Bluestar Award 2020
News just in - we have achieved a Bluestar Award. Well done to all the children and teachers for all the work that went into this award. This is the fourth time we have completed this initiative. Have a look at some of our work below.
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What we did ...our Bluestar Report
1. Historical Section
The children in the Junior Infants room listened to online Fairy stories by Hans Christian Andersen. The stories that they were read were The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid. They were told about the country that he came from and that it was called Denmark and that it was part of the European Union of Countries.
The children in 1st and 2nd Class also were told some of the Hans Christian Andersen stories. The story they were told was The Snow Queen which they know was published a long time ago in 1844. They related this story to the more modern ‘Frozen’ movie which is loosely based on the original fairy tale.
The children in 1st and 2nd read two versions of the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and watched a video of the story. The learnt that Hamelin was a town in Germany and that the story originated in Germany.
• The 3rd and 4th classes read The Silver Sword, to gain an insight into how children were impacted during WW2:
- understand poor living conditions of children as a result of WW2.
- understand how food supplies were rationed.
- some children's parents were sent to prison camps and learned about the desperate living conditions within prison camps.
• Children created a timeline of key events of WW2.
• Children examined information about The Monaghan Spitfire (which helped link WW2 in Europe to local area).
• Children researched topics relating to WW2 and began preparing Powerpoint presentations on these (unfinished due to COVID 19).
• Children examined evidence on the Great Northern Rail and how the creation of a hard border on the island of Ireland negatively impacted trade and transport, especially in Monaghan. However, children learned about the role of the EU in allowing free-trade between EU countries and the abolishment of 'hard borders'.
• Children read and learned about stories from other EU countries
- Krakus and the Dragon (set in Poland)
- The Golden Harp (Welsh)
- The Lady of Stavoren (Netherlands).
All children in 5th and 6th classes worked together to create a timeline from 1957 – 2019.
Each country was placed on the timeline in order of when they joined.
Each country was identified by their national flag and a small fact file was placed beside the flag.
The timeline is displayed in the Classroom and we can send a photo of this on when we get into the school building.
This project took around 4 weeks to complete and the children enjoyed learning all about the EU through this work. As a class they researched the history of the EU and why it was formed, the countries that joined first and when Ireland joined the EU.
2. Geographical Section
The children in the Infant room talked about Europe and particularly the countries that some of the children in the class came from. There are some infants who come from Lithuania so the children looked at a map and were shown were Lithuania was. They talked about the distance between Ireland and Lithuania and how you might travel to Lithuania. They looked at the Lithuanian Flag and the children shared some Lithuanian phrases with the class.
The children in senior infants completed a study of Italy. They looked at its location on a map, recognizing that it is in Europe. They also learnt about the Italian language, the flag, the capital city of Rome, the cities of Pisa and Venice, traditional Italian food and tourist attractions. They completed projects reflecting what they had learnt
The children in 1st and 2nd Class studied Germany. They located Germany on a map and researched facts about Germany. The children looked at famous people who came from Germany and some created mini projects on people like Steffi, Angela Merkel, Albert Einstein, Michael Schumacher. We talked about things that Germany produce like Audi, BMW, VW and Bosch. They looked up how to say some words in German and where Germany is located on a map of Europe. They were challenged to read a German Fact File and also to use weblinks to research and find out the names of the 9 countries that border Germany, famous German landmarks and also the distance between Ireland and Germany
They coloured in the German Flag. Some of their work can be seen on our school Twitter Account @knockconanns
• Children in 3rd and 4th Classes investigated maps and atlases to identify EU countries, capitals and flags.
• Children learned about the Euro, they reflected on the value of the Euro within the EU (easy to use when shopping in other EU countries whilst on holidays).
• Children learned about the 'common market' and the Schengen Agreement.
• Children explored different forms of transport within the EU and learned about the role it plays to support the economy.
in 5th and 5th Class the children wrote reports on an EU country of their choice.
Children worked in pairs and chose a country from the EU. They worked together to create a PowerPoint and present it to the class.
They researched under the following headings;
1. Location
2. Industries
3. Natural Features
4. Capital City
They took part in European Quizzes during September – November.
Each week there was a class quiz on European capitals and European countries. This was to prepare for the Credit Union Quiz and we did this interactively using Kahoot. The children really enjoyed this. It was very competitive, and their teacher could see great progression of their knowledge in relation to European Geography, Famous Europeans, European landmarks, colours of the EU flags, river, mountains and capital cities in Europe.
3. Cultural and Creative Section
In our school community we have children from many European countries including, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia and Bulgaria and this year we also had a Spanish exchange student join us for a few months. We regularly celebrate these cultures and particularly in weekly assemblies where we ask the children to perform and tell us a little about their home countries.
The children in the Infant room have had a tasting day where they tasted a variety of foods from other European countries.
