Junior School
Christmas Thoughts from Dr. Farrell ... Dear Parents and Children, As we come to the end of another extraordinary school term - I simply want to say a sincere and heartfelt “Thank You” to one and all for your kindness, support and understanding as we continue to live through this unprecedented time in history. This term has brought new challenges - with the continuing spread of the Corona Virus, with our girls and boys from Standard 3 to Standard 6 wearing face-masks in school, with no mixing of class bubbles, and with parents being asked to follow a complex set of guidelines and rules for close-contacts, positive cases and antigen testing. There is much to worry about - but, for me, coming into the Junior School each day is simply a joy and a blessing. There is nothing like the rhyme and rhythm of school life to keep us optimistic and hopeful – the sheer joy and happiness of the children as they work and play; the determination and dedication of our Junior School staff team as they work so hard to ensure that the children enjoy “normal” and happy school days; and the unstinting encouragement and goodwill of our parents in supporting all of our efforts, initiatives and new regimes. Together we can look forward to brighter days to come…. So Happy Christmas to all in our Junior School community and may you enjoy a wonderful festive season with you gorgeous children in the warmth of your homes. And, once again this year, in the gorgeous words of the poet Maya Angelou -
“Angels and mortals, Believers and non-believers, Look heavenward and let us speak the words aloud togetherChristmas Hope”
S t, G e r a r d ' s
D ay
Wednesday October 13th is the day we celebrated St Gerard, our school’s Patron Saint. Did you know St. Gerard was from Italy. The celebrations began with a Mass which all classes watched live from their classrooms due to covid. Later in the morning all the children from Standard 2 upwards went on a coach to the Sugarloaf. Coach by coach we arrived and began the climb. Whilst we were climbing the Sugarloaf, Montessori to Standard 1 remained back in school and some took part in the Gerard’s mile. Once everyone returned to school we all received some treats and the day ended early with pick up at 12.30. With such an action packed day all the children deserved a homework free evening which was much appreciated! It was great to celebrate our tradition of St. Gerard’s day again after we missed last year’s trip to the Sugarloaf due to covid. Thank you to all the teachers for making it happen.
by Samuel Atherfold
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Montesori YAY it’s Montessori and the children’s first year in St. Gerard’s - they are settling in very well now. They love their walks down the fields and around the campus in the afternoons.
with Louise and Rachel
Louise reports that the students are currently learning about countries, continents, the Eiffel Tower and lots more in between. They also have a special job each week and take part in cleaning up the classroom every day. The children do a new ‘special sound of the week’ every week and reinforce this with lots of artwork to match the sound. I remember very well my time in Montessori with Louise and Rachel - that was 9 years ago and lots of fun!
oney by Jessica Mo
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y t i i v r N i t a o s e t M on
Is it that time of year again?? The Montessori Christmas play was out of this world! We had Mary & Joseph, Angels and Stars, Kings and Shepherdesses, Inn Keepers and Cows, Narrators and of course Baby Jesus. This was followed by a round of the most entertaining carol singing you have ever heard. The children were amazing and the play was streamed to all the parents watching proudly at home.
oney by Jessica Mo
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JUNIOR INFANTS
I cannot believe it is almost Christmas. The last couple of months have simply flown by. Many things are uncertain but the smiles, chuckles and the shenanigans in Junior Infants are what really matters. I see the magic of Christmas in their stories and in their eyes. Our Advent wreath is out alongside our mischievous Ellie The Elf. Christmas cards have been made and artwork has been created and you may hear us wishing each other Nollaig Shona Duit. It has been an active time with indoor and outdoor learning. We sing, we dance and learn and not necessarily in that order! I know we have Mrs Murphy to thank for the outdoor space, it is a great place for story time and learning about nature. Among the many activities that have happened I think the dress up at Halloween was great fun. Going to the library on a Monday with Sarah is a source of great excitement.
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WITH Ms. McCabe
In the classroom there has been great work going on across all areas of the curriculum. We have been knee deep in glitter at times and I see plenty of budding artists and creators emerging. We even had two winners in the Dalta na Seachtaine. Well done Toby and Louis. I think in some ways we have all come to realise the little things are most important. My job as Junior Infant Teacher is a delight when I see the little ones together, simply being themselves, all is well with the world.
