Month: October 2017

Lá brea grianmhar a bhí againn agus bhí gach páiste gleasta go hiontach. Here are some photos that Jennifer snapped as we went about the business of wrapping up our half-term. All of us worked hard these last few weeks, so we are looking forward to the break.

We enjoyed reading in the library today for Children’s Book Week.So many books, so little time .

We are learning about idioms too such as –
One for the books .

Never judge a book by it’s cover.

An open book.

Take a leaf out of someone’s book.

Read between the lines.

The oldest trick in the book.

We love reading.

Fourth Class really enjoyed their trip to the Library for Children’s Book Week. We learned lots of interesting facts about The Vikings. We dressed like Vikings, went into battle, drank out of Viking horns , held spears and shields and lots lots more. Many thanks to all the parents who dropped and collected and to the staff of Tralee Library.

This is not going according to plan

The battle begins. Who will win ?

Well Done to everyone for taking part in Maths Week. There was a great atmosphere around the school during the week as the children took part in various Maths challenges , quizzes, and the Maths Fair.

Congratulations to the winners of the Maths Quiz and the children who correctly guessed the contents of each jar.

Fourth Class displayed huge creativity in recent weeks as they designed Maths hats, board games and drew the most amazing deck of cards for our Maths Fair. Watch out Picasso.

The children had great fun playing the games they designed and look forward to showing them to the Junior Classes.

Maths Quizzes galore on Friday! We held two Mega Quizzes: Junior and Senior. All hands on deck and a hum of concentration prevailed, as each table settled into each round of questions. Each team has a child from each class. It’s a nice way for kids to meet and co-operative with other classes. Maths Week takes a lot of preparation but it’s worth it….

Yellow is often described as a ‘mentally stimulating’ colour. We don’t need any stimulation in Caherleaheen😄. We opted for a new calm colour, on walls that haven’t seen paint for over a decade. 21 parents painted in 2hour slots. One third of parents from Fifth and Fourth classes arrived on the day armed with sheets, brushes, rollers, sweets and big smiles. That is a great response, when so many more tried but were bound to other family commitments. Thank you all for trying. Some parents stayed painting (feverishly!) most of the day. It was a great day and the staff and children of Caherleaheen can’t thank you enough for giving your precious time. I can’t wait to see their reaction. The ‘canary yellow’ is a tough bright colour to overpaint. But thankfully, with all you volunteers, we did it. There are quite a few painting sheets and brushes remaining which you might want to reclaim. Please call in to collect.

The children in the senior classes spent their day solving puzzles and working in small groups. We had a lovely surprise visit from our American friends Rory and Ian Browne with their parents Kerry and John. The two boys joined in the fun. Thanks too to our TY students who were intrigued by Isaq9. Tomorrow there will be two Mega Math Quizzes: Quiz A 1st -3rd. Quiz B 4th-6th. The questions are locked away in Ms Claire’s safe! PS: All the children ran their second 1km/.5km today.

Despite the inconvenience( and joy for the children!)of losing days to Ophelia, the Junior Maths Fair charged ahead. Many thanks to Fourth and Fifth Classes for hosting the games. All the teachers set up challenges which were age-appropriate and wonderfully engaging. The Infants had a chance to explore number-value, shape, measurement, count, add, subtract, score, estimate and achieve success in all their activities. Games were held in the yard and in the hall. They covered all the areas in our Maths Curriculum and more, with many games differentiated for 1st, 2nd and 3rd! The staff were just delighted to see how the little ones managed to share, compliment, encourage and congratulate each other. There were so many games to enjoy. Tomorrow will be a completely different set-up.Tomorrow the Seniors exercise their math-muscle. We have really interesting games, that not just explore traditional computational skills, but also pose challenges in geometry, spatial awareness, processing, problem-solving, sequencing, algebra and patience/concentration! Watch this space for photos of the Seniors, hard at it tomorrow. Find Mr Damien’s Fifth Class Blog in the Fifth Class menu above. He took some great photos of the action today 🙂

This is it! The time hath cometh. We are going to rise up from our desks, brush ourselves down and start moving our limbs. It is really important that all children wear runners EVERY DAY. Water or diluted water is equally important. All the kids are commited to running on Saturdays and Sundays too. Parents, older siblings, friends can join us on weekends.( The 9.25am 2k run in Tralee Town Park, every Sunday morning, is perfect for 4-13yr olds and 14-99yr olds! It’s a wonderful family friendly activity….great buzz). Light rain-jackets will also be handy, so please make sure your child has his/hers every day. This challenge will be one small step for your child, one giant leap for your child’s health and happiness, not to mention concentration,alertness, calmness, self-worth, well-being, breathing, posture, motivation and FUN. So please, give all your support to your kids by packing them off to school every day with really healthy lunches, runners, water, a rain jacket and a supportive pat on the back. It really is that simple!

Thank you for doing the Homework Survey! If you want to investigate and analyse the results, follow these steps: Click ‘KIDS’ in menu above. Click your class: Third, Fourth, Fifth or Sixth. Click ‘READ MORE‘ tab and then click the link to Survey Monkey. You will see graphs showing how you all answered each of the 10 questions. The majority of you are managing your homework very well!(That surely deserves a night ‘off’ homework!….joking!!!).

Isaq9 proved to be challenging, but our bright young people solved it pretty quickly.👍

Can you read the name on this ‘bug art’? (Hint:the hidden name is repeated symmetrically)!

This was great fun! All the children and teachers marked National Fitness Day with a whole-school aerobic workout. The Junior Infants were delighted to take part in our mass dance. Ms Mary, Caroline and Adrienne led the way. Not ones to shy from a challenge: Mr Damien and Mr Paul will lead the next one. They are preparing by practising their moves. I think we should play some Bee Gees for their aerobic dance-off!

The Fifth Class gardening gnomes, Mr Liam and Kelly Field, our student teacher tidied our garden and dug up some lovely potatoes and carrots.

Sea Synergy Schools Programme promotes awareness of marine biodiversity. Third class will follow the programme this month by doing further project work on the creatures and lifecycle of the creatures in the Atlantic. Christie was really impressed by the children’s response to her powerpoint presentation, fish tank and shell display.