Dear parents and guardians,
I hope that everyone is keeping safe and well. We are coming to the end of the school year 2019/2020! What a year it has been too! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment in class with all the boys this year. We all had a great time, having loads of fun writing books, doing projects, creating magnificent art and much much more. I would like to thank all the boys and you the parents for all the help and support and for making the year so great. Unfortunately as we all know at this stage our time together in the class for first class came to a quick and untimely end! No one expected or could have predicted the way that our year ended. We missed out on so many more fantastic art, P.E lessons, swimming, sports day, our school tour and our first attempt at standardised tests which would have been the most fun I promise. If you have read the Aladdin notice, you will know by now, I will be the boy's teacher for next year! I am delighted and excited to pick up from where we left off! Creating new memories, trying new things and of course celebrating communion. I would love it if everyone could send in a picture by Thursday evening so I can put a collage up on the blog also. Reports will be available today via the Aladdin connect app. I will be posting new links and resources on the links and resources tab on the blog, that you may want to use for the summer, so keep an eye on that tab. Kind regards, Mr. Duffy |
Click image below for well-being ideas:
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15/06/2020
Well-being Week! As we head into our last two weeks of school, we also enter into our week of well-being! During these tough times our mental and physical well-being have become more important than ever before. The last three months have been tough for everybody, especially the boys who may not fully understand what is really going on. This is why over the last few weeks in particular myself and Ms. Egan have been putting in well-being and S.P.H.E tasks and activities nearly everyday. Something as simple as meditation, listening to relaxing music or getting out and active can make a huge difference for everyone's well-being. If you are looking for ideas don't hesitate to look back through the last few weeks of worksheets. If you click the image to the left a document will open with a lot more ideas divided out into a day by day basis. Stay safe, Kind regards, Mr. Duffy |
11/06/2020
Active Week! I hope that everyone is safe and well! This week has been active week and for today and tomorrow I want everyone to do as much if not more walking, running playing etc. as work. Focus on doing different fun activities and games that will keep your child active. See the images to the right for some tips and ideas for what to do. Continue the great work boys and keep sending in the great pictures! I am delighted to see that everyone is working so hard, keeping fit and having a lot of fun in the process! Below is a list of suggested books from a boy in our class; - Horrid Henry's Car journey - Horrid Henry on holidays - Mr Men books, in particular Mr Adventure and Mr Cool - The smartest giant in town - Tiddler - Room on the broom - Stickman Keep safe, Regards, Mr. Duffy |
27/05/2020
Desert Day! (D-Day for short) I hope that everyone is keeping safe and well! With the fantastic weather that we have been getting it is as important to be getting out and about as it is to be sitting in and doing work. Keep up all the great work while encouraging your child to get up, get out and get active in between different subjects. Continue to set virtual challenges and to be creative in what fitness activities that your son is getting up too. After all what is good for the body is good for the mind. It's strange not hearing the noise of the ice cream truck driving by during these warm days and I know not everyone has access to "soft serve" ice cream in their locality. SO.... why not try an experiment with your child and make your own ice cream at home. The majority of the ingredients you will already have; milk, vanilla extract/essence, sugar, ice, salt and two zip lock bags PLUS your favourite toppings. (Replace the vanilla to make different flavours). Click the image of the ice-cream to get the recipe and instructions! There are plenty of videos on making ice cream "in a bag" on the internet and youtube! Don't forget to send in some pictures of your son making and enjoying the ice-cream! Enjoy the ice-cream and enjoy the nice weather! Stay Safe, Mr. Duffy |
22/05/2020
Family Friday! Once again I hope that everyone is keeping safe and well. I apologise for the delay in posting up on the blog and photos to the gallery. (Technical difficulties!) I am back up and running on the blog, thank you very much for all of your photos. It is great to see all the hard work that everyone is getting through. As we head into the final week of May I hope that the good weather holds up and that everyone is enjoying it. I will continue to reply to emails and update the useful links and resources page of this blog over the weekend. A nice task to take part in over the weekend is a game of pass the story. This can be played with 2 or more people. Get very creative with this and adjust the rules to suit your family. How it works; One person starts the story e.g. Once upon a time there was an old man who lived under a bridge. Then the next person says the next sentence so on and so forth. This will help in create a story together. Get creative try and make the game more or less difficult to suit. This game can be played orally or written. Send on any pictures you may have of your story or your family playing the game. I had a couple of requests for specific work, if there is anything that you would like in particular for your son to work on, don't hesitate to email me and I will get back with some work as soon as I can. Keep sending in the great pictures. Stay safe and healthy, Mr. Duffy |
14/05/2020
