snow pictures

 

snow pictures

snow pictures

 

snow pictures

New School Blog

We have moved our blog to Edublogs. Here is the link.

This OLDER blog will remain active.


School Admin Team

Christmas Newsletter 2012

Our school Christmas Newsletter is HERE. In addition to opening to view, you may save and print.

Other newsletters you might like yo browse back through.

School Calendar 2011

Robot Pupils in Stradbally!

Yesterday was nearly the last day of my life. I had to supervise the junior and senior classes because their teacher, Mrs Crowley went home sick. They might have sounded harmless but they were far from it.

I walked into the classroom with my best friend Emily. They were working quietly, but when I accidentally banged the door they all stopped working and looked at us with their big red eyes. We knew at that moment that they had turned evil. They got up off their seats and tried to attack us. We tried to open the door but it was jammed. What could we do now? We tried to put soap on them from the sink in their classroom but the soap ended up all over Emily and I. We thought that they were vampire children but they were robot children. The robot children got sharp pencils and started to throw them at us. Then they tried to throw paint at us. I shouted so people would hear us but nobody did.

They were coming nearer and nearer to us. It was really frightening. Suddenly there was a knock on the window, it was the sub teacher. The robot children ran straight back to their seats. Emily and I made a deal that we would never ever to into that classroom again!

written by S.MG., 5th class
 

Visit from Local Historian John Young

Pupils display some historic artifacts.

Mr. de Búrca told us that a man was going to come in to talk to us about the famine. His name was John. The next day John came in and he told us about the workhouse in Dungarvan which is now an eye-clinic. He explained that the boys were trained to put the soles on shoes (have a close look at the machine in the picture above) and the girls were taught lace-making and embroidery. He also said that 200 girls were sent to Quebec in Canada. They were all around my age, older and younger.

John told us lots of people died or emmigrated. Around one million people died and another one million emmigrated. The main food at that time was potatoes and when blight attacked the potato plant, there was no food to be eaten.

The famine was called the Great Famine because it was so long. There was a group of people in America called the Choktaw Indians who sent Indian corn to Ireland, but eating this also killed many of the Irish people because they could not digest this properly.

The workhouse had lines of hundreds of people dying or dead outside. Even inside the workhouses they still died. All they got to eat was one bowl of soup each day.

Some landlords owned the houses that workhouses were made from and they just evicted everybody and made it all into an area to farm animals. 

Written by E.R, 4th class, December 2012.

School Mix Up

One day I went to school, but this was my new school and it wasn’t an ordinary school it was called: Mix Up N.S. So here I was standing in the front door of the school. It looked so shiny and new. I heard a child my age shout ‘Line up’. I thought she meant us, but then I saw all the adults lining up. So in this school the children are in charge of the adults. I was then introduced to the other children, and instantly I made friends with a tall, beautiful girl. Her name was Betty.

Now I live here and teach adults. It’s so much fun. I get to give grades. The adults live in the school building and me and the children live in a mansion at the top of the hill. Now it feels normal to boss around adults. 

By Emily R, 4th  class

Elves on Christmas Eve

On the 24th Dec 9:00 Jim Marco and John were in a rush. They were not very organised. All the other elves hated them. Jim Marco and John wanted to show them that they were not absolutely dumb.

‘Jim…Jim!’ shouted an elf called Joline. ‘One of the bulbs of the fairy lights is gone!’ Jim called his two brothers and they went to change the bulb. John suggested that they should stack themselves up so they could reach the bulb. When Jim went to the top of their stack he lost his balance and fell. 

As he fell, an important piece of paper fell out of his pocket. It was Santa's sleigh license.

‘Oh no!’ Said Santa when he found his wallet empty. ‘I gave that little rat my license to go and get it laminated and he lost it!’ He charged into the elf camp. Jim Marco and John never got told off like this before. ‘I cant drive my sleigh now!’ said Santa. ‘you are not to work until It is found!’ Jim, Marco and John looked everywhere.

Just as they were going to give up, a voice from behind them said: ‘You looking for this?’ They turned around to see Joline holding the license. ‘Give it back!’ Said Marco. ‘Oh I will, if you promise to be more careful.’ ‘We will!!!’ They said in unison. From then on, the three of them became the most organised elves in the North Pole. 

