Junior School And so we come to the end of our School year. Sunrise, sunset - how quickly the years fly by. We bid fond farewell to all of the children until September, but we say a more permanent goodbye to our Standard 6 pupils as they head for adventures new in the Senior School! This year’s Standard 6 were a wonderful and lively year group, full of fun and enthusiasm, and we wish them every blessing for the future. It has been extremely busy in the Junior School since our last Newsletter at Christmas! We celebrated the Sacraments of Confirmation, First Reconciliation and First Communion and, for the first time since those dark days of Covid-19, we returned to the School after the ceremonies for a reception with the children and their families. Such warm and happy occasions which help to make the Sacraments truly community celebrations. The Standard 4 and 5 Talent Show produced singers, dancers, instrumentalists and comedy not to mention a demonstration of
synchronised swimming - what fun! And in April, the Standard 6 Science Fair took place with an amazingly high standard of projects on display. We definitely have some budding Albert Einsteins and Marie Curies in our midst! School tours have been a huge highlight of the Summer term - with Std. 6 away on a two-night trip to Limerick and Clare (read all about it inside!), and other classes heading off to the Farm, Surfing in Magheramore and Standards 4 and 5 boarding the bus to Belfast to visit the Titanic Museum and Vertigo! Our Junior School Family Tennis evening was a huge success and we all enjoyed the fun of the competition and even more so the delicious bar-b-que and great camaraderie! Sports and Prize Day was also a happy family day. The sun shone and the Junior School pupils enjoyed all of the events from the Eggand-Spoon Race to the competitive Relays - not to mention the ‘99s! The day ended with our Prizegiving Ceremony where the children in Standard 6 received awards for their academic, artistic and sporting prowess. Social awareness was also high on the list of priorities this term and we raised money for Trocaire, for Louise’s annual visit to the Moldovan Care Homes, and for Debra Ireland to mention but a few.
And now, after a busy year, we face into the long happy days of the Summer holidays. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt thanks - firstly, to you the parents for your support and many kindnesses throughout the year and most of all for entrusting us with your most precious possession – your child and their education; secondly, to our Junior School Staff Team who are quite simply exceptional – passionate about education, kind and caring, and who strive to make every single day a positive experience for the children; and of course to each and every one of our fantastic pupils from Montessori to Standard 6 - thank you for the fun and enthusiasm and joie de vivre you bring to our Junior School each and every day. It is an honour and a joy to be part of all of your lives. And, after a whirl-wind term, I wish you all a very happy, relaxing and safe holiday time with your gorgeous sons and daughters.
Dr. Deirdre Farrell -
Headmistress
Finally, term ended with the Standard 6 Plays which were simply fabulous - filled with song, dance and colour. And the evening ended on a melancholic note with the final Roll-Call for the class of 2023…..
Sumer News
2023
This year I ran for Junior Librarian and it was so great. Every Friday Riona, Annabel, Sophie-Eva and I did storytelling with Junior Infants to Std.2. and some days Std.3 to Std.6. Mr. Mansfield read all the books Mrs. Greogey picked, they were both fantastic.
