Girls FAI Primary 5's in Blessington

On Monday 11th March 16 of our 5th & 6th class girls participated in the FAI Primary 5-a-side competition. We enjoyed an amazing day in Blessington. Both teams played a total of 3 group matches, with each team winning all of their matches and progressing to the semi finals. Alas, luck was not on our side and both teams narrowly lost, meaning we would lost out on the final on the day. The girls demonstrated wonderful skill, sportsmanship and determination throughout. We are so proud of you girls!

4th & 5th class Boys GAA blitz in Bray

Our 4th & 5th class boys participating in the 9-a-side Cumann na mBunscoil blitz in Bray.

3rd & 4th class Girls GAA blitz in Bray

Today our 3rd & 4th class Girls participated in a GAA blitz in Bray. We had two teams competing, one from 3rd class and one from 4th class. On a lovely day in Bray, we played matches against St.Coen’s, Greystones Education Together, Roudwood, St. Peter’s and St. Laurences. The girls did amazingly, despite having done very little training, there was an abundance of skill on show. The girls represented the school brilliantly.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the other stars on the day who were our 6th class Young Whistlers. These students refereed matches between the teams in our group all day long, doing an amazing job.

5th & 6th class Boys GAA tournament in Bray

Yesterday our 5th & 6th class boys had a GAA tournament in Bray. In total, we played 4 matches, with two wins, one draw and one loss on the day. The boys played fantastically, scoring some superb goals and points and showing their impressive skills.

We now look forward to training ahead of our competitive Cuman na mBunscoil fixtures which will be taking place in the Spring and Summer.

Big Buddy Time

The Junior Infants are working so hard in school as they settle in to their first year of big school. Their Big Buddies in 6th class have been so helpful and kind to them. They are always willing to help out and spend time with their little buddies. Some of the things they have helped with is church services, library visits, play times and they also help out from time to time in the classroom. Without their help the transition to primary school would be much tougher for some of our infants who really value the love and support they get from their big buddies! Check us out playing rhyming games with our big buddies who so patiently explained the rules and helped us on our way to be master rhymers!

Construction in Junior Infants

This month the Junior Infants are learning all about construction as their learning topic. From builders to architects, designing, constructing, demolishing and extending they have been very busy. We are learning all about materials and their properties and all the different people involved in building. We are very busy in our room designing and building all sorts of creations. STEM is certainly in abundance in the Junior Infant room!

We are so lucky in Junior Infants to have an incredible architect among our parents who was happy to come in and talk to us about her job. Alice kindly gave up her morning to come and speak to the children and answer all their questions. She showed us photos of some of the really cool buildings she has designed including a school and a 40 storey sky scraper! She showed us some very detailed drawings of buildings which helped us to see the process involved in designing a new building and even left us some special paper that we can use to design our buildings. A huge thank you to Alice for sharing her expertise with us - We have no doubt you have inspired the children to become architects when they are bigger!

Buddies Picnic

The Big and Little Buddies met up recently for a picnic lunch and story time! Their teachers treated them to an ice cream sandwich and they had a lovely afternoon!

The Junior infants have been so lucky to spend a wonderful year in the care of such amazing big buddies who have shown them the ropes in Nun’s Cross. They have guided them and cared for them over the course of the year and helped them to find their way. Thank you to all our big buddies for your incredible kindness and patience over the course of the year! We will miss you terribly next year but we are grateful for all the knowledge and skills you have passed on to the junior infants.

Creative Day 2023

Creative Day 2023 was a day filled with fun, happiness and creativity. Our Committee were constrained by a lack of funding which we enjoyed over the previous 2 years thanks to the Arts Council, however with lots of last minute improvisation and creativity, the committee members organised a superb day which was enjoyed by all.

On the day the activities included tie dye, painting and character drawing, making crafts for sale on Family Fun Day, clay, sports games, jewellery making, singing, scavenger hunts, face painting and coding. The day was jam packed with only enough time to eat and play in between creative activities. We would like to say a huge thank you to the parents who volunteered to help out on the day, only for your generosity the day would not have been the same. Also a huge thank you to the Creative Committee, some of whom painted faces all day long and led scavenger hunts and others led the coding station for the entire day, having developed engaging activities for all class levels.

