Christmas 2024 Update

Welcome to our end of term newsletter. Here you can read about some of the great work the children have been doing with their teachers. It has been a very busy few months but we are fortunate to have wonderfully dedicated teachers who have worked really hard to ensure the children have had exciting learning experiences every day. The children have risen to the challenge and you can read about some of their learning below.

We hope that you can find some time to put your feet up, relax and browse through this newsletter during the holidays.

Best wishes for a great Christmas break and we look forward to seeing you all again on January 6th, 2025.

The boys and girls in Junior Infants have settled very well in primary school and have been busy over the past few months. Ms Frewen's class welcomed Garda Cathal to their classroom to talk about his work in the community.

The children had lots of fun getting creative with their pumpkin carving before Hallowe'en and they really enjoyed getting all dressed up and walking around the school in their costumes.

Junior Infants enjoyed exploring patterns in maths this term.

There was great excitement when Santa visited St. Christopher's on December 9th. All the boys and girls sang and chatted to him. Everybody received a present of a book to read at home.

This term Senior Infants have been working hard on learning our phonics and heart words. So far we have learned 12 of our letters in cursive writing. We have been busy learning all about The School Office, The Witches Den & The Café in Aistear. We have also been learning about sequencing, telling the time and how to add up to 10 in Maths.

As well as this, we made lovely cartaí Nollag for the Christmas Card competition. For the month of December we have been learning all about The Post Office and practicing for our Christmas Play which was on December 11th.

Happy Christmas from us all in Senior Infants!

What a busy and exciting first term we've had in Second Class! We've been learning, exploring, and having lots of fun along the way.

In September we enjoyed a nature walk in Herbert Park. We learned about the seasons and spotted some signs that Autumn was here. It was a great way to start the year outdoors!

Maths Week was a big success, especially when we partnered with Fourth Class for fun and challenging maths activities. It was great to work together and learn from each other. We also took part in the Junior Achievement programme which introduced us to new skills through engaging activities.

One of the highlights of the term was performing our Christmas play. The hard work and enthusiasm of everyone involved made it a truly magical experience. To top it off, we also visited The Ark Theatre to see The Giggler Treatment, which had us all laughing and singing along.

In PE, we've been practicing our skills in soccer, Gaelic football and gymnastics. Everyone’s teamwork and effort have been fantastic to see.

It's been a wonderful term and we’re so proud of all the learning and memories we’ve made. Here’s to another great term ahead.

Merry Christmas from all in Second Class!

3rd Class have been super busy since the start of this jam-packed term! We have been working so hard and getting to learn loads of new topics. From times tables to counties of Ireland, we’ve certainly had our hands full.

3rd Class got into the autumnal spirit of things and took a trip to Herbert Park at the beginning of the year. We enjoyed creating art based on this and brainstorming vocabulary we can use to describe the season changing from summer to autumn.

Then, things took a terrifying and ghoulish turn as we got ready for Halloween. Third Class had great fun dressing up for our Halloween parade and learning songs such as “Hey Jack!” Spooky pumpkins could be seen along the corridors as well as some fantastic Halloween acrostic poems.

We continued working hard on our English recount writing pieces, discussing past experiences and using our question words of who? when? what? where? and why? Third Class then worked together to write about our trip to the Ark Theatre, where we watched the performance of “An Ant Called Amy.”

At the end of November, the three 3rd Classes had the opportunity to visit the Book of Kells in Trinity College. We then visited the Old Library and got the chance to ask questions about this beautiful and interesting building.

In December we participated in three great Christmas shows. We hope that you enjoyed them.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and we can’t wait for all the fun in 2025!

4th class have been busy this term. We went on a trip to Trinity College to visit the Book

of Kells Experience. We entered the ‘Maths Eyes’ competition. Lots of people dressed up and travelled around the school in the Halloween Parade. We also participated in the TimeTables

RockStars ‘Island of Ireland Rocks’ Maths Competition for Maths week.

A group of 4th class children are enjoying their lessons at Tin Whistle Club. Well done to all the pupils

who completed 10 weeks learning Irish Traditional Tunes.

Last week, Mr. Frost’s 4th class were busy picking up litter along the canal. After learning so much about waste and pollution in S.E.S.E this term, we decided that it would be an interesting follow-up activity to our newly acquired knowledge.

