Sincere apologies that the blog has been so quiet lately. Lets take a look back over some of the fun we had over the last few months.........
There was a wonderful sense of generosity in the school when the girls (and lots of helpers at home) got busy filling Christmas shoeboxes full of lovely gifts and treats. A double decker bus pulled into the car park and the whole school got to work stacking hundreds of shoeboxes into the bus ready to be sent all around the world. It was lovely to see the girls reach out and share the magic of Christmas with children who experience a very different lifestyle. Thank you to everyone at home who got involved with the initiative.
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Sometimes life can be pretty hectic so we love to take some time out to join together and catch our breath. It's great to teach children the skills of being mindful from an early age and encourage them to reflect on how they feel physically and emotionally so they can have a better chance of dealing with stress as they go through school and into adulthood. So turn off the TV, iPad, phone etc and try a few different things to see what helps you and your daughter feel relaxed. In class we like to light a candle and concentrate on our breathing before we say our prayer (I'm sure your daughter would be delighted to teach you how to "smell the flowers and blow out the candles" to help you become aware of your breathing.) You also might like to sit and listen to music or perhaps try some of the children's meditation videos on Youtube.com like the one above.
It was a special occasion when we welcomed members of the Irish Army to our school. One of the senior girls read us a part of the proclamation. We had a minute's silence and sang the National Anthem. The visitors presented our school with an Irish flag and a copy of the Proclamation that was read in 1916. Two of our classmates joined other students to form a guard of honour. This week marks Proclamation Day. Schools and colleges all over the country will be raising the Irish flag presented to them by the Army and we will listen to the Proclamation composed by the school.
We used lots of teamwork skills to decorate and assemble a class jigsaw. We also took a look at work by Wassily Kadinsky and allowed his style to inspire our own paintings.
A few months ago we had our first visit to the school library. There are lots of different books to chose from including simple picture books, easy readers and books that the girls might enjoy listening to as a bed-time story. We take a trip to the library every Thursday and the girls seem to love this time. Many of the girls are also members of local libraries.
The girls will agree that December was extremely exciting this year as Santa himself chose our class to be one of the destinations that he sent an elf. I'm sure you heard all about Alfie who came to keep an eye on the girls in the run up to Christmas. He was a brilliant addition to the class and made us smile almost every day (eventhough sometimes he did get up to mischief). The best news of all was on the last day when he checked Santa's list and told us that, at that stage, every girl in the class was on the nice list. Keep it up girls!!
We had lots of fun telling the story of Santa's missing hat on the stage. Thanks for coming to share it with us!
We helped the 6th Class girls raise money for St. Vincent de Paul at Christmas and also had a cozy PJ day with Room 12.
Alfie must have told Santa all about the great work that the girls have been doing because he was very generous when he visited on Christmas Eve and brought lots of special presents. The girls made him cards to say thank you and Ms. Quinn came with us to post the letters.
We also learned to estimate and me
asure length using a metre strip. Can your daughter find anything in the house that is less than a metre? More than a metre? About 1 metre? How many metres is the kitchen floor?
asure length using a metre strip. Can your daughter find anything in the house that is less than a metre? More than a metre? About 1 metre? How many metres is the kitchen floor?
We explored toys from all around the world and even discovered some toys that the girls parents and grandparents used to play with. Thanks to Kate and Grace for showing us their toys. Mary brought us in a very special teddy to cuddle, she had it since she was a little girl!