A note from Tim
Dear children, parents and guardians,
It has been a fantastic start to this academic year and I am have been thrilled with all of your hard work in school and it is great to see so many smiles on your faces everyday.
It has also been lovely to see the children meet their new teachers and make such a wonderful start to the year which I’m sure is going to be lots of fun and you will learn lots of new things. It has been a very special time for all of our new Junior Infants who started with us. We have been truly amazed at how well they have settled into life in our school and their excitement and enthusiasm echoes around the classrooms and corridors everyday. I want to take the opportunity to also thank our new Junior Infant parents who have made the transition to primary school so manageable by preparing the children so well and helping us out with drop off and collection everyday. This has made an incredible difference to the children settling in and it hasn’t gone unnoticed. There has also been a considerable number of new children starting in a variety of other classes in the school and they all seem to have settled in very well. I am delighted you are part of our school and I look forward to seeing how you enjoy being part of our community throughout the year.
I was so thrilled to see such an incredible turnout at our recent Curriculum Meetings for parents and we were delighted with your engagement and some of the questions and ideas that were discussed in the question and answers section after each one. We are considering each topic raised and will communicate the results and clarifications to all parents via email in the near future.
Finally, I want to thank you all for your support and response to the news that we will be temporarily moving to a new building in 2025 to facilitate the completion of works in our school. Obviously, this is not great news however, your reaction has been very much appreciated and as I mentioned in the curriculum meetings we are determined to make sure everything goes as smooth as possible and make the experience as positive as possible for the children as it will become part of the schools history forever.
I’m wishing you all the very best for the remainder of this half term and looking forward to all the wonderful activities and events we have coming up over the next few weeks.
Warm wishes
Tim
A note on Attendance
This year we are trying to improve student attendance in our school. One element of this is the Attendance Raffle. All students who have 95+% attendance up to the October mid term break will be entered into a raffle for a €20 gift voucher. There will be one winner per year group. The student council will decide on what the voucher is for. We can’t wait to find out their decision!
Classroom Updates
Báetán’s Setanta Class
It has been a great start to the year in Room 7. We have been learning about space and pretending to be astronauts. The children have learned all about the planets in our solar system and enjoyed wearing their astronaut masks during circle time.
Mark’s Setanta Class
We have been practising mixing paint colours in Room 8. Recently we used leaves to make leaf prints and experimented with making a darker shade of orange. We have also been following our new OT schedules, helping us to stay regulated and getting us ready to do our class work.
Ben’s Junior Infants
Ben’s Junior Infants have made a fantastic start to their schooling life. We learned loads already. We have learned what an author does and to look at the pictures in books when reading to help tell the story. We have been working really hard on learning our numbers from 1 to 5. We have had a great time learning nursery rhymes and games to play in the yard together. Lastly we were the author of our own book that is in our classroom library for us to enjoy.
Cormac’s Junior Infants
Cormac’s Junior Infants have settled into school in Tyrrelstown ETNS very well! They are working hard at building up the muscles in their hands to help with handwriting, and love taking part in numeracy and Gaeilge lessons! They had great fun reading Dear Zoo and The Gruffalo. Look below! Can you see The Gruffalo’s wobbly knees, turned out toes, and the poisonous wart at the end of his nose?
Meredith’s Junior Infants
In school this September, we…
learned how to put on our coats,
learned how to share toys,
learned how to take out and put away our lunches,
learned how to open our bananas,
learned how to cut with scissors,
learned how to make a set*, and
learned how to be friends.
-Written by Meredith’s Class
*In Maths, set is a ‘group that is the same’ in some way.
Ciara’s Senior Infants
Ciara’s Senior Infants have been learning about Autumn. We can now spot the signs of Autumn around us! We have spent some time talking about the different sizes and shapes of leaves, as well as how they change colour in Autumn. Using some beautiful red, orange, yellow and brown leaves we created a magnificent piece of artwork outside our classroom. We are very proud of our work!
