Third Class Blog

Easter to Summer Sunshine!

June 25, 2026

Term 3 was lighter and brighter with some nice sunshine to brighten our days and also a nice mid-term break in June. The girls were, as always, busy with different activities and projects throughout the term and I enjoyed seeing them bloom.

In History we were learning about the Middle ages/Medieval times in Waterford, in the towns and countryside and further afield in Europe. In small groups, the girls worked together to present an area of Medieval times – the types of houses; the manor layout; the tools and equipment used.

We had 6 weeks of fantastic gymnastics for P.E. with Kenny. The girls learned loads and also learned confidence in this area, as did I!

We compared Waterford city with our capital city, Dublin, for our Geography class. Using images from both of these areas, the girls had to compare how these two cities were similar and different on a worksheet. This included housing, landmarks, shops and workplaces.

During Friendship week, the girls participated in lots of healthy, friendly and fun activities such as meditation, mindful colouring, sharing bracelets, showing kindness and tasting some healthy and tasty treats provided by 6th class. At the end of the week, the girls dressed in bright colours to celebrate friendship Friday.

The girls did some investigating of our outdoor environment for Science and discovered some plants, animals and evidence of animals around our school environment. Outdoor activities are always the most enjoyable and the girls are always amazed at what is around us but sometimes we forget to stop and look.

We did some team building exercises in SPHE where I set them a challenge to use anything available to create a structure. We had Eiffel towers and a tunnel game. Pretty creative and imaginative and they all completed it, as a team.

In Geography, we have been learning a lot of the natural and man-made features of our environment. We took a look at the coast and the different coastal areas here in Waterford, Ireland and around the world. One common item that the children noticed at all of these locations was ‘rubbish’. We discussed the effects this has on our environment and living things. Using recyclable materials, the girls were asked to create a coastal box in 30 minutes. What they created was really impressive – there were mountains, cliffs, seas, beaches, yachts, rocks, trawlers and more.

Another group exercise was our History games. Over a number of weeks we have been learning about games from the past and present. We interviewed parents and grandparents and we have revived old games as new games in the playground. The girls taught games to each other from other countries and displayed and presented these in class – Mancala from Kenya , Kabbadi from India, Kendama from Japan and Loteria from Mexico.

We worked as scientists in our Science class and grouped living things into different categories. The girls decided what the categories would be i.e. plants with petals/plants with no petals; common everyday plants/uncommon plants; animals that swim/don’t swim etc. We also went on an outdoor habitat search to see what living things, or evidence of these, there are on our school grounds.

We went on our History trail around Ferrybank discovering places, people and jobs in our community. We learned to follow maps, find names of roads and discover distances to other places. We could see how our community has changed and is continually changing and recorded all this information in our ‘Footsteps around Ferrybank’ trail booklet. Why not ask the children some of the interesting things discovered!

In Geography we explored our school grounds and green areas investigating plants, animals, insects and soil. We learned the names of some new plants and animals – Common Mallow, wild poppy, Cat’s ear, Self-heal. We used our natural surroundings and took a breather to see what sounds we could hear as we lay still.

We had a super time on our school tour and I hope the girls shared their homemade chocolate with you??!! After the chocolate making workshop the girls had a play and boarded the train through the woods where they saw a herd of deer and even got to feed the geese. Following this, we had lunch and another play in an even bigger playground. At the end of the day, the girls did some orienteering through the maze of Ireland. Thankfully we didn’t lose anyone!! The girls arrived home tired but satisfied after a fun day out.

We also had a fantastic Sports’ Day and cake sale in the super sunshine. And the ice-creams were a welcome treat too.

In Art the girls did a tie-dye t-shirt and designed it with fabric markers. They turned out really bright and the girls will have this as a memory of 3rd class and can wear it with pride. Well done fashion designers!

Also in Art, the girls started and finished their wall hanging project where they included a foreground, middle ground and background sea theme. When the backdrop was complete, they then cut, pinned, sewed and stuffed some sea creatures to apply to the backing. The end result was really impressive and certainly a level up from last year’s. Well done girls!

It’s been a really fantastic year in 3rd class, full of happy memories. The girls will continue making more memories in 4th class and I wish them all the best over the summer. Enjoy the summer break and thanks for making my job so enjoyable each and every day. Mrs. Power

Midterm to Easter!

April 21, 2026

We were learning about capacity in Maths. We used various containers and measuring jugs to calculate half, quarter, three-quarter and whole litres and their equivalent measurements in millilitres. It was quite a fun (and wet!) lesson.

