What a wonderful first half term for our newly amalgamated school. The boys and girls have accepted the change ‘with gusto’ and it is truly wonderful to see how well they are learning, playing and socialising together. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making this transition so smooth and we will endeavour to ensure this success continues.

The official school opening which took place on Friday 25th September was celebrated by Bishop Raymond Field and was a huge success. Thanks especially to the children who read or carried gifts for the ceremony and to the teachers, Marguerite and all classes for the beautiful hymns sung, which added significantly to the occasion. Our newly formed P.A. was ‘on hand’ to ensure our guests were catered for, which is greatly appreciated.

There has been lots happening since September: the 3rd and 4th classes visiting Glendalough for National Tree Day, the 5th and 6th classes partaking in Science classes in the CBS (the classes who have not yet attended will do so before Christmas), Mrs Russell’s 4th class representing our school in ‘The Big Sing’, as part of Arklow Youth Mental Week and all classes attending St. Mary’s production of ‘High School Musical’. 5th and 6th classes have also had a visit from Arklow CBS and St Mary’s College to help them decide on which secondary school they will choose to attend after completion of primary school.

To support the implementation of the P.E. curriculum we are extremely lucky to have trained coaches available to us: Barbara Hassett for Outdoor and Adventure Activities, Barney Hynes for Rugby and Patrick Bracken for GAA. We’d like also to mention the following teachers: Mr Neenan, Ms Ryan, Ms Hurley, Ms Doyle and Mr Breen who are training some senior children in GAA after school and have teams involved in Cumann na mBunscol (more details in Extra Curricular Activities section). Our school library is operational now with the support of the P.A. so each class has now had the chance to ‘stock up’ on some reading material for the October break.

Confirmation preparation continues in 6th class with a couple of the preparatory masses already completed. For details of masses before Christmas see ‘Dates for Your Diary’ section. We meet on Fridays for assembly which affords us the opportunity to highlight all our achievements, individual, group, class and whole school and we hope to issue out ‘Student of the Week’ postcards by mail this week. The children are working extremely hard both academically and generally (manners, kindness, sharing etc.) which is rewarded with ‘Credit Prizes’, Homework Passes and towards the Credit ‘House Trips’, so well done to all.

St.John's Senior National School

Halloween

Midterm

2015

We hope you all have a safe and restful Halloween break and look forward to seeing you all on

Monday 2nd November. Ms. Loughlin

3rd Class: Mr. Breen

The boys and girls have settled in very well to life in St. John’s and are working extremely hard. History has

been lots of fun. We studied different periods in time such as the Ancient Egyptians and their diverse way of

living. We examined the pyramids; mummification and the Ancient Egyptian alphabet which helped us

create our own Ancient Egyptian booklet. Some other things we have been enjoying up to now have been

games and Gaelic football for P.E where all the class showed great skills, investigating information about

European countries such as France which gave us the idea of creating our very own French man for Art,

learning Amhrán na gCupán along with Ireland’s Call and examining the different bones and muscles in the

human body. At the moment we are in the process of writing some spooky stories and poems and creating

our Halloween Art. We are learning a Halloween poem as Gaeilge and we are having great fun reciting it.

We are also working hard on our maths and especially on multiplication. Finally, I would like to wish all the

boys and girls a very happy Halloween.

3rd Class: Ms. Doyle We have had a very busy year so far. 3rd class have settled very well into their new school. We have been

very busy learning all about the adventurer and explorer Christopher Columbus. We learned that

Christopher thought he had travelled to India when in fact he travelled to America! We also found out that

he was the first explorer to realise that the world was not in fact flat…that it was actually round! We

imagined that we were Christopher and wrote our own ‘message in a bottle’ to be sent home to his family.

We had great fun drawing our own self-portraits; everyone was really impressed with how they turned out.

The class are really enjoying their G.A.A. sessions and are learning some very impressive skills. Well done 3rd

Class!

3rd Class: Mrs. Keane

Hello from Mrs Keane's third class. We are settling in well to life in St. John's. Both girls and boys are enjoying

each other's company! We couldn't possibly tell you

everything we did but we are going to mention our

favourites! We are helping to improve our environment

(and your water bills!) by conserving water. Did you

know you can waste up to 15 litres of water if you leave

the tap running while brushing your teeth! We also went

to Glendalough for a day. A big thank you to our

parents who came to help out. We completed a treasure

hunt there. Test our knowledge by asking us to identify

the trees around us. We are also learning how to write a

narrative story and look forward to reading our stories to

you once completed. We have worked really hard the last few weeks and looking forward to our midterm

break. Happy Halloween!

