Welcome to Ms. Nolan’s class!
Our classroom has individual work stations and a large open area where we work in groups, listen to a story, sing songs or have circle time.
We have an area near the sink for paint, water and messy play. We use the outside soft play area regularly when the weather allows, otherwise we have a room inside with a soft floor covering and soft padding on the walls where we can bounce around on space hoppers and large round or peanut shaped balls. Another favourite area is the multi-sensory room. We can relax and watch shapes projected on the wall, play with soft toys, practise aiming and target throwing . There is also a smaller play area with a sand tray, jigsaws, cars, farms, train set, lego and board games. All of these activities help with our fine and gross motor development. These areas also provide opportunities for us to practise our social skills.
April
We are very proud to announce that our slogan was chosen for the Green Schools slogan and will be displayed around the school. The slogan is; Clean up, clean up 1,2,3. I help you and you help me. It includes lámh signs. The boys were so excited and proud to win and they enjoyed the box of chocolates the student’s council gave to them.
April, though it was a short month, has been very busy and packed with fun. The class learned about the number ten, toys from the past and toys from today, made a poster for the Green schools committee, danced to Go Noodle, took part in yoga, worked on their individual tasks and learned how to grow a plant.
March
March has been a very busy month. The students have completed so many fun activities. In science we learned about light and made shadow puppets, in history we learned about the life of St. Patrick and celebrated Lá Glás, in geography we learned about the parts of the plant, what they need to grow and how to care for our environment. To help the bees and butterfly’s we sowed bee and butterfly friendly flowers and for art the students made beautiful paper collage Easter eggs.
We were very lucky to have a visit from an exotic pet farm where we had a chance to see and pet some fantastic creatures. The student’s favourite was the barn owl and the tortoise. To top off this exciting month we celebrate 2 birthdays in our class and had a little party.
February
February was a month of celebrations. We celebrated the ones we love by making Valentine puppet cards.
We celebrated Pancake Tuesday by making delicious homemade pancakes
with lots of toppings from home.
We celebrated the beginning of Spring by going on a nature
walk to see the first signs of Spring and making a Spring display board in the classroom full of daffodils and lambs.
And last but certainly not least we celebrated three winners of the
Credit Union Art competition in our class. Eugene from Bunclody Credit Union came to the school to present the winners with their prizes. Jake has made it to the National final, we wish him the best of luck and are very proud of everyone. The students also learned about their bodies and how to care of a baby. After the lesson the boys decided to drive to the shop but as you can see in the photos they buckled the baby into the car seat and drove very carefully. Safety first is a must.
January
The students were excited to return to school after the Christmas break and to talk about the wonderful things they did on their holidays. This month’s theme in English was The Estate Agents. The students learned about different types of houses and how houses are sold and purchased.
In Maths they worked on Measures. They measured different objects in our class using cubes and lollipop sticks.
For Religion and Art we prepared for Catholic Schools week and Grandparents Day and they were also busy working on their individual tasks.
December
December has been a month filled with excitement and preparations. The students practiced for the Carol Service which was a great success, decorated the room with beautiful Christmas decorations, learned about the birth of Jesus and did lots of Christmas art.
On our last day before the holidays we had a very special visitor. Santa flew down from the north pole to visit all the boys and girls in the school, but when we got back to our class there was a special package left on Mrs Nolan’s desk. A reindeer food making kit. We think Rudolf sent the package with Santa and the elves to make sure they had snacks on their long journey. The boys quickly got to work and made lots of delicious reindeer food parcels.
November
This month we learned about ‘The Café’. The students opened the Clonegal café and made some delicious pancakes with healthy toppings.
Ms Sinnott taught the boys about germs and demonstrated how far germs spread when you cough and sneeze.
For maths we learned 3D shapes and for English we are learning the phonic sounds and practicing writing sentences.
I also included some pictures of the Halloween day in school as I did not get a chance to put them up last month.
October
A lot of things happened in our class this month. We prepared for Halloween by painting pumpkins and reading the poem ‘The Fat old Witch’,.
The students painted and coloured bright flowers for the Credit Union Art competition, in Maths we built the tallest tower using blocks and Magsnaps, answered Maths word problems each day and we are delighted to say Daniel won a prize.
In Science and Geography students gathered things for the class nature table. Jake brought in lots of Autumn items, but little did he know there was a stow away, Shelly the snail. Once Shelly had finished his visit we found the perfect spot for him to live in the school garden.
On Friday the 28th we dressed up for Halloween and played lots of spooky games.
September
It is great to be back in school seeing old friends and making new ones. The pupils have been busy getting to know their new friends and settling into the school routine. This month we have learned about Autumn, farming, addition, counting, letter sounds, number and we created a nature table.
We have been very lucky to start our swimming lessons again this year. All of the boys enjoy going on the bus and getting into the water. Each Thursday Catherine comes to the class and teaches the pupils yoga. This helps the students to regulate, improves their balance, core strength, concentration, breathing and much more.
