This morning on our way into the school we were blown away with the wonderful bright bunting and beautiful decorations which greeted us at the school gates. We knew there was something different about today, the Easter bunny had visited! Our classes each took turns at visiting the yard to see if they could find any eggs. To our delight there was an egg for everyone.
The children are so grateful for their eggs and they had such fun on the egg hunt today. What a way to begin the Easter Holidays!
We held a special assembly and the whole school community gathered to learn all about Down Syndrome. But more importantly we learned about how we all have an important role to play in understanding, accepting and being kind. Everyone had their crazy socks on show, their posters flying high and even sock hats were blowing in the wind! We all learned some new Lámh and today we focused on learning to sign ‘I am your friend’.
There was cake a treats to celebrate our amazing friends who have Down Syndrome and the its safe to say that the children all had a blast.
We would like to extend a massive thank you to all our school community who dug deep and contributed so generously to our day. We raised a huge €440 for the Down Syndrome Center who work so hard to support all our wonderful Down Syndrome children and adults and their families.
Seó faisin sa Naíonán Sóisearach
Nead seacláide i rang a dó
Gníomhaíochtaí trí na Stáisiún i rang a dó
Ealaín trí na Seanfhocail i rang a dó
Here are some photos from our well-being week which we celebrated in January.
On Wednesday 13th of March our 5th & 6th class boys participated in the FAI Primary 5’s in Greystones. After months of self-preparation and a small number of coaching sessions from Hugh Brady, we were going with high hopes of getting through to the AVIVA for the all-Ireland finals. The boys played really well, scoring some really amazing scores throughout the competition and working really well together as a team. We even had a scout enquire about one of our players! The competition was very high on the day and unfortunately we missed out on progressing past the group stages.
On Monday 11th March 16 of our 5th & 6th class girls participated in the FAI Primary 5-a-side competition. We enjoyed an amazing day in Blessington. Both teams played a total of 3 group matches, with each team winning all of their matches and progressing to the semi finals. Alas, luck was not on our side and both teams narrowly lost, meaning we would lost out on the final on the day. The girls demonstrated wonderful skill, sportsmanship and determination throughout. We are so proud of you girls!
Our 4th & 5th class boys participating in the 9-a-side Cumann na mBunscoil blitz in Bray.
Today our 3rd & 4th class Girls participated in a GAA blitz in Bray. We had two teams competing, one from 3rd class and one from 4th class. On a lovely day in Bray, we played matches against St.Coen’s, Greystones Education Together, Roudwood, St. Peter’s and St. Laurences. The girls did amazingly, despite having done very little training, there was an abundance of skill on show. The girls represented the school brilliantly.
We would like to say a huge thank you to the other stars on the day who were our 6th class Young Whistlers. These students refereed matches between the teams in our group all day long, doing an amazing job.
Yesterday our 5th & 6th class boys had a GAA tournament in Bray. In total, we played 4 matches, with two wins, one draw and one loss on the day. The boys played fantastically, scoring some superb goals and points and showing their impressive skills.
We now look forward to training ahead of our competitive Cuman na mBunscoil fixtures which will be taking place in the Spring and Summer.
The Junior Infants are working so hard in school as they settle in to their first year of big school. Their Big Buddies in 6th class have been so helpful and kind to them. They are always willing to help out and spend time with their little buddies. Some of the things they have helped with is church services, library visits, play times and they also help out from time to time in the classroom. Without their help the transition to primary school would be much tougher for some of our infants who really value the love and support they get from their big buddies! Check us out playing rhyming games with our big buddies who so patiently explained the rules and helped us on our way to be master rhymers!
This month the Junior Infants are learning all about construction as their learning topic. From builders to architects, designing, constructing, demolishing and extending they have been very busy. We are learning all about materials and their properties and all the different people involved in building. We are very busy in our room designing and building all sorts of creations. STEM is certainly in abundance in the Junior Infant room!
We are so lucky in Junior Infants to have an incredible architect among our parents who was happy to come in and talk to us about her job. Alice kindly gave up her morning to come and speak to the children and answer all their questions. She showed us photos of some of the really cool buildings she has designed including a school and a 40 storey sky scraper! She showed us some very detailed drawings of buildings which helped us to see the process involved in designing a new building and even left us some special paper that we can use to design our buildings. A huge thank you to Alice for sharing her expertise with us - We have no doubt you have inspired the children to become architects when they are bigger!
