School Activities & Programmes
Below you will find a small sample of what occurs in our wonderful school.
As this map of our school and grounds demonstrates, our school has truly excellent facilities which includes a surfaced yard, basketball pitch, football pitches and an all-weather pitch (see bottom right of Senior School - darker green).
We have a mutually beneficial arrangement in place with Baldoyle United FC who have use of our grounds at agreed times and, in return, care for the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities to the highest possible standard.
As a priority, our young boys and girls get to enjoy extensive access to these state-of-the-art facilities.
The boys and girls use these grass areas for lunch time when the weather permits.
We have a mutually beneficial arrangement in place with Baldoyle United FC who have use of our grounds at agreed times and, in return, care for the maintenance and upkeep of the facilities to the highest possible standard.
As a priority, our young boys and girls get to enjoy extensive access to these state-of-the-art facilities.
The boys and girls use these grass areas for lunch time when the weather permits.
Junior Building
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Senior Building
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To say we are passionate about sports in St. Laurence's NS is an understatement! We recognise the critical importance of physical activity and team play in the lives of our young boys and girls and encourage their participation at all levels. We coach Football & Hurling, Soccer, Basketball, Trackside Tennis, Table Tennis, Boxing, Irish Dancing and Athletics and our school takes enormous pride in our continued sporting achievements over the years.
Visit our Hall of Fame to learn more about our awards and click on the links below to directly access these club/association websites. We are lucky to have great sporting clubs on our doorstep - Na Dubh Ghall GAA, Baldoyle United FC, and Suttonians RFC to name a few. |
Click here to see our Hall of Fame
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Our school implements a Power Hour literacy programme for all classes from Senior Infants to Second Class. This is an intensive intervention programme that gives children the opportunity to read and write at their own level of competency and gradually increase the complexity of what they a can achieve in reading and writing.
Through carefully planned literacy activities the children are equipped with decoding and comprehension skills to aid their progression to becoming independent readers. It helps to make the children constructive learners. It teaches them ‘how’ to problem-solve independently. An emphasis is placed not just on reading the words, but also on fluency, comprehension, punctuation and intonation when reading.
There are many positive benefits to this type of approach to literacy. The children are given more opportunities to express themselves orally. Quieter children find their voices in a small group setting and children learning English gain confidence. The teachers have a chance to assess individual needs and to get to know the children better. Small group supervision of writing and phonics/spellings encourages the children to focus and to take more care with their written work.
Our support teaching team will work in-class in collaboration with the class teacher to deliver the programme Monday to Thursday for a duration of one hour per day. This hour is known as Power Hour.
During the programme the children read to two teachers every day. We use PM Readers for this programme. The children work in small groups at different literacy stations. The groups rotate so that each child will practise four specific areas of literacy every day.
These stations are:
The children bring home their books from Power Hour for homework for the duration of the programme. We encourage you to continue to read to your child for pleasure and to continue to encourage them to enjoy books in their free time.,
Through carefully planned literacy activities the children are equipped with decoding and comprehension skills to aid their progression to becoming independent readers. It helps to make the children constructive learners. It teaches them ‘how’ to problem-solve independently. An emphasis is placed not just on reading the words, but also on fluency, comprehension, punctuation and intonation when reading.
There are many positive benefits to this type of approach to literacy. The children are given more opportunities to express themselves orally. Quieter children find their voices in a small group setting and children learning English gain confidence. The teachers have a chance to assess individual needs and to get to know the children better. Small group supervision of writing and phonics/spellings encourages the children to focus and to take more care with their written work.
Our support teaching team will work in-class in collaboration with the class teacher to deliver the programme Monday to Thursday for a duration of one hour per day. This hour is known as Power Hour.
During the programme the children read to two teachers every day. We use PM Readers for this programme. The children work in small groups at different literacy stations. The groups rotate so that each child will practise four specific areas of literacy every day.
These stations are:
- Familiar book (working on pace, fluency, expression and comprehension).
- New book (working on pace, word attack skills, problem solving with text).