Ms Dermody's Fifth Class have been very busy since the start of this school year. In addition to the usual packed Fifth Class schedule we have enjoyed a trip to the Epic Museum and the Jeanie Johnston Famine ship in November. We have enjoyed playing football in PE under the direction of Ger, our football coach and we also teamed up with Ms Meaney's Senior Infants for buddy Maths sessions throughout the term. Our focus in SESE in December is in Science and we have performed interesting experiments which we plan to demonstrate to our Senior Infant buddies in the New Year. We finished up the term with an amazing concert in the Hall - who would believe that we could learn so many songs in such a short time?

Future Olympians

Ms Sheridan's 5th Class got the year off to a flying start with The Marathon Kids Programme. Over the course of 8 weeks, the children ran a certain amount of kilometers each day building up to a marathon and completing their final mile at Morton Stadium in Santry. Every Tuesday, the class also joined a Zoom call with Olympian and programme ambassador David Gillick where the children got to ask him lots of questions. Our highlight of the event was meeting him in person on the day. This was such a fantastic achievement for the children and they all gave it 110%.

Festive Cheer

Ms Sheridan's Class were very excited when the Christmas Shoebox Appeal van arrived at St Christopher's on Tuesday, 12th November. The children were very generous this year and could not wait to bring their boxes down to the van.

What an EPIC Trip

One of the highlights of this term for 5th class was our trip to The EPIC and Jeanie Johnston Museum. This was linked to our History topic on The Great Irish Famine. The children got to see what life was like onboard a real life coffin ship from the famine and our tour guide was very impressed with all the children's prior knowledge. In the EPIC Museum, the children were very excited to visit each of the rooms and gather stamps for their museum passport. It was a really enjoyable day, even the rain could not dampen our spirits. When we returned, we then completed group projects on The Famine and presented them to the class. Some children even came up with a drama presentation which we were all really impressed with.

6th Class have been working hard on lots of topics since September and have completed some amazing projects on themes such as the U.S.A., Irish counties and the Native Americans. We also did a walking tour of Georgian Dublin, taking in some of the famous architecture right on our doorstep.

At Halloween, we wrote our own scary stories. Then we edited them, typed them up on our Chromebooks and printed them out, before creating our own book covers for them.

6th Class also took part in Marathon Kids this term. We ran the distance of a marathon over 8 weeks, all while learning about the physical and mental benefits of regular exercise. This all culminated in a day out to the race track in Santry where multiple schools gathered to run their final mile together. Each pupil received their own medal and even got to meet acclaimed Irish athlete David Gillick.

Kevin Moran will be launching his first novel 'The Doomsday Club' on March 3rd 2025. It is suitable for age 10+ and is a tongue-in-cheek horror adventure. It will be published by O'Brien Press and is available for pre-order now in Dubraybooks.ie, Easons.com, Waterstones.com , Amazon.co.uk etc. We look forward to the reading this exciting new novel and then the sequel in 2026.

Congratulations to Liam Reddy from 6th class who was on the Late Late Toy Show on December 6th. Liam got to meet his sporting hero, Jonathan Sexton.

In October Mark Meredith from 3rd class got the chance to go to Barcelona and participate in a soccer tournament against Barcelona and Montpellier. His team won the final. Congratulations Mark!

Recently Niya, Anna, Hadley and Remy held a fundraiser in Herbert Park for the DSPCA. They sold food and toys and raised the fantastic sum of €230. Later they went to the DSPCA animal shelter in the Dublin mountains and donated the money. They got to meet and pet lots of animals.

Our newly installed sculpture consists of a stainless-steel paper plane and sky sign, with three words in Irish – Sonas (happiness), Spraoi (fun) and Spreagadh (encouragement). Surrounding the sign are three bees made of bronze. The sculpture is an interpretation of what it means to be young, with enthusiasm, energy, possibilities and the great futures the students have ahead of them. The Paper Plane is a symbol of childhood, imagination, travel and optimism. The Bees are a symbol of a strong capacity to build and achieve great things. It is designed as a feel-good piece of art that will appeal to the wider community and the passerby as something uplifting and a flying piece of visual curiosity on the eye and the mind.

Ringsend Junior Parkrun is a a free, fun, and friendly weekly 2km. event for juniors (4 to 14 year olds). It is held every Sunday at 9:30am in Ringsend Park, Cambridge Road.

Clanna Gael Fontenoy is the closest GAA club to St. Christopher's. It is on the Sean Moore Road, Dublin 4. The club caters for boys and girls of all ages in Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. As a growing club, new members are wanted and welcome. A 'try it out' before signing up will be facilitated. Joining the club can be a great way to make friends, learn new skills, have fun and exercise in a safe and friendly environment. Check out their website www.clannagaelfontenoy.ie

for more information about the club and how to get in touch