Claire C’s Senior Infants
In Claire’s Senior Infants we have loved getting to know our new pupils who joined our class this year. The children have been sharing all the things they love about themselves and sing ‘Our Positive Affirmations’ song every day. This is a lovely song that encourages the children to think about themselves in a positive way. The children loved creating and decorating their positive affirmation rainbow cloud. It was so much fun!
Kim’s Senior Infants
In Kim’s Senior Infants class, We have been learning all about our Autumn Season. We have been very interested in watching the leaves change colour (due to less sunlight) and fall from the trees. We then painted our very own autumn trees and leaves. We really enjoyed exploring with colours while doing this and it was a lot of fun!
April’s 1st Class
April’s class has been learning all about cubism. Cubism is thought to be the earliest form of abstract art; it deliberately took something real and made it seem less recognisable through different shapes and colours.
We looked at some artists including Picasso for inspiration, then used our own interests to create our abstract pieces. Take a closer look to see faces, animals and even Minions!
John’s 1st Class
In John’s first class we have been learning all about Autumn. We have learned about the seasonal changes in weather and what animals we associate with autumn. We finger painted trees for visual arts to show how the leaves change colour in autumn.
Lauren’s 1st Class
In Lauren’s first class we have been settling back into school and getting used to our longer school day! We have been learning about primary and secondary colours in art and we created some great colour wheels!
Eoin M’s 2nd Class
In Eoin’s 2nd class we have been learning about different homes around the world. During this time we discussed how and why there are different structures for different homes . We studied their structures and the geological location of them. We also designed a town filled with these different styles of homes.
Gerry’s 2nd Class
In Gerry’s 2nd class, we have been learning all about orchestra and the four different instrument families. Our favourite family was percussion, so we spent some time designing some instruments like maracas, woodblocks and tambourines. Check out our drums!
Denis’ 3rd Class
Hi! My name is Bob Appletree. A few weeks ago some children from 3rd class came by and spent some time with me. They examined my skin to see how rough it was. They drew some pictures of me and wrote some stories and poems about me. I felt so famous. A few weeks later they came back and climbed me to collect apples. I was so sad. I can’t believe they ate my friends.
Keith’s 3rd Class
In Keith’s third class, we have been learning about narratives – fairytales, myths and legends.
In our music lessons we’ve been learning about graphic notation and composing our own soundscapes.
Inár gceachtanna Gaeilge, táimid ag obair ar ár scileanna tuisceana. Tá ár múinteoir ag déanamh iarracht bobanna a dhéanamh orainn ach is éisteoirí maithe muid!
In our art lessons we learned about the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and the motifs she uses – dots, lights and using mirrors to create an infinity effect.
Claire N’s 4th Class
Claire N’s class has been learning about schools. We have been designing aerial maps of our own school and have also been comparing schools nowadays to schools in Ireland 100, 200 and even 300 years ago. Did you know that in the 1700s, Irish students had to go to school in barns, fields and even their teachers’ houses?!
We conducted interviews with our parents and other relatives to discover how their school experience was different to ours but we discovered some similarities too!
Bhí sceitimíní orainn nuair a tháinig bus an leabharlann go dtí an scoil. We were super excited to borrow books from the mobile library bus.
Paul’s 4th Class
In Paul’s 4th class this term we have been researching volcanoes and creating reports on Volcanic eruptions on Google docs and sharing our work in our Google classroom. We are also busy working in groups, constructing our own Volcanoes from Lego and paper mache.
We have also been learning about the artist Robin Meade and have replicated some of her Art work.
Aisleen’s 5th Class
Aisleen’s class have been making origami lions as part of procedural writing. We also learned all about Mozart and we listened and responded to some of his most famous compositions. We made Op Art, (Optical Illusion Art) which was inspired by French – Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely.
In Maths, we’re learning all about fractions.
We also learned a new tin-whistle tune called ‘Óró Sé do Bheatha Abhaile.’ (You Are Welcome Home)
Mallorie’s 5th Class
Mallorie’s 5th have started the year off with some gardening by planting flowers and vegetables that they will harvest next year. All hands on deck to create a lovely school garden that everyone can enjoy in our school community!
