Here in Newcastle N.S, we are continuing with our exciting literacy lift off programme. This is a literacy programme which provides children with lots of opportunities to read books at their own level of competency and gradually lift the complexity of what they can do in both reading and writing. It is a whole-class intervention aimed at increasing each child’s competency in oral language, reading and writing. During each literacy session, the pupils have an opportunity to spend time at five different work stations working closely with three different teachers in the classroom. They enjoy multi-sensory activities discussing new books, writing a response to the text and progressing through fun word study activities. Parents play a huge part in the success of the programme as they listen and promote reading with their child at home.

All pupils enjoy the wide range of library books in their classrooms. There is a selection full of fiction and non-fiction books to suit all the interests of our pupils. We also encourage parents to read some of the books your child enjoys so you can discuss them with him/her. In every house there is also a wide variety of reading material – newspapers, magazines, information, cookery books

Spellings for me in a individualised spelling programme used in 3rd-6th class.  The child works according to their ability, not their class or age.

No two children will have the same spellings, as no two children are the same!

Reading eggs supports each pupil’s learning by offering individual, one-on-one lessons. The engaging, colourful and stimulating online lessons allows pupils to progress at their own rate, gradually building their reading confidence and rewarding them at every step of the way. They can use the app in the comfort of their own home as well as at given opportunities on a weekly basis in the classroom as directed by their teachers. The program is designed to be highly interactive, fun and challenging at the same time at the appropriate level for each child. It also offers a huge online library where parents and children have access to lots of ebooks to enjoy wherever they want.

Annual book fair usually takes place in Term 3. Our last book two have been online. The online book fair gives our school some wonderful added benefits. You can buy books from the comfort of your home and the online shop is open 24 hours. Our online shop has an easy to use online system, quick checkout, no need to register, no charge for delivery. Tara Book Co. offer a wider choice of titles, with over 2,000 books to choose from. Books are age graded website to make it easy. All orders are delivered in labelled sealed bags to the school. Some categories included: Bargain Box, Under €5, Sport etc. When you buy from our school book fair event our school will get fantastic commission of 50% in free books and for every 2 books you buy our school gets 1 free book! 

Comprehension strategies are explicity taught to pupils.    Here in Newcastle N.S., we use the Building Bridges programme Across all classes to explicity teach comprehension strategies to our pupils.  ,

Our infants take part in the Ready Set Go Maths Programme. This is an interactive, hands on programme which focuses on using concrete materials and manipulates.  All the pupils are thoroughly enjoying exploring concrete maths equipment while discussing their findings. The classroom is divided into four different stations with different teachers as they guide the pupils to explore different mathematical concepts. This programme helps the children experience a sense of pleasure in mathematics that comes from solving puzzles and problems. Under the guidance of the teachers, the children’s curiosity is stimulated by formulating questions and investigating mathematical situations. Children get the opportunity to explore in small group activities that draw on mathematical skills and concepts. They can experiment with pattern and discover relationships.

Newcastle N.S. is very fortunate to have team teaching in every classroom. Collaborative team teaching has many benefits. Students get more time with the teachers and can spend more time on classroom work. Students learn from two teachers with different teaching styles, ideas, perspectives and language. The pupils also have lots more opportunities to question and discuss their ideas. 

Our Junior and Senior Infants take part in the Aistear programme, a play based curriculum from birth to six years.  It uses themes instead of subjects to outline what children should learn during their early childhood. The themes are Wellbeing, Identity and Belonging, Communicating, Exploring and Thinking. Through discussion and play, the themes connect to each other and link to the subjects in the Infant Curriculum. As the school year progresses, the junior and senior infants are very enthusiastic as they enjoy participating in Aistear. The children play in small groups and move to different stations while participating in these themes. Themes include the home corner, at the doctors, at the vets, airport, shopping etc. Aistear emphasises the importance of play-based methodologies in supporting children’s learning and development. We encourage parents to discuss all the activities when they get home.