Making Bubbles

The Human Body October 2023

The Senior Room were learning about the human body and some of it's systems. We created our own digestive and skeletal systems.

Bridges September 2023

The Senior Room built bridges across a river while learning about the importance of towns settling beside a water source.

6th Class Day Out June 2023

The 6th Class day out was great fun with the class going bowling in Leisureplex and for a hot chocolate afterwards.

French Restaurant June 2023

On the last day of French lessons the children took turns ordering from a menu in French and also being a customer and ordering in French

Science Week November 2022

The Senior Room had lots of fun learning and teaching each other during Science Week. We saw experiments of all sorts, including robot making, slime, sound experiments and even a balloon powered car.

Science Blast 2022 April 2022

In the Senior Room we have been working on our Science Blast project. We looked at the effect of different types of music on the growth of plants. We found from our study that rock music had the greatest impact on the growth of our pansies. On the 6th April, after gathering and representing all of our data, we presented the completed project to our visiting judge, Beth. It was a very exciting experience.

Engineering Week Projects Mar 2022

For Engineering Week in the Senior Room the students created water slides at home and presented them at assessment. They also created teams in class to work on miniature scribble robots.

'Someone Like Me' - Art Competition Entries Dec 2021

It's about people with disabilities being able to achieve amazing things. I created a picture of a girl in a wheelchair going to the moon because it is not about someone's disability but ability.

In this picture, the characters are holding hands and the people with disabilities are standing up to the bully.

I said 'different is unique' because the world would be boring if everything is the same. I did a dog in a wheelchair and a person in a wheelchair as well as two guide dogs.

I do horse-riding and the idea is that a lot of people who own horses develop a strong bond with a horse and even people who have been in accidents find a way to get back on the saddle. It is a way to cope with stress and everything associated with it.

The quote I wrote: 'Strong people don't put others down, they lift them up' is because when someone is bullied it is not the person who is bullying is strong but the person who sees it and stands up for them.

Disability: A word of public frown, condescendingness and inferiority.

Ability: A talent, skill or proficiency in a particular area.

The difference: Not applicable

Trischa Zorn: 55 time Paralympic medalist, swimmer, born blind, an inspiration.

When I heard that we were doing some like me I immediately thought of Stevie Wonder. Although blind, he wrote and sang songs and is a true inspiration. I wrote: 'The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision' which means even though you have a disability does not mean you cannot achieve something special.

My inspiration for this is that everybody is the same no matter who they are. In this poster I demonstrated this by drawing someone who could be considered as imperfect but in my eyes he is perfect.

Violet the Dog

We worked in a group to tell the story of Violet the Dog.

Making Friends Anti Bullying

The stock motion video is about breaktime and how two boys get a new friend.

Lichen Project October 2021

During the months of September and October the Senior Classes in St Laurence's NS got to take part in the Lichen Art Citizen Science Project. This project gave the children the opportunity to learn about the significance of lichen in our locality. They learned about what it is and how it can be used as an indicator of air pollution.

On 30th September the pupils of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th went on an Autumn trail in the local park, Phoenix Park. The weather was lovely and everyone was in great spirits. The children identified different trees by looking at leaves and the seeds they produced. They also were on a hunt for lichen which was proven to be more visible than initially anticipated. Upon returning to school the pupils created a list of adjectives to describe the lichen and eventually used these descriptions to come up some wonderful poems.

Film Making

Creative School provided us with the opportunity to make our own film from start to finish! Once our script has been written it was time for an Acting class with Sarah Jayne to get us ready for the big shoot. The class were involved in everything from prop acquisition, make-up & camera work. Afterwards we used the filmmaker app to get to grips with the editing process & made our own trailers for the movie!

Heritage in Schools

We really enjoyed hearing the old Irish Myths & Legends this term. The 3rd & 4th Class even explored the story of how CúCulainn got his name through drama as Gaeilge! We learned about the importance of the Storyteller poets during these times and how a person's reputation could be destroyed through satire. Chris Thompson, a Heritage in Schools expert joined us on Zoom to tell us more about the more obscure Irish Legends. We had fun dramatising parts of these stories and sharing our own praise poems using the same formula used by the old storyteller poets.

