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Great idea of dressing the teddies with clothes suitable for the season they have been given. this is one I will be using next term
Online resources and tools
I would introduce the children to the night sky, focusing on stars, constellations, and planets using the Stellarium online tool. Starting first with a simple question: “Who has looked up at the night sky and seen stars?”,then show large images or a short video of the night sky to capture their attention. Explain that the night sky is full of stars and other interesting things we can see. Follow with the picture book about stars and constellations, such as “How to Catch a Star” by Oliver Jeffers. Have a short discussion on the story briefly, focusing on what stars are and how they form patterns called constellations
Continue with the explanation of what the Stellarium tool can do: helps us look at the night sky on the computer. Then we would set our location and click on some bright stars and constellations, looking at their names and shapes, like the Big Dipper or Orion.We would then finish with an activity Create Your Own Constellation, where the children design their own with black paper and stars.
I love the idea of making a martian. Children are always curious about life on other planets and these can be great creative ideas for drama and writing
Activity :Space and Aliens
There are some elements of the Space and Aliens set that I would use with a combination of other ideas
I would Introduce the children to the concept of life in space, focusing on astronauts, space habitats, and what living in space is like through engaging and age-appropriate activities. Starting with a simple question: “Who knows what an astronaut is?” and Can you name an astronaut? These will somehow always involve Buzz Lightyear.
We would then look at images or a short video of astronauts working in space to capture their attention and explain that astronauts are people who travel and live in space to learn more about it. The children would be introduced to Chris Hadfield videos like the one below
This would give them an insight into life in space. The children would engage in activities based on videos from Chris Hadfield eg create your own astronaut using pictures of items needed in space.
The Planets activity
I would start with a story on Aliens and see if the children could name a few planets. I would then introduce : ‘The Plants Song’. There are many cross curricular links for this theme, art, oral language, drama etc,
The children would engage in planet quiz using picture cards to guess which planet comes next throughout the song. They would learn about the planet through online apps and select pictures from a picture bank to collect information on their planet. Each group would have a planet (cutout or card) and arrange the planets in the correct order from the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) after the duration of the lessons, only when familiar with the song.
There is a nice book called “There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System” which could be read and discussed. The children could select a planet in groups and with the help of teacher and other available staff construct their planet using paper mache, over time. This would give them a sense of how the planet really looks.
love the idea parachutes. We had creative schools in this year and they make parachutes with the school. This could be included in space theme in jnr infants yearly
I’m Finuala and my favourite was space fact was the mission to Mars, was truly devastated when they kept pushing it out originally from 2022 to 2025 now. We had so much work done when I was teaching in 5th Class. Wonder what planet those kids think I’m on now!!
How would you use this in your jnr infant classroom?
Begin with a question: “Who has heard of the planet Mars? Show images of Mars and a short video clip to capture their attention. Explain that Mars is sometimes called the “Red Planet” because it looks red.
Read a picture book about Mars or space, such as “There’s No Place like Space: Solar System” by Tish Rabe. Discuss the story, focusing on what makes Mars special and interesting. The class could make a rocket to travel to mars. Each child would cut out a circle to represent mars and then decorate it with pre-cut out images of rockets, dust storm, volcanoes, and valleys
The class would take part in Imaginary Space Travel using the story of “Roaring Rockets” by Tony Mitton.
After the story, ask them to close their eyes and imagine they are astronauts on a mission to Mars.
Guide them through a simple visualization: Describe the countdown, the rocket launching, the journey through space, and landing on Mars.
The children would share what they imagined and what they think they would see and do on Mars.
We in our school have seen a huge difference with the school garden. Less growth and slower flowering plants compared to last June. Our vegetable crops were pretty poor this year and the children were disappointed with the result. There has been way less sunshine and more frequent rain. It did have an effect on morale this year as so much work was put into tending and caring for the school garden. I come from the SE of Ireland originally and friends have told me that they too have seen a huge difference this year.
Three Actions to Make the World a Better Place and Slow Down Climate Change
1. Reduce Energy Consumption by adopting energy-efficient practices and utilise renewable energy sources in daily life. At home and in school promote energy efficiency measures by implementing the use of LED light bulbs, unplugging devices when not in use, and reduce heating when not needed by turning heaters off. Promote Sustainable Transportation.
2. We could promote sustainable transportation through initiatives such as carpooling, walking or cycling if possible.
3. Schools could support sustainable consumption and waste reduction by making conscious choices about the products we use and how we dispose of waste. The three R s initiatives: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
In the classroom I would integrate sustainability practices, foster environmental awareness, and encourage proactive behaviour among students by:
· Project-Based learning where children can design and build models of sustainable houses or develop campaigns to reduce the school’s carbon footprint.
