2022
Term 3
A Surprise Visit!
Last week, Verona Murphy (TD) visited our 4th & 5th class and discussed the Blue Star Programme that the children recently participated in. During the discussion, two very important observations were made by pupils, Holly and Nathanael (pictured below).
This week, both Holly and Nathanael received a lovely letter from Verona Murphy's own office up in Dáil Éireann!!
In the letter addressed to Holly, Verona outlines that she had contacted the Wexford Co. Council and that the life buoy on Bannow Island would be checked to ensure there is one available for anyone who may get into difficulty there. Verona complimented Holly for making such an important observation and for voicing her concern.
In Nathanael's letter, Verona thanked him for articulating his concerns for pupils' safety at the nearby pedestrian crossing and Verona ensured that the District Roads Engineer and Director of Services in Wexford Co. Council would visit the pedestrian crossing to see how it can be made safer for all users.
Well done to all our wonderful pupils in Ballymitty for their great work and care in the community!
Strategy Board Games
Here we are putting our problem solving skills to the test with Draughts & Chess.
Sports Day
A fun-filled day from start to finish. Well done to all the boys and girls for their energy and enthusiasm throughout the day. Great fun was had by all!
School Tour
Our class travelled to The Watershed in Kilkenny where they engaged in a variety of activities, including; swimming, air hockey, basketball, dodgeball and soccer on the astro before heading to McDonalds for some well earned lunch. A great day out!
Ballymitty's Got Talent
Well done to our talented pupils from 4th & 5th Class who got through to the final round of BGT. You did yourselves and us very proud.
Congratulations to Nathanael who came in second place with a wonderful performance on the violin.
Erasmus Week 16th - 20th May
Projects
Check out the amazing projects we did on our individual countries. We put a huge amount of time and effort into getting these just right!
Europe Day - Friday 20th May
Meeting & Greeting & Food Tasting!
We each brought in a traditional dish from our individual countries for everyone to sample!
Parents, pupils, teachers, singers and even local politicians paid us a visit to see our fantastic work.
Click here to see the videos of speeches given by Ms.McCarthy, Ms. Robinson, Councillors Jim Codd and Jim Moore, Paul Kehoe, Simon Boyce and our very own pupils.
It was an amazing day and wonderful to see all our hard work paying off as part of the Blue Star Project.
Zoom call with President Roberta Metsola of the European Parliament.
Along with 495 other schools taking part in the Blue Star Project across Europe, we had the wonderful opportunity of engaging with President Metsola through a zoom call to hear about her day to day work as well as her long term plans. Thank you to Ellie, our female representative from 4th Class and Alex, our male representative from 5th Class who volunteered to be the on -screen representation for our class.
Congratulations to our two winners of The Parish Journal Short Story Competition.
Abbie Jefferson - 3rd place. Issey O'Brien - 4th Place. Well done girls!
Ballymitty's Got Talent
There is no doubt about it - Ballymitty N.S. certainly does have talent in abundance. Well done to all who took part in the first round and best of luck for round 2!
Swimming
Well done to all the boys and girls in 3rd & 4th Class for making such wonderful progress throughout their 8 weeks of swimming lessons. Keep up the great work!
Our wonderful underwater dioramas that we made with Ms. Stafford.
Easter Prize Giving 2022
A huge well done all of our winners this term who put in great effort and really stood out in their particular area.
Congratulations Holly, Alex, Mia and Donagh who are pictured below.
Our other winners who weren't present for the photo were: Danny O'Brien, Logan Shepherd, Séamas Wall, Evan Doran, Issey O'Brien, Darragh Sinnott and Aimee Carthy
Well done everyone - you should be very proud of yourselves as we certainly are vey proud of you.
Great excitement as we worked in teams on for our Egg Hunt!
Check out our Pipe Cleaner Superheroes!
We had so much fun making these and every single hero had its own unique style.
Our lovely Scratch Art
March
Here we are working hard on our Mother's Day art because all our mothers work so hard for us!
World Book Day
We had great fun today dressing up as characters from our favourite books and films.
A huge well done to Alex Sinnott who won best dressed for his wonderful recreation of Stanley Yelnats from our class novel 'Holes'.
Following on from our trip to see The Dunbrody Famine Ship, we recreated our own famine ship on paper using pencils, pastels and teabags to add a vintage effect.
Educational Trip 2022
On Wednesday, 2nd March, we went on our educational trip to The Dunbrody Famine Ship and The Kennedy Homestead.
