Welcome to our P.5 & P.6 Class Page.

We hope that you enjoy looking at

all our photographs and videos

of our school activities throughout the year.

CONGRATULATIONS 

We are delighted to announce, that along side the P.7 class, P.5 & 6 pupils have won the Northern Ireland Make a Difference Challenge for their research and work on the topic of Preventing Plastic Pollution.

Before travelling back home from Antrim, we stopped off to have our lunch. We had to fight off the seagulls, as they tried to snatch some tasty treats.

For our school trip this year we went to Funtasia, we had great fun playing ten pin bowling and then splashing around and playing on the different slides. Even those who were reluctant at first, could not resist “taking the plunge.”

Bowling Time

Very important time of the day......

Primary 6 on their “Taster Day,” in Shimna College 

As part of the Young Citizens, Make a Difference Challenge, P.5, 6 & 7 have decided that they would like to work on the issue of Plastic Pollution. On behalf of Newry, Mourne & Down District Council, Tara Cunningham presented the children with high viz vests, gloves, litter pickers and bags to help them carry out their Beach Clean. 

Alongside the P.7 class, we had a very successful and enjoyable Beach Clean down at Cranfield Beach 

Look at the “Litter” we collected.

After the Beach Clean, the children stopped off at the Amenity Site to recycle the items they collected. Sean Bradley was at hand to show the children where they should put their “finds.” 

As part of the Young Citizens Make a Difference Challenge we took part in our new initiative

“Pick ‘n’ Pace.”

Chloe, Isla, Luke, Josh and Sophia carrying out research on Mammals for their WAU topic, Living Things, so they can write a Non-Chronological Report - our focus text for this half term.

Owen, Thomas, Darragh and Liam gathering up all the information they can related to Birds.

Annie, Cora, Daniel and Danny are investigating Fish

Fianna, Liam, Niall and Siofra are exploring Amphibians 

Conor, Emmett, Kayla, Luke and Patrick studying Reptiles 

Anna from HSENI came to talk to us about safety on the farm. She spoke to us about the dangers of slurry, animals, falls and equipment. She reminded us that children need to be 13years old before they ride in a tractor and 16 years old before they can ride a quad. Anna was very impressed with our interaction and knowledge. After the talk we were all presented with an Activity Pack and a certificate.

Ellen and Catherine from the Dairy Council paid us a visit and through a variety of songs, dance and activities reminded us of the need for a balanced diet and keeping active. They gave us tips on how we can include healthy dairy products in our diet.

XIan Campbell the founder of the charity Ten Foundations came to talk to us about his work in the Philippines. He told us how, the charity has helped the local women develop their sewing machine skills. By doing this the women make school bags, lunch bags, pencil cases and shopping bags that Ian now sells in his shops in Belfast and Newcastle. These bags are Fairtrade produced meaning that all profits go back to the women who make them and they can better provide for their children and send them to school. These great quality bags are now available to buy in the school for a limited time.

Constables Warren and Graham from the PSNI School Liaison Team came to talk to us about keeping safe online. They reminded us to keep our settings on Private when we are online and to NEVER accept a friend request from people we do not actually know.

We worked together to find “Factor Pairs,” for given numbers. We then had a game of “Factor Bingo.”

We created our Class May Altar. It was decorated with the beautiful pictures, relics and flowers that the children took to school. 

We worked together to find the key features of a Non-Chronological Report. 

Thomas told us all about his visit to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts at the weekend. 

Annie, Cora, Darragh, Emmett, Owen and Sophia. All took part in our last “Show & Tell,” session. We had a great variety of items brought in and many different and interesting reasons as to why they were special.

 We had the opportunity to meet Lexi, Sophia’s dog, and Sparky Owen’s pet lamb.

After watching the C2k News Desk item about 16 year old Greta Thunberg from Sweden and her campaign to highlight the causes and effects of climate change, we discussed in detail the small, simple actions we could all take that would make a big difference, such as multi-use shopping bags, walking or cycling when possible, car sharing etc. Below are pictures of Danny, Kayla, Patrick and Fianna presenting their ideas to the class.

