St Mary’s pupils and staff would like to thank Business in the Community Northern Ireland for their kind donation of 10 devices through the Digital Access Drive.
The devices were used by our families during our recent learning from home.
ICT
Collaborating from Home!
Who said group and collaborative work wasn’t possible during Lock down?…. It was no problem to our IT savvy P6 and P7 pupils!
As part of their “live” online RE lessons, pupils were divided into Groups and given a link to a Google JamBoard. Each group were tasked to create their own visual display of “The Beatitudes” which they had been learning about.
Pupils could see each other’s online presence and through the use of “Sticky Notes”, they communicated and negotiated with their JamBoard partners. Suggestions were made, tasks assigned and the overall appearance of their combined work agreed upon.
We were delighted with their combined efforts, why not click on the link to see for yourself the amazing collaborative work completed whilst physically distanced, well done to everyone!
P7 – An Hour of Code
This year W5 and Microsoft have teamed up to present, “An Hour of Code” Workshops to P7 classes across Northern Ireland. For our P7 Pupils, this will take place this Thursday, 11th March @ 11 am. A link will be sent on the morning, via Google Classrooms for Collaborate Ultra.
Tomorrow, in preparation materials necessary for the Workshop will be sent via Google Classroom to all P7’s. These can be printed off or a rough sketch made of the 2 worksheets needed. Access to a copy of the “Global Sustainable Goals” as shown in the image below is also necessary, as pupils will refer to it during the Workshop.
During the Workshop, pupils will 1. act like coders and 2. develop new skills and concepts including:
- how to think computationally,
- how to break down problems,
- how to develop structured solutions and
- how to design new ideas
In addition they will focus on the following concepts:
- Coding
- Algorithms
- Bugs and debugging
- Sequencing and loops
- Decomposition
- Pattern recognition and
- Abstraction.
The activities will be linked to the Global Goals for Sustainable Development shown below.
We are really excited by this opportunity and look forward to seeing all our P7’s on Thursday
Miss Mulkerns +Mr Mc Coy
P6- Internet Safety
P6 are learning to code in their Live Lessons on a Tuesday. They have written their coding script so that their “sprite” follows their computer mouse along the river. Importantly they have been learning today while they can share the game they have created with others, they should NEVER USE THEIR REAL NAME OR GIVE OUT ANY PERSONAL DETAILS!
Safer Internet Day – 9th February
Safer Internet Day 2021 “Together for a better Internet”
Each year in St Mary’s we recognise the importance of Safer Internet Day by hosting Parents’ and Pupils’ workshops.
So this year we are asking families to take time to explore the Internet Safety tab on our school website where you will find links to information and stories related to this year’s theme “Together for a better Internet”
And why not check out tomorrow’s C2K Newsdesk story line made famous by ex president Donald Trump “Fake News”
Live Lessons
Exciting news for P6 as we begin our “Live Lessons” tomorrow morning.
We have two special guests who will be joining us during the lesson and I know you will be very happy to hear what they have to tell you for our Tuesday lessons.
We will be using Collaborate Ultra and your link will be sent at in your Google Classroom at 9.30am.
The link will become active at 9.45am for everyone to join in time for the start of lesson at 10am.
Remember to use Google Chrome as your browser to ensure that you can hear and see in the lesson.
Looking forward to seeing you all in the morning
Miss Mulkerns and Miss Crawley
KS2 Parents
Dear Ks2 Parent/Guardian,
Next week we will begin “Live Lessons” for KS2, classes, ie P5, P6 and P7. Many of you will be familiar with Live Lessons from last year and will know they take place through our C2k approved platform “Collaborate Ultra”. It does not require the download of any additional software. Your child will be sent a link to their lesson on the morning, via their Google Classroom. Once they click on it they will be taken to the live platform. The only requirement is that you use Google Chrome to open the link.
Each year group will have a specific day of the week for their year group lesson. This is to avoid clashes in families were there are siblings across different year groups. The days are as follows-
Monday P5
Wednesday P7
Thursday P6
All lessons will be at 10 am and will last approximately 1 hour.
In addition there are some extra special lessons coming up. Each KS2 year group will have the opportunity to take part in one Art lesson with a specialist art teacher. These will be on a Friday morning also at 10 am as follows:
Friday, 29th of January P7.
Friday, 5th of February P6
Friday 12th of February P5
Before your child can take part in any lessons, there are some rules, which are laid out in our Code of Conduct. This will be sent through in your child’s Google Classroom in the next day or so. Please read through the Code with your child and return a signed permission stating you allow your child to take part and that you have both, read and agreed to the rules.
(There is no need to print this off, simply write on a piece of paper,)-
“I understand and agree with the rules for using Collaborate Ultra”
Signed Parent-
Signed Child-
Date:
Take a photograph, or scan and upload back to your child’s Google Classroom assignment.
Thank you and we look forward to seeing everyone in person next week.
KS2 Teachers
Thank-You
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We would like to say thank-you for all your support to St. Mary’s over the past year and in particular over the past difficult few months. You have helped us to support your child/children by ensuring that they have engaged with learning, both on and off line, it hasn’t been easy, we know. It was a steep learning curve for everyone and we appreciate you will have encountered many difficulties along the way, but you stuck with it and this very much encouraged us to continue with and develop new ways of reaching out to our children and families. The whole experience will have taught your children many new skills and developed important life skills- not least not giving up! We are very proud, our whole school community very much lived up to our school motto: “Never settle for less than your best!”
We are currently working on a plan for return to school in September we hope to be in a position to share this with you by the end of next week.
Thank you for all your messages and emails of support, we hope all our families have a lovely Summer Holiday and we look forward to working with you in the Autumn Term.
Stay safe, Stay well.
The Staff of St. Mary’s.
Great Honour for St Mary’s!
On Tuesday past our very own Miss Crawley was asked to present at a “Showcase of Learning” organised through C2K the IT providers for schools in Northern Ireland. Collaborate Ultra the Video conferencing platform provided to schools was only launched in March and very quickly Miss Crawley had staff, pupils and parents using the platform. This didn’t go unnoticed by C2K support staff!
It was a great honour for Miss Crawley but also for the whole St. Mary’s Community, without the: enthusiasm of staff and pupils, the support from parents and ultimately the whole community who got behind our IT funding raising events 4 years ago it would not have happened.
So, a BIG thank you and a well done to everyone!
Digital Assistance
Dear Parent/Guardian,
Please see attached a flyer from Business in the Community NI with information on free assistance available for any one lacking the IT skills to complete necessary online transactions, or who is experiencing IT problems, e.g. with computer settings.
They have also some useful resources for Parents to assist with reading, numeracy, creative activities, exercise and much more on their website at the link below.
/https://www.bitcni.org.uk/programmes/3-covid-19-help-for-schools-and-parents/