School Tour

We went on our school tour to Rumley's Farm this week and had a great day out! The children got a tractor ride around the farm, learned about lots of animals and had fun in the playground, on the zip-line, playing crazy golf and taking turns on the go-carts. They took turns feeding baby calves and saw lots of other animals and their young, including a little piglet born only a few hours earlier. As well as all of that one of the highlights was going there and back on a double-decker bus!

Parents Association Sports Day

The children had great fun in Ballyanly last week for their Sports Day. They got to try many different games, had races and did an obstacle course. Great day had by all!

Bug Hunt

Niamh from the Heritage in Schools Scheme came to our school last week and took us on a bug hunt on the school grounds. We had great fun learning about insects and searching for them!

Aistear - Construction
​14/05/18- 18/05/18

This week we learned about the world of construction. We learned about the work of builders, engineers and all those involved in the construction industry. We explored the theme through the use of role play, construction, making 2D drawings of a town and drawing house plans.

Aistear - The Market 
23/04/18 - 03/05/18

For the past two weeks we have learned so much more about the market. We have used role play, construction, small world, play dough, fabric and fibre and games with rules to explore all areas of the market including clothes and shoe shops, book shops and a pet store, as well as the supermarket. 

Aistear - The Market 
16/04/18 - 20/04/18

This week in Aistear we learned all about the food market. This involved learning about the fishmonger, the butcher, the farmer and all of the others who contribute food to a farmers' market/supermarket and who work there. The children explored the theme through the use of role play, construction, paint and designing and making shopping bags.

Planting in the school garden - 13/04/'18

Mr Keady helped us to plant potatoes in the school garden! We have been learning all about how roots grow down and shoots grow up in search of sunlight so we will revisit the garden in a few weeks time to see if we can see any signs of growth.

Looking for signs of Spring

St. Patrick's Day celebrations!!

The Junior Infant boys and girls looked fantastic today in their beautiful green clothes for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. Have a lovely long weekend everybody!

Engineers Week

Several engineers have come in over the past few weeks to teach the children all about the work that engineers do and to answer any of the children's questions. They have really enjoyed the visits and have learned lots about engineering!

A visit from 4th class

Mrs O'Connor's 4th class came to read to some of the Junior Infant boys and girls this week. They chose their favourite books from the library and listened carefully as the older boys and girls read to them. It was a very enjoyable experience for both classes. 

The Farm Shop
Aistear 5/03/'18 - 9/03/'18

This week the children were buying and selling farm produce in the farm shop in role play. They also built farms using construction materials and play dough. They planted broad beans which we will grow over the coming weeks and they also made jigsaws and played the 'Scaredy Cat' game where they were very good at taking turns!

​The Farm
​Aistear 19/02/'18 - 23/02/'18

This week the children got to explore the theme of 'The Farm' which they really enjoyed. They played in role play, built farms in construction and small world stations and painted and constructed tractors to play with next week!

Pharmacist visit

This week Lisa came to talk to the children about her job as a Pharmacist. The children really enjoyed role playing different scenarios and had fun trying to open sample child-proof medicine bottles, putting them into pharmacy bags and putting labels on them. They used a lot of the vocabulary they had learned during Aistear over the past few weeks and got a chance to ask Lisa questions about her work.

Special Visitors

We had two very special visitors on our school yard today. They are calves called Fiona and Casey. They are only 7 days old! 

Aistear 29/01/'18 - 02/02/'18

'The Pharmacy' was the theme for Aistear this week and the children had great fun learning all about it through Role Play, Construction, Small World and Games with Rules (Twister).

Aistear 22/01/'18 - 26/01/'18

This week the children engaged with the theme of 'The Hospital'. They explored it through role play and construction as well as painting a picture related to the theme and drawing and making skeletons with chalk and junk art.

Aistear 15/01/'18 - 18/01/'18

This week in Aistear we explored the theme of 'The Doctor'. The children had great fun learning about the theme and recalling trips to the doctor as well as constructing and painting an ambulance and making body parts out of play dough.

Santa Visit

Santa came to visit us today!! He said that we are all on the nice list and gave us a lollipop as a reward for being so good. Only 4 more sleeps to go!

Letters to Santa

Today we wrote letters to Santa to send him a little reminder and to let him know that we are being so well behaved in the lead up to Christmas! Only 5 more sleeps!!

Aistear - The Restaurant/Café

The children had great fun in Aistear this week. They made and ate fruit salad and painted giant pieces of fruit as well as playing in the role play and construction areas.

The Very Hopeless Camel

The children of Junior Infants performed their Christmas show 'The Very Hopeless Camel' for their parents and relations today in school. They really enjoyed performing and are delighted to have done such a great job! We hope you all enjoyed it too!

