Form 2 Girls Christmas Performance

Form 2 Christmas Performance from John Scottus on Vimeo.

Mrs T Contemplates Childrens Christmas Plays

 Christmas performances are unique events and although nearly as old as the original itself year on year something fresh emerges. 2013 is no exception.

I have only got to see a selection of offerings. Time and an unusual bust of interest in places in JSS for 2014 have taken me off the circuit but as Kavanagh muses “Through a chink too wide there comes in no wonder” My chink was narrow and I think I got a view of the “spirit shocking wonder” and "the newness that was in every stale thin"

The youngest got the show on the road with simple seasonal poems but the wonder of this one was the capacity for language displayed. In less than 5 months in school they had sufficient command of 4 languages to sing songs, do recitations and perform little playlets. I saw another dimension of the concept of Universality. We adults talk about living in the global world. For these 5 year olds it is the reality and they embrace it with staggering ease and charm.

The snippet I witnessed of the 6 year olds was marked by speech. They had definitely got the message of opening the mouth and pronouncing the ends of each word. They transformed the joke-telling scene by the way they told’ em. “What do monkeys say on Christmas morning ? Jungle Bells, Jungle Bells”; every word as clear as crystal despite half of them collapsing with the wit of it all even before the joke was finished.

From the oldest in this building came the sweetest revelation. I was lucky to see the whole novel take on Christmas from beginning to end. It was excellent; acting, scenery, music, dancing choreography, organization. But wonderful as this was, the element that took my breath away was a more subtle aspect of the children. There were a few rare moments when one of them was unsure of a line. No fuss, no panic, no embarrassment, just a direct look at teacher, a nod of the head, a brief Oh Yeah and then on with the show. Again in these cramped beleaguered conditions where there is no room, a spiritual ideal is realized and made manifest , this world is all a play, enjoy it, play your part to the full, help each other and then forget it.

This is the newness and spirit shocking wonder that was revealed by the Christmas performances of 2013. Wasn’t I lucky and wouldn’t the Centre of it all be pleased?! Form 2 Girls performance is available here and more will be posted as we get the videos

Mrs T

2D Work in First Class

First Class Explore Two Dimesions with Coloured Shapes

Visit of the Indian Ambassador to JSS

On November 12th JSS were honoured to have the Indian Ambassador to Ireland, Mrs Radhika Lal Lokesh launch Mr Kortenhorst's new textbook.

Add caption

Piet Mondrian Inspires 2nd Class

Chinese Paper-cutting in TY

Y3 Ecology Fieldtrip to Knocksink Woods

Third year students enjoyed an ecology fieldtrip to an Irish Ash-Oak woodland in Enniskerry

Y3 Ecology Fieldtrip September 2013 from John Scottus on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Mrs Maguire Timmins!

On September 26th Mrs Maguire Timmins celebrated her birthday. Colleagues brought in cakes, some even baked in honour of the occasion. We wish our English and Careers teacher a wonderful trip around the sun this year!

Happy Birthday Ms Timmins!

Second Class Boys Science

We conducted a science experiment to observe the effects of mixing colours.

Designing the Test

Testing the idea

more testing

Recording the results

Venus in Wilderness, Sept 2013

Thanks Mrs Grace for this great video of Venus on their Wilderness Camping trip!!!


Venus Camping Trip from John Scottus on Vimeo.

Ultimate frisbee trip to Gonzaga

JS girls had a great experience when they were introduced to Ultimate Frisbee at Gonzaga College.

JSS Ultimate Frisbee Blitz from John Scottus on Vimeo.

The King and I Underway

On the 20th September the first readthrough for the King and I took place in Morehampton Road.  We can reveal that Fareed Sababou is cast as the bald fellow with a rake of children.....check in with the BLOG for more information soon.

Group Readthrough

The King and his Counsel

Hannah and Sophie study the text

Careers Evening a Great Success

On a cold October evening the senior school building was a hive of activity, the annual Career's Evening was taking place and all students from 4th , 5th and 6th year were in attendance. The evening took the format of a brief opening of the event given by myself; Emma Maguire Timmins, the Career Guidance Counsellor of the school,highlighting the magnitude of the event, introducing the speakers and emphasising the importance of reflection and seeing life as an exiting journey of discovery and then the main event began!
There were seven separate talks on Science by Dr.Mani Ramaswami, Engineering by Michael Collins, Media by John Boyle, Primary school Education by Elizabeth Breen, Business by Laura Merity, the Defence Forces by Lt.Tom Quigley and Social work by Emma Keogh.

Christmas Shoebox appeal

Christmas is a time for sharing and giving

Christmas Shoebox Appeal JS Primary from John Scottus on Vimeo.

Many thanks to parents and children for your fantastic response to our Christmas Shoebox appeal. The boxes will be sent to Albania by Heart to Hand where they will bring much joy and excitement to the children.

