St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

St Brendan’s Boys Beats
The boys of St. Brendan’s PS had a fantastic day last Wednesday as their school hall was transformed into a recording studio. The boys became professional musical artists in their own right as they recorded a school CD titled “ St. Brendans Boys Beats”. Each and every boy got the chance to sing on the CD as under the guidance and tutelage of Ms. Majella Killeen a vast range of songs were performed and recorded. Bringing the magic of recording to the boys was Mr.Joe Molloy and it was a credit to all involved that the 19 songs got recorded on time and on schedule.
We welcomed a few guest performers in the amazing Ronan Bell on banjo, past pupils Mark , Darragh and Campbell, Fr.Tony Cahir and the staff members that have a love for and talent in music. The CD’s are now in production and will be launched with an event in Dooleys Hotel Birr on Thursday 26th March starting at 7pm. We hope to launch the CD with a sample of live performances on the night. CD’s will be on sale at €10 with all proceeds going to the “Help build our Wall “ fundraising campaign currently ongoing in the school. Finger food will be served and a medal presentation for the Schools Gaelic Football team will also take place.
Hope to see all of the St. Brendans family, friends and school community there on the night for what promises to be a great night.

Boys and classes have begun a brilliant project under the guidance of Ms.Majella Killeen to practice and record tracks for a school CD. Copies will be sold as part of fundraising towards ” Help build our wall ” campaign. Launch night to be on Thurs 26th March in Dooleys hotel – Put that date in your planners for what will be a great event !

As part of Green schools we are taking part in An Taisce scooter challenge as part of Green school travel initiative. Boys are encouraged to scooter ( safely ) to school and we will have some areas / activities organised during feb during some breaks / lunchtimes. Watch this space !

Congratulations to Mr.Kennedy and his hurlers on another triumph at the Offaly Indoor hurling blitz in Shinrone. We entered 3 teams with over 30 boys getting the opportunity to play and it was great to hear of many boys making school debuts in the famous black and white hoops. All 3 teams reached finals with 2 teams winning and one team being defeated by last puck of the ball. All played with great skill , heart and pride. Well done to all and sincere thanks to the parents who helped with transport to Shinrone.
Indoor school senior league was also played with huge numbers of boys taking part this year. Team training continues each Friday at 2pm and school Championship will begin after mid-term. Thanks to Mr. Kennedy for his passion for hurling and to all the staff for helping with class arrangements over past few weeks without which travelling to Blitzes and training would not be possible.

“ All primary school pupils to get their own mobile phones” – Well, that was the argument proposed by the 6th class debating team of St. Brendans PS last week. Needless to say the boys spoke passionately on this subject. They took part in the Primary school debating competition organised by Laois Education Centre. It was the first time the school had taken part in the competition and they were excellently prepared by class teacher Mr. Damien Cunningham. They had an excellent and enthralling debate with the team of girls and boys from St. Ciarans NS from Broughal who travelled through a snow blizzard to take part. Both teams spoke very well and outlined their arguments and sparks really flew in the crossfire round. It was an impossible decision for the panel of judges to pick a winner and it came down to small margins. In the end St. Brendans PS team got the victory led by super-captain Darragh Cleary. Team was Darragh Cleary , Nathan Williams , Padraig Kelly, Cain Long, Luke Nolan and Dean Byrne. They look forward to the next round!

