After a quick a haon, a do, a tri, Jocelyn, up like a flash to the top of the class, leads with a rhythmic swing of her hips and a clap to the right, then to the left. The rest of third class stand by their chairs and sing out with gusto. "Down in the jungle where nobody knows, there's a boogie, woogie washin' woman, washin' her clothes . . . yeah."

Deirdre Foy is by the blackboard, singing along with her class. In a short while, the bell goes and 32 little girls file out. Another day at Presentation Primary School, Warrenmount, Dublin, draws to a close.

"I didn't think I'd love teaching as much as I do," Foy says. "You become so involved with them. Although I'd be giving out sometimes, by the end of the year you are sad to see them go."

Tomorrow morning after prayers in the assembly hall, her class will file in again. It's still early days in the term but already the class has been divided into groups, each with its own name - Spice Girls, Ginger Spice, Baby Spice, Swans and Girl Power - otherwise known as G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5. "They are prouder when they vote for their own names . . . I think Swans is from the Children of Lir which we were reading about."

The first 15 minutes of the day are taken up with homework, calling the role and taking notes from parents. The first subject is Irish - "they love it," says Foy. "There's a lot of drama and they get up and act it out. It's active so they enjoy it." After an hour, they break. They sing songs at various intervals throughout the day, because "it's good for breaks during subject changes."

To be a teacher, she says, it's essential to be patient. "You have to be fond of children and you have to be patient or learn to be patient. I never regarded myself as patient until I started teaching. You have to expect different levels within a class and expect them to come on within their own levels."

Deirdre Foy has been teaching here for the past three years. Whatever about patience, energy is something which primary teachers must have in abundance. This is Foy's first year teaching third class. "It's not as exhausting as first class," she says. "The younger the children are, the more you find yourself on your feet all day." Generally, she says, "with third class you can give them a certain bit of responsibility."

On Wednesday afternoons the class is quieter than usual. Only the strains of Mozart waft around the room, as the children busy themselves with arts and crafts. "During art they listen to classical music. They forget about talking. The girls love pieces such as The Nutcracker Suite and Swan Lake. The boys, who attend the school up to first class, loved the marches and all the trumpets."

Her own happy memories of St Angela's National School in Castlebar, Co Mayo, started her thinking about becoming a teacher. "I was interested in the music part of it as well." She studied at St Patrick's Training College, Drumcondra, Dublin, and got an honours B Ed in 1994.

She spent a year teaching in Chico, California, on an exchange scholarship which is awarded to two people each year by St Patrick's. She completed a Masters in health education during this year.

After teacher training, it was the little things - "like filling out a rolebook and crowd control when you don't know how to get them into groups" - which proved most difficult about being in a classroom. Recalling her first days in Warrenmount, she says, "I didn't smile at them for the first month but once you have the control, they respect you."

Tomorrow's homework is already on the blackboard. "It's important to have a structure. You need to be organised. It helps. Children like that. But you can't be so rigid that you can't go out of it."