French class

We have been very lucky throughout the last two years to have had Mrs. Farrell teaching us French. We have achieved a great level of French and have a wonderful advantage heading into secondary school. Mrs. Farrell presented us with our French certificates of participation.  Merci Beaucoup Mrs. Farrell !!

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6^th Class leaving poems and essays

 Near the end of the year we did poems and essays about our time in Primary school. There was lots of humor in some and they were all very good poems and essays. The essays and poems brought back good memories for us and were very enjoyable to write. The Poems and Essays  are on  display in the main hall in the school.

Kate     Sean     Jude    Caitlin    Megan    Stephen    Meabh    Courtney    Shane    Orla    Caileam    Niamh

Tara    Aideen    Kiwi    Rebecca    Shauna

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Our leaving poems and essays

In preparation for leaving St. Peter’s we put our thoughts, feelings and memories into poems and essays which we displayed in the front hall of the school…. We are sad to leave our Primary School, but we are excited about going to Secondary School in September too.

Caitlin    Ruth    Eight Long Years of Waiting    Going to Secondary    Stephen    Shane

Orla    Meabh    Shauna    Courtney    Niamh    Caileam    Aideen    Jude    Rebecca    Kate

What I will miss

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Darver Historical society  Essay competition

 The Darver Historical society ran an essay competition. We all spoke to our grandparents and wrote essays titled “A tale from our Grandparent’s time.” Dr. Flanagan and Ms. Mc Donnell came into our class to present the winners of the competition. The winner from Fifth class was Declan Gernon and the winner from Sixth was Jude Vaughan.

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Last Projects

 During the year we completed a lot of projects. For our last projects we were allowed to pick our own topic. They included a wide range of topics from history to current affairs, from sport to famous artists and classical musicians.  We really enjoyed doing them and presenting them. Click on the images below to view them full screen.

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Ms. Donaghy’s leaving party

 Ms. Donaghy, a teacher in training, recently came into Sixth Class. She taught us many things, including about The Famine and did cool scientific  experiments, as well as many other things. She threw a party for us when she was leaving and we had a great time!

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Public Speaking Competition

Congratulations to Méabh, Stephen, Shane, Séan, Jude and Aideen who were the six finalists in the 6th Class Public Speaking Competition. The competition was held in the Hall on Wednesday 3rd June and all six finalists did an absolutely amazing job! There was a brilliant mix of humour and information (including some rather interesting pictures). Adjudicator Ms. Boyle had a difficult task, but eventually the winners were announced: Séan in 3rd place, Aideen in 2nd place and Stephen in 1st place. Pictures will follow shortly.

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Our last school tour

We had a brilliant last tour in Sixth class. We went to the Aquatic Centre in Dublin and then went shopping in Blanchardstown and then went to Quazar and bowling in Leisureplex.  It was great fun!

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Talent Shows

Throughout the year we have taken part  in regular talent shows to improve our confidence. There have been performances of  singing, keyboard playing, acting, dancing, violin playing, flute and recorder playing, joke telling, sketches and poem recitations among others. We have really enjoyed these and our talents and confidence have improved immensely throughout the year.

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Rann na feirste cup

 The  Rann na Feirste annual Irish quiz was won by the Sixth Class quiz team Stephen,  Caileam, Jude and Shane . The quiz comprised of 5 rounds with 8 questions which included a picture round. The team battled it out against quiz teams from schools all over County Louth. The team came first with a score of 32 out of 40. The team was successful in giving the school its first win in the quiz.

ART

For Art we learned how to draw pictures by using different shapes. We picked individual pictures, drew them carefully and then coloured them in with chalk pastels to make them more lively and we shaded them to give them more form and texture. When we were finished colouring them we put them on coloured backing paper and they looked Spectacular.

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Éanna Ní Lamhna's Visit

All Ireland Credit Union U-13 Final

The Credit Union All Ireland U.13 Final took place on the 5th April 2009 in the RDS, with quizmaster Brian Ormond. Our fantastic quiz team did the school and community proud and finished in joint 8th - only 4 points behind the winning team. A huge thank you to the parents and Ms. Keane O'Hagan who accompanied the children on the day and to Mr. Mulligan who worked tirelessly to prepare the children for the quiz! The team and their families were treated to a meal in Donegans afterwards, courtesy of Darver Credit Union. We wish to thank them for their support.

Crocus Project Page 1st April

Click HERE to visit the Crocus Project page to see updated information about our Crocus Project.

Mental Health Essays

Ms.Keane O`Hagan has taught sixth class about positive mental health and how to deal with depression. With all our knowledge about mental health we entered a competition where we had to write a story based on mental health. The winners of the competition  were Rebecca, Aideen and Caitlin. They attended a presentation ceremony on Friday April 3^rd in Dundalk library.

