"SHARE THE ROAD TO ZERO"

Today 2nd February, Becca, Lydia, Joe and Samuel from P7 travelled to the Lodge Hotel in Coleraine to take part in the Road Safety Quiz.  There were fifteen teams taking part.  They had eight rounds of questions mainly focusing on Road Safety with one round of General Knowledge.  It was a very tense time when the results were being announced and we were delighted to come in 3rd place.  Congratulations to the team who have been working hard over the past few days learning their Highway Code.  More photos of the quiz can be found on wwwfacebook.com/roadsafeni

JANUARY ASSEMBLY AWARDS

Congratulations to all the children who received certificates for January 2017.  Certificates were awarded for - 'Careful Classwork', 'Sharing and Taking Turns', and 'Good Knowledge of the World Around Us'. 

EMERGENCY 999

P1 and P2 have been very busy this month.  On Monday 30th January, Joe and Robert who are both paramedics, came to school to talk about their jobs. This is part of the P1/2 topic work on "Helping Hands". Joe and Robert gave the children clear instructions about what to do if there is an emergency and they need to dial 999.  There were also practical demonstrations on bandaging wounds and using face masks for oxygen.  The highlight of the visit was when the children were allowed to go inside the ambulance to see all the things that paramedics use when they are called to an emergency.  Robert also let the children hear the very noisy ambulance siren and see the flashing blue lights.  This was a visit that all the children not only enjoyed, but they gained lots of new and valuable information as well.  Thanks Joe and Robert for giving of your time to talk to us.

P1/2 OUR BUSY SECRETARY

P1 and P2 have been learning about people who help us in their topic work "Helping Hands".  They have been learning about people who help us at home, in school and in our community.  They were delighted when Mrs Hutchinson, our school secretary visited their classroom.  They had prepared lots of questions to ask her about her job.  The children were amazed at the many jobs she has to do - counting dinner money, writing notes to parents, arranging buses for trips, recording attendance, phoning parents if someone has forgotten a lunch box or PE kit, making sure the staff get paid and a host of other jobs.  Thank you Mrs Hutchinson for taking time to talk to the P1's and P2's. They loved hearing all about your job.

P2 GOLDILOCKS INVESTIGATION

Our P2 children have also been carrying out numeracy investigations.  They worked out all the possible ways that Goldilocks could share the fish that she had caught between the three bears.

NUMERACY INVESTIGATION P1

P1 have been investigating the topic of capacity in their Numeracy classes. Their investigation focused on using different sized syringes, spoons and cups to fill medicine bottles. They also looked at the different syringes and used comparative language to describe the sizes of the syringes.  Linked with their "helping hands" topic we reckon that some of our P1's would make great nurses or pharmacists when they grow up.

CREDIT UNION QUIZ

On Monday 30th January, Samuel, Gavin Becca and Lydia attended the annual Credit Union Quiz held in the Joey Dunlop Centre.  Although the team did not come in the top three, they had a very enjoyable morning. Thanks to the Credit Union for arranging the quiz and providing transport too and from it.

P6/7 TESCO VISIT

P6/7 visited Tesco on Wednesday 25th January to participate in the Food for Fuel Trail.  The children got the chance to find out where different fruit and vegetables come from and how to read nutritional labels on food packaging.  They also learned how important it is to drink water every day and to avoid energy drinks as they contain lots of caffeine.  Thanks again to Jackie and Angela from Tesco for providing us with lots of useful and important information.

SHARED EDUCATION SCRATCH PROJECT

As part of our Shared Education project with St Patrick's, the P6/7 classes are getting the opportunity to improve their computer coding skills using the Scratch Program. With the expert help of Ms Geraldine Timaney, they have been learning how to create "sprites" and use programming "blocks" to make simple animations and games.  We are looking forward to learning more new coding skills in the weeks ahead.

OUTDOOR MATHS P3

Primary 3 have been learning about Capacity in Maths classes this week with Mrs Millar.  On Thursday they put on their wellies and headed outside to carry out some very wet investigations! They had team games where they filled a bigger water container using smaller containers.  They then used containers such as plastic cups, yoghurt pots, jam jars and margarine tubs, as units of measure, to see how many units it took to fill up a large  jug with water.  They had to estimate first, and then measure and record their findings. 

