KEEPING SAFE

Over the past number of weeks, Constable Mark Crawford and Constable David Mitchell have been coming into school to speak to all our children about various aspects of keeping safe.  They have spoken to our children about 'Road Safety', Drug Awareness' and 'Stranger Danger'. 

In the photo, P3 and P4 are being given information which will help them to think about who they are speaking to, and whether it is safe to speak to them.  Sometimes it may be necessary to speak to a 'Safer Stranger'.  If you get lost in a Shopping Centre, speak to a Police Officer, Security Guard, shop worker or receptionist.

NON-SMOKING POSTER COMPETITION

Rachel and Emma from Kennedy's Pharmacy visited P5/6/7 today to tell them about the dangers of smoking.  They also told them about 'Non-Smokers' Day' on 14th March.  The children have been given the opportunity to do a 'Non-Smoking Poster'  with the winner receiving a voucher from Kennedy's Pharmacy.

GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

Over the next few weeks, our P3 and P4 children will be working together with the P4 children from St Patrick's Primary, as part of the Shared Education Signature Project.  The topic for Shared Education this year is 'Then and Now'. The group, with the assistance of the Nerve Centre, are going to create a short animated iBook on various topics relating to themselves now, compared with World War II era.  Today was a 'Getting to Know You Icebreaker day'. The children made name badges and they also worked  in small groups to find out about each other. They then used the iPads to create profiles of themselves.  This was a really good first session and they are looking forward to the next sessions together.

MOBILE LIBRARY

We are delighted that Libraries NI have agreed for their Mobile Library to stop at our school every two weeks during term time.  Today was their first day, and children in P3, P4 and P5 were given the opportunity to visit the van, and choose two books to take home.  This is an excellent service, and we hope the children will use it to borrow and then read books that are not available in our own school library.

LUNCHTIME AWARDS

At lunchtime, in the dinner hall and in the playground, the supervisors look for children who have impressed them with something good that they have done on a particular day.  Examples of this are - showing good table manners, lining up quietly and quickly or playing well together. The child's name is then put on a reward slip and placed in a box. Today three names were picked from the box to receive a special prize.   Hana in P3 received a prize for ' Using Great Manners at the Dinner Table,  Emily in P6 received her prize for ' Being a really Patient Server' and Ruby in P1 received a prize for 'Being a good Example.' 

JANUARY SPECIAL ASSEMBLY AWARDS

Well done to the children who received certificates for January 2018.  The certificates were awarded for  - 'Being a Willing Pupil'  - 'Great Recall of Number Facts (Tables)' - 'Careful Classwork'  (Missing from picture - Ella P5

SHARED EDUCATION 'WOODHALL'

On Monday, as part of the Shared Education Programme with St Patrick's Primary School, P6 and P7 children enjoyed a 'Team Building Day' at Woodhall Education Centre in Kilrea.   It was a busy and exciting day from start to finish.  The children worked together in teams, as they participated in lots of activities which challenged then to work together, use their thinking skills, and often do challenges which pushed them beyond their comfort zone.  The activities included: - Human Jenga, crossing the crocodile pit safely, lighting a small fire to toast marshmallows on, and Spanish Rules - orienteering.  Everyone had a really great time there.

'LOOK AT ME' P1 AND P2

The title of P1 and P2 topic work for this half term is 'Look At Me'.  One of the questions we have been looking at is - 'How have we changed since we were babies?' 

Anna's mummy and little brother came to school to show us all the equipment babies need.  We heard Jonathan try to talk back.  We learnt all about the check ups he has when the Health Visitor visits.  Thanks to Anna's mum for taking time to talk to us all.

Shared Education 'IZAK9'

Children from St. Patrick’s PS and our P6/7 came together to focus on improving their learning in mathematics and numeracy. Working together in small groups the children solved a diverse range of Izak9 tasks. This shared learning environment provided an ideal forum for collaborative work including opportunities for self-expression, discussion and debate.

Izak9 supports a range of learning styles i.e. visual, kinaesthetic and auditory, thus allowing each child to contribute in his/her own way to solving the problems posed by their online facilitators, Abacus and Helix.

In these photographs, which were taken during the first session, the children can already be seen working together happily in groups, presenting their mental maths strategies and problem solving techniques to others.