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SENIOR INFANTS
WITH Ms. Gleeson
Senior Infants have had a busy and fun filled first term back in school! They come to school each morning with big smiles on their faces, full of energy and excited for the day of learning ahead. Every morning Senior Infants put tremendous effort into their phonics, reading, writing and maths. They love using Numicon, dominoes, loop cards and bingo to help them learn. Every afternoon Senior Infants have story time which inspires a theme for a fun playtime afterwards! So far this year we have explored themes of friendship, the Farm, Halloween, the Zoo, the Vet, Wintertime and of course, most recently, Christmas! They enjoy using all the construction toys to make buildings, furniture, animals - you name it and they’ll make it! The new Puppet Theatre in the Senior Infant classroom has brought great excitement to playtime too and they love taking turns to perform and then to be the audience too. For science week this term Senior Infants tested out different materials inside our own homemade shakers to see what would make the loudest sound. It was great fun having a shaker competition at the end! One of Senior Infants’ favourite things is Art - especially if it involves using their superb cutting skills! Our classroom walls are filled with all the wonderful art they make. Senior Infants have been busy getting ready for their Nativity Christmas play in recent weeks - singing the songs, trying on their costumes, learning their lines and practicing on stage. They are the most fantastic singers and performers who all shine on stage!
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stival 2021! e F m l i F FÍS
In September, St. Gerard’s Junior School received word that it was shortlisted for an award at the 16th annual FÍS Film Awards ceremony! The renowned ceremony which celebrates filmmaking in primary school classrooms took place on 19th November. The event was hosted by RTÉ’s Sinead Kennedy and there was a special guest appearance from Minister of Education Norma Foley. The awards were filmed at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT) National Film School, Dún Laoghaire and were hosted virtually due to COVID. Shortlisted films throughout Ireland battled it out for the contest with the judging panel shortlisting just 18 films. Counties represented across the award-winning films include Cork, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford and Wicklow. To our delight, St. Gerard’s Junior School won the award for Best Junior Film for ‘The Party Crasher’. Our school was also nominated for the acting, soundtrack and special effects awards during the exciting FÍS ceremony. Our Senior Infant pupils made the film, ‘The Party Crasher’, with Mr. Dwyer when they were in Junior Infants and their entry was submitted to the FÍS competition last June. In the movie, Harry Potter Pag e 8
learns a valuable lesson about the importance of friendship after he uses his magic to crash Zeb the Zebra’s 5th birthday party and win all of the party prizes! Brainstorming for this short film began as soon as pupils returned to school last March. The class discussed ideas for the plot of the movie, thought about the roles they would like to play and chose the costumes that they would like to wear. Once the script was agreed upon, the boys and girls made the storyboard and created fun props for the film – the class painted a big birthday banner for Zeb’s birthday and wrote invitations for the party guests. Filming took place on 27 May - the red carpet was rolled out and children arrived at school dressed in their costumes and ready for action! The boys and girls had a lot of fun performing in front of the camera and using the green screen for exciting special effects. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the filmmaking process and winning the award for Best Junior Film was the icing on the cake! Our school received a stunning trophy and an iPad as a prize. Congratulations to all of our movie stars in Senior Infants!
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Oíche Shamhna On Friday the 22nd of October the Junior School celebrated the feast of Halloween, also known as Oiche Shamhna. Arriving at school, it was great to see so many people making such an effort. From Montessori up to Standard 6 the costumes were outstanding. Even the teachers dressed up, it was wonderful to see. Assembly was held outside due to covid restrictions, thankfully it wasn’t raining. We all participated in a costume catwalk where we showcased all the varying costumes with tremendous rounds of applause for all. Inflatable costumes seemed to be very popular this year, from dinosaurs to aliens and everything in between. Standard 6 presented their festival projects where they shared how other countries and cultures celebrate festivals. Altogether, an incredible Halloween celebration for the Junior School which ended with a week long, well deserved midterm break full of treats. Oiche Shamha Shona Daoibh!
by Samuel Atherfold
www.stgerards.ie
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Charitable Giving
in the Junior School
Dublin Simon Community One Wednesday afternoon, a volunteer from The Dublin Simon Community came to St Gerard’s Junior School to give us an insight about homelessness and what we can do to try and help prevent it. We were told that people can become homeless for a number of reasons and that even the smallest donation can help someone in need. It is easy to help someone who has experienced homlessness and it is great to know that there are people willing to give their time to help people who desperately need it. We learned a lot that Wednesday and we hope that more and more people will try to give aid to these people. Thanks to the Simon Community who showed us why people become homeless in the first place and thanks to the school for organising this visit.
