Here Comes Summer!

A wonderful year in Junior Infants is coming to an end. August 2018 seems like a distant memory now and it is lovely to see the children in the class ready to move to Senior Infants. The first year of school is always a special one, where lots of change and growth can be seen and this can certainly be said for Junior Infants A. The children have grown in confidence and independence and they are building great connections with each other. They have worked hard and enjoyed learning through hands on activities and play.

There have been many highlights during the year. In fact, it is difficult to sum up all the great fun we have had. Often, the highlights were within little moments shared together in the classroom.

• Play has been a central methodology in the classroom. Children have explored lots of themes through integrated play. Playing at the vets, in the café, in the garden centre and at the school were enjoyable experiences. They have built some amazing structures in construction and enjoyed some new STEM activities. Sensory play has been very popular in the class too!
• The children in the class really enjoyed lots of creative activities. Their art work, junk art and fine motor work was super! The children tried creative dance in PE for the first time and danced in response to the story of Peter and the Wolf. They tried pair work, mirror images, a follow the leader game and making tableaus.
• The children responded really well to our big books. Every week, we read a different book and children developed their early literacy skills in this context. They have learned to read lots of new words, make connections and inferences and generate great questions. In writing workshop, we chose our own topics to write about. The children did a great job at choosing topics, drawing pictures with lots of detail and stretching out the sounds when writing.
• In Maths, we have enjoyed lots of work with concrete materials. We played new games using Ready Set Go Maths and enjoyed playing them in small groups. We enjoyed lots of counting songs and rhymes.
• In Gaeilge, we did lots of work on our oral language skills; learning lots of new vocabulary and phrases. We have had lots of fun playing games across a range of themes. We enjoyed songs, rhymes and stories too!
• In Learn Together, we explored lots of different topics such as Diwali, The First Christmas, Sikhism and Samhain. We learned about friendship and enjoyed Circle Time. Preparing for the Winter Concert was great fun.
• School events such as the Halloween Walk and Disco, Intercultural Day, World Book Day and the Céilí were so enjoyable. We also enjoyed our visit to the post-box to post some cards to the parents after reading the story of the Jolly Postman.

The children settled well into their school routine and are ready for the next stage of their school journey. Niamh and I would like to thank all the parents for the wonderful support and encouragement over the course of the school year. Enjoy the well-deserved summer break!