Mr. Cunningham and Mrs. Fitzgerald brought two teams to Portlaoise to participate in a Futsal Soccer Competition. The boys enjoyed the competition and represented our school very well on the day.

Our Junior classes visited the Oxmantown Theatre to see the Christmas  show “Rudolph”. They enjoyed this festive production telling the story of Santa’s favourite reindeer.

Two teams of athletes travelled to Tullamore to compete in the Sports Hall Athletics Competition. They performed very well on the day bringing home the Silver Medals in both competitions.

For the first time ever a group of pupils from sixth class sang in the Hallelujah Concert in the Simmonscourt Arena in the R.D.S. The concert involves the largest childrens choir in Europe involving more than 270 schools from all over Ireland. Our pupils had the opportunity to be backing vocals for various national and international acts including The High Kings and The Billy Barry Dancers. The choir was conducted by Gearóid Grant conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra. It was a wonderful experience for our pupils. Thanks to our boys, Majella, Mr. Carroll, Mr. Crofton, Mrs Kelly and Mr. McCann who were all involved in the project.

Two teams from sixth class participated in a Rugby Blitz held in Birr Rugby Grounds. The teams were judged on fair play, encouragement, honesty of effort co-operation and how they related to their team mates and their opponents. It was a great day enjoyed by all.

Many classes visited the church to commemorate St. Brendan’s Day. The boys sang, played and read prayers in honour of this great saint’s feast day.

A group of pupils went as a school group to see this year’s show in the Community School entitled Joseph. The boys enjoyed the show with their classmates and were able to see many past pupils performing on the stage. We hope it will inspire them to be on the same stage in years to come. Congratulations to Daryl Lally who was a prizewinner in the Art Competition.

Mr. Carroll’s and Mr. Kennedy’s classes  visited Kilmainham Jail in Dublin, The trip was a great success with the boys getting a hands on opportunity to learn about the history of that period. They visited the museum and the jail and later visited the nearby attractions of  Dublin Zoo and the 7 up Winter Wonderland Ice Rink.

Congratulations to Campbell Boyd on being a prize winner in the Excellent Factor talent competition. Campbell played the guitar and sang and got through successive rounds to reach the final where he finished in fourth place. A great performance Campbell. We hope he will inspire other talented singers and musicians to follow along the same path.

Mr. Kennedy brought our u/13 Hurlers to a Hurling Blitz in Shinrone. They performed very well on the day and represented our school with pride and distinction.