No Lunchbox Day 2023

6th class made lunch for the whole school on no lunchbox day 2023. We were blessed with fantastic weather which meant we could enjoy the food outdoors. A fantastic selection of fruit skewers, hot dogs, wraps and sandwiches were available with some treat options also available including cakes and buns. The money raised from no lunchbox day will be used to fund the 6th class end of year tour. Many thanks also to the parents of 6th class for supplying the food and for helping out on the day also.

Nicky Rackard Cup comes to Nun's Cross

Nun’s Cross staff and children had the privilege of welcoming some of the County Wicklow Senior Hurling players to the school recently with the recently won Nicky Rackard cup! The boys brought the cup home after they won Donegal in the final of the season. The school playground was a wash of blue and yellow and the children were very excited to meet the lads, hold the cup and even get their hurls signed! Well done to all the lads and thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit our school!

6th Class Boardgames

The children in the 6th class were set a challenge recently to create their own board game! From the concept to the rules and the artistic design of the game itself - it was all on the children.

The put a lot of thought and effort into their games and designed them with their little buddies in Junior Infants in mind! Once they were finished the 6th class children had time to share them with their little buddies and everyone enjoyed a morning of board game fun!

Infant School Tour

Nun’s Cross Junior and Senior Infants recently had a great adventure to Kia Mini Farm in Gorey for their summer tour. The children travelled by coach for their day out and were all so excited about their big adventure!

We saw many different types of bunnies and birds in the shed. There were little tiny bunnies and ones with really long ears too! We even got to hold some bunnies and they were so soft and friendly!

Outside there were more animals and we were lucky that we were there in time for feeding time! We got to feed some alpacas, goats, deer and sheep! They ate the food right out of our hands and they were very, very hungry!

We also got to go on a trip on a fire engine and sing some songs along the way! After all this fun, we had a picnic lunch and ate some yummy ice cream! Afterwards, we had some free time and were spoilt for choice between the adventure park, the soccer pitch, the go-karts, all the trucks and trikes, sand pits, and so much more! We had the best time!

The children and staff would like to say a big thank you to all the mammy helpers who came along to help us on our day out. Also, a massive thank you to all the staff at Kia Ora, who couldn’t possibly have been any more accommodating, helpful, patient or kind. You all made our day so so enjoyable! Thank you to each and every one!

Nuns Cross NS Active Week 2023

Nuns Cross Active Week 2023 took place in May this year. Our wonderful Active Committee planned a week which was jam packed with fun and games to get our entire school up and moving all week. Activities and events included a Walk, Cycle, Run to school, a colour run, obstacle courses, karate, wake and shake, a slip and slide, Nuns Cross Grand National to name just a few. Take a look at our pictures below.

Mad About Minibeasts in 1st

First class have had lots of fun this month investigating minibeasts and discovering the amazing things they do. We had two very special visitors this month; a beekeeper and a stick insect. This month, we learned about the wonderful work bees do and how important they are in the world. Take a look at the video below to see what we got up to this month.

Learning about 'The First Flight' in 1st Class

First class have been learning all about the adventures and creations of the Wright Brothers; Wilbur and Orville. We read the story ‘Taking Flight’ which taught us about their life and how they managed to win the race to conquer the skies. Firstly, we determined what the important parts of the story were and then we created comic strips to retell the story.

After that, we decided to make our own replicas of the Wright Brother’s first plane using junk art materials. The children had to come up with a design, plan what materials they were going to use and then make their aircraft. I think the results were very impressive!

Junior Infants Emergency Trip

Continuing their emergency theme, the junior infants took a trip to the fire station and the RNLI lifeboat station where they were treated to a full tour and had all their questions answered.

First stop was the fire station where we met firemen Ian and Joe! Ian and Joe gave us a full tour from what happens when their bleeper goes off to alert them to a call, how they know where to go and the uniform they have to wear to keep them safe while fighting fires. We got to try some of the uniform on and were amazed at how heavy (and slightly stinky) all the equipment is!

Next, we went to see the huge engines!!! There were two engines in the stations and Ian explained that one is a general fire engine while the second engine is a snorkel - an engine which has a huge ladder and cage on the back that they only use for fighting fires that are really high up.