POLICE VISIT P1 AND P2 -'STRANGER DANGER'

P1 and P2 also had a visit from Mark and David, and the focus of their talk was 'Stranger Danger'. Here are a few thing that we learned -

• Mark showed us pictures of different people we do not know and people we know.
•   He told us about the importance of not talking to people we do not know. 

Mark reminded the boys and girls how to stay safe if they get lost. 

• We should always ask someone safe to help us, such as, a shop keeper, security guard or a policeman or policewoman.

POLICE VISIT - P6 and P7

On Tuesday two Police Officers, Mark and David came into school to talk to the P6 and P7 children.  They were talking to the children about how to keep safe when they are out with their friends.  Their main focus was on 'Drug Awareness' .  Drugs are a huge danger for teenage children, and the policemen showed the children how drugs can just look like sweets but with deadly consequences.  The children were given information about what they should do if someone even offers them drugs.

LIBRARY VISIT P6 and P7

P 6 and P7 had their first of three visits to Kilrea Library on Thursday 11th January.  The main focus for their first visit was to see what types of books are available to borrow at the Library. 

ACCELERATED READING

Congratulations to Joe in P5, who was the winner of the Accelerated Reading Cup for this half term.  Lots of children met and exceeded their targets, and they were all given certificates to mark their success.

SANTA!

Yesterday Santa called in to Rasharkin Primary School.  There was a lot of excitement and noise!  Santa was given lots of ideas from the children about what they are looking for on Christmas morning.  We hope you all have a lovely holiday enjoying your new presents.

CHRISTMAS PARTIES

Yesterday the children all enjoyed Christmas parties at school.  Thanks to Mrs Morrison, Mrs Barron and Mrs Laura Calderwood for organising these.

CHRISTMAS JOY CARA CARE HOME

Some of the P6 and P7 children went to the Cara Care Home on the Duneaney Road.  They had a lovely time singing and talking to the residents. The Care Home staff were very appreciative of their visit, and of the joy they brought to the residents at Christmas time.

RAINFORESTS

RASHARKIN PRIMARY PLANTS TREES IN COSTA RICAN RAINFOREST

During their current topic of 'Rainforests', P6 and P7 learned all about the effects of deforestation.  They wrote persuasive arguments against deforestation and we are delighted to say their arguments have been published on the website www.kidssavingtherainforest.org

The website also presented them with a certificate to recognise money they donated to plant trees in a rainforest in Costa Rica.

Click on the link below to read their arguments on the online blog

http://www.kidssavingtherainforest.org/blog

They also got to use their numeracy skills during this topic.  Lots of problem solving and measuring skills were needed in order to estimate and measure how long the longest snake in the world is or how fast a sloth moves.  They even attempted to move as slow as a sloth by trying to move 3 metres in 1 minute.  Watch the video to see how they got on. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

CHRISTMAS CONCERT

Our Christmas Concert was held last night in Rasharkin Presbyterian Church Hall.  We would like to thank the committee of the church for allowing us to use the this week, for practice, and also for the concert.  We also want to thank the many parents and friends who came along to support our children last night.  I'm sure you will all agree that the children were amazing.  The P1-P3 play was 'Christmas Chums'. Some photos for their play can be seen on the 'Christmas Chums' blog of 8th December.  The P4- P7 performed 'Lights, Camel, Action - It's Strictly the Nativity' Thanks to all the children who gave us such an enjoyable evening.  A short video of some of the highlights of the performance can be seen by CLICKING HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

CHRISTMAS DINNER

Today we had our Christmas Dinner at school.  It was really delicious!  It was a busy day for all the staff in the kitchen and we want to say a huge thank you to them.  While we were waiting for our dinner to be served, some of our pupils who play musical instruments entertained us with some Christmas music. The children all decorated their tablecloths with Christmas pictures, and Mr Calderwood our school caretaker, chose the best decorated tablecloth.

LET IT SNOW!

Well you either love it, or hate it, but at Rasharkin Primary school the children LOVE it! Our playground was transformed into a winter wonderland today, with the arrival of the snow.  The children had a great time at break time and again at lunch time, playing in the snow. They even managed to build a family of snowmen.