2013/2014

  Bridging the Gap Project

Over the last month we have been looking at the design and structure of bridges and the uses of bridges. We compared modern designs to those of long ago and we looked at various locations where a bridge is needed and discussed what type would be most practical and cost effective. In Science we looked at the forces of compression and tension which are at play with bridge structures. The class then designed a bridge of their own and using various materials they came up with these super structures! An engineer will visit the school during engineering week to give prizes to the top 3 bridges. Well done to all!

Confirmation 2014

6th class will make their confirmation Thursday 1st May 2014 at the Parish Church in Fahan. In recent weeks preparations have increased and they are all very much looking forward to their big day!

Eason Spelling Bee winner

Congratulations to Caoimhe Doherty from 6th class who won the Bridgend heat of the national spelling bee competition. She beat off stiff competition from 5th and 6th class pupils and will go forward to the Donegal final shortly. A big well done to Shea Doherty and Dónal Whorriskey who came 2nd and 3rd in the competition.

World War 2 visit

Last week Fiona from the Tower Museum visited the class to give a talk on World War 2 and show the class various objects from this era. Eibhlín is showing off her week’s rations while Patrick is displaying some medals. Shea and Darius are our air raid wardens while Ciara dressed up as an air force officer! You wouldn’t mess with her!

Concrete Maths

As we focused on area and perimeter last week we used last Friday’s concrete maths to design our own dream houses. The class created a 2 storey building and calculated the area of the various rooms. There are some future architects in the class for sure!

Maths activities

This week 5th and 6th class are working on length. On Monday we estimated the length of various parts of the school and then measured it accurately using a trundle wheel. The class proved to be very capable in estimating the various lengths!

Healthy Hearts

During the past fortnight our class have been learning about the heart and lungs and how they function. Our teacher brought in a sheep’s heart for us to look at. We have also been learning about how to keep our heart and our lungs healthy. We are working on anti smoking information leaflets at the minute.

World War 2

  Before Christmas our class learned about WW2.  In WW2 we found out that Hitler wanted to eliminate all Jews because he blamed them for Germany’s problems. He knew that they were very weathly and that they could trade very well, and this made him jealous. But at the time Germany was poor because after WW1 the had to pay compensation to the other countries for the damage caused.   When Germany started to build up their army’s Neville Chamberlain went out to sign a peace treaty with Hitler to stop them building up their army.After Neville Chamberlin came back to England, Germany continued to build up their army.When the Germans invaded Poland which England was allied with a war was declared. The reason America entered into the war was because Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. They were angry because some of their ships and a airfield were destroyed .   During the war we learned about rations and how you only got so many things per week so that most of the food could go to the soldiers at war. We also learned that when the rations were released that many women were encouraged to farm for food. During The Battle of Britain Germany started to bomb London and other cities. This was called The blitz.During the blitz many children were evacuated to the countryside.Everyone had to carry a gas mask at all times.Later we made them in class for art and Mr.Grant brought in a real one and it smelt like tar.   Many posters were made to encourage people to work in the factorys and grow their own food. We looked at some posters and then we decided to make some of our own.   Ireland during WW2 Ireland did not take part in WW2 because it was a neutral country and it still is a neutral country but during WW2 we helped in some ways although it was a secret at the time. American planes were allowed to fly from a base in Fermanagh over a narrow piece of Donegal to get to the Atlantic quicker. This was called the Donegal corridor. Derry was also a busy port during the war with American soldiers based there. Also the day  the  D-Day landings took place was decided by a weather station report from a small island off the coast of Mayo. They needed good weather for the mission to go ahead and checked weather forecasts in Ireland to plan ahead. Also during the blitz some places in Ireland were bombed including  places like Belfast, Dublin and Wexford.   Some of the leaders of the war  were called   ALLIES                                               AXIS Neville Chamberlin                                 Adolf Hitler Winston Churchill                                 Benito Mussolini Franklin D. Roosevelt                                 Hidek Tojo Josef Stalin     By Conor Hegarty and Cormac McKinney   Shea Bown wearing an authentic WW2 gas mask!

Christmas Plays 2013

Trip to the Tower Museum

The Broighter Hoard

We went to the Tower Museum in Derry to view the Broighter Gold from the Celtic era.  We were learning about the Celts in history before Halloween.  The items were found in a field in Broighter in Limavady in 1896.  We went up to see the items in a very dark room.  It had to be that dark to preserve them.  There was very high security also.  The items that were on display were the Torc which high up Celts would have worn around their necks, the Bowl which is a small cauldron like object but no one knows exactly what it was for, the Necklaces which were two necklaces made out of gold wire and the Bar Torcs which were single twisted bars of gold. It was found when two farmers were double ploughing the fields.  They then sold it to a jewellers in Derry for £200 and then it was later sold on for £600.  It was later given to the British Museum but the National Museum of Ireland claimed it after.  It is worth 4 and a half million.  Unfortunately we could not see the boat as it was too fragile to travel up from Dublin.  Our tour guide was called Fiona and she was very nice.We enjoyed our day and we got to do some fun activities based on the hoard.

Eibhlín Porter

       

   

They even got a photo taken beside the big Christmas Tree in the Guildhall Square!!  🙂

 

Cake Sale

 UPDATE 10/12/13 A letter arrived today from  UNICEF today thanking us for our fundraising. You can read it here…UNICEF   6th Class held a Cake Sale to raise much needed funds for the people of the Philippines. Parents and children were very busy baking buns and all sorts of treats.  We all had a great day at the cake sale and the class raised €740. Well done to 6th class. Amazing amount of money raised.. Some of the teachers look very pleased with their purchases…..