Minibeast Hunting in 1st class

Today 1st class made the most of the weather and got outside to do some minibeast hunting. The children worked in groups to see if there were any spiders, insects or other creepy crawlies on the school grounds. We used magnifying glasses to find the minibeasts, the best place we found was under rocks and pieces of wood. We used pooters and magnifying pots to collect them. It was great fun! We collected so many worms, woodlice, millipedes (these were really really fast!), centipedes, spiders, ants and ladybirds. We then gave them some food in the form of leaves and places to hide under rocks and soil. Take a look at our pictures below.

With the help of the magnifying boxes, we were able to view our minibeasts in great detail. When we got back into the class we viewed what we had collected and drew some really detailed pictures before releasing them back into nature again.

6th Class Australia Projects

During the month of January, 6th class were very busy learning all about Australia.

In pairs, or individually, the children created projects based on their chosen territories. Some of the children decided to create PowerPoints, while others went for posters or comic strips.

Below are some of the incredible projects created by the class. We hope you enjoy.

Queensland by Chloe & Addison

Tasmania by Brooke & Erin

Queensland by Carrie

New South Wales by Joe & Sam

New South Wales by Meghan & Eliza

Northern Territory by Hollyanne

Victoria by Nate & Aisling

Queensland by Holly

Queensland by Robert

New South Wales by Lucy

January in Senior Infants

For the month of January we have been learning all about Winter in senior infants.

It has been a busy month as we started Gaa. Here we are having fun with Darren

For aistear this month we got to make snow dough. We loved the smell in our classroom after making this.

We also got to experiment practicing our writing in shaving foam.

Leinster Schools Swimming Competition

At the weened Nun’s Cross was represented by two pupils in the Leinster Schools Swimming Competition at the National aquatic centre. Charlotte (5th class) and Isaac (2nd class) did an excellent job, both recording personal best times, Isaac in the backstroke and Charlotte in the Freestyle, Breaststroke and 100 Individual Medley. We are delighted to have found out that Charlotte has qualified for the National Swimming Competition in March in the Butterfly. Well done Charlotte, we are so proud of you!

Santa Dash in aid of Crumlin Children's Hospital

On Wednesday, our Active Committee organised a Santa Dash for the whole school to participate in. On this day we met down at the square in Ashford and registered to either run to school or walk to school. The children chose which dash they wanted to complete. The Active Committee contacted the Guards in Ashford and they kindly escorted us on our trip up to school. It was great to see such a great turn out, with lots of festive gear on show. We would like to say a huge thank you to all who came along on Wednesday morning, the parents who walked and ran along with us, the Gardaí who escorted us with their lights flashing and sirens blaring, to the parents who brought pupil’s school bags to the school and to everyone who donated to such a wonderful cause. We were delighted that we raised a whopping 470 euro. Take a look at some of our photos from the event below.

The Christmas Games

This week, all classes participated in the Nuns Cross Christmas Games which were organised by our wonderful Active Committee. The junior classes participated in a range of activities including ‘find the elf’ scavenger hunt, ‘North Pole, South Pole Santa’s Sleigh’, ‘How many days until Christmas Santa Claus?’, ‘Tinsel Tug of War’, ‘Snowman Bowling’ and ‘Santa’s Sack relay race’. These cleverly thought out names were Christmas versions of some of our favourite well-known games. The senior classes completed a different selection of games, including ‘Pull Santa’s Sleigh Race’, ‘Tinsel Tug of War’, ‘Holiday Caroling’ and ‘Snowman Dodgeball’. Check out some pictures of these fantastic events below.

Stop Motion with Create Schools

Today Ms Turner’s class were treated to a Stop Motion taster session with Peter. We had a fantastic day creating Lego Stop Motion videos. It was so interesting learning how to piece together different movements, a lot of thinking, patience and problem solving was needed. The children worked in groups using two characters, the Lego board and some blu tack. Take a look at some of their creations below…

The 3rd & 4th class Stop Motion production December 2022

Puppet Show

Today our Junior classes were treated to a puppet show performance which took place in the Junior Infant classroom. The children were introduced to Grandad, baby, red crayon, the wicked Witch of the West and Santa even paid a visit. It was a laugh a minute and the children got really involved in the performance. Once again we would like to say a huge thank you to our Super PTA who funded this visit. We had a really great day.

Ella Enchanted the Musical

Last week all of the pupils in 3rd - 6th classes attended Ella Enchanted the Musical in the Dominican in Wicklow Town. We were so delighted to be getting a bus for our big day out. The children brought some snacks with them which they could enjoy during the show.

We were overjoyed when we found out that we had the best seats in the house, sitting right up the front. The show lasted for 80 minutes in total, with a short break in the middle. The acting was excellent, we could not believe the amount of preparation which must have gone into putting the show together. Fantastic singing, stunning costumes and a wonderful story where Ella struggled with the gift of obedience which had been given to her by her fairy godmother. We were delighted that there was a happy ending to the story, with Ella falling in love with the prince and no longer having to be obedient. We learned that although obedience can be something very good at times, there are also times where obedience can be a dangerous and bad thing.

We would like to say a huge thank you to our wonderful PTA who kindly funded this trip for the children.

Christmas Trees by Junior Infants

The Junior Infants have been busy little workers this week making their own Christmas tree crafts to decorate our classroom for the festive season! Take a look at their creations!

6th Class STEM Treehouses

6th class were faced with the task of building treehouses last week. The children worked individually or in small groups and were tasked with building a miniature treehouse with access routes into and out of it. Once the outside structure was complete, the children were tasked with designing the interior.

