What a busy and exciting month in our classroom.  We have been learning all about Advent and the birth of the baby Jesus.  We had a special visitor to our classroom-‘Frosty the Elf.’  Frosty has been moving around the room and getting into all sorts of mischief

Also, the boys and girls have been working very hard learning all the lovely songs for our Carol Service.  Well done to everyone, it was a fantastic evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed the open day on Friday.

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas and best wishes for 2026

Múinteoir Lisa

On December 01st, we began the BLAST programme in our school.  BLAST is a Creative Youth, Department of Education led initiative.  We were thrilled to welcome Mary Curran to our school  to facilitate the programme and greatly appreciated her sharing her musical talents and performing for us.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and learned a great deal about the different instruments.  We look forward to working with Mary again in January.

Below is a snap shot of some of the activities completed in the month of November.

In English, we worked on the following stories: ‘The Gruffalo’s Child, William’s Winter Wish, Little Bear’s Special Wish and The Day the Crayons Quit.’ We also worked on four new Nursery Rhymes-‘Five Little Ducks, Alice the Camel, Five Little Monkeys and Old Mother Hubbard.’  We have continued to work on Recount writing and the children are continuing to develop their handwriting skills.  We also learned a lovely poem called ‘November.’

In Maths, the children worked on number formation and learning rhymes to help us form each number correctly.  We also worked on odd and even number and addition as well as beginning time.

In Gaeilge, we worked on the theme of Bia.  We learned lots of new phrases and the dán ‘Is Maith Liom.’

The children created beautiful pieces of art and began working on some Christmas pieces such as the nativity scene as well as creating our class Advent Calendar.

In History we learned about Mozart and the Legend of the Giant’s Causeway.  In Science, the children worked on the theme of sound and in Geography we studied musical instruments from around the world and the zoo.

The children are working very well on learning the songs for out Carol Service and we are looking for ward to a busy and exciting December.

From the 10th to the 14th of November, our school marked Anti-Bullying Week, a special time dedicated to promoting kindness, respect, and inclusion throughout our school community.

A huge well done to the entire Wellbeing Committee, who did an outstanding job visiting each class to speak about anti-bullying. Their enthusiasm, confidence, and commitment helped spread the  important message that bullying is not tolerated. The Wellbeing Committee also organised an anti-bullying poster competition for the Middle and Senior Room.

A special congratulations to our overall prize winners:

• Cara and Lily from the Middle Room

• Clodagh and Róna from the Senior Room

Their posters stood out for their creativity, effort, and for the powerful messages they shared.

Thank you to everyone for your hard work and positivity throughout the week. Below is a sample of some of the wonderful anti-bullying posters created during the week. Each of these posters is a reminder of the importance of kindness and inclusion.

What an exciting Science Week it has been for our 5th and 6th Class! The senior room has been buzzing with curiosity, discovery, and hands-on learning from start to finish.

We kicked things off by joining a fantastic Curious Minds webinar. The pupils learned all about how scientists ask questions, investigate problems, and use creativity to understand the world around us. There were plenty of “Wow!” moments as we explored new ideas together.

Later in the week, things got even more exciting as the class visited Our Lady’s Secondary School for a real laboratory experience. The pupils put on proper laboratory coats and safety goggles before completing a range of experiments. They investigated chemical reactions, tested materials, and worked just like real scientists. It was wonderful to see their confidence grow as they tried new equipment and worked carefully through each step of the experiments.

The photos show just how engaged and enthusiastic everyone was. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make Science Week so memorable. Well done to all our young scientists in the senior room! 🔬✨

We hope everyone is having a fantastic mid-term break! Here are some snaps from our Halloween Dress-Up Day in the Senior Room. Everyone looked amazing! Huge well done to everyone for their brilliant efforts and creativity.

A big shout-out to Caolan, Holly, Ray, and James for winning the Figure Me Out Maths Competition — great job! 🧮✨

Have a spooky, fun-filled Halloween! 🎃💀

It was another fast and busy month in our room.  All the boys and girls worked really well and we had lot of fun along the way.  Below is a snapshot from October.

In Literacy, we worked on the following stories: ‘Handa’s Surprise,’ ‘Rosie’s Walk,’ ‘The Gruffalo’ and ‘Room on the Broom.’  The children also learned the following Nursery Rhymes this month- ‘1,2,3,4,5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive,’ ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep,’ ‘Two Little Dickey Birds’ and ‘This Little Piggy went to Market’ as well as the poem ‘Happy Halloween.’  We are continuing to revise our letter sounds and tricky words and all the boys and girls are working really well on their handwriting skills.

