Ballymoney Model Integrated Primary School

Year One pupils had lots of practical experience weighing objects using balance scales. 

Pupils weighed a variety of objects using multi link cubes as the non standard measuring unit. They counted the number of multi link cubes required to make the object balance. They then recorded their result.

All pupils enjoyed this practical session and all developed the skill of using the balance scales.

Well done Year One.

Have a look at the pictures below.

Miss Hemphill's class were introduced to non-standard unitsfor measuring weight. We were able to use balance scales and cubes to find out how heavy classroom objects were. It also helped our counting skills and number recognition beyond 20. We worked in groups to complete our recording page. We all agreed it was a fantastic lesson with lots of talk about 1 more, too many or not enough. Well done Year One! 

As part of Allergy Awareness Week, Year one we're thinking about what it means to have an allergy.

Pupils thought about nut allergy in particular.

Pupils now understand that nuts can make some people very unwell. We talked about school being a nut free zone as some pupils in school have an allergy to nuts.

We listed to a story "The Cookie" which highlighted the importance of checking labels to make sure that biscuits brought to school do not contain nuts.

Pupils drew a cookie to remind them about be mindful to check ingredients if they know someone with a nut allergy.

See the pictures below.

Mrs Carson's class took the opportunity to go for a Spring Walk today. 

Before the walk we recalled what we saw during our Autumn Walk and Winter Walk. 

Once outside we soon saw signs of Spring. We looked at and named the following flowers, daisies, daffodils and dandelions.

All pupils were very excited to spot some snails and a ladybird in one of the hedges. Not only had they nice juicy leaves to eat, they were also well sheltered in the bush.

Have a look at the photographs below.

Miss Hemphill's class have been thinking about Spring Gardens. We were so delighted to have nicer weather and be able to go on a Spring Walk around our school grounds. We saw lots of signs of Spring - buds, leaves, colourful flowers and we even heard the birds chirping. Have a look at what we found.

Monday means outdoor Physical Development in Year One. We have the opportunity to develop our gross motor skills. Have a look at our great skills of throwing and catching, hitting a target, playing hop scotch and listening games, bikes and trikes and balancers. 

Year One had great fun this morning during outdoor play.

They worked together, planning, constructing, imagining and much more, developing many skills.

Have a look at the pictures below to see the children in action during outdoor learning.

Spring was in the air today and Year 1RC planned some sunflower seeds.

Thet thought about the life cycle of a sunflower, planted a sunflower seed and wrote step by step instructions for planting a sunflower seed.

All pupils were excited to take their sunflower seed home to hopefully watch it grow over the next weeks and months.

This week Year One have been learning all about potatoes as part of the "Let's get Growing" topic.

They know how they are planted and harvested.

We also talked about the different ways potatoes can be cooked.

Pupils had the opportunity to taste crisps. The favourite flavour in Year 1RC was prawn cocktail.

As part of our 'Let's Get Growing' topic Miss Hemphill's class have learnt the names of different parts of a flower. We read an information book on how to plant a sunflower. We followed the instructions and planted a sunflower seed. We took our seeds home to care for them at home. Miss Hemphill can't wait to hear how tall they grow.

Miss Hemphill's class are enjoying their new topic 'Let's Get Growing'. This week in Play Based Learning we have been thinking about the garden. We have drawn Spring gardens and created Spring gardens from Lego and Play doh. We have sold flowers and seeds in the garden centre and sorted for seeds in the sand tray. A busy week in Year One! 

Pupils in Mrs Carson's class had lots of fun learning about opposites in P.E. this morning.

They were thinking about Spring and pupils took on the role of little spring rabbits.

They moved in lots of opposite ways e.g. fast/slow, clockwise/ anticlockwise.

Have a look at the pictures below.

This week pupils are having lots of fun as they develop lots of mathematical skills.

Pupils have been counting, matching and sorting.

Have a look at the pictures attached to see learning in Maths can be fun!

Miss Hemphill's class have been enjoying consolidating our numeracy skills during practical maths sessions. We can use the 1p up to 10p, we can recognise cuisenaire rods, we use Mathseeds and dominoes to consolidate our counting skills. We even develop mental math by predicting add 1 before using pom poms and numicon tiles to check our answers. Great work Year One. 