(Click on the name below to read the stories ~ requires Microsoft Word to open)

Caitlin     Ciaran     Courtney     Jude     Kate     Tara     Stephen

Orla     Shane     Megan      Shauna     Meabh     Niamh     Rebecca

Ruth     Adieen     Caileam

Symptoms of Depression

Feelings-sad, depressed, anxious or bored

Energy- tired slowed movements bored

Sleep- waking during night

Thinking- slow thinking poor concentration

Interest-loss of interest

Value-reduced sense of self worth

Aches-headaches chest or other pains

Life-not wanting to live

If five or more of these symptoms continue for more than two weeks you should see your doctor.

    1.   Have a good balance between work and relaxation.

    2. Be  involved in life and mix with others e.g. in clubs.

    3. Be  active – physical exercise releases endorphins

     4. Talk to an adult who can help about your problems and        your worries.

     5. Share your worries with other friends

Current Affairs Projects

This year we did some projects about current affairs .We covered a wide array of subjects from wars to recession .These projects included the war in Iraq, war in the Congo and the war in Gaza. The financial side of it included the budget and the recession.

Zimbabwe, oil prices, the HSE were other subjects we covered. We also researched the  U.S. presidency and climate change. The whole class enjoyed researching the projects.

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We were confirmed on the 19^th of March 2009 by Cardinal Sean Brady. The people who helped us with the preparation were Mrs. Farrell, Mrs. Loughran, Mr. Hamilton, the Parents Committee, Ann, Mr. Mulligan, Ms O’Rourke, Rose, Marion and Antoinette, Carmel, Geraldine, Mrs. McQuillan, Fr. McEnroe, Fr. Pentony, Mrs Owens, Mrs McQuillan, and the grounds keepers and especially Ms. Keane O’Hagan. Everyone had a part to play in this wonderful celebration. We prepared really well for our special day. In art we drew four large pictures for Confirmation and we colored them in, using oil pastels. We placed them on the altar. They looked lovely.

SIXTH CLASS CHARITY DONATION 

After our Confirmation our teacher showed us a video of a charity near Johannesburg in South Africa, known as T.L.C. We decided as a class to donate a fraction of our Confirmation money to this charity. We raised a total of 364 euro for this charity which our teacher will send to the founder of this charity, Thea Jarvis. The orphanage takes in abandoned babies of mothers with aids and organise adoptions for them. Any babies they cannot organise adoptions for, are adopted by Thea and her daughters.

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Op Art

We did Op art in class this year. The pupil beside me drew the same picture as I did. After we drew the pictures we painted them. One of us painted in black and white while the other pupil painted in colour. When we finished our paintings  we backed them with complementary backing paper and displayed them on the wall.

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  A Tale From My Grandparent's Time

In class we did an essay for the Darver Historical Research Group. It was called “A tale from my grandparent’s time”. We had to go our grandparents and they would tell us a true story from years ago. It encouraged us to spend more time with our grandparents. We all really enjoyed spending time with our grandparents and their stories were very interesting. As we have typed them up these stories will never be lost now.

(Click on the name below to open the file ~ requires Microsoft Word to open)

Rebecca     Aideen     Ciaran     Courtney     Megan      Kate   

Niamh     Caitlin     Jude     Ruth     Orla     Shauna

Stephen     Meabh     Tara

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Green schools Poems

This year the green school’s committee have been very busy organizing WOOF days. This stands for Walk Out on Friday. Every woof day over one hundred pupils walk to school. We also have poster, story and poem competitions, which have proved a great success. With the help of Susan Doorley, an An Taisce representative, we have created a trend and now a lot more children are walking to school. In preparation for COW day, or Cycle on Wednesday, Sixth class made posters or wrote stories or poems. Some of the winners were Kate, Meabh and Shane.

Go and Cycle ~ by Kate        Stop the Pollution ~ by Shauna   The Daffodil ~ by Caileam

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ART

For Art we learned how to draw pictures by using different shapes. We picked individual pictures, drew them carefully and then coloured them in with chalk pastels to make them more lively and we shaded them to give them more form and texture. When we were finished colouring them we put them on coloured backing paper and they looked Spectacular.

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Credit Union Quiz

Congratulations to our Quiz team who qualified for the national finals after the local and chapter finals. Best of luck boys!

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The Jumble Sale

 This year Sixth Class sold raffle tickets every day for two weeks before Christmas. While we were selling the raffle tickets we were also gathering for the jumble sale. We approached the parents at home time with flyers, encouraging them to bring their old things in and to give their children money to spend at the raffle. There were so many donations that the class was over flowing! We set up all kind of stalls such as buns, biscuits, cakes, milkshakes, pictures with bill boards, horse riding, popcorn, chocolate fountain, selling teddies, playstation, bowling, nail painting, make up, shooting and the Wii.  We advertised the Jumble sale and went to all the classes telling them about it and we also made posters.

The day before the jumble sale came we had to organise it all. The hall was packed with all  the jumble. We had to make the chocolate for the chocolate fountain and got loads of fruit from Eamon McGinn to dip in the chocolate. It took almost the entire day to get it all set up. The following day we had to go up to the P.E. Hall again to finish our preparations. When the jumble sale began the children all came rushing in. We had to bargain all the time with them and we also you had to advertise very well. At the end of the day we raised 2045.23 breaking every record set previously.

