National College of Ireland
Over the years, the National College of Ireland have developed strong links with our school. This year alone, initiatives have been undertaken in many of the classes in our school. Within the junior years in our school, the National Early Years Access Initiative (NEYAI) has worked with us mathematical learning in the early years setting.
Some of the Initiatives running in our school
4th Class Quiz
4th class participated in the N.C.I. quiz in March, where two teams from the class entered. The first were called 'Mental Minds' and the team were Dean F., Roxanne, Siobhán, Jade, Adam and Caoimhe. The second, 'The Little Einsteins' were Lyndsey, Chloe, Joseph, Zoe, Seán and Ciara. Both teams did fantastically well and it was amazing when 'Mental Minds' placed second and won a cheque for seventy-five euros. Well done ‘Mental Minds’
2nd Class Rummikub
2nd class students- Darcey, Adam, Nicolas, Amber and Cameron loved the Rummikub game they learned the rules of last November. It was a really difficult game and it was great to have Darcey’s mother into the school to assist with learning the rules! The students had a fun time when they went to the N.C.I. and played Rummikub with other students in the Dublin Docklands area.
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3rd Class Monopoly
Ms. Greene’s 3rd class participated in the Monopoly Schools Challenge in April, where they attended a competition to play the monopoly board game. Isobel, Tadhg, Aidan, Eric K., George and Kyle placed second which was super. They were delighted to be presented with a certificate and a voucher for seventy-five euros. Well done 3rd class.
Infants Storytelling
At the beginning of the year, a storytelling week for the infant classes launched the N.C.I. programmes in the school. Expert storytellers visited our school and read ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The children loved the big book and the story sack full of exciting things that was given to us. Inside the story sack, as well as games and activities about ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’, there were even magic beans to grow our own beanstalks.
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Zoom Ahead With Books
A hugely popular initiative running in our school is the ‘Zoom Ahead with Books’. This is a project during which children are given a folder with a copy and colouring pencils. Each night the children were encouraged to read a book for enjoyment and to draw their favourite part of the book. On one side of the copy page the child drew the picture and on the other, the parents were encouraged to draw a picture too.
The parents’ participation was fantastic and many of them drew fabulous pictures. Each child was presented with a beautiful framed picture at the end of the project and an art gallery was set up in the hall to display these wonderful drawings. All of the children were invited with their parents to a celebration of ‘Zoom Ahead with Books’ and lots of the children spoke about how much they enjoyed the initiative.
The parents’ participation was fantastic and many of them drew fabulous pictures. Each child was presented with a beautiful framed picture at the end of the project and an art gallery was set up in the hall to display these wonderful drawings. All of the children were invited with their parents to a celebration of ‘Zoom Ahead with Books’ and lots of the children spoke about how much they enjoyed the initiative.
The National Early Access Initiative
The National Early Access Initiative launched their initiatives to increase mathematical awareness in the early years last November. The aims of the week long projects are to encourage parents to work with children to increase their mathematical language and abilities. The first focus was on positional language in our environment. Children, through story, activities and discussions were encouraged to use language such as ‘over’, ‘under’, ‘in front of’, ‘behind’ etc. This month the children in Reception, Junior Infants and Senior Infants are discussing shape, space and size. The N.C.I. provided the school with a huge amount of great activities and books which they are having a great time working through!