Junior Librarian
Each Monday my class did supervised reading. Supervised reading is where during break on Mondays, whoever wanted to, could come to the library and read. Riona, Annabe,l and I supervised. This year we all had a very special guest. Her name was Jackie Burke. Jackie Burke writes all of the Grindlewood books and Harp Maden books. She came in to tell us all about her book, how she started to write, and how amazing it felt to publish her first book. And would you believe she is from Bray! Near the end of the year, everyone did a Write a Book. All the books were so amazing. The winners were: Rita Gercsi, Pamala Butterly, Evan Avat, Sophia Finn, Annabel Focus, Sean Nolan, Mary-kate Cunningham, Sophia Ziako, Luca Wejchert, and the only Irish winner was Kevin Yan. We celebrated World Book Day on the 21 April 2023 in school. It was so much fun! In the morning the whole school had storytelling. Later on in the day, illustrators came on a Zoom call, one class at a time. Overall it’s been a really fun year! reporter
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IZZY QUINN
St. Gerard’s Juni or School
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AI J S So c e R AIJS Football Tournament The AIJS Football Tournament was one of the most enjoyable days of the year. We went into school as normal at 8.30 am. At 10.00am we excitedly walked down to the pitch and started to warm up. We were split into teams and played Castle Park, Rathdown, Wicklow Montessori and Mount Anville. We won all of our matches and our awesome goalkeeper, Amy Devitt only conceded three goals in all of our matches!! Special congratulations to Juliette White for being the highest goal scorer on our team and also to Mysha Ali for all of those vital clearances and tackles. Kate Buckley also played so well and showed off her brilliant soccer skills. Summer Rose was a fantastic team player. These girls and I made up the blue team of St Gerard’s and we won the AIJS Football Tournament. Football in Standard 6 was very enjoyable and an easy way to get to know my teammates better. Football is one of my favourite sports and St. Gerard’s has made it so much more enjoyable for me. I really loved playing football with all of my friends and classmates. reporter
Maggie mcdonald
AI J S g O L F Delgany golf cup 15th of May This year the sixth class girls competed in the Delgany cup a golf competition hosted by Delgany every year. The Delgany cup is a match played by surrounding schools in the district. The team was Daisy, Kate, Blanca and Rozzy. It was a nine hole scramble with seven teams playing for one trophy. It was shotgun start so we all started on separate holes. We started on hole four which was a downhill hole. It was really fun and it was a beautiful day with blue skies and only a few clouds. We got off to a rough start but in the end we did well. Before lunch we watched the pro Gavin show some shots on the green and a few tips. After that we had lunch which was chicken nuggets and chips. Everyone loved the food. After everyone finished their lunch the prize giving started. We won! I was shocked and so was my team. Their was a giant trophy and a hat plus golf balls. We each got a gold medal. I was team captain so I made a speech thanking everyone for the food and competition. It was really fun I cant wait for the next competition! reporter
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Daisy Jolly
St. Gerard’s Juni or S chool
sh ow t n e l r t a s The Orche a at the T
er report
tigan Hugo Cos
This year the orchestra played in the talent show! We were the opening act and I was a part of it, it was amazing! There were pupils from Std 3, Std 4 and Std 5 there. There were pupils playing recorders, drums, xylophone, glockenspiels, violins, chime bars and a trumpet. At the start, I was very nervous but when we got up on stage I felt happy and excited and next thing I knew we were playing! Ms. Broxson was our conductor and she was great at keeping us all together. I was so surprised because we sounded so good! At the end we got a big round of applause. I had a big smile spread across my face. It was so so so so so fun! My family was so proud of me and I was too. Playing in the orchestra was spectacular and I will never forget it!
The orchestra was brilliant. We learned two pieces, one of them was called Movie Buster. We spent most of the year learning this piece. I was one of the students playing the recorder. Most of the Std. 3 members were playing the recorders, except for Miranda and Dylan, who were playing the xylophone. Most of the Std. 4 pupils were playing the violins and some of them were playing the xylophone, drums, cymbals and cello. There were some Std. 5 pupils as well. They were playing the piano and xylophone. Orchestra took place in the Art Zone at the end of every Friday. Ms. Broxson was a brilliant conductor and we had great fun every Friday playing together. Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of playing in an orchestra and I’m sure everyone else did too. er report
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ISLA MURP
HY
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Montessori ITH louise & ANNE W
Since Christmas, we have explored Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe. There was lots of love and kindness in our classroom for Valentine’s Day. We celebrated St.Patrick’s Day with rainbows and shamrocks. The children were so excited when Florence brought one of her lambs to school, we all got to feel her, which was followed by our Easter Egg Hunt. The tadpoles went to a great home in Senan’s back garden and are doing well. The children have noticed the lovely flowers and trees growing on the school grounds and love going out for adventures. The parents visited Clare’s Music and Movement class and we are now so excited to go on our school tour to Airfield Farm. It has been a fantastic year, the children have formed warm relationships and made great friends and most importantly are having lots of fun.
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JUNIOR INFANTS
W I T H M S . M C C AB E
Tempus fugit as we say in Junior Infants. The year has galloped by and here we are in June The year started back in September with my lovely little bunch of sweethearts. Now I see children ready for Senior Infants. We have learned inside and outside the classroom. We have learned our sounds, learned to read and write. We have painted, drawn and been creative. We sang, danced and had games. There have been coding lessons and school plays. We have learned Irish and math , we have had horticultural lessons in. Latin words have been thrown into the mix. This group of children have been busy and their individual learning is extensive. As their teacher it has been a joy to watch their individual personalities and characters unfold. I have loved watching my little babbas become not so little babbas. I look forward to being continued part of their lives as they grow. Thank you for all the support during the year and have a lovely Summer together.
