D7ET Classroom

5th and 6th Class got some experience boating this year when the school signed up for rowing lessons with Dublin’s Municipal Rowing Club. Pupils travelled on alternate weeks to the CLub’s HQ in Islandbridge, where they were trained in the rudiments of boat-rowing.

It wasn’t just theory, but practice too, with everyone moving up and down the Liffey in baots carrying five oarsmen/women.

“Knees down, back straight, let you arms out first, keep in time. That’s it!”

Some boats kept going sideways, but they insisted that the rudder was askew, and was not due to novice rowing.

It was generally agreed that this was an invaluable introduction to a sport that most people never get to experience.

6^th Class spent a week in Colaiste na Rosann, Anagaire, Co. Donegal (from April 31^st).

For many, it was the first time away from home, but there were no tears, and the unusually good weather meant that there was little to miss in Dublin anyway.

During our day-trips, we visited Dunlewy Activity Centre, Aranmore Island and Carrickfinn Beach. In the evenings, we took part in a talent contest (Leim suas, Leim thart, Leim Sios), danced in a ceilidhe, and had a table quiz, all as ghaeilge.

Here are some of the comments:

“We missed having our phones all day. In the evening, we were let have them.  It was the first thing we did after getting off the bus.”

“Peadar didn’t charge my phone.”

“Mine fell down the toilet.”

“There was one lost camera, one missing kindle, one broken phone, one soaking I-Phone and a lost watch – though we did find some of them.”

“The food was lovely and unhealthy.” 

“The bunk-beds were scary and you had to jump out.”

“Lots of good shows in the talent contest, though we were among the best. Some people did an impromptu performance. Hmmm!”

“At the beach, jumping off the sand-dunes was a highlight.”

“ I got thrown off the rodeo bull.”

“Lots of us were steering the paddle-boats into rocks. Aoife B got stuck.”

 “Everything was: ‘Sea’ and ‘Go h-alainn’. ‘Ta se blasta’ was what I said to the bean-an-ti all the time.”

“I made great friends there, but I don’t know who they were.”

“We all good head-colds. We kept the nurse busy.”

“I learned that I have double-jointed toes.”

“My roommates were all annoying: one talks in her sleep, one snores, one keeps jumping in the bed.”

Heard from another school (not D7ET):

“…and like our bean-an-ti just flipped out and said ‘Ciunas’ -I don’t know – she didn’t like us talking at night or something, and Jessica was so scared she was, like, afraid to ask how to use the toaster, and she had to eat raw bread.”

There were many events in the school for seachtain na gaeilge this year, only a sample of which are featured here.

We can see 6th Class performing for parents and taking part ina Tra na gCeist with them.

Marie’s 2nd Class performed a play in Irish, with songs and costume.

Musical entertainment for the school was from a parent’s group, and also by traditional musicians Sean O Broin and Geraldine Custy.

There were many events in the school for seachtain na gaeilge this year, only a sample of which are featured here.

We can see 6th Class performing for parents and taking part ina Tra na gCeist with them.

Marie’s 2nd Class performed a play in Irish, with songs and costume.

Musical entertainment for the school was from a parent’s group, and also by traditional musicians Sean O Broin and Geraldine Custy.

To wind up for the Easter term, D7ET held a two day skipping event in the school.

Skip Hop (an English skipping teaching company) put pupils through their paces with a series of classes. Pupils of all ages took part, practicing both individual skills and participating in  team games.  To finish up, children were chosen to help in a demonstration master-class for the whole school in the front yard.

We got to see children skipping backwards, in pairs with one rope, between two ropes, even skipping with three ropes simultaneously.

Even the instructor was too exhausted to continue by 11:30.

6th Class Worked on some experiments today to investigate air pressure and aerodynamics.  This involved taping balloons to strings and throwing paper aeroplanes around the yard. The planes were not as effective as hoped- D7ET pupils are obviously too well-behaved to have practiced this in the past.

AIR SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

This year, D7ET opted to mix classes about to celebrate the event. 6th Class visited Patricia’s 1st, reading their own particular favourite stories from their that age-group. In a half-hour session, most 1st Class boys and girls heard at least five stories.
Fionnuala’s Junior Infant Class brought in their own recommendations, as the pictures show. As the day was fine, they spent some time reading outside on the grass.
6th Class pupils read passages from their favourite current reads. We heard about children forced to battle in gladiator arenas, and demons throwing each other into dark pits of fire, though there was also one story about a rescued puppy.

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href=”http://www.d7educatetogether.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/0502.jpg”>Today, Feb 29th, is usually a lucky/unlucky day for many people. It is also an Olympic Year, so athletes were especially eager to be at their best. Many of our pupils have been training with Mary Mc Kenna’s Celtic Running Club, and the improvement in our performance was obvious. Congrats to those who did well, and well done on our Third Overall Placing.
The event ran smoothly, and the unusual warm weather was a bonus for those standing about.
Veteran cross-country star, Katrina McKiernan was on hand to present medals.
Though none of our boys featured in the prizes, Connor did find a ‘gold coin’ on the circuit.
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Dublin football star Bernard Brogan visited the school today with the Sam Maguire Cup in hand. As this was Dublin’s first All-Ireland Victory in 16 years, it caused quite a buzz of excitement in the capital. This meant that D7ET had to wait in line with other schools for a visit, but it was worth it today. The entire building was draped in the navy & sky blue, and the children waited in the yard from 10 am for a chance to meet with Bernard – and Sam.
Padraig’s 5th Class even got a chance to take penalties on Bernard, who isn’t after all, a keeper.
Unfortunately, Dublin’s prowess in sport may contribute to a drop in academic standards, as the Dublin star pronounced today a homework-free day before he left.

6th Class began Irish dancing lessons today, with the Siege of Ennis. There has never actually been a Siege of Ennis (perhaps it was meant to be Venice).
The class started with basic steps: “Leimigi, casaigi, le cheile, ar aghaidh ar chle, arais ar dheis, aris.”
The main steps were then used for the ensemble dance, as shown in these pictures.

NCAD students generously gave their time to 1^st to 3^rd classes on Wednesday, February 8^th. Organising print workshops for the classes, pupils got a chance to make art, stamping peppers and palm-prints onto  pages.

Here they are at work with Ruth’s 3rd Class.