Despite the inclement weather lots has been happening in St Anne’s over the past month.
Parent teacher meetings for the infant classes were held at the start of the month. Thanks to all who attended the meetings. As always, please contact us if there is any matter you wish to discuss.
Sports teams: Congratulations to our senior soccer team who were narrowly beaten in the final of the Leixlip Soccer Blitz last week. A great performance by all!
Our hurlers did well in the local blitz at the GAA Field yesterday with one team emerging victorious. We are proud of all the participants.
We wish our basketball team well for their outing next Tuesday
ESB Science Blast- We wish our 5th class every success tomorrow as they represent the school at the ESB Science Blast at the RDS tomorrow. Well done on the great explorations and investigations that have been going on in recent weeks.
Paired Reading: Thanks to all the volunteers who are helping us with the paired reading programme in senior infants. I know that great reading will be done in the coming weeks.
Library and Reading Updates: Many thanks to all who did the Library Survey – we will be looking at the suggestions for purchasing soon and aim to keep the library well-stocked with all your suggestions.
Next Thursday is World Book Day. All are invited to take part in the Share a Million Stories initiative (note sent to all this week), starting today. In St Anne’s we are aiming to share 10,000 stories by the end of March.
The School Book Fair is on from March 18th -20th . Friday March 20th is dress in your favourite character day. I look forward to seeing some great costumes.
Seachtain na Gaeilge:
In St Anne’s we will be running Seachtain na Gaeilge from March 9th to 12th– beidh gníomhachtaí eagsúla ar siúl ar feadh na seachtaine! Labhair Gaeilge Linn!
Lá Glas will be on March 12th .
National Denim Day for Dementia– this Friday March 6th . All are invited to wear some denim and to bring €2 (suggested amount) to support the cause. Thanks to the PSG for their promotion of this
Sacraments and Events:
On Monday night, March 2nd, 6th class will be taking part in the Service of Light. ON the following Monday, March 9th, First Confession will be on. We wish all in 2nd class and 6th class every joy in their preparation.
Wellbeing and Keeping Fit
All students are taking part in the Destination Challenge at the moment. Classes undertake to ‘travel’ to a destination by walking /running the school circuit of 1 km. If there are 30 in your class, then each circuit will be 30km and so on. It is wonderful to see all the activity going on and all the fresh air being taken in. Well done all.
Let’s see who reaches their destination first!
New Approaches:
Flexible seating is an approach used to improve the learning environment in the classroom. This year, Junior Infants are experimenting with this seating approach and so far, it is working very well. It is important to point out that it may not work with all classes.
For part of the school day, the Junior Infants transition from the traditional approach such as sitting on a chair to sitting on a cushion or classroom rug.
Rather than having children spend periods of time in sedentary seating arrangements, where the body can become inflexible or stiff, changing seating positions during the day can improve focus, enhance learning and reduce discipline issues. Incorporating movement transitions between lessons improves co-ordination and balance, muscles are challenged by sitting or standing in different positions, all of which benefit the young child physically as they grow.
Even some adults have adjusted to standing tables in offices around the world
Ms. Brophy is a certified Pilates Instructor and has incorporated her knowledge of functional movement in the classroom. See Gallery section for photos of groups at work in her class.
New Curriculum
You may be interested in viewing the plans for a new Primary School Curriculum see https://ncca.ie/en/resources/ncca-primary-curriculum-framework-2020pdf
The plans are at the early stage now, with consultations going on and I’m sure much will be discussed on the format of this Curriculum over the coming years.
Covid-19
We are all aware of the reports on COvid-19 over recent days. Schools are kept informed by the Department of Education on best approaches and updates re the spread of the virus.
At assembly we have spoken to the children about the virus and have re-iterated key messages of
- Cover your cough and sneeze
- Wash your hands – count to 20
Posters are on display in the school.
We will continue to monitor and take guidance from the Department and will update you on this as required.
In the meantime, we invite you to send in a washbag with a cloth for your child to dry his/her hands and we ask that you go over hygiene practices with your child.