🌟💥January in the Middle Room🌟💥

Where have the weeks gone? We have had a busy month and the children have settled back into the swing of things so well.

This month our theme in Gaeilge  was Caitheamh Aimsire and children were learning to express their hobby preference and question partners about their hobbies through card games, interactive activities and comhrá i mbeirteanna. We were also learning a little bit about changing verbs to the future tense and identifying what ending each verb gets. We will continue this work next month also. Lá gaelach continues once a month where children  come together to sing amhráin, show off what they have been learning in class as Gaeilge and also enjoy cluichí simplí with children from other classes.

In English, besides our usual reading and comprehensions, we were focusing on Author’s Intent and Determining Importance as a comprehension strategy. Grammar included plurals, synonyms and antonyms amongst others informally. We will continue to work on Procedural writing for the next month also. The children are excellent reciting their poetry, adding lots of expression and all the time building confidence. We have finished our novel The witches and will start another in a few weeks.

Catholic school’s week offered us all some time to reflect on ourselves and all that we are grateful for in life. Children really enjoyed sharing stories about things they love to do with their grandparents and a special candle was lit for all Grandparents with us and those in heaven.

Maths has been lots of fun with fraction pizza tasks, money tasks, mental maths challenges and a brief introduction to Time which will continue in February. Children need continuous practise with their tables at home. In Geography we had fun designing Map keys and personal maps. Children also learned about seasonal foods in Science and we look forward very much to continuing our Food Dudes initiative. In History we learned about St Brigid,  discussed food long ago and now and we all enjoyed making and sampling our own ‘schoolmade’ butter. Yum!

In PE we had  some super dancers for Tar Chugam and Cur brog ar an Asal. We will get to show off our wonderful skills during Seachtain na Gaeilge in March. Children also took part in a circuits workout and plenty Drama which was lots of fun! We continue our Stay Safe programme right up to Easter so please engage in the homework discussions with your child to find out what they have learned and also share your invaluable advice too.😊 For our Art lessons we did scratch art with a theme of fireworks and Dot Art. We had so much fun showing off some of our favourite toys also. Keep up the great support at home and enjoy the Bank holiday,

D. Tyrrell

 

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Admissions Policy Amendment 2022

We have amended our Admissions Policy in line with the EPSEN Act 2022.
This allows the Minister for Education to direct a school to make certain provisions for pupils with special educational needs. We have now added this change to our policy and added the following statement:
“Inver N.S. will cooperate with the NCSE in the performance by the Council of its functions under the EPSEN Act 2004 including in particular by the provision and operation of a special class or classes when requested to do so.
Inver NS will comply with any direction served on the BOM or patron as the case may be under section 37A and any direction served on the BOM under section 67(4B) of the Education Act.”
This amendment has been completed and should you have any questions or comments please discuss with us.

💥💥Middle Room – November 22💥💥

The excitement is building for Christmas for sure and word on the street is the elves are slowly making their way to certain homes 🧐We have tried to keep the focus despite the excitement that the Toy show brought. It really is  a special time of year.😊 The children have been busy learning about Africa in History and Geography. It was really interesting to compare our lives to the lives of the Masai Tribe and the children enjoyed making their African Necklaces. (pictures to follow) We all loved learning about Nelson Mandela and the difference he has made to the lives of black people in History and this present day. The boys and girls also did a little research on their World Cup country just for fun which resulted in múinteoir and children alike learning a little something about 21 countries. For science week the children explored their reaction times and they also participated in a number of SPHE lessons for anti bullying week. We really enjoyed ODD sock day which reminds us that we are all different but we are all equal. We welcomed our little mascot Mick to our circle times.

In PE our focus has been athletics, although at times hampered by the weather.

It was lovely to explore the Bookfair while present in the hall and we are continuing our class Novel The Witches. Children enjoy Predicting, Making Connections and Questioning during novel time and regularly ask for more!!!.  We even had some children quite suspicious of staff members possibly presenting themselves as perfectly normal ladies all the while being nasty, ghastly witches underneath. Watch out for those pointy shoes, gloves and blue tinged teeth!!!

In Maths Rang a dó are working on regrouping and mental maths while Rang  a3 continue to work on multiplication and division.  As gaeilge, bhí an spórt againn ag staidear an téama Bia. Bhíomar ag cleachtadh conas ceisteanna a chur bunaithe ar an topaic agus bhí go leor cluichí againn. Bhí seans ag na pháistí a bhiachlár féin a scríobh freisin.

We continue to learn our poems each week which we regularly revise in class also. Drama has been lots of fun as were our Music lessons. The children created a storm using their body percussion which was hugely effective. We also discussed pitch and tempo. Tin whistle lessons continue and we look forward to performing with the whole school at the school concert on the 20th December.

 

Well done to the boys and girls who received special awards from the Kilcommon GAA Club. We are very proud of you all and indeed all the boys and girls in the school!

D. Tyrrell

 

💥💥Middle Room – October💥💥

Here is a little look back on the month of October. It is so wonderful to see the progress that has been made and the fun that has happened in class since we restarted in September. This month the children also had lots of fun with Múinteoir Aisling who completed her placement with us. We also got to enjoy some fun Maths activities to mark Maths week and we tested our perseverance with some Matchstick challenges!

