How to Post a Comment to the Blog

The class blog is an opportunity to share our school activities with the children’s families (in Ireland or around the world), and with other schools.  We hope you take the time to check in on the blogs during the year, and we encourage you to interact with the blog posts by leaving comments.

To help you learn how to leave comments, you can download this guide to use at home.

• Using the School Blog at Home

Welcome to Junior Infants

Ms McHale, Ms Stapleton and Ms McSweeney would like to welcome all the new girls and boys into Junior Infants this year.  This is a very exciting time for all the children and the parents and we hope that everyone has a great year.

We understand that sometimes people can be nervous, the new pupils and their parents, but before long everyone will be settled into their new routine, and all the children will have lots of new friends.

If there is anything you are concerned about during the year, or if you have any questions about how your child is progressing or the work being covered in class, we will be delighted to meet with you.  As the mornings are very busy times, it would be much appreciated if you could arrange these meetings in advance with us for collection time.

Again, we hope that everyone has a really wonderful year.

From,
Ms McHale (Rm 6), Ms Stapleton (Rm 5) and Ms McSweeney (Rm 3)

Helping your Young Child with Maths

Your child moving into Primary School can be a very daunting time for parents.  Often, we are asked how parents can help their children at home, particularly in the first few months, when they are not getting homework, and are not always great at describing the work that is taking place in school.

The following information sheet from the NCCA (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment) offers you some tips on how you can help to develop your childs early Maths skills by letting him or her take part in everyday activities, such as going to the shop, cooking or even setting the table.

Click on the link to open it or save it to your computer.

Helping your Young Child with Maths

Starting in "Big School" - Advice for Parents

“Big school” is a whole new world for the Junior Infant child. They are now in a bigger class- grouping with 20 children in the class. We are very lucky in that we take in three classes of 21/22 Infants. It gives the children a great start to school life.

It is important to spend a lot of time in September getting the children settled in and being happy coming into school. Developing good social skills is more important at this stage than academic learning. In the first week we concentrate on learning the names of the other children. Children learn to share, to be kind to others, to let everyone play in the game, to listen, to put up their hand, to take their turn. We don’t run, kick, bite, push, grab or swing on our chair. Sometimes these have to be said over and over again, but it is worth it as it makes for a happy school life for all.

Advice for Parents:

• On the first morning bring your child to the classroom, hang up their coat outside the room, meet the teacher and then get them sitting down as quickly as possible.
• Take a photo.  Bring a camera to photograph this important day.
• Don’t delay too long. Give your child a big hug and leave. If your child is crying, I can guarantee you that this stops very quickly. Children start playing with toys, talking to friends and life is great!
• Always be on time, both for morning play time and to collect your child after school.
• Give your child a healthy lunch.  Make sure they have enough, but not too much. Your child will have 2 short breaks - at 10.50 and at 12.15.  Always include a bottle of water.
• Label everything – books, copies, bag, lunch box, coat, hat, scarf, gloves, jumper – whatever your child brings to school.
• School Bag: Buy your child a good-sized school bag. It should carry an A4 sized pocket-folder. Children often have trouble fitting everything into their bag, so a big bag makes life easier for them.  Having shoulder strap is helpful, as they will be hanging their bags on the back of their chair.
• Getting dressed: Teach your child how to take off / put on their jumper and their coat. Teach them how to pull out a sleeve that is inside-out. Teach them how to fasten their coat. These are little things, but mean a lot when a child knows how to do them.
• Talking about school: Don’t ask your child “What did you do today?” They will answer “Nothing”. Ask them “Did you draw/say rhymes/ sing/ read a story?” This should get an answer.

Remember, if you have any questions, just ask the teacher.

Junior Infants Working Really Hard

The Junior Infants have been working really hard. They are real busy bees! Look at our pictures of the children hard at work.

Happy Halloween from Junior Infants

Happy Halloween from Junior Infants! The children had great fun dressing up. They made scary spiders and pumpkin masks and yummy chocolate apples. We had everything from witches to ninjas, superheroes to princesses. Can you recognise who everyone is?

Infant Art and Writing Displays

We have been very busy in Junior and Senior Infants this year. Here are some of our art displays from the year.