By Sean Óg O’Neill
Wicklow Dementia fundraiser This year we did a fundraiser in support of Wicklow Dementia. We all brought in two euros for the charity to help people experiencing dementia and their carers. All classes watched a video to learn about the condition. The whole school then went outside and tied purple ribbons on the trees. Purple is the colour of calmness and that is what is used to help people with dementia to feel calm. We also incorporated the theme of ‘Memories’ into our Art Journals that week.
by Grace Atherfold
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St Vincent de Paul Christmas toy appeal This year has been an excellent year for our Junior School Fundraising.There has been many fundraisers in the past term such as the Student Council Tuck Shop and the Junior School Activity Evening which raised funds to buy gifts for the older children in the families of the St. Vincent de Paul Toy Appeal. We have also raised €1,500 for Wicklow Dementia Support by tying purple ribbons on the trees in the School grounds. The St. Vincent de Paul Toy Appeal has been a very big success as always and the Student Council raised in excess of €2,000 for their Christmas Card venture which will go to 3 charities Rathdrum Cancer Support, Dogs for the Disabled and the Simon Community. Big thanks goes out to all of our parents who give their full support to these very important causes at this time of year.
By Sean Óg O’Neill
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Standard 1 WITH Ms. Carlos
The children were delighted to welcome 7 new friends to the classroom in September - Aidan, Calanthan, Emma, Finlay, Harriet, Heather and Jordan. What great additions to our class! It has been a busy first term, full of hard work and lots of fun. The day starts with playing together. This popular time of the day encourages sharing, negotiating, banter, planning and so on. It is a calm enjoyable time - a good way to set them up for the class time ahead. The early morning ‘storytelling’ with Mr. Mansfield is always looked forward to and is very beneficial in encouraging a love of books. The weekly visits to our school library are also very much enjoyed. The class have started mini-games this year and are loving it. Add to this their weekly PE, Drama and Music class, and you can see what variety they have in the week. Thanks to Sarah, we have been busy making clay pots and looking forward to decorating them at a later date. The addition of playground toys - hoops, balls, beanbags, frisbees - have added to playground fun. Each child is being given responsibility for their distribution and collection each day. They love little jobs like these! Their recent introduction to the legends of Ancient Greece has proved to be very popular. The stories are full of fantasy and adventure and really appeal to the children’s imagination. I hope you all have a healthy and peaceful Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in January 2022!
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Standard 2
WITH Ms. Gregory
Std 2 has been extremely busy since we returned after the summer. We have been learning about lots of new things as well as having lots of fun! During this term we have celebrated Halloween, St. Gerard’s Day, Christmas and much much more. We made chocolate covered apples as well as presenting our first projects. St Gerard’s Day was particularly special to us this year as it was our first year climbing the Sugar Loaf. We attended Mass virtually and then we got ready to climb the Sugar Loaf. The weather was lovely, not too hot and not too cold. We all jumped on the bus and we made our way to the Sugar Loaf. We climbed up to the shoulder. It was very rocky on our way down and we had to take our time. Once we arrived back at school there was a wonderful treat left for us. Who knew Tayto could taste so good! We are really looking forward to doing it again next year. This year we are so lucky to have some new additions to our class - Dylan, Kacper and Harrison who all joined our class in September. They are wonderful members of our class. It’s like you have always been here! Dylan came all the way from New York and it has been great learning the differences between American and Irish schools. Kacper and Harrison joined us from local schools. A warm welcome to St. Gerard’s. This term we got to get out of the classroom and off the campus to go swimming in Shoreline Bray. We even got on a bus which was super exciting! Swimming is a huge part of our wonderful PE curriculum with Julie. Well what a fabulous adventure it has been. We are so sad that it has come to an end but we enjoyed every moment. It has been so nice to learn lots of new skills in the pool. We can’t wait to get back to swimming in STD 3! Our Christmas Play this year was a huge success. We really enjoyed the whole process of learning our songs and lines. We had such fun performing our play ‘Don’t Forget The Manger’. The play reminds us all of what the real meaning of Christmas is, which sometimes can be lost in the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas. We wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and we can’t wait to see what 2022 brings to Std 2.
