Halloween is always a very special time in St Brendan’s. The are always lots of activities going on in the classrooms. This year there was mask making, art work, dressing up in costumes and the display areas were awash with all the trappings of Halloween. Mr. Carroll’s sixth class performed a Scary Story Workshop where each class visited a specially prepared Halloween Room and the sixth class boys told them scary stories written by the sixth class pupils themselves. All the boys received a teat after their scary ordeal. Well done to Mr. Carroll and the 6th class boys. Jnr. and Snr. Infants also had a Halloween Party in the Gym where they dressed up in scary costumes and played games like snap apple, pin the tail, story time, bowling and all got to eat toffee apples at the end. Well done to Ms. Mellsop, Ms. Byrne, Mrs Fitzgerald and all the boys for a wonderful party.

Mr. Kennedy’s classes were involved in a wonderful Crannóg Making Project. Having studied the topic for some time they made exact replicas of the ancient Crannógs using match sticks, twigs, lollipop sticks, small stones and moss. They recreated little villages as they would have looked back in Celtic times. The project was really well done with a very realistic finish. Well done to Mr. Kennedy, Ms. Kirwan and the boys. The project will be on display in the school for the next few weeks.

Michael Creagh and Dinny Quirk ( Sliabh Bloom Storytelling Festival ) visited the school and entertained the boys with their tall tales and scary stories. The stories were backed up by musical interludes adding to the atmosphere of each story. We hope that these initiatives will spark the creative spirit in our pupils through art, drama, creative writing, oral language skills and musical endeavours. The boys all had great fun on the day.

Preparations are well underway for the Communion and Confirmation ceremonies of 2012. Meetings and enrolment ceremonies keep everyone informedof all the various stages involved in the pupils making their Communion and Confirmation next year. We wish them well as they continue to prepare with their teachers, priests and their parents/guardians.

After many training sessions and a league campaign our U/13 Footballers reached the final of their competition. Having won and drawn some games along the way they faced Banagher in the final. This game proved a tough test with our boys being down by seven points by half time. However they showed a great fighting spirit and determination and began to pull back the Banagher lead. Time was not on their side and Banagher ran out eventual winners. Well done to Mr. Kennedy, Mr. McIntyre and all the boys for representing our school so well both in the league stages and in the final itself.

West Midlands Theatre Company put on a marvelous show in the school called ” The Bluebird “. The show was full of action and colourful presentations. The best aspect of the show was active pupils participation in the sketch where pupils from the audience were allowed to play characters in the show. The show was funny, colourful, entertaining and full of action. Our pupils really enjoyed it and we hope it will inspire them to develop their creative talents in the future.

Peter and Kostas gave a very interesting demonstration on Fly Fishing to the pupils of sixth class. They demonstrated the techniques involved in the sport and through question and answer sessions they shared their knowledge with the other pupils. They spoke about the equipment needed, different types of bait and fly used, strength of line, best time and location and about the different types of fish that can be caught. Overall a very informative project for the pupils to be involved in. Well done to all .