To mark Purple Day, or World Epilepsy Awareness Day- let’s get busy with all things purple today. Put the technology away and let’s get ready to:

Junior Activity

• Make a purple handprint
• Do a scavenger hunt and find 10 purple things at home
• Use purple fingerprints to paint a bunch of purple grapes
• Build a purple lego tower
• Make a purple giant out of purple playdoh

Senior Activity

• Take the alphabet and list as many words as you can associated with the word purple
• The answer is purple. Write 5 possible questions ?
• Do a scavenger hunt and find 10 purple things at home
• Use purple fingerprints to paint a bunch of purple grapes

Junior Technology Link

Watch the two clips about epilepsy. Chat to your mam and dad about the videos.

What do the kids think about epilepsy?

Senior Technology Links

Have you ever heard of epilepsy?

Watch the junior links above.

Check out how we marked epilepsy awareness day last year.

https://piercestownns.com/2019/03/27/world-purple-day-march-26th/

Write down how you would design a video to mark Purple (Epilepsy Awareness Day )

Get your mam and dad to take a video of your plan at home. You could be the next Steven Spielberg!

Get your parents to email them to principal@piercestownns.com if you wish to share

Keep an eye out for this year’s video!

Have a good day everyone!

Wow! Well done to this lego fanatic! Super impressed!

One for everyone! -What a way to wake yourself up on Wednesday?!

Why not wake up on Wednesday with a work out by Joe Wicks (personal trainer) It can be watched live at 9am or if the kids are not up by then/don’t have access to online yet, it can be caught up on later. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAxW1XT0iEJo0TYlRfn6rYQ?app=desktop

Our links today are based around Maths for Juniors (infants to 2nd class) and literacy for Senior (3rd to 6th class)

Don’t forget as always, send us some photos if you want to be uploaded to the blog! Have a lovely day!

Junior Link

Have you got Maths eyes 3 D shapes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guNdJ5MtX1A

Senior Link

Today is all about ‘boggle’

You can go online to generate the letters but you need pencil and paper to play along. Here are the rules :

Boggle Word Game Rules
Generate new word board http://projects.exeter.ac.uk/brad/boggle/braggle.htm

1. The game requires a minimum of two players with no maximum. It is recommended for ages 8 and up.
2. The goal of the game is have the highest point total. To gain points, players must create words from the randomly assorted letters in the cube grid. The longer the word, the higher the point value of the word, according to Boggle rules.
   Boggle Gameplay 3. Each person must have paper and pencil. Ensure all 16 letter cubes are present in the cube grid. Cover the grid with the dome and shake the cubes. When you are satisfied the cubes have been mixed thoroughly, turn the grid and dome right-side up and gently shake the cubes into place, ensure all cubes have one side face up. Start the timer at the same time the dome is removed from the grid.
3. Game play should be silent, and each player should be creating his or her own words on his or her own paper. Ensure that your paper cannot be seen by the other players.
4. Words should be created by using adjoining letters – the letters must touch each other – and must be able to connect to each other in the proper sequence to spell the word correctly. The letters may join in any direction – horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. This means that the letters can be above or below, side by side, or touching corners. Words can be spelled in any direction, including backwards.
5. You may not use a letter cube multiple times in a single word. Any word found in a standard English dictionary is permissible, so long as it is not a proper noun (i.e.. you cannot use names of people or places).
6. When the timer runs out, players must stop writing words. Players take turns reading the words they have made, and all players cross matching words off their list. Only words that no other player created are scored.
7. Scoring and Winning- No. of Letters | Points per Word 3 | 1 4 | 1 5 | 2 6 | 3 7 | 5 8+ | 11
8. Tips for Game Play 10. Multiple meanings of the same word do not earn multiple points.
9. Variations of spelling for a word (even if it does not change the meaning) are counted as individual words. If you are able to create both words, ensure you write down both variations. In the same manner, plural and singular words are separate, and should both be written and scored if they can be created.
10. The “Qu” cube counts as two letters. Common words will likely be found by all players, but that does not mean you should not write it down

Today for fun, our extra activity is a 30 day lego plan. Many of you may have seen this already as it has been circulated on social media. Choose one day to complete or indeed maybe some of you are already deciding to embrace the full 30 day challenge. This is a task that suits all ages group. It involves construction, spatial awareness, art, while also allowing younger children to incoporate counting, sorting, colours and matching into the activity.

