Flip Flop Summer Art 2016
The Senior Room worked on a multi- material art piece this week. Using paint with a focus on movement and line, the children created a seascape/seashore. Later they designed their own flip flops using a variety of colour combinations. Next we used sandpaper to create the seashore being careful to maintain the integrity of the shoreline which we had worked on earlier with paint. The pieces are waiting for some shells that the children and Ms. Connolly have promised to collect over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Trocaire Visit to St. Cillian’s
Martina from Trocaire visited the school on Thursday. She was keen to thank all the children and wider St. Cillian’s community for raising €287 for the Lenten Campaign. She told us how the money would be used and we heard stories of children in Kenya and how our donations can make a huge difference in providing clean water to children and their communities. Donations of €1 and €2 can make a massive difference to each child’s daily life. Martina will re-visit us in the autumn to talk to us more about social justice and global development.
Abstract Art – Focusing on Line
Science Experiments with Glenasmole N.S.
3rd and 4th Class welcomed a group of scientists from Glenasmole N.S. this morning. The boys from Glenasmole brought a number of science experiments to should us and by all accounts were very capable when it came to explaining what each experiment was about and getting our groups to predict, analyse and record their findings.
Money, Money, Money!
Our visiting teacher, Mr. Walshe is working with money this fortnight in the Senior Room. The children were using grocery SPAR catalogues to shop for their families. It was important for them to think about their menu and shop accordingly. For some of us, it was difficult not to send all our budget on sweets and fizzy drinks. The language we used while handling money was: euro, cent, subtotal, change, discount, percentage of, altogether and over-budget. 5th and 6th Classes were using Argos catalogues to plan for a St. Cillian’s Sports Club which they had to set up and purchase all the equipment for up to 25 children. As an extra activity, the 5th and 6th Class children counted and bagged all the Trocaire money for Ciara our secretary.
Debating – March 2016
The Senior Room children presented a debate on the motion ‘The School Holidays are too Long’. We had a For and Against team with a mixture of 3rd to 6th Class in each team. Debate arguments were written individually and then the teams came together to formulate a final draft and assign a running order to its members. Mr. Gubbins and Alicia adjudicated the debate we had 1st and 2nd Class as our audience to both listen to the debate and address questioning of the participants.
Magnified Map Work
4th, 5th and 6th Classes were working on a very detailed map of our city. We needed to get our magnifying glasses to spot the finer details of the map. Meanwhile 3rd Class were exploring the Luas system. As the Kylemore Stop on the Red Line is right beside our school,it was interesting to discover where the Green Line went and the different stops along that way. We also explored the cost of travelling on the Luas.
Literature Discussion Group – 3rd Class
The children in the Senior Room have focused on learning about how to discuss a book and exchange opinions. We learned how to listen, how to disagree politely and express our ideas and opinions.
Here is just a sample of an excellent exchanges that 3rd Class recorded. More to follow during
Term 3……
G.P.O. Clay Models
The Senior Room used clay to re-create mini models of the G.P.O.
Solids & Liquids Science Experiment
3rd to 6th Classes have been exploring the relationship between solids, liquids and gases this week. Ms. Browne introduced the topic on Monday and she used a steaming kettle to show that steam turns to water droplets against a mirror. Today we investigated the effect of heat on a solid object like chocolate. The experiment involved exposing chocolate to no sunlight/heat in a cupboard, natural light/heat on a table, increased warmth on the window sill and direct heat with Ms. O’Farrell’s hairdryer! We conducted the experiment over 15 minutes, recording our observations at 3 minute intervals. We recorded our findings on a grid. We all agreed that exposing chocolate to heat caused the chocolate to melt. This allowed us to make the link between heat and food spoilage and Jemma told us that in her house she always stores the chocolate in a cupboard to prevent it from melting.
