Our Projects on birds

The Swallow
This birdis a small bird but very fast. Its diet consists of insects. Its is a migrant bird. It spends the winter in Africa. It comes to Ireland from April to October. It builds its nest from mud usually inside barns and buildings. It usually returns to the same nest as the year before. It has a blue black back wings on top of head with a white belly. Its length is between 17-21cm.It lays between 3-6 eggs. You would see it flying very fast low over rivers, lakes and the ground. People love to see swallows because they're so acrobatic.

The Grey Heron
This tall bird has very long legs. It has a grey back, white head and neck with a black crest on its head. It is from 84cm to 102 cm long. It can usually be found standing in water whit its neck out stretched to catch food. It nests in bushes and trees in a colony called a heronry. It eats fish, frogs, insects , worms and birds .It will even visit garden ponds to steal fish.You will find it along coasts, estuaries, lakes and rivers. It lays between 3 and 5 eggs.

The Gannet
This bird is a common seabird around the Irish coast. It is white with a pale yellow head. It is between 85 and 97cm in length. it has huge wings, a pointed tail and a long bill. It can dive from 40 metres into the water at speeds of up to 100 km per hour. It tucks away its wings and streamlines its body. They have air sacs in their face and chest under their skin which act like bubble wrapping cushioning the impact with the water. Its diet is fish.

Marino art competition

Congratulations to Robert from our class, who won a cool dvd player for his artwork from Ms. Magnier and all at Marino College.

Well done Robert!

This morning our class was asked to help out with the annual Halloween parade in the community. We headed for the junior boy's school and walked from there, around the IFSC and finally to the community centre. There was lots of activities to do there including, apple bobbing, bubble blowing, pass the parcel and a magician. All the children had lots of fun and there were some great costumes to be seen!

Last week our class went on a trip to learn about the Royal Canal. It was all made by hand.
They started it in 1790 and finished it in 1817.
It cost about two million Euros to build.
Its 90 miles long and joins the River Liffey with the River Shannon. After a lot of work it has reopened to boats. It has 46 locks. It was originally built to carry passengers and goods to and from Dublin.
We saw lots of wildlife. Ducks, birds, moorhens, pigeons and water rats. We saw one rat running with a lump of bread in its mouth! We saw Ash, Sycamore and even a hurley tree outside Croke Park. We spoke to a man who was working on cleaning up the Canal. He is a World Champion Fisherman. He told us all about the fish that live in the canal. It was a great trip. We enjoyed ourselves.

Irish Legend meets the Larrier Legends!

Yesterday we were delighted to welcome Alan Kelly into our classroom. He was a great player for Ireland and is now the coach - helping Shay Given make the saves!
It was great to have Alan Kelly in the classroom and it was nice for him to meet the Larriers Legends! From one legend to another in sixth class we reckon!!

The tree of seasons
We have just started to read a novel in 6th class. It’s The Tree of Seasons by Stephen Gately. Stephen was a ex-pupil of ours and became world famous through singing with Boyzone. We are proud to read this book. The book is a fictional story with all sorts of weird and wonderful supernatural creatures. We've only read a few chapters so far and it seems to be a good read.

History Occupations

During our history lesson we studied the school roll book for 1911. These are some of the jobs that the fathers of the boys did:
Confectioner ,railway guard ,labourer ,crane driver ,van man,
sailor ,printer, tailor ,shunter ,glazier
farmer, drover golfer, book binder ,iron moulder,
fireman, soldier ,stoker, coach maker ,carter,
blacksmith ,jockey, boxmaker, dairy man.

Place Names in Our Area

We learned about some of our local place names:
Coburg Place: was called after Queen Victoria's husband.
Commons Street: was named after the Commissioners of Dublin. It is said that Molly Malone lived here.
Guild Street / Mayor Street: These were called after titles in the Corporation of Dublin.
Seville Place: Some people think this street got its name from oranges.
It got its name from the capture of Seville in Spain by the British in 1812.
Sheriff Street: was named after one of the titles of office existing in the Corporation of Dublin in 1773.

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King
We learned about Martin Luther King in history. He was born in Alabama USA in 1929. He fought for Civil Rights for black people. He wanted them to have the same rights and conditions as white people. He was a religious man, a pastor. He only used non-violent methods to achieve his aims.

In 1965 he organised a mass march from Alabama to Washington. He made his famous "I have a dream" speech here. He was shot on April the 4th 1968. America had lost a great leader and the world became a poorer place without him.

The newest recruits in sixth class!

The Larriers legends are back!!