Year One had a really great time as they made and ate fruit salad.

As part of our topic we have been thinking about the right to having a healthy diet. We know fruit and vegetables are very healthy foods.

We made a fruit salad. We named all the fruits and looked at the seeds they contained.

Have a look at the pictures below.

We have been thinking all about fruit this week. In Play Based Learning we used our fine motor skills to roll and shape doh to make a colourful fruit basket. Today we decided to make fruit salad. We talked about the different shapes and textures of the fruits. We looked closely to see if we could see any seeds and talked about how some seeds we eat and some we don't. We all had a turn at mixing the fruit salad then came the important part - tasting the fruit salad. We all agreed that it was yummy. A super week in Year One. 

This week Miss Hemphill's class were thinking about healthy breaks in Circle Time. We talked about why it is important to have a healthy break to give us energy and keep us alert for all our learning. We shared our favourite healthy breaks. As a Rights Resorcting School we understand we have the right to a healthy diet. Have a look at our favourite healthy breaks. 

In Circle Time Year One pupils were thinking about the right to a healthy diet.

Pupils talked about food they like/do not like to eat. We discussed the importance of a Healthy Diet. We talked about food that is healthy/unhealthy and we all agreed that sugary foods should only be eaten as a treat.

Pupils in Mrs Carson's class realise that while we all have access to lots of healthy meals, there are many children in the world who do not enjoy healthy meals each day because of drought.

Miss Hemphill's class have been learning all about the 1p coin. We can use 1p to buy items up to 10p. We talked about all the different coins and how they are different shapes, sizes and colours. We are excited to use the 1p coin in our fruit shop this week. 

Today in Year One pupils had the opportunity to look at a variety of coins.

They talked about the colour, shape and size of the various coins. We talked about the value of the different coins.

After discussing the coins pupils chose a coin and tried to identify it.

Have a look at the pictures below.

Friday 8th December is our Annual Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children. Your child may come to school in non-uniform with a Christmas jumper or t-shirt. Suggested donation is £1. Please send this in an envelope to your child's teacher/s. We thank you in advance for your continued support. 

Miss Hemphill

School Council Leader 

We raised a fantastic £207 today for Children in Need. We would like to thank our school community for your support. As a Silver Rights Respecting School we recognise it is our responsibility to help those less fortunate than ourselves.

🦺 We were so happy to welcome Johnny from Sustrans NI along to our whole-school assembly this morning. Johnny is going to work with as we promote safe and active travel to and from school. He has some very exciting plans and we are looking forward to some special events, starting next week. Keep an eye for more Sustrans updates! 🛴

Today, Wednesday 15th November 2023, the Eco Commiitee had a great afternoon outdoors in our school garden. The boys and girls tidied, weeded and freshened up the vegetable and fruit beds. There was fantastic teamwork, helping with this Autumn Tidy- Up.
Freshly growing brussel sprouts were also carefully and gently picked and harvested. 
I would like to say a huge thanks to our classroom assistant for her help today with the Eco Committee and to all the members of the Eco Committee for their super effort and teamwork today. Well done! 👏😊
The Eco Committee look forward to harvesting more winter vegetables.

Many thanks,

Mrs Murphy.

Eco- Schools Leader. 

The newly elected Eco Committee met for their first gardening session this month of October.  The boys and girls had a fantastic time, learning about the school produce, plants and how to look after and care for the growing winter vegetables. 
Thank you so much to the Eco Committee for all their hard work weeding and taking responsibility gardening, carefully together, outdoors in the school garden. A great start for this new Eco Committee 2023-2024.

A huge thanks is extended to our School Buildings Supervisor, Mr Johnston and to the classroom assistant Mrs Waide, for their tremendous help during this gardening session with the Eco Committee.

Many thanks,

Mrs Murphy.

Eco- Schools Leader. 

The Eco Committee have had a busy during Term 1A, harvesting the school produce. There was great interest and excitement picking strawberries, tomatoes, broad beans, peas and the start of our Winter brussel sprouts and cabbages. 
A huge  thank you is extended to our School Principal, Mrs Jamison for helping us with harvesting the vegetables and fruit. The Eco Committee would also wish to thank the classroom assistant Mrs Waide and Buildings Supervisor, Mr Johnston for their help with harvesting the school vegetables.