6TH CLASS TRIP TO RDS SCIENCE FAIR 2015
On Thursday 8th of January 2015 my class, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Carroll, and I went up to the RDS in Dublin to take part in the young scientist’s exhibition. We arrived at school at 7:00 am and we all got on the bus. On the way up I sat beside my best friend Christopher Masterson. 5 minutes of him is bad enough but imagine 2 hours! It was a very long drive.
We arrived in Dublin at around 9:30 am. On the way into the RDS we met Ryan Tubridy. We put our badges on and headed down to our stall. We set up our project and then we were split up into our groups for the day.
Our project was about “why do giraffes have long necks”? I was in group number 2 so we got to go off for an hour and look at some other science stalls. First we went into a road safety authority van and looked at some really cool driving games and videos.
An hour later we headed back to our stall because it was our turn to present the project. We had loads of people coming up to our stall and asking us all kinds of questions about giraffes. A while later a RTE news reporter came up to me and asked me if I would do an interview for the 1 o’clock news. Wanting to be famous I said yes !! After making sure my hair was looking good for the camera, he explained to me how to talk in front of the camera. I answered all of the questions that he asked me and then text my mam to say watch the news. After that a judge came to our stall and asked us loads of questions about our project. We took a model giraffe with us to display on the day which was made with the help of local artist George Dempsey.
Then later it was time for us to go off and look at some more stalls. On the way out of the RDS we met the RTE news presenter Sharon Ni Bheolain. Our teachers were very happy to meet her too! We went outside into a tent to eat our lunch. After lunch we went into a really big tent to see a robot show. There were 2 robots that were fighting in a ring. It was really cool.
Then we went into a really big hall to see a famous robot called Titon. His show was very cool. After seeing Titon, we went back to our stall for another little while. I met Michael Martin the Fine Fail leader and got a photo with him. I should have taken the photo myself as some old man messed up the photo. After that a woman from the RDS presented us with a trophy. Sadly, it was time to pack up and go home. On the bus on the way home we stopped at junction 14 and got something to eat. We arrived back at school at 6:30pm. We were very tired after a very long and enjoyable day.
We would like to thank our teachers Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Carroll for bringing us up to Dublin and for all their hard work. We would also like to thank Mr. Mcardle and George Dempsey for all their help and hard work.
It was a great day out and it was much better than sitting in school doing work! Hopefully in the future I will get to have a project in the main event and if not maybe an RTE news presenter.
By: Cian long 6th Class pupil St. Brendans PS

Thanks to the hard work of Damien Dillon (PA) we have been invited to take a group of boys (3rd-6th) to Dublin on Tuesday 7th October to be the audience to UNA’S DREAM TICKET. This is free and will be a once in a lifetime chance. In order to choose the lucky boys we ask all boys (3rd-6th) who are interested to write a letter (or draw a picture) of why the school should choose them—Why they want to go? Judging for places will take place on TUESDAY 30TH SEPT as we must have the list of names for the producer.. Good luck to all interested !

Friendship week 2014
Dear Parent / Guardian,
The purpose of this week is:
• To promote a friendly atmosphere around the school.
• To develop an awareness among the pupils of Bullying ( through policy)
• To make parents/ community aware of our new policy ( parental responsibilities) –
• This is our chance to get the school policy and approach to friendship (Values through school ethos of kindness, goodness, inclusion etc) and bullying (anti) across to the pupils and parents.
Some of the things we do this week are:
• All classes do ANTI –BULLYING LESSON – Appropriate to class level.
• Senior classes ( 4th -6 th ) to address issue of cyber bullying according to school policy with input from Mr. Crofton and visit from local Gardai to reinforce the seriousness of this issue (Garda visit will be next week due to their availability)
• GOTCHA CARD SYSTEM for each class – Staff “catch” friendly behaviour in class and on yard – Prizes for each class and raffle.
• Whole school assembly on yard someday after break to spell word- CARA
• Friendship post on junior yard- Boys who stand there to be invited to play by other boys
• Happy music on intercom during week-
• Drumming workshop with our old friend Dave from JABBA JABBA JEMBE- This is on Wednesday for classes 1st-6th and there is no cost for this to ensure all boys are involved in this lovely workshop where teamwork and friendship is encouraged.
• Theme for each day –
o Monday- Greeting others
o Tuesday- Joining in
o Wednesday- Sharing
o Thursday – Waiting your turn
o Friday – Friendly words

• Poster / colouring competition – Friendship : anti – bullying
Junior / senior infants to colour poster- Other classes to design own
• Friendship bracelets on sale € 2 – Support of Amnesty international – These will be on sale Wed/Thurs/Fri
• 6th class yard friends… Rota to help younger pupils (JI/SI) for a week.

You can support this week at home by:
– Chatting to your son about Friendship / Bullying
– Becoming aware of internet safety and home responsibilities relating to cyber-bullying and use of social media ( Letter from school policy overleaf)

We thank you for your continued support of the work we do at St .Brendans PS in providing a holistic education for each pupil.
Kind regards, Niall Crofton (Principal)

We were fortunate to have Garda Padraig Connaughton call to the school to chat to the boys about the importance of cycle safety last week. He spoke to 40 boys who cycle occasionally / regularly to school. He also did a helmet and bike check with some passes and fails in both departments. His passion for cycling along with safety really inspired the boys and helmets have increased steadily since ! Please spead the Gospel..cycle safely.
We have high visibility jackets and armbands on the way so that our cyclists can travel safely to school over the coming dark mornings also so please keep an eye out for the lads.