Everyone in St. Gabriel’s was very disappointed when we had to postpone our Sports Day in May due to bad weather but luckily we ended up having an even better day on June 2nd! The day was warm and sunny from first thing in the morning and couldn’t have been any more perfect for the day we had planned. Every class from Junior Infants to 6th had a fun and busy day taking part in many different activities and we even had one or two medals to present.  Well done to everyone who took part and showed great sportsmanship throughout the day, and thank you to the many parents who came and showed their support and played their part too.

May has seen the children of St. Gabriel’s focus on Paint and Color in Visual Arts.  The children of Ms. Fahey’s class have been busy all year creating individual and imaginative pieces of art and this month they made some Minecraft selfies.  We used lots of different coloured paper squares to make our self portraits look like characters from the game.  (You might have guessed that a lot of our class are big fans of Minecraft!)

Thursday the 12th of May saw the return of the  M & M Players theatre group to St. Gabriel’s.  This year’s production was based on the classic novel The Railway Children by E. Nesbit and it brought to life the story of a family and the Yorkshire railways in the early 20th century.  The bright sets and colourful costumes added to the drama and the show was greatly enjoyed by the children from Junior Infants to 6th Class.  The children of 5th and 6th class were lucky enough to enjoy a theatre workshop with the cast after the show had ended.

2nd and 3rd Class took an interesting trip today to the Natural History Museum, otherwise known as the Dead Zoo.  While some of the children had visited the museum before, some of the others were a little bit nervous about what they might see in a Dead Zoo!

Everyone had a wonderful time exploring the different animals, insects, fish and birds on display.   Without a doubt the pupils and teachers all left having learned about creatures that they never even knew about.

The children from 3rd Class were invited to visit the Museum of Decorative Arts and History at Collins Barracks this week.  They took part in a workshop called “If Things Could Talk” where they got to handle and examine different artifacts.  The children discussed who they thought each artifact may have belonged to and what it was used for.  Each group then gave a small presentation to the rest of the class.  We had a really enjoyable trip and hope to visit the museum again very soon.

Every November in St. Gabriel’s we invite you, the parents, to come into the school and meet with all the relevant teachers that work with your child/children.  We  have found that holding these meetings at this stage of the year allows our teachers to get to know their pupils and observe any progress, but also allows the parents and teachers to work and plan together for the coming year.  Both class and support teachers will be available for these meetings.

Meetings with parents will take place on Tuesday 10th and Thursday 12th of November.  Please check the time and day that you have been assigned.  The meetings will last for ten minutes so we ask that everyone arrives for the time that they have been given.

Children will go home at 2:15pm on Thursday 12th October to facilitate these meetings.  We look forward to welcoming all of you at some stage over the next few days.

Maths Week 2015 is currently underway in St. Gabriel’s N.S. and around the island of Ireland!  We have many activities taking place during the week from Maths Trails to the Times Tables Tournament among other events.  We need  as many parents as possible to come and take part in our Maths Games Extravaganza this Wednesday 14th October.  All the children from Junior Infants to 6th Class will come together in the P.E. Hall at 9 am to play a number of Maths games that include topics such as Number, Shape and Space, Fractions, Time etc.  Please let us know if you can come and be a part of Maths Week 2015 and an event that our pupils gain a lot from every year!