Write -A-Book Project 2016
Work is continuing in the Senior Room on the Write-A-Book Project 2016. We are trying to create a book that other children will enjoy reading. It certainly is very colourful and the addition of comic strip stories today has added an extra burst of colour! We’ve included a Nonsense Word Guessing Game and a vast array of story genres. We are looking forward to swapping our work with another school. We are wondering if there is another small school like ours involved in the project that we’ll get to swap with?!?!?
Cross Country – Griffeen Park
Science Experiment – Light
Special Interest for Friendship February
Our friendship theme is continuing in the Senior Room. This week is Special Interest Week so the children can share their special interest with other children in their class. Jemma and Caoimhe set up a Nail Bar for anyone wanting their nails painted. Justin demonstrated his boxing skills and brought in the equipment you need to train as a boxer. He is getting fitter in front of our eyes with all his training with the local club. Lee and Ryan D. spoke to us about football (soccer) and the different skills you learn as part of the local team in Bluebell. We heard about the dedication of their coaches and how important it is for everyone to turn up for training as teamwork is the main part of the game!
Certificate Recipients
2015 & 2016
Happy Chinese New Year 2016
The Year of the Monkey
Our work around the Chinese New Year traditions continued into February and we acknowledged the beginning of celebrations on the 8th February. Jemma and her parents attended the celebrations in Temple Bar where she saw the Dragon Dance performed, had her name written in Chinese script, tasted some delicious food and purchased a book of China Tales. What a great event to make time to attend!
Brainstorming Session
This month, the children of St. Cillian’s are working on a theme of friendship as we’ve christened the month Fabulous Friendship February. The Senior Room children had a brainstorming session where they thought of activities and events for everyone to enjoy friendship and build new friendships. Check back in with us during the month to see some of our ideas unfold.
Cross Country Event
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What a wonderful display of athletics from our little school. We were by far the smallest school at the event, however, everyone’s positive attitude and determination resulted on our mid-range position on the league table. An extra special well done to Justin as his Paralympic event secured 12 points for the school team. A wonderful example of teamwork by all.
Audio to follow
Mini Project – Endangered Species
The Senior Room worked on a swift mini-project on Endangered Animals today. In China, the Giant Panda is endangered so the children picked an animal from the endangered species list, research them and did a mini-project. The animals included the red panda, the mountain gorilla, the blue whale, the Javan rhino and the snow leopard to mention a few. Our classroom door is a very informative place now!
Spanish Food Tasting
Alicia delighted us all today with a selection of Spanish foods for us to taste. The Spanish Omelette was so delicious. Justin complimented Alicia by saying she was a great cook!
Christmas Crafts
Super work from Ryan in 3rd Class. He worked with Ms. Cole to create a Christmas Stocking. There were many skills required, like gluing, stitching and decorating the stocking with a snowman and Santa Claus. We hope Santa enjoys filling it with presents in Clondalkin this Christmas!
Christmas Preparations are Underway!
Throughout November and into December, the Senior Room worked on a cross-curricular theme about Italy. We looked at the country and its features in geography, the art of Leonardo da Vinci and the history of the Renaissance and the Romans. Our Cool Countries Reports on Italy now hang behind our colorfully decorated Christmas Tree (Thanks Jillian!) Also, in English Writing, Santa was in a little bit of a pickle, as he got stuck up the chimney!
Basketball with Mark
Many thanks to Mark from the Oblates Basketball Club for coaching in our school every week. We are looking forward to next term already.
Cross Country Event
December 2015
Many thanks to Our Lady of the Wayside NS for inviting us to a winter cross country event at their school. After a few weeks of training, the Senior Room children participated in each event. There were wonderful displays of sportsmanship with noisy group encouragement and support on show! Justin took on the challenge of beating his own best time, and not only did he beat that but completed the course to a rapturous audience of his fellow athletes. Many congratulations to all who participated.
Ice-Cream Party
Well done to the children of the Senior Room for earning the whole class reward of an ice-cream party. It took lots of good attendance, prompt punctuality, amazing manners and dedicated class work to bring the total class points tally to over 250….working as a team really showed us the benefits for everyone. Let’s hope there are many more parties to come this year. Alex certainly enjoyed her cone!
