Issuu

Junior School

Dear Parents, Sitting here in my office thinking about the school year gone by, I almost have to pinch myself to believe that the last fifteen months, since March 2020, have really happened. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought many changes and challenges to life in the Junior School. As well as the huge transformation that came about when we moved to online teaching and learning in January, there were also major changes when we were physically in the school building. The children stayed in class bubbles and pods, teachers wore masks, we are all conscious of social distancing, and sadly our parent body could not come inside our school building. Yes - there have been so many huge adjustments to make. And yet, as I reflect at year end, I have to say that in many ways it has been a wonderful year! Firstly, the children have been simply amazing – online they were fully engaged, giving of their best, and getting on with their learning. And when we came back to school – the children got straight back to their lessons, delighted to be able to work and play together again and share learning and friendship. For me, the highlight of the year was certainly on March 15th when all of the children from Junior Infants to Standard 6 returned to school and once again the happy sound of fun and laughter and catching up with friends could be heard throughout the school day. What joy! All of our main annual school events - such as the Talent Show, the Standard 6 Plays, Graduation and Prizegiving went ahead and were live-streamed to parents and grandparents across the world! Parent-teacher meetings took place via Zoom and were effective and efficient. And finally, Sports Day took place (albeit with just the children

present!); and School Tours this year were fun days in the sunny and beautiful surrounds of our School Campus topped off with a visit from the ice-cream van! So perhaps we have all learned to appreciate the simple blessings in life just that little bit more! I would like to take a moment to offer thanks to everyone who has made this year a year to remember for many positive reasons. I would like to thank you our parents for being so supportive and encouraging and for your constant interest and care in this extraordinary year. Thank you also for trusting our tentative steps into the world of online teaching and learning! I want to thank the incredible Junior School staff team who have all worked so hard to ensure that, in these strange days, school life was as normal as possible for all of our pupils, and above all that they enjoyed a busy, happy and fulfilling year. I am blessed to work with such an amazing team - filled with integrity, authenticity and kindness. Finally I thank our wonderful girls and boys who have been just remarkable this year – particularly in how seamlessly they adapted to all of the changes in school life – and simply got on with the job and were their very best selves! And so at year end I wish you all a Summer filled with sunshine and happy days and I look forward to seeing everyone again in September when, please God, things may be just a little more back to normal! Deirdre Farrell - Headmistress

2021

It was unfortunate when the third lockdown and round two of online school happened, however it did come with some benefits aswell, getting to see everyone every day was a bonus - people forgetting to mute their microphones was not! We finished early everyday and we didn’t get much homework!

L o c k d o wn

Online School... AGAIN!

What can I say, online school wasn’t perfect but I was grateful to still have some school during these times and to be connected with my class friends. I do hope it is a long time before we have to do the next online phase as ordinary school is much more fun!

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J U LI ETter D U F F YT E r

When we got our Christmas holidays little did we know that we would be back to online school in January. After weeks of online lessons, it was time for some fun. On the 12th February we were treated to a wonderful magic show by the fabulous magician Joe Daly. He entertained us with magic and mystery for 45 minutes. You were welcome to bring along treats and sit back and relax. I watched on the couch with my little brother. There were some amazing tricks, my favourite being the flaming stick being passed through a balloon. The balloon didn’t burst which still amazes me! He did another trick where he pulled a 6 foot string out of his mouth. This was followed by Joe putting liquid into a piece of newspaper with the liquid promptly vanishing. It was amazing!! He did some card tricks but these were not any old card tricks. Before the show started Joe had drawn a picture of a little man and a cannon on a card which he showed us. He also showed us the other cards that had no drawing on them. During the show he asked somebody to pick a random card from the deck. He then took the card that had been chosen out of the deck and this was where the magic began. He flicked through all the cards at speed and the drawing turned into an animated man but the best was yet to come. At the end, the little animated man pulled a card out of a cannon and turned it around and the card the little man picked out was the same as the card that the volunteer had chosen and that Joe had removed from the deck. Everybody was astounded. It was a fantastic treat to have in the middle of a lockdown and one we will always be thankful to our wonderful school for.

