A note from Tim
Dear parents and guardians,
We have had a great start to 2025 here in the school with lots of fun activities and lessons happening all around the school. The work and effort put in from the children and staff has been fantastic and there has been a great atmosphere in the school.
There are lots of brilliant activities coming up in the school over the next few weeks and one of the events that the children are really looking forward to is the Parent’s Association fundraiser Pyjama Day on 19th February 2025 and your involvement or any donations you can afford will go a long way to purchasing some much needed technology for the children.
One piece of great news we received this week is the fact that the Community Centre building work has been completed and we will be able to use the hall for PE, assemblies etc. It has been very difficult with the space being out of use for the past few months and the children have coped very well but it is great to have it back.
Tim
Classroom Updates
Báetán’s Setanta Class
All of the children in Báetán’s class have been working very hard and have made a brilliant start to 2025.
Our class has been doing lots of exercise and learning how to play some new board games this term!
Mark’s Setanta Class
In Mark’s class, we have been working with Colourful Semantics to make some silly sentences. Each part of speech is represented by a colour so we know that we are not missing anything!
Ben’s Junior Infants
Ben’s Junior Infants have made a terrific start to the year! We have been working hard on learning our sounds and trying to read simple words. We are becoming experts at our numbers from 1-10. We have also been great firefighters during January and have learnt all about what firefighters do in the community. We have had a specific focus on learning about hot and cold and how to stay warm during this cold time of year. Finally we have had great fun celebrating the Chinese New Year as we learn to respect different cultures.
Cormac’s Junior Infants
Cormac’s Junior Infants are making wonderful progress! They are learning their letter sounds, and blending the sounds together to read words! They will be reading books soon!
They have been practising correct letter formation, and really enjoy using toys as resources for learning in maths!
The boys and girls also love to dance as part of their movement breaks! Have a look at some of the children dancing below!
Meredith’s Junior Infants
Meredith’s Junior Infants, along with all of the infant classes, had a visit from Breda at our assembly. Breda is a long time member of our school community, and the wider community in Tyrrelstown, where she works as a traffic warden for a few other schools in the area. She came to tell us all about what she does as a traffic warden (also known as a ‘lollipop lady’) and how to keep safe crossing the road. We also learned what a uniform is, and that people in uniform are often people we can ask for help. This was part of our learning through the RSE programme.
Ciara’s Senior Infants
In Ciara’s Senior Infants we have been learning all about construction sites as part of Aistear. We have been building marble runs, using LEGO to construct all sorts of buildings, and creating our own construction site in the sand pit. We even had a chance to experience working as an architect, we drew up designs for houses! We read the book ‘mighty, mighty construction site’ this month. In Art we created our own trucks, focusing on cutting out 2D shapes. We had fun with crepe paper, filling up the truck with colourful paper. We can’t wait to bring our cool art home shortly to show our families. We have been so creative this term!
Claire C’s Senior Infants
In Claire’s Senior Infants we have been learning about how to keep warm in the cold weather and what clothes we should wear during Winter. We have learned all about where milk comes from and how it gets from the farm to the shelves of our supermarkets. In Science we had great fun learning about forces and the children got to explore ‘pushing and pulling’ with toys and magnets.
We read the story ‘ The Tiger who Came to Tea’ and all the children chose an animal they would like to invite for tea. In Art we had great fun painting pictures with paintbrushes and then we tried to paint the same picture using our fingers. It was a lot of fun!
Kim’s Senior Infants
Kim’s Senior Infants have had a great start to the New Year. We have been busy learning all about Chinese New Year.We enjoyed looking at the traditions and the lovely parades to celebrate and even drew a snake for the year of the snake.
We have also been working so hard on Maths this term. Revising all of our numbers and we enjoyed playing lots of maths games. We are getting so good at our addition!
April’s 1st Class
April’s class was learning all about light and shadows. We used torches to find out what objects are translucent, transparent, and opaque. We learned how shadows are made and then made our own opaque puppets from cards to perform a Shadow puppet show. We learned these types of shadow puppet shows originate from Asia with a deep history in China.
John’s 1st Class
John’s first class was making Valentine’s art using crepe paper. John’s class were also using magnets to make mazes. We then brought these mazes to junior infants to help them learn abouts magnets and forces.
Lauren’s 1st Class
Lauren’s first class have had a great start to the new year! We have been learning about the Chinese new year recently. It is the year of the snake now, so we made some really cool snakes out of paper plates!
