St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

Our school debating team were presented with their certificates received from Laois Education centre today – well done to all involved and we look forward to future leaders and politicians from this group ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Artistic talents
Congratulations to our school winners of art competition- Fionn / Cody / Harry / Yegor / paddy and Cayden ( pictured below)
These boys go on to represent the school in the Birr credit union art competition- great talent as you can see from their pictures in the background- thanks to Ms Makim and Mrs Kelly for their support of visual arts in our school. There are also some fantastic modern art projects ongoing at the moment around our school involving 5th class ! Some school areas have been transformed by modern graffiti art and a lovely child friendly mural drawn linking the junior and senior school. Thanks to Ms Jessica Fitzgerald and Ms Makim for the inspiration #loveart

We are delighted to run the summer provision programme at the school for 6th consecutive summer. This was formerly called July provision and summer provision. This 3 week programme is an amazing opportunity for our 17 pupils with SEN who are eligible to get an intensive in-school fun experience that will set them up well for a return to school in September. Thanks to the 8 staff who will work on the programme over the 3 weeks. We are also running the DEIS literacy and numeracy camps for 36 boys in the final week of august as part on the new SP.

Great work by 4th class with Mr Carroll and Ms Makim in their ” Medieval castles Project” – The boys put in a super effort and the castles are now proudly on display – well done boys !

3rd- 6th class groups

had a great time earlier today at Birr OEC helping Yanni and the team with their instructor training – thanks for the amazing opportunity guys and for doing so in such a safe way 👍

End of year awards ( 2018) ceremony is always a special occasion at our school – hurling leagues / sports days / tech week and individual awards were presented – we have a number of awards cups and trophies for sporting and academic achievements
: Kenneth fox / Aidan rosney / Derek Maher / Brian Mcmanus / Brother finian /Johnny Cleary . These hold a special place in our hearts and we are delighted to welcome members of these families to school to present these awards. This year we created a new award – the Tommy K infant achiever award and were so happy to have Lisa Kelly and little Darragh there to present the trophy for the 1st time.
Congratulations to all this years winners.
· The Brother Finian Cup for the 6th class long race was won by Ricky Hanlon
· The McManus Cup ( Special Achievement Award) was won by Aaron Kirwan
· The Derek Maher Trophy (Student of the year) was won by Conor lally Greijmans ( Pictured)
· The Aidan Rosney Cup (Snr Hurler of the year) was won Adam Duffy
· The Kenneth Fox cup (Winning Capt of Senior Hurling league) was won by Ricky Hanlon ( Pictured)
· The St.Brendans Cup (Winning Capt.Of Junior Hurling League) was won by James Carroll
· The Junior Hurler of the year went to Robert Landy
· The Johnny Cleary Cup( Most Improved Hurler) was won by Oisin Digan Sullivan ( pictured)
· Tommy K Infant Achievement Award was won by Jack Gleeson ( Pictured)

Sports day 2018 which was a day of sunshine , fun and activity. Stations and teams organised and set up by Mr Cunningham and his team from our wonderful staff- each pupil on a team ( county based) and all took part in a spirit of enjoyment / encouragement and participation. Some wonderful photos and memories !

Winner in Laois / Offaly Heritage Project 2018
Four boys from 6th Class, Sam McAulay, Steven Dillon, Kealan Franks and Conor Lally represented our school by competing in the Living Heritage in Schools Project run by Laois Ed. Centre.  The boys submitted a group essay.  “Ireland 1918, A Snapshot in Time.”  They researched life in Birr and nationally in 1918 & this research earned them 3rd place out of 22 competitors.  Also, the boys presented and talked about their project at a judging ceremony held in Portlaoise.  For this they created a snapshot of their essay using plasticine.  These models are on display in the hall for all to admire.  In this category they won Best Cultural Heritage Project.  Thanks to Ms Hogan for organising the project and assisting the boys in both essay and project where they displayed great literacy , research and presentation skills- Well done boys

The Edmund Rice Awards took place this year in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. 5th Class students from the Presentation Monastery in Killarney, Co Kerry, and from St Brendan’s Primary School in Birr, Co Offaly, gathered to remember and celebrate Blessed Edmund Rice. The Birr students engaged in a lively and poignant retelling of Blessed Edmund’s life, and spoke about how his memory still inspires their school today. The Killarney students’ presentation gave a fascinating insight into the history of their 178 year-old school, and, once again, how Blessed Edmund Rice’s values still blossom in the community to this day. Br Andrew Hickey presented each student with a certificate, and congratulated them on the work they have done. The boys then got a lovely lunch and played games together including the popular “catch the pig” The Awards will return next year. Thanks to Ms Ward and the excellent boys who represented the best of what our school is about.

Each term as part of our efforts to get boys to attend school as much as possible we award certificates. For Term 2 of this school year (Xmas– Easter) a fantastic 34 boys had 100% attendance (16% of the school) and were presented their certificates at our assembly so well done to the boys and their families– They also got a homework pass ! Also 13 boys got attendance improvement certs for improvement shown this term.
Attendance teams are a school initiative written in our school attendance plan developed by our hardworking staff to encourage boys to attend school more regularly. The winning team for this term (Team 2) had average attendance of 53.1 days PRESENT out of 56 days. The boys earned the reward of a trip to TEARAWAYS and some nice lunch / snacks . Keep up the great work everyone