senior infants. Every second Thursday we have ‘Buddy Time’ where the Fifth and Sixth class students work with their buddy to do an activity. The students are not only being great role models for the younger students, but most importantly, they are having lots of fun together!

Curriculum

In Geography, we have been learning about different types of animals, their features and their habitats. We were lucky enough to use the iPads to research an animal of our choice in pairs and complete a fact file to present to the class. In Science, we have also been learning about animals. We learned about animals that used to live in Ireland but are now extinct. We also explored the Natural History Museum of Ireland via a 3D virtual tour online. This was very enjoyable, and it made us realise the importance of museums.

In art, we took inspiration from Picasso and did continuous line drawings. For these drawings, you do not lift your pencil off the page and try to create a drawing using one continuous line. This was definitely harder than it looks but the drawings turned out to be very effective. We also made abstract paper collages inspired by Matisse’s cut-outs. Each collage was so different and colourful. 

Student council

Some of the Fifth and Sixth class students decided to run for student council this year. Each of them prepared a speech and shared their visions for the school. The students put in so much effort into these speeches and it was great to hear new ideas of things we could achieve this year as a school. After the students delivered their speeches, it was voting time! The GP room was set up as a polling station and each student went in to vote. Then the votes were counted and the results were shared on the same day. Our Fifth and Sixth class members of the student council this year are Tilda, Archie, Lily, Ellen, and Inés. Congratulations everyone!