June
Our sponsored walk took place on Wednesday 26th June. We were lucky with the weather that day. After a lap of the park, with Junior Infants setting the pace, we returned to school for the teddy-bear raffle and indoor picnic, and later in the day everyone got an ice cream. Thank you to everyone who sponsored the children – the money is going towards additional maths equipment which will be needed to implement the new maths curriculum.
We had some very special visitors to school on Friday 21st June. Guide dog puppy-in-training Yara and ambassador dog Winner came in with their humans and we learned all about what is involved in training a dog to work as a guide dog or assistance dog. We also heard how much it costs just to train one dog – a staggering €53,000! Our school made a donation towards the cost of this, and we were allowed to pet the dogs.
We held our Summer Talent Show in the hall on Thursday 20th June – and were treated to an incredible range of performances: dancing, singing, drama, gymnastics, jokes, mime, piano, show and tell, and sports skills. The video below gives a flavour of the wealth of talent in our school.
Junior and Senior Infants went to Busy Barn mini farm on their school tour. We had the best time! The rain didn’t dampen our spirits, and we had great fun from start to finish. We loved the indoor soft play, and we got to see animals such as geese, pigs, goats, rabbits and horses. We even got to feed the rabbits some carrots.
1st, 2nd and 3rd class travelled to Lismore on their school tour – visiting Ballysaggartmore Towers for some science activities and a forest walk in the rain, then indoors for some fun and games, and a quick play in the playpark when the sun finally came out!
4th class and all of 5th class travelled to Castlecomer Discovery Park for their school tour. Our first activity was the Octagon – an obstacle course in the sky involving harnesses and safety helmets, high wires, “sketchy” ladders and wobbly bridges! It tested our courage, but every single person went up there and gave it a go. After a picnic lunch we played Capture the Flag in the forest before coming home, exhausted but happy.
May
Plenty of creativity in the playground on senior break this month – from chalk drawings to daisy-chain skipping ropes!
February
On the very last day of February, Miss Cunningham’s 1st and 2nd class had an art workshop in Garter Lane. We created colourful pictures using collage, and met a friendly tiger too under a table!
Shrove Tuesday was celebrated in school early this year as we were on midterm break for the actual day – but everyone loves pancakes, especially Mrs Cook’s Senior Infants!
We are holding a Readathon during February to encourage everyone to read more and to raise much-needed funds for school. We launched this initiative on Friday 2nd February with a whole-school Drop Everything And Read session. The children were invited to bring in cushions or blankets and soft toys from home so that they could get comfortable for a good read. Some people chose very interesting places to read, as you can see in the video below. We are looking forward to hearing where people managed to squeeze in a read during half-term too.
Update: Some people managed to read in very interesting places!!
January
Ms Walsh’s 2nd and 3rd class went to see the exhibition “Arnold and Hilda: The Life and Work of Arnold Marsh and Hilda Roberts” in the Waterford Gallery of Art. One of our school families, the Bolands, donated a painting to the exhibition. The children loved looking at the different genres of the artwork and discussing what they liked about each piece.
All of 5th and 6th class took part in the schools’ orienteering competition in Kilbarry run by Southeast Viking Orienteering. In 5th class Nathan and Dillon won their course, and Beatrice and Lucy came in second, just 3 seconds behind the winners. In 6th class, Richard and Hayden were clear winners of their course; Sam and Dylan took first place in their course and Ellie and Eva came in second. Everyone came home muddy and tired, but it was perfect weather for orienteering, and a great experience.
Mrs Hemmingway’s 6th class have been learning to play the recorder, taught by Mrs Cook. They treated us to a rendition of Kum Ba Yah in Prayers one morning, with guitar accompaniment. If you listen carefully, you can hear the rest of the school join in by singing quietly along.
December
Ms Hogan’s Junior Infants had a visit to the library for a Christmas story and craft activity during Winterval.
Ms Walsh’s 3rd class went to Christ Church Cathedral to decorate the school’s entry in the Yuletide festival. They had a great time walking around Winterval, and even had a carousel ride!