Chinese Mid Autumn Festival at JSS

 TY celebrated the Chinese Mid Autumn Festival on the 18th of September during their Chinese Language and Culture class. They enjoyed a talk and watched an animated film about the legend of the festival. They then tasted moon cakes as well as making colourful Chinese lanterns to decorate their classroom.

Mrs Grace supervises Lantern Hanging!

Lantern engineers

Cutting and glueing

Moon cakes anyone?

Happy Chinese Mid Autumn from TY

Mind Expanding Work from JS Primary

Mrs Telford produced this slideshow highlighting the work done by JSS Primary students on the Brain and Eye.They show excellent understanding of how the brain and eye work. Sit back and enjoy this slideshare of their project work!

JSS Secondary Sept P.E. Report

P.E. News September 2013

Yoga has been received very well and is offered to all classes.

 DCU Y path program: DCU will return to the school next Monday and 1st years will complete a 30min on line survey about their physical activity. This will be done during PE class. They also commence their 9day pedometer step challenge.

 The Senior and Minor hockey teams play their first friendly matches September 25^th against Holy Faith Clontarf.  League matches follow next week for Seniors in St Andrews, Booterstown and the following week for minors against Loreto on the Green

Halloween Fun in John Scottus Primary

Mr Callaghan produced this brilliant compilation which shows how creative and imaginative pupils and their teachers in JS Primary are. Halloween dress-up days are great fun. Enjoy!!

First Class French Lesson!

Monsieur Telford has a way with children when it comes to teaching French. Here First Class girls are enjoying their lesson. Only French can by spoken (or sung!) during M. Telford's classes

Rubbish Plants!

Form One Boys have made plants from recyclable rubbish they collected at home. They have been learning about plants in Science so this art activity linked with that and they are also growing watercress at the moment.

Mrs Telford's BLOG May 21st

Popping into classrooms on a daily basis allows you see first hand the excellent work that takes place regularly throughout the school. Today I thought I should seize the day and gather a sample from each class. So keep an eye on the display boards in Northumberland road and check out what is happening. This little exercise set me thinking as to whether you all might like a further update on all that has been happening in JSS in recent weeks. Shakespeare week, voice coaches, golf, enhanced curriculum in 6^th class, cycling and projects all have made an impact in the last few weeks.

Shakespeare week was very satisfying. The creativity in evidence as each class took to the boards (of the Refreshment room) was very good. Learning by heart, learning to perform in front of an audience, learning to project your voice were the fruits of this week along with entertainment from staff and pupils No one will forget Mrs van de Belt's rendering of the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet alongside Mrs McGeough’s Juliet all happening in the Refreshment Room in the company of over a hundred children. Philip O’ Sullivan an actor of some renown took 6^th class girls through a session on how to use voice and body to maximum effect to communicate with the audience.

A scene from  Romeo & Juliet

The Senior Primary classes have also embarked on enriching the 6^th class curriculum with classes in how to coach a team, producing a Newsletter, dancing, constructing a building and learning how to be a mediator. While it has proved very demanding on teachers’ time and energy and also on the pupils, it is proving to be an excellent venture. It will need tweaking for next year but it certainly stretches the abilities of this very able age group.

Cycling is gaining in popularity so also is the need to be safe on the road. The scheme launched by the Dublin City Council is being availed of by 5th class pupils and over a period of 6 weeks they are being tutored in how to be model cyclists.  (We must let George Hook know on Newstalk that with a little help cyclists can be law abiding souls as well!!!!!)

On the sporting front, JSS has joined the ranks of Rory, Graham and Padraig, (well,  that might be a little exaggeration!) and taken up golf. Eight pupils, under the guidance of Mr John Hynes began the first block of sessions where they learn the key skills and also get the chance to compete against other budding golfers.

Our lecture series in Education has proved very vibrant and thought provoking. What is needed most from events such as these is that discussion, dialogue and argument follow in their wake which is exactly what has happened. Do not miss the last in the series which is on nutrition and which takes place on 4^th June in the same venue.

Finally our assembly today was inspiring. Mr Pierce ( parent of two children in Form 1 and 1^st class ) showed us the  video of his row across the channel from Dover to Calais. It is worth seeing. Over 5 hours in the company of 4 other brave sailors setting  a world record, raising  money for Cancer Research and JSS  and doing it all without any hitches is the kind of deed that resilient and universal beings embark on. Well done to all. Click on the screen below to enjoy a glimpse of their heroic journey. 

A new Challenge for 5th Class

5^th Class girls and boys have started a six week cycling course withDr Bike which the Dublin City Council is providing for schools in Dublin.

In this course they will be learning about skills and safety out on the dangerous roads of Dublin. In the first two weeks they have been learning about checking their bike for any loose things. Then they learnt about turning around bends and to slow down when you turn a corner. They have also learnt to expect the unexpected when cycling e.g. If a car door swings open when you are on the road.

In the next few weeks they will be talking about brakes and gradually building good skills for the road and/or whenever they are cycling.

   By Madeline Hibbett