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....

Christmas play practice

The boys and girls of Junior Infants are having great fun getting ready for their Christmas play 'The Very Hopeless Camel'. They are practicing on the stage in the hall and taking their turns to say their lines at the microphone. They can't wait to perform for their parents and the rest of the school next week!

A visit to 5th class

Today we went to visit Miss McAuliffe's 5th class to see the wonderful rooms they had made from shoe boxes and other recycled materials. We also sang a song for them while we were there!

Aistear - The Pizzeria

This week in Aistear the children are exploring the theme of The Pizzeria. They are doing this through the use of role play, construction, play dough and making their own pizzas!

Halloween Antics!!

We had great fun in school today. First we had a Halloween-themed assembly where we got to parade our costumes in front of the whole school. Then we had a Halloween disco with all of the boys and girls in Senior Infants!

Maths Trail
​26/10/'17

Only a week late, we managed to get out on our maths trail! We spotted lots of numbers and shapes on the yard.

Halloween Cats
25/10/'17

They took us most of the day but look at the beautiful Halloween cats we all made!

Aistear
​23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th October '17

We are back to Aistear this week. We have our role play and construction as usual. In addition to this we have spooky play-dough, Halloween masks and wands.

Tree Surgeon
​18/10/'17

There was great excitement when we saw some of the branches from the tree across the road being cut down. The surgeon was amazing at climbing and they finished it in no time. The only evidence left is the bent light post!

Autumn Walk
13/10/'17

We braved the elements this morning and went for an Autumn walk/adventure. We explored parts of the school that even teacher didn't know existed! Along our journey we spotted lots of Autumn things like blackberries, fallen leaves, acorns, mushrooms and apples. We even spotted a squirrel gathering nuts high up in an oak tree!

WARNING The Gruffalo was also spotted wandering about this morning. Forget the weather warning this is much more serious! Stay safe as he looked hungry!

Music
​12/10/'17

Clapping and marching to the beat in music today.

Aistear
​12th, 13th October 2017

Aistear
11/10/'17

Autumn
​9/10/'17

Look at our beautiful hedgehogs!

Aistear
9th, 10th October 2017

A new week of Aistear. We have four stations this week- home corner, construction, play-dough and junk art.

Autumn Walk
​6/10/'17

Some of Junior Infants went on an Autumn Walk today. We collected nuts and leaves and even heard the squirrels in the trees. Unfortunately we couldn't see them!!

Aistear
6/10/'17

Free choice today.

Painting
​6/10/'17

Painting our Autumn hedgehogs this morning.

Fire Drill
4/10/'17

A very exciting morning today, we had a practice fire drill. Thankfully we all got out unharmed!

Drama

Things can get very dramatic on Wednesdays with Ms. Kelly!

Aistear
2nd/3rd/4th/5th October 2017

Very exciting as we got to start Aistear this week. Our theme for the month is The Home. This week we are doing a variety of things including playing in the home, constructing homes from a variety of blocks and writing based on the home. We will rotate each each day so everyone will get a chance to experience all areas.

If you go down to the woods today.....
29/9/'17

Our teddies had a great time in school today. They played in the classroom, got a tour of our yard and had a picnic with us in the halla. 

Cutting and pasting
28/9/'17

Lots of cutting and pasting this morning..

Playtime
27/9/'17

It all looks like fun and games but we are learning lots too!

Busy hands
14/9/'17

Very busy today colouring in and cutting out Humpty Dumpty.

The Buddy Bench

​The buddy bench is a simple idea to eliminate loneliness and foster friendship on the playground. We use the buddy bench as a visual tool to help instill much needed lifelong social skills.
If your child does not have anyone to play with, they are firstly encouraged to look for friends and join in with a game. If they still cannot find anyone, they simply sit on the bench and children from their class are asked to invite them to play. Our sixth class sheriffs monitor the buddy bench and help us spread the message of inclusion and kindness!
As you can see, the buddy bench is proving extremely popular as a resting place. In time, with the help of our sheriffs, the children will understand that the buddy bench is only to be used when they are in need of a friend. ​​

Up the Rebels!
​12/9/'17

We were lucky enough to have Rena Buckley and Niamh McCarthy visit us today with the O' Duffy Cup after their recent win in Croke Park. Well done to all the team. You are an inspiration to us all!

Hands Up
8/9/'17

We have had our weetabix and are ready for painting!!

Playdough Fun

Junior Infants

Our first week of school has come and gone. We all enjoyed ourselves but we are glad of the break over the weekend as it is exhausting!! Looking forward to learning loads in the weeks ahead although we may be a little emotional on Monday after the break!