A busy year so far!

We have had a very busy year so far. In September we began our term in the prefab building at the rear of the school. Then just before Christmas, we moved into our new classrooms in the new building at the front of the school. The rooms are very spacious and bright. They have lots of storage (which the teachers are very excited about) and new interactive whiteboards. We have settled in quickly and are hard at work.
Our use of technology is also enhanced by our use of iPads. They allow us to read a variety of material from Read Theory. This is based on our individual ability, so we can work and challenge ourselves each week.
The iPads also allow us to play online learning games for maths. The games are selected by our teachers and changed each week to help practise the topic we are covering in maths. We also play Hit the Button to help learn tables and become fast and accurate in answering the questions.
Kahoot is another favourite of ours. Our teachers create quizzes and we each use our iPads to answer the multichoice questions. We get to choose our own Kahoot name each week and aim to be on the winners’ podium at the end of the game.

As swimming is part of our curriculum, we attend six swim lessons each year in the local Coral Leisure swimming pool in the Mall Complex. We are exceptionally lucky to be close to the Mall, so we walk (and talk) there and back. We are in different groups, depending on our swim ability. Everyone is working hard and learning new skills, which makes our teachers very proud of us. Lots of boys are already using the deep end of the pool – magnificent achievement! Well done!

Nature Walks

Because the Mall is so close, we have also gone there on Nature Walks. There we saw a variety of trees and identified quite a lot of them. As we had brought the iPads with us, we also took photos and made books on the iPads when we got back. We used the photos we had taken and wrote about the trees that were in the photos. Our teachers printed off the books and we brought them home. They were fabulous.
We also use the outdoors to learn – for example, how the leaves were frozen solid in the frost, and, how glasses can “fog up” when going indoors after being outside in very cold weather.

Scientific experiments

Scientific experiments also allow us to construct models of real engineering structures and machines. They are difficult to make, but we don’t give up!

Learning through Art

Art is another learning tool – learning about artists and also creating real structures through art.
Ms. Lennon's class learned about the famous artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso painted in many styles but his distorted faces are an example of cubism. He painted distorted faces because he wanted to show many different sides of a person at the same time, rather than just how they looked from the front. He believed that art should not just copy what a camera sees, but should instead show feelings, thoughts, and memories.
We created some of our own art inspired by Picasso.

History of the Normans

Ms O’Donovan’s class used the History of the Normans as inspiration for art. The motte & bailey projects taught problem solving along with collaboration in their construction, and, brought out our creative sides when painting them to make them look realistic.

Tin whistle

Tin whistle was a huge focus in the first term. Many thanks to Ms Lennon for her trojan work in bringing all of the boys up to a wonderful confidence and skill level in tin whistle. This then enabled all of the boys to perform in a mini concert just before Christmas. Not only were the tin whistles played, but the boys also sang songs and recited poems. Each and every one of them performed spectacularly. The event was attended by a huge number of parents – much to the delight of the boys and their proud teachers.

Learning through Play:

While we learn from our books and technology, we also learn lots through play. Our teachers encourage us to use the toys and games that are in the classrooms to play with each other. This is such fun and we become better friends by doing this too. We share the toys and games while also sharing ideas and chat. The rooms can get noisy at times – but the boys are confident that the teachers don’t mind!!!