Recently, the whole school learned a song and sang it together at assembly. We chose ‘I Lived’ by One Republic because the lyrics are so inspirational. It’s all about experiencing the good and the bad of life and is written by a father to his newborn son. We loved singing the song together and a special well done to our soloists – Casey, Patrick, Sophie, Toby, AJ, Kristina, Carl, Tristan, Finn, Lex, Adem, Ellie and Hayley.
I lived from St Peter's, Bray on Vimeo.
There has been a lot of movement since our last update.
On the 10th of May the team returned to Base Camp. They rested here for a few days. During this time they had to keep themselves occupied. They watched movies and ate lots of food to keep their energy up. Check out this photo of the food tent at Base Camp. The white sheet at the back is used as a cinema screen!
On the 16th May our flag moved up to Intermediate Base Camp and on the 17th of May it continued to Advanced Base Camp. The team rested here for two days. Even though it is tough work, we know that the team are having a lot of fun on their climb. Rob sent us this photo. In the photo he is jumping over a crevasse on a giant glacier!
Today, the group continued to Camp 1 at 7,000m. Today’s climbing involved steep work up an ice wall for about 4 hours. There is no doubt that the team must be wrecked this evening. Check out a picture of Rob’s tent under the moonlight. I bet he cannot wait to get to sleep after his busy day today!
4th class are getting so excited as summit day is very close. If the weather stays good we are hoping that Rob and our flag will advance to Camp 2 and Camp 3 over the weekend and that they will attempt to reach the summit on Monday. Hopefully we will have an update and photos from the summit next week. It is so exciting! 🙂
A lot has happened since our last update. Our 4th class flag is slowly making it’s way up Everest.
Our flag reached Advanced Base Camp on the 27th April. It then returned to Base Camp on 1st May.
You might be wondering why the team had to come back down to Base Camp. This is because of the high altitude. Rob needs to acclimatise to this high altitude to prevent altitude sickness.
After a few days rest in Base Camp, the team (and our flag) travelled all the way up to Camp 1 which is at 7000m. They arrived at Camp 1 on the 8th May.
Today, 9th May, the team returned to Advanced Base Camp. All going well they will return to Base Camp tomorrow for a few more days of rest. It is very important to return to a lower altitude on a regular basis to prevent altitude sickness.
Check out our Line Chart as we follow our flag.
Don’t forget to keep an eye on our updates as summit day is just around the corner!
The number one rule in 6th Class is to have class spirit. Here are some lovely examples of us enjoying school, helping each other and being ‘6th Class legends’!
The class who art together…stay together!
Working overtime ahead of Confirmation! #6thClass pic.twitter.com/LYDZ7Ola5O
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 18, 2016
This was the final result…
…To this! Serious teamwork in #6thClass today! Confirmation countdown -3 days! pic.twitter.com/td0BQfVR5x
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 18, 2016
A post Confirmation stroll on the beach…
Memories are made of this! #6thClass #Bray pic.twitter.com/uuwP2XzyQv
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 22, 2016
Seafront lunchtime trip! #6thClass #schoolspirit pic.twitter.com/IbMf9v2ert
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 22, 2016
Happy out! #6thClass #Bray pic.twitter.com/MwGaT7jzpL
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 22, 2016
A brilliant Bray Henry & Rose moment. 🌞#6thClass pic.twitter.com/RZ9wFN15yR
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 22, 2016
Hanging out with Ms. Olsen!
One final treat before home… #6thClass pic.twitter.com/qPxLv0NNi4
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 22, 2016
Having fun with friends…
Thanks to #6thClass for a lovely day out! Enjoy the rest of your weekend celebrations. pic.twitter.com/ifqW4iYSOw
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 22, 2016
We’re helping each other to prepare for secondary school too! Michelle is coming in twice a week to work with us.
'Moving On' is all about helping us to prepare for secondary school. #6thClass
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
We have a #6thClass 'worry' box. We can safely ask all about our 'Moving On' concerns and assure each other. pic.twitter.com/9yBUbKByZ1
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
Another 6th Class motto, ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’!
Our 'worry' slips. After our eight weeks of work we will have answered all of our questions. #6thClass pic.twitter.com/pIeu0NSiKc
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
Here’s to the last few weeks of school, and making memories to last a lifetime!
What a brilliant week! Just like last year, 6th Class did some really cool activities for Tech Week 2016. Have a look at a summary from our ‘tweet machine’!
We worked on Animoto again!