As the sun shines we plan to participate in the Daily Mile Challenge. Each day we are going to take 15 minutes out of our time table to take part in the scheme and “power walk” in an effort to promote a healthier life style for everyone.

As part of “Show & Tell” Conor brought Bruce, his Bernese Mountain dog to school. He was so well behaved, and Conor and his Mum answered our many questions on his behaviour, upkeep, diet and exercise regime. Bruce is only 5 months old and he weighs about 2 stone. When fully grown he can weigh up to 10 stone. We all got the opportunity to pat his lovely soft fluffy coat.

Chloe, Josh, Luke and Síofra took part in “Show & Tell.” They told us why their items meant so much to them and they were more than happy to answer the questions we put to them. 

Working hard to identify the features of Recount Text, focusing on Newspaper Repotrs. 

Using “inverse operations” to help us complete number pyramids. 

Concentrating very hard as we create our 

Mother’s Day cards.

The finished products.......

This week’s “Show and Tell,” session was conducted by Danny, Kayla, Luke and Niall. They told their class why they had chosen their particular items and Danny treated us all to a magic display. 

Working on capacity, we estimated where we thought the water level would be in a 2litre bottle,for given amounts. We then tested our estimates and we were very surprised by our accuracy. 

We worked in groups to brainstorm our ideas for our work on a recount text.

We had our first session of “Show and Tell,” this week. Conor, Daniel, Fianna, Isla, Liam and Thomas all took in items that were special to them or highlighted and interest that they had. They spoke to the class about the significance of the items they had brought in and answered the questions that were put to them by their peers. 

Lee Kane from NIABF Northern Ireland’s

Anti - Bullying Forum came to speak to us today. He reminded us that it is our job to make sure that everyone feels safe in school and we must make sure that we treat everyone with the respect they deserve.

Pat and Anna from Northern Ireland Water came to visit us in their big double decker “Water Bus.” They explained to us, how our water is cleaned before it is piped to our homes, and how it is cleaned again after it leaves our homes and before it is returned to the Water Cycle. They reminded us of the items that are safe to flush down our toilets. They also gave us very simple tips on how we can save water, both at home and school. They told us how dangerous one use plastic is to our country and our sea and wild life. Before they left, they presented EVERYONE with a reusable water bottle so that we can support their “Refill Free and Clean the Sea,” Campaign.

We had a “Healthy Me,” workshop conducted by MENSANA, for Action Mental Health.  We were reminded that worries can be hard to carry and it is best to try and share the load. We were reminded of who we can talk to if necessary. We were invited to examine our words and actions and decide if they may be “helpful or unhelpful.” We know we should always treat each other with kindness and respect.

Great discussion and debate taking place. Should we or should we not pay for our water supply? Here we have pictures of the children discussing how they will present their argument. One side say “Yes!” the other say “No!”

We took delivery of a very special package this week, a box of Tayto. This was because Owen Haughian was the runner up in the Belfast City Marathon Fun Run Primary School’s Art Competition.....

Congratulations Owen!

Many “Novel Characters” came to school as we celebrated World Book Day. Who can you see?

We got very competitive with learning our tables this week as we all had the opportunity to compete in the “Times Tables 1 Minute Speed Test Challenge” 

Tasty treats on Pancake Tuesday

We explored the effects of evaporation, by marking the outline of a puddle, we returned an hour and a half later to discover that the puddle had completely evaporated.....a lot quicker than we thought it would....

Working together on Capacity and Volume, we sorted different containers into those we thought held about 1 litre, less than a litre or more than a litre. We then tried to estimate how many litres the larger containers held and how many millilitres the smaller containers might hold.

As we were leaving “The Marvel of Cleaning Water” Exhibition in Silent Valley we were all presented with a Northern Ireland Water Bag containing a reusable water bottle, fridge magnet and information on how to waste less water. 

We visited The Silent Valley to see “The Marvel of Cleaning Water” Exhibition by Northern Ireland Water.

We learned more about The Water Cycle. 

We discovered how Dams hold back water.

Josh, Conor and Thomas got the opportunity to try to build a “Mourne Wall.”

We got to see the good bacteria that is used to clean our sewage under a microscope.

We got to guess what was making the water smell.....

We were shown how magnets are used to clean water.