By Emily M

We Visited The Art Hand in Bunmahon

Many thanks to Miranda and Sean for a lovely time.
 

Stoory coming soon......

Santa Goes to the Caribbean (from Stradbally)

This year we are doing our Christmas play ‘Santa goes to the Caribbean’. The play moves between the North Pole and the Caribbean island of Jamaica. We are practicing every day. It is interesting too to be practicing the Jamaican accent. The famous runner Usain Bolt is from Jamaica.

Cast of Characters:
Ambrose:   Amy
Cuckold:   Tara and Emily M
Evil Genius:   Hayley
Griselda:   Emily R and Tara
Marco:   Orna
Marigold:   Emily M and Savannah
Mary Anne:   Kellsey
Mischief:   Zoe and Beckie
Narrator:   Savannah, Natasha and Emily R
Pint Size:   Mr. de Búrca
Rudolf:   Sheena, Natasha
Santa:   Beckie, Zoe
Tingolaya:   Louise
Director of photography:   Sheena
Director of visual and sound effects:   Louise, Natasha and Savannah

Written by SMG, 6th class
illustration coming soon

The Chocolate Land

One cold winter night, at 6 o’clock, I woke up after having a nightmare. It was about me drowning in a tub of boiling chocolate. I found that my window was open. How could that happen?
Suddenly, a voice whispered: “Come, come into my world of chocolate.”

Outside on my windowsill a bar of chocolate appeared. When I went to get it from outside, a big hole came in the ground. Before I could scream I fell through it. I found myself in a world that was completely brown. “Wow! It’s chocolate!”, I said. I ate and ate loads of chocolate.

Suddenly, loads of chocolate Santas with sharp teeth ran after me. “Stop eating our country,” said one, and bit me on the leg. They looked very angry. They chased me until they each fell into a melted chocolate river.

When I woke up I was in my nice warm bed. “It must have been a dream,” I said to myself, but when I was getting dressed there was a chocolaty bitemark on my leg! “Weird, very weird”, I said as I walked out the door.

By EM, 5th class. illustration coming soon

Facts about Waterford

Tramore is a seaside town and also it holds a racing festival at the race track. Waterford is home to its famous crystal and it also holds a big Spraoi festival every year. Crotty the Robber lived in the Comeragh mountains. Stradbally and Kilmacthomas are famous for Larry Griffin.

By LC senior classes

Back in Time

After completing an Arts degree in Limerick, I have now decided to apply to do a Postgraduate course in primary teaching. In order to apply I will have to attend and interview both in English and in Irish. A few weeks ago I spent two weeks in Our Lady of Mercy, Stradbally to observe and gain experience in the classroom. Although I have a great deal of experience working with children I had never had much experience in a classroom setting. As a past pupil of the school, I greatly enjoyed my experience and was amazed at the progress the school has made since I left.
On first approaching the school, it was clear that many changes had been made to the school building and the school yard. There were new windows and doors, a soft ground area for the children to play on, and a much needed new car-parking system. I was delighted to see that the mural that I had helped to paint on the wall of the shelter was still there! It was all very impressive.
Throughout the two weeks I gained some very valuable experience in the classroom. I observed Mrs. Crowley, Mrs. O'Riordan and Mr. de Búrca and the methods they used to teach. I was also given the opportunity to take some of my own classes and help with one-to-one reading. I found the work very fulfilling. Huge changes have been made to the primary curriculum since I attended the school. It was great to see that the children are much more involved in their learning process. They spent their lessons asking questions, making projects, and using fun and different resources such as the interactive white board. During my time in the senior classroom, the girls spent a lesson presenting projects which they had obviously worked very hard on. I was amazed at the amount of hard work and enthusiasm that went in to them. Not only did the girls learn a great deal but they also clearly enjoyed themselves in the process.
It was great to spend time in the junior classroom as I had never had much experience working with that age group. The children were all full of life and eager to learn. Mrs. Crowley was great, teaching through song, story-telling and art, making every lesson fun and keeping them interested. It made me realise that a great deal of planning and enthusiasm is needed, especially in the junior classroom as they are so young.
I also got the opportunity to sit into several drama lessons. Every week a lady comes in to take the children for an hour long drama session. I was very impressed by her enthusiasm and the way in which she had the children hanging on every word she said. The lessons were great fun and a great way for the children to express themselves in a different way.
Overall the time I spent at Our Lady of Mercy was a great experience! I really enjoyed every minute of it and am so grateful to both the teachers and the children for having me. The time I spent there has really confirmed my decision to become a primary school teacher, and you never know I could be back again, qualified this time!! 