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Montessori

Montess ori H louise & Rachel WIT

Montessori have had a really fabulous time this term! They have learned so many new things this year and have done so many exciting new things like their Movement to Music Recital which all their parents got to watch through zoom and also a great Sports Day. They also got to have their School Tour in the wonderful grounds around the school this year. They played loads of fun games, including hide and seek and they played lots of sports. After this, for their lunch, they were treated to a pizza delivery and had lots of nice treats. It was a big success and everyone had a great day!!

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JUNIOR INFANTS

W I T H M R . D W Y ER

What a year it has been for our girls and boys in Junior Infants. The children coped wonderfully with the challenges of online learning and made great strides academically during this time. Thankfully, it was possible to return to the classroom in March to make some amazing memories together. Two of the biggest highlights for our Junior Infants pupils were the hunt for Zeb the Zebra and creating a digital story for the FÍS Film Competition.

Hide and Seek!

Zeb the Zebra has been up to his old tricks again! He suddenly disappeared without a trace and our Junior Infant pupils had to search the school grounds from top to bottom to find him! The children put their newly acquired writing skills to the test and made wonderful posters to stick up around the school. Junior Infants searched for clues and asked many teachers, pupils and parents for help along the way. Luckily, after days of searching high and low, the children eventually found a mysterious note which led them to their stripy friend. Our Junior Infant pupils were delighted to have Zeb back safe and sound in their classroom once again because reading lessons just aren’t the same without him! Everyone has been keeping a close eye on Zeb since his disappearance to make sure that he doesn’t get up to anymore mischief. Zeb’s favourite game is hide and seek and we all know how he just loves to keep the boys and girls in Junior Infants on their toes!

Zeb’s Birthday Extravaganza!

Zeb has certainly been hogging the limelight in Junior Infants this year! Our Junior Infant pupils have been busy creating a digital story for the FÍS Film Competition and the short film is centred around Zeb’s fifth birthday party. The children wrote wonderful invitations and made colourful pop-up birthday cards for the birthday Zebra. A red carpet was rolled out on the big day and everyone wore fun fancy dress costumes. Junior Infants played exciting party games, opened up a pinata to find lots of tasty treats and, of course, got to be movie stars for the day! The short film is called The Party Crasher. Our Junior Infant pupils brainstormed many ideas and decided it would be fun to explore what might happen if Harry Potter crashed Zeb’s birthday party! Everything goes according to plan on Zeb’s big day until Harry shows up uninvited and insists on winning all of the party games. He uses magic to get his own way and the party guests are understandably not happy about this! Will Harry Potter ever learn that games are about having fun with friends and winning is not what’s important? You will have to watch our FÍS film to find out!

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SENIOR INFANTS W I T H M S . M C C AB E

No one can deny that it has been a wild yet wonderful year. We had no way of knowing from week to week what was going to happen but we had a great year together. We got through the online learning and everyone did their best. When we got back to the classroom one child put it well when he said he did not like flat Ms McCabe. My little students did as they were asked, they put their best foot forward and we had a great year together. It was a joy to hear laughter and witness some mischievous goings on again. In the classroom is where the meaningful learning goes on with the children interacting, thinking and working things out. We have a wealth of talent in the class. We have children who really care about the environment, artists, horticulturalists, mathematicians, designers, students who have a great love of Irish and performers. Our sports day was such good fun and everyone went home happy. The school trip proved a success- even the rain didn’t dampen our spirits. Rolling down the hills and playing games in school and being together was enough for our girls and boys. We wrapped up the year with a performance of Sicin Licin in Irish for Mr Dwyer. Junior infants were a great audience. Our teddy bears picnic, games, blowing bubbles and ice on the last day sent the children home happy and well.

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With this timely historic school year drawing to a close, I can only think what a fantastic year it has been in so many ways despite all the odds. The whole school community young and old, really pulled together to make it a happy and positive year for all the children. The final term in Std 1 has been busy, fruitful and action packed! We enjoyed ‘Storytime’ with Ms. Byrne every Thursday morning – the children really looked forward to it every week. Sarah helped us on Fridays to choose books to borrow from the library – the children really enjoyed the browsing. Ms. Broxson got the children ‘making music’ in style. We enjoyed the Gerard’s Mile, Ice-Cream Van and a fantastic Sports Day. Our school tour was a great success. The bottom fields were set up by Julie with lots of activities – too many to mention! Story and ice-pops to round off the day and what a day it was! We were blessed with the weather. Overall, a very happy year thanks of all – parents, teachers and children – supporting and encouraging each other.

