Welcome to our P.3 Class Page.

We hope that you enjoy looking at

all our photographs and videos

of our school activities throughout the year.

The big news this week was our Class Trip to “High Rise!” We had a great day’s fun, climbing, crawling, and sliding around the play area.

There have been some lovely pictures sent into school of the children completing their “outdoor homework activities.” Some children  took their creations into school to share with the class too. It certainly looks as if everyone is enjoying the challenges and having a lot of fun into the bargain.

We all had a great day fun at our Sports Day. We took part in all the races, cheered on the others classes as they took part in their events and had a picnic lunch. All out hard work and practicing paid off. 

In Literacy we began the process of creating our ICT Presentation using Just2Easy for our Report Texts. We worked really hard to write the text we wanted to include and then had great fun as we searched for pictures, we would like to use to support our writing. There was a lot of hard work and collaborative learning taking place.

We experienced “Unplugged-Coding” were we built a maze from Lego. We then had to work with our partner to build a set of instructions to allow a character to travel through the maze from one side to the other. We had to be extremely careful about our left and right turns.

We had the opportunity to apply what we had learned in Unplugged Coding to ICT. Using Just2Easy we, entered commands that enabled a sprite to journey to different locations in different setting on screen.

We took part in Logic and Reasoning Problem Solving Activity. We all had a set of five coloured cubes and five 2D shapes. We had to listen carefully to our instructions to know where to place each cube. This was not easy because the instructions told us where the cubes “did not” go, and which colours they may have been between. There was a lot of swapping around and repeating of instructions before we were happy with our results.

In PDMU we explored the meaning of Respect. We agreed that it was to do with how, we treated or spoke to a person. Together, we created a “Respect Die.” Each face on the die presented a different scenario and we had to decide the best way to conduct ourselves in a way that showed respect. There was a lot of discussion, and it was interesting to learn different children’s view on how each scenario could have different acceptable outcomes.

In WAU we were investigating what might happen to different materials if we, bent, twisted, stretched, or squashed them. We worked with Play Doh, elastic bands, sponge, and stones. We discovered that some materials can be manipulated and stay in its changed form, others can be manipulated but revert back to their original form, while others can not be manipulated at all.

In Numeracy we have been busy exploring the concept of “Weight.” We started off by studying a selection of boxes of different sizes. We then worked as a class to decide how we would like to order the boxes from what we thought was the lightest box to the heaviest. We then had the opportunity in groups, to “hand weigh” the boxes and order them from lightest box to the heaviest. We repeated the process with a selection of balls. Then, using a two-pan balance to see how may cubes, beads or pegs were needed to balance items, such as a pair of scissors, a glue, a roll of tape and a box of pencils. We discovered that we were not always happy with the result that we achieved because it was not always accurate.

As the sun shone the children were extremely keen to get outside. However, there was some cleaning up and tidying to be done before we could do that. With everyone determined to get the job done, it took no time at all to brush up, wash and clean our outside equipment. We then had great fun playing with it all in the beautiful sunshine.

In Numeracy & PE we have been working on Direction, Position & Movement. We have been reinforcing ¼ turns to our left and right, along with moving forward and backwards.

We were all sorry to say “Good-Bye,” to Adel this week as the Camogie Sessions were concluded. The girls really enjoyed these sessions and developed their skills over the past few months. Adel marked the occasion by presenting all the girls with a certificate and a special “Camogie Keyring.”

This week, Kevin from HSENI came to talk to us about keeping safe on our farms. He reminded us that we must always be alert when in and around the yard. He told us that we must never go near animals unless we are in the company of an adult. We must play in a safe area, not close to machinery.

In our Problem-Solving Session, we worked together to “help Granny” create a special quilt, so that the number of sides of the shapes in every row and column of the patchwork quilt added up to 12. It took some serious discussion and co-operation to bring this activity to a successful conclusion.

In Numeracy we developed our investigations in Area. We started by estimating, how many cubes we though it might take to cover our footprint. We then measured it, using cubes. Next, we decided to use squared paper to help us measure. We soon spotted that all the squares were not “whole” so we agreed together to ignore the squares that appeared to be less than ½ a square. We then counted what was left. We discovered that the squares were smaller than the cubes, so our answers were different. However, both answers were correct.