- Phonics/ Word games.
- Writing skills.
- Independent station.
The children bring home their books from Power Hour for homework for the duration of the programme. We encourage you to continue to read to your child for pleasure and to continue to encourage them to enjoy books in their free time.,
Aisear (2009) is the curriculum framework for all children in Ireland from birth to six years. It describes the types of learning that are important for children at this stage in their lives. Aistear is a guide for planning exciting, engaging and fun learning experiences and activities for children in daycare and sessional services, in infant classes in primary schools and in childminding settings. It also offers lots of practical ideas to parents for how they can help their children learn through everyday activities and routines.
The school is currently involved in a Reading Buddy initiative where each child in the senior school is paired with a child or children in the junior school. The aim of the initative is that friendships are formed through a communal love of books.
Established in 2005, the Junior Juries is a unique programme for schools and libraries, designed to encourage awareness and enjoyment of the annual book awards. All young reading groups from across the country are invited to take part in Junior Juries. Participating classes and book clubs make their own selection of suitable titles from the books shortlisted for the awards in March. At the end of this process each group is asked to collectively vote for their favourite book.
The winner of the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Award will be announced in May as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin.
The winner of the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Award will be announced in May as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Our students visit the beautiful libraries in both the junior building and senior building. They spend the time browsing the shelves and choosing which books they want to read for that week and bring home.
Sometimes the pupils visit the magnificent Baldoyle Library. We encourage active readership amongst our young students so they will gain a life-long love of reading. If you have reading suggestions you think they would enjoy, please contact us with titles and we will post these suggestions to this page.
Sometimes the pupils visit the magnificent Baldoyle Library. We encourage active readership amongst our young students so they will gain a life-long love of reading. If you have reading suggestions you think they would enjoy, please contact us with titles and we will post these suggestions to this page.
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Click the image to go to Baldoyle Library Website
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Frasaí na seachtaine & Seanfhocail
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We love being a Green School.
We achieved out Sixth Flag on Global Citizenship – Litter & Waste recently Great work by all the boys and girls on the Green Schools' Committee, and all the teachers who help to organise this. |
On the 6th of May 2021, St Laurence’s N.S was awarded an Amber Flag for our efforts to promote positive mental health and well-being in our school.
It is well documented that positive mental health and well-being enables young people to lead fulfilling lives. Home and family are recognised as the primary source of nurturing and support for children. However, mental health and well-being are recognised as everyone’s concern. It involves the whole school community, parents/guardians and the many others involved in day to day life of the child. Positive mental health for children is part of their overall health and is inextricably linked with well-being.
In order to promote positive mental health and well-being we decided to take part in the Amber Flag Initiative. This involved the whole school community coming together in order to create a safe, positive, and healthy attitude towards our general physical and mental health and well-being.
Our Aim: To Promote Positive Mental Health at School
It is well documented that positive mental health and well-being enables young people to lead fulfilling lives. Home and family are recognised as the primary source of nurturing and support for children. However, mental health and well-being are recognised as everyone’s concern. It involves the whole school community, parents/guardians and the many others involved in day to day life of the child. Positive mental health for children is part of their overall health and is inextricably linked with well-being.
In order to promote positive mental health and well-being we decided to take part in the Amber Flag Initiative. This involved the whole school community coming together in order to create a safe, positive, and healthy attitude towards our general physical and mental health and well-being.
Our Aim: To Promote Positive Mental Health at School
iPads, Laptops & Chromebooks
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We have class sets of iPads, laptops and Chromebooks in both buildings. The boys and girls love integrating technology into their day to day school lives.
Scratch is a programming language and an online community where children can program and share interactive media such as stories, games, and animation with people from all over the world.
As children create with Scratch, they learn to think creatively, work collaboratively, and reason systematically. Scratch is designed and maintained by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. |
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The Junior Entrepreneur Programme (JEP) was created to allow every primary school pupil in Ireland the opportunity to embrace entrepreneurship as part of their formative education.