We have been working hard on the topics of Scoil and Oíche Shamhna as Gaeilge, Data and 2D shapes in Maths as well as practising our addition and subtraction. In English the focus has been on developing reading comprehension using strategies such as visualisation, predicting and making connections. The children wrote a lovely narrative and enjoyed typing it up also to practise those typing skills. Please see below a selection of photos from the various topics covered throughout the month from Lava lamps, journey sticks, parachutes to Spooky Silhouettes….it was all go!

Wishing you all a pleasant Halloween break!

D . Tyrrell

💥💥Middle Room💥💥 – September 2022

 

 

 

 

The past month has flown by so quickly! The children have settled in so well and we are slowly getting back into the routine of school life.

In English we have been focusing on basic sentence structure and taking the time to present our work carefully. We have been reading lots and working on expression and pace whilst reading aloud. Children have also being silent reading and Buddy reading with partners, as well as listening and responding to our class novel for this term, The Yuckee Prince. The children seem to really enjoy the novel and sharing their connections and predictions with their peers. Children have received a book from the classroom library which can be used for personal or shared reading at home and returned at a time that suits the child. This is simply reading for pleasure. Our writing genre is Recount and we will continue with this next month also. Our Irish topic has been Mé Féin and much of the work we have done is based around comhrá about ourselves, simple interactive games based on the topic and our poems of course too. Regular revision of our poems and dánta will benefit the children hugely.

Maths focus for the month has been Addition and Subtraction, Place value, Rounding and mental maths calculations. Children again will benefit so much from having their tables revised and practised on a regular basis through fun games such as playing cards/in the bank.

In SESE we learned about Fionn and the Fianna, People at work -Occupations and Myself (Sleep). Drama has been a combination of Mime and Freeze framing and as always lots of fun!  In SPHE our topic was Myself and self awareness, where children have discussed their strengths and qualities that make them unique. PE strand this month has been games with a focus on the fundamental movement skill of throwing /catching. We have learned our Irish song Dilín O Deamhas and as part of our lá gaelach children sang traditional Irish songs and took part in a fun Tráth na gCeist. (Quiz) We also played Fiche cheist (20 questions) which was lots of fun!

Below are some photos from the month.

 

💥💥Middle Room 💥💥- A look back since Easter hols

Where has the time gone? It is hard to believe the summer holidays are once again around the corner. Below are some photos from our time since we returned after Easter holidays. The children have been working on various topics in Maths such as 3d shapes, Fractions, Length and of course our number strands including multiplication and division in 3rd class. The children have completed their standardised testing but we continue to work on various strands right up to the end.

As Gaeilge we have completed topics Sa Bhaile and An Teilifís. Bhí an-spórt ag na páistí ag imirt na cluichí idirghníomhach and na cluichí cartaí i mbeirteanna. Is breá leo an cluiche biongó freisin. Táimid an tam ar fad ag forbairt ár léamh gaeilge agus tá ranga 3 ag foghlaim conas a hathraíonn na briathra go dtí na haimsire difriúl- Aimsir Fhaistineach agus aimsir láithreach. Bhíomar go léir ag foghlaim conas an t-am a insint i nGaeilge, na séasur agus na míonna. Bhíomar ag foghlaim freisin faoina réamhfhocial agus úsáíd an urú. Maidir le tuiscint, léirigh na páistí a dtuiscint ar théacs trí  phictiúir.

We continue to have our monthly Tráth na gCeist (quiz) for fun and each Friday a Gaeilgoir na Seachtaine is chosen from each classroom.

In English we are reading our novel Wildflower Girl which is the 2nd book in the famine trilogy. We completed Under the Hawthorn Tree prior to this. The children like predicting what will happen to the main character and share their opinions and thoughts if they wish after each chapter. We enjoy incorporating our novel into our drama lessons and the children have participated in Conscience Alley and Freeze frame activities connected to it. We continue to work on our reading fluency, pace , expression, summarising and our writing genre these past few weeks has been Persuasive/Opinion writing.  The children enjoyed working as groups in persuading the class of their argument. Topics included were ‘Children should get paid for attending school’ ,’ Fidget spinners should be banned in class’ and ‘Children should attend  school on Saturday’. Some of the reasons offered to support the argument were quite convincing and others very funny! Great team work and a bit of fun! We also enjoyed some oreos as they help us to remember how to get a strong argument across –Opinion–Reasons—-Examples/Explanations—Opinion (restated passionately!).  Our written presentation is improving steadily and some of the children and I were looking back and comparing writing from the start of the year and now. Wow..Look how far you have come!!

We all enjoyed our taste testing . Some children tasted fruits they had not previously and liked them which was a posiitve. Some …not so much🤣..the faces were priceless! Well done I say for trying something new! We also had lessons on the function of various parts of our body with a particular emphasis on the heart.

In PE we have had a mixture of the strands of Games, Gymnastics and Orienteering which we will continue for the coming month.

The children in 2nd class enjoyed their special First Holy communion day on May 7th  and as a special treat to celebrate the whole school got Pizza!!🍕This was a combined celebration for both Communion and Confirmation. Congratulations to all the children.

Looking forward to a productive last few weeks and of course our SCHOOL TOUR!!!! 🎉🚌⏳

D. Tyrrell