Time Capsule Thursday! I hope that everyone is keeping safe and well! I have nothing but positive feedback from everyone and it is great to hear that everyone is doing well and all the boys are trying their best with all the work they are doing! If you go to the "Useful Links and Resources" page you will notice I have added a new image. If you click this image a nice document will open in a new tab. My thinking behind this document is to think about the present and think about the extraordinary times that we are all experiencing. This document is a nice little project for your child to do alone or for your family to do as a whole. Fill in the pages add in whatever you want and keep it safe and sound. In years to come it will be great to open and remember this extraordinary time. It will be a nice document for future generations to have a look at to get a look at what it was like and to reflect back on what it was all like. All the pictures, work and messages I have been receiving have been great! Remember all work I send out is suggested work, it's not mandatory. Next week we are going to send home revision work for everyone to take a chance to work more independently and take a bit of a break from all the really hard work that everyone has been completing! Keep up the great work! Kind regards, Mr. Duffy |
08/05/2020
Feel Good Friday! Apologies for the late blog post! I just want to post a quick message to say thanks for all the photos sent in over the last few weeks! Keep up the great work. This is a quick well-being post. At some stage over the weekend ask your child to close their eyes and think of their happiest memory. Talk about it and imagine it! Now Get them to trace around their hand on a blank page and draw this memory inside the outline of their hand. To show them that they can hold on to all the happy memories in their life and to always think positive. I hope everyone has a safe and healthy weekend. Stay safe, Mr. Duffy |
Stay 05/05/2020
It's May! I hope everyone got through the May Bank Holiday weekend safe and healthy! I'm sure everyone was out soaking in the lovely weather we had. If you have any photos of what your child got up to over the weekend feel free to send them on to [email protected]. This week you will see on Aladdin I have posted the work for individual days. I have also posted all the documents combined on the "Home" page of this blog. Warning; This includes all answer sheets, it might not be necessary to print these pages, if you are printing the document. According to KidsHealth.org children should be getting at least 60 minutes of exercise a week. So my suggestion for this week and going forward when possible is; in your own order when completing English, Gaeilge and mathematics to do 20 minutes of exercise before starting the next subject and to do 20 minutes exercise after completing these subjects also. This isn't a maximum! This will be great for both physical and mental health, it will help everyone focus and be motivated to do the work to the best of their ability. Why not record what exercise that your child is doing or try a virtual challenge. Why not try to virtually walk to Drogheda or somewhere else. Walking around your garden or up and down the corridor in your kitchen! Do a little bit everyday! Send on any pictures or ideas you might come up with! I'm not advising anyone to run inside! See the link below for a challenge to climb different mountains walking up and down the stairs at home while holding the banister! Preferably do this with adult guidance! Come up with your own challenge to keep motivated! When you reach your target I will send you a certificate! https://www.nhsggc.org.uk/media/213470/haw_challenge_stair_climb.pdf Don't forget to use the feedback comment box above to send me on any suggestions you may have anonymously! Stay safe, Regards, Mr. Duffy |
30/04/2020
Thankful Thursday! I hope that "Active Home Week" is going well for everyone! It is important to remember that any work that I post here or on Aladdin is completely optional. I hope that everyone will try their best and do what is comfortable for them. It is important for your child to work at their own pace and to take movement breaks quite regularly. You may have noticed that I have added "Feedback on blog and suggested work" above. This is a quick and anonymous way for you to give me honest feedback. I want to ensure that I am not putting too much pressure on anyone to complete work. So whether you want more work, more activities etc. Just type it into this box and I will receive it directly after it is submitted. I am still contactable via [email protected] From next week on I will be posting the work spread out over the week. This may help gauge what work to complete and when. I will post up the work Monday-Friday on Sunday and in one document on the homepage of this blog. This week's well-being task is for your child to meditate for at least two minutes everyday, in silence or with some meditative music, think about why they are awesome! Draw a picture describing why they are awesome afterwards and list words that they think of! Finally in Useful links and resources I have posted a video that might help some children with understanding Coronavirus and having to stay at home. Again I advise parental guidance when using the internet! I hope everyone has a nice and safe weekend, Kindest regards, Mr. Duffy |
28/04/2020
Active week! Each year our school and schools all around the country celebrate and partake in "Active School Week", due to the impacts of COVID-19 on our daily lives we are now celebrating "Active Home Week". This week I challenge all the children in my class to get active and try and do 60 minutes of exercise a day! Whether it is for a walk or run around your back garden, kicking a football off a wall, jumping on a trampoline, dancing, a Joe Wicks lesson, some Go Noodle etc. Encourage and motivate your child to get creative with what they are doing. For extra help and activities I have updated the "Useful Links and Resources" section of the Blog. Tomorrow I will post up extra work for anyone who may need it. I will put a link to this work on the "Home Page" so keep an eye out for it tomorrow. Thanks for the great pictures so far as you may have seen I have updated the Gallery! Keep the great images coming. If you have any comments, questions or queries on the work that has been posted so far don't hesitate to email me on [email protected] Stay Safe, Mr. Duffy |
