On Friday 8th November we were learning about trees. Ms. Wymbs told us to get in pairs. At the beginning of the lesson Ms. Wymbs showed us the leaves of all the native Irish trees so we were able to identify the trees quite easily. We all got a piece of paper with questions on it. We went looking for trees. We saw rowan, horse chestnut, birch and oak trees.
      We all saw honey mushrooms. They were pink and peach. One of our questions asked us what does the seed look like? The majority of us could not find the seeds. Two girls, Kate and Victoria found an acorn from an oak tree. Most of the class found conkers from a horse chestnut tree. 
      At the end of the lesson we had a look at different types of trees that surround us. I learned new things about trees.
                                                                                                    by Fatima, Rang 4

On Thursday 10th October, 6th class planted trees on the Suir Blueway . We first  learned about how trees are important for the earth and how they benefit humans and animals. After this lesson 6th class walked to the Blueway to plant the trees . There we were given instructions and put into groups. Pupils dug the earth for a perfect hole, picked up litter and even met new friends,the worms !!! In the end 6th class planted fouer trees and had lots of fun.
                 by Eshaal

     Active School Flag
Throughout the past two years the Active School Committee has been working on getting our Active School Flag. To do so we scored penalties on teachers and we had an Active School Week. Throughout the week we did Active Lines where two people go up in front of the classes and do exercises e.g. star jumps, squats, jumps, squat jumps etc.
The Active School Committee encourages people to do active homework and lots more.
Last Christmas the Active School Committee did the 12 days of Fitness. Last year’s Rang 6 took part in a cycling safety course on Thursdays. 2nd class to 6th went swimming for eight weeks and so much more.
The Active Schools Committee and Ms. Skeehan had a meeting with the Active Schools 
Inspector and told her about all the hard work the school did throughout the school year. A few weeks later the school got the Active School Flag in the post!
After a long summer break, when the school was all settled back, we decided to raise the flags. The whole school gathered together in front of the school at the poles.
At first Miss O’ Dwyer spoke about Green Schools because we put that flag up first. For the Active Flag the committee posed for some pictures and we sang our Active Schools rap while raising our flag. Miss O’ Dwyer helped raise it. The whole school worked really well on our fitness challenges and The Active Schools Committee want to say thank you for all your participation.   
     By Natasha O’Neill O’Connell and Emily Stokes

​On 8th May my nine friends and I went to Kilkenny for Challenge to Change. It was a really enjoyable day. We learned so many new things about our environment and about our world. People really enjoyed learning about the weird shaped carrots and about the board games. We got drinks when we arrived there. We sat at a table and we talked. After that we displayed our project and told people what we learned and the actions we took. Some of the girls went drumming and they performed on the stage. A different group took part in a workshop about saving resources. After, everyone ate lunch. It was very delicious! We said goodbye to everyone and we went back on the bus. It was such an amazing day! We were so lucky to be there.  By Iustina Rang 6

Rang 6 made board games as part of their 'Challenge to Change' project. The theme of the games is protecting our environment. The girls played the games with girls in Rang 2. It was a happy experience for all. Here is some feedback from two girls in Rang 2.

I loved the board games because they were exiting. I think my favorite board game was the one where we needed to make the right desision and the wrong decision. I really liked all the games. By Julia R   Rang 2
 
I loved the board games because they were very exiting and very very fun! I think my favorite board game was.....snake and ladders. It made me want our school day to never end! By Ailish Rang 2

We celebrated World Book Day on Friday 8th March. All of the school dressed up as our favourite characters from books and did book related activities. Sixth class read to the two first classes. Two girls from sixth class went around  the school and gave every class book tokens to use in all the major book stores such as Easons. There was a wide variety of characters and all the costumes were very creative. Even a few of the teachers dressed up. Two teachers dressed up as Thing One and Thing Two, while Mrs. Lambert dressed up as Paddington. Some people decided to do group costumes, and some did singular ones, but all of them were excellent. I dressed up as Skulduggery Pleasant from the Skulduggery Pleasant series. He is a skeleton detective, over four hundred years old, quite a trouble maker, a charmer, hilarious,  and he wears expensive suits everyday. His best friend, who he calls a combat accessory, helps him save the world, and often saves him from prisons, and once from a world full of dark, evil gods. I would recommend the series to anyone who is looking for a good book to read. Over all, everyone had a wonderful day, and everyone went home feeling happy and elated. I hope everyone used their book tokens!
                                                                                                         Aoibhe, Rang 6

​      Our school had their national Grandparents Day on Wednesday 30th January. Some of the children’s grandparents came to the school. We thank the grandparents that came to our school. We had a great day with all the grandparents. We had lots of fun.
     In Rang 3 we started with a song called On Top Of the World. The grandparents loved our song. Even the grandparents were singing. We all sang together. We had great laughter together.
   We then asked the grandparents a list of questions that the class had written. The grandparents told us that times were hard back then, when they were our age. We had lots of fun asking them the questions. Some were very interesting. Some were funny. One of the questions was ‘Did you have a car when you were young?’ They replied, ‘No, because only rich people could afford it.’
   Soon after that we had a prayer service. We sang three songs. We sang ‘As I kneel before you’, ‘This little light of mine’ and ‘Together as One’. We said prayers for our grandparents and our families. We thanked God for all the love our grandparents show us. The grandparents went for tea together. Everyone was happy with the day.
       By Sadhbh, Rang 3

     On a Tuesday before our Christmas holidays 6th class went apple tree planting.First Theresia told us about the Clonmel Applefest. We were split into two groups and I was in the second group. We did work while we waited for the first group to finish their half of the planting.
     Soon after Mrs.Lambert came up to the classroom to collect us. We went down in pairs. I was with Gráinne. We went down by the river to plant the apple trees.It was a nice and sunny day. The group was split into fours. Theresia and Louise gave out tools to plant the apple trees. There were so many stones while we were digging that it was hard to make the holes. Our shoes were soon all muddy from all the mud on the ground. It was a very dirty job but fun! We added compost and took the young apple trees out of their pots and planted them into the ground.
    Soon there will be lovely apple trees for everyone to see. By Sarah Fitzgerald, Rang 6

​Carol Singing with 5th and 6th class
On Wednesday the 19th December, Mrs Lambert’s class and Ms. Ryan’s class went carol singing for the residents in Rathkeevin. Andy brought the two classes to Rathkeevin on his bus. Mrs Keane played the flute while Mrs Hyland played the keyboard. Ms Conway played her guitar and everyone sang. The two classes sang popular carols such as O Holy Night and Silent Night. Everyone in Rathkeevin really enjoyed the singing. After the singing the staff gave us chocolate and orange juice.
By Aine McGrath

      The Garda Show was so cool! We saw the helicopter land and we saw it take off again. We were taught about the helicopter and we saw two Garda dogs. They were so cute! We were also taught about the guards, what they do and where they go. We heard about the gun unit, the traffic corps, mountain rescue and the cycling unit.
      We really enjoyed the day. Thank you to the Garda team for putting on such an interesting day.
                                                                                            Sarah K, Rang 6