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SENIOR INFANTS WITH Ms
. Gleeson
Senior Infants have had a busy term, full of learning, exploring and playing! They have been working their way through the adventures of Biff, Chip and Kipper in the Oxford Reading Tree Programme. Each child wrote and illustrated fabulous little books for the Write A Book competition which they were so proud of! Senior Infants absolutely loved learning about Space this term. They designed and made rockets in science and had great fun testing them in the playground to see which rocket would travel the furthest. They enjoyed learning about Neil Armstrong and the Moon Landing in history. Senior Infants also enjoyed learning about the life cycle of butterflies this term and created beautiful, colourful art pieces of both caterpillars and butterflies. Senior Infants went to Greenan Farm and Maze for their school tour. They went on a very interesting biodiversity nature walk around the farm.They saw lots of animals on the farm and got to feed a pig and her very cute piglets. They took part in lots of fun activities such as wheelbarrow relay races and football games. Finally, they had great fun in the maze, trying to navigate their way around it. They had a really fantastic day out!
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Standard 1 WITH Ms. Carlos Hasn’t the time just flown by in recent weeks. It’s been busy, full of hard work and fun both indoors and outdoors. The children enjoyed participating in the whole school art exhibition. Their paintings were a joy to see. Well done to the Easter Egg design winners Emily Flynn, Ellie Romer and runner up Ethan brady. Congrats also to Alex Gibbons for winning the bookmark design prize. We had a visit from a beautiful baby lamb. He was so cute and quite tame. Friday storytelling continues to be a much enjoyed weekly event. The children had great fun at sports day. Each child received a medal for their participation in individual and team races. Our class tour to Fort Lucan was a great success. The children had a ball. I bet that they slept well that night! The speech exams went extremely well. The children were so well prepared by Suzanne. They all did themselves proud. Well done to our spelling bee representatives Kate Murphy, Harry Finn and Cara Salmore. They were fantastic. Thanks to Emily Flynn and Arthur Anderson for being our standby contestants. And so another year comes to a close so much has been achieved and so much fun has been had. Happy holidays to all.
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Standard 2 WITH Ms. Gregory Well what a fantastic year the boys and girls have had in STD 2. The year has gone super fast with so many wonderful memories from our Christmas play, school tour and of course making our First Holy Communion. While these big events are very memorable and so special. The normal day in STD 2 has been wonderful from the jokes we have all shared to the new friendships that have blossomed during the year. We were also lucky to have some new girls join our class this year, what a great addition they have made to our class. We took part in many competitions during the year from the write a book to the easter egg competition. Well done each and everyone of the pupils for putting so much work and effort into their projects. The boys and girls have worked extremely hard this year in all areas of school life. We have truly enjoyed all the art and science activities we have worked on throughout the year. Sport has also been a huge part of our year from swimming in shoreline in Bray each monday to topping off the year with rugby and hockey matches. I feel like there are some budding sportsmen and sportswomen making their way up the ranks. To top off a wonderful year we had such great fun on our school tour. Surfing is such great fun but definitely harder than it looks. While we are sad to close the chapter on STD 2 we are looking forward to what STD 3 will bring. I hope you all have a wonderful summer and wish you all the best for STD 3.
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First Holy Comunion STD 2 celebrated their First Holy Communion Day on May 5th in St. Peters Church in Bray. The boys and girls have been working very hard throughout the year to prepare for this very special day. We celebrated with our families as well as with Fr. Jimmy who was the celebrant over the mass. Fr. Jimmy put us all to ease with his lovely homily. The choir from STD 4 and STD 5 raised the roof off the church with their beautiful singing.
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reporter
arry Sebastian B
Once we received our Communion we then went back to the school for a reception. The hall was transformed by the inhouse committee into a wonderful banquet. We enjoyed some wonderful food and we even got to cut a cake which was delicious. The whole class really enjoyed all the celebrations. We truly had a magical day that we will never be forgotten.
