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                                                                Projects.        

Visits to the museum       Dancing Riverdance style!  The School Mural    Computer Room

 

Projects:                                  Modern Language Pilot Project                                                       Scoil Ide has been part of the Department of Education and Science Pilot Project on Modern Languages since its inception. Spanish is taught to our 5th and 6th Class pupils for one and half-hours per week. Initially Toyo Serrano gave the instruction from the University of Limerick who is a native of Colombia. This year another Colombian Senor Jaime Parra gives the instruction. Madeline Moran is the Dept. of Education Project Officer for Spanish and she is in regular contact with the school. We chose Spanish as it is the next most important world language after English and is spoken widely in North and South America. The Dept. of Education is encouraging secondary schools to broaden their base of language teaching.                                                         English  Reading                Over the past few years we have moved away from the class reader as a means of teaching English reading in the senior school. Children now work initially on sets of novels completing a novel every three weeks or so. While reading the novels they complete comprehension work as well as trying to understand the characters and the plot. Favourites so far this year appear to be “Benny and Omar”, Waiting for Anya” and “The Good Liar”. After one term of this the class works in smaller groups on different novels such as “Goodnight Mr.Tom”.  Twenty sets of exercises are available on each of these novels so the children do as many of these as they can essentially allowing them to read at their own level. Research has shown that reading ability increases in relation to the amount of reading done so we are happy that although we always had a very high standard of reading in the school that this will further enhance this. As well as working on the novels classes from time to time work for short concentrated periods on the Reading Laboratories known to the children as the “SRA”.                                     Process  Writing;          All our Senior Classes are now engaged in what is known as process writing where they are taught to write for different purposes and for wider audiences. Writing is now seen as a process where you use the technique known as webbing to prepare your ideas and the you write a first draft. Children are taught to examine their writing for spelling and grammatical errors. The final draft of their work is the one that is presented for final grading by the teacher. The forms of writing taught include the topics memorable moments, interesting people, fabulous fables, intriguing investigations and persuasive print. Children’s work is displayed in their classrooms, in the School Magazine and in the “Look at our Writing” page on the website. We hope that the writing that they do will be the first steps of another Maeve Binchey or Seamus Heaney.                                      Student's  Council;         The Scoil Ide Student’s Council was formed in 1999 and is made up of two representatives from each of the 5th and 6th Classes. The Representatives are elected at the start of the year and are expected to be a good example to all. The Council meets fortnightly and reviews its operations. The first project undertaken this school year was the Concern “Change the World Project” The Council members spoke to the classes about the project and asked them to bring in any foreign coinage that they had at home. The Council is currently involved in the daily judging of the Tidy Classroom Competition, organising the school “Healthy Eating Day”, the Advent Services and are preparing for the publication of a school magazine in February.                                        Citizenship:          In the world we live in people can feel as if they are not part of a community. By the work we do in the school through the Student’s Council and in other areas like the gardens and the library where children are given responsibility for their own school we hope to deliberately foster a sense of belonging. Through the School Colour Day in February where the 6th Class pupils speak on behalf of various charities and then vote where the money goes we give them a sense of how fortunate they are. Interest in local and environmental affairs is encouraged through the Green Team and the 5th Class public speaking competition, in which all the children participate, is based on topical issues. We feel that the whole area of Citizenship will become more and more important in schools.                                             Music :         :  Music is taught in every standard in the school but we make extra provision in certain classes. Ms. Paula Hackett is the teacher responsible for the development of music in the school. Mr. Tom Cantillon of the Limerick School of Music teaches recorder to every child in 3rd and 4th classes. Any interested child can then join the Junior Ensemble, which practices once per week and performs twice yearly. As children move up through the school we encourage them to go to the School of Music for individual tuition or to join our Senior Ensemble. Ms. Hackett is also Director of our School Choir, which is made up of pupils from 5th and 6th Classes and practises once per week. The Choir also performs regularly.                                             Young Writers;        Up until the launch of our website our Young Writers were given the opportunity to show their talents through the school newsletter. We are delighted now to give them the chance to reach a wider audience. Maybe the work you read will be the first public attempt of the next Seamus Heaney or Maeve Binchey.See our writing !                                          School Chaplaincy:           Chaplaincy: We are especially proud of School Chaplaincy. Fr. Damian Ryan and Fr. John Daly are the school chaplains and are regular visitors to the classes where they work in conjunction with the Teaching Team in encouraging the children towards a deeper understanding of their faith. As well as assisting with the sacramental preparation they hold Advent and Lenten Services for senior classes in which the vital part is the participation of the children. All classes from 3rd Class up attend the morning Mass at 9.45 a.m. in nearby St. Munchin’s College Chapel once per month between November and Easter. Fr. Damian organises pre-Confirmation Retreats for the 6th Classes.                                   Green  Team :     As part of the “Green Schools” Project run by An Taisce we have put in place a Green Team made up of pupils, members of the Board of Management, and local T.D. Jan O’Sullivan. Also part of the team is well known local conservationist Pat Lysaght. The team meets regularly to oversee how eco-friendly the school is and make suggestions for suggestions for further improvements. The Green Team has been working on waste reduction in school and a project involving feeding waste bread to the ducks at the local wildfowl preserve. Members of the Green Team are also involved in weeding and planting some of the flowerbeds in the school.  Ms. Brid Moran is the teacher responsible for co-ordinating Green Team Activities.                                    Hunt  Museum        Children regularly take part in the education programme from the Hunt Museum. Recent visits have seen the children participate in simulated archaeological digs and studies of costumes, which the children were allowed to wear.                                      Art :         Conscious of preparing our 6th Class children for secondary school each of the classes will be doing a ten week module on Art. The classes are taught by Mr. Michael Connor, a secondary school art teacher from nearby Ard Scoil Mhuire. The children have already worked with still life drawing, clay and construction.                                     Physical  Education  All classes in the school do PE but with the aim of providing the widest possible education experience we bring in a number of specialist PE Teachers. Classes are provided in Hurling, Basketball, Irish Dancing, Swimming, and hockey on a rotating basis.                                    Information Technology             Since September 2000 our I.T. Room in the senior school has been in use. In addition to a stand alone PC in every classroom we have 12 networked PC’s in the IT Room. Children from the Senior School are taught basic IT skills by Mrs. Liz Griffin on an 8 week rota. The Room is also equipped with Power Point Equipment, TV, VCR, Videophone and video editing software.  Through the generosity of M.A.Ryan Electrical we were provided with a digital video camera which is used for recording school events. IT in the school is co-ordinated by Assistant Principal, Mr. Joe O’Sullivan who is also webmaster for the school.