Junior School News 12 March 2021
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 14th Happy Mother’s Day
Monday 15th Preschool and Junior School closed (SS closed too)
Tuesday 16th Preschool and Junior School closed (SS closed too)
Wednesday 17th Public Holiday St. Patrick’s Day
Thursday 18th J3 -J6 classes return to school
Spring Fashion Show 8pm on Zoom (JACA)- see info below
Friday 26th Surprise event for all classes (sponsored by JACA)
Term ends for Easter Holidays (29 March – 9 April)
Aftercare open until 6:00 pm
Birthday Girls this Week!
Anna Reichental
Nika Kapilevich
Sadhbh Nangle
Hana Feighery
Siún Feighery
From the Office
Tusla Registration Forms (New students age 6 and up only)
Please return the completed forms ASAP. If it is not possible to get the birth certificate certified, just go ahead and send it back into us. Thank you to those of you who have sent them in already.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums from PS Lower! Thank you for ALL that you do for us.
From JACA
Let's Talk Style
We are looking forward to 18 March when all the girls will finally be back in the Junior School! JACA has organised a free Spring Fashion Zoom event that evening at 8 pm hosted by Catherine Kelly, founder of Parkadays and formerly of Cocobelle (a high-end shoe and accessories boutique). Parkadays is grounded in the desire to make women feel comfortable, confident and stylish all at once.
Come join us on Zoom at 8 pm on Thursday 18 March for some fun fashion tips for Spring and to be in with a chance to win some cool raffle prizes on the night including a pair of Parkadays trademark Sheepskin slippers and a Parkadays Aspen beanie.
Topic: JACA - Let’s Talk Style
Time: Mar 18, 2021 08:00 PM Dublin
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82970865952?pwd=Vk4xSHYvQWROU2ZSb042TDU1Nm1VUT09
Meeting ID: 829 7086 5952
Passcode: 497720
Easter Bakeathon
See poster which provides details of our Easter Bakeathon. There will be 3 fabulous Easter Eggs up for grabs. All the girls need to do is get baking and then email a picture of their creation to me - verbro@hotmail.com - by Monday 22 March with the subject “Bakeathon”. Don’t forget to include your child’s name and class info too.
All pictures will be entered into the draw. Prizes will be announced in Inside Alex on Friday 26 March. Best of luck!
JACA Virtual auction
Finally, JACA is busy finalising a virtual fundraising auction which will be launched on 13 April, after the Easter holidays. More info to follow soon. A big thank you to everyone who organised donations this year and last year. If you or your company would like to donate an item to this event, please contact your JACA class rep by Friday 26 March with details. All corporate donor logos will be included in our auction website.
Best wishes,
Veronica Brogan
JACA Chairperson
St. Patrick's Day Parade-in-a-Shoebox Competition
Today, Friday 12 March, was the closing date for the entries for the Alex JS "St. Patrick's Day Parade-in-a-Shoebox Competition". The standard of all the entries have been so high, the girls should all feel very proud of themselves for the hard work they have put in. I have been amazed at the creativity and the ingenuity behind the construction of the floats. It was also great to see the students thinking like engineers and considering how their float might move, or how they might have to redraft and redesign to overcome an unexpected problem. There was lots of evidence of "thinking outside of the box" to get their designs just right. Or rather, I should say, "thinking outside of the shoebox" as Zoe O'Beirne (J5W) cleverly suggested with her play on words!!!!!!!
I look forward to announcing the prize winners in the various categories on our return to school. I will also share the video of our virtual St. Patrick's Day parade so that the girls will be able to see their own creations and that of their peers.
Finally, I would like to say a huge thank you to all the parents for their support in helping this competition materialise and come to fruition. Hopefully you won't still be finding green glitter in various locations around your house in June! Well done again to all the Alex JS students - go raibh maith agaibh as an obair go léir a rinne sibh don chomórtas agus go n-éirí libh!!!
Is mise le meas,
Jennifer McGarry
Green Day in the Junior School!
Seachtain na Gaeilge
The Junior School celebrated Seachtain na Gaeilge (Irish week) from the 8th-12th March, the week before St. Patrick’s Day which takes place on the 17th March. We decorated the reception area and hall with shamrocks, flags and themed art work. We learned Amhrán na bhFiann (the Irish anthem) and the Ár nAthair (Our Father) ‘as Gaeilge’ (in Irish). We also awarded certificates to the girls who spoke Irish as often as possible during our week of celebrations. Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!
De gnáth (usually), bíonn taispeántas (show) sa halla ag deireadh Seachtain na Gaeilge. Déanann gach rang rud as Gaeilge, mar shampla, amhrán, damhsa, dán, drama nó scéal. Toisc go bhfuil Coróinvíreas ann, níl gach rang ar ais ar scoil go fóill ach tá siad fós ag foghlaim ar Zoom lena chéile. (Due to Coronavirus, not every class is back to school yet but they are still learning on Zoom together). Tá gach duine an-sásta go mbeidh na cailíní ó rang a trí go rang a sé ar ais ar scoil an tseachtain seo chugainn! (Everyone is so happy that the girls from J3 to J6 will be back to school next week!)
Tá an t-ádh linn go bhfuil teicneolaíocht ann agus go raibh rang a trí suas go rang a sé in ann páirt a ghlacadh i Seachtain na Gaeilge ar líne. (We are so lucky to have technology and that J3 to J6 are able to take part in Seachtain na Gaeilge online.) Rinne gach rang ón Réamhscoil Shinsearacha (Preschool Upper) suas go rang a sé físeán (video) agus chuir siad iad ar líne dúinn. Bhí na ranganna agus na múinteoirí go léir in ann féachaint ar na físeáin gach lá agus píosa beag Gaeilge a fhoghlaim. (The classes and teachers were all able to watch the videos and learn a little bit of Irish!)
Bailiú na scoile le haghaidh Seachtain na Gaeilge (School Assembly for Seachtain na Gaeilge)
An bhliain seo, nuair a bhí Seachtain na Gaeilge ar siúl inár scoil, bhí leath den scoil i láthair agus bhí an leath eile den scoil fós ag foghlaim ar líne sa bhaile! (Half the school is present and half the girls are still learning online at home!) Dá bharr, bhí obair mhór le déanamh ag na cailíní i J4 Dearg agus iad ag dul i gceannas ag an bailiú na scoile gach lá (leading school assembly every day). Tháinig siad le chéile chun píosa beag a scríobh le haghaidh físeáin agus rinne siad taifeadán de (they made recordings). Le sin déanta acu, bhí siad in ann labhairt leis an scoil ar fad. Bhí siad cosúil le craoltóirí proifisiúnta! (Professional broadcasters!) Rinne siad obair iontach agus bhí áthas mór orthu páirt a ghlacadh i Seachtain na Gaeilge!
Aoife Mc Mahon (Kg Upper teacher), Suzanne O’Brien (J4R teacher), and Aisling Gorry (J2R teacher)
Rang a Se - An Rince Scuab!
Inné, ghlac na cailíní as Rang a Sé Bán agus Dearg páirt i rang damhsa Sean Nós. Fuair siad deis ‘An Rince Scuab’ a fhoglaim.
On March 9th the girls in both J6W and J6R were taking a well-earned break from their Zoom lessons to attend a Sean Nós Dancing workshop with Sandra Ganley, who joined us all the way from Co. Mayo. Sean Nós means ‘Old Style’ in Irish, so it was very relevant that this workshop took place during Seachtain na Gaeilge. The girls were taught a few basic steps and given the opportunity to practice before putting them all together to perform ‘An Rince Scuab’, or ‘The Brush Dance’ in English. This dance originates from the late 19th and Early 20th Centuries as Sandra explained. The dancer uses a sweeping brush as a prop.
Sandra explained to the girls that Sean Nós is different from the traditional Irish Dancing you would associate with Riverdance because the dancer’s hands move freely and there is less kicking and jumping. Therefore, less space required for Sean Nós, than would be needed for the steps that you would see in Riverdance. This suited people who would have lived in smaller cottages, particularly in the West of Ireland, and meant that they could perform dances during special occasions without the need for loads of space.
Bhain na cailíní an-taitneamh as an rang damhsa. Buíochas mór le Sandra as an am a thógáil chun rang a mhúineadh dúinn.
St Patrick's Day in PS Upper
The Preschool Upper girls had a really busy week celebrating all about Saint Patrick’s Day, designing shamrocks and leprechauns and listening to Irish folklore stories. They really enjoyed the story about the Children of Lir . They were fascinated to hear about the children changing into swans and it really intrigued them. The girls also participated in Seachtain na Gaeilge and recited “Bah bah caoire Dhubh” and enjoyed asking and answering questions in Irish. They did so well! Towards the end of the week, the girls made beautiful Mother’s Day cards and designed lovely flowers with petals depicting all the lovely qualities that they see in their mums. Finally the girls learned the National Anthem In Irish and loved singing to the tune of it.
Well done, girls!
Ms. Murphy and Ms. Moran
J3R – Celebrating Engineering Week
Last week was Engineering Week and J3R's learned so much! Lexie's Mum, Rosemarie, popped in for a chat as she is surrounded by engineering in her job working with aeroplanes. She explained using a balloon how air is expelled to propel a plane forward. She showed us pictures of the first aeroplane ever built by the Wright Brothers. The plane only flew for 12 seconds and travelled 120 feet!! The Airbus can fly for 16,000 (all the way to the South Pole) without stopping. We looked at all the different parts of an aircraft - the landing gear, fuselage (just another name for the air frame - used in the same way we would tuck our legs in when we're on a swing), the jet engine, the cabin (where we all sit) and the cockpit. We now know that the painting on the outside of an aircraft is called the livery and we looked at a really cool plane painted in the Star Wars theme.
Troy, an engineer from RTÉ, showed us a video of a Formula 1 tyre change in the pitstop. It happened extremely quickly and he told us how important teamwork is, especially essential that everyone knows their role in the team. Troy showed us how the base of the Eiffel Tower and the tower in RTÉ need to be very strong to withstand gravity and strong winds. We constructed our own towers using spaghetti and marshmallows. We learned all about cross braces, diagonals and using short pieces to make our structure strong and safe. It was so much fun!
Ms. Stapleton