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Standard 3
WITH Ms. Flanaga
n
What a truly fantastic year we have had in Std 3 this year! We have managed to pack so much in from our stunning art project to learning the recorder and starting the violin, we haven’t wasted a minute of our time! We loved learning all about the Egyptians in Std. 3. The boys and girls were fascinated about the mummification process and learned so much about pharaohs and pyramids. They all completed projects on the Egyptians showcasing their beautiful cursive writing which they have been working very hard at all term. This culminated in each student presenting their project to the class in our Arts Zone. We have enjoyed working on the Chromebooks this year and there is nothing the boys and girls have loved more this year than a Menti challenge where they compete against each other testing their knowledge on different SESE subject topics, maths tables or spelling . Extra points are awarded for speed and accuracy so there was always a highly charged atmosphere in the classroom! In February, we had great fun designing our own robots with interesting high tech features that would help us in our busy lives. The children labelled the key features on their robot diagrams and then wrote an advertisement for the robot. We had so much fun recording the advertisements on camera although not all of us enjoyed watching the ads back!! (Check out Google Classroom if you want to watch them.) A great achievement by all the pupils. We have been as busy as bees this term working on our art project. Everyone has created their own masterpiece and each element of the project carries with it special memories of our art classes this year which have been treasured by all the pupils in Std 3. Thank you boys and girls for such commitment and dedication to the task. Finally, this term, we read our second class novel, “The Butterfly Lion”, which is always a gorgeous way to finish our year in Std 3. The children enjoyed the new experience of taking part in literacy circles where every child took on a specific role to explore the novel in small groups. This has been a rewarding experience for all and it has been lovely to hear the children express their thoughts and opinions on the novel with their peers. There wasn’t a sound to be heard as we read our last page and there were goosebumps and tears as we said our final goodbyes to Bertie, Millie and the lion. Goodbye Std 3, I will miss you all dearly. Thank you parents for your support, generosity and kindness this year. Wishing you all a fantastic summer ahead!
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Standard 4 It has been such an exciting term for Std. 4 across all areas of school life! We have been very busy with our school work, art projects and so much more. One of our highlights of the term was our amazing school tour! For this great day out, we visited Belfast. We all hopped on the bus early in the morning and arrived at the Titanic Centre, where we learned so many interesting things and had so much fun. We then went onto Vertigo, a gigantic inflatable play park, where we bounced, jumped, climbed and explored for over an hour. We finished the day with a pizza party and some ice cream for dessert and sang the whole way home! The talent show was a very special night for us. We had prepared for weeks, polishing off our performances and it all paid off. The night was a huge success filled with such a variety of talent from singing, dancing and piano to drama, and even synchronised swimming! The audience clapped and cheered all night long and everyone felt like a star.
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W I T H M s Po w e r This term, we enjoyed our art project so much - paper maché. This certainly was very messy and we had to get really stuck in. We all made piggy banks and they turned out so cool and each one was different. We had lots of fun painting them and making them unique. Another very special day for us was our fantastic bake sale. The whole class came together and baked the most amazing selection of buns, cakes, brownies, cookies - you name it! We had such a great time organising the afternoon and seeing everyone happy. Although, our favourite part was when we got to enjoy some delicious treats after all our hard work! It really has been the most wonderful term for us here in Std.4. The weeks went by so quickly and were filled with fun, learning and great memories. Onwards to Std. 5!
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Standard 5 WITH MS. BY
RNE
a n d M rs . m
ur p h y
Write a Book
My class loved exploring a wide variety of writing genres this year and what a fabulous selection of books they produced for this year’s Write a Book Competition. Congratulations to Sean Nolan who was announced as our Write a Book winner with his entry, ‘The Young Rory McIlroy’.
Young Artists
TThe boys and girls in Std.5 are incredible artists. They have continued to impress me with their stunning drawings and paintings throughout the year. Congratulations to Bella O’Reilly who was crowned the overall winner of the Easter Egg Competition in the Junior School. A future artist for sure!
Spelling Bee
There was a great buzz of excitement as we helped our 3 class representatives to prepare for our annual Spelling Bee competition. Well done to Oliver and Dhruv and huge congratulations to Chloe who was the overall winner. Chloe went on to represent the school in the AIJS Spelling Bee Competition where she placed sixth. Well done Chloe, we’re proud of you!
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School Tour
Science fair- Parachutes
Puppet show
Marble Championship
On Tuesday May 2, we boarded the bus and headed for Belfast on our school tour. We had an amazing time exploring the phenomenal Titanic museum before bouncing the afternoon away in Vertigo, Ireland’s leading indoor inflatable park and activity centre. In the final term, Std.5 produced a puppet show for the boys and girls from Montessori to Std.2. They put an incredible amount of preparation into their shows, writing their own scripts and designing their own puppets and backdrops. We simply couldn’t wait to perform and the boys and girls in the Junior classes loved each of the performances.
