Sixth Class Blue Star programme

6^th Class Blue Star Programme

This month we are very fortunate to welcome Sean Kelly,  MEP to our school. In March of this year we sent a letter to Mr. Kelly informing him of all the work 6^th class had completed during the year as part of the Blue Star Project and we were all delighted when he accepted our invitation. Below outlines some information about the Blue Star Project and the work carried out by the pupils.

General Information

The Blue Star Programme is an education initiative for primary school  students across Ireland. The idea of the programme is simple: to foster better understanding and knowledge of the European Union and how it affects the lives of Irish citizens among Irish primary pupils through classroom projects and activities.

In 6^th class we have carried out a wide variety of projects and work to help us better understand the role of the E.U. and the various countries that are part of it.

The programme challenged the students to get creative to create projects on the history, culture, geography and creativity within the E.U. The children have worked really hard and have completed the following projects.

History:

The children studied in depth World War 2 – its background, what happened, how it impacted on the lives of citizens, and on countries around the world . This lead us to exploring the roots of the EU including its founding fathers.

We became aware of the founding principles of the EU having explored the destruction felt by Europe following World War 2.

As part of the study the children were split into groups to study in depth certain areas and made powerpoint slides incorporating their learning. At the end of the project, all slides from the groups were assembled to make an exciting educational slideshow about World War 2 and the formation of the EU.

The children also read the story “The boy in the striped pyjamas” which is set in Auswitch, Poland, during World War 2.

Geography

6^TH class conducted an in-depth study on  10 EU countries of their choice working in groups of average 3 or 4 pupils.

The study included gaining an historical, geopgraphical and cultural insight into the country of their choice. The projects also featured research of  people of interest from these countries and interesting facts about the country.

The class produced, presented and displayed their projects on posters in the school hall for the whole school community to access.

Cultural:

The children completed a project based on a european artist after researching and investigating the paintings. Their slides discusssed the life of the painter and two famous works.

The children also completed a project on their favourite band from Europe, favourite invention and also their favourite european sport.

Institutional:

Two children from 6^th class created a quiz based on the content learnt about the European Institution. Before the European elections on the 23^rd of May we plan to hold our own election here in the school. Four students have volunteered to be candidates, other groups will be as follows,: create the bollot paper, media, registrar of electors, guard, counting the votes, designing posters, handing out ballot papers.