Ms. Kilcommins - Fourth Class

Updated: Aug 16

Welcome to Fourth Class 2023 & 2024

Below is a snapshot of some of the children's work and activities this year.

All About Me:

Halloween:

The children planned, designed and created their own Halloween masks.

Guess who?

Pupil Council Election:

A number of children from our class put themselves forward as candidates for the Pupil Council Election. Each child did a lot of preparation in advance including designing a poster and writing a speech.

Congratulations to all children involved and especially to Kate and Ruben who were elected!

Someone Like Me Project:

This art competition was brought to us by The National Disability Authority. The aim of this competition is to raise disability awareness amongst primary school children and to provide them with a better understanding of what unites children in their different abilities.

We decided to do a class project in order to include and combine our individual ideas to create a ‘united’ piece of work.

Our inspiration was colour. The children had explored the colour wheel in Art class in September, and how to mix primary colours to create secondary colours. During Religion class they learned about God’s covenant with Noah and of how the rainbows come in a diverse spectrum of shapes and sizes, and we agreed that we, as people are similar.

The children were then invited to name examples of visible and non-visible disabilities. We briefly discussed some of the examples listed and, having done so, came to the realisation that all of us have disabilities of one kind or another. We agreed that the focus should be on our ‘abilities’ and not on our ‘disabilities’.

Following this, we brainstormed the concept of ‘inclusion’ and in groups, the children explored ways we can be more inclusive of people with disabilities regarding: transport, sport, fashion, employment and building design. Each group presented their work to the rest of the class and offered feedback on same.

We again examined a rainbow and we felt that the rainbow belongs to everyone. Just as all colours included are needed to create a rainbow, the same is true for us as people. The inclusion of all individuals is important in creating a true picture of humanity.

Each child created their own unique rainbow using a variety of materials – wool, buttons, crepe paper, pom-poms, paint, pastels, jewels, sequins, raffia, coloured card, petals, feathers and match-sticks.

Cyndi Lauper’s song ‘True Colours’ provided further inspiration. The children carefully listened to the lyrics of the song and were thereby provided with an opportunity to develop empathy. Having provided them with some background information on the song, they were able to make links and to explain how the lyrics could speak to people with disabilities (visible/non-visible). We explored how the song encourages us to celebrate what makes us different. The children spent time learning the song and following that they learned to sign it in Makaton Sign Language. Having practised a number of times, the children were recorded. By signing the song the children felt excited that they were including a wider audience to share their message with.

Finally, we agreed on a slogan to accompany the project:

The True Colours of

Someone Like Me

are beautiful like a rainbow!

Their rainbow creations and their performance of the song ‘True Colours’ in Makaton Sign Language helped in deciding on the slogan.

We hope you enjoy our rainbow creations and our performance of ‘True Colours’.

Christmas Tree Decorations:

The children planned, designed and created their own Christmas tree wood-slice decorations. Each one is unique and beautiful.

Grandparents' Day:

To celebrate Grandparents' Day the children were invited to make cards for their grandparents. They carefully planned, designed and made their cards and included a special message for their grandparents inside.

World Book Day:

In celebration of World Book Day the children were invited to come to school dressed as their favourite character or to bring props to represent their favourite character. Well done to all who participated!

St. Brigid Crosses:

The children worked together to make St. Brigid Crosses in honour of St. Brigid. Fr. Mc Mahon kindly blessed the children's crosses during Mass in celebration of St. Brigid's Day.

St. Patrick's Day Art Project:

This competition was run by Athboy's St. Patrick's Day Parade committee.

We decided to do a class project to tie in with the concept of unity. Just as the three leaves of the shamrock unite to symbolise the Trinity; all the children’s individual entries unite to symbolise their united faith.

The children have displayed a variety of recyclable materials on their shamrocks. In the centre of each shamrock, where the leaves meet, they have attached 3-D hearts. The hearts represent their love of the Trinity and their love of the environment.

The uniqueness of each piece represents our unique relationship with God and each of our unique contributions to the protection of our environment. By bringing all of the individual entries together as one class entry, we believe that we reveal a united front and a fuller, more complete picture.

Finally, by taking your theme: "You can recycle if you have the bottle." as a guide we came up with a slogan to represent our class entry. Our slogan is: "Loving Our Environment is Faith in Action".

Athboy's St. Patrick's Day Parade committee kindly awarded our class a special award. They also dropped in some treats for the class to enjoy.

We hope that you enjoy viewing our class entry. Congratulations everyone!

Maths Week:

The children were set various challenges during Maths Week. Those who achieved the highest scores were awarded certificates. Congratulations and well done to all the class for their participation.

Maths & Art combined:

More Maths Fun!

School Tour-Crystal Maze:

The children enjoyed a fun-filled, action-packed day at Cavan Crystal Maze.

Gaeilge & Ealaín

Fleadh na Mí Competition:

Well done to all the children for their entries. Special congratulations to Alisa who was awarded one of the overall prizes.

Blue Jean Art Competition:

Each child planned, designed and created a unique entry for this competition. Well done!

Special congratulations to Ellie who was awarded an overall prize!

End of Year Portfolios:

The children took great pride in displaying some of their best work throughout the year in their end of year portfolios. They also planned, designed and created their portfolio covers.

These will hopefully be precious mementos of their time with me and their great work this year.

Fourth Class 2022 & 2023

Marking the Occasion of Mr. Brennan's Retirement June 2023:

Lá Glas

End of Year Portfolios:

Some 3D Construction Fun:

The children were delighted to receive a Special Award for their class entry in the St. Patrick's Parade Committee's Art Competition 2023. They received a lovely Easter hamper filled with delicious treats!

We decided to integrate the theme for Catholic Schools Week 2023 with our Art work on St. Brigid and St. Valentine.

The children participated in the Someone Like Me Art Competition. This competition aims to promote disability awareness among primary school pupils to give a greater understanding of what unites children of different abilities.

We explored "weaving" as a metaphor for life. We discussed the physical process of weaving and decided to physically practise this as part of our class project entry.

We decided to weave wool around the letters of the words: SOMEONE LIKE ME and also to weave hearts. The uniqueness of each design links to our uniqueness as individuals. Our bringing of all the individual pieces together as a whole links to the inclusive nature of our lives and to how our lives are interwoven.

Finally we discussed some appropriate slogans and agreed that the slogan: Someone Like Me weaves well-being and love was very fitting for our class project.

Although we did not win the competition; the children each received a lovely Certificate of Participation. Also a very kind email of appreciation for our class entry was received.