Today we celebrated the month of May remembering that it is a special month where we pray to Mary. We have a beautiful May altar at the front of our school for the month of May.
This week is also 'Wellbeing Week' here at St Joseph's NS. Our Wellbeing Warriors are a committee formed with one child from each of the classes in the school who have helped devise a range of activities for all classes to partake in this week. As part of our collective effort in renewing our Amber Flag, we had to have a wellbeing week in the school and hold a fundraiser for Pieta House. A variety of activities are taking place across the school this week as part of this initiative: Food Dudes, affirmation cards, reading buddy pairs, teddy bear picnics, kindness clouds, student shout outs, gratitude jars, visiting Dunboyne Nursing Home. THank you to Ms Kearns and Ms Griffin for co-ordinating this initiative.
The Green Schools Committee spoke abut Marine Awareness week which was celebrated in our school with a colouring competition. The winners were announced and prizes were awarded. The committee themselves chose marine animals and researched them. They then made replicas of these animals out of air dough and painted them when they were dry. These are now on display in the AEN room for all the children to view. Thank you to Mrs Madden for co-ordinating this.
A masterpiece has been created in the outdoor classroom as part of our involvement with the Creative Schools Programme. Each child in the school created a leaf out of clay. When dry, these leaves were painted, sealed and attached to a tree that had been drawn and painted in the outdoor classroom. Thank you to Valerie from the Creative Schools programme and Ms Griffin for co-ordinating this.
We welcomed a guest speaker Sorcha who spoke to all the children about biodiversity and its importance this week also. The children learnt what biodiversity is. We spent some time in the outdoor classroom where the children had the opportunity to use guides to identify 'Freshwater Vertebrates'. They also used guides to identify trees, insects, flowers etc that are growing in our school environment and we discussed simple ways to help protect these areas of natural wildlife such as 'No Mow May' or sowing native wild flowers in parts of our gardens to encourage pollinators.
The Food Dudes Programme is also taking place here this week. This is a initiative that promotes and celebrates healthy eating. Each day the children receive some fruit and vegetables to taste and eat. Each day they also watch an informative video online explaining why we need to eat a varied diet and how it benefits us daily. Each child received a Healthy Eating Passport to bring home where they can continue to reflect on their diet and try their best to 'eat a rainbow' where they identify that colourful fruit and vegetables on their plates ensures they are receiving a nutritious diet.
Finally, we had a very exciting visit from some of our incoming Junior Infants from Kilcloon Early Years playschool who will join us here in September 2024. Our current Junior and Senior Infants organised stations of sand and lego in the classroom for the children to play with. Our visitors visited our school sensory garden, played in the yard with hula hoops and balls, had a snack in the classroom and listened to some storytime.
