Barrington Stokes Books

We are delighted to have received a massive order of specialised high-low readers from Barrington Stokes which were sourced for us by the wonderful ladies at Bridge Street Books.

These books are specially printed specifically for children who have dyslexia or who find reading more of a challenge, to make reading more enjoyable and achievable. A large amount of money was invested in these books with thanks to the Parents Association and we were very grateful to Bridge Street Books who helped this go even further by giving us a 10% discount on our order.

We hope the books will be enjoyed by many children for years to come!

Construction Project from 3rd class

Some children in 3rd class spent a long time working together today to build this very impressive rocket. It took time, patience and a lot of team work! Well done to all!

Worry Boxes

Each class has had a worry box introduce to their classroom. This is an idea brought forward, and made, by the Well Being committee as a way for children who have something on their minds but are unable to express it. The children can now, in confidence, put anything that is on their mind into the box which will be monitored by the teachers.

Well Being Committee

We are delighted to have set up our schools first Well Being Committee which is made up of a group of very enthusiastic students from 2nd-6th class. We are looking forward to how we can improve and develop the well being of our school community.

Yoga in Nun's Cross

Allyson Dowling kindly came in a do 3 yoga sessions with the younger classes. Each class got their own session, which they fully enjoyed and were nice and relaxed afterwards!

Well-Being Week

All next week there will be a big focus on all things well-being in Nuns Cross and we celebrate our first well-being week. Each class will focus a little extra time on activities such as mindfulness colouring, DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read), extra classes outside (weather permitting), breathing and relaxation activities and more. 

We are also thrilled to have some visiting experts to help us this week. Allyson Dowling has kindly offered to come in a do 3 yoga sessions with the younger classes, Claire Andrews, who runs Wicklow Yoga (www.wicklowyoga.com) is kindly giving her time to do yoga with 3rd and 4th class and Nina Scott, who runs Nina Scott Pilates (www.ninascottpilates.com) has made space in her busy diary to come and do some pilates with 5th and 6th class. We really appreciate the time these 3 mums are giving to come and do these classes with the children. The effect that good nutrition has on our well-being is something that is well known and we are delighted to have another one of our fantastic mums, Maija Tweeddale, who is a nutritional therapist, coming in to spend two days teaching the children all about good nutrition.  

We will be ending the week with a fundraiser by holding an Amber Day. We hope to see as much amber/orange around the school as possible and this will be to raise funds, and awareness, for two causes. The first is for Pieta House, a fantastic charity who help so many people who are in their darkest place. To find out more about their services please go to https://www.pieta.ie/about.  Some of the money raised will also go towards developing our sensory room. Our sensory room came up as the number 1 resource the children feel that Nun's Cross has to help, and to care for, their mental health and well being in our school. It also came up as the number one thing the children would like to see improved in our school so we will be trying to invest in it as much as we can this year. The sensory room is a small space, but a very valuable space to any child in our school who just needs a safe space for a while, some where to decompress, let off some steam or to just be calm. We hope that this fundraiser will be something you will support generously.  

Finally, all children will receive well-being focused homework this week in place of the normal writing, tables, spellings etc. This homework is based on the wheel of well-being which highlights 6 different areas we should focus on in order to have good mental health and well-being. We are all good at looking after some areas but not as good at looking after others so this is designed so the children will have choice over what area they would like to work on each day. If there is something outside of the suggestions that your child would rather focus on for their personal well-being then, of course, that is fine. No documentation needs to be done each evening however your child may be asked, over the course of the week, to feed back on activities they have engaged in for homework. 

Well being homework for Junior Infants - 2nd class

Well-being homework for 3rd-6th class

Fruit and Veg Tasting In Junior Infants

Its a new year and we have a new topic in Junior Infants. We are focusing, for the month of January, on different aspects of having a healthy body. First up, eating a broad and balanced diet!

Today we had a very exciting tasting session where we got the chance to taste lots of different fruits and vegetables! We tried bananas, sugar snap peas, peppers, pears, carrots, oranges, strawberries, mushrooms, lettuce, celery and pineapple. Most children tried everything, with lots of children discovering lots of new foods that they like!

We kept track of our tasting and noted our opinions on each food. There wasn’t any food left at the end as the children hoovered up all the healthy goodness! Apologies to mum and dad if there is no room for dinner tonight!

Gingerbread houses in 5th and 6th

This week in 5th and 6th class we attempted to bake gingerbread houses. In a week which saw us perform our Gogglebox Christmas Special play for our parents, we knew this was always going to be ambitious. On Wednesday we made our gingerbread dough. We used a template to which was carefully measured to ensure our house would assemble correctly. On Wednesday and Thursday we baked the gingerbread. On Friday, having collected our gingerbread, we noticed that there were a number of casualties. We took great care in mixing up some edible glue using icing sugar and water we carried out some running repairs. Having done this we carefully assembled our houses. In a number of cases, we opted for 2-d or even flat packed houses, but there were also a number of successes!

Having enjoyed the baking so much this week, we have decided to set up a Friday Treats system in the class where the students will operate a rota system of baking their speciality for the class.

Christmas Art In Junior Infants

The Junior Infants have been so creative this week and have completed lots of Christmas themed crafts! We have been colouring, cutting, sticking and painting all week! Look at all their wonderful creations!

Santa Visit

We thought we were losing our minds this morning when we saw Santa out the window! But it really was him! He came to our school, with some of his elves, and visited each class with his very special book. Thankfully all of the children in Nun’s Cross were on the good pages and were lucky enough to get a present from Santa!