The children in senior infants learnt about the Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. They learnt about his famous imaginative portraits and recreated their own fabulous pieces of art inspired by his work.
They also created posters while completing their study of Italy, making Italian flags and drawing popular tourist attractions.
The children in 1st and 2nd Classes looked at the work of Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter. They read a story about his life and his background and inspirations for his paintings and sketches. They talked about and described his paintings, looking at the lines, colours, patterns and materials used. They discussed what they liked and disliked about the paintings. They then had a go at creating their own version of ‘Picasso Faces’. They really enjoyed this activity and said it was one of their favourite art activities.
The children looked at famous Europeans when they carried out mini- projects. They discovered some famous modern day Germans across the Arts and Sport. like Steffi Graf, Michael Schumacher and Heidi Klum.
In the 3rd and 4th Classes:
• Children took part in dramas relating to WW2, pretending to steal food to survive; escaping from a prison camp; reuniting with lost loved ones.
• Children reflected on Vincent Van Gogh's A Starry Night and then painted their own Starry Night scenes.
• Children learned about the life of Vincent Van Gogh.
• Children studied Claude Monet. They observed his painting Water Lilies and used this as inspiration to draw / paint their own pictures of attractive local scenery.
• Children listened to Mozart.
Children from 2nd to 6th also attended and took part in the Peace Proms Choir Initiative in Belfast and listened to traditional Scottish music and observed Highland dancing; as well as taking part in the cross border choir experience with children from Northern Ireland.
Creation of Country flags for the purpose of the timeline.
6th class boys created a European Soccer competition for sports day in 2019 that many children in the school participated in. Children were encouraged to wear the colours of the European team that they were associated with.
The 5th and 6th Classes had a Spanish exchange student this year and at Christmas time they learned the Christmas song Feliz Navidad. Having the student really gave the children fantastic opportunities to learn directly from a peer about the cultural and school life in another European Country. It gave them great curiosity about travelling to and learning about another European country. They were very accepting of the student and we all benefited hugely from having the student in the school.
4. Institutional Section
During Europe Week the children of Knockconan National School coloured in and painted European flags. (This was added to our Twitter page)
The Infants are aware that Ireland is part of the EU and that Lithuania is another country in the European Union.
The children in senior infants understood that the country of Italy and Ireland are both part of the European Union. They also know recognise the European Union flag and created their own.
The children in 1st and 2nd Class learnt that the country of Germany and Ireland are both part of the European Union. They also know recognise the European Union flag and created their own flag as part of our Europe Week celebrations.
The children know the current number of EU countries at present and some children also drew out all 27 flags.
The children in 3rd and 4th Classes learned about the possible impacts of Brexit, particularly those relating to us living along the border (trade and borders).
• Children learned about the role played by the EU in protecting the environment and practised environmental awareness and care
- they wrote poems reflecting on the beauty of the environment / animals we need to protect.
- drew / painted pictures of attractive local environment to encourage us to appreciate the beauty in our local area and to support EU in protecting the environment.
In 5th and 6th Classes:
Mock EU Elections were planned to take place in May with the children researching and deciding what political parties they would like to join.
Each party would canvass and highlight their goals / priorities.
Mock debates would take place in front of the school with the Principal adjudicating.
Finally, a vote would have taken place. This would have been a highlight of our European week celebrations but unfortunately the election has been put on hold at the minute.
We sent some questions to Barry Andrews, MEP. We found out that he was a former Minister of State for children. He told us that he decided to run because he wanted to promote the importance of Ireland’s membership of the EU following the Brexit vote in the UK. He is based in Dublin and normally travelled over once a week for three nights to Brussels but that during Covid he is working remotely but will probably head back in September. We asked him about Brexit and its implications and he told us that the impact is yet to be seen. He feels that if there is a good trade agreement the damage will be limited to a reduction in influence for Ireland in the EU. He also told us that the UK and Ireland were aligned on many European issues.
We asked him "How often do you get to speak in the Parliament?"
He replied that he has only spoken once because he was late starting and now can’t participate because of remote working.
Our school is in the border region and we asked him about our area and Brexit. He stated that the border will remain open for travel because of the Common Travel Area and assuming there is a trade agreement it will remain open for the transport of goods.
Two of our teachers and our Principal were lucky enough to travel to Brussels with Blue Star and have told us on many occasions of the fantastic time they had visiting the Institutions and meeting MEP's while they were there.
5. Europe Day Celebrations
All children were invited to remotely take part in Europe Day celebrations. They created the European Union flags and they took part in the virtual handshake for Europe.
Children drew pictures of the EU flag and held them over their faces, these were photographed and shared with the school. See Twitter account for a selection of these.
Children were encouraged to cook a meal / food from another EU country.