We worked with some materials to discover static electricity in Science and learn about positive and negative energy. It was showing how everyday items, once charged, can create a force and make your hair stand, move aluminum cans, attract paper and attract or repel balloons.

We moved on to learning about electrical circuits and built a simple closed circuit using wires, batteries, bulbs and paperclip switches. The girls also experimented to discover how the light could shine brighter.

We celebrated intercultural week and Seachtain na gaeilge with multiple activities. Here are the girls just before we head off on our St. Patrick’s day parade followed by an Céilí mór!

We worked with clay in Visual Arts and created some celtic design necklaces as well as coil pots to hold our jewellery in!

Christmas to Midterm break!

The New Year wouldn’t be the same without the Little Red Kettle theatre group paying a visit. The girls look forward to it every year, mostly because some lucky stars get picked to perform. You might recognise some people in these photos!!

In Science we were investigating light and how shadows are formed. It depends on where the light source is coming from and how high or low it is. We investigated using torches and toys!

In preparations for the start of Spring, we made connections with History, Religion and Art. While learning about St. Bridget’s day, we learned the skill of weaving rushes to create St. Bridget’s crosses.

We explored what is in soil in Geography class and there is no better way to find out than to get your hands dirty! We compared various soils and discovered leaves, stones, moisture, even some organisms both dead and alive! and some roots. We then went on to compare garden soil, sandy soil and rocky soil. We planted some cress seeds and observed over time which soil had the best conditions for growth.

In Maths class we were investigating 3D shapes and made lots of polyhedra using cocktail sticks and playdough. We discovered what 2D polygons are used, how many vertices, edges and faces on each shape. We also learned what creates a pyramid and a prism.

We investigated how heat travels in Science by using some camping equipment. With these simple utensils the girls learned what conduction, convection and radiation are.

We also learned about some new fractions in Maths class to build on their knowledge of halves and quarters, we added fifths, eighths and tenths too.

Fresh today did a really interesting talk on healthy eating and what exactly is in our food and how much we need to eat of each area of the food pyramid. They also shocked some of the girls about some of the unhealthy foods and drinks that are available on the market.

As it was pancake Tuesday in February, I treated the girls to some pancakes at the end of the day! They seemed to enjoy!

Midterm to Christmas highlights!

In Science the girls were learning about materials used in our homes. They investigated lots of materials and sorted them into venn diagrams showing hard/soft, flexible/rigid and transparent/opaque.

They were quite creative in Visual Arts designing and making soft toys using fabric and fibre.

We had a lovely SPHE lesson where the girls brought in some photos of their lives through time. We put these in a human/photo timeline and used this to discuss how we have all grown and changed in so many ways over time.

We continued learning about materials used to build houses in Ireland in Science class. We investigated lots of different materials such as wood, plastic, iron, glass, fabric. We tested how strong they were, how flexible, how waterproof, and recorded our findings on a table.

We spent a few weeks creating string prints using string, glue and card in Visual Arts, and when they were dried we used printing ink and rollers to print our images. We also continued with the printing strand and did some monoprints.

We created some family stories in History of what life was like in the past when our parents and grandparents were young and made these into a class book for our library.

In the lead up to Christmas we used lots of household materials in Visual Arts to invent a snow mobile. It was a lot of fun (and mess!), team work and very interesting creations.

We investigated a number of materials in Science to find out which materials were better conductors of heat and better insulators.

In Geography we learned about the lives of people living and working in Waterford and on the Aran Islands. The girls worked in teams and at the end of the few weeks they created posters comparing and contrasting life in both areas, and presented these to the class.

And to add to our Christmas trees, we designed and created a Christmas tree ornament out of clay in Art, which the girls will have as a little memorbilia of 3rd class in the years to come.

September to Halloween in 3rd Class

The girls rejoined their same old teacher and classroom and looked forward to new adventures in Third class. Here are a few snippets of just some of their activities.

In Geography we explored our school surroundings as well as looking at the environment around our school. The girls used some worksheets and worked in groups to discover the attractive and unattractive features of our environment.

The girls used some inspiration from their friends and created a life size image of three of their classmates in Visual Arts. They look great hanging in our corridor.

They also designed and created some clown collages using fabrics and fibres.

We created some patterns using matchsticks in Maths. The girls were able to predict, continue, represent and generate patterns.

We also enjoyed listening to a 6th class student reading a story to us for International languages day, translated by a 3rd class child.

The highlight of our first half-term was Mission Week. The girls were outstanding when they designed, created and advertised for their sales day during Mission week. They had an abundance of items for sales and worked tirelessly all day selling cakes, buns, books, toys, games, jewellery and lots more. They finished the week with the Talent show and a whole lot of smiles!