The children designed their treehouses on blank paper initially and then began by using squared paper to create the floor plan for their treehouses. It was very interesting to see how each group approached the task, with some groups deciding to bring in materials from home to enhance their designs.

We ended up having cargo nets, ladders, ziplines and bridges and methods of entering and exiting the treehouses. Some treehouses featured furniture, with others including sky gardens.

Have a look at the process and some of our creations:

6th Class Podcasters

During the first term, 6th class have had the opportunity to learn podcasting skills from Peter as part of the Creative School’s programme. The children wrote an article with the guidance of Peter and then edited these to make them more suitable to be read as part of a podcast.

During the podcasting process, the children learned many different skills. They learned how to record their voices, ensuring that there voice waves remained within range; how to alter the tempo of their voice to ensure clarity when reading; how to add sound effects or music to the background of their podcast and add introductory and concluding jingles.

The children also had the opportunity to design their own artwork to match their podcast. We learned so many skills and look forward to having Peter come back to visit us later in the school year.

Viking Projects in 4th & 5th class

4th and 5th Class have been learning all about The Vikings this month. They have been working hard creating their own projects to showcase their knowledge. On Friday the pupils from 2nd - 6th classes were invited to view the projects in our room.

4th & 5th STEM

4 th and 5 th class had great fun developing their STEM skills with the Egg Drop Challenge. They had to create something that would allow their egg to drop out of the top floor window without breaking. They were allowed to use balloons, plastic cups, cupcake cases, paper, glue, tape, elastic bands, cardboard, string and bags.

Before they tested their creations, they made predictions about each one. It was hugely successful with only 3 eggs out of 10 breaking!

Nun's Cross Book Fair

The Nun’s Cross Book Fair was a very exciting event which we were delighted to have back after many years! The book trolleys were stocked to the brim with books for all ages and interests! There was something for everyone. Thank you to all who visited and supported the book fair this year. It raised a huge €1622! Of the money raised, the school was awarded 60%, equating to €973, to spend on new books for our class libraries. We can’t wait to get stuck into all our new wonderful books!

The stacks of new books we got from the fair for our class libraries

'Pumpkin Pizzas' in 3rd & 4th Class

Before Halloween, 3rd & 4th class had lots of fun making ‘pumpkin pizzas’. We added toppings to our pizza bases and carved pumpkin faces into wraps which were added on top. We were very proud of how our creations turned out. They were really tasty too!

The Stone Age in 3rd & 4th Class

In 3rd and 4th class we recently learned about the Stone Age. We found this topic very interesting and have learned lots of new facts!

While learning about the Neolithic Age, we were particularly interested in the Céide Fields in County Mayo and we were then inspired to construct our own round houses.

First, we went outside to gather leaves and twigs for our roofs. Some of us also chose to use brown fabric. We felt that the fabric looked like animal skins, that may have been used to insulate houses during the Stone Age.

Next, we proceeded to make a cone shape out of paper plates and we stuck the materials onto the plates to create the roofs of our Stone Age houses.

After that, we painted strips of card and drew a stone effect on the strips, once the paint had dried. We them measured our roofs and used these measurements to help us assemble our houses.  

We also created some Stone Age cave paintings of animals, that might have lived during the stone age.

Written by the children in 3rd and 4th class

Space in Junior Infants

The Junior Infants have blasted off into space for this month’s SESE topic!

We have a space station role-play area where the Junior astronauts can explore space, gather space rocks, learn how to fly a space ship and hopefully find some aliens! They have to be careful to complete their launch checklists before blasting off into the deep dark space, make sure they have their maps at hand, and keep observations of what they discover on each journey!

The classroom is a hive of activities where the children are making all sorts of space-themed creations from a variety of materials including malleable play and construction. We have lots of writing and drawing of space pictures, letters and postcards as well as lots of creative play in the moon landing small world tray and the moon sand tray!

We are a big fan of Jigsaws in Juniors too so this Space themed floor puzzle is a big hit with our current topic!

We have also made our own alien space ship drawings, which are on display outside our room, and I think you will all agree they are a very colourful sight!

M’Áit Cónaithe i rang a sé

I rang a sé, bhíomar ag obair ar an téama ‘mé féin’ agus an fo-théama ‘m’áit cónaithe’ I rang Gaeilge.

Nuair a d’fhoglaíomar foclóir bunaithe ar na háiseanna atá inár cheantar, rinneamar plean sráide. Tharraing na páistí sráideanna ón a intinn aibí. Ansin, tharraing siad áiseanna agus chuir siad lipéid ar.

Rinne péire amháin duine agus carr freisin. Is feidir le ‘Rochelle’ tiomáint ó áit go háit. Nuair a bhí Rochelle ag tiomáint, rinne an péire cur síos ar a bealach.

In 6th class, we were working on the theme ‘myself’ and subtheme ‘the area I live’ in irish.

When we learned vocabulary about the facilities in our locality, we made a street plan. The children drew streets from their imagination. Then, they drew the facilities and labelled them.

One pair made a person and a car too. ‘Rochelle’ can drive from one place to another. When she was driving, the pair described her journey.

Paper Sculptures

In 6th class we explored some of the different things that we can do with paper.

We discussed some of the different ways we could manipulate the same piece of paper to create interesting textures, designs or patterns.

Folding, twisting, rolling, ripping, scrunching and cutting were some of the techniques we discovered.

Once exploring these techniques, each of the children began experimenting with a selection of coloured strips in order to create their own sculpture.

Each sculpture was unique and could be easily identified by its creator. It was great to see how the children’s imaginations took this task in such a range of directions.