St. Peter's Primary Bray Blog

Here in 5th class we were lucky enough to have a fish tank in our room for a 6 weeks, with lots of different types of sea creatures. We spent the month learning all about the oceans and how we can look after them. This was an opportunity for us to learn lots about water. One of the most exciting things we looked at was water pressure. Pressure is the force that pushes water through pipes. Water pressure determines the flow of water from the tap. Using the strand Energy and Forces we tested how water pressure would be affected as it flowed through various size openings. What we needed: • 6 Large... 

Senior Infants have been busy exploring and investigating different materials. We have looked at metal, wood, plastic, fabric, cardboard and rubber and have learned that they all look and feel very different. We decided that it would be fun to explore which of these materials are waterproof. Ned, Seán and Damiano investigated wood and metal that they found on an abacus in our classroom. They said that the metal felt cold and hard and that the wood felt smooth and strong. David and Ellie investigated fabric and said that it felt soft and fluffy! First we decided to talk about what the word ‘waterproof’... 

As part of their study into materials, 2nd class have been designing and making ponchos! We’ve been examining the properties of materials recently and last week we discussed the meaning of the word ‘best’ when talking about products.   What does ‘best’ mean? 2nd class are brainstorming as part of their #ponchopopup project #designandmake — St. Peter’s Primary (@StPetersBray) May 8, 2015 We decided that ‘best’ has different meanings depending on the context. Check out some of the meanings ‘best’ can have in our Vine. One of the... 

Thanks to Intel Ireland for sending on these photos from Friday – you can read the full post on the Mini-Scientist here.  

We’re very excited to share the highlights of this year’s Mini-Scientist showcase in St Peter’s! Last year was our first year to take part in the Intel Mini-Scientist programme and we really enjoyed it. You can find all of our blog posts related to the Mini-Scientist competition here. This year, we approached it slightly differently. In September, we formed a Mini Digital Youth Council (you can learn more about the senior version here) and we decided that as part of their work, they could take part in the Mini-Scientist programme and they were encouraged to include a focus on... 

As you know, St. Peter’s students and staff recently welcomed the opportunity to create videos to help to promote and encourage other schools to participate in the Digital Schools of Distinction process. We recorded three different videos, two for the Digital Schools of Distinction website and another for the Microsoft Partners in Learning project. Congratulations to the students who did such a great job when they were interviewed. It was an incredible opportunity to show how we encourage staff to stay up to date with exciting trends in technology, how we use twitter in our school and also... 

As many of you know, last year we were made a Digital School of Distinction. This award was the icing on the cake of a brilliant year of digital learning in our school. Minister Ciaran Cannon met with students from every class and we got a chance to walk him through some of the many things we do that make digital learning a key priority in our school. On Wednesday, we had the great honour of being filmed and interviewed by the Digital Schools organisers (and Microsoft!) about our work in our school. We spoke about our digital learning journey and displayed our work. We can’t wait to see... 

Last week we had the great honour of welcoming the Minister of State in Department of Education to St. Peter’s. We had already met Minister Ciaran Cannon at the Excited Digital Learning Conference in Dublin Castle, and this meeting in our school was to celebrate the fact that we have been granted ‘Digital School of Distinction’ status! Showing off our awards and work from this school year! This award was the icing on the cake of a brilliant year of digital learning in our school. Minister Cannon met with students from every class and we got a chance to walk him through some of... 

Last Friday week, 2nd Class had the huge honour of Skyping 2nd Class from St. Mary’s Convent Primary School in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. This class had interviewed the famous astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield just that week, and so the class had many questions to ask them about what Chris Hadfield had said about his time in Space on the ISS! We were also lucky enough to be joined by a twitter friend that day. Anne McMorrough is a lecturer in MIE (where Ms. B studied to become a teacher) and wanted to meet the class to talk about creativity in the classroom. We had just met Anne at the Excited... 

Last Saturday, St. Peter’s had the huge honour of showcasing their technology and ICT use in Dublin Castle at the Excited Digital Learning Conference. We were invited to participate having completed the Digital Schools of Distinction adjudication. It has been an incredible year for St. Peter’s, and we have worked to improve and enhance our use of ICT at every level in the school. This has led to great success at a national level, and we have been successful in the national Eircom Junior Spiders awards, the national Mathletes finals and we have also won a Creative Schools award for use...