Training for Cross Country Event
The Senior Room is in full flight training for a Cross Country event happening on the 2nd December. We are monitoring our heart rates (pulse) and working on a programme of steady running to build up our stamina. We learned how to take our pulses and saw how with increased exercise levels, our heart rates increase also. Justin is the training analyst, while training himself on the track around the school. It was wonderful to see all the Senior Room encouraging him with cheering as he completed three very quick laps of the school.
Fairytales
Work continues in the Senior Room on the theme of Fairy Tales and more specifically, fractured or twisted fairy tales! The children looked at the story of Cinderella and rewrote it with a modern twist, including modern problems , modern heroes, modern settings and modern ‘Happily ever afters!’ If you’re passing our door or popping in to visit be sure to have a read of one or two!
Friday Fractions
&
Musical Performances
The Senior Room have spent a week working on Fractions. 3rd Class are learning all about halves and quarters, 4th Class are finding the fraction part of a whole amount and simplifying fractions, 5th Class are tackling Improper Fractions and Mixed Number Fractions while Ryan in 6th has been adding, subtracting and improper and mixed number fractions. A very busy room indeed! As a treat we had a short break by doing a Fraction Smarties activity. Some of us got 8 smarties so we were dealing with eighths, others, tenths, twelfths and so on…..Though fractions are tricky, we all learned a lot and we’ll be back with fractions later in the year.
Justin entertained everyone at Assembly today with his guitar playing. It took a lot of courage to get up in front of everyone and play, so well done!
Maths Trail (1st to 6th Class)
13th October
Thank goodness for sunshine! The Senior Room had help from 1st and 2nd Class today on our Maths Trail around our school. We began by using the digits on our school plague to work through some place value questions, we counted the vertical and horizontal bars on our gate, we estimated the length of the basketball court, our shelter, and the benches in the shelter. Next we walked the circumference of our school building and discussed the shape of the school. Not finished there, it was off to the office to check out the clock, the amount of window panes and the grooves in the radiator. And finally, we completed a 3 minute traffic survey of the cars along the Naas Road. One person recorded a tally while the rest of the group called out the colour and type of vehicle passing. We had one very bust mathematical afternoon!
Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art
Amazing Pop Art images Senior Room! Well done for working tirelessly to complete them. It was a great deal of work however, I think you’ll agree they were worth it. What a bright welcome for all the visitors to our school.
Rockstar Reader
Well done to Ryan on winning last week’s Rockstar Reader Award!
He gave excellent contributions to our literature discussions and is making clever predictions.
Shared Reading Session
Last Friday, the Senior Room along with 1st and 2nd Class had a shared reading session. It was wonderful to see the children listening to each other and having the opportunity to be listened to, by their classmates and friends. It was a noisy room but when it’s noisy reading work, neither Ms. O’Farrell or Ms. Connolly mind!
Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art
The Senior Room began work on their September Art project which features 1960s Pop Art and Portrait work. We explored the culture of this art revolution and its effects on life at the time. The children’s photographs were transferred onto tracing paper, outlined, scanned and printed onto dotted paper. There are many steps to the process but we hope you’ll check back in and see the finished products as everyone has put in huge effort to complete their work.
(September 2015)
Indoor Sports Event – National Basketball Arena
Health & Wellbeing Week
Everybody in the Senior Room had two wonderful sports days in Tallaght for Health & Wellbeing Week. We were very gratefully to South Dublin County Council for asking us along to the event and Ms Dolan for organising such a treat in September. There was wide range of activities and sports available for us to try including cricket, boxing, tag rugby, Zumba, to name but a few.
Welcome Back to All in the Senior Room
It has been a month of great change at St. Cillian’s N.S. As the new Senior Room teacher, I’m looking forward at getting to know all the children and their families. And I’d like to thank everyone for the warm welcome.