L.B

Drama in Stradbally

We do drama once a week. Miss Hogan comes to our school to do this with us. Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First and Second class go into Miss Hogan first. When they are finished Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth class go in.
Two years ago we did a big play with Miss Hogan. It was called The Wizard of Oz. We had a lot of fun while doing this. In the play I was a fairy. We performed this on stage in the Barron Hall for everyone to come and watch. We got a great turn out for this. Last year we did a small play in school. This year hopefully we will be doing a big one on stage again. THANKS MISS HOGAN WE APPRECIATE YOU COMING TO DO DRAMA WITH US.

Art & Tin Whistle

ART
At the moment Miranda is coming to our school once a week. For our art classes Miranda is making a big mural for the wall of our porch with us. We all give ideas for this. From juniors up to senior class. I'm really enjoying this and I am looking forward to seeing it finished. THANKS VERY MUCH MIRANDA. Here is a link to Miranda's website.

TIN WHISTLE
We do tin whistle for a little while every day. Mr de Burca does this with us. 3rd,4th, 5th and 6th play the tin whistle together. Some of the songs we play on the tin whistle are the Miller of Glanmire, Dawning of the Day, The Britches, Brahms Lullaby, Mist on the Bog and many many more.

Gymnastics is Back Again

Every Wednesday in our school for six weeks, we do gymnastics. This week was our first week. The gymnastic teachers are Kenny, Micky and sometimes Maria. They showed us some moves in gymnastics and routines because on the last two weeks we are going to make up our own routine by ourselves. We did gymnastics for three years and this is our fourth year I think. We learned how to do the donkey kick, the shoulder roll, the tumble and we did a routine that involved three people, one person was lying down, the next person was sitting on the legs of one who was lying down and the last person was putting their legs on the person who was sitting down’s lap. Then the one sitting would help the person with their legs on his/her lap to tumble over.

Written by O.N.C
Uploaded by webmasters N.G and Z.K

Hallowe'en is Over

Halloween is over
The spirits are all gone back
Christmas is on the way
Santa is loading his sack.
The shops were full of Halloween stock
Now it is all gone.
They are bringing in the Christmas stock
And playing a Christmas song.
The nights are getting colder
Snow is on the way.
We’re all starting to wrap up warm
And light our fires everyday.
The year is almost over
Twenty Twelve is almost done
Then Easter will be coming
My favourite time for fun.

 

written and illustrated by SR, Nov 2012

Ready for Spring 2013

More photos on the PHOTOS page of website...

Our school community was out in force yesterday, October 31st for our planned Daffodil Planting. The weather held up following heavy overnight rain as a large group of up to 25 adults together with a larger number of pupils and toddlers planted 1000 daffodils and 600 crocus bulbs to enhance our school grounds for next spring. Miraculously, the work was completed in exactly one hour, and was followed by refreshements for all.

We wish to extend our very sincere thanks to everyone who helped for this voluntary effort. Thanks also to Fr. Gerry and to Stradbally Tidy Towns Committee who donated the bulbs to us.

Thanks to Stradbally Tidy Towns Committee for sponsoring lots of daffodils

Some pupils were interviewed by girls in 5th class. This is what they said:

When Spring comes they're going to grow. (Peter)
I liked putting the bulb in the ground. (Orla)
My Mammy let me plant  them. (Peter)
Fr. Condon was there. (Peter)
I will be happy  in Spring when they come out. (Darragh)
We jumped on the sod so they would go into the ground. (Darragh)
Father Condon planted the first daffodil. (Leona)
I saw birds flying across the trees. (Molly B)
I planted loads of big daffodils and small crocuses. (Caoimhe)
I saw birds on the bird feeders. (Molly B)
They are going to turn into daffodils in February. (Caoimhe)
We had fun. (Leona)
Mam and dad planted one too. (Molly B)
I was playing with my friends. (Katie)
We planted some over at a big tree. (Molly B)
We planted them under a palm tree. (Molly F)



More photos on the PHOTOS page of website...

Published by Management Team.