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Standard 1

WITH Ms. Carlos

St . Ge rard ’s J u n i o r S c h o ol

Standard 2

WITH Ms. Gregory

Well what a superb end to an absolutely wonderful year. The pupils in STD 2 have continued to work extremely hard this term in all areas of school from academics, sports and arts. We have been very busy learning lots of new things in maths this term such as weight and measurement. The boys and girls really enjoyed using different objects to measure doors and windows within the classroom. We have also had lots of fun working on our art journal which has been a wonderful addition to STD 2. The pupils really enjoyed gathering leaves and making prints as well as doodling in our journals. It has also been really nice to get to read a book as a whole class. Our class novel is called Because of Winn Dixie it has a dog as one of the main characters. It has really suited our dog loving class down to the ground. While we have been busy academically we have also had lots of fun. This term we had our school tour, sports day and whole school events. While this year has thrown us lots of obstacles, the pupils in STD 2 have not allowed it to stop them from enjoying themselves. We had a wonderful time on our school tour. While we stayed on campus it really felt like we were not on the school grounds. We had played lots of games before devouring a scrumptious BBQ. The boys and girls really enjoyed the movie in the hall as well as a bit of a disco. This year has been one I know I will never forget but not for the reasons you may think. I will never forget the fun and laughter we have had as a class. Well done STD 2 you made my year memorable!

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Standard 3

WITH Ms. Flanaga

Std 3 have been very busy this term. This year they have moved upstairs which is very exciting for them. They have been busy building 3D animal habitats amongst other projects and Ms. Flanagan is very impressed with the standard of work. Std 3 worked extremely hard on their Christmas Play “Papa Panov’s Magic Christmas” – and it really showed on the day. Well done Standard 3!

What a busy and jam-packed last term we have had in Std 3. Everyone was delighted to get back into school after our online learning and Std 3 have been very busy indeed! We really enjoyed learning about conductors and insulators in Science last month. Std 3 pupils had to design and produce their own product that would keep their water bottle cool. They had to present their design along with an advertisement poster to their class and try to convince them to buy their product! The results were fantastic and all the pupils enjoyed working collaboratively to achieve their goal. Std 3 have been enjoying reading their novel The Butterfly Lion over the past few weeks. What a lovely way to end our term. The pupils especially enjoyed bringing the book out into the sunshine whilst discussing the emotions and events in this brilliant novel. We had a fantastic day on our school tour. A big thanks to Julie who organised a brilliant orienteering session which really put the children to the test. This was followed by a delicious bbq afterwards which was well deserved and enjoyed by all! Well done to all the boys and girls in Std 3 this year. And the very best of luck to them in Std 4 next September.

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Standard 4 WITH Ms. Glee son Std 4 have been so busy this term. During online school, they worked on some terrific projects about China which they then presented to their classmates online, and then once back in class they enjoyed working in person together in their class pods on science projects about natural disasters involving lots of researching, designing and construction. Std 4 put a tremendous amount of effort into preparing for their very first Talent Show this term and even continued practicing their pieces when we were doing online school. Every child shone on the stage when the time came to perform - we had singing, dancing, instruments, gymnastics, poetry and art to name a few! What a talented bunch they all are. This term we took a new approach to our art lessons weekly art journaling workshops. From collages, to printing and natural journaling, we have a lot of budding artists for sure in Std 4!

The last few weeks of Std 4 have been a whirlwind of such fun events - the Spring Clean, Sports Day, The Gerard’s Mile, our School Tour and much more - the students (and teacher!) are well and truly ready for the welldeserved summer holidays now!

