First Class

First Class

First Classes are located in the Yellow corridor upstairs, Rooms 26, 27 and 28. Class teachers for the current year are: Niamh Murphy, Hannah O’Sullivan and Paddy Vaughan.

General Information & Communication

• Parents can contact teachers for any class queries by sending a message through Aladdin Connect or emailing the school at info@ennisns.ie.
• For administration queries, please send them to info@ennisns.ie
• Parents can contact class teachers through the Seesaw App.
• Small break: 10.45am – 11.00am
• Big breaks: 12.30pm – 1.10pm

Behaviour

• All positive behaviour and effort is acknowledged and praised.
• Group reward system will be in place where groups will earn points throughout the week. The group with the most points will be the VIP group for the following week.
• Inappropriate behaviour is dealt with through non-verbal cues, proximity praise, verbal warning.

Homework

• Homework should take no longer than 20- 30 minutes.

• It must be checked and signed each night by a parent.
• Oral work should be checked nightly – reading/spellings/tables
  The child should be asked to spell each spelling word aloud. The child should read the library book aloud to an adult and discuss content. The child should be asked tables each night.

English

• Guided Reading is a reading initiative that takes place throughout the year. The class will be spilt into different groups, and the class teacher alongside the SET teacher, will read with two groups whilst the other two groups work independently, thus allowing for differentiation.
• All reading material sent home with your child should be read by the child themselves as it is graded and is repeated reading i.e They have already read it repeatedly in school. Encourage them to use their sounds.
• In terms of grammar, the focus is on using capital letters, spacing their words, punctuation and re-reading their work to make sure it makes sense.
• In First Class, we revisit the formation of the uppercase and lowercase letters.
• Children will engage in transcription, dictation, formation and free writing throughout the year.
• Reminder that all spellings cannot be sounded out. This is where you may need to help your child by reminding them to call the letter by its name not its sound.

Maths

• We encourage you to engage with your child in Maths concepts at home and out and about e.g time – o’ clock, money – coins up to 20c, weight – heavier/ lighter.
• Children must practise their tables each night for homework.
• Your child will engage in hands on maths activities.

Gaeilge

• The Gaeilge Curriculum is carried out fully in class through the Bua na Cáinte programme. It is all oral work. Encourage your child to share the songs, rhymes and phrases they have learned.

History, Geography & Science

• Children will engage with SESE through hands on activities and a thematic approach
• Topics of interest: Houses and Homes, Schools, Weather, County Clare etc.

Visual Arts, Music & Drama

• A variety of artists and their techniques are explored for art
• The Ready to Rock music programme is followed in First Class
• Drama will be integrated through other subject areas: gaeilge, SESE, English.
  Christmas concert – Once a date for the Christmas Concert has been chosen, parents will be informed via a text from the class teacher.

Physical Education

• Your child will partake in an hour of Physical Education each week.
• We will cover a different strand of the curriculum each month.
• Throughout the year hurling and football coaches will come to teach the children skills.

Social and Personal Health Education

• The Stay Safe programme is taught every second year. It is a personal safety skills programme.
• The RSE programme is taught every second year.

Religion

• We use the Grow in Love programme in the teaching of Religion.

Assessment

• In class assessment: teacher designed tests and tasks
• Friday spellings and tables test- these tests must be signed weekly.
• Busy at Maths termly maths assessments
• Standardised tests: children will do the SIGMA-T (Maths) and Drumcondra (English)
  tests at the end of the year.

Any Other Information

• We hold a parent-teacher meeting in November. Should any issues arise or you need to contact the teacher in the interim or afterwards please write a note in your child’s diary or contact the class teachers on Seesaw.
• When your child is absent due to illness etc. please fill out an absence note in the back of your child’s diary to explain absence or online using Aladdin.

• If you need to take your child out of school for any reason, the class teacher must be notified and you must sign the early collection sheet.