4th Class: Ms. Russell

We have had an exciting first term in St. John’s S.N.S. We are delighted to say that we have all made new

friends easily and enjoy working in groups in class. As we go to print, we are preparing for our performance

at The Big Sing in the Arklow Bay Hotel. It is part of Mental

Health Awareness week. We will sing ‘Refuge’, it’s appropriate

because of the refugee crisis at the moment. Our class collected

items to be sent to the refugee camps in Calais. Teacher was

very proud of our generous contributions.As you can see we

were so excited to receive our first pack of letters from our new

penpals from California this week! We are enjoying learning

about their lifestyles and interests. We were surprised by how

much we have in common with our penpals. For more

information on activities we have been engaged in, why not

visit our class website: www.mrsrussellswiseowls.weebly.com –

you will love our spooky homemade Hallowe’en decorations!

4th Class: Ms. Clare

We have been very busy since the start of school. In numeracy, 4th class have been learning all about lines

and angles both in school and at home. They have also been hypothesising long multiplication and

rounding-so much work! Co-teaching was introduced to the class for the past few weeks and we are very

lucky to have Ms Cox coming into the classroom six times a week for numeracy and literacy. We hope to

develop this more after the mid-term break! Thank you Ms Cox!

The class have recently been using the school tablets.

These are a great resource in the classroom and 4th class

have been making their very own biocube, this was a

nice change from the school books! 4th class have also

used their creative skills these past few weeks-creating

lots of Autumnal artwork including Autumn trees and

Halloween spiders. In History 4th class have created

projects about their parents/grandparents!

←←Here are examples of our projects!

4th Class: Ms. Rees

All of the children have settled in really well and it's as if they

have never known any other learning environment! New

friendships have been made and it's lovely to see everyone so

happy and supportive of one another. We've had a busy few

weeks and have learned a lot. We've especially enjoyed our

science experiments this year so far. In some cases, we've

adapted the experiments and made discoveries of our own!

Our artwork is earning us a lot of compliments so we'll be

displaying some of it as part of this year's Harvest Festival in

the Church. We've also made our own portfolios so that we

can collect all of the art that we produce this year.

We'll be finishing off this half term with an eventful week -

this will include seeing a full scale musical and a field trip to

the beautiful Glendalough!

5th Class: Ms. Campbell

Ms. Campbell’s class have had a very busy first term so far.

They have worked together while learning about graphs, long

multiplication, recount writing, poetry from Kenn Nesbitt,

colour theory, portraits, Anne Frank and World War 2, the

counties and provinces of Ireland, our lungs, healthy eating,

Internet safety, focloir faoin bia agus scoil, music genres and

many other exciting things. We are learning a dance to

Michael Jackson’s song ‘Thriller’ and we learned ‘Ireland’s call’

to support our sports teams. 5th class would like to thank Ms.

Coburn for joining in to teach us in our English and Maths lessons. We had been working on our basketball

skills but recently started outdoor activities with Barbara; this involves team building and cooperative

games. As you can see we are having lots of fun trying to untangle ourselves. A class website has been set

up with a few recent pictures uploaded. Have a browse on http://mscampbells5thclass.weebly.com/

Ms. Campbell is very impressed with the recent improvement in homework and behaviour and is proud of

how well everyone is following the class contract. We are looking forward to seeing the High School Musical

show and getting our Halloween break.

5th Class: Ms. Lane

It has been a busy few months in 5th Class (A). We were all very nervous arriving in on the first day of school,

but now we are all settled in and learning loads! Here is just a snapshot of some of the things we are doing

in Room 7. We worked as archaeologists at the start of the year, and went on an archaeological dig in our

own classroom. We discovered lots of interesting artefacts. We’ve been looking at influential women in

history as well as the Aztecs of Mexico. Our inquisitive side has become apparent by carrying out many

science experiments to

include demonstrating

surface tension, the

reflection and refraction of

light and what happens to

an egg shell when we leave

it soak in vinegar. We are

looking forward to starting a science block in the C.B.S. after Halloween! With the Rugby World Cup being

a hot topic on everyone’s lips we embraced it and took a huge interest in supporting Ireland in room 7. We

each chose a country to do a project on and worked extremely hard on them at home for two weeks. We

also learned about the Haka of New Zealand and came up with our own ‘Haka’. We even brought Rugby

into Maths and played loop card games figuring out try and conversion problems!