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Standard 5

W I T H M rs . m u r p h y

In January, we began school in people’s kitchens, living rooms, offices and bedrooms. For this lockdown the school was determined that the structure of the day would closely resemble a ‘normal’ school day. The children were resigned and settled quickly into a routine. I loved the chats with those who were online early and the small group activities. We all loved Drama, Music and PE, but I suspect for different reasons. We negotiated our way through Write a Book, projects, maths meltdowns and screen fatigue. I was often called Mum and there were times when I wished I myself had a Mum to look after me. March 12th and we are back in our classroom. The class is giddy with excitement and Mrs Murphy has morphed into Pod Policewoman. As ever the children quickly adjust. Pod Policewoman’s priorities are to ensure that no child has been left behind academically and the children’s priorities are to have as much fun and interaction as possible. Everyone becomes quite creative on how to have fun together. There are after school fitness classes and extra activities on Friday afternoons. The Talent Show is a socially distanced, live streamed success. We begin making plans for our School Tour. Our tour is taking place over 2 afternoons. Firstly we have our Under the Hawthorn Tree homage. Plays are written, costumes planned and an appropriate potato based menu is organised for lunch. On the second afternoon we will have fun and games in the school grounds and a BBQ. By the end of term, the end-ofterm assessments are completed, school books are tatty from use and the class are excited to move on to the next adventure. As Peter Hilton, codebreaker and mathematician, said, ‘Adaptability to change is itself a hallmark of successful education.’

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Standard 6 W I T H M s . Ma g u i r e This year has been a unique year to say the least! We have had our ups and downs and have created memories this year unlike any other. Courage and resilience were at the forefront in Ms Maguire’s classroom and our classmates showed us exactly what ‘going the extra mile’ looks like! Here are a few memorable moments. We all absolutely adore our classroom in Std. 6. It is so spacious and we have four colourful pods to keep us safe during COVID-19. We also have a beautiful wooden world map that we continually look at and use during different lessons. Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian is our class novel. From joy to heartbreak, we have felt mixed emotions while reading this book together as a class. On a Friday afternoon, there is nothing better than relaxing and getting lost in the pages of this captivating story! Another exciting thing we got to experience was our many wonderful class rewards and prizes. Every term we try to beat Ms Maguire and get the most marbles in our class jar. This was sometimes tricky but in the end we beat Ms Maguire by just two marbles and got to spin our colourful spinning wheel - that was a close one! I think the most memorable experience in our classroom has been Art Journaling. Each student in Std. 6 received their very own art journal. We got to explore and experiment with a variety of art materials and tools and learned many new skills and techniques such as colour theory, collage, mono-printing, scribble journaling and collaborative journaling. We even have an art cart with every art material and tool you could ever wish for! Every student in Std. 6 is so proud of their art journal and journaling has brought us so much closer as a class. Other memorable moments include the School Tour, End of Year Production, Graduation and Prize Giving Day and Sports Dayhow lucky we are! All in all, this year has been outstanding and we are so grateful to everyone who made this unique year an unforgettable one!

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Standard 6

W I T H M s . Po w e r

It has certainly been a busy term in Standard 6! We were all so thrilled to be reunited in the classroom again after all of our hard work over the course of online school. It was so wonderful for us all to see our friends again after a long wait. Music and drama was a huge part of the last few weeks for us in Standard 6. This year, the three 6th classes performed a collection of songs from some of our most loved movies and shows. Our class was lucky enough to take part in ‘Disney Dazzle.’ We took songs from some of the most memorable Disney films such as Aladdin, The Lion King and many more. Our class even had the opportunity to help to decorate our beautiful stage by designing posters and using our new learned skills from art journaling which was a really unique opportunity. Mrs. Olahan and Mrs. Broxan gave us so much of their time and we are truly grateful for all the work they put into our magical, dazzling night, which was filled with music, dancing and fun. We will certainly remember it forever. One of the highlights for us this year was our school tour. We were so lucky with the weather, with the sun shining for the whole day! We began our day with a class quiz. This ended with a dramatic finish as we had to go to a tie breaker question! The next stage of the day was an orienteering challenge around the school grounds. It was so much fun to see everyone taking funny and creative pictures at each of the stops, while still trying to be the fastest team to complete the challenge. We then had a delicious barbeque for lunch, which was followed by a tournament of volleyball, spike ball and soccer. We finished up the day with a well deserved ice cream and a talent show, with all three 6th classes outside our school dome with music playing loudly and everyone having so much fun. It was one of the best days this year and we were all exhausted when it finished up, but so happy and cheerful. It’s hard for us to believe that we are in our final few weeks of Junior School. It has been such an amazing year and we have become like a family, there for each other, full of support and encouragement. While we are sad to be leaving Standard 6, we are so ready and excited for our new chapter in the Senior school. We have worked really hard so feel well prepared for next year, as we take the leap forward surrounded by all of our truly wonderful friends from St. Gerard’s Junior School.