We made an @Animoto video using @PaddyMullenMayo's lovely pictures of our Confirmation! Check it out! https://t.co/mJjlBA7Eke #6thClass
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
We welcomed Sustainable Energy Ireland to our classroom to teach us a thing or two!
Onto our next Tuesday challenge! @SEAI_Schools are here and doing a workshop with #6thClass! pic.twitter.com/XFGEaM1dVt
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
Trying to make our own batteries using lemons, copper and zinc! #6thClass @SEAI_Schools pic.twitter.com/cqmuQROAym
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
Our bulb is lighting! #STEM #6thClass @SEAI_Schools pic.twitter.com/OoiWhKLzuF
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
We had a Twitter chat with some student teachers!
@pmed14froebel Thank you everybody! We hope you have a great day and stay in touch! #6thClass pic.twitter.com/u14YgiNs2z
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 27, 2016
We drew and invented our own augmented reality pictures!
We drew some virtual reality scenes in #6thClass for @TechWeekIRL! #TechWeekIRL pic.twitter.com/lrGC7y8EMv
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 27, 2016
Our drawings came to life! How cool. #TechWeekIRL #6thClass pic.twitter.com/rDTJ6vh03N
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 27, 2016
Beep beep! Our new road has been built in #6thClass! #6thClass #TechWeekIRL https://t.co/08tgP6Oipb
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 27, 2016
We loved the Tech Week 2016 books!
Yesterday afternoon #6thClass started the @TechWeekIRL activities too! #TechWeekIRL pic.twitter.com/3BMaB6dUpE
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 26, 2016
We also looked at pixels in photographs and completed a challenge! #6thClass #TechWeekIRL pic.twitter.com/mrm6sz3Tqp
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 27, 2016
We invented apps!
#6thClass designed apps for #TechWeekIRL and are now presenting to the class, Dragons Den style! https://t.co/PStm343oDw
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
Alana invented a brilliant app for styling outfits! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass https://t.co/77MNNKgbP5
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
It pulls together an outfit from images. You'll never be unstylish again! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass https://t.co/DWDsBFvzPs
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
A adapted our blog, https://t.co/SLhjhSIZbg into an app! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass https://t.co/eq3G57pbGp
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
On the app, A will share news and school updates! #6thClass #TechWeekIRL https://t.co/BvhwkU2E1j
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
H designed an app to manage her nail art designs, it brings in her @pinterest mood boards! #6thClass #TechWeekIRL https://t.co/ujTPpZYqag
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
S invented a reflex testing app. #6thClass #TechWeekIRL https://t.co/LkiMwJHS7h
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
'Pet Care' by J. The perfect app for minding your pet! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass https://t.co/Jj0ma0KCtG
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
J has figured out how to make money from his app! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass https://t.co/w6ylCsUXPg
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
Alannah's Irish Dancing app! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass pic.twitter.com/kA7uoveVgb
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
R's remote pet feeder app! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass pic.twitter.com/3P6s9Tvv36
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
We got better and better at coding as the week went on!
Completing the hour of code activities on https://t.co/zNgyyBGgtD! #6thClass #TechWeekIRL pic.twitter.com/Eb7B2MNoaA
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
Great challenges on https://t.co/zNgyyBGgtD! #TechWeekIRL #6thClass pic.twitter.com/jyNSyTRFFS
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 28, 2016
ps. Today was also DEAR day. Did you take part?
We can't wait for @dear_ireland day! We're Dropping Everything And Reading at 12pm! Are you taking part? #6thClass pic.twitter.com/jMXaUEcYZV
— St. Peter's Primary (@StPetersBray) April 29, 2016
A huge well done and a thank you to all of our students and teachers who contributed to making our 2016 Confirmation such a beautiful and memorable day for all. Everyone did so well and all of the hard work paid off. As always, our choir were wonderful and did us all proud. 6th Class had practiced so hard and prepared wonderful artwork in the run-up to the day. We are so grateful to Sr. Patricia, Fr. Larry, Fr. Eddie and the entire parish team for their continued support of our students. We remember Fr. James too, and send him our very best.
We hope you like our slideshow that we created! Thanks to Paddy for taking the pictures!
Welcome to our submission for the Discover Primary Science and Maths award for 2016. This is our 11th year taking part in the Awards! Once again this year we are applying for the Plaque of STEM Excellence. This award is given to schools that carry out extensive work in science, technology, engineering and maths, all of which are very important in St. Peter’s.
This is the 2nd year that we have had Junior and Senior Infants taking part in the award! It is great to see the young scientists have so much fun learning about Science and Maths.
