Antrim Primary

Mr. Magrath's Primary 7 class have been involved this year in a Dissolving
Boundaries project with children from Bayside Senior School, Dublin. The pupils
have been working in groups to communicate with each other using the
Dissolving Boundaries website.

The two sets of children have been giving each other information about their
own schools, the wider area around their school (Antrim + Dublin) and soon will
be finding out more about their local counties, giving information on places of
interest (ie. Giant's Causeway, Glens of Antrim etc).

On Tuesday 20th April 2010, the participating children from Bayside Senior
School, along with their Principal and some teachers came to visit Mr. Magrath's
P7 class. Our visitors arrived at the local bus and train station at 10.45am and
after a short visit to Antrim Primary, the two classes walked over to the North
East Institute building. Some P.E. students at the Institute taught the children
some basic football skills before giving the two classes the oportunity to play in
a mini tournament. The teams comprised both boys and girls from each school
and many of the children quickly made new friends as the session progressed. A
big thank you to the students at N.E.I. who made this a very enjoyable morning
for the two classes.

Next up was a school dinner for everyone at Antrim Primary and this was
especially enjoyed by the Bayside contingent as they do not have a meals
kitchen at their school. The lunch was thoroughly enjoyed by all - thanks again
to the kitchen staff for providing a most welcome lunch on the day!

After playing outside on the grass area for a few minutes, next up for the two
classes was a trip to the Antrim Civic Centre to meet the Mayor of Antrim, Mr.
Adrian Watson. Before leaving the school, plaques were exchanged between the
two Principals to celebrate the first meeting between Antrim and Bayside.

The Mayor of Antrim gave the children an interesting tour of the Antrim Civic
Centre and the pupils had the opportunity to sit in the Council chamber where
debates take place. The Mayor kindly laid on orange juice and crisps, biscuits
etc for the children at the conclusion of the tour - greatly enjoyed by all!

The pupils then made the short journey back to the Antrim Bus/Train station on a
Translink bus. The children said their farewells to each other, as Bayside made
their way back to Dublin, but hopefully many friendships were made on the day.

The two classes will soon be in contact again - this time by a webcam link. More
work has yet to be completed passing on information about each others County
and it is hoped that the connection between the two schools will be continued
and strengthened in 2010 - 2011.

Here are some photos showing how much we enjoyed our day.......