October was a very busy and exciting month in Junior Infants! The children have settled so well into school life and continue to impress us with their enthusiasm for learning and trying new things.

Maths:
In Maths, we explored the numbers 3, 4 and 5 and enjoyed making and continuing patterns using colours, shapes, and objects. 

We continued with our Ready, Set, Go Maths programme in small groups with support from the SET team. The children worked hard on important early maths skills such as sorting, counting, number recognition, understanding relationships and operations. Before the Halloween break, we completed our first written maths assessment. This was a big milestone for our class!

Literacy:
We made fantastic progress in Phonics this month, completing Group 1 (s, a, t, i, p, n) and starting Group 2 (c, k, e, h, r). The children practiced using their body boxes to sound out and segment simple three-letter words, and enjoyed writing them down. We played lots of fun games, sang songs and read plenty of lovely storybooks to help reinforce our new sounds.

Gaeilge:
In Irish, we learned new vocabulary around An Bosca Lóin (the lunch box) and Oíche Shamhna (Halloween). The children enjoyed learning through games, songs and stories as Gaeilge. We also practiced our colours (buí, dearg, glas, dubh) and learned how to introduce ourselves by saying hello, asking names and telling our own names.

SESE (Science, History, Geography)
We learned all about the seasons, focusing especially on Autumn. We went on a lovely walk in the school garden to look for signs of autumn and talked about the weather and how it changes at this time of year.

Art
In Art, we worked on drawing and colouring, and enjoyed some Halloween-themed art.

PE
This month in PE, we focused on the Games strand. The children practiced ball skills, balancing and throwing beanbags, and played a variety of simple group games that encouraged teamwork and coordination.

Special Highlights
Our Students of the Week did a wonderful job giving their presentations about their weekends with Deadeye. Everyone loved hearing their stories!
We also had a fantastic Halloween Catwalk to show off our amazing costumes and finished the month with a fun Halloween Disco.
During Fire Safety Week, we learned all about keeping safe around fire. We had a fire drill, watched educational videos and even played with fire safety toys like fire trucks.

It was a month full of learning and lots of fun. Well done to all of the Junior Infants for their great work and enthusiasm!