St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

Our pupils availed of some expert coaching in athletics. They performed ladder drills, long jumping, hopping and other co-ordination drills. They really enjoyed the sessions which were carried out in a fun and playful manner.

We held our November Rememberance Ceremony in the school gym. The pupils read prayers and sang hymns. Each class made crosses and wrote the names of loved ones on them. The crosses were on display during the ceremony.

At the begining of November we began our Gymnastics classes under the watchful eye of Mrs. Emer Feehan. The boys enjoyed learning new skills and developing those already learned.

After a long and distinguished career in teaching Mr. Donegan retired at the end of October.He has given great service to St. Brendan’s over the past eleven years.We held a retirement ceremony for him in the gym run in conjunction with the school mass.He was presented with a book written by all the pupils in the school and  song lyrics specially written by Majella and sung by the pupils. Our Parents’ Association made a presentation on the day and many tributes were paid to Mr. Donegan by the vast crowd in attendance at the ceremony. We all wish him well in the future.

As usual our Start of Year Mass is always a special occasion as we celebrate the start of another school year.This year’s theme was Friendship and the gym was decorated with beautiful art work based on this theme.The boys sang, read prayers, dramatised the gospel and brought the gifts and there was a wonderful turnout of parents.

Many pupils from the school were on the Birr hurling team that won the Mick Loughnane Cup. The team brought the trophy around to all the classrooms and the team was captained by Ronan Loughnane.

Pupils from the school attended the 10 o’ clock anniversary mass for Mrs. Patricia O’ Callaghan in St. Brendan’s church. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

Halloween in St. Brendan’s is always an exciting time of year. The classrooms and display areas were decorated with beautiful art work including skeletons, silhouette pictures,haunting drawings, spooky castles and scary faces. Many of our pupils got into the spirit of the occasion and dressed up in scary costumes. Classes attended story teling workshops both in the school and in our local Library.

Many classes availed of some fine fine weather and visited Birr Castle. They viewed the flora and fauna and learned about the rich historical heritage associated with the castle.

Members of our local Fire Brigade visited the school and spoke to classes on various fire prevention and safety issues. Some of the topics covered included smoke alarms, evacuation strategies and what to do and who to call in an emergency . Many thanks to the Fire Brigade for taking the time to share their expertise with the pupils.