Full School Attendance Winners for this year

 

 

 

May Assembly Winners

 

Active Schools Week

We had a very active week in school  last week ranging from Active lines to dodgeball tournaments to whole school walks, PT sessions and Rinka workshops to name just a few of the ways we were active for active schools week.

Active Lines

 

 

Active Assembly

 

PT Sessions with 5th/6th 

 

Dodgeball

 

 

Dodgeball Students v Teachers

 

In class Movement breaks and free dance

Rinka Workshops

 

Sportspeople of the week

 

 

 

Whole School Walk

 

April Assembly Winners

 

 

Spring Newsletter

 

February Assembly Winners

 

Enrolment Week

 

Charity Donation

Pictured are some pupils from St. Clare’s N.S. Ballyjamesduff  who recently presented €500 to the Irish Cancer Society. The donation was the proceeds from the schools Christmas Jumper Day held in December.

 

 

 

Maths Week

 

We really enjoyed maths week, putting our maths brains to the test with various games, puzzles and maths trails. Junior Infants played ready set go maths games revising all their numbers. They also constructed objects using the vocabulary big, small, wide, narrow, heavy and light. First class practised their addition skills through different addition board games and their counting on skills through the game snakes and ladders.

 

 

Wellbeing Week 2021

St. Clare’s N.S. celebrates Wellbeing Week 2021!

From the 22^nd to 26^th November, we had a very positive week in St. Clare’s focusing on activities we can use to protect and improve our mental health and wellbeing. While this has been an annual event for a number of years in our school, in the difficult times in which we once again find ourselves, we felt it was more important than ever to shine the spotlight on health and wellbeing this point in the school year.

Mindful Monday

The week began with every class learning our new school wellbeing song, chosen by our Amber Flag Committee. ‘Three Little Birds’ by Bob Marley and The Wailers was the song selected and made for a very apt soundtrack to the week. Every class from junior infants to 6^th class enjoyed singing and dancing along to it and the sound of ‘Don’t Worry, be happy’ rang throughout the school for the week.

We created ‘Rainbow Moments’ booklets at the start of the week also. Every afternoon, we recorded our rainbow moments, the small positive ‘feel-good’ moments each of us experience on a daily basis but that often go unnoticed! We also practised mindful eating, mindful colouring and some classes took off around the lovely Nun’s Walk for a mindful walk. The older classes created mindfulness jars, recognising a range of activities, that when engaged in them, help them to feel calm, happy and very much ‘in the moment’.

 

 

We had a wellbeing homework challenge each day too and on Mindful Monday we faced the most difficult challenge of all, to try to have a screen-free afternoon. Now that was a tough one!

Thankful Tuesday

On Thankful Tuesday, we promoted an attitude of gratitude, drawing attention to the little things in our lives that we can be thankful for. We noted something we are thankful for on post-its and displayed them in our classrooms and corridors as a reminder of how fortunate we are with the many good things we have in our lives! Some class wrote thank you notes and designed thank you cards to give to someone special as part of their wellbeing homework challenge on the day. 

Goodwill Wednesday

Mid-week, we focused on sharing kindness, where staff and pupils alike engaged in random acts of kindness towards each other. Some classes even exchanged bookmarks, cards and friendship notes. Receiving kindness is lovely but we realised that giving kindness to others is even more rewarding! We took it upon ourselves to share even more kindness when we got home that day, by carrying out another random act of kindness as part of our wellbeing homework to mark Goodwill Wednesday.

 

Thriving Thursday

It is always important to look at how we manage worry and anxiety too, particularly as we are all experiencing those feelings at the moment. We thought about some of the worries that we have at present and added those to our class worry boxes. We listened to stories and discussed what we can do when our worries become overwhelming and explored the different strategies that we can use to best manage our anxieties. One way to do so is to use positive affirmations and our SNA Cindy gifted a lovely book on those positive affirmations to the school called ‘Maya’s Words’ written by her niece Meghan B. Smith. What a valuable addition to our wellbeing resources!

 

We also took part in a very apt art activity organised by our Amber Flag Committee that got our creative juices flowing while tending to our mental health and wellbeing at the same time. Our junior classes designed a Wellbeing Character such as a Care Bear, Wellbeing Warrior or Wellness Superhero, while our senior classes designed Wellbeing Posters illustrating an inspirational message or positive affirmation. We democratically chose a favourite from each class and while we had a homework voucher and a happiness survival kit gift for each design chosen as that favourite, it was more about enjoyment and creativity than anything else!

Our final homework challenge of the week was an easy one-to go for a short walk and get to bed on time.

 

 

Feel-Good Friday

We rounded off the week with COLOUR DAY. Everyone wore their brightest clothes to school to lift the spirits on a cold and dark November day, add a welcome touch of cheeriness in these difficult times and also as a reminder of the natural rainbow of emotions that colour all of our lives.

 

We did lots of ‘feel-good’ activities on the day like filling our happy boxes with happy memories, watching upbeat movies, doing extra art, designing and predicting tonight’s Christmas jumper for the ‘Toy Show Man’ Ryan Tubridy and some classes even enjoyed time in what is undoubtedly proving to be the most popular treat this term-the fantastic new school playground! The staff meanwhile weren’t left out either with a selection of tasty sweet treats and delicious home-baked goods providing a welcome energy boost at the end of a busy week.

 

 

With daily mindfulness practice, inspirational quotes, the ingenious ideas and hard work of our Amber Flag Committee and most importantly of all, the superb participation of both staff members and pupils alike, it was a most beneficial week that really helped to calm our busy minds, refocus our attention on the present and recognise, accept and manage our emotions. There was a wonderfully warm, positive and serene atmosphere around the school for the week which left us all feeling enriched by the time it came to an end!

 

 

St Clare’s makes headlines!!!

We made national headlines with our spooky Halloween performance of the song ‘Thriller’ with half the school turning into zombies for the day!!!

 

Halloween Fancy Dress Ball

The boys and girls in St Clare’s Dressed up in their spookiest outfits to raise funds for musical equipment in the school. It was a terrifying sight!!!

 

October Assembly Winners

 

September Assembly Winners

 

Creative Schools Week

We have been exploring our creative side here in St Clare’s through online workshops in creative  writing and song writing, drawing and film making to name a few as well as in school workshops on drama and music.  Here are some snapshots of our creative workshops!

 

Sports Day

We were blessed with the weather for our sports day and enjoyed lots of  thrilling activities from races to obstacle courses to games of football, to tug of war and lots more fun and games.

 

 

Fun day in St Clare’s

We had a fabulous day bouncing around St Clare’s, from Spiderman to Gladiator and everything in between and candy floss for all to top it all off!! We tried our hand at being surgeons on the operating table and took a few penalty shoot outs to test our skills!

 

 

 

Clothing Collection

Please see the poster below for details about our clothing collection.

 

Sporting Activities in St. Clare’s

We have been busy improving our GAA and Gymnastics skills here in St Clare’s thanks to our wonderful coaches.

 

 

 

Spring Newsletter

 

 

 

 

 

April Assembly Winners

 

 

 

 

 

Enrolment Week at St Clare’s

St. Clare’s N.S. Ballyjamesduff will hold our Enrolment Week for the 2021/22 school year from 8th-12th March.

 

We will be accepting applications for Junior Infants-6th Class.  Please call to the school office between 9:30am-3pm to collect your enrolment pack or call on  0498544908 or email stclaresbjdns@gmail.com

 

 

February Assembly Winners 

Big congratulations to our February Assembly Winners below

It’s Beginning to look alot like Christmas!!!!