Senior Room Blog

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 September – December 2025

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We have had a very busy first term in the senior room. Fourth, fifth and sixth class are a lovely group of humans, and I am thoroughly enjoying teaching them and getting to know each one. Each of them brings so much to our classroom and I really do feel blessed to get to teach this group!

This term we have put a big focus on reading. We have a Book Club every Friday. In groups of five, we chat about the books we are reading, read together and set our reading target for the coming week. This has been a huge success, and the children are enjoying our well-organised library and the children are reading so many books.

The New Maths Curriculum has changed quite substantially, so while we are still doing maths as you would know it, we are also weaving in lots of open-ended maths thinking, observing the world around us and recognising the use of maths, exploring different ways of coming to the same answer but considering effective and efficient methods, maths chat, discussion and problem solving in groups and pairs. It has been fascinating to watch how this stretches those children who used to find maths in the book easy, and see how various children excel in the various areas of spatial awareness, problem-solving, concept development etc.

Despite my beginning of year survey where the children expressed that Gaeilge was their least favourite subject, much to my regret, they are making a gallant effort at improving! Scríobh na páistí litir chuig duine éigin chun buíochas a thabhairt dóibh as rud éigin a rinne siad an seachtaine seo chaite. Bhí mé bródúil astu.

This year, Ms Nestor kindly applied for a grant for €1,500 to facilitate Water Wise coming to our school for 6 consecutive weeks. This is the second year we have been awarded this grant. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to explore the importance of water in our environment in all its facets. One thing I found fascinating was the idea of how the water in our bodies resonate with sound, thus making us want to dance to different sorts of music, how we ‘feel it in our waters’ so to speak! We did lots of science experiment, explored water through art, music, and many explorative learning activities.

Rev. Eugene was keen we got involved with a history project connected with St Multose Church. We researched 21 Fallen Soldiers from World War 1 who are commemorated on a plaque in the church. The children learned a lot about local history and were fascinated to research online about the war and glean bits of information about the local people who died and where they served. While in the church to see the plaque, Rev. Eugene gave us a fabulous tour of the church; the stained glass with many of the plants mentioned in the bible, the Lord’s Prayer, Apostle’s Creed and Commandments on the walls of the church, the organ and various areas within the church, as well as the history of the building. It really was a treat.

We’ve had two nice days out this term. The first was our trip to Sáile to the Mental Health Day run by KYSS. This was a very good and wholesome event where pupils had fun, but also engaged with the various services that could help them if they ever needed support in the future. It was informative, well balanced and I thought a very important initiative to support mental health in the Kinsale area, for our children into their teenage years.

Our second day out was to City Hall enjoying Evelyn Grant and the orchestra; playing everything from Star Wars and Jurassic Park theme tunes to Handel and Bach! We even sang along to the very popular song by Kingfishr, Killeagh, and enjoyed an up-and-coming singer, Keith Hanley with his rendition of K-Pop Demon Hunter, supported by the orchestra. The children were so well behaved and are a credit to their parents. St Multose were mentioned and were applauded from the stage for coming by public bus, something they want other schools to try, in the future! The mayor of Cork even came to chat with us as he was delighted with our ‘Green’ initiative.

 

Kinsale Community School Transition Year Students have once again generously supported us in the VEX Robotics Programme this year. We have our very own robot to build, code, drive and compete with. It is a steep learning curve for some of us, but the children take it all in their stride and their skills develop by osmosis from the teenagers! It is a terrific and important opportunity.

The Arts are strong in our classroom. We have lots of exceedingly talented artists, actors and singers. The culmination of this terms work will be our performance of Pirates vs Mermaids for the whole school community. This is the first time for a while that we have put on a musical and the classroom is zinging with excitement and enthusiasm; sets and props are being built and painted, costumes are being designed and assembled, lines are being learnt and songs are being sung in showers all over Kinsale! To say we are looking forward to the dancing, singing, acting and shenanigans is certainly an understatement!

We are looking forward to the Carol Service in the church and the Christmasy feeling it brings with it! We have a new song by Casting Crowns that we are excited to perform.

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April 

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On Thursday, the 27th of April, Brendan Joyce, a marine scientist based in Donegal visited St Multose. Brendan brought an array of marine-based resources for each class to investigate and learn more about. We looked at species of shark and whale common in Irish waters as well as microscopic plankton, shells and bones. The pupils were able to get hands-on experience as Brendan brought various whale and dolphin bones, shark's teeth and other equipment used for investigating sea life. 

