Our Activities
Our weekly programme of activities is based on the children's interest as well as on specific skills available from staff and volunteers to inspire and guide the children's play and learning. After the first few weeks of settling in, the following general structure has evolved:
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Monday has become our SPORTS day, onTuesdays we take time for PROJECTS based e.g. on seasonal events,Wednesday is ART day where a new artistic medium, concept or technique is introduced, Thursday is for MESSY activities including baking as soon as our oven is operational, and
Friday is FALCON day.
Creativity
We aim to give children the opportunity to explore and refine various art making techniques to find an individual artistic voice. The focus is on the many learning opportunities which are contained in creative processes rather than providing steps towards a particular outcome. These processes are documented in photographs, samples of work and ´learning stories´. The children's own interests, their levels of experience and skill will influence the particular range of techniques offered each term. Potential art forms to be included are pottery, painting, weaving, felting, drawing, construction and more.
Cooking and Baking
Varying dietary requirements and family traditions have brought about the decision that children will bring their own healthy snack for the afternoon from September. But we will continue to consider food a pedagogical responsibity expose children to varying nutritious foods as part of our cooking, baking and food tasting experiences. By peeling, chopping, mixing, being in contact with varying states of a particular fruit or vegetable, and spending time with friends who try new things, we hope to make a contribution to the children's positive attitude to healthy food.
FALCONs
This is a Forest School Activity which takes place on the school grounds and in Mungret Neighbourhood Park. The name is chosen to represent the Fun and Adventure, Learning and Creativity found Outdoors in Nature.
The Falcons will take their inspiration from forest schooling and use the ever-changing appearance of nature for explorations, games and creative projects. A variety of weather conditions will be a very welcome opportunity for discovery and exploration and the various locations within the park will offer us shelter from wind or rain where necessary. We will go by the proverb that there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. It is therefore important that your child brings warm clothing, a rain jacket and water proof shoes (preferably wellingtons) to school on ‘Falcon’ days (currently Wednesday & Friday)
Project Work
Children's own interests and motivations can be the vehicle for fantastic learning of facts and skills if guided and supported by peers and adults. As we relinquish the power to control a planned outcome, children's explorations can often take flight and turn into the most amazing projects which could not have been anticipated or planned in advance. We believe in project work and hope to share displays of the children's work regularly through learning stories, exhibition of work or in our newsletter.
Homework Support
On Monday to Thursday, time is set aside each day for homework. Junior Afterschool goes on a little trip to the grove, the library area, the halla or the park at 14:20 to allow the older children to complete their homework in a quiet and concentrated atmosphere. An adult is always nearby to help if necessary and the children motivate each other to keep at it in order to get onto the afternoon's play activities. The focus is on completing written homework. Parents check the work in the evening, help with the completion with any outstanding tasks and revise tables and spellings.
Physical Activity
Sports with Lorraine is a much enjoyed item on our weekly timetable. Physical activity is taken outside whenever possible and may include soccer, hurling, other ball games, forest school games, obstacle courses and more.
Music
The Junior Afterschool has been enjoying our 15 Minutes of gathering in the couch area (the jungle, actually) to learn songs and read stories before the younger children are picked up. Ask your child e.g. about the Frog song, the Crocodile song, the Jungle song and their accompanying actions!