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Standard 3
WITH Ms. Flanaga
n
What a busy first term in Standard 3. The boys and girls have loved coming upstairs to the senior end of the school especially enjoying games after school and delicious hot lunches! It was a very special term too as the pupils finally got to make their First Holy Communion. The boys and girls looked fabulous and responded beautifully to all the prayers in St. Peter’s Chapel in Little Bray. We were all so proud of them. This term, we have enjoyed engaging in our PALS reading sessions. The boys and girls have been partnered up with a friend to read and they are bringing their stories alive with fantastic expression and enthusiasm to boot! Std 3 are a green-fingered bunch! From growing leeks to planting daffodils, they have been very busy in our outdoor classroom. Fingers crossed we will be making some delicious leek soup when harvest time arrives! Speaking of living things, Std 3 have been learning all about living things and about the various animal classes in Science. They created the most fantastic 3D habitats of forests and beaches they visited using cardboard, cotton wool, moss, dead leaves and much more. They then presented their projects to the class. The 3D habitats looked brilliant. Well done everyone! Finally, what a super performance from the boys and girls in the Wizard of Oz. Thank you Suzanne, Ms. Broxson and Mrs. Olohan for creating this superb production and thank you Mrs. Murphy for the costumes. The boys and girls made us all proud, putting us in the mood for a wonderful break ahead. I look forward to another wonderful term next year with this amazing group of children. Beannachatí na Nollag daoibh go léir!
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Std. 3 First Holy Communion
On November 6th, this year’s 3rd class made their first communion in St Peter’s Church in Bray. I wasn’t there to see it but I hear it was a lovely ceremony and the girls and boys looked sensational! This was delayed by 6 months due to Covid restrictions, so the class were delighted to finally get to celebrate the special day. Unfortunately the school weren’t able to host the after-communion party, but there was a big cake in the classroom on Monday. Congratulations to all the boys and girls who finally made their communion.
by Oliver Focas
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The Christmas
Extravaganza
The St. Gerard’s Junior School Christmas plays are always the highlight of the school year and this year was no different. Rehearsals began in earnest in November, stage sets were designed, costumes selected, lighting perfected, and the excitement across the school corridors became infectious in the build-up. December saw the live performances streamed to family and friends, near and far. Each class put on their own play. First up our Junior Infants; who gave their best in a play about Rudolf getting a cold! They were followed by Senior Infants, in fabulous costumes, performing a short version of the Nativity. Standard One took to the stage next with a humorous play - The Bossy Fairy that taught us all about the moral that being bossy and judging only by appearances is not acceptable! Standard two kept us entertained with their version of the Nativity, and finally, we were treated to an amazing and very funny take on the Wizard of Oz, or in this case, the Wizard of Lapland, by Standard 3. The effort, the enthusiasm, dramatic and musical talents were simply brilliant! A big thank you to all of our class teachers, Mrs. Murphy for her incredible costume creations, Ms. Olohan and Ms. Broxson for their uplifting musical input and our new Drama Teacher Ms. Carey for this wonderful extravaganza of Christmas Cheer!
by Rory Brennan Hobbs
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The Christmas
Extravaganza
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The Christmas
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Extravaganza
St . Ge rard’s Junior School
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Standard 5 WITH Ms. Byrne PALS by Mary-Kate Cunningham This year, Ms Byrne’s class were introduced to a new reading programme called PALS - Peer Assisted Learning Strategies. The programme, through peer teaching, helps us through a series of sessions to become better readers and develop better comprehension skills. The four stages are called Partner Reading, Retell, Paragraph Shrinking and Prediction Relay. It is a super fun and productive activity to do.
Our Hedgerow By Ewan Keedwell The biodiversity book is filled with many, many flowers and plants. 5th class made an excellent project full of description and colour. Each pupil was allocated one native tree to research. Now you can come and have a look at the book full of our projects and we would love to bring you on a tour of our fabulous hedgerow. We are all in charge of the biodiversity hedge and in keeping it clean and bursting with nature.
Poem of the Week By Miles MacGreevy In Std 5, Ms Byrne gives us the task of writing a poem every week. We get assigned themes to base the poem on. Every Monday, Ms Byrne reads out the winning poem and also assigns us the new poem and its theme. I even had my poem read out which I really enjoyed. Sometimes Ms Byrne prints out all our poetry and designs backgrounds to match them before displaying them in the classroom. I think poem of the week is a great idea and definitely improves our English skills and creativity.
Christmas Greetings from Ms Byrne My heartfelt thanks to all my boys and girls for a tremendous term’s work. I wish you and your families a peaceful, safe and joyous Christmas and I look forward to all the wonderful learning that the New Year will bring.
Stem By Zach O’Dwyer This year we have loved exploring our Std 5 STEM curriculum. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Standard 5 have explored 4 Stem topics so far, all about adaptation. We have all enjoyed doing the assignments and especially the experiments! We have learned loads of interesting facts about animals and trees and different roots all linking with the theme of adaptation. My favourite topic was the frill neck lizards and their amazing adaptations and ability to camouflage. We even linked the topic of camouflage into our Art Journaling which was interesting. We all have had so much fun with Stem in Standard 5 this year!