23/04/2020
Weekend Wellbeing! I hope everybody had another safe, healthy and happy week. During these tough and strange times our metal health and wellbeing is just as important as our physical wellbeing. For us adults we can understand what is going on and why we can't see out friends. This new but temporary world that we find ourselves in may not be as easily understood by the boys in class. That's why every Friday I will post a "Weekend Wellbeing" Task or activity. This week's activity is for the children to write and draw a picture of five or more things they are thankful for in these strange times. I personally am thankful for having my family around me, being healthy enough to get out for a walk and a run (within 2km of course), for all front-line workers in hospitals, I am thankful for having Disney+ and Netflix and finally I am thankful for technology that allows me to video call my friends and family at home and abroad! Finally if you click the image to the left the answers for this week's homework sheet will open in a new tab and I will post a new HW pack early on Sunday for the week of April 27th. Any questions, queries or pictures that you'd like to feature in the gallery send them on to [email protected] Have a happy and safe weekend, Regards, Mr. Duffy |
22/04/2020
Happy World Earth Day! Today is World Earth day, this is a great opportunity for your child to learn all about our wonderful planet! This is a chance to get them to help with the clean up and become more energy efficient by helping with recycling, composting, cleaning up, turning off lights, learning how the dishwasher and washing machine work, turning off running taps etc. Let them explore; https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/celebrations/earth-day/ I hope that all the work that your child is doing is going well! Once again feel free to email me on pictures of any work or activities that your child is getting up to and completing! [email protected] If you require more work select the image of the Earth to the right hand side and explore the useful links and resources tab of this blog. Again this is suggested work. Regards, Mr. Duffy |
20/04/2020
Welcome back! I hope everybody had a nice and more importantly safe Easter Break! I can't wait to see any activities and work you have been up to and will be getting up to over the coming weeks! Over my Easter break I did a lot of running (all within 2km of home of course) and I am taking part in a running challenge with my gaelic club St. Oliver Plunketts! As a club we are virtually running to Rome and back for charity! Over the coming week(s) I will continue to put up blog posts, update the gallery and put up more useful links and resources as I come across them myself. For now I have put a new link "GAA Learning" up, which has lessons and worksheets for all class levels. They will be doing new lessons and topics every week so keep an eye on it. In the blog I will post similar topics to my first blog post "Discussion and Writing Prompts". For now, work through (At your own pace) the work I have uploaded to Aladdin and on the home page of this website. If you have any questions, pictures or work you want to send on to me send it to [email protected], with my name in the subject bar. Stay safe, Mr. Duffy. |
03/04/2020
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02/04/2020
A welcoming message!
Welcome one and all to Mr. Duffy's First Class Blog! First of all I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy and that you are all looking out for each other!
I am looking forward to getting back to school as much all of you are right now! (Especially parents 😊) As for now all work will be posted on the homepage on this blog and on Aladdin before the start of every week. Throughout the week I will post extra ideas here in the "Blog" and in the "Useful Links and Resources" page. So keep an eye out for updates. Coming this Friday is our "Easter Holidays" something that you can do at home is try and make an Easter hat/bonnet using only recyclable materials! Can you think of as many recycable materials as possible boys? Send on any pictures during the process and the finished product and I will showcase them in the blog. Helping at Home: Make sure that you are helping around the house whether it be sweeping up (We practiced this everyday in school), tidying up after yourself; after playing, eating or just cleaning up your room. Do the dishes or just offer to help in any way that you can, I'm sure that it really will be appreciated. As mentioned in the "Suggested Work" document forward on any pictures and queries to [email protected] with "Mr. Duffy" in the subject bar. I hope to see you all soon, Mr. Duffy. |
30/03/2020
Discussion and writing prompts
When you get home from school you are probably normally asked "How was your day?". It's different at home because your family knows all about what you have been doing!
Here are some things you can talk about instead. You could even write some sentences about each question! - What is something you do well? - What is your favourite time of day and why? - What is something that makes you happy/ angry/ excited? - If you could fly, where would you go? - What would happen if children ruled the world? - If you could have a super power what would it be? - What if people has pet dinosaurs instead of cats and dogs? - What would happen if there were no tvs/ tablets/ phones? *Check back for more again soon! |