Our ‘Current Affairs’ wall is covered in news articles about the Rugby World Cup. Even Wilbur, our

travelling Gaeilge Pig, has gotten in on the act! We are also loving our Rugby sessions with Barney our

external P.E. coach. Miss. Lane wishes everyone a happy and safe Halloween and is looking forward to

coming back in November rested and ready for another great term!

5th Class: Ms. Mullan

We are now saying goodbye to the first term of school. So far we have had some great experiences.

Our new school library is open which we got to visit as a class. During our time doing basketball and

during any presentations this class are super

supportive of each other giving a high five, a

clap or a cheer to encourage classmates and

give great positive feedback! Well done!

Our pea shoots sown in September are now

fully through the mazes and everyone enjoyed

watching them wiggle through even the most

complicated cardboard mazes. We studied all

about the lungs and even made some models

of the lungs using bottles, balloons and plastic.

We visited the railway station to see a steam engine and you can see us here in our class photo. For

Halloween week we designed really innovative homemade decorations for our classroom. These

included spider covered cocoons, amazing banners, creepy coffins, Jack Skelington carved from

a pumpkin, petrifying posters, a wooden door hanger, even a pumpkin person made from potatoes,

carrots and a coconut! One in particular even made the teacher scream! Well done on such a super

effort!

5th Class: Ms. Wolohan The class has eagerly participated in all academic exercises. They’re enjoying the competitiveness of the

Tables Challenge League, run by Mr. Neenan, between the fifth and sixth classes. They’ve thoroughly

enjoyed rugby coaching and rounders training too. What wonderful performers they are also, singing and

dramatising poetry and stories with unequivocal gusto both in English and Irish. Friday 9th October marked

the first visit of a steam train to Arklow since March 2012. The class went to welcome the Railway

Preservation Society of Ireland’s private charter

special steam train from Dublin Connolly Station.

They got to sit in the immaculately restored

carriages, experiencing the difference between the

luxurious comfort of first class passengers to those in

economy class. They witnessed a method of

refuelling which would not be commonly used

today. As we have approached the midterm

break, the class has worked diligently on their own Halloween books. They have included hilarious poetry,

scary stories, horrifying recipes, gruesome facts and spine-chilling illustrations. They look forward to sharing

their journalistic talents with all. They eagerly anticipate dressing up for Halloween and attending St.

Mary’s College’s production of High School Musical. What a wonderful ending to a great first term.

6th Class: Mr. Neenan

It's been a hectic seven weeks in 6th class with loads of fun learning taking place. The class have gelled

really well together and Mr. Neenan has been really impressed with how they work collaboratively in

their groups throughout the school day. Highlights of the first term so far have included trips to the

CBS science lab for some fantastic experiments. We have

created wonderful art through print and enjoyed learning

about The Celts, Natural Disasters and Nutrition in S.E.S.E.

We are very proud of the school GAA teams who have

qualified for the Division 1 finals of both the boys and girls

Cumann na mBunscol. Well done to our classmates Robyn,

Leila, Kaitlin, Aisling, Seán and Casey. Mr. Neenan would

like to compliment the class on being fantastic role models

for the rest of the school and hopes it is a good start to a

great year!

6th Class: Mrs. Riley

This term we really got to know each other through a variety of activities and projects. We began in

September learning about mini-beasts. We made pitfalls which we left outside in .order to catch bugs. We

then decided to keep snails in our class for observation. We think one may have escaped so be careful if you

come to our classroom! We learned about the Celts in History and did art projects. We studied Natural

Disasters in Geography and also did project work. We have been working on Debates which has improved

our Oral Language, Persuasive Writing and general confidence. We are reading a variety of novels using

Building Bridges strategies. In poetry, we learned about Seamus Heaney and took a particular in interest in

his poems Blackberry Picking and Mid Term Break. We have also looked at poems by Jack Prelutsky

including The Bogeyman. In Gaeilge we learned some Irish songs from Colaiste Lurgan and performed one

for assembly .We also do a drama in Gaeilge every week which has really improved our Oral Irish. We

studied Australia and The Aborigines and did some amazing Aboriginal Art Work.