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Standard 6

W I T H M r . B u rk e

The final term in Mr. Burke’s class was filled with excitement, fun and lots of different activities, we certainly made up for any lost time during online learning. However, the children were delighted to be back in the classroom face to face with one another once again. The innovatively designed St. Gerard’s school tour for Std. 6 was a highlight for everyone involved. Our competitive sides were evoked throughout the day during the quiz, orienteering and in particular soccer, volleyball and spikeball games. Thankfully Brian was on hand with delicious burgers to keep our energy levels up. The very enjoyable day ended with an ice cream to cool down and Mr Burke’s class performing a dance routine during the talent show. We learned a lot about different interesting topics in SESE from the Burren in county Clare to case studies in Africa. We navigated our way through World Trade. While exploring the inequity and fluctuating nature of trade prices from a Third World’s perspective during the ‘biscuit game’ and ‘trading game’. The children gained an invaluable insight into the inequality that exists in our world in a fun and active way. The children prepared intensively for their end of year production under the fantastic directorship of Mrs. Olohan and Mrs. Broxson. The children were delighted they would be singing songs and acting to infamous stories written by Roald Dahl. They thoroughly enjoyed the preparation and it was evident it strengthened their bond as a class. The Science Fair took place in a different format this year but did not take away from the brilliant projects completed by the children. The younger students enjoyed listening and learning about different aspects of science from their older companions. The students learned everything from how much DNA there is in a tomato to testing the strength of pykrete. The end of standard six will bring with it an end to a chapter in each of the fantastic children’s primary school experience but will open the door to many exciting and exhilarating opportunities that lay ahead in Senior School. We wish them all the very best of luck.

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gree nscho o ls In our wonderful school, we have a Green Schools committee, led by MS Flanigan, that makes sure our school is 100% environmentally friendly. In this article, I will talk about the most notable things they have done this year. I hope you enjoy reading this article.

An Taisce’s National Spring Clean

We simply cannot talk about green schools without mentioning the An Taisce’s National Spring Clean . All of the classes from Junior Infants to Standard 6 helped make our school much cleaner by going outside to pick up rubbish that was littered around the carparks, astro and yard. It was a great success, with bags of rubbish being found and recycled.

The energy slogan competition

The most recent event that the green schools have set up is an energy saving slogan competition. Each person who is participating in this was given a sheet of paper and came up with slogans and designs for the paper. The committee received a GIGANTIC amount of entries making the judging very tricky. The winner of this competition was Emma Malazalza from Standard 6 whose slogan was “Save energy, turn off the light, cos a clean planet is everyone’s right”

The Global Awareness survey

The Greenschools committee and Ms. Flanagan also carried out a Global Awareness Survey with all of the older classes. The Greenschools committee will repeat this survey next year and compare the results to this year. They hope to see an increased awareness of global environmental issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we have a wonderful Green Schools committee that we are extremely grateful for and can not give enough thanks to.

Our ols cho s n e e Gr mittee Com

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Bratach Ómra! (Amber Flag!)

Our Coiste na Gaeilge has also successfully earned the Pieta Amber Flag for our school for two consecutive years. The committee promoted positive mental health through fun Irish activities and organised a ‘Lá na Stocaí Corr’ (Odd Socks Day) both years to raise funds for Pieta House. Everyone was invited to bring in two euro and wear stocaí corr

Coiste na Gaeilge with Mr. Dwyer

Dalta na Seachtaine (Pupil of the Week)

Our Dalta na Seachtaine weekly raffle was set up by our Coiste na Gaeilge to encourage pupils to speak more Irish at school. Each week the name of one pupil from the junior classes and one pupil from the senior classes was drawn at random. The committee ordered big and shiny Dalta na Seachtaine trophies and chose enticing prizes for the raffle winners! Prizes this year included certificates, stationery, a homework pass from Dr. Farrell, tasty treats and, of course, the Dalta na Seachtaine trophy! The committee ensured that each teacher had a book of raffle tickets and a ticket box and decorative labels were made for each classroom. Committee members collected tickets, made weekly announcements and reminded teachers regularly to reward pupils with tickets for speaking Irish throughout the school day!

because odd socks remind us that we are all unique! Our celebration of uniqueness raised a total of €350 for Pieta House in 2020 and €432.20 was collected this year. Our Bratach Ómra was raised on 30 April. The committee made a presentation to the whole-school to raise awareness about Pieta House and the Darkness into Light challenge. A special thank you to Brendan for helping us to raise our Amber Flag. Míle buíochas a Bhreandáin!