Talent Show
The Talent Show was one of the highlights of our year and gave my boys and girls the opportunity to demonstrate their abundant talents and skills. We opened the show with our rendition of Mr Blue Sky before amazing the audience with our singing, dancing, animation, instrumentals and hilarious sketches. I am incredibly proud of my super talented class!
Reading
We loved reading our class novels together throughout the year. In the final term, we read Wonder by R.J Palacio. What a pleasure to see a class so absorbed and invested in a character and their journey. Well done to all my pupils who reached their Accelerated Reader Target this year!
My class were truly inspired by the amazing Science Fair projects produced by the pupils in Std.6 and look forward to the chance to produce their own projects next year. This term we had great fun creating and testing our own parachutes. Every year in the final term I hold a marble championship with my students. We had great fun and were likely heard all over the school as we struggled to contain our excitement during some very close matches. Congratulations to Charlie Moes! So many other events were enjoyed in our final term from AIJS poetry speaking competitions, swimming galas, singing for the Confirmation and Communion, World Book Day, our fun Ceilí for Seachtain na Gaeilge, Sports and Prize Day and more. Time really does fly when you’re having fun!
A Message to parents and pupils
I wish to thank all the Std.5 parents for your continued and much appreciated support and generosity throughout the year. It has been an absolute pleasure teaching your incredible children. To my pupils, thank you for your hard work, uniqueness, great fun and for the opportunity to share in all your progress and achievements. I wish you all every success in Std.6 where I know you will continue to make me proud! Farewell and thank you! Ms Byrne.
St. Gerard’s Juni or School
Standard 6 WITH Mr. Dwyer
Standard 6 has been a fun and busy year. The confirmation was on the 24th of March. We all went to the church a few days beforehand to prepare. The mass started at 15:00 and after the mass we all went back to the school for a Confirmation party. Overall, this was a great day and everyone enjoyed it. The Science Fair was a busy and fun day. Everyone came in at 08:00 to set up their posters/models/experiments. Class after class came in to look at our stalls and then parents came in. Mrs. Murphy was also going around judging the Science Fair projects. This was a tiring, busy and fun day. The school tour was a great trip. On day one, we took a bus into Clare to do the UL water sports activities. We got back on the bus for an hour to go to the hotel and get our rooms. We had a tasty dinner and did some activities after. On day two, we went to the UL sports centre to do rock climbing and other activities. We got back on the bus to go bowling which was great fun. We then went back to the hotel to go swimming and play some mini golf. Again, we got ready for dinner and played ‘Deal or No Deal’ after. We also had a fun céilí with the Standard 6 teachers and we all went outside with a wireless speaker for our final performance! On the final day, we went to Bunratty Castle and got a tour. Finally, we hopped on the bus to go get some lunch in Barack Obama Plaza on our way home. This was one of the best school tours I have ever been on. The school play we are doing is Eurovision All Stars. It’s good fun and we are learning a lot about Eurovision. This year has been amazing with all the activities we have done.
reporter
y Sam Hegart
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Standard 6
WITH Ms. Cunnin
gham
In this final term I have had the pleasure of experiencing a busy, fun and memorable time with all of the Std 6 students and staff. The dedication and enthusiasm of the students has truly been impressive, well done to all! In this term we had various activities and events; the Science Fair, Social Media Awareness, School Tour, Sports Tournaments - to name but a few! Each day has been filled with excitement and learning opportunities. I have to mention that the Science Fair was a roaring success, it showcased the students talents and their forward thinking ideas for the future. There truly was a diverse range of projects on display; ranging from biology and environmental science to programming and robotics! It was clear to see that the students had researched their topics extensively, recorded their key findings, designed and executed experiments and made some beautiful eye-catching boards to display their knowledge and findings. I have truly been blown away by the innovative ideas and creativity from our Standard 6 students and I look forward to seeing how they will continue to make a difference in the world through their scientific efforts! Our recent school tour to Limerick and Clare was an amazing experience where we came together, had some fun and created some unforgettable memories. On the first day we arrived to Killaloe and were led by fantastic and knowledgeable activity leaders. The children tried various water sports such as Kayaking, sailing and paddle boarding, all while enjoying the beautiful surroundings of Lough Derg! There were more great activities on land, such as Archery and high ropes. It was a wonderful experience for our students to team up and try something new whilst conquering fears and having a great time! On the second day we made the journey to the University of Limerick where we tried and tested their new state-of-the-art climbing wall. Here the children both pushed themselves and encouraged their peers to keep going, even when it was tiring and tough! The evenings at the hotel were filled with fun and laughter and both teachers and students got to put their dancing skills on display - some of us might need to work on those skills for next years school tour! On the final day we made a quick stop to Bunratty Castle, where the children were taught about the workings and life around the Medieval Castle and also the History of the castle itself. We also met a truly talented fiddle player; Mr Grogan, where he played a tune and some of the students got to show off their ceilí dancing which they learned the night before! Of course no trip West would be complete without a stop off at Obama Plaza where the students sampled the delights of Supermacs, and some even picked up some souvenirs! After our rest break we got back on the bus where we enjoyed a final sing song before returning back to school! It was a pleasure to accompany Standard 6 on their school tour. They were so impeccably behaved and willing to partake in all activities enthusiastically and I have no doubt the memories will last them a lifetime!