We created a home-made water filter and cleaned dirty water.

Owen, Kayla, Daniel and Fianna had the chance to search for underground cables using a very special machine. 

We said “Goodbye,” to Miss McGaw today. We are very sorry to see her go. Conor and Sophia presented her with a gift from our class and a card that we created.

At Queen’s University Belfast for Peace-Proms Practice

Peace-Proms Practice in Belfast.

As our WAU topic is “Liquid Gold!” We created the Water Cycle using a boiling kettle, mirror and a bowl. It helped us have a greater understanding of the process and develop our knowledge of the technical vocabulary associated with the sequence, such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, accumulation, vapour and atmosphere.......

We worked together to arrange calculations in a “Diamond Nine” structure, from what we felt was easiest to most difficult. We then discussed what strategies we could use to carry out these calculations.

Helping each other create St. Brigid’s Crosses. 

Some of our finished products.

Visit to Kilkeel Library.

During our visit to the Library, Shelly gave us a tour of the building. She took us to the Exhibition Gallery, where paintings and photos by local people are displayed. We showed us the Reading Gallery, where people can sit and read while enjoying the view of the room below. We were shown the Study Area where older children can revise for their exams. We also saw the Computer Suite. We were reminded of the different types of books that are found in the Library and how they are organised on the shelves. We were told how many books we can borrow at one time and about the Book Clubs we can join, ALL FOR FREE!!! 

Eyes Down - it’s time for “Multiplication Bingo!”

We challenged ourselves to make the longest line of cubes without having them break, before we measured them.....

All settled down and getting ready for “Aladdin!” by the Newry Panto Group. A great show, fantastic audience interaction, everyone had a really enjoyable time. 

“Greece - Lightening,” Atticall style......

We were given a set of texts. We worked together to decide what text type we were presented with. We then had to work out the features that were common to all texts.

We are learning to use and understand the words fractions, denominator and numerator.

We learned about Moses, how he was found in a basket on the River Nile as a baby, had to run away after he killed an Egyptian and was spoken to by God from a burning bush. We also learned how to interpret, book, chapter and verse in Biblical Readings.

This week we started off reading and writing 5-digit numbers. We then had to order and reorder consecutive 5-digit numbers, providing a reason as to the position we placed ourselves on the “number line.”

We then developed our work to read, write and order non-consecutive 5-digit and 6-digit numbers. Stating the reason for our position on the line. 

“Toy Friday”

We had the opportunity to bring some of our Christmas presents to school, to show to and share with our class. We had a great afternoon,s fun.

Creating “Candy Cane Reindeer.”

Candy cane reindeer hanging on our class tree.

Together we created a paper chain. We lay it out along the corridor to measure it. We used metre sticks with centimetre intervals to measure.The chain measured 9m 25cm, this can also be recorded as 9.25m or 925cm.

We were learning to make sensible estimates of the measurements of different objects around the classroom. We then compared our estimates with our measurements to see if our estimates were sensible.

Casting our votes for the School Council.

Our Class School Council Representatives

P.5. Isla McMorrow and Luke Murphy

P.6. Fianna Murphy and Liam Sloan.

A selection of images from our Christmas Production..

A great big “Thank You!” to the Friends of Holy Cross for getting our class a new projector and having the Interactive White Board fixed. We now can see everything clearer, the image is sharper and brighter. There are no black dots on the screen. We do not have to make sure the blinds are pulled and the lights off when we are trying to read or watch something on the board. 

Working together to decide what is the one text type that three different pieces writing may be. We then had to list the all the elements that this text type displays. 

Correctly sequencing the instructions to Treat Burns & Scalds 

 Danny and Liam reminding us to take in the money we have collected for our Sponsored Dance-a-thon to raise money for and awarenesss of the NSPCC.

We had great fun taking part in the NSPCC

Dance-a-thon. Y.M.C.A. (a hit thirty years ago!!) was one of the most popular songs played.

Finding out some interesting WWI Facts

A great big “Congratulations!” to Owen Haughian who, out of 910 entries from 35 schools, in the Newry, Mourne & Down P.5 Road Safety Poster Competition was selected as one of the twelve winners. 