We had planned great celebrations during Europe week. In 5th and 6th Class they would have been invited to dress up as a famous person from Europe. We will continue to celebrate Europe and teach the children about all aspects of the wonderful EU in the next school year.
The children in the Junior Infants room listened to online Fairy stories by Hans Christian Andersen. The stories that they were read were The Ugly Duckling and The Little Mermaid. They were told about the country that he came from and that it was called Denmark and that it was part of the European Union of Countries.
The children in 1st and 2nd Class also were told some of the Hans Christian Andersen stories. The story they were told was The Snow Queen which they know was published a long time ago in 1844. They related this story to the more modern ‘Frozen’ movie which is loosely based on the original fairy tale.
The children in 1st and 2nd read two versions of the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and watched a video of the story. The learnt that Hamelin was a town in Germany and that the story originated in Germany.
• The 3rd and 4th classes read The Silver Sword, to gain an insight into how children were impacted during WW2:
- understand poor living conditions of children as a result of WW2.
- understand how food supplies were rationed.
- some children's parents were sent to prison camps and learned about the desperate living conditions within prison camps.
• Children created a timeline of key events of WW2.
• Children examined information about The Monaghan Spitfire (which helped link WW2 in Europe to local area).
• Children researched topics relating to WW2 and began preparing Powerpoint presentations on these (unfinished due to COVID 19).
• Children examined evidence on the Great Northern Rail and how the creation of a hard border on the island of Ireland negatively impacted trade and transport, especially in Monaghan. However, children learned about the role of the EU in allowing free-trade between EU countries and the abolishment of 'hard borders'.
• Children read and learned about stories from other EU countries
- Krakus and the Dragon (set in Poland)
- The Golden Harp (Welsh)
- The Lady of Stavoren (Netherlands).
All children in 5th and 6th classes worked together to create a timeline from 1957 – 2019.
Each country was placed on the timeline in order of when they joined.
Each country was identified by their national flag and a small fact file was placed beside the flag.
The timeline is displayed in the Classroom and we can send a photo of this on when we get into the school building.
This project took around 4 weeks to complete and the children enjoyed learning all about the EU through this work. As a class they researched the history of the EU and why it was formed, the countries that joined first and when Ireland joined the EU.
2. Geographical Section
The children in the Infant room talked about Europe and particularly the countries that some of the children in the class came from. There are some infants who come from Lithuania so the children looked at a map and were shown were Lithuania was. They talked about the distance between Ireland and Lithuania and how you might travel to Lithuania. They looked at the Lithuanian Flag and the children shared some Lithuanian phrases with the class.
The children in senior infants completed a study of Italy. They looked at its location on a map, recognizing that it is in Europe. They also learnt about the Italian language, the flag, the capital city of Rome, the cities of Pisa and Venice, traditional Italian food and tourist attractions. They completed projects reflecting what they had learnt
The children in 1st and 2nd Class studied Germany. They located Germany on a map and researched facts about Germany. The children looked at famous people who came from Germany and some created mini projects on people like Steffi, Angela Merkel, Albert Einstein, Michael Schumacher. We talked about things that Germany produce like Audi, BMW, VW and Bosch. They looked up how to say some words in German and where Germany is located on a map of Europe. They were challenged to read a German Fact File and also to use weblinks to research and find out the names of the 9 countries that border Germany, famous German landmarks and also the distance between Ireland and Germany
They coloured in the German Flag. Some of their work can be seen on our school Twitter Account @knockconanns
• Children in 3rd and 4th Classes investigated maps and atlases to identify EU countries, capitals and flags.
• Children learned about the Euro, they reflected on the value of the Euro within the EU (easy to use when shopping in other EU countries whilst on holidays).
• Children learned about the 'common market' and the Schengen Agreement.
• Children explored different forms of transport within the EU and learned about the role it plays to support the economy.
in 5th and 5th Class the children wrote reports on an EU country of their choice.
Children worked in pairs and chose a country from the EU. They worked together to create a PowerPoint and present it to the class.
They researched under the following headings;
1. Location
2. Industries
3. Natural Features
4. Capital City
They took part in European Quizzes during September – November.
Each week there was a class quiz on European capitals and European countries. This was to prepare for the Credit Union Quiz and we did this interactively using Kahoot. The children really enjoyed this. It was very competitive, and their teacher could see great progression of their knowledge in relation to European Geography, Famous Europeans, European landmarks, colours of the EU flags, river, mountains and capital cities in Europe.
3. Cultural and Creative Section
In our school community we have children from many European countries including, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia and Bulgaria and this year we also had a Spanish exchange student join us for a few months. We regularly celebrate these cultures and particularly in weekly assemblies where we ask the children to perform and tell us a little about their home countries.
The children in the Infant room have had a tasting day where they tasted a variety of foods from other European countries.
The children in senior infants learnt about the Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo. They learnt about his famous imaginative portraits and recreated their own fabulous pieces of art inspired by his work.