INOV8 SCIENCE EVENT

On Friday 20th P6/7 attended the INOV8 Science Event at Cullybackey College. The children were given resources to create their own speed karts.  Once the karts were made, the teams were able to race them down the race track.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

Mrs Henry's P4 and P5 classes took our assembly this week.  Mrs Henry told the story of the Good Samaritan.  The children had prepared a modern day version of this parable to share with the rest of the school. It was set on a Hawaiian surfing beach where the annual surfing competition was being held.  Boastful Brian, who had won the title for the past five years, was beaten into second place by a newcomer called Timid Tim.  Boastful Brian pushed Timid Tim off his board, stole his trophy and left him lying injured on the beach.  Some joggers, businessmen, teachers and posh ladies all walked past Timid Tim.  All were too preoccupied with themselves to help Timid Tim.  Then a gang of kids wearing hoodies came to Timid Tim.  They helped him up and gave him money for the bus to get home.   The P4's and 5's then sang, 'I want to be like Jesus'. This parable reminded everyone to be kind and helpful to people.  Thanks to Mrs Henry and her class for such a great assembly.

TESCO VISIT

Once again we are delighted that Tesco have organised the 'Farm to Fork Trails' for schools. Over the next few weeks all of our children will get the opportunity to visit Tesco Ballymoney, focusing on different aspects of the food we buy and eat.  The P1 and P2 children visited Tesco on Tuesday. Their trail was the 'Healthy Living Trail'. The children got the chance to see the sugar content of different foods, sample healthy snacks, go on a scavenger hunt for fruit and vegetables and they finished off with a lovely healthy snack and were given a goodie bag each. We want to say a special thank you to Jackie and Angela from Tesco Ballymoney for looking after us so well.

P1 & P2 - PEOPLE WHO HELP US

P1 and P2 have been learning about people who help us at home, in school and in the community.  In the playroom they have a health centre.  The children have all enjoyed practising being doctors and receptionists

Welcome to Rev. Blue

Today we had our first Assembly for 2017.  We were delighted that the new minister of Rasharkin Presbyterian Church, Rev Jeffrey Blue had agreed to come along to talk to the children.  We welcome Rev Blue to this area, and thank him for his willingness to support our school. He reminded us that if we follow Jesus, we should not hide it, like 'Wally' hides in the pictures, - we should show others by how we behave and by the good things we do in school and at home.

FARM SAFETY

Back in September we found out that Stephen from P5, and Robyn from P6 had won prizes in the 'Farm Safety Poster Competition'. We have just received the new 2017 'Avoid Harm on the Farm' calendar. Stephen's poster is featured in February 2017 and Robyn's in December 2017. This calendar is delivered to all schools in Northern Ireland. Well done Stephen and Robyn.

IT'S PARTY TIME

It's official - we are almost finished for Christmas and to celebrate we have been having Christmas parties.  A big thank you to Vivian Morrison and Allison Ritchie for organising the parties for the children.  They all had a brilliant time.  We also had a visit from Santa which again was very exciting for everyone.

SANTA -THE NORTH POLE

P1 - P3 have been busy writing their Santa letters over the past couple of weeks.  They were excited to go to Fullans Eurospar to post their letters- hopefully they will arrive in good time for Christmas!  At Fullans Santa gave all the children a gift.

THE MUSIC ROOMS

Two of our pupils are currently having music lessons in school with teachers from 'The Music Rooms'. On 15th December some of the teachers came to school to teach us about, and to demonstrate different types of stringed, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.  The children all really enjoyed the demonstrations and had a brilliant time singing along to the Christmas songs played by the band.  If anyone is interested in lessons with The Music Rooms please contact school after Christmas.

ACCELERATED READING

Congratulations to all the children who received certificates for reaching their Accelerated Reading Target for the past half term.  Our cup winner for reaching his target and having the highest percentage accuracy in the quizzes taken, was Samuel in P7. Well done to everyone who continued to read so many books amidst the busyness of the Christmas season.