Tree Planting On Friday November 26th, Standard 5 were visited by Dr Mulcahy Mulcahey who is associated with the Bugs, Bees and Native Trees Association. We spent the afternoon planting 10 new native trees over by our fabulous Bio-diversity hedgerow. We were not afraid to get our hands dirty, digging out the holes, planting the trees, watering and hammering signs. We didn’t even mind when it lashed rain on top of us, we were having too much fun! Great thanks to Dr Mulcahey and his team, and to Brendan and Mrs Murphy for all their help and Dr Farrell for joining us on the day. www.stgerards.ie
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mmunion - JUN o C y l o H F i rs t
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On Tuesday 29th June, after a very long wait, Std 4 finally made their First Holy Communion. It was a lovely simple ceremony which took place in St. Peter’s Church in little Bray on a bright sunny day. The children were beautifully prepared by Ms. Gregory and Ms. Flanagan and their parents were so proud of them. A big congratulations to these great boys and girls on making their First Holy Communion after such a long wait. By Ali Malone
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Standard 4 W I T H M s . Ma g u i r e Standard 4 has been full of creativity and fun. Each student has put their best foot forward and has given 110%. Below some students describe the highlights of our year so far!
Art Journaling t by Brooke Torpey I have loved art journaling this year in Std.4. We have created so many fun things such as ink monsters, zentangles and silhouettes and we have learned all about colour and how it works. One of my favuorite activities was when we created a paint drip. It was exciting to see what I could make with these drips of wet paint, eventually I settled on a girl trapped in a jail of colour and design. Another fun activity was blending paint to explore all the different colours. I used tape and glitter paint to make a contrast in my journal. One page was warm and the other was cold. Now we are in the middle of making collages, we cut up some interesting art magazines and newspapers and even some of our old art to create something new. We have just created our background and borders and I hope to create a unique character very soon. I am so excited to do more in 2022!
Std. 4 Projects by Chloe O’Keeffe In the first term Standard 4 students have shown hard work, dedication and creativity in their projects. The topics have included the counties of Ireland and The Romans. In Geography, each student was assigned a different county. Pupils researched interesting facts, drew fabulous pictures and put it all together in the form of a leaflet. Some were colourful and bright and others were short, sweet and factual. I want to visit all counties after reading them! The Romans project was a group project. Each group had to work on a different topic such as houses, society, food etc. Students also created items such as swords, shields and even the colosseum. Some even dressed up as a Roman and created animations!
Science by Oliver Duffy & Aidan Curran Science has been great this year. We started by learning about living things which led us to learning about the Daintree Rainforest in Australia. The Daintree Rainforest is the oldest surviving tropical rainforest on the planet. It is millions of years old. We also learned about the animals that lived there like the Cassowary. We drew pictures of the bird and detailed its lifecycle. Then we were introduced to forces. The first forces we learned about were push and pull. We did a really fun experiment where we built catapults and fired small things at little structures, just like the game Angry Birds. We are currently learning all about gravity. We performed many different experiments in our classroom demonstrating how gravity affects different objects. Overall we have really enjoyed Science and we are sure we will learn lots more before the end of the year.
Clas Rewards by Taylor McGillycuddy In Std. 4 we have lots of rewards and things to push ourselves. Firstly we have the chance to spin the wheel, we can do this if we beat Ms Maguire and have more marbles than her by the end of the month. Next we have the lucky dip. You can choose something from the lucky dip if it is your birthday or if you have the most dojo points. To get points you must be kind to others that week. Finally, my favourite is student of the week. Here Ms Maguire keeps an eye out for one student who outshines everyone else. On Friday everyone stands up and they get to ask questions and guess who the student of the week is. Everyone cheers for this person and says why they think they won. It is so nice to hear all the lovely.
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Standard 6
W IT H M r . B u rk e
In September, we had the pleasure of welcoming our new students into Standard six. The returning students were delighted to meet new friends and classmates. The students have made a seamless transition into standard six and embraced the St. Gerard’s spirit. In the classroom, we have enjoyed learning new Irish foclóir and grammar through fun games in class and competitive quizlet lives on our devices. Our library time on a Wednesday has been an eagerly awaited event every week and reading is something the children love to do. We have learned a lot about the way our world works, the structure of the Earth and how important it is for us to care for our planet. Mrs. Murphy’s outdoor classroom has inspired us to be biodiversity aware and to give back to our planet. We have really enjoyed the many science experiments we have completed, from cleaning up oil spillages to making spinning anemometers and wind turbines. The Standard six classes have enjoyed every opportunity to mix and integrate as a whole year group. After school at games, various tournaments during PE (thank you Julie!), our feasts and festivals projects, carving pumpkins and science experiments outdoors. Standard six have made an excellent start to the year and everyone in Mr. Burke’s class are thoroughly looking forward to further developing friendships, learning through fun and active activities after Christmas.