Thank you,

Mrs Murphy.

Eco- Schools Leader.

The School Garden has a wide variety of vegetables ready to be harvested. 🥬🫛🥒🌶️

Eco Committee members please remember to bring a change of outdoor footwear, wellingtons / outdoor coat/ and or change of suitable clothing for the start of harvesting the school produce.

Many thanks,

Mrs Murphy.

Eco- Schools Leader. 

E-safety update regarding an app called Talkie. Please see the attached image for more information. 

With the Christmas break fast approaching, the E-Safety Commissioner would like us to remind parents and carers of some of the issues concerning smart toys and devices. Smart toys can be more than just playthings; they often store personal details of their young users and can be used maliciously by others. Attached are some links and advice for parents during this festive season. 

Cyberbullying Advice for Parents/Carers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMZTgfdWE4w&t=90s

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/bullying-and-cyberbullying/   

https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/cyberbullying-advice-for-parents-and-carers 

The Ballymoney Model football team performed fantastically in the killowen Cup group stage. This secured us a place in the Killowen Cup final. Unfortunately, we didn't secure any wins during the final but the team had a brilliant day playing football. 
Thank you to our parents who came to support and a massive well done to the team for getting to the final! 

Massive well done to our rugby team who travelled to Coleraine Rugby and Football club yesterday to play in the Ulster Rugby Blitz. The team preformed brilliantly on and off the pitch and grew as the blitz progressed. 
Thank you our parents who came to support the team and Coleraine RFC Mini Rugby Academy for organising a fun morning. 

The boys hockey team travelled to Ballymena Academy on Thursday for a hockey blitz. During the group stage of the tournament the team played exceptionally well scoring many goals and this secured us a place in the final. The boys set their hopes high but unfortunately the final game came down to penalties. The opposing team scored onenmore goal than us. Despite the outcome, the team walked away with silver medals, well done everyone!  

Massive well done to the football team who competed in SCORE against many different local schools. The boys played exceptionally well during the group stage but unfortunately just missed out on the quarter finals. Thank you to the organisers at SCORE for another brilliant day! 

What a phenomenal day our girls football team have had today at SCORE! Despite the challenging group stage, the girls triumphed over the four other teams - only conceding 1 goal. As the team progressed into the quarter final we still played our game of football and came out on top with a 3-0 win. The semi-final really put us to the test where our opposition was leading with 1- 0. After our half time blew we went back on to the pitch and gave it our all to win the match, 2-1. Now it was time for the final and after several hours of football our determination and communication was fantastic. The girls gave it their all and were delighted to win the tournament. It was announced during the medals that Ballymoney Model has been the only school to win this tournament two consecutive years in a row. 
Massive thank you to SCORE for hosting another fantastic day and Gareth Scott for providing referees. 

So sorry for the late notice

We have just received notification that the match tomorrow is cancelled due to adverse weather conditions and the state of the pitches.

It has been rescheduled until 31st January

School Office

We have been delighted have Rev Park (Hebron Free Presbyterian Church) and his friend Christina along to be part of our after school Scripture Union club. 
Each week, we have been learning about characters in the Bible, singing our favourite choruses, competing in quizzes along with learning some memory verses.
Thank you to Rev Park and Christina for coming and joining us. 

We are pleased to be able to offer our pupils a range of After School options. 
Some pupils have been enjoying working with Mrs Keyte on some Needlecraft activities. 

Massive well done to our Netball team who competed in their first tournament at Coleraine University. Our girls enjoyed every minute and played brilliantly as a team! 
Thank you to Netball NI for providing this wonderful opportunity for everyone involved. 

We are pleased that we can provide opportunities for our pupils to avail of after school clubs and activities should they wish to do so. 
This week's spotlight  was on Hockey For Fun. With the weather still being mild we are delighted to be able to get outside. 

At Ballymoney Model, we have a fantastic range of after-school clubs that allow pupils to get involved in a variety of activities. 

It is great to have Nemesis Cheer and Dance in school and to hear the music and cheering coming from the hall each Wednesday afternoon.