St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

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)

6th class graduation took place Monday evening as the boys took part in the annual hero project / each boy spoke for 1-2 minutes about his hero ( famous ) and how he was inspired by them – the large crowd of friends and family heard a variety of inspirational speeches about heroes ranging from Ronaldo to Liam neeson , Stevie g to a marshmallow man .The boys enjoyed their annual slideshow of memories from the year and Mr Crofton thanked all for their support in the journey over the past 8 years and encouraged each boy to always do his best and try to reach your dream.

End of year tradition of soccer match for our fantastic 6th class – they took on the school staff ( plus a few supporters!) in the annual soccer match in glorious sunshine – staff took the lead with a deadly finish from the lively Mr Carroll – the pupils huffed and puffed and eventually equalized with a goalmouth scramble finish claimed by Adam – this set up a frantic final few minutes where both sides had chances before Steven Dillon fired a free kick goal bound – it took a wicked deflection to end up in the bottom corner totally deceiving the excellent staff keeper! – final whistle elation for the boys and the staff losing streak continues

End of year mass 2018 was held outside in lovely sunshine with fantastic singing and prayer to celebrate the theme of “family” this year. There was lovely artwork on display from our boys and creative staff and thanks to all the huge crowd of parents and family members who came to join us . Guest celebrant was Fr David Carroll PP who celebrated the mass along with school chaplain Fr Reddin. Presentations were made after mass to Fr David Carroll from the staff / parents association and board of management of our school. Fr David was thanked for his sincerity , kindness , support of school through tough times over the years and above all : friendship to all of our school community . On behalf of all the pupils ,Dylan also presented him with a canvas art work of his name With fingerprints supplied in colour by each pupil in the school. We wish him well in his new parish back home in the banner

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 !

It was a great workshop delivered by the Irish Archeology Field School and assisted by the students of Indiana State University.

The boys found out how mammoths were hunted and about how the ink (oak gall), that Leonardo Da Vinci wrote with was made!

Thanks to Ms Pilkington and her Green school committee for attending and Rebekah Keavney for organising and inviting us down

Sincere thanks to all involved for your support with the sponsored walk / cycle this year. Classes 2nd—6th went to Lough Boora for a walk or cycle and the boys all had a great day of exercise fun and adventure. Junior Classes JI-1st went to Birr Castle and got to play in the playground which was a great treat. Thanks from the school to PA officers and committee for organising and in particular to Keith and Rose Harte for their work with getting 50 + bikes out and back to Lough Boora

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

Music Day Timetable 2018
Purpose – To celebrate music in the school.To participate through performing or listening and to give each boy the opportunity to perform on stage in front of his school. Some parents of boys who are performing solo or instrumental will come in to view but won’t be full concert for families to attend as hall can’t cater for the numbers. The day belongs to the boys of St Brendans PS- Enjoy !
9.20- 10.40 : Majella / practice- if required
10.40- Classes bring chairs to hall if they wish / not infants
10.40- 10.50 6th class keyboard – boys not at SCP
Sos Please ensure chairs etc are organised in hall if using them. Audience: Ind teachers.
11.05 – 1st class – 2 songs
– 5th class (tin whistle groups)- Lean on me / group tin whistle / friendship song
-3rd class ( tin whistle x 2; song x 1) – some 3rd class individuals
– 4th Class – songs from grandparents day
– some individual instrumentals and songs – 4th
12.20 back to class Lunch break 12.30-1.00 Infants packed to go home at 2pm
Time is at 1.10 to give us a chance to get settled etc ( JI can come to stage from room)
1.10pm – – Junior Infants – songs
– Senior Infants
– 6th class ( Tin whistle GROUPS X 4) –
– 6th instrumentals
2nd class – See this little light of mine
– Individuals / singers / – pupils / staff / guests
Abhaile ! Would be nice to finish up at 2.30 / 2.40 to give classes a chance to go back to rooms and leave them in orderly manner.. Thanks…Pack up…Home!!
Thought for the day :
“Sometimes music is the only thing that gets your mind off everything else”

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St Brendan’s PS
Green School / Tidy town report 2017 / 2018

