P4 - P7 have been enjoying Archery in their after school sports sessions.
We were delighted to receive a grant from British Science Association which enabled us to bring staff from the Armagh Planetarium with their Space Dome. The visit happened yesterday 12th March. Each class got the opportunity to enter the Space Dome and go on a journey through the cosmos. Images were projected onto the roof of the dome and the Education Team guided the children to planets such as Saturn and Mars. As space travellers, they got to land on the moon and the children got lots of information about the first lunar landing in 1969. They also saw how the different star formations are in the shapes of animals. Some parents visited the dome after school. A huge thanks to the two girls from Armagh Planetarium for bringing the dome to school.
As the final part of their topic work on ‘Fairtrade’, P6 and P7 took assembly on Wednesday 11th March.
The children told the rest of the school how and why Fairtrade was started. They also encouraged us to buy Fairtrade products. When we buy Fairtrade products, we are supporting the communities producing goods like coffee, chocolate and bananas. This means that workers are getting a fair wage, children are not being used as child labour and the communities have more money for food, health care, medicines and schools etc.
Earlier in the week Mrs Laura Calderwood helped the P6 and 7 children to make Krispie buns, using Fairtrade chocolate and Krispies. As a special treat, the children were able to buy Krispie buns or Fairtrade bananas for their break yesterday.
P6 and P7 have been learning all about Fairtrade in their World Around us Topic. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, as part of ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’, are hosting a Fairtrade Bake-Off for P6 pupils, to be held on Friday 6th March. All the bakes have to be made using Fairtrade ingredients. Mrs Wright decided to have a Bake-Off for any P6 and P7 pupils who wanted to have a go. As you can see from the pictures, we had some delicious cakes and buns, which were enjoyed by both pupils and staff.
The final of the competition is for P6 pupils. Susanna and Demi were chosen to represent our school at the final.
Today, 6th March, Susanna and Demi, who were the winners of the P6 class Fairtrade Bake-Off, went to the Bake-Off final, which was held in the Council Headquarters in Coleraine. The children had to use Fairtrade ingredients in their ‘bakes’. There were lots of really lovely entries. Susanna had baked Chocolate Brownies and Demi had Krispies buns, both of which were delicious. Although they did not win, the judges were really impressed by their bakes and their knowledge of Fairtrade products.
At the final, Luis who is a Fairtrade representative from a Colombian Fairtrade Coffee Cooperative, spoke to the children about Fairtrade and the benefits to their local community.
On Thursday 5th March, we had a special World Book Day celebration. The children all came to school wearing their pyjamas, and some of the younger children brought their teddy bears to school. The P6 and P7 children brought bedtime story books, and they read these to P1 and P2 children and also the children from playgroup. Throughout the day, P1 and P2 had activities based on books, with special emphasis on the book ‘Hairy Maclary’. P3 and P4 had a book swap and a team book quiz as well as making Pictograms of their favourite books. They also told the rest of the class about their favourite book. P5 had various class activities and they did their ‘Daily Mile’ wearing their pyjamas.
A special thanks to Mrs Laura Calderwood who helped the children to decorate Fairy cakes, which were kindly donated by Tesco Ballymoney.
Today, Ryan, Tom and Alfie went to the Primary STEM Challenge 2020 which was held in Ballymena. The challenge for the teams was -
Build a lighthouse which will warn local shipping of the danger of rocks close by. The lighthouse must have a light which is capable of being switched on and off.
The boys had to design the lighthouse and then build it using only card and masking tape. As you can see they did an excellent job.
The following links give you some more information that the Public Heath Agency have produced for schools to share with regard to the Coronavirus. In summary, the importance of good hand washing and using a handkerchief for coughs and sneezes, which is then disposed of in a bin immediately, is emphasised.
Advice on COVID-19 for places of Education
Giant Sneezes Poster - What’s in a sneeze?
Horrid Hands - The importance of good hand washing.
A sports coach from Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is coming into school to provide coaching for Kurling, Archery, Boccia and Table Tennis for children in P4 - P7. The first session, which was on Wednesday, was Table Tennis.
The Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (NI) has relaunched their safeguarding app for parents, carers and professionals. This is a very useful tool to have on your phone, giving instant access to local and regional support services, information on a range of safeguarding issues, access to the regional child protection policy and procedures, and a rang of resources.
The App provides regular ongoing up-dates and short videos on new, emerging themes and risks in the on-line world. It also provides access to Regional Policy and Procedure.
The free App is available in the APP Store for IOS and Android.
Protecting our children on line is fast becoming one of the biggest issues facing parents and guardians, in this ever changing age of technology. Dr Helen Dixon, Head of Creative and Innovative learning, NRC Ballymena, came to school on 24th January to give our P4 - P7 children lots of information about keeping safe online.
Since then, the children have been preparing questions on Internet Safety for parents and friends, in the form of a ‘Who wants to Be a Millionaire Quiz’. At a special parents’ evening, the children presented their quiz, and then Dr Dixon gave parents useful information on ‘Keeping your Children Safe Online’. Probably the most important message from the evening would be
TALK TO YOUR CHILDREN AND BE AWARE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING ONLINE
DON’T RELY ON AN ‘APP’ TO PARENT YOUR CHILDREN..
This can be summarised by using the letters of the word TEAM
Talk regularly
Explore together
Agree rules
Manage settings
Thanks to everyone who worked really hard to make this a very useful evening.
The four pupils chosen to receive a Lunchtime Award for this half term were, Annie P6, Dan P4, Ethan P2 and Thomas P5.
Once again we are delighted that so many of our pupils have reached their Accelerated Reading Targets for points and accuracy in their AR Quizzes. Certificates were presented in assembly to mark their achievement.
Not only was Sharon our Accelerated Reading Cup winner for this half term, but she also became a ‘Millionaire Reader’ as she has now read more than one million words since the beginning of September
Congratulations to Sharon P7, who was the winner of the Accelerated Reading Cup for this half term.
In the Wheelworks ICT sessions over the past number of weeks, P6 and P7 have been looking at filming News Reports. They have been learning how to use their Ipad cameras to take mid, long and close up shots. They have been taught how to assemble the Ipad tripods correctly, and how to use the microphones and outdoor soundbooms. In groups they have prepared storyboards for the New Report that they are going to be reporting on. Yesterday, they began filming their news report without any special effects. They had to decide on mid, long and close up shots. They used their storyboards to decide which scenes they were going to film. Special effects and editing will be done in the following weeks.
Today, four of our P7 pupils, Cameron, Isaac, Jack and Joe took part in the Primary Team Maths Challenge. This was organised by Mrs Kirstie Wilson, one of the Maths teachers in Ballymena Academy. There were 12 teams taking part and the competition had three very different round formats - Crossnumber, Shuttle and Relay. The children worked together in their teams, solving all sorts of mathematical problems. The winning team was from Kells and Connor Primary School. Well done to our four pupils who completed all the activities really well. A huge thanks to Ballymena Academy for organising and hosting this competition, and to their Upper Sixth Maths pupils who supervised the competition.
Emma P5, Ethan P5, Sam P5 and Lucy P6 received their Music Exam Certificates. They all got distinction in their recent Trinity College London, Initial Piano Examination.
Annie P6 and Harvey P1 were the two children whose names were chosen this month, to receive a lunch time award prize.
Certificates were presented in Assembly today for January 2020. Children received certificates for ‘Being Kind and Caring’, Excellent P.E. Skills’, Great Effort in ICT’ and ‘Great Listening’.
