Email: smccormack@st-andrews.ie
Website: https://www.sac.ie/page/?title=Junior&pid=3
Phone: (01) 288 2785
Facebook: facebook.com/None
Twitter: @standrewsdublin

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Supporting wellbeing has always been a priority in the Junior School and it's need has never been greater. On Saturday, it is World Mental Health Day and this week we launched our new SPHE curriculum, which Ms. Dee Collis has been working on over the summer months. Our new curriculum brings together the best wellbeing resources available and sequences key learning from K1 - P6. For your information, our new SPHE curriculum over-views are now available in the parent protected section of the website and I have shared the K1, as a sample, below.

As a focus in Assembly this week, we watched a wonderful short video (also below) all about problems big and small. Lots of us are feeling uncertainty and maybe even some anxiety right now, and this video link might be a helpful talking point with your child about any worries they might be feeling. As they say, a problem shared is a problem halved.

As we unfortunately enter into a new national phase of the "Living with Covid-19" plan, this week we all did a stock check of our Covid measures. One area we are still a little concerned about is pick up at the end of the day and the extent to which younger pupils are mixing across bubbles and on yard equipment. Pick up provisions will now be reviewed and any necessary changes communicated next week. We thank you for your support in advance.

Keep safe and well.

Yours,
Mrs. Sarah McCormack

1. Please dismount from bikes when coming through the College
2. It is getting colder and wetter - please make sure children are dressed appropriately and with coats for yard time. Shorts/skorts should be put away until summer time now!
3. Please vacate the yard promptly at the end of the school day so that we can all adhere to social distancing. Please refrain from allowing children to play on equipment as it is hard for teachers to monitor pick up in a busy space.

4. Morning Mile Schedule:

Monday: P3 - 8.05 - 8.35am
Tuesday: P5 - 8.15 - 8.45am
Weds: P1/P2 - 8am - 8.25am
Thursday: P6 - 8.15 - 8.45am
Friday: P4 8.05 - 8.35am

Last week, we launched a new competition! Inspired by the story of 'Magawa the landmine detection rat' who had recently been awarded a gold medal for bravery - we are inviting the children to submit an entry all about their unique super-powers! This can be in the format of a drawing, comic book or Flipgrid video entry and the deadline is Monday, 12 October!

We had a great morning last Friday recording Don’t Look Back in Anger with the Transition Year students. The children all worked extremely hard - they were word perfect and sounded super! The video of our performance will premiere on Saturday 10th October at 7.00p.m. on the Hot Press YouTube channel. Please find attached a poster of the children taken on the day. Looking forward to tuning in on the 10th!

On Thursday, the P4B & P4W pupils were treated to a very special experience: a live lesson from the Epic Museum! During the session they learnt some really interesting facts about space and our local history with space. For example, did you know that Neil Armstrong has an Irish background? Thank you to Shannon and Finola from Epic for an amazing opportunity!

In reading we've been learning the comprehension strategy of retelling and the expanding vocabulary strategy of tuning in to interesting words. These have both tied in nicely to our writing genre work with recount as recounts need to tell what happened, in order, with connecting words, just like when we're retelling a story and we're also starting to use the interesting words we found in our reading when revising our writing.

In maths we've been exploring the properties of 2D shapes as well as the concept of greater than and less than. Our hungry crocodiles just can't get enough of those bigger numbers and trying to make 2D shapes with our bodies has been a fun challenge too.

In Irish we've been learning about school; naming items in our school bags, supply boxes, and around the classroom; and the days of the week. Happy Dé hAoine everyone!

In SESE we've been learning what foods we grow and rear on farms in Ireland and how far some of our food travels to get to our supermarkets.

In SPHE we started our Stay Safe unit by exploring different kinds of touches, learning which ones we like and don't like and why. We miss some of those good touches like hugs from friends, but we know our social distancing now, will pay off later. Big virtual hugs from us!

The European Union is working on two major pieces of work for children – and they need your help!

To inform the new European Union Strategy on the Rights of the Child and the Child Guarantee, Eurochild, UNICEF, Save the Children, World Vision International and Child Fund have launched an online survey for children and young people. The survey, which takes about 20 minutes to respond, invites children to share their experiences and their priorities for making Europe a better a better place for children.

The survey is open to children aged between 11 - 17.

Children’s views will be compiled into a report that will be shared with the European Commission at the end of November. With children’s input, both the Guarantee and the Strategy will be launched in early 2021.

This is a fantastic opportunity for children to shape the future of Europe – but we need your support to reach them!

The survey is available in more than 10 languages. The data collected is completely anonymous. The survey will be open until 30 October 2020 https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KXT5DPK

Friday 23 October 2020 - Half-Term Commences

Monday 2 November 2020 - Classes Resume

Monday 30 November 2020 - School Closed

Tuesday 22 December 2020 - Term Ends

Wednesday 6 January 2021 - Classes Resume

Friday 12 February 2021 - Half-Term commences

Monday 22 February 2021 - Classes Resume

Wednesday 17 March 2021 - School Closed

Friday 26 March 2021 - Term Ends

Monday 12 April 2021 - Classes Resume

Friday 30 April 2021 - School Closed

Monday 3 May 2021 - School Closed

Friday 4 June 2021 - Term Ends

Please note, as we get back to normal more dates will be added to this section - with two week's notice on all big events. Please do check the Scoop weekly, as it is our main communication between school and home!