In Gaeilge, we worked on the themes ‘An Scoil’ agus ‘Oíche Shamhna’ as well as our dán Oíche Shamhna.

This month the children worked on both 3D and 2D shapes.  We all really enjoyed Maths Week and using our Maths eyes to see that Maths can be seen all around us.

The children worked on the theme of Autumn in SESE, working on lessons about the bat in science, the story of the Little Red Hen and examining Halloween traditions in History and in Geography the children learned about the work the farmer does in Autumn and about Firefighters.

In PE, we began working on the strand of Athletics and are continuing to further develop our GAA skills.  We focused on Myself and My Family in SPHE. The children also made fantastic pieces of art based on Autumn and Halloween.

We all had great fun dressing up for Halloween and taking part in fun activities.

I hope you all have a wonderful midterm

Múinteoir Lisa

Introducing this year’s Student Council.  The boys and girls have already been very busy organising some fun activities for Halloween and preparing for future events.  We look forward to working together throughout the year

Below is a snapshot from our dress up day for Halloween.  A big thank you to The Student Council for organising treats for all the children in the school.  We had a great day.  Happy Halloween everyone, have a lovely midterm break.

The Senior Room have been busy celebrating Maths Week, and now that Halloween is upon us, Muinteoir Louise has brewed up a spooky maths challenge for parents and children alike! Can you solve this spooky puzzle before the ghosts do?

Theo is visiting a creepy castle on Halloween night. He notices three eerie lanterns swinging on the walls.

At the start, they all glow at the same time. The first lantern glows every 6 seconds, the second every 8 seconds, and the third every 9 seconds.

How many seconds will pass before all three lanterns glow together again?

And during two full minutes, how many times will the all three lanterns glow together?

Good luck… if you dare to take on the challenge!!

The Senior Room have had a very busy Maths Week, filled with lots of fun and challenging activities! Throughout the week, the children tackled daily Maths challenges, built impressive towers to explore shapes and measurements, and two teams even represented the school in a competitive table quiz held at Our Lady’s Secondary School, Belmullet. Some of the children also worked with the Junior Room on a fun Maths trail, helping them explore and solve problems together.

Well done to all the children for their hard work, enthusiasm, and team spirit. Maths Week was a huge success!

Here’s just a snapshot of some of the activities from the week:

On Thursday, 9th October, the children in 5th and 6th Class attended an educational workshop at the Jackie Clarke Museum in Ballina focused on the Great Famine. The session brought history to life in an engaging, age-appropriate way and captured everyone’s interest from start to finish.

Through storytelling, interactive activities, and hands-on experiences, the children learned about life during the Famine- from daily struggles to the resilience of the people. They especially enjoyed handling replica artefacts and examining historical photographs, which helped them imagine what life might have been like for children their age in the 1840s.

By the end of the visit, the pupils had gained a deeper understanding of this important period in Irish history, leaving with a sense of empathy, curiosity, and appreciation for the lives we lead today.

We have had a busy month in the Junior Room.  All the boys and girls have settled in really well in their new classes and are doing fantastic.  We are all so excited to be in our beautiful new room.

We have a few little special characters in our room….. the ‘Birthday Bear’ can be seen below with the girls and boys that celebrated their birthdays this month.  We also have a ‘Kind Bee’ and we are all working really well at being kind and respectful.  The ‘Tidy Table Fairy’ has come to visit our room a number of times throughout the month and has left lovely notes on some of the children’s desks.

Our theme for this month was Myself. Some of the material we have worked on this month is as follows:

The story of ‘The Little Red Hen,’ ‘The Three Little Pigs,’ ‘The Lamb Who Came to Dinner’ and ‘Incredible Me!’  We worked on lovely Nursery Rhymes too: ‘Little Bo Peep,’ ‘Hey Diddle Diddle,’ ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and Hickory Dickory Dock’ and we leaned the poem ‘September.’  All the children are doing really well revising the letter sounds and on their phonological awareness.

In Gaeilge, we learned a lovely dán- Seasaigí Suas and worked on the themes of Mé Féin agus An Fómhar.

In SESE, we learned about the various rooms in the house, our family tree, and how we are all unique.  Music Generations and GAA Nursery have begun again this year and we are all really enjoying both.

All the children worked really well on the topic of Data and Patterns in Mathematics.  We made some fantastic patterns using different resources.

The boys and girls also created fabulous pieces of Art based on Myself throughout the month.

Please read through the following leaflet to inform you on changes to the New Primary Curriculum.

leaflet-for-parents-english-new primary curriculum