JEP departs from traditional teaching, allowing the teachers become facilitators, letting pupils think freely and understand what entrepreneurship really means. Children use their creativity to come up with individual business ideas, they come together as a class to choose one idea and then work as a team to turn the idea into reality over a 12-16 week period. They meet with a local entrepreneur to hear their story and ask questions. Many children have expressed surprise that such exciting enterprises are on their doorsteps. Their questions and reports on these visits reveal incisive questions and deep understanding of important activity in their locality.
Through the JEP curriculum, games and learning aids, pupils get a clear picture of what creating a business is all about. Every step mirrors strands in the primary school curriculum. This means that pupils are not wasting their time or being distracted from important learning. Instead, they’re learning new life skills as well as their core subjects
JEP departs from traditional teaching, allowing the teachers become facilitators, letting pupils think freely and understand what entrepreneurship really means. Children use their creativity to come up with individual business ideas, they come together as a class to choose one idea and then work as a team to turn the idea into reality over a 12-16 week period. They meet with a local entrepreneur to hear their story and ask questions. Many children have expressed surprise that such exciting enterprises are on their doorsteps. Their questions and reports on these visits reveal incisive questions and deep understanding of important activity in their locality.
Through the JEP curriculum, games and learning aids, pupils get a clear picture of what creating a business is all about. Every step mirrors strands in the primary school curriculum. This means that pupils are not wasting their time or being distracted from important learning. Instead, they’re learning new life skills as well as their core subjects
St. Laurence’s National School is proud to be a partner in Dublin City University’s FUSE Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Programme.
FUSE is the first research-based Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Programme designed to comply with UNESCO’s Whole Education Approach to tackle bullying and online safety in schools. It is based on 25 years of research on bullying prevention and intervention and is designed to support the wider SPHE/RSE/Wellbeing curricula in schools. FUSE consists of a suite of student-led workshops and resources which FUSE teachers can deliver in the classroom.
At the heart of FUSE is the aim of building capacity in schools themselves to tackle bullying and online safety issues and to empower children and adolescents to understand their own behaviour, be able to recognise bullying and online safety risks and be confident in how to report and seek support when they need it.
We are delighted that our 4th and 5th classes have been participating in this programme for the past two years particularly given the emphasis and importance of online safety now that children are relying more on smartphones and other digital devices for educational and social purposes
FUSE is the first research-based Anti-Bullying and Online Safety Programme designed to comply with UNESCO’s Whole Education Approach to tackle bullying and online safety in schools. It is based on 25 years of research on bullying prevention and intervention and is designed to support the wider SPHE/RSE/Wellbeing curricula in schools. FUSE consists of a suite of student-led workshops and resources which FUSE teachers can deliver in the classroom.
At the heart of FUSE is the aim of building capacity in schools themselves to tackle bullying and online safety issues and to empower children and adolescents to understand their own behaviour, be able to recognise bullying and online safety risks and be confident in how to report and seek support when they need it.
We are delighted that our 4th and 5th classes have been participating in this programme for the past two years particularly given the emphasis and importance of online safety now that children are relying more on smartphones and other digital devices for educational and social purposes
The 6 th classes are taking part in the Get Up, Stand Up programme. This is a social skills programme which was created by NEPS psychologists to help young adolescents.
The overall goal of this programme is to as help the young person to develop strategies and skills to help him/her to cope with some difficult situations he/she may face. Everyone experiences times at school when things can be difficult. One of the messages we want students to get is that there are strategies which are available to help them get through life more easily. Topics covered include friendships, dealing with feelings, dealing with intimidation and teasing, learning to solve problems and making decisions, resilience and
coping.
We hope that the students will use the skills learned in this programme to help them cope with the transition to Secondary School.
The overall goal of this programme is to as help the young person to develop strategies and skills to help him/her to cope with some difficult situations he/she may face. Everyone experiences times at school when things can be difficult. One of the messages we want students to get is that there are strategies which are available to help them get through life more easily. Topics covered include friendships, dealing with feelings, dealing with intimidation and teasing, learning to solve problems and making decisions, resilience and
coping.