If you wish to take on this challenge, we would love to see some of your photos and upload them to the blog so that your friends can see what you are getting up to. You can do this by asking your parents to send your photo by email to principal@piercestownns.com

Remember in ‘staying apart we can still come together’. Have fun with todays activity! Ready, steady, go!

Our online links today are to get people active

Junior link involves some storytelling and yoga based on the story ‘We’re going on a bear hunt!

Cosmic Yoga

Senior Link involves getting your ‘dance on’

https://safeyoutube.net/w/nwj2

*********In general our links are categorised as Junior (infants to 2nd class) and senior (3rd to 6th class) but sometimes any age group can give them a go! So if the older children fancy yoga today, why not and if the younger children want to break out their dance moves, off they go!

Many thanks for the fantastic response to our online survey. 78% of our families voted and the result was as follows: 54.13% felt their child has sufficient work. 45.87 % felt their child requires more work.

As the vote is so close, we have decided to proceed and make the material available. There will be an updated blog every day.
This will involve one activity (which can be educational/practical/physical) and one link on the internet.We will give a brief outline of what to do with each. One activity may be something that would span over several days so you do not have to take one each day even if you are looking for additional work. 

We wish to be clear that this is simply an offer of optional work. We do not wish to add to your burden at present. We are aware of the unprecedented times we find ourselves in. As always, you as the parents have to feel comfortable in what you can complete or not. As the school, we fully support all of your actions. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us on principal@piercestownns.com We are thinking of you all. Be safe.

Kind regards, Ms. Walsh and the management team

Today Monday 23rd March

Optional Links ****

Junior Link https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/audio-stories-nature-explorers/z46mjhv

Listen to the story about the four seasons.

Can you tell me one thing about Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring?

Which is your favourite season and why?

Senior Link https://trte.rte.ie/news2day/

Watch Friday’s episode and summarise orally or in written format

Optional Activites for today:

Junior Activity

Senior Activity

Have fun! And remember, Be Safe and Be Kind! We are in this together.

Today 21st March, we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day and we hope that you are all rocking your most colourful and fun socks safely at home! Piercestown N.S. came together while staying apart by spreading some fun to mark this international day of celebration of people with Down syndrome – even best friends Oscar (dog) and Scutt (calf) got involved!

If you wish to check out Socks Day at Piercestown N.S. 2019 – follow this link: https://piercestownns.com/?s=odd+socks+day

Rock Those Socks!

Dear Parents/Guardian,

I hope this blog finds you all safe and well in these unprecedented times. As a school we wish to support all of our school community in anyway we can.

With the sudden closure announcement, we prepared an outline of work for 3 weeks, not knowing what lies ahead for all of us.

We are constantly working behind the scenes however, to forward plan.

We are toying with the idea of providing optional, additional work (to compliment the work pack) in the form of one activity and one link per day to supplement work if people wish to avail of it. However, we do not wish to overwhelm you or your children. Therefore, we have designed this survey for you to take. This survey is OPEN until Sunday coming 22nd March 5pm.

Once your voice has been heard, we can progress in a way that suits you best.

In the meantime, remember, ‘This too shall pass’ and we are all in the same boat.

Stay well, stay safe and we will be in touch.

Kind regards, Ms. Laura Walsh

5th class will roll up their sleeves, this Thursday 13th Feb in preparation for their ‘Charity Cake Sale’ on Friday. On February 26th, the Dog’s Trust will visit Piercestown N.S. to explain their role to all of our children. All proceeds from the cake sale will go to this worthy cause.