Seán’s 5th Class
Seán’s 5th class spent a lot of September studying about the local area. The class designed aerial maps of Tyrrelstown and included some services and amenities that they would like to see in the local area such as a cinema, swimming pool, airport, theme park and football stadium!
Groups within the class also did a History research project and presented them to the other 5th class. The winning group got themselves a homework pass!
The class have also set out on their musical journey on the tin whistle, they are currently learning “The Dawning of the Day”, also known as “Raglan Road”.
Eoin O’s 6th Class
Eoin’s class has had an excellent start to the year and have been exploring what makes them all unique. We had a great discussion about all our different personalities and represented ourselves using a dual self-portrait.
Francis’ 6th Class
Francis’ class have enjoyed a wide variety of different subjects and tasks so far this term. Here’s a sample of what we accomplished:
This term we made Hoop Gliders with straws and paper loops connected with tape. We experimented with different methods of making them, for example we tested whether the amount of hoops affected the glider (and it did!)
-Ethan
In Maths we revised off, even, prime, composite and square numbers. We started a new novel called Wonder.
-Amelie
We did sketchnoting. We did a roleplay about Vikings. We learned about Fast Fashion.
-Maryam
Taskmasters is this game that all of the 6th classers do every Friday. We get a task and whoever wins gets the most points. Right now our class is winning.
-Haylee
All I can say is we did a lot of stuff so far and we are only in October!
-Sophie
Shane’s 6th Class
During the first term we had a brilliant time doing lots of different subjects, projects and activities.
In Music we covered sound effects, played the xylophone and boomwhackers and composed a visual score. For the sound effects we picked a book with a lot of sounds. Then we recorded each part of the book one by one. Finally we edited the recording together with the sound effects using software.
In literacy, we watched the Olympic 400m women’s race, featuring Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke. Afterwards, we wrote a summary incorporating the necessary features of recount writing.
In science we made group projects on four different bodily systems; the digestive system, the circulatory system, the respiratory system and the skeleton . Teams of 5 had a specific system to research. Each group had to make a diagram, quiz questions and a Powerpoint presentation about their assigned system. When we were finished, we presented our project to the class and quizzed each other on what we had learned.
By Mazin, Stuart, Viola & Dylan
Extra-Curricular Activities
GAA
Our 3rd and 4th class students were excited to compete in our school’s first GAA Blitzes of the year this week. As well as learning new skills and making new friends, there was a particular emphasis on participation and enjoyment for the students involved. Their couches are proud of the way in which they represented the school, trying their absolute best, and being respectful towards opponents, team mates, referees and management teams. Maith sibh go léir!
If your child is interested in playing regularly with Tyrrelstown GAA please email info.tyrrelstown@gaa.ie or text 089 264 5536 for more information.
3D Design and Printing
The after school 3D Design and Printing Club have been very busy with their own creations. Using online software pupils create their own designs on the school Chromebooks. These are then printed in various colours using a 3D printer.
Active Schools
This term we had a Relays Take Over day.
Lots of classes learned about and looked at the success of our 4 x 400m relay teams at the recent European championships and Olympics. We watched the videos of their achievements, learned about the athletes and of course practiced our own relay skills. We worked on baton exchange and running fast. A lot of fun was had.
Student Council
We are delighted to welcome our new members to our Student Council. The Student Council met for the first time this year on Friday and laid out our plans for term 1. Stay tuned to see what the Council has planned for the coming year!
Shelbourne FC Visit
It was great to have Christie Gray and Leah Doyle from Shelbourne FC’s Women’s team this week. They answered questions from our pupils and gave us an insight into the dedication and commitment they have given to their sport. The girls also spoke about the important values that football has taught them along the way. They will be playing in the FAI womens cup final against Athlone Town on Sunday the 20th of October.
Tyrrelstown GAA
It was great for some of our classes to meet Maria our new GPO from Tyrrelstown GAA this week. Maria took our 1st and 3rd classes for GAA training. Pupils got a chance to develop new skills and have lots of fun!