We took part in Book Week NI showing what we are reading in class right now. #ReadRightNow

Everyone concentrating really hard as we ​practice our recorder playing.  

We developed our Mental Maths Strategies while playing “Ghost.” We had to try to place selected numbers in the correct position so as to create the correct pattern and sequence, before uncovering the ghosts.

We worked in groups to develop our own version of popular fairy tales. We were encouraged to improvise lines and actions.

The boys performed their version of “The Three Little Pigs.”

This group performed “Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.”

“Little Red Riding Hood.”

Snow White & “a few” Dwarfs. 

Judith, Grainne and Sylvia from NSPCC visited our school with “Buddy.” 

We were encouraged to put all our concerns in the “worry sack.” We were then invited to give suggestions as to who we could turn to if we had worries, this helped remove worries from the sack and make “the load” lighter. Our visitors we extremely impressed at how knowledgeable our children were, the responses they gave and discussions they entered into.

We used a Venn Diagram and sorted a variety of 3D shapes according to two criteria. Each group had to choose and apply their own criteria. One of those chosen was shapes with flat faces and shapes with curved faces, so we had to make sure that shapes with both flat and curved faces went into the intersection. Another was shapes with square faces and shapes with rectangular faces, so shapes with both square and rectangular faces were placed in the intersection. 

We travelled to Newry this week to see the Ulster Orchestra perform. We were introduced to all the sections, and instruments in the Orshestra, and were encouraged by the conductor to close our eyes, act out and visualise the story that was being told by the music. 

Some of our Primary 6 pupils researching WWI

We had a visit from local firefighter Geoff McGuffin. He talked to us about the actions we should take to prevent a fire, what we should do if we came across a fire and how we should plan and practice our escape route if there was ever to be a fire in our home or school. He presented everyone with an activity pack. It was a very enjoyable and informative afternoon.

Danny and Luke assisted Geoff with his presentation.

Isla and Liam were challenged to find their way to the classroom door while blindfolded. This gave them an idea of what it would be like if they had to find their way out of a building at night or if it was filled with smoke.

We then played “Poles and Ladders” from our activity pack, while Conor coloured in a fire fighter picture.

As we were discussing Fantasy Narrative, we learned about “Narnia” and how C.S. Lewis based his setting of some of his stories on the Mourne Mountains. Isla, very kindly, took in her box set of Narnia books to show and share with her class.

Halloween Fun 

As this was Maths Week, we were asked to design a game for the younger children in our school to help them learn and reinforce an area in Maths. We had to work together to decide what to do and how best to present it.

On Friday afternoon we presented our finished products to the younger children. They enjoyed playing our creations and we really enjoyed having them play them. 

We were presented with a challenge. We had 30 minutes to make something out of newspaper to protect an egg. The egg was to be dropped from a height. We had to try to stop the egg from breaking!!! We had a smashing time!!! 

Our Finished Products....

only one team successfully completed the challenge, but we all had great fun designing and testing out our creations...

Taking part in the “Daily Mile Challenge.”

Constructing 3-D Shapes using nets..

We have All the Time in the World...

We wore purple for Mental Health Awareness Day 

We took the lead in celebrating our Beginning of School Year & Harvest Mass.

                                     We did a really good job.

Celebrating European Day of Languages. 

Our country of choice was Turkey. We dressed up in the colours of the Turkish flag, and created our own versions of the Turkish National Costume. We had great fun learning a few phrases in Turkish, and how to sing “Head, Shoulder, Knees & Toes!” We ate some “White Bean Stew,” a very popular dish in Turkey. We also got to taste some very sweet Turkish treats. 

Thomas took in the conkers he had gathered to show the class.

Working on the properties of 3-D shapes, names, faces, edges and vertices.

Getting creative with our 3-D shapes. (photos taken by Liam White.)

Working together to identify the elements needed to create a good opening to a narrative.

Using a Venn Diagram to sort the characteristics of narrative

text and other text types..

A class full of ”Dahlians”  

Working together to identify the different elements found in a narrative.

Working with “ Number Generators” help us to revise and extend our knowledge of Place Value of 3, 4 and 5 digit numbers. Reading , writing and recording numbers in digits and words.

First day of the new school year.