Yet again, a huge amount of work has gone into this. Every class in the whole school has taken part in this application, well done to all the pupils and teachers! For the fourth year in a row, we are using our blog to submit our award and to link back to our activities that have taken part during the year. Our SFI Award number this year is WW008.
Step 1: Science
For this step, we carried out six hands-on Science investigations under the four different strands in classes throughout the school. We also tried to include Maths in these investigations where possible, linking in with Step 4.
Mr. Foley’s class had a trip to the zoo, and learned about animals and their habitats. For a lot of the class, it was their first trip to the zoo and the tigers alone made it one they will never forget! You can read about their trip here.
6th Class also took part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, which you can read all about here and here.
Step 2: Technology
In the second step, we had to ensure that technology was used by our pupils. As a previous winner of the Junior Spider Awards, technology has become a part of every-day life in St. Peter’s. We were also awarded the Digital School of Distinction award, which showcased the effort and time we put in incorporating technology into our daily school lives.
For example, 6th Class’ entry for the BT Young Scientist Award was based on programming a robot, which really impressed the judges on the day. You can read all about their comments here and you can read more about their project here.
Mr. Kinsella and Ms. Byrne ran an after school club which culminated in our school taking part in the FIRST Lego League in Galway. It was a superb experience for the boys and girls which you can read about here.
The school also took part in Internet Safety Week, which you can read about here.
One pupil in particular has really seen the possibilities that technology offers, and has regularly contributed his very own animated lego videos to our school blog. Check out Tommy’s latest video here.
Throughout all the other classes in the school, pupils of every age have also used cameras, laptops, animoto, and this blog, as well as apps such as vine and twitter, to showcase the work that they have been doing during the course of the year. As you can see from our submission this year, we have continued to implement technology in our day-to-day teaching and learning, with Maths and Science at the forefront of this.
Step 3: Engineering
For the third step of our application for the DPSM Plaque of STEM Excellence, we have had a big focus on the Design and Make element of Science. Our staff have been working in conjunction with St. Patrick’s College regarding professional development in STEM. A big part of this has focused on the Design and Make process.
We include two examples of our Design and Make lessons as part of our application. Senior Infants designed and made coats for the Gruffalo, which you can read about here.
1st Class also had great fun taking part in designing and making boats, which you can read all about here.
Step 4: Maths
Throughout our Science investigations, we incorporated Maths where possible, For example, Junior Infants learned about data and used charts to record their results here, and 3rd Class used mathematical skills to measure the length and distance they were able to move the cars with magnets, which you can read about here.
Step 5: STEM Showcase
6th Class took part yet again in the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS in January this year. This year they worked on programming a robot for their entry. As always, they put a lot of effort into their submission, and presented it brilliantly on the day. You can read about their work here, and what the judges thought here.
We hoped you enjoyed reading our submission!
Junior infants learned that pushing and pulling were a force. We then learned that there  was another invisible force called “magnetic force.”
We learned that magnets attract some materials. We learned that these materials are made of metal. We also learned that magnets have two poles, the north pole is red and the south pole is blue.
We had some investigations to do:
We would  find out that poles that were the same repelled each other and poles that were different attracted each other.
We would also find out which materials were attracted to magnets!
Poles that are the same or “like” repel.
These boys are having fun!
Different poles attract!
The red pole is called the north pole and the blue pole is called the south pole.
The work in our books asked us to check which objects and materials are attracted to a magnet and which are not.
The scissors does stick to a magnet!
Heidi pointed out that part of the scissors is metal and sticks to a magnet, the handles  are plastic and do not stick to a magnet.
Everybody had lots to contribute!
Paperclips are attracted to a magnet!
Thumb tacs are attracted to a magnet! They are made of metal!
Copper coins are attracted to a magnet!
Paper is not attracted to a magnet. It is not made of metal.
This wooden press is not attracted to a magnet. Therefore it is NOT made of metal!
Plastic drinking bottles are not attracted to a magnet. They are not made of metal!
Next it was time to record in our books what we have found out.
We coloured in the objects that are attracted to a magnet.
Well done guys!
Next, we got to go fishing with magnets! We made fish out of paper plates. We stuck various materials on the mouths of the fish, some of them were magnetic, some of them were not magnetic. Then, we tied pieces of string to magnets and used them as a fishing line!
If we caught a fish, it meant that the material in it’s mouth stuck to a magnet!
There was a piece of wood in the mouth of this fish. We couldn’t catch the fish! Therefore wood is not a metal and does not stick to a magnet!
