May 23 2025

Heritage Workshops

Frankie, an archaeologist, heritage-educator and ancient craft specialist was in our school for three days this week and the experience for the children was amazing. She showed immense preparation and patience, her knowledge was incredible and the workshops were loved by all involved-teachers and students alike. Such a positive experience that allowed History to come to life for all our 2nd 3rds and 4th classes. She showed us many artefacts from the Norman times that she herself had unearthed around London and Dublin. She showed us chainmail that had a hole from where the arrow head went in – they could tell the exact type of arrowhead from this hole. She showed us playing cards that she had found in the walls of a Norman castle – dated 700 years ago. She had a posy which was used by people to ward off getting the plague. We saw many arrows, spears, horns, teeth, clothes and games from the middle ages. Frankie answered numerous questions from the children and we learned so much about what life was like in Norman times for girls and boys and grown ups. Life was very different back then. Norman boys had to start training with a bow and arrow from the age of 7 – and you had to be very strong to do this. Before then they had target practice by trying to get a ball into a cup with one hand. The classes had a competition and some of the children were brilliant at doing it! The workshops ended with a quiz.
Category: Second Class, Third Class, Fourth Class, S.E.S.E, History | Comments Off on Heritage Workshops
May 2 2025

Update from 2nd Class

Second Class have had a busy few weeks! We have been doing lots of hands-on maths, enjoying learning about money, weight and capacity. In S.E.S.E we’ve learnt about the weather and we conducted experiments on the water cycle, evaporation and making our own rain clouds. We did a fun maths Easter egg trail before the break and loved cracking the passcode to the treasure chest of treats! We also have been doing lots of art including making St. Patrick’s Day rainbows, pointillism Spring flowers, salt dough Easter eggs and Mother’s Day and Easter cards. A huge congratulations to Maya who achieved a special merit for her beautiful portrait of her grandad in the Texaco Art Competition. We are so proud of her! Finally, the weather has been so lovely lately that we’ve been able to have our lunch outside!

Category: Second Class, Numeracy, S.E.S.E, Art | Comments Off on Update from 2nd Class
April 10 2025

Sunflowers!

First Class have been loving learning all about the life cycle of a flowering plant! They have even planted their own sunflowers which are growing very nicely!

Category: First Class, S.E.S.E | Comments Off on Sunflowers!
April 9 2025

Kilmainham Gaol – 6th Class Visit

On Monday, both 6th Classes travelled to Kilmainham Gaol. The children have been learning about the 1916 Easter Rising as part of their History study. They got to explore the chapel, the Civil War cells, the Stonebreakers’ yard and the Museum. For many, the highlight was the recognition that a famous ‘prisoner’ had been Paddington Bear, as the gaol had been a location for the Paddington 2 film.

Category: Sixth Class, S.E.S.E | Comments Off on Kilmainham Gaol – 6th Class Visit
April 9 2025

News from 3rd Class

3rd class have been making bird nests and rafts with Mouse, our nature specialist! They have also planted cress, salad leaves, peas, french beans and sunflower seeds and are really enjoying watching them grow into tall, healthy flowers! 

In addition, they have paired up with all of the children in Ms. O’ Crowley’s Senior Infants and they are writing personalised books for each of them! Check out our Social Media Platforms for some photographs.

Category: Senior Infants, Third Class, S.E.S.E | Comments Off on News from 3rd Class
February 14 2025

Rainforests

Second Class have been learning all about the rainforest. As part of our learning, we embarked on an art project, working collaboratively, to create the four layers of the rainforest – forest floor, understory, canopy and emergent layers.
We built dioramas of the rainforest using shoeboxes. Each child created their own diorama which we joined together to create the exhibit. Initially we had to work together to ensure that the trees in the shoebox above and below us lined up correctly. We used cardboard tubes to create the trees and painted the boxes. We then added different materials to create vines, flowers and leaves. We created animals relating to our layer out of clay before painting them and adding them to the boxes. Finally we stuck all the boxes together to create our rainforest!
Category: Second Class, S.E.S.E, Art | Comments Off on Rainforests
February 12 2025

Update from 6th Class

In January and February, 6th class enjoyed ball skills with Coach Steve. We have also been learning all about World War II. As part of our World War II theme we have been reading “The boy in striped pyjamas” , learning about the allies and axis and we have been making battle scenes. We hope to display our projects after midterm. We’ve been baking as part of our procedural writing genre for English too! Take a look at some of the photographs below!

Category: Sport, Sixth Class, S.E.S.E, History | Comments Off on Update from 6th Class
November 22 2024

Leave No Trace

6th Class recently participated in the Leave No Trace program, engaging in a series of workshops focused on environmental protection and the preservation of Shankill’s local amenities.

As part of the program, the class visited Shanganagh Park, where they explored nature trails and identified various facilities within the community. Following this, the students worked on projects reflecting their learnings, which they presented at the conclusion of the workshops.

This project has helped with our understanding of environmental stewardship but also highlighted the importance of our local resources here in Shankill.

Category: Green Team, Sixth Class, S.E.S.E | Comments Off on Leave No Trace