The Big and Little Buddies met up recently for a picnic lunch and story time! Their teachers treated them to an ice cream sandwich and they had a lovely afternoon!
The Junior infants have been so lucky to spend a wonderful year in the care of such amazing big buddies who have shown them the ropes in Nun’s Cross. They have guided them and cared for them over the course of the year and helped them to find their way. Thank you to all our big buddies for your incredible kindness and patience over the course of the year! We will miss you terribly next year but we are grateful for all the knowledge and skills you have passed on to the junior infants.
Creative Day 2023 was a day filled with fun, happiness and creativity. Our Committee were constrained by a lack of funding which we enjoyed over the previous 2 years thanks to the Arts Council, however with lots of last minute improvisation and creativity, the committee members organised a superb day which was enjoyed by all.
On the day the activities included tie dye, painting and character drawing, making crafts for sale on Family Fun Day, clay, sports games, jewellery making, singing, scavenger hunts, face painting and coding. The day was jam packed with only enough time to eat and play in between creative activities. We would like to say a huge thank you to the parents who volunteered to help out on the day, only for your generosity the day would not have been the same. Also a huge thank you to the Creative Committee, some of whom painted faces all day long and led scavenger hunts and others led the coding station for the entire day, having developed engaging activities for all class levels.
6th class made lunch for the whole school on no lunchbox day 2023. We were blessed with fantastic weather which meant we could enjoy the food outdoors. A fantastic selection of fruit skewers, hot dogs, wraps and sandwiches were available with some treat options also available including cakes and buns. The money raised from no lunchbox day will be used to fund the 6th class end of year tour. Many thanks also to the parents of 6th class for supplying the food and for helping out on the day also.
Nun’s Cross staff and children had the privilege of welcoming some of the County Wicklow Senior Hurling players to the school recently with the recently won Nicky Rackard cup! The boys brought the cup home after they won Donegal in the final of the season. The school playground was a wash of blue and yellow and the children were very excited to meet the lads, hold the cup and even get their hurls signed! Well done to all the lads and thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit our school!
The children in the 6th class were set a challenge recently to create their own board game! From the concept to the rules and the artistic design of the game itself - it was all on the children.
The put a lot of thought and effort into their games and designed them with their little buddies in Junior Infants in mind! Once they were finished the 6th class children had time to share them with their little buddies and everyone enjoyed a morning of board game fun!
Nun’s Cross Junior and Senior Infants recently had a great adventure to Kia Mini Farm in Gorey for their summer tour. The children travelled by coach for their day out and were all so excited about their big adventure!
We saw many different types of bunnies and birds in the shed. There were little tiny bunnies and ones with really long ears too! We even got to hold some bunnies and they were so soft and friendly!
Outside there were more animals and we were lucky that we were there in time for feeding time! We got to feed some alpacas, goats, deer and sheep! They ate the food right out of our hands and they were very, very hungry!
We also got to go on a trip on a fire engine and sing some songs along the way! After all this fun, we had a picnic lunch and ate some yummy ice cream! Afterwards, we had some free time and were spoilt for choice between the adventure park, the soccer pitch, the go-karts, all the trucks and trikes, sand pits, and so much more! We had the best time!
The children and staff would like to say a big thank you to all the mammy helpers who came along to help us on our day out. Also, a massive thank you to all the staff at Kia Ora, who couldn’t possibly have been any more accommodating, helpful, patient or kind. You all made our day so so enjoyable! Thank you to each and every one!
Nuns Cross Active Week 2023 took place in May this year. Our wonderful Active Committee planned a week which was jam packed with fun and games to get our entire school up and moving all week. Activities and events included a Walk, Cycle, Run to school, a colour run, obstacle courses, karate, wake and shake, a slip and slide, Nuns Cross Grand National to name just a few. Take a look at our pictures below.
First class have had lots of fun this month investigating minibeasts and discovering the amazing things they do. We had two very special visitors this month; a beekeeper and a stick insect. This month, we learned about the wonderful work bees do and how important they are in the world. Take a look at the video below to see what we got up to this month.
First class have been learning all about the adventures and creations of the Wright Brothers; Wilbur and Orville. We read the story ‘Taking Flight’ which taught us about their life and how they managed to win the race to conquer the skies. Firstly, we determined what the important parts of the story were and then we created comic strips to retell the story.
After that, we decided to make our own replicas of the Wright Brother’s first plane using junk art materials. The children had to come up with a design, plan what materials they were going to use and then make their aircraft. I think the results were very impressive!
