Spring Notes: Leprechaun hunt, Afterschool Activities and Open Day Invitation!
Gathering the clues to find our leprechaun
What an eventful March and April we have had at Hedley Park. Lots of news and events to share with you, but before we talk about all that has happened let us just remind you that this Saturday (May 12th) will be our annual summer Open Day.
From 10am to 1pm you are very welcome to come and say hi, view our students work , classroom environments and ask any questions you may have. Current students and their family and friends will be there, as will any past students wanting to catch up with favourite teachers to share the news of their past years endeavours. So make your way to town for brunch and pop in on Saturday to see all the exciting display boards and ask our students all about their work.
Back to our spring catch up; March was a hectic month the centrepiece of which was our fantastic St Patricks adventures. Beginning early in the month we set our Leprechaun trap, but we did not plan on him being so crafty.
Day after day we found Larry had not only eaten the snack we left to tempt him but he had played with our shelves, left us notes, used our toilet and even left us a video message!! Still we could not catch him.
Leprechaun’s love Jam and Nutella on crackers!
On the day of our St Patricks walk we knew the time running out and our excitement was growing, finally we would catch Larry and find our pot of gold! We had an early and impromptu Irish dancing lesson and ate slices of our rainbow cake. Then with an enthusiasm even the rain couldn’t dampen we set off to look for Leprechaun clues. We looked high and low, around all the wonderful monuments in Merrion Square and yes, we did find our very own Hedley Park Leprechaun.
Finding Larry
Daffodil cupcakes
But that wasn’t the only thing happening in Hedley Park, March 23rdsaw ourDaffodil Day commemoration and the preschool class made fantastic daffodil cupcakes to mark the day. We also learned about the chicken lifecycle by creating a lovely display board, just in time for the Easter break.
Shaving Foam Painting
Our afternoons have also been really fun packed. Lots of arts and crafts, gloop making and shaving foam painting being two on offer, and enjoyable games like musical chairs not to mention freeplay and dressing up. All of these allow us to work together and enhance our creative and imaginative capabilities. Children learn much about themselves during freeplay sessions, creative outlets, social play and personal projects give the child a fuller understanding of themselves and others.
Dressing up Fun
Our eager and interested teaching staff supervises the afternoons in Hedley but the children’s interests and wishes are the controlling factor. Allowing the children this freedom to decide what they spend their free time doing gives them a sense of empowerment and personal achievement that is at the heart of Montessori holistic education.
Finally a big thank you to everyone who came along to our sponsored walk on March 30th, thanks to your generous donations we raised enough for 3 more iPads! Now every class in Hedley Park has an iPad to research and learn on. It is amazing to see the children use them with ease and confidence. Even the reception class are giving their iPad a daily workout, they particularly enjoy using Montessorium’s intro to letters and intro to numbers,to compliment their work with the Montessori materials for sounds and numbers.
Montessorium’s iPad Apps
If you’d like to download them and use at home feel free to ask us about them at open day or next time you are in the school. While iPads will never replace the physical hands on with the beautiful Montessori materials in our classes, eLearning, confidence with computers and computer-assisted work are essential parts of the 21stcentury child’s learning portfolio. It’s the combination of traditional hands on learning and sophisticated eLearning in a natural and supportive setting that gives Hedley Park students the winning edge.
Layering our Rainbow Cake
So don’t forget to drop in this Saturday between 10am-1pm to see our students as they showcase their work and fun class projects and meet our team of warm and dedicated teachers ready to welcome you to Hedley Park.
See you then!
One Response
Love the post Clair ! It’s great to be able to relive some of the cool things that happened during spring term – time goes so fast when your having fun ! I can’t believe summer is here already .