We started our trip with The Dunbrody and the children loved seeing what life was like back in 1845 and exploring the various aspects of the ship. They witnessed a role play between a steerage passenger and a first class passenger and noted the obvious differences between their lodgings and their privileges while on board the ship.
We then travelled to The Kennedy Homestead where we really impressed our guide with all that we had recently learned about The Kennedy Family. We were fascinated by the unique collection of Kennedy memorabilia there and the sitting room with the chair where JFK once sat and drank tea back in 1963 on his visit to Dunganstown.
S.P.H.E.
Learning about the wonder of new life in R.S.E
.
January & February
Talent Show
To showcase all the wonderful talents in 4th & 5th Class, we decided to host our own talent show this year. We were astounded at the level of ability the children have and some of the secret talents that were unveiled. A huge well done to each and everyone of the children who took part. It was fantastic to such a variety of interests that included; magic tricks, drawing skills, soccer drills, music and song, dramas, jokes and even a snippet how to speak Portuguese! A special thanks to our brilliant M.C. Evan who kept the whole show going! Congratulations to you all and keep working on your wonderful talents!
Science - Let there be light!
This term, we have been learning about Electricity - the various sources of electricity, what it needs to function and how to be safe around electricity.
When Storm Eunice made landfall, we lost electricity in school but the pupils in 4th & 5th Class made up for this by making their own light shine!!
The children worked in groups to create simple circuits using a batter, wires and a light bulb.
Sounds Great!!
This term, we have also been learning about sound. We completed a number of experiments exploring sound and even made our own drums using percussion instruments. We observed how sugar and rice moved with the vibrations and we also used a tuning fork with a bowl of water to illustrate vibrations too. We investigated how sound passes through solid materials, using a ruler, table and pen. We also made our own string telephones to further investigate how sound travels.
Art
Love is in the air in 4th and 5th Class as the children did paper weaving to make Valentines cards for someone special.
Clay - Following on from our work on Italy in January, the children made a volcano replicating Mt. Etna from clay.
The children also used clay to make snowmen and searched in the field outside collecting twigs to add to their creations.
St. Brigid's Day
We celebrated St. Brigid's Day by using reeds to make her special cross. It was a bit fiddly but we worked together in pairs to help each other and were very proud of our end results.
Blue Star Programme
4th and 5th Class have begun the Blue Star Programme with Ms. McCarthy. It takes place every Thursday. This programme teaches the children about various European cultures and the union itself through creative activities and projects. Each child has now chosen a country that they will learn about more in the coming weeks.
This week, as part of the Blue Star Programme, 4th and 5th Class payed 'Discovering Europe' which opened our eyes to the many cities and their locations across the European Union. It was a great activity which involved problem solving, allowing us to develop our skills and strategies.
G.A.A.
For January and February, we have been doing hurling as part of P.E. We have been working on developing our blocking and lifting skills as well as striking the ball. We also played games that were very enjoyable.
Drama
We have had so much fun in Drama. In groups, we worked on improvisations and it was great to see each other's interpretations of various scenarios.
In addition to reading the class novel, 'Holes', we are also engaging in Drama activities to further develop our understanding of the characters. We have done Hot Seating in the role of Stanley, Freeze Framing and Thought Tracking activities to help gain insight into the important moments of our book.
December
Christmas Performances
Well done to all the wonderful boys and girls in 4th & 5th Class who performed 2 Christmas songs and a poem last week.
Even though we only had small numbers in our class for the performances, they made up for it in enthusiasm and Christmas spirit.
Why not join in the chorus with us; 'The kids of Ballymitty choir were singing in Bannow Bay...And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day!'
December
Check out our festive artwork
Our Winter Scenes
G.A.A. Hurling Training Sessions
Ag cleachtadh dramaíocht
Our wonderful creations for our Fashion Show
12 Days of Fitness!
Our Garden of Remembrance
We wrote the names of our loved ones who have gone to heaven on these flowers to show that they are out of sight but not out of mind.
Spain
Seeing as how some of the children will visit Spain next year as part of the European Development initiative, we decided to do projects based on Spain. The children worked really hard in groups of 2/3 and focused on topics such as climate, famous sports - people, landmarks, spanish food, currency, artists, etc. They learned a huge amount from each other and at the end, we compiled all our new information in a fact file on Spain.
Science Week
To kick off Science Week, 5th Class went on a trip to FabLab in Enniscorthy. The children got the opportunity to see various printers in action, including a 3D printer. They also made their own keyrings using a laser printer.
