Junior Infants had great fun setting up an opticians in the classroom for Aistear (play) time!

In the role play area, children got their eyes tested.  The optician pointed to one letter at a time on the chart and the customer had to say ALL the letter names, even as the letters became smaller and smaller near the bottom!  There was a great selection of glasses available for people who needed them!

The eye chart was no bother really as we know all the letter names!

This customer was a bit unsure about the glasses on offer!

The opticians worked very hard!

Can you read this letter?

At the creative table, the children decorated their own glasses and also made binoculars!

Our designer glasses!

What beautiful frames!

Things look way clearer through these!

Making binoculars!

All the hard work paid off!

I spy with my little eye….!

Ever get the feeling you’re being watched…?

The seisiún group performing on Lá Fhéile Pádraig!

Well done to Scoil Mhuire’s seisiún group, which performed at the social gathering in the

Parish Hall today for St Patrick’s Day!  The group, which includes children from second class up, played a nice selection of tunes, including a march, a jig, and polkas to a large enthusiastic audience!

Comhghairdeas libh go léir!

The Hospital was the theme for Aistear playtime in Junior Infants recently!

In the role play area, doctors and nurses worked hard to look after some very ill patients!

Hospital staff worked hard on this patient!

Doctors kept notes on their patients!

All hands on deck!

Nobody waits long for a consultation in our hospital!

Another patient on the mend!

Our hospital workers were excellent at their work!

Surgeons worked hard to operate using tweezers……it was very tricky indeed.

Surgeons need a steady hand for this work!

Easy does it!

A busy day in the operating theatre!

We also made little hospital beds from shoe boxes and opened up a doll’s hospital!

Decorating the little beds for the doll’s hospital!

There was a lot of cutting and sticking to be done!

Kerry Masarati a paramedic with the London ambulance service paid us a visit and talked to us about her work!

Kerry gave a very interesting talk on her work as a paramedic!

She showed us some equipment that she uses in her work, including a pulsex for checking the speed of the pulse and the level of oxygen in our blood.  She also demonstrated the use of a sling and bandages and let us try out a foil blanket which is used in emergencies to keep people warm!

We all got to try out the pulse reader, which clips onto your finger!

Kerry let us try out a real stethoscope!

She demonstrated how to put on a sling!

Sometimes, paramedics have to put on bandages!

Foil blankets come in tiny packets and open out to keep people warm in emergencies!

Kerry advised us that the main reason the ambulance is called for children is because of little fingers getting caught in doors (ouch!) and children banging their heads after forgetting to wear their cycling helmets!

Thanks Kerry!

Thanks Kerry for your visit and all the useful information you gave us!

The Police Station was the play theme recently in Junior Infants!

We set up our very own police station in the classroom, where every morning the gardaí were very busy, what with taking fingerprints, conversing on the walkie talkies and writing up notes.

The phone was hopping in the police station!

The Garda Station was a hive of activity!

Just some of the hard-working Gardai!

This situation looks very serious!

At the creative table, we made Wanted posters and also used our fingerprints to make some thumbprint art in the form of insects, birds and people.

Have you seen this person?

Does this person look familiar?

finger print art!

Look at all the wonderful things you can print with your fingers!

At the lego table, there were some great police boats and police stations on display.

Finally, Junior infants were lucky enough to have a visit from Garda Sgt James O’Donovan of Schull Garda Station! We asked him lots of questions about the work of the Gardai.  We learnt loads of interesting facts from him! Did you know that four gardaí are based in Schull Garda Station!  Garda James also told us that sometimes Gardaí have to herd cattle off the road.  He emphasised to us the importance of always wearing our seat belts!  Finally, he let us all try out his squad card!  We got to try out the seats and even press the siren and flashing light buttons on the dashboard of the car!  It was a very exciting occasion.  Thanks Sergeant O’Donovan!

Junior infants with their special guest!

Sgt Garda James answered some tricky questions such as how to catch a “baddie”?

He reminded us to ALWAYS wear our seat belt!

Did you know that Gardaí sometimes have to help herd cattle off the road?

The squad car was very exciting!

We got to try out the front and back seats!

What does this button do?

Happy with their new car!

Garda James explained what the buttons did!

The siren was REAllY loud!

After listening to the story of Rapunzel, Junior Infants spent two weeks doing all things hair-related.

We built Rapunzel’s tower with blocks and sang a great song about hair!

At the creative table, we added faces and hair to paper plates!

Finally, we all had our hair done in our very own hairdressing salon!  It was a lot of hard work for those working in the salon.  The phone had to be answered and appointments made.  Customers had to queue up and read comics while they waited to get in front of the mirror! The stylists used combs, brushes, clips, and curlers to get some lovely results.  See what you think!

Building Rapunzel’s tower!

How much would you like me to take off?

This tower is going up to the sky!

Two of our stylists in action!

The busy salon!

Hard at work at the creative table!

Making an appointment!

Another happy customer!

What a lovely up style!

A day’s work is never done!

We had to paint plates before adding hair and faces to them!

Happy creating!

Busy at work!