Junior Infants are Learning all about Chicks

The three junior infant classes are learning all about the farm and the animals that live on it.  This week we are looking at the chick.  We are learning to describe the chick, what it looks like and what it does.
Here is a video that teaches us about hens on the farm

Electric Ireland Visit Junior Infants

Junior Infants are having a very lucky year.  Electric Ireland has donated high-visibility jackets to the school and Junior Infants were the lucky recipients.  All the children were given a jacket that they can wear when they are walking to school or walking home.  Wearing their bright jackets will keep them safe on the dark winter evenings.  All the cars will be able to see them clearly.


Electric Ireland

Here is a video of our fun morning with Electric Ireland.  There was a photographer there to take our photos and we might even appear in the news paper.  It was a great morning and we wore our jackets all day.

The Post Office - Ms McHale's Class

Ms McHale's class are learning all about writing and sending letters and the post office. 

We wrote a letter to 1st class.  We had to put the letter into an envelope and then we wrote the name and address on the envelope.  We also needed to put a stamp on the letter or the post man would not deliver it.
When the envelope was ready, we posted our letter in the post box in our class post office.  One of the children was the class post man. He wore his post man hat and a bright coat and he had a post mans bag.  He had to take the letter out of the post box and put it in his post man's bag.  Then we were ready to go.

We all went off to find the classroom.  It was a long way.   We had to go around corners and up the stairs, but we found it.  When we arrived we knocked on the door and we delivered our letter to Ms Barry's class.

When we came back to the class we drew a map showing how we got up to Ms Barry's class to deliver our letter.

The next day was very exciting.  Ms Barry's class sent a letter back to us. They had put their letter in an envelope and they wrote our class address on the envelope.

We look forward to sending more letters and parcels around the school this month.
This is the song we are learning all about addresses:


Here are some videos about the post office:

• Off to the Post Office - The Delivery Office
• Off to the Post Office - The Deliveries
• Post Man Pat in a Muddle

Step it Up - Keeping Healthy during Operation Transformation

We are taking part in Operation Transformation in our school. Everyone is trying to be more healthy, to eat better and to do more exercise. Our parents and staff have even set up their own Operation Transformation Groups.

 

To help everyone in the school be fitter and more active the girls from 6th class went to every other class in the school to teach them the Step It Up dance. They came to visit us today and we danced and jumped and clapped. It was a great idea to keep us warm on a cold day.

You can see the official Step It Up video on You Tube by clicking here.

Here is a video of the 6th class girls teaching Junior Infants the Step it Up dance.

Some Interesting Facts about Hedgehogs

Visit these websites to learn more about the hedgehog and to see lots of pictures and video clips.

• National Geographic Kids: Hedgehog Facts and Pictures
• Wildlife Garden Project: How to Help Hedgehogs in your Garden (video)
• Baby Hedgehogs Eating (Video)
• Irish Wildlife Matters: What to do if you find a hedgehog in distress.
• British Hedgehog Preservation Society
• Hedgehog curled up in a ball (Video)

The Do's and Don'ts of Hedgehogs

· Do leave areas of wilderness where hedgehogs can snuffle for insects.
· Do put out drinking water
· Do put out good quality dog or cat food (not fish based).
· Do install, in a nice, quiet area of the garden, a hedgehog house or a stack of logs
· Don’t put out any bread or milk for a hedgehog
· Don’t pick up uninjured or fit and healthy hedgehogs
· Don’t leave black sacks or rubbish lying around
· Don’t use chemicals or slug pellets – they can poison hedgehogs and other animals, if you must use them up them under a slate where animals can’t reach them easily.
· Don’t light bonfires without checking to see if a hedgehog’s home is underneath – also check for other wildlife who may have built their homes under unlit bonfires.
· Don’t fork over compost heaps in case a hedgehog or another animal has built their home there.
· Don’t use your strimmer under hedges and undergrowth without checking these areas first, hedgehogs and other animals may be resting there during the day.
· Do keep all nets above ground when not in use, keep fruit nets taut.
· Don’t leave drains or similar open holes uncovered. Make sure ponds have a way out for small animals, house brick steps or wire mesh can be used to give the animals a chance to get out if they fall in.
· Don’t spray hedgehogs with flea spray. It can be harmful to them.

A Cute Baby Hedgehog

This video links to You Tube.  Be careful not to let your child browse You Tube videos unsupervised at home.