In Maths we had fun with graphs using M&Ms which we ate

afterwards of course. We also made a variety of graphs based

on the Rugby World Cup. We are now working on Halloween

themed activities and studying hard for tests!!

M&Ms used for graphs

6th Class: Ms. Hurley

Ms. Hurley’s Sixth class so far…On the first day, we all wrote about ourselves

and drew a selfie picture. We met our new classmates and we are now all

good friends. We have learned about our Golden Rules and we are

currently learning about cyber safety and staying safe. In History, we have

learned about the Celts and we enjoyed making Crannógs and Celtic

crosses in art. In geography, we have learned about the structure of the

earth, weather disasters and lines of longitude and latitude. The students

prepared excellent projects on natural disasters and presented them to the

class. Everyone spent a lot of time researching and putting their projects

together and Ms. Hurley and Ms. Doyle were very impressed. We have

been preparing for our confirmation by attending the confirmation masses

and learning mass responses and prayers. In English, we have been having

some very interesting debates in class and everyone is getting better at

using persuasive language to write very convincing speeches. At the

moment we are making Papier Mache Halloween masks. Our masks

started as a balloon and they are now covered in a layer of newspaper

and glue. The class have spent time on designing a mask on paper so we

are looking forward to the finished product and wearing our masks for

Halloween. Written by Ella and Jodie.

6th Class: Ms. Ryan

It was quiet start to 6th Class life in Room 12 on August 31st, but it wasn’t long before the children were

getting to know each other and enjoying each other’s company. Since then, the pupils have impressed Ms

Ryan with their excellent behaviour in class and willingness to help and learn. The pupils have been very

busy so far this term. One of the highlights included performing the song ‘All the Small Things’ as Gaeilge,

along with the other 6th Classes, at assembly. We were twice afforded the opportunity to visit to the CBS

science lab to test foods for starch, glucose and protein and to dissect hearts and kidneys! We’ve been

learning new athletics skills in PE, from throwing the shot putt to practising our scissors kicks for the high

jump. The children put a great effort into their Natural Disaster projects and there was a high standard of

information presented in class. In history, we have been working in groups to find out about the Celts and

the traditions, customs and beliefs of the Aboriginal People of Australia. Last week we visited the school

library and have enthusiastically begun reading for the MS Readathon. Here are some photos of their

imagination at work during a recent drama lesson:

Ms Ryan would like to thank the children for a great first term and wish them a very happy and safe Hallowe’en!

Important dates for your diary

Mid-Term Monday 23rd to Friday 30th October 2015 inclusive

Confirmation Preparatory masses

Saturday 21st November 2015 at 6.30pm Saturday 19th December 2015 at 6.30pm (Godparents mass)

Christmas holidays Wednesday 23rd December to Tuesday 5th January inclusive (last day in school Tuesday 22nd December)

Shoebox appeal: Ms. Coburn Our school are running the Christmas Shoebox appeal again, organised by Ms. Coburn. The Christmas

Shoebox appeal is run by the Team Hope Charity. (www.teamhope.ie). We are asking children to fill a

shoebox with small items that you could write with, wash with, wear or play with. We’d like to remind

parents and children there should be no violent toys put into the box or liquids and if sweets are put In

make sure they are in date until March 2016. Once filled the box should then be wrapped in Christmas

paper (the lid and box separately). To donate a Christmas shoebox to a child in need, there needs to be a

boy or girl label attached specifying what age group the box is for and 4euro also needs to be attached for

postage. The shoeboxes need to be in school by November 10th at the latest.

MS Readathon: Ms. Campbell All classes in the school are participating in the MS Readathon at the moment. This is a great opportunity to

encourage children to read and to raise money for a very worthwhile cause which is MS Ireland (Multiple

Sclerosis Ireland). The MS Readathon aims to get children reading books while they receive sponsorship per

book they read or simply by a donation. The Readathon money will be collected between November 9th

and 11th by the class teachers.

There are prizes given from MS Ireland to children who raise specific amounts. It’s brilliant to see the

children get enthusiastic about reading and the school library re-opened last week to facilitate the children

at this time.

