Hello to all the Junior Infants boys and girls.

This is our final couple of days of Seesaw activities before the school year ends. We wanted to take this opportunity to say a big ‘thank you’ to you for the hard work you have put into your first year in school. Although it hasn’t ended as we’d liked you still have shown that you have learned so much and have become very special members of our year group.
Over the summer you may wish to keep practicing your reading and here is a link to Summer Stars reading programme which encourage development and continuation of reading habits. There are also recommendations for summer reading from librarians and children, alongside free audio and ebooks for borrowing.

https://www.librariesireland.ie/services/right-to-read/summer-stars

You may also be interested in checking out the Dabbledoo music website where they have some end of year activities including a school disco playlist ad DJ sets from well-known DJs.
Here’s the link:

https://dabbledoomusic.com/p/parents-subscription-full-access/?product_id=1787109&coupon_code=20383H

We’d like to wish you all a wonderful summer holiday and we look forward to welcoming you all back to school in the new school year.

‘You’re a very special person,
And I want you to know
How I loved to be your teacher,
How fast the year did go!
Please come back to visit me
As through the years you grow,
Try hard to learn all you can
There is so much to know!
The one thing I tried to teach you
To last your whole life through,
Is to know that you are special
Just because you are you.’

Warmest regards,
Amy, Sinéad, Orla & Christine

Hello Junior Infants,

Welcome to you all to the start of the brand new month of May.

All of the teachers are so amazed and super proud of all of the wonderful learning you have been doing from home.

Although this continues to be a strange time we hope that you are enjoying spending time with your families and outdoors doing things you love.

All your teachers are missing you very much and want you to know that you are all ‘learning at home superstars!’ Keep going!

Please find Homework Grid for this week attached – looking forward to seeing all your fantastic work!

Amy, Sinéad, Orla and Christine

Homework Grid JI 4th – 8th May

Well what a busy very first half term we’ve had in Junior infants. All the wonderful boys and girls are settling into school life really well and have enjoyed getting to know our school, new teachers and friends.

We have been getting used to lots of new routines and ways of learning and most importantly – having lots of fun. Some of the activities we have been doing include literacy and maths stations, Aistear, GAA, maths week to name but a few, all alongside our packed Junior Infant curriculum. Here’s a little glimpse of our busy days….

Senior Infants had their school trip to Newbridge farm recently. They saw donkeys, pigs and piglets, cows and calves, sheep and lambs, goats and kids, ducks, lots of birds and a very cheeky peacock. The children fed the goats some grass and got to pet some lambs. We had a picnic by the duck pond and, after displaying it’s feathers, a peacock tried to join us and wanted some sandwiches!!  After that we went to the fantastic playground before heading back to school. Have a look at some of the pictures from each of Senior Infant classes….

We had a little hatchery in our school just outside room 3 and 4 for the last few weeks. The boys and girls have been so good at keeping quiet in the corridors whilst the chicks grew. On Wednesday the excitement grew when a chick hatched overnight. Two more came quickly after that on Thursday. It was amazing to see them after they hatched (even if they were a little wet and tired) and watch how their feathers dried and fluffed up. Today it was time for the chicks to go back to the farm in Kilkenny. Lots of sad faces around the school saying goodbye but senior infants were very lucky enough to have a hold before they left.

Holding chicks = happy faces!

At the start of the week Senior infants were so lucky to have had a visit from Garda John, the community Garda for the area. He talked to the boys and girls about road safety and the importance of wearing your seat belt whilst travelling in a car, how to stay safe with strangers and the number to call if you need help.

All the boys and girls got to have a look inside the Garda van (see below) and heard the loud siren. It was awesome!

‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.’ (George Bernard Shaw).

We have had great fun and have learned so much in Aistear this year so far. Our themes for the last few months have included the home, the school, the dentist’s surgery, the post office and the restaurant.

Here’s a little snippet of what we’ve been up to………

(Turn the sound on!)

Last Friday Senior Infants had Caoimhe, a veterinary nurse, come to visit. She brought her dog ‘Chewy’ with her but when she went to introduce him to the boys and girls, Chewy was not on his lead, he’d gone!
Thankfully, with the help of all the boy and girls, Caoimhe was able to call Chewy and he came back! Phew! Chewy was really friendly and let the children pet him.
Caoimhe spoke to everyone about how to look after dogs and what foods are good and bad for them. She showed us some x-rays of animals that had broken bones or had swallowed things they shouldn’t have. She talked about some animals needing operations and showed us what the vet and nurse have to wear when performing operations. Can you spot the 4 things that they have to wear?