Category Archives: EU Comenius Project N.I.F.E.

Theo’s account of his trip to Iceland.

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My Trip to Iceland

On Saturday the 21st of September, Cepta, Rosie, Cillín, Caroline and I went to Iceland. First we had to fly to London and then to Reykjavik. When we arrived in Keflavik Airport, we met up with our other Comenius partners and we embarked on a six hour bus journey to Dalvik. We arrived at midnight and met with our host families and after a long day we got to bed.

After a good night’s sleep, we all met up and got on the boat to go whale watching. I was very excited as I was looking forward to this. We put on special thermal suits as it was very cold. Then we set sail. We had to look out for the whales to spout out water. Finally we saw a few Humpback whales! They swam alongside the boat with us. Each time they would stop for a moment and then move to a different location. After we saw the whales a few times, the instructors on the boat gave us fishing rods and we caught lots of cod. When we got to shore, they barbequed the cod that we caught. It tasted really good!

When we got back to the house we warmed up in the hot tub. After the hot tub we went to the Foss Hotel where they had a buffet ready for us. The buffet was delicious! On Monday we spent the day at the school. In the morning the children put on a concert and we got to meet the school children and attend classes. Cillín and I attended an art class and also got to play soccer. On Monday afternoon we travelled to Lake Myvatn. After we saw the lake, all of the Comenius travellers swam in a lagoon near Lake Myvatn and we also saw some bubbling mud pools. The scenery was spectacular and we saw some craters created by volcanic activity. On Tuesday morning, we went to HOF which is the name of the culture house and theatre in Akureyri. Akureyri is the nearest city to Dalvik.

On Tuesday afternoon, we went to the local stables where we learned about the Icelandic pony and afterwards we got to ride them. Later on the adults visited the local brewery while the children visited the local outdoor geothermal pool, ate some pizza and played some soccer with the local children.

After a leisurely day on Wednesday we left Dalvik for Reykjavik on Thursday morning. When we arrived in Reykjavik we went to the Harpa. The Harpa is a famous concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavik. It is a very beautiful building. Cillín and I had a personal tour of a ship that carries out work for the Marine Institute. After visiting many of the sights in Reykjavik we spent the evening in Laugardaslaug. This is the largest waterpark in Iceland. Cillín and I had fun on the waterslides.

Other spectacular highlights were: The Golden Circle and of course the renowned Blue Lagoon. Definitely, our visit was memorable and we shall cherish those memories forever!

We found the people very friendly and helpful in Iceland. We had a fantastic time and would like to thank our teacher Cepta Stephens for making the trip possible

 

 

 

Welcome back to another school year

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We are all looking forward to another school year of learning!

We will be doing many extra curricular activities, including;

Gaelic football, working on our school garden, music classes, Irish dancing, swimming. We will continue our work with the Green Flag on the theme of Biodiversity and will  have guest speakers about this topic.

Comenius trip to Iceland

Múinteoir Cepta visited, Iceland in September with some of the sixth class and their parents. They had a wonderful experience and will have memories that will last forever. They visited the Skógafoss Waterfall, went whale watching and saw geysers but to mention a few.

There will be visits to Germany, Finland and Belgium in the future and we will look forward to learning about their countries and celebrating their cultures!

Our Visits

Sister Karol from Kylemore Abbey visited the School. The children did a Music workshop. They learned about the Pentatonic scale, keeping the beat and some other great songs.

Brendan Smith visited the Senior Classes. He is a facilitator of The Scratch Programme.  Scratch is a visual programming language that. The children participate in making interactive stories,  animations, games, music, and art and share these creations on the web.

Noreen Burke from the Aquarium visited the school. She brought with her, a variety of sea fossils and artefacts. Also David, a marine biologist visited  the school and brought sea creatures for the children to observe and examine. The creatures included crabs, crab shells, limpets and rainbow fish. The children interacted well with both visitors and enjoyed the experience immensely.

Michael Jacob, environmentalist visited the school. He taught the children about wildlife in their local environment. They children enjoyed going on the Bug Hunt with Mr. Jacob. They also enjoyed engaging with the stuffed animals!

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Making the most of the September sunshine:

We planted tulips as part of the Comenius Project. We will monitor their growth over the coming months and compare the results with our other Comenius partner countries.

We also participated in the Crocus Project. We planted crocus bulbs in the shape of The Star of David. This is in memory of the children who died in the concentration camps.

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Maths Week:

We celebrating Maths Week again this year with Maths for Fun, maths trails and many other activities. Parents came in to participate in the Maths for Fun Day with the children. The day was very enjoyable for all.

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