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Standard 6 What an amazing term we have had in Std. 6 full of learning, fun and development. The first project of the term was our annual Write a Book competition. After weeks of hard work and thinking creatively our books were completed, they were all of a really high standard and everyone was happy with their final product. We also enjoyed reading the other school’s books. We moved swiftly on to preparing for our Service of Light and later our Confirmation ceremonies. The children produced magnificent artwork for both the Church and school hall. The children enjoyed learning about the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit. They were excited to receive the sacrament of Confirmation. The Confirmation day arrived and everyone looked smashing! We celebrated with a reception in the Junior School for the first time in years. The pace continued and we quickly turned our attention to the Science Fair. As Mr. Burke outlined, the selection of our idea was going to be key. The children investigated five different ideas to begin with and chose their favourite. The children documented their progress in their logbook and continued their research as the weeks went by. The Science Fair day arrived and the Hall and Art Zone were decorated and filled with outstanding colourful posters and models. The effort and hard work was clearly evident for all to see. From investigations into the brain and why strokes happen, to investigations on Chat GPT and its effectiveness. The children also looked at measuring soil moisture levels and how to make the strongest concrete. It was a brilliant day where the children showcased their scientific capabilities. The final term was made up of intensive revision for end of year exams but also the fun and excitement for our school tour and end of year production. The school tour to Clare and Limerick was filled with memorable moments for both teachers and students. It was a special opportunity for the children and teachers to relax and enjoy activities together. We did water activities in Killaloe and soared the intimidating heights of the climbing wall in UL. We enjoyed an educational tour around Bunratty Folk Park, meeting a lovely musician called Michael. We had luckily learned the Waves of Tory the night before so we performed a quick rendition. Alex also showcased his Irish dancing that mesmerised the crowd. The evenings in the hotel were a highlight for many with some questionable dancing at the disco, ‘deal or no deal’ and vital updates on the Champions League. An overall fantastic experience and one that we will all remember. Our End of Year production was a brilliant success and was based around the theme of Reeling in the Years. The students learned songs like ‘Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears’ and ‘Fame’ to name just two. The children reenacted scenes from Glenroe and were dressed
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W I T H M r . B u rk e accordingly. The children performed magnificently and it was clear after all the practice that everyone enjoyed it. Looking back on a busy but highly enjoyable term in Mr. Burke’s class, there were successes in the classroom as the children managed to beat the chaser Mr. Burke, we had classes outside in the sunshine and we made smores in our solar ovens. There were also some significant sporting achievements for the boys and girls in the class, as the girls won the AIJS soccer and the boys won the AIJS basketball. Standard 6 is a memorable and enjoyable year. Thank you to all the boys and girls for all their hard work over the year! It is time to move on to the next chapter in our lives in the Senior School and I wish you all the best of luck next year. Go n-éirí an t-ádh libh.
