News

We have attended and organised quite a lot of events for our community but this event was by far the best we’ve been to. 

Some home educating families were treated to a very special theatre showing, Secrets of Space, at The Mac today. 

We got to see a phenomenal sister duo take us through their childhood space journey. 

The special effects, outstanding singing and unique storyline blew us all away.

Every age attending enjoyed the show and we all learnt so much! 

Two groups of home educated children enjoyed another art class with the fabulous Deborah Malcomson at the FE McWilliam Gallery. 

This is such a popular event with our community and it’s easy to see why. 

Deborah naturally gets on the kids level, earns their respect and teaches them some really cool art. 

This month the kids designed a colour wheel, discovering what colours you can make when you mix primary colours together. 

Our home educated kids have been having lots of fun on ice over the summer and into September. 

Some kids have started their new term of ski lessons with Craigavon ski slopes. 

Others have been taking to the slopes bi-monthly on a snow tube which always promises great craic. 

A group of under 10’s had a 6 week taster of ice skating lessons at dundonald ice bowl over summer that has now continued into regular lessons during term! 

Home educating families had a great day trying out the biggest inflatapark in Northern Ireland. 

We Are Vertigo let us rent our their inflatapark to ourselves for an hour, adults and children had a great time on various ninja warrior themed activities, slides and all bounce floor. 

A fun trip we’ll definitely repeat! 

Some of our younger members had another lovely session with Quailty Time. A parent details below; 

“We went to an Autumn theme which was brilliant.

We played with leaves, pinecones, read books like little red riding hood and the gruffalo.

There was a gruffalo dress up and lots of toys to help fine motor skills which was just perfect.

We threaded in order of characters that appeared in the story of little red riding hood using a threading toy.

“On Friday 13th September, a group of home educated children and their families went to Navan Fort for a Warrior Celts Workshop. 

We learnt about the Celts in the Iron Age and how they lived  and fought. They lived in round houses with thatched roofs made of straw or heather. We got to go  inside a round house to see what sort of things they had, like an open fire and weapons like spears. Their house was really small with only one room to live, sleep and eat in. We heard stories of what it was like to live in that time. 

Outside, we got a demonstration of how a celt used a spear.

We found out how archaeologists can work out what age an artefact is and we got to make our own Celtic shields to keep.

Our children enjoyed another fantastic day with Armagh Planetarium. 

The older group saw a space mission film in the dome, learnt how to make a mars landing vehicle and had a guided tour around the exhibitions. 

The children particularly enjoyed making the Mars lander, in teams they had to choose 5 items only to make a landing vehicle to protect their egg/astronaut. They then had to drop their lander on the ground from a height to their team below to see if the astronaut would have survived -only one did! 

A group of home educated children became pizza chefs for the day at Pizza Express Victoria Square.

We started by washing our hands then dressing like a professional with an apron and hat.

They enjoyed kneading the dough to make it lovely and smooth. Then we spread Pizza Express’ famous passata sauce and added lots of mozzarella.

Parents enjoyed tea/coffee and the kids enjoyed a drink of juice while colouring in activity books.

We were able to relax and enjoy our pizzas in the restaurant fresh from the oven.

A group of home educated children took a trip to space today with Debutots Ulster. 

Kids and parents started off their adventure with warm up musical flying. 

They sat down to listen to Pocket Rocket, the story. 

This was followed by some space themed worksheets and a play with a rainbow parachute canopy. 

Everyone left with a balloon and smile on their faces! 

Some of our younger members got to start their Home ed yoga class today! 

“Each child got to introduce themselves and show a favourite dance pose or move or like stretch or something they liked about themselves in movement, Arthur liked playing guitar for example to warm up. Playing songs and shaking out all the cobwebs to loosen out our bodies. 

Then we all flew on a plane to the jungle and listened to the animals and did different moves and activities relating to the animals. 

The children really enjoyed this and look forward to their next class with Hilary.”