For the month of February, every Wednesday the children and staff have been increasing their steps. The school is taking part in WOW Wednesdays for the Green Schools Travel Flag. Before school the children meet at the village park and walk/run a few laps and get some vital fresh air into their lungs. We then all walk back to the school to begin our learning day. The weather so far has been very kind to us and we look forward to completing our month rain free.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service visited the school recently to educate the students about Irish nature and encourage interest in and respect for the environment and our natural heritage.

Liz and Claire presented and discussed with the students topics such as Biodiversity, Habitats, Irish Mammals and Irish Birds. The engagement in the nature themed powerpoint presentation followed by a show and tell segment with stuffed animals and other props was very impressive. We really enjoyed the experience and look forward to another visit in the near future.

December has been busy preparing for our Christmas Concert that we were so happy returned after two long years. The children worked very hard in their roles, learned the songs and actions and did a fantastic job on the 16th December when parents came in to see the play. The staff were super proud of the children on the day, and as a community, it was lovely to chat and mingle in the school. The Parents’ Association provided tea and coffee and light bites which went down a treat. Thank you also to all the parents and staff who contributed beautiful raffle prizes that were won on the day.

We also held Ballinasloe Christmas Jumper Day on December 9th and very proudly raised one hundred euro for Galway Hospice and Ballinasloe Social Services.

Well done to all the children, we hope you enjoy a well deserved break and look forward to see what 2023 holds for us here in The Glebe. Wishing you all the best!

Nollaig Shona Daoibh!!

Congratulations to two of the younger pupils in the school who won prizes in the Ballinasloe Credit Union Art Competition recently. We are very proud of you both!!

We are very proud of the pupils here as many of the children and families decided to get involved in  Team Hope’s Christmas Shoebox Appeal this year. It is an annual campaign that delivers gifts straight into the hands of children affected by poverty.

There was great excitement in the school today as the children dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Every year the school hosts a Children’s Health Foundation Trick or Treat Party to raise much needed funds to support sick children in Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly hospitals. Everyone made a great effort and we really appreciate the donations made by all the families.

We decided as part of homework this week to have a pumpkin decorating competition. It was a very difficult task to choose the overall winners in both classrooms as everyone did such a great job!!

Today the children were given the task of creating their own Halloween costumes in groups using only black plastic bin bags and other various materials. Didn’t they do a fantastic job!

The children also took part in a Halloween kahoot quiz and did some minecraft coding in the afternoon.

We would like to wish the children and all the school community an enjoyable midterm.

On Wednesday the whole school were put into small groups and took part in various stations; snakes & ladders, numba rumba, connect 4, chess, i-pad games and a memory shopping game. The children in the Junior Room enjoyed the opportunity to work alongside the Senior pupils. It was a fun week for all involved.

This week the pupils went on their first school outing of 2022/2023 to Limerick where the Diocesan Schools Service was held in St Mary’s Cathedral on Thursday 13th October. The children had a wonderful day and the highlight of the service for the children was no doubt the story of the ‘Stone Soup’ which thoroughly engaged the children and allowed some movement for the pupils as they went on a scavenger hunt for ingredients that were hidden in the Cathedral. The theme of the service was Friendship and the story reminded pupils of the importance of sharing and being a good friend. Once the service finished, we spent an hour in King John’s Castle on a self-guided tour where the children were brought back 800 years in history exploring Limerick’s greatest landmark. They learned about King John himself and explored the spacious outdoor courtyard. It was a lovely way to finish off our trip to Limerick.

We have had a really busy week with visitors so far as we also had the opportunity to meet one of our local guards, David Dully. He came to visit the children to discuss the role of the guards in our community and answers the questions they may have about his career. He gave a wonderful, informative presentation and allowed the children to look at some of his equipment. The children really enjoyed getting to know more about this type of job and look forward to David’s return as he has promised to come back to the school in the coming months. 

On Monday we were delighted to welcome coaches Jennifer and Beverly who are encouraging all young children around the county to play hockey. They arrived for a half an hour hockey session to speak to the children about joining their local club and show the children some basic hockey skills. Some of the pupils have experience playing hockey while others were new to the sport. Overall the session was very enjoyable. Thank you Jennifer and Beverly for taking the time to visit us.