Our second stop was the NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) where we met Michael O'Brien who taught the class about various forms of heat transmission - conduction, convection and radiation. We got the chance to see models of houses and ventilation systems set up by NZEB.
The children really enjoyed the day and learned a multitude.
Buzzin' Beebots!!
On Wednesday, we learned to programme our Beebots, problem solve, create an obstacle course and work as part of a team.
Shocking Science
On Thursday, we had a very interesting visit from our local scientist, Mr. Tom McLoughlin (or Mr. Rose as we like to call him!! 😁). Tom told us all about the importance of micro-organisms. He told us about the different types of jobs that scientists do, including making vaccines, discovering ways to help our planet combat climate change and that in years to come, we may all be driving electric cars!!
Izak9 Cubes
The children displayed fantastic teamwork abilities when using the Izak9 cubes. They had to listen carefully and work together to solve problems.
The activities were great fun and the children really enjoyed using these fabulous resources.
Paper Rockets Experiment
To finish up the week, we undertook an experiment on forces. Firstly, we discussed rockets and how forces can push a rocket up into the sky, in particular the force of air. The children designed a rocket using paper and tape. Then, they used the force of air by blowing their rocket using a straw. They observed how this force moved the rocket and compared the distance travelled by each rocket. They got creative by adding wings and other features to investigate how various designs could impact the distance the rocket travelled. The children did great investigative work and made very insightful conclusions.
Halloween
Dress - Up Day 2021
Check out the spoook-tacular art work we did;
S.E.S.E
This term we spent a lot of time learning the 32 counties of Ireland, main towns, the rivers and some lakes.
In the picture, you can see us working with our buddies trying to name the rivers in the quickest time possible.
The pressure was on!! 😁
Here we are working in pairs / groups of 3 to label as many parts of the human skeleton as possible.
Music
After a long break, we dusted off the tin whistles this October and learned the beautiful song 'Falling Slowly' as an instrumental.
Lily Reville, Ellie Currid and Nathanael Wei Cassidy accompanied us on their fiddles. The children did an amazing job with this piece and should be very proud of themselves.
Friendship Week
For Friendship Week, the children played lots of team-building games, did kind deeds for their 'secret friend of the week', decided what qualities they looked for in their friends and what qualities they themselves had as a friend. They also sang 'Lean on Me' and 'Count on Me' and used percussion instruments to accompany the songs. We even had a wonderful solo from Alex Sinnott on the banjo!!
Here are some of the fantastic posters the class created based on the theme of friendship;
Meet our Committee members from 4th and 5th Class for 2021 - 2022
Top left: European Development Team: Donagh French, Danny O'Brien, Aimee Carty and Alex Sinnott
Top right: Active Schools Committee: Tadhg French, Georgia Bennett, Ellie Currid and Séamas Wall
Bottom left: Green Schools Committee: Eric Whelan, Scott Murphy, Abbie Jefferson and Issey O'Brien
Bottom right: Student Council: Mia O'Connor, Mason Byrne, Jack Murphy. (Missing: Tadgh Gaul-Earl)
Welcome Back!!
Welcome to the 4th and 5th Class blog!
On this page, we will keep you updated on what we're doing in class and display some of our wonderful work so be sure to check in on us from time to time!
So far, we have had a great start to the year and as always, September is proving to be busy, busy month!
As well as all the hard work we put into our core subjects - English, Maths & Gaeilge, we have also learned how to write, clap and compose our own rhythms, learned how to solve sudoku puzzles, experimented with colours through mixing, tinting and blending, created a timeline of important events in our lives, recited poems, sang songs and are continuing to study the counties of Ireland.
Brainteaser: What is the only county that doesn't touch another county that touches the sea??
We are also playing lots of team-building games in class and on yard. We recently learned how to play the game 'Capture the Flag' where the children had to work as a team to collect the most flags without getting caught! Our ducking and dodging skills were put to the test and we will continue to work on our tactics in the weeks ahead.
Last week, the class put together terrific manifestos for elections for the 4 school committees.
While it's not possible for every child to be elected, we wanted to commend each and every one of the children for the fantastic effort they put into their speeches and the wonderful ideas they had. These children are definitely familiar with the powers of persuasion!! 😅
Both 4th and 5th Class have really 'hit the ground running' this year and we are really looking forward to what the rest of Term 1 will bring.
Stay tuned!! 😉