Mr. McCarthy 2020.21

June

Our class worked very hard and successfully achieved a new status for our school. St. John's Special School is now an accredited Farm Safe Superstar School.

Here are some of our many highlights from June.

May

We visited Lismore playground and Ardmore Open Farm. We had the great opportunity to see lots of different types of animals.

Practicing our daily personal hygiene such as washing our teeth, our faces, our hands, brushing/combing our hair. It is important to look after our health and working on our personal hygiene on a daily basis will help reinforce good habits to stay healthy.

FBD Farm Safety award winner!!

One of our pupils was placed in the top three in the FBD Farm Safe Schools Regional Champion for 'Demonstrating excellence in the pursuit of improving farm safety for all'. Farm safety signs, designing a farm yard (as seen in the background) and highlighting some of the danger areas, visiting a local farm and highlighting some farm safety tips when around animals and farm machinery were all considered as part of choosing the award winners. Such a great award for all the great work!

We had the wonderful opportunity to have Mr. Hogan visit our class to share his firsthand knowledge on electrical safety. The pupils were provided the opportunity to see the electrical testing equipment being used by Mr. Hogan and had the chance to snip a non-live electrical wire using a wire snips. They also worked together to build an electric circuit to light a bulb and power a fan.

Exploring the different types of transportation we have available to us and learning about road safety. We created different types of transport using different mediums such as paint with our hands and feet to make rockets and different types of service vehicles. We used clothes pegs and lollipop sticks to make aeroplanes. We created trains with our names on them using coloured paper and lollipop sticks to represent the train tracks. We went for a walk around town and down to the Lookout to observe the different types of vehicles on the road in boats in the ocean. It also provided an opportunity for us to practices our road safety skills we need to follow when walking on the footpaths and at zebra crossings. They created traffic lights using paint on their hands. The pupils even did a mock driving test on foot in our school yard, they demonstrated all of their previous learned knowledge about the rules of the road and road safety during their mock driving test. They all passed with flying colours and each received their own driving licence to mark their achievement.

We used the multi-coloured rice to enhance the sensory learning experiences of the pupils

A massive thank you to Ms. Wall and her team of Zoo Keepers for inviting us to their Zoo where we got to see all creatures great and small. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Working independently through their independent workbook activities. This provides the pupil the opportunity to become an independent learner as part of their holistic development.

The pupils painting their birds nests they created using clay.

Some caterpillars visited us today.

Discovering new ways to create different types of art with our in house Art Teacher

Working hard on our handwriting skills and letter formations

We had a wonderful visit from our local Ice-cream van and enjoyed some delicious 99's with the sun shining.

April

We explored procedural writing and worked together to identify the different steps that need to be taken when making a ham sandwich.

The pupils were busy adding new work completed to their folders and took a moment to reflect on the work they have completed. Providing them with the opportunity to see the progress they have made throughout the year. Well done everyone!

Exploring the farm and learning about farm safety. It is very important to be cautious when visiting a farm and to know the possible dangers so you can avoid them. This will help us to stay safe when visiting farms, being around farm machinery and animals.

The pupils in Room 8 had a wonderful time playing with 'Larry' the bird.

March

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

We visited one of our many local beaches to learn about water safety and biodiversity by the sea.

Ethan wishing everyone a happy St. Patrick's Day for 2021.

Getting creative making our own homemade and personalised play dough!

Our class have been very busy this March! Visiting the farm as part of our farm safety/life on the farm experience. We went to see some ducks as part of learning about different types of animals around us.

February

Room 8 visited the animals on the farm as part of learning about 'Life on the Farm'

Some of the pupils called out to the farm o check in with one of our calves. They were delighted to see the animals on the farm eating and playing with each other. One of our calves popped out to say hello to us!

Had a lovely picnic on our field trip

Matching colours today!

Birthday celebrations!

Happy Pancake Tuesday everyone!

We had a wonderful time eating all the delicious pancakes. We had sugar and lemon pancakes as well as pancakes with Nutella in them. What sort of toppings do you like in your pancakes?

December

We had a lovely visit from Santa Claus on Monday. Loki the Husky gift packs were delivered to the school as part of fund raising for the Irish guide Dogs Association. If you would like to make a donation please visit the Irish Guide Dogs Association or www.lokithehusky.ie it is all for a great cause. The school managed to raise €422 charity. Our visit from Santa was mentioned on WLR FM

Here are some of the pictures from Santa's visit. Merry Christmas everyone! Ho Ho Ho

We went for a spin on the train from Kilmeaden to Waterford City on Suir Valley Trains

Merry Christmas everyone! Ho Ho Ho!

During the month of December we got to do lots of fun and interactive activities such as nature walks, playing in the playground, walks to the farmers markets, working together to make a calendar, going for hot chocolates and a visit from a professional singer Mary to sing some Christmas songs.