Christmas Shows

Each class has put a tremendous amount of work into their very special Christmas productions this year. Hours of work have gone into singing, dancing, acting, art and scriptwriting! From learning lines, performing songs and making props and backdrops, there hasn’t been a minute to spare! All shows were incredibly well attended and many thanks to all the parents and family members for taking the time to come along. The children all enjoyed their time on the stage and it is a great opportunity for them to show off the variety of wonderful talents we have in our school.

Christmas Jumper Day

On Friday 13th December we celebrated Christmas Jumper Day in our school. We all dressed up in our Christmas jumpers and donated money towards Crumlin Children’s Hospital. Having added up the proceeds, we raised a whopping total of 250 euro. Many thanks for all donations.

One Planet!

In October three of our 5th class students started a group called One Planet. Three of our classmates joined the group a little later on. This group aims to raise awareness about our planet and also to raise money to help our planet. So far we have raised 150 euro by making and selling pencil pets. They are basically pets for putting on top of pencils. There wasn’t a set price for these but donations were welcomed, with one euro being the standard amount. The students sold them at their parents work. We have donated this to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and Seal Rescue Ireland.

Making snow in Seniors and 1st Class

The children had a lovely time making snow for this months small world. They worked together in groups using baking soda and hair conditioner to create a very life like representation! Great fun was had by all exploring and playing.

Christmas Story Evening in Seniors and 1st Class

On Tuesday, 10th December, Seniors and 1st Class had a magical evening in school with their teddies. They had hot chocolate and listened to stories in their pyjamas. Lots of their brothers and sisters came and it was a very special evening enjoyed by all.

Rainforest Projects by 2nd Class

2nd class have been working hard over the last few weeks learning all about different rainforest animals. They put together information reports and created a class art project of a rainforest habitat. All the children and parents enjoyed an open afternoon in their classroom displaying all their hard work

Mary Poppins in DCW

The whole school went on a trip this week to The Dominican College in Wicklow Town and were treated to a showing of their annual musical production which, this year, was Mary Poppins.

It was a fantastic show filled with fantastic singing, dancing and props. The children really enjoyed it! Thanks so much to DCW for having us and well done for all their hard work!

Young Whistlers

Last Thursday, two fifth class students went to Kilcoole to be trained as Young Whistlers. This means that next year when they are in 6th class they will be refereeing Cumann na mBunscoil football competitions for younger classes. As part of their training they learned the rules and the importance of concentration. They also received a whistle and a windbreaker to use for competitions.

“ The young whistlers course was really inspiring! I learnt so much about refereeing and concentration! everyone should try it! "

24 Hours of Reality Climate Presentation for 3rd-6th Class

On November 21st, Raoul Empey, father of Thibaud and Marius, joined former US Vice President Al Gore and The Climate Reality Project for 24 Hours of Reality: Truth in Action, a global conversation about the climate crisis and its solutions in communities around the world.

For one full day, Vice President Gore and members of Climate Reality’s network of more than 20,000 Climate Reality Leaders from 154 countries participated by sharing the presentation first made famous by the Academy Award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, in their own communities across the globe. 

Over 1,000 Climate Reality Leaders presented across the globe in community centres, places of worship, homes, schools, businesses, and even on social media. Climate Reality Leaders put truth into action and brought the hopeful message about today’s climate solutions directly to their friends, family, and neighbours.

As a trained Climate Reality Leader, Raoul Empey, presented to the older students in 3rd-6th Class, with the hope of inspiring local action. The children will also have the opportunity at a later date to participate in planting some trees in a local Native Woodlands Scheme in Ashford, as well as spur meaningful action under the school’s green flag.

Raoul’s presentation focused on the local impacts and solutions of the climate crisis in Ireland, especially as they relate to our children. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all the students and very inspirational.

“I have two environmentally minded boys at Nuns Cross, Thibaud aged 10 and Marius aged 8. Naturally I am concerned for their future and that of their friends in a heated world. The scientists and politicians have been speaking about climate change since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 – that’s nearly 30 years – to little effect. Compare what children like Greta Thunberg have done in one year under the school climate strike movement Fridays for Future. Climate change is happening now, and it is their future we are talking about.”

“Millions of people around the world are fed up and demanding urgent action on the climate crisis,” said Al Gore. “The tide is turning, thanks to dedicated activists speaking truth to power every day – including the tireless work of more than 20,000 highly trained and dedicated Climate Reality Leaders. I’m thrilled that this year’s 24 Hours will lift up the voices of the inspiring people carrying the climate movement on their shoulders, and I’m honored to join them for this exciting day of grassroots action and education.”

Those who attend the presentations have the option to have a tree planted on their behalf through a collaboration between The Climate Reality Project and One Tree Planted.

Science Week in Seniors Infants and 1st Class

The children had a great week during Science week. On Monday, they made towers from spaghetti and playdoh and lots of clever ideas led to some very tall structures! On Tuesday, the children learned about ways to save energy in a workshop by the SEAI and already they have begun to become more aware of energy saving in the classroom. On Thursday, we made slime using glue, water and salt - the children were amazed at the results! The class were also inspired by listening to the stories of Stephen Hawking, Marie Curie, Rachel Carson and Alexander Graham Bell. Anything is possible once you put your mind to it! On Friday, we shared science experiments that the children prepared at home. It was a great end to Science Week 2019!