Newsletter

Click here to view our 4 page newsletter that describes the work we have done this term on World War 2. This includes art work, research, details about projects and much more!!

Credit Union Poster Competition

Sixth Class Poetry

In English class We learnt about different kinds of poetry and composed poems in different styles. We discovered that we are very creative! (Cinquain, Acrostic and Rondolet poems).

CINQUAIN

The first form of poetry we learnt about was a cinquain, coming from the French word cinq, meaning five. There are five lines in the poem. Each line follows a rule.

LINE 1: One word object of idea

LINE 2: Two adjectives describing the subject.

LINE 3: Three action verbs relating to line 1.

LINE 4: Four words of your personal reaction to the subject.

LINE 5: One word that is a synonym for the subject of line 1.

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ACROSTIC POEMS

Acrostic poems are where the first letter of each line is the title of the poem. There are two examples below, but click this link to read more acrostic poems from our class!

RONDOLET

A rondolet always has seven lines.

Lines 1, 3 and 7 are exactly the same four syllables.

Line 4 rhymes with line 1 and has eight syllables.

Lines 2, 5 and 6 rhyme with each other and each has eight syllables.

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Crocus Project

We are taking part in the crocus project. Check this page and our class page for updates.

Holocaust Posters

When we were studying WW2 and the Holocaust we integrated this theme into our art. We took positive and negative words connected with the Holocaust and we designed and drew posters to illustrate the words. Some of the words we focussed on were discrimination, hatred, integration, prejudice, diversity, asylum seekers, intercultural and refugees.  Ireland is becoming much more multicultural and we should be more aware of treating refugees with great understanding and respect. We need to ensure that what happened during the War, when the Jews were treated so disrespectfully and prejudicially, is never allowed to develop again. One of the words that stands out for me is respect. The word respect represents equality, positive regard and treating someone with consideration. We all want to be treated with respect.

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The Silver Sword

In English we studied the Silver Sword, a novel about World War 2, written by Ian Serraillier. One of the titles he considered for the book was No Surrender. Seraillier started to write this book in 1951, 6 years after the Second World War ended. He was a school teacher and the book took him 5 long summer holidays to complete. He wrote on any paper he could get his hands on such as backs of envelopes. to fight in the war. Some people who felt like this were sent to prison.

 In this book, the Balicki family were separated during the war. Their father was a school teacher and he was sent away to a Polish work camp because he turned the picture of Hitler to the wall. Their mother was taken away from her house by the Nazi storm troopers and was sent to a work camp in Switzerland. The children had to learn how to survive on their own. They met a boy called Jan, who had a paper knife (The Silver Sword) and the children noticed that it was their mothers. The children searched for their father and travelled through Europe and experienced much adventure, sorrow, hunger and fear, in their quest to be reunited with their parents.

 In the conclusion, they all wake up in a boat with their family and Jan said to Ruth’s mother “I will give you the Silver Sword if you will be my mother,” Jan became a member of the Balicki family. Ian Serrailliers moving book of a family separated by war tells as much to us today as it did when it was first written.

We have been studying a novel called “The Silver Sword.” It is about a Polish family in the Second World War. They lived in Warsaw in Poland. Joseph was the father and he was captured by the Germans. They took him to a prison camp and he spent 3 years there. He remembered his wife saying that if he ever got caught that they would meet in Switzerland. When he escaped he found out his wife had been sent to a work camp. His children knew that in order to be reunited with their parents that they should make the dangerous journey to Switzerland. We tracked their treacherous trip and studied it in Geography as they journey from Warsaw to Switzerland. They started their journey in Warsaw. After that they made their way to Poznan and then to Berlin. They wandered through fields on the border of the Czech Republic. Then journeyed down the River Danube. From that they hurried to the border of Switzerland. Then they travelled into the heart of Switzerland where they met their parents.

In our English class we have read the novel The Silver Sword written by Ian Serallier. In our art class we have sketched the scenes from the book, creating a visual story board. Then we shaded our sketches using 6b pencils and then coloured them using chalk pastels and charcoal. 

Our favourite scene is when all the family were reunited in Switzerland. When we mounted our illustrations we matched the background to the main section of each picture, to complement the picture and display it to its best. The pictures are now on display in our senior corridor.

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World War 2 Projects

To view any of the projects, click on any thumbnail image. The link will open in a new window.

Halloween Fun & Games

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Halloween Poetry

Readers beware! Click on the name to read the poem (Microsoft Word required).

Aideen     Caileam     Caitlin     Ciaran     Courtney     Jude     Kate

Méabh     Megan     Niamh     Orla     Ruth     Sean     Shane     Shauna 

Stephen     Tara

The winner of the Halloween dress up competition in Ms. Keane O'Hagan's class with two of the judges!

Operation Christmas Child

Thank you to all the families who contributed. We collected more than 100 Christmas boxes, which are going to an orphanage in Armenia. It can be as cold as minus 15 degrees. The area is very mountainous and there are no roads. Donkeys will be used to deliver the boxes to the poor children. Many, many thanks for your huge generosity.

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DINOSAURS

Paired Reading with First Class

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