We have built upon the award of our 5th green flag – Biodiversity – this school year. Last year was very hands on in learning and developing our school in terms of Bio-diversity so we were delighted to be awarded the flag.
We have placed all 5 flags / awards on display on new signs for each of our school pillars on Moorpark St so as you drive by you can get a sense of where the school is at. We also try our best to ensure that the front of school looks its best for residents and locals passing with painted front wall etc.
We had to remove a large tree from inside school grounds as it was blocking light to resident house. Tree surgeon removed carefully and chopped up. Branches were shredded and placed under our apple trees to provide soft landing for boys in school garden. Truck was chopped into pieces. 20 parts were used by LCA students on placement to create a log hop area under trees which is safe to use at breaktime. The rest was chopped and offered as prize ( firewood) at Christmas Draw. The winner ( Michael Loughnane ) donated the wood to Vincent de Paul so we got the boys to pack 60 bags of timber which were given out to needy families at Christmas. – Green and worthwhile use for the old tree !!
First task was to elect a new Green school committee which would lead the school guided by Teacher Ms Sarah Pilkington and Ms Paula Doyle. The elections were hotly contested and the boys got straight into action with their plans for this year. First task was to accept the schools award from Birr Tidy towns for 2017 and with it came a pot with seeds to sow for our school so boys were delighted.
Our school garden badly needed a revamp / clean up as we were not getting good use from it and under health and safety it was dangerous – slippery decking. The project cost € 10,000 and we were supported through our Catering partner Glanmore Foods, Our fantastic Parents Association and Birr Lions club. We now have our POLYTUNNELL planted with corn and tomatoes which will be great for our cooking classes.

We have brought groups of boys down to the community garden ( old market) under the instruction of Rebekah Keavney which they have really enjoyed. Last week they assisted with making hanging baskets for the town and got to bring one of them back to school too!
They looked at the area of recycling and waste and went on a visit to the recycling centre here in Birr where they learned a lot. They also took part in National Spring clean week where they used the gloves and litter pickers to do a litter pick of high st and Moorpark st areas. Each week teams of boys do litter picks inside the school grounds to keep our school neat and tidy. The boys get school lunches with the idea that all papers / wrappers go home in lunch boxes which reduces waste at school.
We have welcomed An Taisce Officer Ciara on a few occasions to the school as she supports our Green Travel initiatives. We encourage boys to cycle to school and have received a grant to give all boys in 5th class four sessions of cycle training. This will be provided by Birr OEC as we support local. Ciara did another day of cycle training and awareness with classes in October and has another survey and information day in June. We have signed up to take part in the lunchtime cycle around Birr in June. We also have had 3 scoot to school days where we set up ramps at break time and provide a supervised area for boys to scoot and cycle which is very popular.
The Wild schools prog started in Sept / Oct with Lynn and all classes took part. Unfortunately circumstances meant that Lynn could not continue but the boys enjoyed the prog and Lynn showed us the great opportunities that exist in our school to develop our school habitats.
We have a great link with Birr Tidy Towns and appreciate the great work that they do on a voluntary basis. Our function is to try educate the next generation to take pride and responsibility for their school , road , area and town. We celebrate the work that Tidy Towns do and will continue to support their work in any way we can.
Best wishes for this summer from all at St Brendans PS Birr

On 12th February 2018 , 44 lucky boys who had won attendance awards travelled to Blanchardstown in Dublin to get a tour of the Glanmore Foods Factory . Glanmore Foods are our school lunch providers this year and we were delighted to accept their kind offer of a tour. The boys ranged in classes from 1st-6th and either had 100% attendance or were on the winning teams for our attendance awards ( School attendance plan). School attendance promotion is very important at our school and previous rewards have included OEC , tearaways and local pool.
The staff in Glanmore were amazing as they suited the booted all the boys in protective gear and toured the working factory to show them how their lunches are made each day. The boys saw the bread being baked, sandwiches being individually filled to order and fruit being chopped and sorted by the ton ! Each boy was then given a goody bag at the end.
Then it was onwards to the swimming pool in Roscrea for a well-earned dip in the pool and fun—then back to Birr tired and happy. Thanks to Glanmore foods for having us and to Mr Crofton, MsTreacy, Mrs Gorman, Mr Bergin and Mr Carroll for travelling with the group. ( photos on website)