· Classroom Practices by energy conservation assigning children as energy monitors to check that the list agreed with all classes is being followed
· Waste Reduction: ensuring all classes are recycling and composting according to the school plan
The school plan would have input from the green committee and contribute to it by creating a climate pledge, green team, researching plants that are better for our weather and climate , green flag entry to mention a few. By creating a classroom that prioritises change, both staff and children can take meaningful steps to support a sustainable future for all.
We have an organisation Doras in our area who work with refugees and their families.
Our school would get advice and guidance from the Doras to support and welcome children into the school, creating an environment of safety, inclusion and having empathy .
This could be done by ensuring the whole school is informed through SPHE of the background, challenges and circumstances the refugees have endured. Schools could hold workshops, guest speakers through Doras.
Within the school each class could create an environment that would celebrate the culture arriving with welcome signs in their language and items from their culture to welcome them. The children would form friendship groups or a buddy system to help with the regular daily activities, Eal classes and learning support. The aim would be to form as much of an inclusive and welcoming environment as possible to ensure each child arriving could participate to the best of their ability. By taking these actions and applying them to the school plan, this would create an inclusive school and community environment
So much is contributed by all our schools. We just open our doors and welcome immediately. The fact that our pupils are so well informed about homelessness, refugees, equality etc is huge reflection on the community and schools. All we need now are extra classrooms and more EAL hours
Hi , we had a family in our school whose parents were hugely involved in helping the homeless. Both girls in 5th and 6th would regularly help with the soup kitchen in the city on a Friday night. They made great contributions to class discussions on homelessness.
SDG 13 focuses on climate action, how to combat climate change and the impact it has on the globe. Children have witnessed climate change in Ireland with closures for extreme weather such as red warnings for storms, maybe even a closure for a rare snowday. This has increased their awareness at local level and the impact it can have on their school environment.
We as educators have addressed climate in the past through the great videos and documentaries we have found on various educational websites. This was something that just happened in a country and not to us.
In our schools we have followed guidelines to further educate our pupils through various campaigns such as green flags for recycling etc The children have visits from groups who encourage us as schools to combat climate change by planting trees, conserving energy within our schools, recycling more and engage in workshops and activities to support this.
As teachers we teach climate change across our SESE and SPHE curriculum and also with our student council to encourage and foster a sense of responsibility for the future of the planet by listening to their opinions and ideas. Their decisions become part of the school plan.
Unfortunately most of the infants come to school with the idea of what toy is a boys or a girls. We need to start gender education at home aswell as in school. I remember visiting a house where my friend was putting on her makeup and her toddler was using a compact to imitate what his mother was doing. As he put powder on our faces and his own his dad walked in and said “makeup is only for girls”, to which the toddler lowered his head. This came from a teacher and to this day still annoys me.
Stereotypes occur in all classes throughout the school.
Even when it comes to school sports you have the boys leagues and girls leagues. We still have gender based toilets in our schools something that may need to be addressed in the future. With the younger classes they are always pointing out how toys belong to either boys or girls and what each should be playing with. Each child seems to automatically gravitate to what they deem my toy according to the norm. We also have seen this with classes when there are Christmas plays whereby makeup is needed due to the stage lighting. Boys will protest that this is only for girls and a lot of work has to be covered to show how makeup is used by all genders in everyday life, even going back to tribal makeup in SESE.
If development education is introduced and highlighted to the children at a young age, at home and in school, it might address these stereotypes. Children need freedom to explore and this will lead to a better understanding of gender.
I remember reading, The Boy in the Dress years ago with a 5th Class when gender education may not have been addressed in schools. Even though they found the story entertaining and we had great discussions around this topic, when we completed a survey most of the boys were not happy to think a boy in their class would wear a dress to school.
When considering SSE Development education is very important and an area that continues to change when planning around gender based education.
“The Role of Global Citizens in Today’s World” by Ehigie (2021) highlights and the importance of development education and the significance of global citizenship in fostering a sense of responsibility towards global issues. Development education aims to promote an understanding of global interconnectedness, social justice, and sustainable development.
We have to visualise how we would engage our pupils with activities and would enable them to analyse and think critically. This would lead to developing empathy, a necessary skill when relating to global issues and rights and challenges.
To develop and encourage staff to engage in development education teachers and classes would work collectively through workshops, thematic days and projects with outside school bodies to support the development within the school.
Staff and children would set specific goals for global citizenship and assess progress through student and staff feedback As it says in module one every child can make a difference wherever they may be on the globe.
