Activities

In addition to the spectrum of Primary School subjects, our school participates in many curricular and extra curricular activities:

In our school we began playing chess in 1998. We learn to play chess in third & fourth class. Maurice Buckley Bank of Ireland helps us to get started. We also have a Cd, which is very helpful. In fifth & sixth class the children take part in the E.S.B. Checkmate Competition.

This competition involves inter class play offs, to decide on teams that will play other schools. About 300 teams play in the tournament. The finals of the Chess Tournament are held in Dublin, teams

from all over Ireland come to this event. The prize for the winners is a trip to Disney Land Paris.

A pupil being congratulated at the finals of the ESB Checkmate Chess 2001 competition.

Visits to the swimming pool take place during the first school term - September to December. Every Tuesday about 70 children go swimming at 11.00a.m. We travel by bus and are accumpanied by a teacher and parents. There are five different swimming levels and seven swimming instructors. Starting with level one where the beginners get accustomed to being in the water, we work up through the levels to level five. At this level life saving skills are taught. By the time we reach sixth class we have been awarded certificates for various levels and are ready to swim up the Nore, the longest river in the county!

The new yard and basketball courts were opened in 2000. We now have two lined and market basketball courts. We have a good supply of basketballs which we use at break time. We also have a basketball club in Castlecomer. Many of us belong to this club which is run by Mr. Joe Byrne. He coaches teams on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. We have been involved in many basketball tournaments some of which we have won.

It is a project organised by the Kilkenny Education Centre for primary school pupils.

Every year before Christmas the school gets involved in a wreath-making project. The parents spend some enjoyable nights working together while the sixth class pupils also put a lot of time and

work into the project. We make table centres, table and door and grave wreaths. Sr. Nuala orders the supplies such as oasis, holders, special tape, special wire, ribbons and decorations. The wreaths are made out of greenery, fir cones and holly that the pupils and parents collect. All profits from the wreaths go towards the school funds.

As usual this year the pupils continued the old tradition of making St. Brigid’s crosses in their classes. Our grandparents loved to put up a new cross each year to invoke the protection of St. Brigid on themselves and their animals in the forthcoming year. It is nice that we continue to appreciate and foster this element of our Irish culture. Several of the classes participated in the making of crosses for the parish fund raising campaign.

“May the Father, Son, Holy Spirit and St. Brigid bless this cross and all who look upon it”.

Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First class went on a school tour. We went to The Dome and to the park on two buses. We had a great day.


how many shoes????	out for a drive

the winning team	all join in the fun

This year pupils from second to sixth classes visited the 'Lets Go' day camp in Kildare. It was a most enjoyable day with lots of activities to enjoy. Everyone joined in and a fun day was had by all!

In our school, children are encouraged to be active members of the School Credit Union. Deposits are accepted every Friday. Sixth class girls act as tellers every week. They carry out their work responsibly and in so doing learn some of the basic skills of accounting. Withdrawals are made with permission from parents at different times throughout the school year eg. Christmas, school tour and summer holidays.

J4 volleyball has begun in our school. this is a re-adaptation of the traditional volleyball game. The main differences with J4 volleyball is that there are only four players on the team and each team must have three touches of the ball before sending the ball over the net to their opponents. This ensures more rallies, more opportunities to hit the ball and a lot more fun.

Fifth and sixth classes are learning the skills of this wonderful new game to our school. The children are really enjoying the experience and progressing well at the game. It is hoped at the end of the year that the children will participate in a mini league within the school.

The Buntús programme has been designed as an excellent resource package to support teachers in delivering the new P.E. programme. Our teaching staff recently participated in an active and fun-filled 3 hour training session for this programme. Not only did the teachers receive fun ideas for their P.E. lessons but also 2 BIG sports bags full to capacity with lots of colourful and child friendly equipment. Both teachers and children alike are delighted to have such equipment in our school and it has brought lots of enjoyment and activity to all.

In June the children participated in a very successful Sports Day. Thankfully the sun shone all day long and fun was had by all. The children participated in games such as basketball, hockey, dance, hoola hoop games, fun relays and lots more. They also joined in class sprint races. After a warm afternoon all enjoyed light refreshments before heading home tired, stiff and happy!


In the winners enclosure waiting for the final race.	Happy hopscotch.

Dancing queens!	Thank's for the drink.

Chess	Drama/Public Speaking
Basketball	Write-a-Book
Swimming	Wreath Making
Tours	LÁ FHÉILE BRÍDE
Credit Union	Volleyball
Buntús	Sports Day


Down by the bay...	Hello everyone!

having fun	up, up and away

One small step for man ...	Having a ball!

Pres. Order	Music	Newsletter	Recycling
History of our school	Mission Awareness	Children's Work	Locality
Caring for others project