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lisa ward
Well-Being Week

Junior Infants Creative Schools sessions with Jane

This week the junior infants were talking about habitats again , this time focusing on a spider’s web which was introduced with a lovely picture book. We worked with soft coloured clay and made shapes and blended the colours. We used the clay then to form some insects and a variety of other items that the children chose themselves. We exercised our fine motor skills with a nail board to make spider webs with elastic bands. We made individual webs and then worked together on a collaborative project to make one giant web. We used our webs and clay insects to create a story and finally, we went outside and worked as a team to make a giant web from a variety of fabrics and materials. There was so much creation and so much hard work - it really made us appreciate how hard spiders work!

Creative printing session with 1st class

First class developed the drawings which were made by senior infants and did some printing. Take a look at some of our work below:


Creative Schools sessions with Jane Groves

In our latest session before the Easter Break our senior infants were investigating colour and mark-making, examining seeds and buds. Take a look at some of our fabulous work below.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today al the children in Nun’s Cross enjoyed a fantastic Easter egg hunt, which was organised by our PTA. A huge thank you to all the members of our wonderful PTA for organising such a great treat on the last day of term!

New Climbing Wall

We are absolutely delighted with a new feature in our schoolyard - a climbing wall. This wall was funded by fundraising events organised by our Parents Association. All thanks go to them, and all the parents who have contributed to fundraising over the last year! This fantastic feature in our playground will be enjoyed by children of all ages for many many years to come!

The Blitz

5th and 6th class have been learning about The Blitz that occurred in London during WW2 and how the people at the time had to adapt to their new norm.

Our first task was to design an Air Raid Shelter. The children were split into groups and came up with a layout for their shelters using recyclable and natural materials. Once they had finished planning they gathered their resources and started to make their shelters. Using the Stop Motion app on the iPad, the children had to recreate a scene from the Blitz in WW2. Afterwards the children presented their stopmotions to their classmates.

Diary Entries

We also wrote some imaginative diary entries sharing detailed accounts of our days during The Blitz.

Rocks in 5th and 6th

The Rock Cycle – Investigating how rocks are formed

During the first lesson 5th and 6th class learned about the layers of the earth and how rock can both be in the form of a liquid and solid. For the next lesson we focused on the rock life cycle and we carried out three experiments using sweets. The first experiment represented sedimentary rock. We combined all the sediment (sweets) using pressure. Next we formed metamorphic rock by heating the sweets using a dryer and adding more pressure. Finally, we formed igneous rock by putting the sweets into the microwave and leaving the sweets to harden overnight.

Erupting Volcanoes

5th and 6th class were learning about the different parts of a volcano and what causes them to erupt. We designed volcanoes using the paper maiche method to form the structure. Then they explored how chemical reactions occur by mixing vinegar and baking soda. We had lots of fun making these!







Morse Code in 5th and 6th

5th and 6th class have been learning all about how the people of WW2 communicated with one another during the war. Using a Morse code key, we cracked a few premade codes in pairs but then it was time to make our own Morse code machines.

Our first task was to experiment and investigate how to get a light bulb to work using the electricity materials. This took a bit of trial and error but eventually using our prior knowledge of energy we all created a successful circuit. However we observed that some lights were brighter than others and some groups were able to light up two bulbs in the one circuit. Before moving on to the next task, each group came up with some recommendations to improve their circuits.

Our next task was to create a circuit with a switch 1 metre from the bulb. Once each group had created their circuits, they began sending their own messages to one another. We had so much fun creating our circuits and sending messages. However, we also discovered how much patience people must of had reading all those Morse code messages!

Good Luck Charlie!

Our neighbour, Charlie Bird, takes on a tough challenge this weekend as he sets out to climb Croagh Patrick to raise awareness and money for Motor Neuron disease which he suffers from.

We can only imagine the courage that Charlie will need for this event and we wanted to spur him on and show our support. Our 4th and 5th class made him posters of support and recorded our version of ‘Shine A Light’ by Michael English.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Rachel Factor for coming in and playing the piano to accompany our song - without her help, this would not have been possible!

Creative Schools Art Project

Jane returned for another session this week. This week she worked with 2nd and 3rd class who explored some of the different techniques that can be used when working with paper-folding, tearing, twisting etc. Using these techniques, the children then created 3D habitats

Jane also did session with our first class who did some nature scavenger hunts, made nature pallets with all the different colours they could find in the garden, played follow the leader using only mirrors positioned on their nose so they could only see the tops of trees/sky. They then went on to create ‘Tree Spirits’ out of clay. They moulded the clay to the tree and made individual creations. Most of the children made different animals or people.

We are excited to see what next weeks session brings!

Seachtain Na Gaeilge

There was great excitement around the school last week as we celebrated our annual Seachtain Na Gaeilge.

Each class took part in various events and projects which culminated in a special Gaeilge performance for assembly.

Junior Infants treated us to a little show of the story of An Buachaillín Sinséir (The Gingerbread Man)

Senior Infants told us a poem all about Teidí Beag Álainn.

1st class learned the Haca as Gaeilge and not only performed it for us but taught the whole school how to do it too!

2nd ad 3rd, who is never afraid of a challenge. learned and performed the song ‘Tar Liom Go hÁrainn‘ from start to finish!

4th and 5th class showed us their musical skills by performing Faolán Faolán with chime bars.

5th and 6th class treated us to a spectacular performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through Irish!

All of the classes put in so much effort to each of their performances and should be incredibly proud of themselves!

We finished the week with a very exciting leprechaun hunt in the garden! The infant classes hand to hunt out six leprechauns and match them to their numbers but it was a little more difficult for the bigger boys and girls who had to find 12 hidden pictures in the garden and use the information found on each to crack the secret code! Great team spirit was in the air and the children were all good sports!