We hope that the students will use the skills learned in this programme to help them cope with the transition to Secondary School.
There are a number of different After-School activities run in the school for 1st-6th class directly after school. These clubs are run by teachers of the school and a small fee is charged.
Details can be gotten below or from your child's teacher and regular communication is distrubuted directly to pupils (please do not contact the school secretaries as you will recieve inaccurate information as this is not part of the secretaries roles)
Details can be gotten below or from your child's teacher and regular communication is distrubuted directly to pupils (please do not contact the school secretaries as you will recieve inaccurate information as this is not part of the secretaries roles)
After-School Clubs
Please contact each teacher individually for more information on the club.
Mondays
Club Gaeilge—Ms. McInerney
This club is ran by Ms. Mc Inerney who is currently studying for a masters in the teaching of Irish. The aim of the club is to promote a positive attitude towards the Irish language through sports, art, games and other activities. They will learn new words and phrases while taking part in fun activities. Despite the high demand for this club last year, I will only be running one day a week this year and places are allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Wednesdays
Technology/STEM—Mr. Murphy
This club will focus on the foundations of coding, technology and STEM. Throughout the year pupils will use iPads, coding robots such as BeeBots, and Chromebooks as they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively. Pupils will use apps such as Scratch, Scratch Jr and Minecraft. Mr. Murphy has completed a M.Sc in eLearning and has vast experience with teaching pupils of all ages in coding, computational thinking and STEM.
Dance– Ms. Hanley
Ms. Hanley will run dance classes every Wednesday. The classes will consist of hip-hop and zumba fitness dancing. The aim is to develop motor skills in a fun and creative way. They will learn different dances each week and will be given the chance to make up their own dance routines, working as a team. Numbers in this class are limited and places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Thursdays
Varirty Club—Ms. Johnson & Ms. Faughnan
Ms. Johnson & Ms. Faughnan will run a variety club on Thursdays.
Mondays
Club Gaeilge—Ms. McInerney
This club is ran by Ms. Mc Inerney who is currently studying for a masters in the teaching of Irish. The aim of the club is to promote a positive attitude towards the Irish language through sports, art, games and other activities. They will learn new words and phrases while taking part in fun activities. Despite the high demand for this club last year, I will only be running one day a week this year and places are allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Wednesdays
Technology/STEM—Mr. Murphy
This club will focus on the foundations of coding, technology and STEM. Throughout the year pupils will use iPads, coding robots such as BeeBots, and Chromebooks as they learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively. Pupils will use apps such as Scratch, Scratch Jr and Minecraft. Mr. Murphy has completed a M.Sc in eLearning and has vast experience with teaching pupils of all ages in coding, computational thinking and STEM.
Dance– Ms. Hanley
Ms. Hanley will run dance classes every Wednesday. The classes will consist of hip-hop and zumba fitness dancing. The aim is to develop motor skills in a fun and creative way. They will learn different dances each week and will be given the chance to make up their own dance routines, working as a team. Numbers in this class are limited and places will be allocated on a first come first serve basis.
Thursdays
Varirty Club—Ms. Johnson & Ms. Faughnan
Ms. Johnson & Ms. Faughnan will run a variety club on Thursdays.
Afterschool Club (Senior Building)
Afterschool Club runs every Monday, Wednesday & Thursday in the Senior Building. This club is open to children from 3rd to 6th Class. Please email the teachers directly for any information
Homework Club
Homework Club runs every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday in the Senior Building. The club is open to children from 3rd to 6th Class from 2.45pm to 3.45pm. Children get a chance to have a snack after school and play games and do activities when homework is finished. The club costs €5 a day.
Contact Mr Gallagher by email on hwclubstlaurences@gmail.com . Class teachers and the school office will be unable to take correspondence on the club.
Contact Mr Gallagher by email on hwclubstlaurences@gmail.com . Class teachers and the school office will be unable to take correspondence on the club.
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