St Mary's Boys National School

May 2021 School Newsletter

Ní neart go cur le cheile

May is the month when Catholics traditionally focus on Mary, the Mother of Jesus. This practice dates back at least 700 years ago and is still observed around the world today. May is seen as the beginning of new life and the start of summer, which makes this a logical time for the celebrations of Mary, who brought life into the world.

Junior Entrepreneur Programme: Sixth Class have been busy finishing their JEP project. Their company ‘SMMINC’ has sold over 200 masks and the boys have successfully made a 15 Euro profit each as well as gaining back their investment of 22 Euro each. They will be donating 10% of their profit to the charity, Laura Lynn. The class did so well that JEP chose them as a participating class for next year's project booklet and website! The founders of JEP visited the classroom last week to take photos, videos and to interview the class on their experience of JEP. It was great fun!

Soccer skills with Mount Merrion FC: Second Class pupils are being treated to the expertise from a Mount Merrion F.C Soccer coach every Wednesday.  Second class have been working on their soccer skills and playing small games with Willie Boland, a former premier league player with Coventry City.

Class News

Junior Infants: We continued on with our Starlight oral language lessons and we learned about all types of safari animals. We also painted self-portraits as we were learning about different feelings in S.P.H.E. We continued on with the StaySafe programme on touches. In Maths we revised money and made cutouts of coins and put them in our Aistear cafe for Aistear playtime. We read the story ‘Monkey Puzzle’ by Julia Donaldson and made some giraffe pictures from our story ‘The Gingerbread Man’ is loose at the Zoo.

Second Class: We are starting to do the Standardised Tests (Drumcondra’s) and will have Spellings, English, Irish and Maths completed by the end of the month. In Maths, we started a new topic, DATA, and the boys have been constructing their own Block Graphs on all the sports played by the boys in the class. In SPHE, we are looking at ‘safety strategies’ and ‘making good choices.’ The boys completed their own individual ‘Safety Passport’, which encourages them to know their own address, and at least one parent’s mobile number, by heart.

Fourth Class: Mr de Paor’s class have been busy learning about the different species of Birds in Booterstown Marsh and beyond. We visited the marsh armed with our binoculars for a spot of Bird Watching and wrote up a fact file on a variety of Bird’s which we made an information book from. In English, we have been reading Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”. The boys have also been watching the original film looking at comparisons between the movie and the book. In Art, the boys also created their own Sweet/Chocolate Packaging of their own.

Fifth Class: Rang a Cúig have been focusing on the very topical English theme of Staycations and reading stories such as ‘Why holidays at home are awesome’ and ‘There’s snow better Holiday’. The boys then engaged in an oral debate on the topic of Staycations at home. In Maths, the boys focused on problem-solving and key revision areas for reinforcement. The boys have also been placing great emphasis on Gaeilge labhartha and developing their conversational oral Irish.

Africa Day 2021: On the 25 of May we celebrated Africa Day and many Irish people’s African heritage. To celebrate this we have learned to say the simple phrase “Hello” in a number of African languages including, but not limited to Igbo, Amharic and Somali.

1. Hello in Igbo - Nnọọ (nou)
2. Hello in Amharic - እው ሰላም ነው (iwi selami newi)
3. Hello in Somali - Waad salaaman tihiin (sigeta hie)
4. Hello in Hausa - Barka dai (Bara kadai)
5. Hello in Zulu - Sawubona (Sauw bona)

Many thanks to Seán Murtagh and Deon Xavier in 5th Class for editing and writing this newsletter!

Fan Sabháilte agus Slán go Fóill!