Std 6 Confirm
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e g l G i a e a n e t s i o C with Mr. Dw
yer
erS report
Rinne ár gCoiste Gaeilge obair iontach ar fad i mbliana chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn. This year our Coiste na Gaeilge members were Céad Henley, Finn O’Reilly, Kevin Yan, Mary-Kate Cunningham, Matthew Kelly, Sophia Kinsella, Tristan Fogarty and Zack O’Dwyer. Bhí sí mar aidhm ag an gCoiste Gaeilge na daltaí i Scoil Ghearóid Naofa a spreagadh leis an teanga a labhairt sa scoil le bród. Since Christmas, the committee arranged games of Buille Faoi Thuairim (Guess Who) and Snakes and Ladders for the senior classes. We went to all classes from Std.2 to Std.6 and played Guess Who? Storytelling sessions (Seisiún Scéalaíochta) were organised for the junior classes. Committee members chose Irish books from our school library and read Irish stories to the younger pupils. This was really enjoyable for everyone and the younger children learned lots of Irish words. Our Coiste na Gaeilge members were also busy running the weekly Dalta na Seachtaine raffle and making regular announcements on the intercom and at assemblies.
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Seachtain na Gaeilge!
Then there was Seachtain na Gaeilge! Mr Dwyer and the Coiste na Gaeilge members had a lot of stuff planned. We were making constant announcements about activities. Our Coiste na Gaeilge worked very hard during Seachtain na Gaeilge to make it a celebration that nobody would forget! For example, we did Irish dancing and we sang the National Anthem in our Irish colours. All the classes did a céilí with Claire Dowling on Monday 6th of March. Coiste na Gaeilge members paired all the classes and worked with the teachers to arrange a timeslot for each group. We all had partners and we went in a big circle and we danced around doing 1,2,3s as Gaeilge (a haon, dó trí!). It was really good. Go raibh míle maith agat a Chláir, bhí craic agus spraoi iontach againn! Throughout Seachtain na Gaeilge, the committee members visited all of the classes from Std.2 to Std.6 and provided everyone with the words of our National Anthem. Each teacher was also given a story about the National Anthem to read with their class. The handouts
aigh O Ceall Le Maitiú AND Sadhbh Chinsealach
showed everyone how to pronounce the words. We visited a couple of classes every day to sing the National Anthem and we gave prizes to children who were making a big effort to learn all of the words. This was lots of fun. The Committee made sure that everyone was well prepared to sing Amhrán na bhFiann at assembly. Our Coiste na Gaeilge organised a ‘Lá Glas’ fundraiser on 16th March for Pieta House and everyone brought in €2 and wore something green. Also, the committee teamed up with the Student Council and organised a Tráth na gCeist (Irish quiz) for the whole school. Everyone in the school got into their colour groups and participated in the quiz. Our Coiste na Gaeilge wrapped up the celebrations with a wonderful whole school assembly and we raised our Gaelbhratach (Irish Flag) and Pieta Amber Flag. This was a very busy time for the Coiste na Gaeilge members but we just enjoyed it because we were adding to our Irish vocabulary.
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Our ols cho s n e e Gr mittee Com
greenschools Being part of the Green Schools Committee has been a very exciting part of Std 6 for me. In September we were all asked to put ourselves forward for the different committees and I was really excited to be chosen to be the vice president for the Green Schools Committee, with Mysha as the chairperson. There were lots of other positions in the committee including class representatives, secretary and eco monitors that all contributed massively to the Green Schools this year. The first thing we did at the start of this year was monitoring the bins and lights which went really well. Since then, we have had Fair Trade Fortnight, Bee Day, and a whole school clean up. It is so wonderful to see all of our students getting involved to make our school a greener place. I’m really excited for the coming years in St. Gerard’s because we still have so much planned to do to make this school even greener! oll Maya von M reporter
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St. Gerard’s Juni or School
Student counc
il
WITH MS. FLANAGAN Since Christmas,the Student Council has been very busy organising fundraisers, exciting activities and their trusty tuck shops. They’ve really brightened up the school and morale, creating fun for all. Here are a few of the many things that they achieved: During Lent, each member of the Student Council prepared a short prayer which they then read aloud to the whole school. This was a great way to take a moment to pause, take a break from our work, and reflect .The Council also organised an event called Friendship Week. During Friendship Week, council members manned stands, set up downstairs and upstairs, in the school, with balloons, music, activity sheets and stickers. It was a wonderful idea to promote kindness and friendship and was very well received indeed. At the end of Friendship Week, the school held an activity day where everyone joined a group with pupils from different classes and a teacher too. Getting together generated fantastic energy from everyone and was super fun! The Student Council has been teaming with our other committees this year. They organised an interesting quiz with
Coiste na Gaeilge which was half in Irish, half in English! This was great fun and encouraged people to work together and learn a little At the end of the year, they continued on with the new tradition playing a game of rounders, Student Council versus Teachers! This was so enjoyable for the whole school and got everyone on their feet and cheering. Unfortunately, the teachers won but we are determined to beat them next year!
