So our goal in running this project was to focus on language development in a Junior Infant class. Our school has a very high percentage of EAL students and in the class that took part, 2 of 25 had English as a first language.

We ran the programme in 2 forms. One was following the structured programme listed in the book. We followed an adapted version of the lessons as we felt the level of some tasks was slightly higher than our ability. We ran with the theme of energy in other aspects of the curriculum to enable the children to better engage with the topic.

Each session ended with the children presenting their work, keeping their presentation focused on what our target for that day was. We focused on a collaborative approach with children sharing ideas with each other for improving their work.

At the end we invited parents to join us in the classroom for the final project but unfortunately there was no uptake from parents so we completed this task and presented our work to another class instead.

The second part of our Lego project was the use of 6 bricks to develop the children's language. We opened all activities with a short one from the programme but we also began using other table mats and suggested activities for using 6 bricks linked to our Aistear themes during play. We especially noticed a big impact on aural comprehension and instructional language.

The funding we received covered the cost to run the full programme last year and will be run again by both our new junior infant classes. It also enabled us to have a 6 bricks set for each child in both classes which will be used much earlier in Junior Infants than before. This is because we have been able to witness the benefits that it brings in such a short period of time.

The lego was also used throughout our thematic teaching. While learning about the supermarket the children would build shops, shelving etc using the lego for their small world play. This inspired imaginative play and also helped the teachers develop the language through the play by offering challenges or creating dramatic scenes for the children to act out.

So our goal in running this project was to focus on language development in a Junior Infant class. Our school has a very high percentage of EAL students and in the class that took part, 2 of 25 had English as a first language.

We ran the programme in 2 forms. One was following the structured programme listed in the book. We followed an adapted version of the lessons as we felt the level of some tasks was slightly higher than our ability. We ran with the theme of energy in other aspects of the curriculum to enable the children to better engage with the topic.

Each session ended with the children presenting their work, keeping their presentation focused on what our target for that day was. We focused on a collaborative approach with children sharing ideas with each other for improving their work.

At the end we invited parents to join us in the classroom for the final project but unfortunately there was no uptake from parents so we completed this task and presented our work to another class instead.

The second part of our Lego project was the use of 6 bricks to develop the children's language. We opened all activities with a short one from the programme but we also began using other table mats and suggested activities for using 6 bricks linked to our Aistear themes during play. We especially noticed a big impact on aural comprehension and instructional language.

The funding we received covered the cost to run the full programme last year and will be run again by both our new junior infant classes. It also enabled us to have a 6 bricks set for each child in both classes which will be used much earlier in Junior Infants than before. This is because we have been able to witness the benefits that it brings in such a short period of time.

The lego was also used throughout our thematic teaching. While learning about the supermarket the children would build shops, shelving etc using the lego for their small world play. This inspired imaginative play and also helped the teachers develop the language through the play by offering challenges or creating dramatic scenes for the children to act out.

We hope to use this project to help develop our pupils language (high % of EAL in our school). We also aim to help develop their imagination and social/play skills. All which were significantly impacted by preschool & creche closures during the covid 19 pandemic.