While the boys and girls in all classes were busy discussing and learning about the World and National Ploughing Championships, Junior Infants decided to explore one of the fields before the crowds move in next week! Meanwhile the youngest and oldest boys in school took the opportunity to extend a Céad Míle Fáilte to the expected 300,00 visitors to Ratheniska.
Whilst counting down the days to the ploughing, 5th class were busy learning about various types of ploughing and farm machinery from years gone by to the present day. They created an artistic representation of ploughing through the years, from horse drawn ploughs to the modern tractors and ploughs we use today.
All the budding farmers in Senior Infants got out their tractors this week and set about making lots and lots of tracks during their Art class. Then they got printing with some blocks to create really effective montages of what they perceive the ploughing will be like next week.
Local footballer and former ploughing competition winner , Brendan Greene, came in to talk to Third Class and answer all of our questions about the Ploughing Championships. We learned lots about the history of the competition, the machinery and what is required to be a successful competitor. We tested our knowledge with a quiz afterwards and even conducted our own version of the Ploughing Championships with chalk. We discussed the criteria for winning and then headed off to our plots on the yard to make 6 straight furrows , each 10cm apart and parallel. We had great fun and it was much trickier than expected. Brendan and Ms.Moloney had a tough time picking winners ! Thanks to Brendan for helping us out with our learning !
Choir lessons have restarted for all classes from 1st to 6th. The children are learning songs from many different genres and our Thursdays are brightened by the beautiful singing coming from the Library thanks to our visiting Music Teacher, Sarah Troy.
The Cumann na mBunscol Football season begins this week The boys will play Stradbally, Ballyroan, Ballylinan, Ballyadams and Abbeyleix, while the girls are up against Abbeyleix, Ballyadams, Ballylinan and Stradbally. We wish them the very best of luck.
All the boys and girls from 3rd to 6th class have resumed their weekly computer classes under the guidance of Kate Ryan from Ríomhairetech. The children are working on Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Touch Typing, Presentations and Coding and they will also be completing a range of cross curricular projects. Here we see some of the pupils from 3rd Class getting to grips with the basics of word processing.
As the Elizabethan Age comes to an end in the UK, Rang 6 set about researching the life and times of the late Queen Elizabeth ll. After a lot of informed discussion and collaboration, they recorded their findings in a variety of different ways.
Rang 3 started off the year in a very creative way as they reflected on their talents, likes and interests. Some very colourful self portraits were created and displayed for all to see.
A warm welcome back to everyone for the new school year. We welcome in particular the 22 little boys and girls who have joined us in Junior Infants. We look forward to watching them grow and flourish in the years ahead.
