Spring Newsletter, 2023
School Opening/Closing
Our school will be closed on Friday the 17th of March for St. Patricks Day and on Monday the 20th of March to facilitate a Staff Training Day.
Our school will close on Friday, the 31st of March, at 12 noon for our Easter holidays. Our school will re-open on Monday the 17th of April at 9:20am. Our bus has been informed.
Failte!
We would like to welcome Brendan Smith and his family to Sneem and our school .We hope Brendan will be happy and secure in our care.
We would also like to welcome Tara and Luka Kunic to our school. We hope they too will be very happy in our care.
Science with Mr.D
In Term 2 we had the great pleasure of welcoming Mr.D back to school. Chucks love of Science is infectious and his classes are just inspirational. In Term 2 the pupils worked with:
PULLEYS AND LEVERS
Strand: Energy and Forces
Key Words: Pulleys, Levers, Fulcrum, Effort, Load
1. Students are in groups. They visit each Station for a few minutes to get some experience with the Pulley System that is featured:
A. Fixed Pulley
B. Moveable Pulley
C. Compound Pulley
D. Block and Tackle Pulley System – This system is different from the others in that it provides a Mechanical Advantage.
E. Zip-Line – This is a special type of pulley system that uses gravity to move the Load from top to bottom. Moving along a taut rope works the best.
2. Seesaw – The Seesaw is a Lever with a Fulcrum, a Load and Effort is required to lift the load. Sitting on the Seesaw is one of the best ways to experience how it actually works.
CATAPULTS
Strand: Energy and Forces, Materials
Key Words: Catapult, Trajectory, Lever, Prediction, Examples of Levers
1. The catapult is an ancient weapon of war designed to hurl a large stone or boulder. It was mostly used to damage the thick walls of castles.
2. Catapults are actually levers. There are many other examples of levers that we use in everyday life. Some examples include:
A Fork, Knife, Spoon, Hammer, Screwdriver, Stapler, Nutcracker, Scissors, even your own arms and legs!
3. We use catapults now for fun by hurling plastic balls at a target or for a friend to catch with their hands.
4. Catapults can sometimes be adjusted a bit to provide a certain trajectory that helps one predict where the bit of paper will land.
5. Trajectory is an important concept especially for air and space travel.
Our Spring Basketball League
Our Spring Basketball League is once again being played with speed and skill. The Senior Room are putting on competitive and entertaining displays each day at breaktime.We are currently at the semi -final stage…
A special thank you to Mr.Hussey for organising and refereeing each match.
St. Brigids Day Crosses
During the week leading up to St.Brigids Day the Senior Room collected rushes and made St.Brigids Day crosses with the help and support of Mrs. Dignam in the Junior Room.
Valentine’s Day Art
To celebrate St .Valentine’s Day each pupil in the school completed one piece of Art for their parents .Poetry and rhymes were in abundance on beautiful Art throughout the school. This Art was all taken home and presented to our parents as appreciation gifts later in the day.
Our First Confession
Our First Confession ceremony took place on the 1st of February this year. Congratulations to Teddy, Haylee and Bradley.
Thank you to Mrs. Long and Fr .O .Brien for organising and facilitating this special ceremony.
The Visit of Sam Maguire
We were all very grateful to PJ Reidy and Gavin Crowley for bringing the Sam Maguire Cup to our school .Eight years is a long time to wait to lift Sam and that is why without much prompting every child ( and some adults) lined up to lift this famous cup that is synonymous with Kerry football .
Ciarraí Abú!
Continuous Professional Development
In line with Department of Education and Skills guidelines our school will be closed on Monday the 20th of March to facilitate a staff training day on the Primary Language Curriculum Framework .
Our Walking Float
Thank you to all our parents for your support and help with our walking float. Our pupils are working hard both at home and in school to prepare their costumes.We hope everyone enjoys St.Patricks Day and that our Walking Float is colourful , bright and fun.
