Convent Primary School
Roscommon
www.conventprimaryroscommon.ie /
Each person through positive learning experiences will be stimulated to achieve his/her full potential, face life confidently, find fulfilment and be respectful in an ever-changing world.
*Halloween mid-term break: starts 28th October, School re-opens on Monday, 4th November.
As is traditional in our school the Parents Association is running a ‘Dress-Up’ day on this Friday. Families are asked to search all corners, pockets, furniture at home for brown coins and request that as many as possible ‘brown coins’ be brought to school on Friday. The Parents Association has also organised a collection of second-hand clothes to be dropped into the school on Wednesday, 20th November. Our school is a better place because of the support we get from our Parents Association.
“DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME” CHOIR: Thank you 3rd – 6th class pupils who sang in the choir at the special mass for families in the parish, who have children making their First Communion. Children from 3rd – 6th classes in all primary schools in Roscommon town are invited to sing in this choir. A special thank you to Margaret King (parent) for singing with/leading the choir!
The choir sing again on the 3rd November, at 10.30am, the Sunday before we return to school after the mid-term break.
*Information evenings for parents: On behalf of the school community I want to thank sincerely the teachers who prepared and facilitated the information evenings for parents. A recent visit from our local inspector Máire Ní Mháirtín affirmed the wonderful work done by our teachers each and every day. She described their work as “superb”. Feedback from parents who attended the meetings has been very positive with parents telling me how they found the sessions informative and very worthwhile. Individual parent/teacher meetings are scheduled for the end of November.
*Project to promote among parents, ‘a sense of belonging’ in our school community: Thank you to Ms. Morris (Deputy Principal) for spearheading this project. On Tuesday night seven parents attended a meeting to discuss the above. Although small in number, the group came up with some very good suggestions including:
For parents of Junior Infants: On Friday November 8th and every following Friday: parents meet at the school at 1pm and go for a walk for an hour, ensuring they are back at the school at 2pm to pick up their children. Everyone is welcome!
For parents of Senior Infants: A bowling evening will be held in UPSIE DAISIES on Friday, November 8th at 5pm. As a parent of a senior infant I look forward to seeing you there!
If you have any other suggestions as to how we can better get to know each other and become more involved in the school please contact Ms. Morris (0879316673).
*MATHS WEEK – October 12th to 20th : Building on the success of last year, Maths Week 2013 was well received in Scoil Mhuire. There was a notable buzz around the school and there was a definite pull to all things mathematical. Classes and children could be found taking part in Maths Trails, targetboard challenges, exploring world famous mathematicians and playing various maths loop games and board games up and down the halls of the school. Thank you to Mrs. Dolan for co-ordinating events.
The closing date for the “Maths Eyes” competition has been extended to Monday, 4th November. All you have to do is capture ‘maths in our environment’ by taking a photo. Don’t forget to include a caption. Looking at the entries so far, it is going to be difficult to choose a winner.
*Junior Infants: Our Aistear theme for October was ‘School’. The children loved impersonating the staff. Our sounds for this month were p, n, c and ‘k’. We introduced the children to the Tricky Words, ‘I’, ‘is’ ‘in’ ‘the’ and vocabulary related to the ‘school’ theme. In Gaeilge we covered ‘Éadaí’, ‘Bia’ (food) and ‘Oíche Shamhna’ (Halloween). SESE (Social Environmental and Science Education) was all about Autumn. We collected leaves and conkers. We discussed the Squirrel and the Hedgehog and learned about Hibernation. We made squirrels using crepe paper for his bushy tail. For Halloween we made spiders and blobby monsters.
*Senior Infants
This October our Senior Infant theme was ‘School’. The children didn’t need much encouragement to imitate their teachers and other staff members! In Maths we have been working on the story of 6 and two dimensional shapes. We have also been discussing ‘Autumn’ and we took the children on a nature walk, which they really enjoyed. The topics in Irish this month were ‘Éadaí’ (clothes) and ‘Ag siopadóireacht’ (shopping). Please encourage your child to tell you what he/she has learned.
*First and Second classes have been learning all about the season of Autumn. We had a wonderful time exploring our local natural environment. We are also enjoying working in our small groups during our ‘station teaching’ time when we focus on comprehension skills, phonics, free writing and oral language. Maths week was a huge success. The children had a great time playing Maths games and completing maths trails. In 2nd the girls are trying their best to continue to play the challenges set for them in Mangahigh. We encourage you all to keep up the good work! We are all getting very excited thinking about Halloween. We have learned lots of Halloween poems and songs, as well as exploring the theme of Halloween through art.
*Third and Fourth classes
For November, 3rd and 4th classes will be studying the Egyptians, weather and climate and how materials change when they're heated or cooled. We will also be continuing with station teaching in our classes. We hope you will encourage the girls to complete their Mangahigh challenges as the month progresses. We will be developing gaeilge with new vocabulary and phrases based on the theme of shopping(ag siopadóireacht)- every girls dream!! Happy hallowe'en!!
Maths Week and Mangahigh: Congratulations to all of the girls who participated in Mangahigh for maths week. Of the 725 schools who participated our school was placed 19th in Ireland. A fantastic achievement for our first year participating in this competition. We hope that the engagement and excitement that we have seen over the last week will continue right through the year. Parents, many thanks for your support. Our girls earned a total of 1,534 medals so far! Keep up the great work. A sincere thank you to Ms. Crean for organising this activity in 2nd – 6th classes.
*Fifth and Sixth classes have been very busy this October. In numeracy, sixth classes have explored lines, angles, 2-D shapes and representing data. Fifth classes have been hypothesising multiplication and decimals – so much work! As well as all this, all classes have been enjoying Maths week by taking part in the Manga High ‘Fai Tao’. In SESE, we’re exploring World War I globally and how it affected Ireland. We’re also exploring Ireland’s landmass and its natural features. In Science we’ve been experimenting with light and sound. Senior Infant – 6th class pupils had the pleasure of watching a fabulous contemporary dance display this month, performed by a dance troupe from Wexford and we even got to take part in a dance workshop. In November, we look forward to extending our knowledge in literacy, focusing on grammar, comprehension, oral language, vocabulary development and writing in our small, station teaching groups. In numeracy we’re revisiting division and exploring fractions in its many facets. In SESE, following on from WWI we will research World War II. We will be studying the physical and political geography of Galway. In Science we’re exploring the human immune system and the way the body protects itself from infection. We’ll continue with our Manga High endeavours, hoping to add more medals to our already large tally.