Science

Exploring how rain happens when clouds become saturated with water vapour!

Homework Projects

We saw a high standard of Homework Project this term again based on the following topics - Irish Mammals, Women in History and an Architecture Project to design your ideal bedroom, home or playground. Our final project was based on the childrens own interest - we saw everything from GAA to Marine Biology to Famous Actors. Well done everybody!

Science Blast

The Senior Class were the proud recipients this term of their 3rd Science Blast Award in a row! This year we explored the effect that sleep has on our school performance. The students recorded their sleep in a sleep diary and completed some maths arithmetic the following day in school over a period of 4 days.

One discovery we made during our experiment was that the Senior Classroom are really good sleepers and are getting the recommended sleep every night! This meant that we didn't see any negative effect on our schoolwork. We even noticed that sleepers in the 7-8 hour category permforming better on average than students in the 10-11 hour category?! We expect that the quality of your sleep must affect performance more than the quantity!

While we didn't have the opportunity to attend the RDS this year to share our work, we get to present our project via Zoom to our designated judge.

Active School Week

A Skipathon, Orienteering and a Balloon Run were just some of the activities we enjoyed during Active Schools Week.

Art Exhibition

The Senior Class from 3rd to 6th Art Exhibition in the Style of Salvador Dali May 2021

Christmas 2020

Since our usual production at St Laurence's Church wasn’t an option this year a Nativity Puppet Show by both classes was recorded for families to enjoy instead. The Senior Room put their creative abilities to great use, making the puppets for the main characters and the backdrops for the puppet theatre! After many takes and help from Reverend Ruth with the editing we managed to get in over the line in time! Phew! We also had a Christmas Jumper Day in aid of the Make a Wish Foundation. Thanks to all who contributed.

Creative Schools (Term 1 2020)

Continuing on from last year, the Senior students are loving ukulele lessons with Shane McGrath every Wednesday afternoon. The pupils also very much enjoyed a creative writing workshop with film maker Helen Flanagan as a precursor to further exploration of script writing and film making. The drama game ‘The Magic Box’ proved popular as did ‘Unfortunately Fortunately’. We look forward to working more with Helen in 2021.

Normans in Ireland (Term 1 2020)

We learned about the Middle Ages in History this term and in particular the background to the arrival of Strongbow to Ireland. The students put their construction skills to use to recreate the features of a typical Norman Castle. In literacy we imagined what Dermot McMurrough might write in his diary after his visit to England to seek the help from the Normans. We also discussed the arrival of the Normans in England and tried to recreate parts of the Bayeux Tapestry.

Counties of Ireland Project (Term 1 2020)

We were exploring counties of Ireland in Geography this term. Each student researched a county in depth. The standard of the research, IT skills in creating PowerPoints and their presentation skills were all very impressive. We were delighted to put our brand-new interactive whiteboard to use for the presentations also!

Halloween 2020

We celebrated the half term mark with a Halloween party and some fancy dress. Some highly creative costumes were on display!

Science Week and Maths Week 2019

Senior Room pupils got to experience life as third-level students recently, with two trips facilitated by the Maths and Science Departments at DU Kevin Street. The children got to complete practical Problem-Solving challenges and participate in a "Beautiful, Biased Brain" psychology talk. We hope they all went home full of new facts and enthusiasm for these subjects!

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Country of Choice Project

3rd to 6th Class studied Japan as their country of choice this term, and we really enjoyed examining some artefacts brought in by the pupils and their families, as you can see! The children painted beautiful Japanese landscapes as part of their study of this country, inspired by the work of Japanese artist Hokusai.

The standard of Homework projects continues to impress, with pupils shining in their creativity, research and presentation skills. We have gained fascinating insights into different places of Historical interest, been wowed by Design skills, got motivated by projects and podcasts about the people that inspire us, worked out to a variety of Circuit activities and completed many a Cuardach Focail! Keep up the great work, and thank you to all the parents for your involvement and emails.