Eoin M’s 2nd Class
In Literacy and Art Eoin M’s class drew snowmen using 6th class procedural writing instructions. We also have been reading Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone. In Science we designed a paper boat and experimented to see if it floated on water. We also made Chinese lanterns to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Gerry’s 2nd Class
Gerry’s 2nd class have been working really hard this term. We used i-pads to research different animals and wrote reports on what we discovered. We’ve been swimming in the Aquatic Centre on Thursdays and now we are doing GAA (Gaelic Football) on Wednesdays. We’ve been learning to play new tunes on the tin whistle. We explored the difference between natural and artificial light and the difference between transparent and opaque surfaces. We heard stories from Africa and learned about endangered animals.
Denis’ 3rd Class
In Denis’ 3rd class, we have been playing Octopus’s Garden on the ukulele and making picture frames out of lollipop sticks and glue. We have also been reading a book called The Girl Who Thought She Was A Dog.
Written by Sophia
Keith’s 3rd Class
January has been spent learning to tell the time in analogue and digital formats. The children have learned about the Olympics in Ancient Greece and they designed their own ancient Greek pottery pieces. Our class have also begun to work on fractions this week. Our last art lesson was on Retrofuturism and last week we made our own futuristic buildings.
Claire N’s 4th Class
Claire’s 4h Class have enjoyed learning about different cultures and civilizations this term. We presented projects about the Aztec civilization and designed 3D pyramids using a variety of different materials. We also studied the customs and traditions of the Maori people of New Zealand.
We also learned about the influence the sun has on the weather. We studied the Water Cycle and learned how rain is formed.
We have enjoyed visiting the National Aquatic Centre (Ionad Náisiúnta Uisce) for our weekly swimming lessons.
We created our own Pop Art designs based on the designs of the artist Andy Warhol and have been signing in rounds to the well known song, Frère Jacques.
The highlight of our term so far was when our answers to the question ‘Is the world a better or worse place because of the internet, and why?’ were featured on television on RTÉ’s News2day. It’s exciting being famous!
Paul’s 4th Class
In Paul’s 4th class we have been learning about the Aztecs. We worked in pairs and made Aztecs information booklets. We used the chromebooks to source and research about the topic and put our findings together in an information, non fiction style text. Each booklet gives an insight into the way of life and the culture of the Aztec people.
We also designed our own radial symmetry inspired Aztec sun art pictures.
For PE this term we have been busy using the i-pads to view and record each other’s fundamental movement skill techniques. We watched the recordings back with our peers and looked for areas in which we were doing really well and also identified areas where we could improve.
Aisleen’s 5th Class
This term, we have been researching space exploration. More specifically, making a project. Before we used our chrome books we used our Literacy Leap and Read at Home books to find our facts.
We also have been learning about Martin Luther King Jr and how he wanted to stop racism in America in the 1960’s. We learned that he became the leader of the American civil rights movement.
Written by Sophia, Sarah and Aisleen
Mallorie’s 5th Class
Mallorie’s class have turned themselves into scientists this week, creating and testing experiments. They learned about static electricity and created experiments to show how static electricity works. Their experiments were designed for the attention of the younger classes where they presented them, putting their presentation skills to the test. They also are busy creating their own anemometers to test the wind speed and direction of wind. They will be looking for jobs with Met Éireann in the near future.
Seán’s 5th Class
Seán’s 5th class have been busy working on their presentation and research skills. Recently the class completed a research project on Climate Change. Elia and Merzo presented their Google Slides presentation in front of the whole assembly and answered questions from the captivated crowd!
In History, the class studied the lives of The Celts. We looked at how they lived, hunted, the clothes and jewellery they wore and weapons they used. We also examined Ogham, their form of writing and created our own names in Ogham Art.
Recently, we also studied the art of Piet Mondrian and how he created a style of art called ‘de Stijl’. We used some different materials to create our own versions of Piet Mondrian’s linear and primary colour focused art.
Eoin O’s 6th Class
We in Eoin’s 6th class have been doing a lot of
art. We started with collage art and used CD covers and paper to create a collage. If you want to see them there in front of Eoin’s 6th class room.
-Keila
In February we did science art and made paper airplanes that were meant to flap their wings, but unfortunately only a few of them flapped a bit. We all designed them to make them look really cool. Then we went to the yard to throw them.
-Sara
We went to the Le Chéile Secondary School musical. It lasted around 2 hours with an intermission in the middle of the play, which had a shop where you could buy sweets,popcorn etc.. It was really exciting. The actors were really passionate in acting out their roles. The whole thing was quite long but we really enjoyed it.
