After a bit of cutting and folding, the children were left with a fun resource to help test their friends on their tables with. Other hands-on maths activities during maths this week included using lollipop sticks to make groups and knock-out oral maths games.
Congratulations to our Star Award winners for October! One pupil from each classroom was selected by their class teacher and the award winners were presented with certificates at today’s assembly. They were also given a night off homework for their efforts!
Here are some of the fantastic pieces of art currently on view in our school.
The children had been receiving coaching from FAI Development Officer Barry McGann in recent weeks and this was an opportunity to showcase what they had picked up. Both our boys and girls performed very well. The girls finished second in their competition and the boys finished top of their category following a penalty shoot-out with Cappamore. Well done to everyone that took part.
Thank you to everyone that contributed to the Cheerios Childline Breakfast which helped raise €182 for ISPCC Childline Services.
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During October 2nd and 3rd class enjoyed learning how to write letters. Each child sent a letter to a friend or relative and we have been receiving replies from people in Ireland, England, America and Australia!
The pupils of third and fourth class designed and constructed the rockets using a variety of materials. Their designs were inspired by prior study of The Space Race and the International Space Station. Each rocket was graded in terms of appearance/design and its performance in flight. These scores were provided by the pupils of fifth and six class. The winning group was group 3!
Today we came into school like normal. When everyone was in, Mrs. Heelan told us to clean off our tables. We had no idea why but she just said it was a surprise. After we cleared up everything she announced we were having a visitor. We’ve had all sports people coming to us but today we were having someone teach us chess. His name was John Alfred and he knew quite a lot about it. Some people knew how to play chess but some people had no idea how to do it.
He hd a big leather board which he hung on the wall and he also had some plastic chess pieces which he slotted onto the board. He taught us some history about the game. He then took some flat boards and pieces out of his bag. We were sorted into pairs and told how the pieces worked and what we could do with them. First we learned about the pawns. The pawns could only move forward and take diagonally. If they made it to the other side of the board it could turn into any other piece apart from the King. Then we learned about the Queen. This piece can be moved in any direction as far as it wants. We learned about the Rook and Bishop next. The rook can only be moved forwards, backwards and sideways. The bishop is a completely different story and can only be moved diagonally. Next we learned about the most complicated piece on the board, the Knight. The knight is unusual because it moves in L shapes. It is also the only piece that can jump other pieces. Last but not least the King. The king can only move one space at a time in any direction. It also can’t be captured. You must checkmate it to win. All the pieces have different points and probabilities:
Pawn =1 point
Bishop = 3 points
Knight = 3 points
Rook = 5 points
Queen = 9 points
King = The Game
We played a couple of games after this against each other. He stayed with us until 12 o’clock. And overall I found it quite fun and I’m sure everyone else did. We all said thanks to John and left. After this day we’re ordering a couple of own chess sets to play with in school. Chess is a great, unique game that I love and I hope you like it too.
Darragh Connaughton, Sixth Class