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Standard 6
W I T H M s . Po w e r
It has been such an exciting time in Std. 6 since we met our new classmates and began our journey through the year together. We have gotten to know each other so well already this year and are enjoying learning as a class each day. We absolutely love our stunning classroom. We use our huge map nearly every day as we learn about different things from all over the world. We also love our magic shoot, which we use for fun quizzes and competitions to test our learning and also have a bit of fun! We have had a lot of exploration in science so far this year and have gotten really creative. One of our favourite lessons was learning all about wind power and then designing functioning wind turbines. We love group challenges like this as we put our learning into action and test our knowledge! We have been making a special effort to help make our school as environmentally friendly as possible. This year, our class, along with the Green Schools committee, are working hard with co-designing our wonderful outdoor learning space. We had the chance to build a giant scarecrow at halloween, and create bird feeders from recycled materials for the Junior Infants to feed the birds as we move into a very cold and crisp winter. We are also working really hard on the new battery recycling initiative and gathered hundreds of used batteries just in our class alone! We adore art in Standard 6 and are learning so much as we explore different artistic styles and practice them in our art journals. We have learned about dadaism, collage, colour theory and one of our favourite lessons was ink blowing, where we created creatures and monsters that started with just a drop of ink on a blank page. We recently started a book club on Fridays, where we relax with a cup of hot chocolate and share our thoughts on some of the books we have been reading to read our AR target. It’s a great chance for us to hear about some new books while also giving suggestions to our classmates. Ms. Power also reads us a chapter of a book as we listen to and discuss the story in our book. It has been such a busy start to the school year and Ms. Power is so proud of all the hard work that each girl and boy has done to make sure that each of us are our best selves. We are all looking forward to a well deserved break this Christmas and can’t wait for another exciting term in the new year!
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dressing up marbles, spun the re 10 ed rn as boys versu ea w it ey th n er cc he w so t of ou e ab m far came cided to play a fun ga de s as cl e Th h. tc pi on the astroturf Mr Dwyer’s class are enjoying life asinses this term x clhave Sigirls ayed too! pl rd r da ye w an D St r. r M he Standard 6. The boys and d ot an e s th rl gi in Septembe yed teaming up with jo ndsease settled into sc their new class en ouwith ve ha ol gr s ho as cl e s r’ th of l ai tr a Mr. Dwye and are delighted to have made so many – includin rd 6 pupils completed entswere m ri pe ex e nc ie new friends. Our Standard 6 pupils sc ng Class Together, all of the StandaWITH Mr Dw ti errried out excidelighted to get the opportunity to climb n and yca ee w lo al H at s in pk carved pum the Great Sugarloaf on St. Gerard’s day. New sticky wi eaning oil spills! cl d d gettingexcited an s yeparticularly er jo et en pupils tore the school were ly om al em an oys anm ve g ha in d an d ak girls have settled as they got to venture uprIreland’s 404th s in the ne tly making puppets en ppet in rr to pu cu e th ei ar th e s ir r as fo cl es s r’ di ye bo manyMnr. g peak for the first time and celebrate ewDw friends. Our Stanne ing forward to makinhighest ok lo is d t! a yo rd ouday! our patron saint’s feast er 6 Ev . turn hé he Grepa erg- am e how they se atpiSu to r te et sl rlâc w oaf on Stec ne xt ratrdth’se ne k eou sure to ch . G as theyyegar ot. B toe ve nture up Ireland’s our patron saint’ For Halloween, the boys s feast day! For en popsicle bask and girls made spooky ets and enjoyed Halloween popsicle baskets reed that the grea and enjoyed dressing up test highlight so in fun costumes. However, reward wheel and won extra time the class have agreed that me of soccer - it the greatest highlight so was boys versus
Standard 6
er Standard Six cl asses this term. the school ground s in September, science experime nts – including
really enjoyed gett ing sticky with ies for their pupp ets in the new hey turn out!
far came about when they earned 10 marbles, spun the reward wheel and won extra time on the astroturf pitch. The class decided to play a fun game of soccer it was boys versus girls and Mr. Dwyer played too!