An Teastas Gaelbhratach (The Gaelbhratach Certificate)

This academic year St. Gerard’s Junior School received a Gaelbhratach certificate in recognition of the work completed by our Coiste na Gaeilge in promoting the use of the Irish throughout our school. To date, our committee members have set up a wholeschool reward system, made weekly announcements on the intercom, designed colourful Irish labels for each classroom, kitted out our library with spectacular new Irish books and organised the following events: - picnic na mbéirín (teddy bear picnic) - seisiún scéalaíochta (storytelling session) - tráth na gceist (quiz) and céilí (Irish dance) during Seachtain na Gaeilge - whole-school assembly promoting positive mental health - foireann fáilte (welcome team) on Wednesday and Friday mornings to greet pupils and teachers as Gaeilge - whole-school performance of Amhrán na bhFiann

Ár gCoiste Gaeilge (Our Irish Committee)

This year our fabulous committee members were Ethan Bradshaw, Ali Condren, Joey Costigan, Annie Dillon, Kaia Healy, Olivia Kelly, Jamie Lake and Bella Ryan. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir agus maith sibh! Rinne sibh obair iontach ar fad i mbliana chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn.

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The Literacy Corner WITH Ms. Byrne

Summer reading raffle A team of my Std 6 Junior Librarians designed a fabulous summer scene to promote reading in our final term. All pupils were invited to put their name on a beach ball when they completed a book and add it to our summer scene outside the library. All entries were put into a raffle in our final week with lots of treats on offer for our lucky winners.

The Together Times This term I was thrilled to launch our first ever Junior School Literary Magazine, ‘The Together Times’. This is the first of many issues which will proudly showcase and celebrate our student’s fabulous creative writing. Don’t miss our upcoming publications!

Summer Writing- Get published! I am inviting every pupil in the Junior School to get writing over the summer to be in with a chance of having their writing published in our September issue of The Together Times. Pupils can send their creative writing pieces, poems or short stories to me over the summer holidays. I am also inviting our budding artists to design and create a cover for our September issue. All written pieces and art entries can be sent to nbyrne@stgerards.ie Finally, a wholehearted thank you to my Junior Librarian Committee for all their hard work, ideas and support this year!

Storytelling Mr Mansfield’s storytelling sessions were a firm favourite every week during our lockdown periods. I was thrilled to take on the role of storyteller in our final term, enjoying a weekly session in our beautiful library with the boys and girls from Junior Infants to Standard 2. I feel blessed to experience some of the magic that can be witnessed in the faces of young children when they listen to a story. Priceless!

MS Read a Thon This year was no different in terms of helping those in need and the children, once again, rose to the challenge of raising well needed funds for MS Ireland. Our 5 for 5 reading challenge was completed with great enthusiasm by the children. My thanks to all of you for your continued support of those affected by Multiple Sclerosis.

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The Write-a-Book Competition Congratulations to all the boys and girls who participated in this year’s Write a Book competition. Teachers enjoyed a wonderful variety of books from fantastic fictions to creative crafts and cookery books. What a wonderful day we had celebrating our Merit Winners during a Whole School Friday activity. While classes walked the St.Gerard’s Mile, our Merit winners, stationed at various intervals around the mile, read excerpts of their winning books to each passing class. What a treat for us all!

Student counc

The Student Council this year has been working exceptionally hard to prepare special activities and treats for the students in St. Gerards and still stay with-in the Covid-19 guidelines. The Student Council is a very important part of my student life. I have # been very lucky and privileged to be voted by my class for the last four year to be on the Student council and represent my class. I have been working with Ms Gregory, our Student Council leader for four years. However, this has been one of the most difficult years to date, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We had to conduct most of our meetings online and had them in the evenings. This year, I was very lucky and was chosen to be one of the Student Council Chairpersons. I had lots of responsibilities, which I really enjoyed. This year, we had the largest number of student council representatives, because we had an additional std 6 class. In addition to Chairpersons, we had roles for a Treasurer, Secretaries and this year Board Designers. The Student Council would not be the same without us all playing such important roles in the student council community. During my time in the Student Council, I have learned teamwork, leadership skills and business strategies. All great skills for the journey to Senior School.

