We have been busy using all our senses to explore lots of Autumn textures and smells. We hope our families enjoyed the Pumpkin Brownies we made—our Staff enjoyed the left-overs! We have continued to do lots of painting, cooking and ICT related to our Topic ‘Sensational Stories’ and we dressed up as princesses and tasted yummy ice-cream. We had some very special visitors to our classroom who had come all the way from Paris. Thank you Mickey and Minnie!
Happy Half-Term Everyone!
Welcome back to all our lovely pupils! A special welcome too to our newest pupil who joins us from Scotland!
Our Topic for this term is ‘Sensational Stories’ and our pupils have been experiencing a wide range of activities around two stories - ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’.
Two of our pupils dressed up as two very beautiful ugly sisters, and the class have all had fun making and wearing their very own Mad Hatter hats.
We continue to work on a daily basis to develop the important skills of engagement, anticipation, noticing and attending.
We look forward to a busy year of fun and activity.
Class 1 had a lovely day out in Newcastle as an end of term treat. Given that they are the best pupils in Donard School nothing would do but that we would have our Break in The Slieve Donard Hotel, followed by a beautiful walk along the Promenade. We didn’t have time for ice-cream – that will have to be a treat for another day!
Class One pupils have been exploring Springtime. We have recently had a few opportunities to go for a walk in Solitude Park to discover some signs of Spring. We found daffodils which we handled and smelled.
We have been learning about some Spring animals including chicks and lambs. We all had a chance to dress up as a lamb– we looked very cute! We also made a lamb collage using different textures to represent the fleece. These materials included cotton wool, porridge oats and shredded paper.
We have been enjoying the “Hungry Caterpillar” story and we all got involved by helping to create a caterpillar for our story board. We used green paint, plates and our feet to paint with, it was very messy. We had a foot spa and massage afterwards which was nice and relaxing.
Recently we got a swing in class and everyone has enjoyed having a swing in it.
Class 1 have been exploring a variety of foods and textures through touch and during cookery sessions.
We have visited The Hub where we explored using a variety of technology. Story time is great fun and we all get involved.
Pupils from class 6 helped us with our Shamrock art. We dressed in green for St Patrick’s Day.
Another busy month!
We had Valentine’s Fun. We made messy pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. We explored sticky and jaggy foods. We wish Aoibhin all the best for her special Holy Communion Day.
In Class 1 we have enjoyed lots of sensory experiences linked to our topic ‘Winter’. In our photos you can see us making snowmen buns, painting robins and snowy pictures and touching silver and blue things. Our lovely staff even encouraged us to touch ice and snow—some of us were not impressed! We have also been able to make as much noise as we wanted during the new drumming workshops. We had a birthday party for George and Connie and invited our friends from Class 5.
Class 1 has been transformed into our very own circus as part of our new topic. Both Staff and pupils have been dressed up as circus clowns with colourful wigs and big red noses – much to Connie’s amusement!
Pupils have also enjoyed Music Therapy with Caolan, especially when he plays his guitar—but he better watch out because it looks like George is after his job!
Some of our wee pupils have been poorly this month and we have really missed them in our Class. We hope our Class is back to full strength very soon.
“Sensory cookery” sessions have been a good opportunity for all in class 1 to explore a wide variety of ingredients used to make seasonal foods.
This month we have been busy learning about “Autumn". We painted with autumn colours and explored many natural materials including blackberries, damsons and apples. We also created pictures of hedgehogs and put them on our wall display.