Mr. Dwyer’s class have enjoyed teaming up with the other Standard Six classes this term. Together, all of the Standard 6 pupils completed a trail of the school grounds in September, carved pumpkins at Halloween and carried out exciting science experiments – including making anemometers and cleaning oil spills!
Mr. Dwyer’s class are currently making puppets and have really enjoyed getting sticky with papier- mâché. Everyone is looking forward to making bodies for their puppets in the new year. Be sure to check out the next newsletter to see how they turn out!
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S t u d e n t co u n c i l
WITH Ms. Flanagan
This term the Student Council has been working exceptionally hard on some events such as the tuck shop which had an assortment of sweets and crisps. They also set up a class budget - this was where each class got to pick some outdoor equipment that they all wanted and that list was handed over to the head of the student council Ms. Flanagan. Within 2 weeks every class had their equipment. This was very well organised. Each class had to follow a set of rules and they each had a certain colour to tell apart the classes. This year has been full of new and creative ideas. The tuck shop raised an amazing amount of money to donate to a variety of charities. We all decorated our own Christmas cards to send to family members and friends. They have been doing some fabulous work and I think everyone can’t wait to see what they will come up with next.
by Ali Malone
Our Student Cou nc Committee il
The Student Council Committee are: Éabha Brennan Hobbs, Matthew Deasy, Ríona Flynn, Freddie Colley, Korina Budimlija, Aidan Hopkins, Sebastian O’Sullivan, Sam Hegarty, Miles MacGreevy, Mysha Ali, Allene Shields, Izzy Barrett, James Farrell, Amelia Murphy, Erin Duggan, Isaac Leahy, Senan McEvoy, Leon Griffin Oxford, Bibi Devereux, Abi Duggan Student Council Positions of Responsibility: Chairperson: Allene Shields • Vice -Chairperson: Bibi Devereux & Abi Duggan • Secretary: Senan McEvoy by Abigail Galligan Treasurer: Izzy Barrett & Leon Griffin Offord • Social Media: Amelia Murphy & Erin Duggan
www.stgerards.ie
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games
After one long year of lockdown we are all very happy that we can mix outside again. I asked Julie a few questions and she is over the moon that everyone is back at rugby & hockey. We can’t wait for the matches to start hopefully after Christmas. I am sure all the teachers are happy that we are getting lots of fresh air, playing basketball, spike ball and a lot more. Fit kids are HAPPY kids :)
by Jessica Mooney
Pag e 28
St . Ge rard’s Junior School
Ne w sl e t te r W inte r 2 1
games
After one long year of lockdown we are all very happy that we can mix outside again. I asked Julie a few questions and she is over the moon that everyone is back at rugby & hockey. We can’t wait for the matches to start hopefully after Christmas. I am sure all the teachers are happy that we are getting lots of fresh air, playing basketball, spike ball and a lot more. Fit kids are HAPPY kids :)
by Jessica Mooney
Pag e 28
St . Ge rard’s Junior School
Ne w sl e t te r W inte r 2 1
Recycled Christmas Tree Decorations We had lots of wonderful creative pieces for the DLR Recycled Christmas Tree Decoration Competition this year. One winner was chosen from each class to represent the Junior School in the main Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Competition. The overall winner had not been announced as the Newsletter went to print but we will be sure to let you know the big news in the New Year! The winners of each class were: Montessori Mabel O’Reilly Junior Infants Louis Prestage Senior Infants Lucy Hunt Standard 1 Cillian Ryan Standard 2 Benjamin Kelly-Byrne Standard 3 Dahlia Durkan Standard 4 Brooke Torpey Standard 5 Andrew Naughton Standard 6 Annie Dillon, Patrick Breslin and Michael Mulloy
Pa g e 30
St . Ge rard’s Junior School
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The Greenschools Committee
W I T H M s . Po w e r
The Green School Committee has been working hard to make our school a cleaner, greener and better place. With committed and willing members, Ms Power is certain that we will get our next green flag this year. Some new ideas have been introduced such as battery recycling which has worked extremely well and have exceeded our school’s goal of 500 batteries. Our bin monitors were very impressed by how much our school has improved over the last few weeks. Our Committee is also working on outdoor classrooms to help the classes learn about all the lovely plants and trees that are in our fabulous facilities. Some members were elected to help monitor our energy during this term and to create new ways to reduce our usage. There is also a compost committee that collects compost bins daily to help with the growth of plants and flowers. Our school is most definitely making up for lost time due to Covid and it is incredible to see everybody from Montessori up to Standard 6 getting involved to make a difference. There have been a great number of accomplishments in just a few weeks and I think this year our Green School Committee will succeed in getting our Green Flag and continue to improve our to school to make it a clean and green home for the future.