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Standard 4 & Standard 5

Talent Show

This year has been very different for everyone due to the pandemic but despite this challenge, Dr Farrell and the teachers have made this one of the best years of our Junior school journey. Much to our delight, sixth class were lucky enough to get to do an end of year musical. Each sixth class were asked to perform an excerpt from different musicals. Mr Burke’s class were assigned Roald Dahl, Ms Maguire’s class Mamma Mia and Ms Power’s class Disney Dazzle. Ms Olohan and Ms Broxson directed a spectacular show but behind a spectacular performance there are a lot of rehearsals. During rehearsals we practised our songs and our fantastic dances. Ms Olohan and Ms Broxson were always so encouraging and supportive. It was great learning lots of new songs with our classmates. On the 27th of May it was time to perform. It was a performance with a difference as instead of performing in the junior school hall with our parents in the audience, it was streamed live and our parents watched at home while we were in the junior school hall. It was strange to be performing without our parents in the room but it was great that they could still see it. We all had a fantastic night and it is something that we will remember forever. It was a really remarkable night and it was all thanks to the fantastic Ms Olohan and Ms Broxson. rter repo

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Standard 6

Science fair Every year Standard 6 students create and present a project for the Science Fair. Usually there is a big day where everyone goes into the hall and presents their project to all the students, parents and judges. This year due to Covid 19 restrictions, the Science Fair was not able to go ahead as usual. Instead of going into the hall and presenting their projects to everyone, like last year everyone made a video of themselves presenting their project. It was interesting to watch all the different ideas but it was also very weird and a little embarrassing watching your own project! But I think afterwards everyone felt very proud of all their hard work. The Excellence in Science Award went to Pearl Connolly and Aya Salman with Daniel Galvin, Finley Kennedy, Pat Carey, Harvey O’Connell, Juliette Cunningham and Charles Kelly coming Highly Commended. Congratulations to everyone! er eport

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Parents’ Association Photography Competition The Parents’ Association kindly organised and sponsored a Std 5 and 6 Photography Competition in The Parents’ Association kindly organised and sponsored a Std 5 April with the uplifting theme ‘Spring – a New Beginning’. and Std 6 Photography Competition in April with the uplifting theme Just look at the incredible winners below. There’s definitely some‘Spring budding photographers here in the making! – a New Beginning’. Just look at the incredible winners

Parents Ass ociation Photography Competition

Second: Overall Winner: Ruby O'Brien (Std Lottie 6) O'Reilly (Std 5)

Overall Winner:

Second: Lottie O’Reilly (Std 5)

Ruby O’Brien (Std 6)

below. There’s definitely some budding photographers here in the making!

Fourth: Anastasia Kane (Std 6)

Third: Victoria Roche (Std 6)

Fourth: Anastasia Kane (Std 6)

Fifth: Lily O’Sullivan (Std 6)

Second: Lottie O'Reilly (Std 5)

g Moldova Easter Eg Competition

Our annual Easter Egg Competition to raise valuable and much needed funds for the Orphanages in Moldova took place again Fourth: Anastasia Kane (Std 6) this year. Unfortunately Louise was not able to travel to Moldova this year so the funds raised went towards a Moldovan Teachers salary in the Orphanage instead. And just look at some of the wonderfulEasterEggcreationsfromourtalentedyoungstudents!

Fifth: Lily O’Sullivan (Std 6)

Third: Victoria Roche (Std 6)

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Sport & prize Day

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Sports day started in the early morning with Montessori to Standard 2, from noon onwards Standard 3 to Standard 6 did all their events. Everybody had a great time and had loads of fun, the weather was fabulous . The students were as fast as lightning in the 100m sprint, relay, potato and spoon race and the sack race. The teachers also competed in the spoon race! Everybody had loads of team spirit cheering each other on. At the end of the day we all got presented with a medal and a yummy tasty snack. Whether you won a medal or not, I felt we were all winners!

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End of year production

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S ummer N e w s 2021

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Farewell to St a

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