In Phonics we continued working on the “magic e.” We were working with the u-e combination. We really enjoyed playing “Roll & Read,” to reinforce what we have been learning.

We reinforced our number bonds of 14 by playing "Make 14." We had to turn over two cards that together made the total of 14. 

On Friday we celebrated Red & Black Day, when we all wore some red or black clothes to school to show our support for our team on Saturday as they take part in the Ulster Semi Final in Clones.

What excitement there was when the County Down Team Manager      Conor Laverty paid us a surprise visit to thank us for our support. He took the time to visit each class and answer the many questions that he was asked. We really appreciate him taking time out of his busy schedule to come and see us. 

In Irish we had great fun as we played “Match” where we had to match the name of an animal to its picture. We also learned about the counties in the Province of Ulster, and the colours that the County teams play in.

We explored the concept of weight, where we had to decide if an object was heavier or lighter that ourselves and then sort accordingly. We then attempted to order the same objects from the lightest to the heaviest. This generated a lot of discussion, cooperation, and reasoning.

Stephen and Chris from the RNLI came on Wednesday to talk to us all about keeping safe when close to the water as the Summer Holidays approach. They told us to always stop and think before we get into the water and to stay close to family and friends. They showed us different flags that are an important part of their job, and told us what they mean e.g. the RNLI flag indicates the Life Guards are on duty, red and yellow flags highlight the swimming zone, black and white show the surfing area, and a red flag means danger. Eva had the opportunity to dress up as a Lifeguard. She had to supervise the “swimmers and surfers” making sure they stayed within their designated zones. With John’s help Stephen also showed us a technique to use if we should get into difficulty in the water. It was an extremely informative session and the children all loved taking an active part.

We worked together on Area, trying to work out the best “unit” that can be used to measure the surface of an object. We had to "estimate" our answers first and then we had the opportunity to "measure" to see how accurate our guesses were. We loved calculating the exact answers with the cubes, cork prints, thumb prints, counters and cubes.  As a class, we all worked together to find the area of our class mat. 

There was great excitement in our class when Gemma came to conduct an ICT & Music session with us. Using “Garageband,” on ipads we explored the different ways we could create music on the App. Initially we experimented with the ‘guitar,’ and we had to decide if we liked to work with the acoustic or electric guitar. We also investigated the keyboard and drums. We are really looking forward to Gemma visiting us again next week.

To help us develop quick recall of the number bonds of 10, we participated in a “Clustering” Activity. We were each given a card with either a number word or a digit on it. We then had the task of finding our partner who had the corresponding word or digit that gave a total of 10.

In Numeracy we had great fun working with ‘Numicon,’ as we reinforced our knowledge of our number bonds to 20.

In Irish this week we focused on the names for animals. We had to match the animal name to its picture. We then were given the name of an animal and we had to make the appropriate sound. 

Our big news in class this week is how well our girls performed at Warrenpoint Féis. We are extremely proud of the ten girls who represented our school in the competition. They were all so confident and spoke out really well. The adjudicator was so impressed that we had four girls receive prizes. Congratulations to Arianna, Lila-Rose, Cocca, and Grace, who earned a second place, a third place and two highly commended respectively in the contest.

We also held a “Class Féis” for those children, who had learned the poem, but didn’t travel to Warrenpoint.  So, Congratulations to Conor and John, and Ava and Eva on their performances. No medals for them, but I think they were happy with their Easter Eggs. Everyone else got a little treat too.

In Irish this week Alice introduced us to some of the vocabulary that is associated with Easter. We had great fun decorating “Easter Eggs” using glitter, feathers, and tissue paper.

Alanna and Georgia were the winners of this Class Competition.

Reece and Maisie were presented with certificates as “Gaeilgroirí an Lae!”

There were lots of excited children running around the school yard this week searching for Easter Eggs as the Easter Bunny came to visit., Every child in the school was lucky enough to find an egg. Thank you to The Friends of Holy Cross for organising this event.

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, we celebrated “Green Day” at the end of this school week. Didn’t we look fabulous as we came to school in “Forty Shades of Green!”

