Please note that our carol service is on Thursday 15th December in Ballydown Presbyterian @ 10am.
All parents, family and friends are welcome to come along.
For our Senior school topic we have been looking at World War 2. We were fortunate enough to be able to visit the Ulster Aviation Society’s hanger which contains many different air crafts dating back to the early 1900s. The pupils were extremely excited to see and interact with the war planes. It was an amazing opportunity where the pupils got to experience what it was like to be in the cock pit of a fighter plane, observe the weaponry and explore different war time artefacts and memorabilia. A very exciting and informative trip and enjoyed by all.
We also visited the WW2 exhibition at Brownlow House. We were given a tour of the beautiful building, which hosted American GIs during the war, and then we explored the exhibition. Some of the pupils loved dressing up in the uniforms and pretending to use the weapons.
Makaton is a language programme using signs and symbols to help people to communicate. It is designed to support spoken language and the signs and symbols are used with speech, in spoken word order. Makaton is used all across Donard School, to encourage pupils to make requests, comment and answer questions. We also have a Makaton Choir. In our Resources for Parents section you will now find a link to the Makaton Charity page which is a very useful website for Makaton users and those wishing to learn more about Makaton. We encourage you to take a look at the website, particularly the Sign of the Week.
These photographs were taken during Soundabout training that was held in Donard for Teachers 4 other Special Schools. The aim behind Soundabout is to encourage children to express themselves through sound and music.
Some of our pupils are enjoying the opportunity to participate in Music Therapy with Roisin our Therapist. The photographs show Class 1 during one of their sessions, and as you can see they are all very responsive and engaged.
Every Class in School participated in our Harvest Celebration. Some pupils read poems or prayers and others brought fruit to the Harvest Barrow.
Donard School staff had training on how to use our new school defibrillator
Pupils from Classes 9, 10 and 11 had a blast on their recent residential on the North Antrim Coast!
We have loads of pictures from the residential, so please click the READ MORE link to view the full set:
The Annual Special School Swimming Gala took place in Newry on May 10th – this was a huge success and the pupils from Donard School had a great day out, taking part and spectating – well done to all those involved!
| Tuesday October 16 Parent Wellbeing Event – Dr Shane Martin; Lisanally School- Armagh |
| Wednesday October 17 Parent Coffee/ Breakfast Morning |
| Tuesday October 23 Sibling Group 4.30pm |
| Friday October 26 Harvest Festival for Pupils |
| Tuesday October 30 Parent Teacher Meetings |
| Tuesday October 30 School closed Oct 30 - Nov 2 inclusive |
| Thursday November 29 Pantomime for Pupils |
| Friday December 14 Carol Service – Bannside Church |