We then had a tour of the fire engine and couldn’t believe the vast amount of equipment stored on board. They carry all sorts of machinery to help if someone is stuck in a car that has been involved in a crash, as well as all the things they need for a variety of different fires.

We were beside ourselves when the firemen said we could actually get into the fire truck! It was so big that we needed some adults to help us climb in and out - it was really high up!

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we then got to use the real fire fighting hoses! They are very strong, far too strong for junior infants even though they were on low power, so to make sure we were safe fireman Joe helped us! It was so much fun!

We got to take home some fridge magnets and saving boxes too! We also had the opportunity to give Joe and Ian some thank you cards we had made for the fire service! We know what an important job they do helping to keep us safe and its important to thank them for their service to our community.

We set off on the next leg of our adventure and stopped at the play park on the way!

We also managed to squeeze in a quick hot chocolate treat before getting to our last stop!

Next up was the RNLI lifeboat station! But before we got there we saw the all weather boat which is docked on the quay because its too big for the station house! We took some time for lunch on the black castle and had so much fun rolling around the grass and climbing on the anchors!

We went for our tour in the lifeboat house and John, Carol, Andrew and the team gave us a demonstration of their equipment. We got to see amazing videos of real life rescues they have taken part in recently and gave us tips on how to stay safe in the water.

The crew brought us to the in shore boat and we all got to climb on board! The life boat crew are volunteers who all work very hard, day and night, to make sure that all who use the water are safe! We were delighted to be able to acknowledge their brave work by giving them thank you cards we made for them. As this voluntary organisation relies heavily on donations to fund their work, the families in Junior infants all clubbed together and raised an amazingly generous €180 which was presented to the crew from Nun’s Cross National School Junior Infants.

We had an absolutely fantastic day out and we are so grateful to all our emergency services for all they bravely do to keep us all safe!

Ambulance Visit to Junior Infants

The Junior Infants in Nun’s Cross were very excited recently to have a visit from a local paramedic to chat to them about being a paramedic and how they help people in our community. The children are learning about the emergency services and we were delighted with the chance to bring our learning to life!

Paramedic Sean came to our school and showed us his uniform so we can identify paramedics when we see them in our community. We had a chance to see inside the ambulance and learn about some of the equipment they use.

We got to turn on the lights and hear the sirens too! It was such a fantastic visit and we are very thankful to all the paramedics who help us when we need it! We made some thank you cards for Seán to pass on to the rest of the crew in the ambulance base!

The Solar System in 4th & 5th class

4th and 5th Class have been learning all about The Solar System this term. They have been working hard creating projects to showcase their knowledge about the planets.

February in Senior Infants

Senior Infants had a busy month in February learning all about the weather. We even got to record ourselves being weather reporters. We had Darren for Gaa and we are improving each week. We got to celebrate St. Brigid’s day and Valentines Day too.

Here are the girls practising their Gaa. We all love Gaa with Darren so much fun :)

In Aistear we got to pretend we were Weather Broadcasters - East Coast FM must be listened to a lot in the cars, as it was mentioned all the time.

We also celebrated St. Brigid’s Day. For church service we made our own cloak. full of colours and patterns.

Can you believe Senior Infants painted these gorgeous hearts for Valentines Day. They look like they should be in an art gallery.

Spring in Junior Infants

The Junior Infants have sprung into spring!

We are very excited to learn about a wide range of spring topics over the next few weeks! Take a look at what is on the agenda!

We will be learning about the life cycle of a frog! We are so lucky to have a pond in our school which is a habitat for some local frogs! There is already frog spawn in it and we will be tracking the life cycle of a frog as well as exploring our play pond in our class! We also have lots of lovely books to help us with our learning!

We will be exploring soil this month and looking at why its important, what its used for and the insects and animals that use the soil to survive.

We are looking forward to exploring flowers and seeing how they grow. We will be examining hyacinths to see the different parts of flowers and also planting some sunflowers to help us learn how to help plants grow!

We will also be having lots of spring time fun in Aistear with our flower shop roleplay area, or small world play, our messy play, mallable play and our creative station!