They also created posters while completing their study of Italy, making Italian flags and drawing popular tourist attractions.
The children in 1st and 2nd Classes looked at the work of Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter. They read a story about his life and his background and inspirations for his paintings and sketches. They talked about and described his paintings, looking at the lines, colours, patterns and materials used. They discussed what they liked and disliked about the paintings. They then had a go at creating their own version of ‘Picasso Faces’. They really enjoyed this activity and said it was one of their favourite art activities.
The children looked at famous Europeans when they carried out mini- projects. They discovered some famous modern day Germans across the Arts and Sport. like Steffi Graf, Michael Schumacher and Heidi Klum.
In the 3rd and 4th Classes:
• Children took part in dramas relating to WW2, pretending to steal food to survive; escaping from a prison camp; reuniting with lost loved ones.
• Children reflected on Vincent Van Gogh's A Starry Night and then painted their own Starry Night scenes.
• Children learned about the life of Vincent Van Gogh.
• Children studied Claude Monet. They observed his painting Water Lilies and used this as inspiration to draw / paint their own pictures of attractive local scenery.
• Children listened to Mozart.
Children from 2nd to 6th also attended and took part in the Peace Proms Choir Initiative in Belfast and listened to traditional Scottish music and observed Highland dancing; as well as taking part in the cross border choir experience with children from Northern Ireland.
Creation of Country flags for the purpose of the timeline.
6th class boys created a European Soccer competition for sports day in 2019 that many children in the school participated in. Children were encouraged to wear the colours of the European team that they were associated with.
The 5th and 6th Classes had a Spanish exchange student this year and at Christmas time they learned the Christmas song Feliz Navidad. Having the student really gave the children fantastic opportunities to learn directly from a peer about the cultural and school life in another European Country. It gave them great curiosity about travelling to and learning about another European country. They were very accepting of the student and we all benefited hugely from having the student in the school.
4. Institutional Section
During Europe Week the children of Knockconan National School coloured in and painted European flags. (This was added to our Twitter page)
The Infants are aware that Ireland is part of the EU and that Lithuania is another country in the European Union.
The children in senior infants understood that the country of Italy and Ireland are both part of the European Union. They also know recognise the European Union flag and created their own.
The children in 1st and 2nd Class learnt that the country of Germany and Ireland are both part of the European Union. They also know recognise the European Union flag and created their own flag as part of our Europe Week celebrations.
The children know the current number of EU countries at present and some children also drew out all 27 flags.
The children in 3rd and 4th Classes learned about the possible impacts of Brexit, particularly those relating to us living along the border (trade and borders).
• Children learned about the role played by the EU in protecting the environment and practised environmental awareness and care
- they wrote poems reflecting on the beauty of the environment / animals we need to protect.
- drew / painted pictures of attractive local environment to encourage us to appreciate the beauty in our local area and to support EU in protecting the environment.
In 5th and 6th Classes:
Mock EU Elections were planned to take place in May with the children researching and deciding what political parties they would like to join.
Each party would canvass and highlight their goals / priorities.
Mock debates would take place in front of the school with the Principal adjudicating.
Finally, a vote would have taken place. This would have been a highlight of our European week celebrations but unfortunately the election has been put on hold at the minute.
We sent some questions to Barry Andrews, MEP. We found out that he was a former Minister of State for children. He told us that he decided to run because he wanted to promote the importance of Ireland’s membership of the EU following the Brexit vote in the UK. He is based in Dublin and normally travelled over once a week for three nights to Brussels but that during Covid he is working remotely but will probably head back in September. We asked him about Brexit and its implications and he told us that the impact is yet to be seen. He feels that if there is a good trade agreement the damage will be limited to a reduction in influence for Ireland in the EU. He also told us that the UK and Ireland were aligned on many European issues.
We asked him "How often do you get to speak in the Parliament?"
He replied that he has only spoken once because he was late starting and now can’t participate because of remote working.
Our school is in the border region and we asked him about our area and Brexit. He stated that the border will remain open for travel because of the Common Travel Area and assuming there is a trade agreement it will remain open for the transport of goods.
Two of our teachers and our Principal were lucky enough to travel to Brussels with Blue Star and have told us on many occasions of the fantastic time they had visiting the Institutions and meeting MEP's while they were there.
5. Europe Day Celebrations
All children were invited to remotely take part in Europe Day celebrations. They created the European Union flags and they took part in the virtual handshake for Europe.
Children drew pictures of the EU flag and held them over their faces, these were photographed and shared with the school. See Twitter account for a selection of these.
Children were encouraged to cook a meal / food from another EU country.
We had planned great celebrations during Europe week. In 5th and 6th Class they would have been invited to dress up as a famous person from Europe. We will continue to celebrate Europe and teach the children about all aspects of the wonderful EU in the next school year.