At our special Green Day School Assembly, every class had the opportunity to display their talents, we performed two songs in Irish, “Buail Do Bhosa,”(Clap Your Hands) and “Teidí Tinn,” (Sick Teddy) with actions of course.

What an extremely busy week we have had. The highlight was, of course our First Confession. Mrs. Norris is so proud of us all. It was a beautiful service, and it was lovely to see so many parents and Grandparents join us for such a personal occasion. Thank you to Fr. Sean Cahill for leading the celebration, assisted by Fr. Dhillon.

The day was concluded, as it only could be, with a party in the afternoon in school.

We celebrated “World Book Day” this week. We were encouraged to create a prop to support our favourite book. There were some fabulous and very imaginative creations in our class on Thursday, ice dragon eggs, castles, guitars, golden tickets, octopus, hot air balloons, potions to name a few.

In ICT we had a Google Meet session with the whole school to discuss the important lessons we had learned on Internet Safety Day. We informed everyone that we had learned how to deal with “pop-ups” on our computer screen, “Stop, Close, Tell!” It was great fun, seeing and talking to the other classes through the IWB.

In Numeracy we were using coordinates to place shapes of different colours on a grid. We identified their positions by reading along the bottom of the grid first and then up the side. We also had the opportunity to then state the coordinates of the different shapes.

In Irish we had great fun as Alice taught us an Irish version of “The Haka!” It really helped us to remember body parts and left from right. We played games of “Traein.” and “Ádh!” to reinforce some of the foods that we eat.

There was great excitement this week as the local author Declan Carville came to visit our class to read his book “The Magic Harp!” He lives in Rostrevor. He told us all about his writing and how he gets ideas for his work. We were able to ask him questions about his books. He showed us his collection of books, which are all set in familiar Irish places, with characters we can all relate to. We also saw the illustrations for some of his books that were drawn by his friends. He read the story “The Fairy Glen.”  He showed us some photos that he had taken of the Fairy Glen and had us look very closely at them to see if we could spot the fairy flash of colour. There were squeals delight when we saw some because not everyone does.

In Irish this week we played a few games to help reinforce all the vocabulary that we have been learning. We played “Práta Te!” (Hot Potato) where we had to state an Irish word when we held the “potato.” Cogar Sínis! (Chinese Whispers) where we had to listen carefully to the number. Cad é an t-am Mister Mac Tíre? (What’s the Time Mister Wolf.) Buachaill Bó Bang (Last Man Standing) where we had to identify a given Irish word. 

We had two Gaeiloir an Lae, Comhghairdeas Arianna and Dáire.

In Literacy our focus has been on homophones. These are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things. It can be difficult to remember the difference between these words, so we have been doing a lot of practice.

In Irish over the past few weeks we have been learning the poem Luchóga Beaga Buí ( Little Yellow Mice)  for our class assembly. To help us understand it a little better we added some props and actions when we presented it on our Whole School Assembly on Monday. 

Pancake Tuesday always signals the approach of Lent. Denise and Tracey treated us all to delicious pancakes at Break Time!

As we prepare for the visit of the author Declan Carville to our class in conjuction with the AMMA Centre in Armagh.  We watched and listened to a video of Declan reading his story "The Magic Harp."

As we focus on our Talking and Listening Skills, we decided that on "No Pens Day" we would take part in a "Show and Tell" Activity. All the children were invited to bring an item of their choice to school to show their peers, to talk about it, describe it and  then answer some questions about it. It was a very enjoyable and informative experience as the children brought in a range of different items and books. 

In WAU we explored the Chinese New Year as it takes place in February. We listened to the story about how Jade Emperor decided there should be a way to measure time. He told the animals that they were to compete in a race. The first twelve animals would be rewarded by having a year named after them. This year is the Year of the Dragon,(Dragon came fifth) We had great fun creating “Dragon Fortune Tellers.”

“Internet Safety Day,” was observed this week. So, in Literacy we discussed the ways that we can stay safe while online. Using the story “The Pop-Up Gremlins,” we reinforced these rules of “Stop! Close! Tell!” We sequenced pictures of the story and then we summarised it.