-Julia J
This term we did a lot but the highlight of this term was the Le Chéile secondary school play. The actors and actresses were amazing, reaching notes that not even Ariana Grande could oppose. My favourite part was when it showed the reason. Just 10 out of 10!
– Sammara
We learnt about World War 1 this term. It began July 28th 1914. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist on June 28th 1914, and Austria blamed Serbia for his death. Soon after, Austria declared war on Serbia. They thought it would be over by Christmas but advances in technology would make it last much longer. Russia, Germany and France joined the fighting only a week later
-Nathaniel
Francis’ 6th Class
We spent this term learning about a wide variety of topics in a wide variety of ways;
Native Americans were people that came from Asia to America. Our class made projects about the Native Americans and wrote some facts. And here are some; some Native Americans lived in teepees. They created totem poles for many different reasons. Corn was a staple of their diet.
-Jeremiah
Our class did brochures about the US states. Each person was given a state. For example, I got Colorado and I found out that Colorado’s nickname was “The Centennial State”. Colorado has the best natural features: the Pikes Peak, Denver Botanic Gardens and Rocky Mountains.
-Arissa
For SESE we did circuits. We learned different diagrams for different words. We learnt that conductors lets electricity pass through and insulators don’t let electricity pass through them
-Jakeisha and Lucy
Shane’s 6th Class
For this term, Shane’s sixth class had lots of fun learning experiences in a lot of different areas.
In science this term we were split into groups and we used teamwork to make a paper mache volcano by dunking paper into a gluey kind of water. Then we put it around a paper mould so it looked like a volcano. Lastly we put in some red food colouring, vinegar and baking-soda and watched it explode! It was a lot of fun to make with the class.
Caoimhe & Krysta
In art we did a lot of things; we got to do Action Painting, Pointillism, Abstract Art and Origami. The whole class joined in to make a huge painting using the pointillism technique. In action painting we did something similar with the whole class making our own colours then we splashed them on to a big page.
Nihaal
In English we covered debate writing. We had a lot of debates on topics such as; if homework should be banned, if cats are better than dogs and if students should be allowed to use AI for assignments.
Stuart
During this term our class learned many different things in History. At the start of the term we learned about the Presidents of Ireland and made a timeline about all of them, from the first to the most recent. We also learned about the Native Americans and their different tribes. The most recent thing we have learned about was World War One which started by the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914.
Zarah
In PE we went to the National Sports Campus to do swimming lessons for 5 weeks. We all got a partner to go on the bus with. The place and the staff were lovely and welcoming. My swimming coach was named Pablo. He was from Argentina. In my opinion he was the best coach there.
Ryan
Extra-Curricular Activities
Attendance Promotion
Well done to everyone on their fantastic attendance this term! Recently we marked 100 days of school in the 2024/ 2025 academic year and we celebrated all of the students who had 100% attendance on that day! Great job everyone!
Our attendance promotion campaign continues up to the Spring Holiday in April, with all students aiming to achieve 95%+ attendance. Good luck everyone!
Lego League Team
A selection of 6th class children have been preparing for Lego League. Lego League is an initiative to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education in schools. It involves building and programming Lego robots to carry out missions, and presenting the robots to a panel of judges. These pupils will be representing our school in UCD next month. The children have really enjoyed preparing for the event. Have a look at some of their creations below!
Active School Committee
This month our Active School Committee is encouraging all classes to engage in an Active Movement Break Challenge. This is an initiative to get all students in our school community out of their seats and to be active in between lessons. Through this activity the ASC aims to promote enjoyable physical activity and to develop a positive attitude toward exercise. The movement breaks throughout the school day also helps pupils towards achieving the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity a day.
GAA
Every Wednesday Maria, our GPO from Tyrrelstown GAA has been taking our 2nd classes for GAA games and activities. Both Gerry and Eoin’s classes have been really enjoying getting to grips with some Gaeilc football skills. Tyrrelstown GAA are always looking for new members and players. If you have a child/children who might like to get involved you can DM their social media pages or email info.tyrrelstown@gaa.ie
Gaeilge
As part of our whole school Focal na Seachtaine initiative, each week we have been replacing one commonly used English word with its Irish counterpart in our day to day conversations.
Our students have been trying to say the following words as Gaeilge. Maybe you could try it at home!
Replace water with uisce (ish – ka).
Replace chair with cathaoir (ka – heer).
Replace door with doras (dur – iss).
Replace whiteboard with clárbán ( clawr – bawn).
Replace toilet with leithreas ( leh – riss).
Replace press/cupboard with cófra (ko – frah).Replace stairs with staighre ( sty – rah).
