April/March
February
|
The experience of a lifetime for John this April, when he joined the team at Plunkett Train Station, Waterford for his work placement.
John had an incredible week with Ted and the team..from imputting data in the office each morning, to actually manning the signal box and driving the train! We cannot thank everyone at Plunkett St. enough!! Jack also had a fantastic work placement experience, when he went to train with SMART in Waterford for the week. He had great fun and met friends new and old! |
We were thrilled to have Helen in for our annual Seachtain na Gaelige Hooley!! Great fun was had by all as we Shoed the Donkey and danced the Siege of Ennis!
We've also begun to practice mindfulness in the classroom, and we remeber to take just 5 minutes every day to practice some meditative breathing techniques. 
|
Here are some of the gang, hard at work on their Junior Cycle Portfolios.
|
We are so lucky to be joined by our very own Yoga teacher for the Summer Term!
Karen has been guiding us through some deep breathing exercises, meditations and Yoga movements...as well as treating us to some Reflexology. We're all loving our relaxation time and learning how to quiet our minds. Namaste! 
John and Hannah had a great time on work placement this month. A huge thank you to the staff of Hallahan's Chemist and Garvey's SuperValu, for making the pair feel so welcome and involved!
|
Here we are, out and about collecting clues for a history trail we plan on putting together when the weather warms up!
A very Happy 18th Birthday to this young man!!
Happy birthday Reece!
January
Happy New Year!
We were all happy to settle back in to routine after all the hustle and bustle of December...
|
We had such a great time learning to line dance to this month's school assembly song 'Wagon Wheel'...after some initial tying ourselves up in knots, and a few stepped on toes, we had the dance down to a tee..Yeeeeehaw!!! |
The Leavers put a lot of effort into brainstorming, discussing, investigating and reviewing all the big news stories from 2017.
The year was made up of such memorable stories..some truly tragic, some sporting, some weather related... President Trump appeared alot!
We all really got on board with this project and it was so interesting hearing each others opinions on each of the stories.
Here is a sample of some of our Winter themed art.
We experimented with mixing darker shades with lighter ones to create a frosty, moonlit night scene.
We were really happy with the results!
Going with our Winter theme, we decided to embrace the American tradition of Groundhog Day!
Groundhog Day is a tradition originating from the town of Punxsutawney, Pennyslvania. On February 2nd every year the town celebrates the legendary groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil emerging from his home. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he has predicted 6 more weeks of winter-like weather. If he does not see his shadow then an early spring is forecast.
Unfortunately, Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter weather for 2018...but hey, at least we had cake!!!
Groundhog Day is a tradition originating from the town of Punxsutawney, Pennyslvania. On February 2nd every year the town celebrates the legendary groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil emerging from his home. According to the tradition, if Phil sees his shadow and returns to his hole, he has predicted 6 more weeks of winter-like weather. If he does not see his shadow then an early spring is forecast.
Unfortunately, Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter weather for 2018...but hey, at least we had cake!!!
Our second theme of the month was 'Space'.
Running with this we did some internet research on our solar system. We also had a rapid fire buzzer quiz to see who could locate the answers to our space themed questions in the quickest time.
We watched a really interesting documentary on the Big Bang theory and the creation of Earth...there was some really mindblowing nuggets there!!! I think we were all a bit overwhelmed by the idea of infinity and the thought of living without gravity...
We had some fun with creative writing too. Some of us went for 'My Neighbours are Aliens but Nobody Will Believe Me!', there was also 'The Man Who Landed on Another PLanet'.
As usual, the offerings were fantastically entertaining...some were very funny, while others were a bit terrifying!
We discussed constellations and using skewers and marshmalllows we constucted some formations, such as the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor).
Running with this we did some internet research on our solar system. We also had a rapid fire buzzer quiz to see who could locate the answers to our space themed questions in the quickest time.
We watched a really interesting documentary on the Big Bang theory and the creation of Earth...there was some really mindblowing nuggets there!!! I think we were all a bit overwhelmed by the idea of infinity and the thought of living without gravity...
We had some fun with creative writing too. Some of us went for 'My Neighbours are Aliens but Nobody Will Believe Me!', there was also 'The Man Who Landed on Another PLanet'.
As usual, the offerings were fantastically entertaining...some were very funny, while others were a bit terrifying!
We discussed constellations and using skewers and marshmalllows we constucted some formations, such as the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and the Little Dipper (Ursa Minor).
Congratulations to Niamh on her ongoing attainment of achievement awards as part of the IXL Maths Programme. Well Done Niamh...keep up the fantastic work!!
And massive congratulations to Patrick on his 18th birthday, which we all helped him to celebrate this month! Happy Birthday Paddy!
September
September was a busy month for the Leaver's Class...
We were straight back to business in our Woodwork Room and we were all delighted to meet our new Woodwork Teacher. Welcome to St. John's Mr. Morgan! It's going to be so busy over the next few months as we prepare for our annual Christmas Market...
|
|
We had some very special birthday celebrations in September...Happy Birthday John and Hannah!! To mark the special occasion, we treated ourselves to afternoon tea..it's not everyday you turn 18...or 17!!
Our themes for the month of September were 'Myself' and 'School'. Around the theme of 'Myself', we concentrated on poetry and art. We had class discussions about the things which make us individuals, what we have in common, and our own interests and values. We made shadow profiles in art and we also created our own personal profiles.
|
On the subject of school, we delved into the history of St. John's and it's environs. We also took part in an Art Trail based on clues which led to art themed answers..this took us around the school, all around town, and then back to school to solve the final clue. The winning team are pictured looking very happy with themselves..well, their prize was no homework that night!!
|
October
There was a lot going on in the Leaver's Class this month...
We all really enjoyed our trip to the cinema at the start of the month to see the documentary 'A Social History of Grattan Square'. It was a fascinating film. We loved spotting familiar faces and places and hearing about the horse fairs and cattle markets which used to take place in the Square. We all agreed that the opening ariel shots of Dungarvan were just breathtaking...what a beautiful town our school is in! We later wrote up our own movie reviews and in general, the film scored 5 stars. We would all highly recommend it!
The first theme for October was 'Autumn', and we celebrated this colourful season through art and poetry. We had a discussion on the traditional form of Japanese poetry that is 'Haiku'. We then brainstormed about Autumn..lots of different words and images, and with these we wrote our own Autumn Haikus. We then did some wax resist watercolour paintings of Autumn trees, wrote our Haikus onto Autumn leaves, and created our Autumn display board.
This is John's Haiku...
Children fly their kites
Braving strong autumnal wind
Here comes Halloween