by Ali Malone
Our ols cho s n e e Gr mittee Com
Chairpeople: Paresia Phelan, Laura Keogh • Vice chairperson: Millie Coulson, Patrick Breslin Secretary: Emma Gheta, Alannah Smith • Media managers: Lottie O’ Reilly, Luke Joyce Monitor Managers: Mary Kate Cunningham, Jenson Bruton, Kate Buckley
Committee Members: Caoimhe Beatty, Dexter Bradshaw, Oscar Caden, Matthew Cirella, Seán Knight Bollard, Oliver Swan, Brooke Torpey, Charlie Moes, Emily Rose Butler, Hannah Bruton, Taylor McGillycuddy, Cuan Costigan, Oscar Ballagh, Luca Wejchert, Zoe Hanley, Carla Brennan, Christopher Cheung, Freya McGonnell, Sanna Rankin, Fionn Stroh, Kaia Healy, Seán Harty, Hazel Carroll, Callaghan Cotter, Neva Fitch, Emily Gleeson, Alisa Kosacheva, Vincenzo DiBiasi, Alice Paterson, Laura Keogh, Olivia Kelly, Dearbhla Kinsella.
www.stgerards.ie
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Junior Librarians
WITH Ms. Gregory The Junior Librarians have been supervising the library and reading books to children in younger classes. To be a junior librarian you have the important responsibility of taking care of the library which can sometimes get messy. Some of the tasks include tidying the library and placing the books back on the right shelves and helping out the younger readers. The Junior Librarians have done an amazing job taking care of the library. Big thanks to the Junior Librarians. Keep up the good work!
by Oliver Focas
Junioran i Librar ttee i Comm Pag e 32
Charlie Hegarty, Olivia Jordan, Jackson Stewart, Aaron Carey, Jean McCluskey, Bella O’Reilly, Sarah Jane O’Connell, Andrew Naughton, Ewan Keedwell, Grace Atherfold, Joseph Liu, Croistoir O’Duill, Conor Khalifa, Adam Cullen, Alek Birov,Sean Og O’ Neill, Juliet Case, Lucy Daly, Michael Mulloy, Andrew Keogh, Ed Scally, Roan Gosling, Sub Committee: Beaux Healy, Harriet Caden, Pippa Jolly, Niamh Winter, Annabel Focas, Dahlia Durkan, Arabella O’Dwyer, Luna Kovalenko, Jack Delmar Anderson.
St . Ge rard’s Junior School
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e g l i G e a a n e t s i Co Mr WITH
. Dwyer
Dia Duit. Once again the Coiste na Gaeilge have been working hard to encourage Irish in our school. This year, like every year before, Mr Dwyer and his Irish committee have been doing a great job. They have come up with many ways for students to speak more Irish. Again, they have been doing the dalta na seachtaine, the raffle where you get more tickets if you speak more Irish. Each week every student is excited to see whether they are the lucky ones to win the trophy and a homework pass. The Coiste na Gaeilge are fantastic, and Irish is now more prominent in our school with them here. I really can’t wait for next term and all the exciting stuff they will have planned.
Names ....xxxxxx
by Rory Brennan Hobbs
te Cois eilge a Na G mittee Com www.stgerards.ie
Emma Haugh, Iseult Naidoo, Annie Dillon, Eabha Denver, Sam Wall, Bella Ryan, Ali Condren, Caitlin Hopkins, Abigail Galligan, Sam Grant.
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Charley the Tortoise Charley the tortoise took all of us by surprise. On a lovely Friday afternoon our teachers brought us outside class by class to meet Charley the 120 year old Greek tortoise. We were mesmerised by the tortoise and how active she was. Many questions have been asked and one of them was “does Charley have a belly button”? Personally I found it really cool how when a cucumber was on the ground Charley would use her hands for balance to keep it up and then munch down the cucumber. Most of us were really impressed by the house she is living in. Charley hibernates in her house from November to 17th of March.
by Jessica Mooney
Pag e 34
St . Ge rard’s Junior School
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Art Competition Winners of the Bray Drug Awareness Art Competition
Std 3 n a d r o J a Olivi
n Std 3 n i u Q y z Iz
hy Std 6 Isaac Lea
OUERTTER NEWTSELAM www.stgerards.ie
Sean óg O’Neill, Ali Malone, Oliver Focas, Rory Brennan Hobbs, Abigail Galligan, Jessica Mooney, Sam Atherfold
Page 35
Happy
Christmas