We will once again be fundraising for our school on St .Patricks Day. We will send out a request for volunteers shortly.
Infant News
Spring is a busy time in the Infant classroom.
*In January, the Junior Room thought about themselves and their bodies .They practised making healthy choices when picking food to eat and also practiced washing and looking after our baby dolls.
*They also planted and observed seeds and how they grow and they hope to have lots of peas to eat in the summertime.
*In Science, they explored what a plant needs to grow and hope to prove that a plant needs light ,water and soil.
*They also discussed the Farm and all the jobs the farmer has to do at this time of year.
*In February, the Junior Room learned about Chinese New Year. This is the year of the rabbit so to celebrate this, Chinese Lanterns were made.
February brought more opportunities to cook and pancakes were made on Pancake Tuesday.
In Maths they completed a survey to discover their favourite toppings with Nutella being a clear winner!
To celebrate Valentine’s Day they then made Kandinsky inspired heart painting to be taken home.
Middle Room News
The middle room are enjoying all things creative. They are busy rehearsing their play “The Snow White Rap” and hope to unveil their performance before Easter. Pupils spent a lot of time creating Valentine heart mobiles especially for their loved ones on Valentine’s Day. They also learned about Claude Monet and painted their own works inspired by Monets Japanese Gardens.
For the month of March, the Middle Room will be focussing on Fitness and engaging in daily exercise. Their timetable includes Aerobic classes, jogging, local walks and swimming. They hope to boost their bodies ’fitness and mood, both of which contribute to overall health and wellbeing.
Senior Room News
Our Senior Room prepared their own newsletter. Informative and interesting it is well worth a read.
Football with PJ Reidy
Football takes place on alternate Fridays with PJ Reidy. We are delighted to have PJ with us again this year.
EAL Classroom
In order to meet the ever changing needs of our school we have set up an EAL classroom complete with new portable whiteboard.
Our EAL students are taught in this classroom by Ms. Leanne O Neill.
sneemschool.ie
Our website is up and running .Do have a look!
Lá na Pancóga 21.2.2023
On the 21st of February last some of our classes made and served delicious pancakes.
Ash Wednesday/Ashes
On the first day of Lent our classes receiving the Sacraments this year attend Mass and received their ashes.
Later in the morning Fr. O Brien visited our school and distributed ashes to everyone.
Thank you, Fr.O .Brien.
Kealan O Sullivan/Pobalscoil
Congratulations to our fourth class pupil Kealan O Sullivan who won the Pobalscoil Inbhear Scéine Musical Colouring Competition recently. Kealan received two tickets to see their Musical “High School Musical “ last weekend.
Comhghairdeas,Kealan!
Barnardos Online Safety
On the 10th of March next Ms. Noreen Murnane of Barnardos will visit our school and give talks to all pupils from 1st class up on Online Safety.
Continuous Professional Development
We believe that training and upskilling is an integral part of our work. This term several staff members retrained and upskilled in the following areas
Joyce Indicators of Effective Practice in ASD
Claudine Dyslexia/Dyslexia Association of Ireland
Stephanie, Marion, Leanne ,Claudine: Assistive Technology in the Classroom
Wellbeing
Our school is embracing wellbeing which is process of well becoming this year..
Our School Self Evaluation process is ongoing.
We believe wellbeing is omnipresent and that it is our job to work daily to ensure all our pupils are doing well and feeling well in our care.
The Staff questionnaire was recently distributed and we are currently compiling the results…
Kerry County Mobile library
Kerry County Mobile library visits our school every fortnight. We are very grateful to them for parking in our bus stop and giving our pupils time to discover the joys of reading.
World Book Day
World Book Day took place recently with all our pupils enjoying this special day.The Infants dressed up as their favourite characters while activities took place throughout the school to celebrate reading and the wonders of books.
Mise le Meas,
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Áine Murphy (Principal and Staff )