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January-Easter

Having returned in January following a lovely Christmas Break, 4 th and 5 th class were straight back
into the swing of things with their 6-week block of swimming lessons. Huge progression was made
across all abilities and the children really enjoyed the return to the pool after such a long break due
to Covid.
We had our first taste of Science in a Box as we welcomed Eli Lilly chemist Dr. Balaji Rokade who
completed the first 5 weeks of the programme based on Human Biology. We investigated the
respiratory system, the muscular system, the skeletal system, homeostasis and genetics and
genomes. During the 5 weeks, we made a model of the heart including veins and arteries, designed
and built a working hand model with individual and moveable bones, investigated body temperature
and solved a genetic mystery based on old skeletons! The children really enjoyed each lecture and
displayed such existing knowledge of the subjects. We are now looking forward to the final 5-week
block with Dr. Aobha Hickey.
Internet safety day was celebrated with a very informative and enjoyable talk presented by the
fabulous Ann Harte (parent in the school), on behalf of Cyber Safety. 3 rd , 4 th , 5 th and 6 th class all took
part in the discussion. Cyber Safety is an incredibly important topic and one in which we consistently
revisit here at St Multose.
Science Blast is fast approaching and we continue to work on our Biodegradation project. As part of
our research and collection of data, the children wrote letters to each of the companies that
produce the products we are using in our experiment. Some have already replied including a very
encouraging letter from Biobag. They also provided us with a goodie box with a selection of
biodegradable bin bags. We amended our experiment based the on new information provided. We
can’t wait to present our projects in UL in May.
We also celebrated Friendship Week. Great care and more emphasis were placed on being kind to
each other. We recorded our good deeds in a kindness diary. The week culminated in a Crazy Hat
Day! Amazing creativity was displayed by the children and each pupil donated to the wonderful
Ronald McDonald House. A very worthy cause.
The creativity continued when St Multose celebrated World Book Day. 4 th and 5 th class went to great
lengths to dress as their favourite literary characters. It was certainly an interesting day in the
classroom.
As the term was drawing to a close, 4 th and 5 th class became focused on all things engineer based to
celebrate Engineering Week. We looked at the myriad of different roles engineers play in everyday
life and discussed what type of engineer we might like to be in the future. 4 th and 5 th were tasked
with a make-and-do activity; to design and construct an electric car. Pupils were tasked with
constructing an electrical circuit which powered the back wheels. We definitely have a few budding
engineers in our classroom!
Ar deireadh, rinneamar ceiliúradh ar Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Tá ról ollmhór ag an nGaeilge inár saol
scoile ó lá go lá. Mar sin tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go leagaimid béim ar a thábhachtaí atá sé.
Rinneamar tráth na gceist, d’fhéachamar ar na seanfhocail, léigh muid faoi Naomh Pádraig agus
chríochnaigh an tseachtain le Lá Glas. Bhí an spraoi againn.

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Hallowe’en-Christmas

After a week-long Hallowe’en break, we returned refreshed for the second half of Term one
in 4 th and 5 th classes. COP27 was a global event, further highlighting the challenges we face
due to Climate Change. To look at this issue at a local level, 4 th and 5 th classes took part in
the Climate and Nature Summit. Each day, we took part in various activities from learning
about Irish rainforests, sketching woodlice, looking at Irish native woodlands and discussing
climate and energy use in our own community. It was a great way to link the events of
COP27 in a child-centred way in which they could draw links to their own environment.
The Scholastic Book Fair made its annual return to St Multose. The class had time to browse
the selection of books on sale in the Parish Room. Pupils returned later on that week to
purchase and spent their well-earned pocket money.
We had a busy week at the end of November making snowflakes for the Winter Wonderland
disco, organised and run by the Parents’ Association. All the pupils were very excited and
looking forward to a night of dancing and fun with their friends. A great night was had by all.
Science Week was a huge success this year in St Multose. 4 th and 5 th class. We completed a
clean-up of the roadside and surrounding area outside of the school grounds as part of
Environmental Awareness and Care. We completed a Design and Make activity where we
had to design and make a space buggy, capable of surviving and functioning in space. We
also took part in a Science show hosted by the Science Foundation of Ireland.
The highlight of the run-up to Christmas had to be the Bake Sale hosted by the pupils of the
4 th and 5 th class in their classroom. The boys and girls decorated and prepared the room in a
Christmas theme and there was a lovely festive atmosphere. Every pupil in the school baked
a treat, savoury and sweet, all of which were on sale. We also had a shop stall selling our
school tea towels as well as Christmas decorations. The event was a huge success.
As a treat and to mark the festive season, we travelled to Charles Fort. Garda Dave very
kindly transported us to and from our destination. The pupils took part in a number of
activities, learning about the history of the fort. There was even time for a few festive games.
It was a beautiful crisp morning and what a place to spend it!
And finally, the culmination of Term one was the Christmas Service held this year on the 19 th
of December. The senior classes worked tirelessly and even filled in for other cast members
who were unfortunately ill for the show. It was wonderful for all the school community to
gather once again as a family and celebrate Christmas together.