Collection of Aid For Ukraine

A huge thank you to all who donated to our collection of Aid for Ukraine. We facilitated a collection of aid which was added to the overall community collection organised by Ashford GAA! We are delighted to have been able to contribute over 3 car loads of supplies and we thank you all for your generosity!

Creative Schools

Last week we began our Creative sessions with local artist Jane Groves. She spent the day working with our 4th, 5th and 6th classes where they focused on the local natural environment and drew maps of the area. The children really enjoyed the interactive session and it really got them thinking about their surroundings which can at times be taken for granted. Take a look at some pictures from our session.

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New Raised Bed

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We are delighted the first addition to the front part of our garden as part of our over plan to make it a sensory garden for our school.

At Nun’s Cross. we are fully inclusive and it is important for us to ensure that all our children are able to fully enjoy all aspects of school. For some children, running around, playing ball games and being loud with their friends is not their idea of enjoyable playtime. This space will serve as a quieter space for children to spend their outdoor time in a calm space, away from the fast running and loud noises of traditional playtime.

This colourful raised bed has been filled with beautiful flowers which will continue to bloom over the coming month as we add more to this area of our playground. It will help us to keep this area of the playground at a slower and quieter pace than the rest of the outdoor space. We would like to thank all of the parents who contributed to the fundraising efforts last year in order to enhance our outdoor area and we are excited for the rest of the additions to come! Bi thank you, also, to our amazing PTA, without whose efforts none of this would be possible!

Bird Friendly Garden

We absolutely love our school garden and we love all the wildlife we share it with too! From frogs in our pond to bird and bat boxes around the school grounds we enjoy all the opportunities we can to help look after our wildlife friends! This week we were delighted to have the addition of bird feeders to the garden. Ellie, who is a keen garden bird fan, was the instigator in this addition and she very generously donated a large number of feeders and nut free bird food. All of the feeders have been carefully placed around the school grounds and filled with yummy treats for our small friends to enjoy! Watch out if you’re in the garden to see what birds you might spot at the feeders!

The Three Little Pigs

The Junior Infants have been looking at the story of The Three Little Pigs this month. They wanted to see if the wolf was really able to blow down their houses so they made their own. They worked in groups to create a straw house for Horace. He moved in, but unfortunately, his house didn’t stand up to the Big Bad Wolf.

Horace and his house builders moved to the wooden house where Borris lived and they worked hard to try and make a stronger house for the two pigs. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t strong enough!

Horace and Borris ran to Percy’s house and they worked hard to build a strong brick house. Thankfully, no matter how hard that wolf tried, he couldn’t blow down the brick house as it was the strongest house by far!

The Junior infants had to engage in lots of problem-solving and creativity to complete this activity and they did a wonderful job!

World Book Day 2022

The whole school was filled with great excitement today as we celebrated one of our favourite days of the year - World Book Day! All of the children dressed up as their favourite book character and brought in their favourite book to share with the rest of their class. Take a look at some of the amazing costumes on display!

We had lots of story time throughout the day! Junior Infants enjoyed the book Elmer by David McKee and explored how we are all different. The children all worked hard to make their own individual Elmers afterward which are proudly displayed outside their room!

Mrs Pearse’s Literacy group ahve been enjoying Tom Palmers book ‘Spitfire’ and have used it as a theme to decorate their classroom door. Doesn’t it look incredible?

A very special story session was shared between our 6th class students and our Junior Infants. The Juniors loved being read to by their big buddies and it was extra special this year as we haven’t been able to do it for the last few years! Thank you and well done to all the big buddies for their care and patience with the little ones!

4th and 5th class have been studying the book ‘The Battle Below Giltspur’ by Cormac Mac Raois and they have worked really hard to design their own book cover. We have some budding illustrators on our hands!

5th and 6th class took part in a blind date with a book. Each child brought in a book from home. They wrapped it up, keeping its title a secret, and gave a few clues for the person who chose it as their date. They spent some time reading the book they chose and then had to ‘rate their date’ afterwards! It was a fun activity and also showed the true meaning of the phrase ‘never judge a book by its cover’!

Because you’re never too old for some ‘Where’s Wally’ the 5th and 6th class children enjoyed a Wally hunt around the school garden! They managed to find them all!

We saw some more fantastic illustrating in Senior Infants as the children got creative and designed their very own book covers!

We know that you can read a book anywhere, but have you ever thought of the strangest places to read a book! Check out some of these strange spots some of our children found!

Spring Has Sprung!

The Junior Infants are learning all about spring this month!

We have had a flower shop added to our classroom to help use explore the new words we are learning and to reinforced our learning on plants and flowers. We also have opportunities to practice our writing by creating gift tags and are really enjoying playing with money!

We are exploring how plants grow and what they need to help them on their growing journey. One of our tuff trays is a planting station where we can explore the soil, the minibeasts that live in it and we are having a messy time filling and emptying pots to plant our seeds!

Because we have been learning about how plants grow and the different parts of a flower, we have planted our very own giant sunflowers and we can’t wait to watch them grow! We took great care planting them, and we even made a wish on our seeds before carefully sowing them in the soil. As our flowers grow, so too will our wishes!

We are a very creative bunch, and we love to make and do! In our creative tuff tray we are making flowers from egg cartons! Its great fun and we love upcycling too!

This is only week one of our new topic! We have a lot more to explore in our topic so be sure to check back here for more exciting updates!

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Paper STEM challenge

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2nd and 3rd class were given a scissors and a piece of A4 paper and they were challenged to make the page big enough so that they could fit their bodies through the middle of it. They tried lots of different strategies (some hbing to resist temptation of using glue or selotape) until it was solved. One child even managed to make one big enough so that all 2nd class boys could fit through it at once. This was using just one piece of A4 paper and a scissors!