I am delighted to announce another poetry winner in Rathgormack NS! Huge congratulations to Luke Bolger, 4th Class for coming second in the Newfoundland Poetry competition run by Waterford Teachers Centre. We are very proud of you-well done Luke!

One of our 6th class pupils, Bríd Fogarty, took some time out to write to our Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. She told him how she & her family have been managing during the lockdown with all of the restrictions. Have a look at the lovely letter he wrote back to her, even suggesting the possibility of meeting her in the future! Well done Bríd!

                  5th Class took part in Bike Week from home this week! Have a look at this video.

Huge congratulations to our pupils who were winners in the Waterford Teacher Centre poetry competition. We are so proud of you. Well done again to Tom & Jamie!

Today, on the 21st May, we are thinking of our 5th & 6th class pupils who would have been celebrating their Confirmation today. We hope you all enjoyed your day today and we look forward to celebrating with you in the not too distant future.

In order to mark this day, Ms Cahill and Ms Casey sent a Confirmaton photograph template to all pupils. Parents then took a photo of their Confirmation children with this template and sent them back to the teachers. Have a look at this lovely video which Ms Cahill compiled. We love it and think it's a lovely momento for parents to have. Thanks to Ms Casey & especially to Ms Cahill for putting it all together.

Our pupils in 2nd class were very busy designing and trying out sailboats as part of a Science activity. Well done! Have a look at these photos!

                                                                      Harry's boat

                                                                  Michaela's boat

                                                                 Muireann's boat

                                                                        Rory's boat

                                                                      Séan's sailboat

                                                                      Shauna's boat

Susan's sailboat

                                                            Aoibheann's sailboat

                                                                   Mollies boat

Aine's boat

                                                               Well done Doireann

Your boat looks great too Ellen.

Aoibheann Cummins, one of our 2nd class pupils wrote a letter to our Minister for Health, Simon Harris and he must have been very impressed with her letter as he took the time out of his very busy schedule and wrote back to her! Well done Aoibheann!

We are thinking of our 2nd class pupils today on what should have been their First Holy Communion Day. We will celebrate it in time and it will be all the more special.

This is a video clip which staff members of Rathgormack National School put together for our pupils during the Covid 19 pandemic. We miss the children and although we are communicating daily with parents via the Aladdin Connect App and sending them school work, we wanted to let the children know that we are thinking of them and we look forward to being back in school.

Lots of learning at home going on in homes around Rathgormack. Email your photos in to info@rathgormackns.com

                     

Andrew painting the Burkino Faso flag              Odhran & Caoimhe helping on the farm

Andrew making bread                   Pendle cooking French Toast

 Trampoline ballerina!

 

 Joe in Art Class!                                  Bobby & Joe helping on the farm

Martha & Luke busy completing their Covid 19 Time Capsules

                                     

 Odhrán busy at Art

 

Danny at woodwork-upcycling...                                  Danny in training!

  Bríd, Fiona, Kate & Séan made a poster for front line staff

                 

                                               Odhrán writing about The Garden                                                       

                              

Cameron & Holly working hard at home

Cameron working on his Gaeilge

Jamie & Shauna busy at work despite the sunshine

Joanne's mandala-beautiful!

                                                     Will & Jack are making milkshakes!

Covid-19 School Closure Update 20th March 2020

Dear parents,

I hope that you and your families are all keeping well at this very surreal time.

It is very likely that schools will remain closed for an extended period. We will keep you up to date on any notifications from the Department of Education. However, as you are aware, we are now putting a system in place to support distance learning. From Monday, parents will be able to download the Aladdin Connect App and get logged in on laptops and computers. I will be in touch with regards to setting it up next week.

For now, your children have been provided with suggested school work. It is important to realise that children cannot be expected to do the same volume of work at home as they would do in school. Technology is a very useful resource at this time but I am very aware that not every family has sufficient access, particularly when there are a number of school going children in a household. I understand that this is a very stressful time for many and we do not want to burden you with copious amounts of work. We have a team of staff including class teachers, Special Education Teachers and a Special Needs Assistant working together to support the children’s learning and this level of support cannot be replicated at home. However, a little goes a long way- it is important to do a little reading every day, engage in Maths/number work and do some writing, if possible. Teachers will be putting up further school work suggestions on the Aladdin Connect App from Monday 30^th March.

We are aware too, that there is a lot of learning going on in homes around Rathgormack at the moment, be it from school books, baking, walking, cycling, board games, project work, etc. Feel free to share photos of your activities at home by emailing them in to info@rathgormackns.com and I will post them here on our website! 

We will do our best to support your child’s learning during this time.

Thank you for your support during this time,

Take care,

Cathy Power

Principal

Green Schools Day of Action – Global Citizenship Energy Awareness Day.

On Friday 6^th March we held our Day of Action for the Global Citizenship Energy Green Flag theme that we have been working towards since September 2018. This involved classes from 2^nd class to 6^th class preparing presentations on a set topic which they then presented to the rest of the school.

All classes have researched Renewable Energy, Energy Saving Tips, Ethical Consumption of Energy & Climate Change. 

Junior Infants, Senior Infants & 1^st Class took part in our Green Schools programme by watching some of the presentations and they also did their own work on Aistear themes such as Green Schools and Antartica. 

Second Class focused on ‘Renewable Energy Sources and ways that we can save Energy.’ 

Third class & Fourth Class worked on ‘Fair Trade.’ They produced a powerpoint and showed other classes how to recognise Fair Trade products.

Fifth Class did their project on the Sustainable Development Goals with a focus on Gender Equality. They also showcased all their work on Biodiversity.

Sixth Class prepared a fascinating presentation on Ethical Consumption and Production of Energy in Iceland, a country leading the way in using renewable energy from geothermal & hydro power.

In the afternoon we held a Green Schools Quiz.  Children from 1^st class up to 6^th class were mixed on teams where they got the chance to show off their knowledge and chat. 

Another element of the day was our 'Low Energy Afternoon,' we turned off the lights, heating and the Interactive Whiteboards in the afternoon as we were doing the quiz.

Click on this link to see photos Green Schools Day of Action

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to Francis, who is a member of WIT Boys Choir. They took part in the Arklow Music Festival on 8th March 2020.  The choir were very successful and won a cup and a shield on the day.  Well done Francis!!

FAI Primary School 5 a side soccer competition
A huge well done to these two teams on topping their groups today and qualifying for the county finals on April 1st in Waterford IT Arena, Carriganore. They were a pleasure to bring today and a pleasure to watch them play. Well done boys and girls!

3rd & 4th class have been busy with their art work this term...

Pencil pots

Valentines cards

Showjumping Competition

Congratulations to Lucy who competed in a show-jumping competition in Ballinamona on Sunday January 19th.  Lucy was very successful and won two rosettes.

New photos added

We are delighted to finally have our building project started. There has been great excitement in school seeing the tractors, diggers and all the machinery getting to work. Clodagh Construction have made huge progress so far- despite adverse weather conditions. See some photographs here

Last term Rathgormack NS held a fundraising day for the National Council for the Blind in Ireland, in consultation with our local NCBI shop in Carrick on Suir. Pupils brought in €2 each and participated in activities during the day to raise awareness of blindness and the work the NCBI do. Pupils had blindfolds and took part in guided walks, eating lunch blindfolded and third to sixth classes had Braille lessons. We raised €300 for the NCBI. See some photos here: photos