We are delighted to announce that Jordanstown School is now an officially recognised Forest School, one of only 55 in Northern Ireland!

Brian Poots from the Northern Ireland Forest Schools Association (NIFSA) came into school to observe a Forest School session with4N and was very impressed with our Nature Reserve and how well our pupils engaged with the activities.

We are looking forward to expanding our outdoor learning here in school over the coming years; at present we have 2 staff who are involved with Forest School.

We would like to extend a warm thank you to Jordanstown Together, our parent and staff association, for all their support with the Forest School initiative. 

If you would like to find out more about Forest School, please have a look at the photos on our school website and have a look for our school profile which will appear on the NIFSA website on the near future.

On Thursday 19th December, the school held its annual Carol Service and Nativity Play.

It was a wonderful event with great performances from all the children.

We were delighted to see so many parents, extended family and friends of the school in attendance.

We thank you for your support and wish you all a very happy Christmas!

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“Dear families, your little elves have been VERY busy!

Have a look at their AMAZING mini Christmas Cakes!”

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Friday 6th December was a Super-Learning Day across the school. The theme was ‘Investigation’.

Primary pupils investigated measure, the taste of different fruit and the food miles that the fruit had travelled to arrive on their plates. They used a variety of materials to build bridges and they were delighted that all the bridges remained standing during the strength test!

The Post Primary pupils investigated the taste of different fruits, with pears and blackberries being the most popular. They also investigated food miles, did bridge building and different science experiments to determine food types, and took their fingerprints.

The visually impaired pupils attended a workshop on hearing impairment by investigating hearing aids. The deaf pupils investigated visual impairment by trying to complete education tasks while wearing glasses which simulated visual impairment and tried to identify raised tactile drawings with their eyes shut –  a lot harder than they thought!

All the pupils had a wonderful day filled with fun, laughter and learning. 

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On Thursday 5th December Class 3 welcomed Alderman John Smyth, the Mayor of Antrim & Newtownabbey, and Mrs Joan Christie, the former Lord-Lieutenant for the County of Antrim to Jordanstown Schools Nature Reserve.

The Mayor and Mrs. Christie met with the pupils to see the work that has been carried out so far, discuss the future planes and to learn about how the pupils of Jordanstown School use the reserve.

The school has applied for the Mrs Christie Horticulture Bursary 2019 and fingers crossed we will get good news at the awards ceremony on Thursday 30 January at Theatre at The Mill!

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Post Primary pupils have been exploring stop motion animation during afterschools animation club. 

They’ve enjoyed creating characters, sets and stories bringing their creations to life through Stikbot animation app.

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On Friday 15th November, we held our annual Post-Primary Prize Day in school. 

It was a wonderful event attended by pupils, staff, parents/carers, grandparents, siblings, Governors, Trustees, friends and past pupils, who were all there to celebrate the achievements of our Post-Primary pupils for the academic year 2018-19.

We were especially pleased to welcome back the Leavers from 2019, all of whom have gone on to further education.

The Guest of Honour was Ms Rosaleen Dempsey, the Children, Young People and Families Lead for RNIB NI.

She talked about her journey through school and university, and she inspired the young people with her wise words about overcoming challenge. As she said, ‘You can do whatever you want but you might have to do it in a different way.’

Every pupil received a Character Award celebrating the wonderful traits they have which will serve them well as they go through life, such as resilience, determination and good humour.

Also presented were the examination certificates from the public examinations, as well as the class prizes and a number of special awards.

At the end of the ceremony we were treated to a signed musical medley by some of our senior pupils.

We are very proud of each and every one of our pupils and we were delighted to have this opportunity to publicly celebrate their achievements.

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We had great fun today with our ‘Hallow-Green’ day. The pupils looked fantastic in their dress-up and they enjoyed all the activities.

The primary children enjoyed party games, baking and a visit by ‘Wee Critters’, while post-primary pupils had green-themed activities to focus on the environment.

There were some wonderful entries for the pumpkin competition, with very creative carving, painting and decorating.

All in all, it was a great way to finish for the half-term break.

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Forest School after school club has now finished and the pupils had so much fun.  We were very lucky with the weather but we were all equally as happy being out in the rain! 

Forest School is child led learning.  As well as fresh air and exercise some of the aims are: using imagination and thinking skills, encouraging independence but also team- work and communication.

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Activities involved :

• Conker hunting, the pupils decided to make their conkers in the containers instruments and loved pretending to be soldiers!
• Conker crafts.
• Searching for spiders, looking at spider’s web structure and making spider’s webs.
• Making animals pictures out of natural items found outside.
• Looking at colour outside and doing a colour survey.
• Den building and the most favourite activity of all, having hot chocolate in their den!
• Scavenger hunt and making the Mr Forest Man face!
  
  

4N have been working towards an ASDAN qualification ‘Knowing About Myself’. Part of this involved thinking about what clothes are appropriate to wear for different occasions, different jobs and different weather.

They also had to show the class their favourite clothes and talk about what each other is wearing which is what they did in this fashion show. 

Part of the ASDAN qualification is also about organising an event so the class set about organising this fashion show!  After many rehearsals, the students loved strutting their stuff on the cat- walk and the audience enjoyed every minute!

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