In Numeracy we have been working with Measure. We were told that it is important that everyone agrees with the “unit” that is being used to measure something. We have been working with the “metre.” We hunted around the classroom to find objects that were “about the same as a metre,” “longer than a metre,” and “shorter that a metre.”

This week we celebrated Grandparent’s Day. We spoke through out the week about the places we visit and the things we do with our Grandparents and how important they are in our lives. We had fun creating a keepsake for our Grandparents. After our special Grandparents Mass on Friday morning, led by the P.5 class, it was fun to have our Grandparents come visit us in our classroom.

Due to the cold weather conditions this week, we were unable to get outside to play, however, we all had great fun working together to complete jigsaws. There was a lot of discussion and interaction taking place. It was lovely to see such cooperation from our children.

In WAU we have started working on our new topic Materials. We have been exploring the different ways we can describe materials and have been introduced to some new vocabulary too. e.g. rigid, flexible, transparent, dull, shiny, noisy, rough, smooth. We then had great fun sorting items into the different categories we had discussed.

We finished off our first week back to school with our annual “Toy Friday!” We had the opportunity to take one of our Christmas gifts into school to play and share with our peers. We had a great afternoons fun and laughter as we played, shared, explained, described and interacted with each other.

Santa Claus was very busy in Atticall!! He must have been extremely tired after his visit to the Mournes. We had a visit from Shea Quinn in P.6 who found and antler in the lane after his visit from Santa. We were all able to look at and feel the antler. We also tried to guess which reindeer it may have fallen off.

In Literacy we talked about alphabetical order; putting items in a, b, c order.  We had a great time putting ourselves in a line in alphabetical order. We discovered that if two people’s names started with the same letter, we had to work with the second letter, we did this using our first names and then we moved around as we organised ourselves when new people joined the line. We also realised that if name both first and second letter are the same, we have to check out the third letter.

A Great big "Congratulations!" to our School Council and the P.7 Class for hosting a very successful "Winter Wonderland!" Adults and children alike had great fun. There was lots to do (and eat). Cookies to decorate, hot chocolate to drink and lots of games to take part in. 

It's not Christmas without a little paint and glitter!! We had a lot of fun creating out Christmas Tree Decorations. 

Working together we measured the mat, the door, the sand tray, the window and other objects around our classroom, using smaller class room items. We had to make sure that the items we used to measure were the same size. We used (new) pencils, glue sticks, desk baskets and cubes. We grouped the cubes into sets of 10 as it made it easier to count the total. 

Congratulations! to the school winners of the local Credit Union Art competition, but a special mention to our own Lila-Rose who achieved a 3^rd place in her category.

We had lots of fun working along with the P.1 & P.2 classes as they prepared for their production of "Mary's Knitting." Congratulations to them on their great performance, it was wonderful. Of course the singing was just magnificent. 

Look at us all dressed up in our Christmas jumpers, to celebrate Christmas Jumper Day. Christmas is getting closer, and we are all getting super excited.

In Literacy and WAU and followed instructions given by our teacher to create “snowflakes.” We had to carefully cut out a circle from white paper, fold it into eighths and cut out some shapes. We then opened out our designs to see what we had created.

In WAU focused on “All things Diwali!” We started off the week by creating some “rangoli” using the Just2Easy “paint” option. We had great fun as we experimented with the colours and textures in our pieces. Rangoli is a decoration drawn on the floor or the entrance of homes to bring prosperity. 

We created “diyas” little lamps that represent the triumph of light over dark. We created them using both paper and clay. We are looking forward to completing our clay creations when they dry and become hard.

We designed our own “mehndi” which is art that can be drawn on the body, usually the hands or feet. Cocca came into school with a mehndi on her hand and arm, drawn on by her Mum using special henna ink.

In Numeracy, we had fun as we continued to explore numbers to 100. This week we investigated the concept of the “largest” and “smallest” numbers. We had the task of ordering non-consecutive numbers, sometimes from the smallest to largest and then largest to smallest. We were given clues to numbers and had to state what numbers could have all the properties listed, e.g. smaller than 70 but greater than 65.

We took part in "GAEILGE 24" when everyone in the school did their very best to use the Irish words and phrases that they knew throughout the day. We learned some new words and phrases too, and had great fun trying to use them. 