HSCL: Ms. O’Regan

We began this term with informal coffee mornings in our Parents’ Room. It is great that so many parents

now know where the Parents’ Room is and it was a lovely opportunity for parents to meet other parents

from their child’s class. Our first course for parents is an Arts and Crafts course which will be starting on

Thursday 12th November from 9.30 – 11.30am.

Maths for fun will start in the third classes after mid-term break!

We are looking forward to a very busy year ahead in the Parents’ Room so keep a look out for any yellow

notes with information of upcoming classes and courses and also on our Parents’ Information Noticeboard

on the front corridor. Thank you for all your support.

M. O’ Regan (HSCL Coordinator) 0860446213

School Completion Programme The aim of School Completion is to support the students to help improve school attendance, participation

and retention. We do this with in school, after school, out of school and holiday supports.

In St John’s we are currently complementing the school’s curriculum with 30 pupils working on the Type

Hands Programme, after school we are providing a sports club for 4th class starting with Basketball and

after mid-term break there will be cooking for 6th class. For the parents we will be working with the HSCL

to facilitate an Art Programme.

Parent’s Association Dear Parents and Guardians,

On behalf of The Parents Association I would like to give an update of the meeting held in the school where

a new committee was formed.

New members are as follows:

Chairperson : Larry Cullen

Secretary : Ann Marie Kelly Vice Secretary: Sharon Collier

Treasurer : Anna Furlong Vice Treasurer:Fiona Deay

Amy Desmond, Lisa O' Keefe, Paul Russell, Debbie Tyrrell, Helena Henry, Harriet Rumbold, Caitriona

Hallam, Sharon Cummins , Siobhan Randall, Deirdre Breslin, Olga Nugent and Marie Cox.

Any parents that would like to join are most welcome.

This year we will be having a Non uniform day every month. Thank you for letting your children take part

we know that they enjoy it and the money raised helps fund some school activities e.g. Dance, Music,

Festival, buses and much more.

Also the children will be designing their own Christmas cards, these will be available for you to buy along

with a school calendar.

In addition to the above we had parents sign up as volunteers to help with different activities held in the

school throughout the year example the library.

The library is held every Friday from 9.15 to 12.30.This is done on a Rota basis and hopefully we will get

enough parents to help so you should only have to do it 3 or 4 times during the year,

This is an experience that is enjoyed by both children and parents.

We will send out a letter about the library in November.

Thank you very much for your help in the past, your continued support now and in the future.

Parents Association

Extra Curricular Activities

GAA: This first period has seen an excellent turnout to GAA training with Mr. Neenan, Mr. Breen, Ms.

Hurley, Ms. Doyle and Ms. Ryan. Players, both experienced and new to Gaelic football, have enjoyed

training at school as well as across the road on the CBS pitches. We would like to thank the CBS for kindly

allowing us the use of their grounds to facilitate trainings.

We are very proud of the school GAA teams

who have qualified for the Cumann na

mBunscol Division 1 Finals, in both the boys’

and girls’ competitions. They showed great skill,

determination and hard work during each

match on day one of the competitions. Both on

and off the pitch, all pupils have been

wonderful representatives of their school.

Here are some of our girls representing the

school at day one of the Cumann na mBunscol

Competition.

Reminders

Arriving in school

The school will be open to receive pupils from 8.55am (this does not require your child to be in the

school from 8.55am. Ideally we ask that your child be dropped/ arrive at 9.00am). school finished

at 2.45pm Accordingly, while the school grounds will be open to the pupils, the school

cannot accept responsibility for children arriving before the official opening of the

school or remaining in the school grounds after school

Only children attending Breakfast Club can arrive from 8.30am

Classes will commence at 9.05am

No pupil should arrive later than 9.05am

We ask that every pupil cooperates with these times for Health and Safety reasons.

Coming to the school during the school day

Should you need to drop a forgotten item/ form or if you are collecting or returning

your child for appointments please do so through the secretary’s office. Parents/

guardians cannot call to the classrooms as this is disruptive to teaching and learning. Please use the

front door of the school for all visits

The staff carpark is for staff only

Invitations

We ask parents and children not to distribute party/ event invitations in the school

Cycling to school

Please ensure your child wears a helmet at all times when cycling to and from school. No scooters

allowed

Parking

Parents/ guardians are reminded to park responsibly when they are dropping and collecting their

children to and from school