There was a paper fastener in the mouth of this fish. We caught the fish! Therefore it is made of metal and sticks to a magnet!
We made predictions about whether or not a certain material would stick to a magnet (could we catch the fish?!) We learned a little bit about data and recorded our predictions and then our results.
We caught this fish with copper coins in it’s mouth! Copper coins stick to a magnet! They are a type of metal!
Here are our results!
We had lots of fun fishing with magnets!
On Thursday April 14th, Mr. Foley’s class made their much awaited trip to Dublin Zoo, a designated DPSM Discover centre, as part of the school’s application for this year’s award.
Adam, Luke, Patrick, Nathan K, Nathan O’B, Arturas, Jordan and Johnny all made the trip and for many, it was their first time to the zoo. It was a day they will never forget, and was the perfect mix of learning and fun.
We were very lucky that all the animals seemed to be very energetic and the crowds were not too big as we spent almost 3 hours walking around and learning about each of the animals.
Johnny’s favourite animal was the African Hunting Dog. We had to ask one of the zookeepers where we could find the dogs. They were in the African Plains section of the zoo. We saw a big bone that the dogs had been chewing on.
Nathan O’B loved the birds, and was able to show Mr. Foley how to call the birds. He also explained to Mr. Foley how they sometimes use their mouths to hang from branches. There were definitely one or two Nathan would have liked to have brought back to his aviary in his back garden!
The most memorable part of our trip was definitely when we went to learn about the tiger. After we read about what they eat and where they can be found, we decided to take a picture with the tiger in the background. The tiger ran at us and the boys ran away just as quick! Nathan O’B was the only one not to run. He said that you should never let an animal know that you are afraid of them. The tiger then “marked his territory” in front of us which everyone found very funny!
We enjoyed the farm at the zoo too, with some of the boys even getting in some practice at milking a cow. We also had good fun putting our hands into the unknown and having to guess what we were feeling in the visitor’s centre. We got to watch a short film in their Elephant cinema on their Samsung tv.
The Reptile House was brilliant. We saw bats, crocodiles, turtles and snakes. There was also an artist there sketching the animals. Her drawing was amazing and very life-like.
After talking about our trip, we have agreed that our next trip will continue our learning about animals and nature. We are going to go to Sea Life in May and learn about what they have in their aquarium. One of the fish we really want to see is the Red Bellied Piranha.
It was a very long day but it was definitely worth it. A big thank you to Dublin Zoo being so welcoming and to all the parents for being so understanding when we were late home!
Second class has been exploring lots of different materials and their properties over the last while. As a part of this we have been looking at lots of different questions about what different materials are like.
The other week, we watched an amazing video of Felix Baumgartner as he jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere. You can see the video here http://www.redbullstratos.com/gallery/?mediaId=media1902415096001
Ms. Fry showed us a picture that Felix Baumgartner had drawn as a little boy of himself jumping with a parachute and it really got us thinking!
We started wondering about what would make the best parachute.
We explored the idea of best- deciding that it would be the most ‘fit to purpose’ parachute by falling the slowest and keeping the person safe.
Then we each designed our own parachutes before getting in to groups to explore various materials and shapes of parachutes. We each had a little Lego man to keep safe- so this was serious business!
 
One boy even designed mini parachutes for his shoes in case they fell off!
Some people chose plastic, some chose cotton, some tinfoil and others paper to make their parachutes, so they were all completely different.
They came in all shapes and sizes too. Some of us used rulers to measure the sides to make them all the same, and some just cut free hand.
When we were all finished, we shared what we’d made and then stopped for a few minutes to discuss what a ‘fair’ test would look like. We tried to decide between dropping them one by one by the same person and timing them, or dropping them all at the same time. In the end, we decided to go for all at once but we tried our hardest to make it a fair test by all dropping from the same height at the same time. We also dropped them five times, just in case!
 
In the end we found that the slowest falling parachute was plastic, round and really big. We talked about how it being bigger meant that it caught more air so fell slower.
You can watch them fall in slow motion here https://vimeo.com/163831545Â
We were so excited that we were able to make real parachutes- watch out Felix, you may have some competition in a few years time!
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s Junior Infants, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s Senior Infants, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s 1st class, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s 2nd class, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s 3rd class, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s 4th class, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s 5th class, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by this year’s 6th class, click here.
If you’d like to read about the work by Ms Kane’s class, click here.
We’d love to hear from you – please leave a comment on our posts!
We were the Scoilnet Star Site for December 2013!