The profit from the tuck shop this year goes to help those affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. The Student Council has made our school an exciting, fun and charitable place in which everyone is happy. I loved being part of this fantastic team and I’m sure they will keep up the great work next year. reporter
s Éabha Brennan Hobb
r o u n d e rs
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St. Gerard’s Juni or School
Standard 4 & Standard 5
Talent Show This year we had an amazing talent show performed by standard 4 and 5 on Wednesday the 22nd at 7:30. Some amazing talent was shown. Standard 4 had all sorts of talent shown such as jailbreakers, synchronised swimming, family game night, loads of singing and dancing and many more! The audience was left in shock after an amazing Wednesday afternoon talent show that was performed by Standard 4. Standard 4 put loads of hard work dedication towards the talent show and it was worth it! It was then time for Standard 5 to show their outstanding talent! Standard 5 started off to a great start with many interesting and amazing talents. We had one outstanding performance from Brooke Torpey doing an animated video she made herself! The audience was stunned! Standard 5 put a lot of effort into the talent show and had done a lot of practice for this night. They came out with excellent results and everyone was so proud. To end the night Standard 5 & 4 came out with a brilliant song to end the night “We Go Together”. Overall they did an amazing performance throughout the whole night. It was brilliant!
r c ia nzalez G a
nca Go er Bla report
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Standard 6
Science fair We all had a great time in the Science Fair! Everyone had such a wonderful day of presenting and looking at everyone’s science projects, and enjoying the scientific atmosphere! Every person from Standard 6 was preparing and working so hard for weeks, even months, for the Science Fair, and we were super excited on the day to present our projects! What we had to do was think of a question in science, and answer it, including all of the information, and an experiment, model or survey. We all had to present our projects to some of the other classes below, and it was a great learning experience for them, but they also got to try out lots of cool experiments and activities! Mrs. Murphy came around, looking at all of our science projects, and she was very impressed with all of the hard work the students had put into their projects, and she was also impressed with the amount of information in all of them! The parents and teachers came around looking at the Science Fair projects too, and they were very interested in them. We could all tell how much effort people had put in to make their projects perfect, and I think everyone was really proud of themselves at the end of the day. A special thank you to Mrs. Murphy for her great advice and being a fantastic judge for the Science Fair! er report
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P e rc y M
oore
St.Gerard’s Juni or S chool
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Sports Day
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St. Gerard’s Juni or School
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St. Gerard’s Juni or S chool
END OF YEAR PRODUCTION For the last few weeks of the term Standard Six were all vigorously working on one thing, the end of year plays. Due to the Easter plays and our school tour, everybody had to put in an enormous effort to try and get the plays together. Mr. Burke’s class did ‘Reeling in the years’, Ms. Cunningham’s class did ‘Oliver and Mary Poppins’ and Mr. Dwyer’s class did ‘Eurovision’. We were all put under extreme pressure to quickly learn our lines and songs. Suzanne worked wonderfully on all the scripts and parts while Ms. Broxson helped organise the songs. Mrs. Murphy worked hard on getting costumes for everybody and all the teachers helped get everybody into their roles. When we realised that we would only have about two weeks to learn all our lines, songs and roles as well as get all our costumes together, we thought that it would be impossible to do. But everyone really tried their best and it
Standard 6
all started to come together. Eventually, all the lines, songs, costumes, roles, timing, and dances were all sorted out and that only left everybody to practise it all to perfection. Fictional worlds came together and we explored London in Mrs. Cunningham’s ‘Mary Poppins and Oliver Twist’, history was re-lived and we learned about the 70’s 80’s and 90’s in Mr. Burke’s ‘Reeling in the Years’ and in Mr. Dwyer’s ‘Eurovision’, we thought about Ireland’s glory days in the Eurovision and the upcoming threat of being passed out by Sweden. Our end of year plays, while stressful, have been a blast for everyone participating and they have been very enjoyable and memorable. It was a great success and everybody was very happy with their performance. All of the plays were great and we all loved them. This will definitely be a year to remember. reporter
Su m m e r N e w s 2 0 2 3
brian walsh
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Farewell to St a
ndard 6