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.

‘Walk to School Week’ took place last week as part of the Green Schools programme and as walking to school is a little difficult for some of us here in The Glebe, we decided to put in place a number of activities instead during school to up our number of steps each day. In advance the Green Schools Committee gathered together and came up with ideas for the week ahead. On Monday the children walked all around the school yard and listened to some walking themed songs. On Tuesday the children went on a local walking tour of the village, as it tied in nicely with our geography lessons at the moment. We are learning about the local area and habitats, so we brought our i-pads and took photos of businesses, amenities, tourist attractions, nature etc. We then created a visual map of Aughrim for visual art. We also went to the Action Park on Wednesday and picked some blackberries. Then we went on an autumn walk on Thursday and to complete our week of activities the children walked to the local playground and got to enjoy using the facilities. We were happy with the extra exercise and hope to get out and about more often while at school this year.

Today the children enjoyed grouping up with various pupils to take part in our ‘Buddy Day’ station activities. Some of the stations included; Lego, Art, Language Games, I-Pads, Reading, Collaborative Colouring and Jigsaws. Each station was 20 minutes in duration. This allowed the pupils to mix and spend time with one another before we get our summer holidays.

We held our end of year service and celebration this week. We wished our two sixth class pupils best of luck as they graduate from the school. There were plenty of surprises for them including special art, videos and a small token of appreciation for all they have contributed to the school. The pupils enjoyed chicken nuggets, sausages and chips for lunch and played on the bouncy castles after our service.

Congratulations to the pupils for achieving the Blue Star Programme Europe Flag and the Write a Book project award. We had one overall winner and two runners up. The pupils worked very hard on their projects and books all through the year. Congratulations again,

It was a lovely day for a Sports day. The children enjoyed three-legged races, egg and spoon races, hurling skills session, sack races, parachute games, hula hooping, relay races and lots more. We enjoyed our snacks on the picnic tables. The ice cream and cold drinks were very welcome. Well Done to all the pupils.

This year we were blessed with a sunny day to make our way to Wildlands, Moycullen for the school tour where all children enjoyed some fun activities. To begin the day, each of our classes participated in the Fun Walls where the children challenged themselves to climb to great heights. The Junior classroom then got to do Bushcraft, where the children learned all about surviving the outdoors by creating a fire and building a shelter. The older children in the Senior room took part in an archery activity and worked on their hand-eye co-ordinary skills. The playground facilities completed our lovely day with the children playing in the sand and going on the swings and slides. It was a fantastic tour which we will no doubt return to in the coming years.

This term is a very busy one for us as the children in the Junior room and Senior room have gymnastics each Tuesday with our new coach from School Fitness Ireland. The children are learning a range of new moves concentrating on balance and co-ordination. In the Junior room the students are also taking part in hurling lessons which is new for many of the pupils, while the Senior room have started swimming lessons.