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One Sustainable Development Goal that is particularly relevant to my school is SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities. Working in a mixed junior DEIS Band 1 school with a high level of cultural diversity, our pupils come from many different nationalities and backgrounds. This provides an excellent opportunity to help children appreciate diversity, fairness, and inclusion from an early age. I would encourage pupils to explore different cultures through stories, music, art, and celebrations from around the world, while also discussing how everyone deserves equal opportunities and respect. Children could take part in projects that promote kindness, inclusion, and anti-bullying, as well as fundraising or awareness campaigns that support local and global communities. These activities align with ESD to 2030 Priority Action Area 5 by encouraging children to take positive action within their own school and community. Through these experiences, pupils develop empathy and understand that small actions can make a difference. This also supports our School Self-Evaluation by promoting inclusion, pupil wellbeing, student voice, and respectful relationships across our whole-school community.
I really relate to your observations, especially how children associate certain colours and toys with boys or girls from such a young age. I also agree that using children’s voices as part of the SSE process is a valuable way to identify and challenge these stereotypes across the school.
Working in a mixed-sex DEIS Band 1 junior primary school, I regularly see how gender stereotypes begin to influence children’s thinking from a very young age. One example that stands out is during Aistear or free play when a boy chooses to play with dolls or in the home corner. It is not uncommon for other boys, and sometimes girls, to tell him that “dolls are for girls.” This shows how quickly children absorb stereotypes from the world around them.
Development Education methodologies can help challenge these ideas by encouraging discussion, questioning assumptions, and exposing children to a wider range of positive role models. Through storybooks, role play, circle time, and cooperative learning, children can explore the idea that toys, jobs, colours, and interests are for everyone. Asking open-ended questions such as “Why do you think that?” or “Can boys be caring too?” encourages children to think critically rather than simply accepting stereotypes. Using inclusive books that show fathers caring for babies, women in STEM careers, and boys enjoying nurturing play can also help normalise different choices. By creating an inclusive classroom environment where all children feel valued, we can promote respect, equality, and confidence from the earliest years.Aisling, I really like how you linked Development Education to your existing school initiatives such as wellbeing, Green Schools, and charity work. Your point about embedding it across different subjects and using the SSE process to make it a consistent whole-school approach is particularly important and very practical.
The paper highlighted the importance of Development Education in helping children understand global citizenship, equality, social justice, and our shared responsibility to create a fairer world. It emphasised that education can empower young people to recognise prejudice, appreciate diversity, and take positive action within their communities and beyond. As a teacher in a DEIS Band 1 junior school with a large teaching staff, I believe Development Education is particularly important in promoting inclusion, empathy, and respect for all cultures and backgrounds. I would incorporate it through storybooks, discussions, SPHE, geography, and cross-curricular STEM activities that encourage children to think critically about global issues in an age-appropriate way. I would also encourage colleagues to embed Development Education across the school by sharing resources, planning themed weeks, and collaborating during staff meetings. This links closely with our School Self-Evaluation (SSE) process, particularly in promoting wellbeing, inclusion, pupil voice, and oral language, while supporting whole-school priorities and fostering a positive, respectful school culture for everyone.
I would choose the Make a Rocket activity as part of a whole-class investigation during Space Week with my Junior Infants. I would begin by reading a story about space to introduce the topic and encourage the children to talk about rockets, astronauts, and the Moon. Before making their rockets, I would ask the children to predict what shape or design they think will help a rocket fly the furthest. They would then work in pairs to design and build their own paper rockets, developing creativity, fine motor skills, and teamwork.
Once the rockets are complete, we would test them in the school hall or playground. The children would observe how far each rocket travels and discuss why some rockets flew further than others. This would encourage the development of important science skills such as predicting, observing, investigating, comparing, and communicating results. We would record our findings using simple charts and photographs, allowing the children to reflect on what they discovered.
To extend the learning during Space Week, I would create a space-themed learning station with books, puzzles, and construction materials where children could build spacecraft and space stations. I would also use short videos from ESA Kids or NASA’s children’s resources to reinforce key concepts in an engaging way. As a class, we could create a large display showing our rockets, photographs from the investigation, and children’s drawings and captions about what they learned. This activity provides a fun and meaningful introduction to STEM by encouraging curiosity, problem-solving, creativity, and scientific thinking through hands-on learning.
