World Book Day 2015
We recently celebrated World Book Day with some flair and fashion. We were all dressed to kill (especially Mrs Lynch!) Well most of us were! Mr Donnelly, aka Ross O’Kelly-Carroll looked like he’d have preferred to have been at a rugby match, while Yvonne was making sure everyone took their medicine with a spoonful of sugar. Even Miss Griffin got in on the act, casting spells on us all with her two accomplices at her service.
We had a mammoth read-in morning with the senior pupils reading lots and lots for their junior partners, then the middle room who are avid readers, got the GP room to themselves for some serious reading.
The day continued with Little Red Riding Hood (aka Mrs Muldoon) reading for the whole school and chairing a discussion from all the pupils on all the types of reading that are out there. This was followed by some quality creative writing pieces being read aloud by pupils from the Senior Room – their pieces were in response to our class novel ‘Wonder’ by RJ Palacio.
We finished our day with a fashion parade and commentary by the characters themselves. Thanks to our mums and dads who came along and who helped with our great costumes.
Well done everyone! And do keep up the reading…. remember: It’s everywhere… comics, poems, songs, rhymes, newspapers, novels, blogs, etc…
Soccer 2015
2015 was the first year that Dunsany NS took part in the FAI Meath Schools’ Soccer Competition in MDL, Navan. We entered a girls’ team and a boys’ team. They both put in creditable performances with the boys finishing second in their group. The girls had biting wind and rain to contend with but they still reckoned it was a great day out and would like to go back again next year!
The boys would go back once a week if they could! You’ll see they had some fun when we stayed on a for an extra fun game with Clonard NS…. some of our lads are in blue and yellow… surely not?!
Our sincere thanks to Gerry Keoghan, Lorcan & Aoibheann’s dad who volunteered at the school for all of this term coaching both teams.
Go raibh maith agat Gerry!
Playgrounds Project
Mrs Muldoon approached the Senior Room in March with a clever idea muted by her own junior pupils to create a ‘Magical Playground’. The magical component came from the junior pupil and discussion with senior pupil on how they’d go about making it followed. Then the GP room turned into a landfill site!
And hey presto – we had 21 fabulous magical playgrounds made from all sorts of recyclable plastics, card, tubing, fabric, etc… Abracadabra and we had a tidy GP room! And with another bit of I.T. magic from the Senior Room, we had a great account on the making of the playgrounds – they even got the junior pupils working on the laptops.
The results were outstanding. Parents visited on the day of the Easter holidays for the big reveal. Well done a bhuachaillí agus a chailíní on another great collaborative project.
Open Night
We held our Annual Open Night on 11 March 2015. We had a super crowd. The pupils really did themselves proud. Their stations were varied and interesting and very well presented. Parents were quizzed, examined and entertained in equal measure. Little newcomers were warmly welcomed and many of them left with beautifully painted faces.
The evening was topped off by a short performance by the school singers ‘Gliondar’, in fine voice and resplendent in their new brightly coloured, special-issue t-shirts.
Thank you to parents and PA members who helped with a cupán tae on the night.
We apologise to anyone who missed our Open Night as we had forgotten to post it up on our calendar.
Mr. Brennan Camino
Mr Brennan, our ever-welcome former principal popped in recently to give the Senior Room a talk on the Camino de Santiago.
Mr Brennan along with a group of mates, walked the Camino de Santiago from the French-Spanish border just below the Pyrennes Mt. Range to the pilgrimage town of Compostella de Santiago on the west coast of Spain.
The walk over 750km long, took 31 days. Mr Brennan’s a seasoned explorer so it was a piece of cake to him! We had a great session with him, learning lots about Spain. We went on to complete an individual assignment on the laptops on Spain and the Camino in the days after Mr B’s talk.
Just who is that scary figure in Mr Brennan’s rain gear?!
ICA
Happy 50th Anniversary to our local ICA group!
The Horace Plunkett ICA Guild invited each class down to the parish hall recently to learn about the role of the ICA in local history and to view their fabulous exhibits to mark their 5oth anniversary.
It was a very rewarding morning, giving us the opportunity to talk to women who have seen lots of changes in Dunsany over the past 50 years. We learned that the ICA has had a big role in good works in our parish. We also learned that the ICA is open to all women. young and old – a nearby guild has a 16 year old member!
To mark our visit and to cement our learning we prepared a class booklet ‘ICA – an appreciation by the pupils of Dunsany NS’ after our visit.
Thank you to all the members for their gift of Lady Fingal’s Biography and for all the yummy treats they plied us with!
Cross Country
Congratulations to our many pupils on representing the school so well at the Meath Schools’ Cross Country 2nd meet of the year @ Fairyhouse Racecourse.
Well done to our 1st class young runner who is showing off her 2nd place medal here.