School & Class News

Our Junior Infants have been learning all about Sistine Chapel and the famous artist Michelangelo. The children were fascinated to discover how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel while working high above the ground for many years!

To help us understand what this might have felt like, the children took part in a very exciting art activity. We attached paper underneath the tables and the children lay on their backs to create their own “ceiling paintings,” just like Michelangelo. This fun and unusual experience gave the children a chance to explore art in a completely different way.

The activity also helped to develop important motor skills, including hand strength, pencil control, coordination, and balance. Drawing in this position encouraged the children to use their arm and shoulder muscles in new ways while improving concentration and perseverance.

The children worked so carefully on their colourful masterpieces, and we are delighted to display their beautiful artwork on our classroom ceiling, inspired by the Sistine Chapel itself! We are so proud of the creativity, enthusiasm, and effort shown by all of our little artists.

Our Junior Infants have been very busy learning all about gardening, plants, and caring for our Earth. Through hands-on activities, creative art, music, and play, the children explored the wonderful world of nature all around us.

We began by planting our own seeds. The children loved getting their hands messy with soil and carefully watering their plants each day. We excitedly watched them grow and learnt how important sunshine, water, and care are for healthy plants.

In art, the children created beautiful still life flower studies and crafted delicate snowdrops using a variety of materials. We also designed and decorated flower pots and created our own imaginative flower designs bursting with colour and creativity.

As part of our learning about the Earth and how to care for it, we explored Irish wildlife and discussed ways we can help protect nature. The children enjoyed Earth-themed songs, creating earth art using natural materials, and celebrating World Earth Day together.

To celebrate the Month of May, we made beautiful flowers linked to our RE lessons and discussed how nature is a special gift to us all.

Our classroom role-play area was transformed into a busy garden centre where the children enjoyed pretending to buy plants, arrange flowers, and care for gardens. During construction activities, the children designed and built their own creative gardens using a variety of materials and lots of imagination.

It has been wonderful to see the children develop their curiosity, creativity, teamwork, and sense of responsibility while learning about gardening and the environment. We are so proud of all their hard work

Our Junior Infants had a fantastic time celebrating Engineers Week! Throughout the week, the children explored what it means to be an engineer through stories, discussion, and hands-on activities.

We began by learning about what engineers do—how they design, make, and create things that help people in their everyday lives. This learning is linked closely with SESE (Science), where the children explored materials, structures, and how things work, as well as Oral Language, as they shared their ideas and understanding.

We then became engineers ourselves, using some of our favourite fairy tales as inspiration:

The Three Billy Goats Gruff: The children designed and built their own bridges to help the goats cross safely, linking with Science (Materials and Forces) and Maths, as they considered balance, size, and shape.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears: We created chairs that were “just right,” connecting with Maths (Measures and Size) and Visual Arts, as the children designed and constructed their models.

Room on the Broom: The class worked together to design and build imaginative vehicles, supporting Science (Energy and Forces), Drama, and Oral Language through collaborative storytelling and play.

By the end of the week, the children designed and created their own engineering projects. They proudly presented their creations to their classmates, developing skills in Oral Language, confidence, and communication.

This exciting week supported a wide range of curriculum areas, including STEM, Aistear (play-based learning), Visual Arts (construction), Maths, and SESE, while also encouraging teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving.

It was a fun-filled week of creativity, exploration, and learning. We may have some future engineers in the making!

Over the past few weeks, our Junior Infants have been fully immersed in learning all about The Post through hands-on, playful experiences.

Writing and Posting Our Own Letters
The children each wrote their own letters, carefully placed them in envelopes, and learned how to address them. They designed and created their own stamps before proudly walking to a real post box to post their letters to friends. This real-life experience made the learning meaningful and exciting as the children watched their letters begin their journey.

Our Classroom Post Office
Our role play area transformed into a busy post office!

The children:

Took on the role of postal workers
Sorted letters into different piles (numeracy and literacy)
Stamped envelopes
Delivered mail around the classroom
Worked together as members of a community
Through this role play, they developed oral language, cooperation, and an understanding of community roles.

Building Our Community
Using construction materials and small world toys, the children built towns, villages, and cities. They added roads, houses, post offices, and post boxes to their creations. They explored where post boxes should be placed and how the post van would travel through the community to deliver letters.

Designing Stamps and Postboxes
Creativity was in full swing as the children designed their own colourful stamps and made model postboxes. This supported fine motor development and imaginative thinking.

A Visit from a Real Postman
We were delighted to welcome a real postman to our school. He showed us his post van and explained how he sorts and delivers letters each day. The children asked wonderful questions and loved seeing how it all works in real life.

Envelope Monsters

We used paper to design and create our own Envelope Monsters. The children added eyes, teeth, and lots of colour to make each monster unique. A fun and creative link to our Post theme!

This theme was rich in active learning. The children learned by doing — writing, building, designing, sorting, posting, and delivering. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm as they connected their classroom play to the real world around them.

The Junior Infants have been enjoying their learning both inside and outside the classroom.

Recently, the children went on a very exciting school trip to Dublin city, travelling together by bus, which helped to develop independence, confidence and road safety awareness. Our first stop was Merrion Square Park, where the children explored, played and enjoyed the outdoor environment. This linked closely with SESE learning, as pupils observed nature, seasonal changes and their surroundings, while also developing important social and physical skills through play and cooperation.

We then visited the National Gallery of Ireland, where the children took part in a guided tour designed especially for young learners. The children learned about different artworks, colours and shapes and listened to stories connected to the paintings in a fun and engaging way. This visit strongly supported learning in Visual Arts, encouraging observation, discussion, imagination and an appreciation of art and culture.

Back in school, the Junior Infants have been very busy getting ready for their Christmas show through art, music and drama. The children practised songs, actions and performances, building confidence, creativity and teamwork. They put on fantastic performances and made us all very proud.

We also had lots of fun preparing for Christmas, with some special treats along the way, including a cinema day and a hot chocolate surprise, which the children thoroughly enjoyed!

Well done to our Junior Infants for their excellent behaviour, enthusiasm and hard work!