Month: January 2018

Inner City Helping Homeless

Today we had a visit from Pauline of  the ICHH charity. Last November Ms. Catherine O’ Brien organised a collection and our school donated over 600 shoeboxes filled with essential items and gifts to the homeless of our city. We also had a Christmas Jumper Day  and Jersey Day which together with staff donations raised a further €671.40 for this cause. Pauline was so grateful that she asked to come in to thank the children in person.  She visited a few classes and them about the work the charity does. She showed them a ziploc bag containing essential hygiene items . They give 800 of these bags out every week . She also told the children how their shoeboxes had made such a difference to so many this Christmas.

Staying in at Break

We have a very small first aid room and it’s purpose is to attend to minor injuries which occur in the yard.  We appreciate their may be times when children need to remain indoors at break.  However children with minor colds and snuffles should either be at home, if sick or should wrap up well and go out to play. We are currently over run requests for children to stay indoors and we do not have the space or staff to safely run a large sick bay . If it is essential your child remain indoors please send a note to the class teacher.

School Calendars

Our school class calendars have been distributed to the classes today. They price is €3 and only one calendar is available for each child. Please return the money to the class teachers at your earliest convenience.

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

What is hand, foot and mouth disease?

This is a disease caused by a group of viruses which usually affects young children. It causes blisters on hands and feet and mouth ulcers inside the cheeks and on the tongue. They may also have a sore throat and high temperature. These symptoms last for 7–10 days.

Is it dangerous?

No. All make a full recovery.

Is it the same as foot and mouth disease in cows?

No. A completely different virus causes foot and mouth disease in cows.

How is it spread?

The virus is spread by coughs and sneezes, and is also found in the faeces of infected children. Some children infected do not have symptoms but can still pass the virus on to others.

Is there any treatment?

There is no specific treatment for hand, foot and mouth disease – it is usually a mild and self-limiting illness. If a child feels unwell paracetamol may help. Antibiotics and creams or ointments for the blisters are not effective. Children recover just as quickly without them.

What is the incubation period?

Symptoms start 3-5 days after exposure to the virus.

How long are children infectious?

Children who are ill are infectious. Also they may carry the virus in their faeces for many weeks after they have recovered and so can continue to pass on infection.

How long should children stay away from school?

Children who are unwell should be kept off school until they are feeling better. Keeping children off school for longer than this is unlikely to stop the virus spreading. There may be other children in the school who appear well but are spreading the virus.

How can spread be prevented?

Since the virus is found in faeces, scrupulous attention must always be paid to hand washing after using the toilet.

Can you catch it more than once?

Yes, but children who are ill during an outbreak at school or nursery are unlikely to get it again during the same outbreak.

If you suspect your child has  any symptoms please consult your GP.

Digital art in Senior Infants – Ms Dillon

The children in Ms. Dillon’s Senior Infant class have been working with a variety of digital tools and online software to create digital art over the last few weeks. The worked in pairs to learn about using a mouse and keyboard, creating 2d shapes, using different tools, pens and colours and created a great variety of winter-themed art and also some abstract art!

Take a look at their work in the video below.

 

The Dragon’s Den

As part of the Junior Entrepreneur Programme, Ms Fay’s 5th class pupils presented their business ideas to a panel of dragons on Friday. The panel consisted of businessman, Mr. Brian Fitzsimons and teachers Ms. G. Fay and Ms. Brennan.

Each group presented their Powerpoint to the Dragons and responded to the questions they asked and listened to the feedback they gave. There were some very interesting points made and all the Dragons were impressed with the confidence and creativity of each group.

The business ideas in the class ranged from slime, copyholders, a comfortable cushion, a car wash service, bookmarks and tie-dye t-shirts. All of the ideas were excellent, however the judges felt the bookmarks idea had the most potential. The students  also voted and the bookmarks idea came out on top.  Over the next few weeks the entire class will be working on producing and selling bookmarks.

Here are just a few photos from the presentations.

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT THE JUNIOR ENTREPRENEUR PROGRAMME HERE

Titanic Projects

Some children from 2nd class brought their projects to the office today to show us. We were all really impressed at the research they did on the Titanic. They also presented all the information beautifully with lots of photos and illustrations and one pupil even made a large model of the ship.  Listen to the recording below  of some of the unusual facts they learned.