The whole school participated in the Little Red Kettle production of “Lucky People” and some lucky people got to dress up and perform on stage. We also wore red or Christmas jumpers in aid of WLR FM Christmas Appeal. We were delighted to welcome two special visitors to school who had travelled all the way from the North Pole. Take a look at some of the festive fun in the video below.
November
This month saw the end of our Say Yes to Languages programme. For 8 weeks, the children from 3rd to 6th class had been learning French with teacher Naomi Keating. This is a song all the classes learned – sung here by 4th and 5th class.
During Science Week, Ms Hogan’s Junior Infants carried out a colourful science experiment involving water and Skittles.
Many families in the school filled a shoe box with useful items and treats for children as part of the Christmas Shoebox Appeal. Thank you to all those who took part. The boxes will have made a big difference to children in need who received them.
October
On the last day before the midterm break, children were invited to come to school in fancy dress, or wearing their pyjamas, or just as themselves in their normal clothes. Everyone got a chance to show off what they were wearing in Assembly. We were so impressed with the imagination and ingenuity that went into some of the costumes. Click on the video below to see our Halloween parade!
We were delighted to welcome the Mayor of the Metropolitan District of Waterford City, Jody Power, to school on 26th October. As the first Green mayor of the city, environmental protection is close to his heart, and he spoke to the children about the importance of recycling and disposing of rubbish correctly. The mayor also showed the children his mayoral chain, and explained the meaning of the three ships emblem to them. The short video below shows some pictures from his visit to our school.
We’ve had a very spooky run-up to Hallowe’en in school. A huge thanks again this year to Nore Valley Park for donating the pumpkins. Mrs Cook’s and Mrs Colquhoun’s classes had great fun carving their pumpkins while Ms Walsh’s class painted theirs.
Ms Walsh’s 2nd and 3rd class and Mrs Duggan’s 2nd class took part in a map drawing activity linked to Culture Night in the Central Library. “We looked at maps in books such as Harry Potter and The Hobbit”.
Congratulations to all our pupils who took part in the Summer Stars reading programme in the library. Everyone who submitted their reading record received a certificate and a medal. We are proud of them all.
Mrs Cook’s Senior Infants had a beautiful walk in Newtown woods. “We had a great time looking for acorns, conkers, sycamore “helicopters” and fir cones. We discovered lots of woodlice, slugs, a beetle, a hornet, spiders and even saw squirrels too. We played some games from the Forest Schools Programme. The children loved spotting the trees such as holly, monkey puzzle and oak trees.” Click on the video below to see some pictures from the outing.
September
We were very honoured to host Bishop Adrian when he came to visit our school at the end of September. He spoke to all the children in Assembly, telling them the story of Agnes Clerke, the Irish astronomer who gave her name to Storm Agnes. He also showed us his beautiful silver crozier. He was presented with a handmade crocheted coaster depicting the school’s crest, and also a page explaining the meaning behind each part of our crest. Bishop Adrian also had time to visit the classrooms too, where he answered all kinds of questions put to him by the children!
Mrs Hemmingway’s 5th and 6th class have been learning about bridges – researching famous bridges online, drawing their own designs, building bridges from paper and card and investigating the best designs for weight-bearing. Click HERE to see their designs in the making and being tested.
Ms Hogan’s Junior Infants read “Cave Baby” by Julia Donaldson, and then collaborated on this fabulous piece of art that is now on display in the hall.
Mrs Cook’s Senior Infants had fun making porridge for Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Mrs Duggan’s 1st class went on an autumn walk in the grounds of Newtown School. The plan was to gather leaves to use in an art class later, but pockets were filled with conkers instead! Highlights included finding caterpillar eggs on a leaf, seeing acorns and oak apples growing, picking blackberries and opening spiky chestnuts to find shiny conkers inside. See a short video of the outing below.
Ms Walsh’s class went on a lovely autumn nature walk in the grounds of Newtown School. “We saw many signs of autumn, picked blackberries (and ate them), found shiny conkers and a very energetic speckled spider. We’re looking forward to seeing the changes that occur over the coming weeks.”