In Literacy we have continued our focus on Instructional Texts. We had the task of sequencing a set of eight pictures into the correct order to depict the making of shortbread. We then had to write an instruction to match each picture. We had to ensure that we included “bossy verbs” and some “time connecting” words in our individual pieces. We then had a treat when Zoe’s Mum baked some shortbread and sent it in for us to eat.

To mark the start of "Anti-Bullying Week," we celebrated all our differences by taking part in "Odd Socks Day!" 

Because of  Storm Debi, couldn't get outside, so we took part in some "Chair Yoga."

We took part in our annual "Woolly Hat Day," to raise funds for our local charity Mourne Stimulus. 

We explored numbers on a 100 square. We used the language the number,"before," "after" "between" "less than," "more than," "in the same row," "in the same column," "under, " "above," in order to identify the missing numbers in the Square.  

We had great fun as we explored numbers to 100 on a giant Number Line.

We reinforced our time telling skills playing "Pairs" where we had to match the time on the analogue clock to the digital clock. 

We explored numbers on a 50 Array. We used the language the number,"before," "after" "between" "less than," "more than," in order to identify the numbers that we had to "Splat!" 

Our School Council organised a "Jersey Day!" We all had the opportunity to wear our favourite sports jersey into school. 

In WAU we found out that the Irish people were among the first to celebrate Hallowe’en. They believed that it was the start of Winter, and they lit fires to ward off the evil spirits that were associated with the dark cold nights. A lot of scary characters came to school on Friday to help us have our own Hallowe’en celebrations. 

We had "Story Time!" with a difference this week. Arianna wrote her own story and entertained us all by reading it to us. 

We collected data using just2easy data, related to the months of our birthday and our favourite fruit. We created pictograms and bar graphs using the data and then we interpreted the results.

There was great excitement this week as Arianna and Georgia received their first Silver Certificates for their participation in Mathletics Activities!! Congratulations girls!!

This week was Maths Week Ireland. P.6 had the task of creating and developing a Maths Game for our class. On Friday afternoon they came over to our room so that we could play their games. It was a lot of fun.

In Numeracy we have been reinforcing our knowledge of money. We have been carefully counting out the coins that we needed to buy items from the “Toy Shop,” and then we were trying to record the coins that we used.

We sorted 2D shapes on the IWB using 2 sets of criteria in a Venn Diagram. We then worked together to sort a different set of shapes using different criteria, again in a Venn Diagram.

We reinforced our knowledge of 2D shapes by playing a game of “Monster 2D Bingo!”

In ICT we explored the Just2Easy App JiT a little more. Again, after we logged on and entered our password, we investigated the “paint” option in a little more depth. We learned how to use “texture” in our images. We were able to create grass on the ground and leaves in the trees, ripples on the water and gravel on the paths.

This week we cast our votes for those in Primary 7, we felt would best represent us and our fellow pupils on our School Council. We had the opportunity to watch a video, made by each candidate, giving us their reasons as to why we should vote for them. We then had to decide who would best fill the role of Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.

We were all presented with our very own blessed Rosary Beads to mark the importance of the month of October, in our devotion to Mary. Fr. Cahill blessed the beads at Mass. We also received a little prayer card to help us recite the Rosary with our families. John and Anna, then took in a beautiful pair of very special large Rosary Beads and told us that they used to belong to their Great-Granda and were given to their Mummy after he passed away.

At the beginning of each new school week, our class discuss the ROSPA Road Safety Message. These messages, teach us how to stay safe on the road, in the car or when we are playing. One very important message is how to cross the road safely. We learned a song to help us remember how to cross the road with care. We put some actions to the song and then we performed it in front of the whole school on Monday at our School Assembly. 

This week we took part in the NSPCC interactive Assembly, Speak Out, Stay Safe. We met “Buddy” and we learned the ways in which a child can be hurt, not just on the outside, but on the inside too. We discussed who we can talk to if we ever feel hurt or lonely. We learned that we have the right to be listened to, kept safe and get help.

In ICT we have explored the Just2Easy App JiT. After we logged on and entered our password, we investigated the “paint” option, where we selected a picture template and could add images to it. We could also add Speech Bubbles and write some text inside them.  