Elaine this is a fun and engaging STEM activity that encourages curiosity and scientific thinking in young children. I like how it combines prediction, observation, maths, and oral language in a meaningful, hands-on way. It is an excellent example of playful learning that promotes teamwork while making science exciting during Space Week and it’s somthing I’d consider using in the classroom for sure.
I would use the hands-on classroom themed activity The Sun Gives Off Heat in a Junior Infant classroom because it encourages children to make predictions, observe changes, and discuss their findings using simple scientific language. The ice cube investigation is an engaging way for children to develop science skills such as observing, predicting, comparing, and communicating while learning that the Sun provides both light and heat. The follow-up playground activity helps children connect their classroom learning to real-life experiences by feeling the difference between standing in the sun and in the shade. This lesson could also support School SSE focus on STEM by promoting inquiry-based learning and encouraging children to ask questions and investigate. To extend the lesson, I would use an interactive weather website or short video to reinforce the concepts of sunshine, shade, and temperature before allowing the children to record their observations through drawings and oral discussion.
I really like how your activities are practical, child-led, and encourage meaningful discussion. Your awareness of children’s different home situations shows a thoughtful and inclusive approach to teaching. Building a class town is a fantastic way to develop creativity, collaboration, and oral language skills. The final discussion also encourages children to think about their community and appreciate that everyone’s home and neighbourhood can be different.
Activoty – Space and Aliens
For a junior class, I would adapt this lesson by using the picture book Aliens Love Underpants by Claire Freedman to introduce the topic in a fun and engaging way. After reading the story aloud, I would ask the children to discuss what makes Earth special and what they would like to show a friendly alien if one came to visit. We would brainstorm ideas such as animals, plants, families, playgrounds, or favourite places. Each child would then draw their chosen object or place without showing anyone else. When the drawings are finished, the children would take turns acting out their picture while their classmates guess what they are pretending to be, encouraging communication, imagination, and confidence. To conclude, the children would design and draw their own friendly alien inspired by the story, explaining why it looks the way it does. This activity integrates literacy, drama, art, and oral language while fostering creativity and appreciation of the unique features of life on Earth.
Hi Amy, I really like your lesson idea and the way in incorporates art and drama, the children would love this. Getting the children to think about something that is speical to them is also a nice element to the lesson, getting them to think of things that are meaningful and releant to them in their own lives.
I really like the fact that this lesson is very playful and uses alot of visual resources. The use of playdough, sequencing pictures, sand and hands on activities make the lesson very engaging for children and caters for lots of learning styles. Exploring stories from other cultures is another great idea also.
This module had lots of reources that I can see myself use next year. I really liked the MIC -Space PDF recource. The activity I would focus on from this module is ‘The Sun and Shadow’. Again I would aim the lesson for a junior/senior infant level. The book ‘Bear’s Shadow’ by Frank Asch would be my starting point. I would read the story to the children and ask them open ended questions to get their minds thinking – What did bear think his shadow was? How did bear try to get away from his shadow? How do you think bear felt when he found out his shadow was following him?
I would then take the children outside and ask them to look for their own shadows. Ask their partner to draw around their shadow with chalk. Ask the children to move and to notice that their shadow moves with them too. In the classroom get the children to draw themselves and their shadow. Discuss with the children; what happened when they moved? Could they leave their shadow behind like bear tried to? When are shadows big/small?
This activty will help develop oral langauge. It will help build the children’s understanding on light and shadows and encourage observation and prediction.
Wendy, I think you lesson would be great in a junior infant classroom. The use of the torch and small ball makes it more realistic and easier for the child to imagine. They would like the art activity in the lesson also especially using the chalk to make stars.
Inquiry Based Lessons – Investigateing Fingerprints
Through play I would give the children an opportunity to investiagte whether fingerprints are all the same. Prompt questions might include; what are fingerprints? Are all fingerprints the same? Why do we need fingerprints? How can we record finger prints?
I would show the children some examples of finger prints printed off and I would give them time to investigate. Through play, People who Help us – The Gardaí, the children dressed up would invesitage.
Show the children different ways to get finger prints – ink, rubbing a pencil area and then onto sticky tape, looking through a magnifying glass.
Get the children to record the fingerprints of the children in their class and then talk about the differnt prints they found – whirls, arches, loop.
Follow on activty could be to record the data on a chart and find which fingerprint must children had in the class.
This lesson promotes curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication.