Junior School News September 2025
Preschool Lower and Preschool Upper
September is a great time for a nature walk. Preschool Lower and Upper went for a walk in Alexandra College's beautiful grounds to see what exciting things we could find. We went around the College grounds in pairs and found lots and lots of leaves, acorns, conkers, butterflies, caterpillars and lady bugs. After the walk, we took leaf and bark rubbings and shared with each other what we had found. We had such great fun together!
KG Upper Art
We've been exploring colour in KG Upper by mixing our primary colours together to see what new colours we can make! The children loved experimenting and were so excited to discover the new colours they created. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to explore, experiment and get creative!
J2R and J2W in Brown Uniform
Both J2R and J2W are wearing the Alexandra College Junior School brown uniform for the first time this year. They look very proud and happy in their school uniform.
J3W - Starting 3rd Class with Creativity and Confidence
The J3W girls have had a wonderful start to 3rd Class!
One of our very first projects was recount writing. The girls each wrote about an exciting day they had and presented it in their very best handwriting. It was so impressive to see the effort and pride they put into their work – I was very proud of them all!
We also got creative with some colourful Folk Art Trees. Using markers and watercolours, the girls designed trees that really popped with colour and personality. The results were bright, imaginative and beautiful – just like the girls themselves!
Well done, J3W! What a fantastic start to the year!
Ms Harpur
J4R Poetry
A common back-to-school activity in the classroom is discussing what the children did over the summer break. The J4R girls decided to shake things up a bit and write poems about what they didn’t do this summer!
J4W
On Friday 12th September, J4W enjoyed a great morning at the Mill Theatre in Dundrum. They went to engage with the current production The Shape of Quiet Feelings, an audio and visual experience followed by a creative workshop on climate change. A lovely sunny day dawned, and the girls hopped excitedly onto the LUAS. Shortly after, they arrived at the theatre where they first partook in the visual experience, which shared the opinions of children across Ireland on climate change through their own voices. They also imagined and created their own wonderful Climate Creatures to help them to see how positive action can be taken in response to broader climate challenges. The J4W girls thoroughly enjoyed their morning at the Mill Theatre and it gave them lots to think about!
J5R September Update
Creative Technology: Microbits
This week, Ms McGarry joined us in J5R to explore how to use and programme Microbits. The girls worked in pairs and used the iPads to code patterns and create messages and light patterns.
The Shape of Quiet Feelings in the Mill Theatre
Last week the J4/J5 classes went to the Mill Theatre, Dundrum for a viewing of the show, The Shape of Quiet Feelings. Here the girls explored various emotions and also spoke about climate change and how it makes us feel.
J5R Assembly
This month, J5R has been studying the structures of skyscrapers. The girls researched the history, construction, types and various examples of skyscrapers. Some of the most famous skyscrapers we explored are The Burj Khalifa, The Empire State Building and the Shanghai Tower.
J5W September Update
Day of Democracy
We were delighted to welcome RTÉ’s News2day team to J5W as part of the Day of Democracy celebrations. They joined us to chat about the importance of student voices and democracy in action. The crew listened in on some lively debates and heard some student council candidates present their pitches. To experience democracy firsthand, we also held a mock election, which gave everyone the chance to cast their vote and see how the process works in real life. It was a fantastic experience that showed democracy in action within our school community.
J5W Trip to the Mill Theatre
J5W also visited the Mill Theatre in Dundrum to see The Shape of Quiet Feelings, a powerful show that explores children’s thoughts about climate change. It brought to life children's climate change creatures. Afterwards, we designed our own imaginative climate creatures—special helpers with unique powers to protect our planet.
J5W Assembly
In our recent assembly, we explored the fun world of idioms, quirky phrases that don’t always mean exactly what they say! The girls shared examples of common idioms, explained their meanings and created colourful posters to illustrate their meanings. Well done J5W!
The J6 Trip to Carlingford Adventure Centre
At 7.30am on Wednesday, September 10th 2025, the J6 girls headed to Carlingford Adventure Centre in County Louth. We arrived there at about 10:15am and had a quick snack break before being split up into four groups and heading off to our first activity which was called ‘The Survivor Challenge’. We had to learn to work together and listen to each other's ideas in order to complete a variety of tasks. This challenge was in the woods where we had a beautiful walk uphill to get there. There was a great view of the sea and the Mourne Mountains. After ‘Survivor’, we had lunch and before long, we were sorted into our rooms for the next two nights.
In the afternoon, some of us went to the Skypark where we went on a trampoline obstacle course and tried to find our way out of a maze. After we had dinner, it was raining quite a bit, so we decided to stay indoors and participate in ‘The Carlingford Challenge’ which included a long jump contest, a challenge to see who can talk for the longest without stuttering and finally, who could eat dry Weetabix in the fastest time. This was extremely funny and we all had a great evening. Thank you to our instructors for organising this for us and not letting the rain get us down. Once the rain eased off, we were allowed to go down to the famous “Candyford” sweet shop in groups. Midnight snacks were sorted!
After a night of not much sleep, we started day two by going back up to the woods where some girls played a game of Laser Tag while others tried archery, Atl Atl (a target game) and axe throwing. After some well earned lunch, we took a walk down to the beach where we built rafts in small groups. We learned how to tie them with strong knots before being allowed to test them out on the waters of Carlingford Lough. Of course, we had the opportunity to try some pier jumping afterwards. Following dinner and a warm shower, we went to what I think was my favourite activity, the bonfire! Thankfully, the weather was a bit drier. We had a small walk up to the bonfire. When we got there, we sat around the camp fire where we sang songs, roasted marshmallows, made smores and lost our voices as Ms. Costigan played tunes on a speaker.
After a second night with lots of fun, but very little sleep, we woke up on Friday morning with very hoarse voices and completed a zipline aerial obstacle course at Skypark. Before we knew it, we had our final lunch, said our goodbyes to our instructors Iker and Darcy and hopped on the bus back to Alex. We were all exhausted and ready to have a relaxing weekend, but sad to leave at the same time. At 2.30pm, we arrived back in Milltown, ready to go home and go to sleep.
Thank you so much Mr. Fitzgerald, Ms.Costigan, Ms. Bergin, Ms. Garcia and Ms. Lamplugh for making this all possible. Thank you also to all of the staff at Carlingford. This includes the instructors, the canteen and cleaning staff for looking after us so well during our stay. We had a fantastic time!
Texaco Art Competition
Congratulations to Eve J6R who received a certificate of commendation in the 71st Texaco Children’s Art Competition. Well done, Eve!
Physical Education in the Junior School
A sporting welcome back to all our pupils from our Junior School P.E. department! It is great to see you all back and moving up into your new classes. We are especially looking forward to getting to know our new girls, a big hello and welcome to them, as we start our autumn sports and fitness programme and having a lot of fun doing so in both team and individual activities. We’ll definitely keep our great team spirit flowing throughout our schedule of events. Our aim is to develop each student’s overall fundamental movement skills in a fun, purposeful manner, allowing for challenging tasks to be achieved and developed in a stepped progressive programme and in a safety conscious way in all our activities. So, let’s get going and a big welcome to our team!
J5 Mini-Hockey Blitz with Mount Anville
Our J5 pupils played their first mini-hockey blitz of the season last Friday.
Mount Anville Junior School arrived shortly after lunch and the matches got enthusiastically underway. We were so lucky with the weather, as the morning rain had cleared and conditions were just right for an exciting afternoon’s play. We played in a round robin format with timed matches and roll on roll off subs. The teams played with supporting runs and passes and shots on goal were aplenty! Well done girls on a fun tournament.