We have been revising how to tell the times; o’clock and half past on an analogue clock and how they look on a digital clock. We have been introduced to “quarter past” and we now can recognise lunch time as it is quarter past 12. We reinforced our learning together on the IWB.

In WAU we had our own version of the Jewish celebration Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. We had the opportunity to eat some of the food the Jewish people eat on this occasion.  We had some apples dipped in honey, pomegranates, the special bread called Challah and honey biscuits. We had a lot of fun tasting these new foods and there are some we would really like to try again. We have also  learned that the Jewish people call their church a synagogue.

In Numeracy we have been working on Place Value. We have been building up numbers using our cubes, and describing them as Tens and Units, stating what the whole number is, and then trying to write that number in words. We were keen to reinforce this concept through our ICT work.

In ICT had great fun exploring the "paint" option, in the "Just2Easy" App.

We had a lovely end to the week, when the whole school took part in our Annual Sponsored Walk, in aid of the Mourne First Responders.  Once again, this year our walk took place in Mourne Park. It was a beautiful setting for the event and each and every one who took part really had an extremely enjoyable experience. We used our ears to listen to the sounds of the birds, animals and the river. We used our eyes to see the beautiful colours of the Autumn leaves. We had great fun, trying to catch some leaves as they fell to the ground. We also collected some that had already fallen off. 

Congratulations to Arianna, Georgia and Lillie-Mae, on recieving their Bronze Certificate in Mathletics. The girls worked extremely hard in order to win their 1000 points. 

Comhghairdeas Shenna agus Cocca!! 

The girls were awarded their certificates for their use of the Irish language during their weekly lesson with Alice. 

Noel Lyons the Waste Promotions Officer with the Council visited our class this week. He reminded us about what type of rubbish goes into each bin. He showed us some items that were made from recycled materials, soft toys, drinks bottles, reusable folding straw. He helped us to create some plant pots from newspaper. We filled them from compost that was made from the waste that is found in our brown bins, and we sprinkled some cress seeds on top. We sat them on the windowsill and we are going to look after them and hopefully the cress will grow by next week.

We had our first ICT session of the year. We all had the chance to log on to our Chrome Books using our individual usernames and passwords. We signed into the “Mathletics” site and worked on the tasks that our teacher had set for us. We have been set a target of trying to achieve 1000 points per week, that way we can earn a certificate and can also explore the land of “Meritopia,” where we must remove 60 clouds, activate 6 beacons twice and free all 60 inhabitants to complete each area and unlock a map..

In Numeracy we have been exploring the 30 Array. We discovered that there are a lot of patterns to be found on this Array. However, “Sammy Snake” slipped into our class and he loves to cover up numbers, so we had to try to identify the numbers he had covered up by using our knowledge of the patterns. We created our own snakes, so we could reinforce this concept with our friends.

We explored some 2D shapes this week. We recalled the properties of the common shape such as, square, rectangle, circle, and triangle.  We went hunting for these shapes in our classroom. We then had the opportunity to find out about the pentagon, the hexagon and even the octagon. We had the opportunity to create some pictures using as many of these shapes of different sizes as possible.

Look at all these happy faces, glad to be back at school.

In Phonics we have been reinforcing all our letter sounds and practising how to blend these sounds when we are reading, but also how to segment sounds when we are spelling. We really enjoyed our game of “Pairs" on the IWB where we had to match the action to the letter. 

In PE, we played with the Rainbow Parachute! We had to cooperate and work together as a group to try to make the biggest “mushroom” we could. We made “waves” sometimes very stormy, and at other times, very calm and peaceful. Using a ball we tried, unsuccessfully, to get it into the middle of the parachute, and stay for the count of 3. We are going to have to try to do this again.

As the sun shone, we took advantage of our outside playing area. Here we remembered to take turns, wait our turn and to share. We had great fun together playing in the different zones, in the mud kitchen, water tray, water wall, construction, house, sand, and painting areas.

In Numeracy we revised our numbers 1 – 20, counting forwards and backwards in ones starting from different numbers. We focused on “the number before” and had great fun playing “Bingo!”