St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

October wellness 2018
Each year we try to run a wellness programme for all the boys in the school. This year was another great one with lots of class and whole school activity.
Central to this year was DANCE . The boys from Junior Infants to 5th class really loved the 5 weeks of modern dance with Lisa Hogan of “Dance it Out Ireland”. We finished off the programme by with a performance afternoon in our school hall. The hall was packed , the beats were hopping and the dance moves were unreal . Most pleasing of all was that all boys took part regardless of ability , interest or coolness– they performed with a smile which showed enjoyment of dance and added to their general wellness ! Dance it Out are holding a dance workshop and dance disco for Halloween in the school hall and also are going to run a 6 week after school dance programme for any boys or girls from Birr– See facebook for further details.
Tom Wells of Scholar and warrior studio also did a workshop on karate and self-defence for all classes in October. Tom is running classes each Thursday at 6.30pm in the school hall for any boys who are interested.
Kayak level 1 training course– Our 6th class boys got a fantastic opportunity as they each earned certs from The Irish Kayak Association of Ireland for level 1 kayak skills. The OEC organised through the excellent Yanni and he had the boys out paddling the Shannon and overcoming their fears and anxiety in no time at all. It was great to see the boys excel at this activity and all really enjoyed the outdoors—maybe as a future alternative to FORTNITE!
Our Parents Association also organised a ZEEKO on line safety programme for boys / staff and parents. This programme will be rolled out after mid term in school. Again the school must remind parents that your childs on line internet / social media actions and behaviours are your responsibility and it will have serious consequences for them into the future. The parents who attended the talk found it very informative and a useful tool for them to support their children into the future.
Finally we welcomed FRED THE PARTY PROFESSOR back to the school for a great show of magic and music !

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)

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

Christmas 2017– We were delighted to welcome Santa to the school again this year thanks to our parents association. This year he arrived on a massive tractor and the place went wild! The Irish Independent picked up the facebook post and video and posted onto independent.ie which was great for the boys to see their school on national media.

The last week of term was filled with concerts and Christmas nativity plays which were well attended by parents and families.

The always successful Christmas Draw was held then with all details of winners posted onto PA facebook page.( Pictured are some our PA members with prizewinners) All proceeds from this will this year be spent on our school garden as we are planning a project to install more play equipment and a basket swing. More details and photos to follow in 2018 and thanks to all who supported the draw.

Christmas 2017 @ St Brendan’s PS

It’s a busy time with all classes celebrating the season in their own way. Some classes are doing plays and concerts this week. The following is a list so that parents/ families can make plans if they wish to attend. Please note that any photos videos taken should be of your child for your own personal use. Thank you for your support with this.

Monday 18^th Dec              11.15-12.30         Confessions for boys 3^rd -6^th for Christmas

Tuesday 19^th Dec:             11.30am               Junior Infants / Senior Infants    songs / play

Wednesday 20^th Dec       12.00pm               PA Christmas Draw in hall

Thursday 21st Dec           10.00am               6^th class visit Christmas market in Community school ( Full Uniform)

11.05am               1^st Class Christmas songs

11.20am               2^nd class Christmas songs

11.35am               5^th class Christmas Play

12.15pm               Birr U21 Hurlers bringing their cup to school – Past pupils

1.20pm                 Junior Infants/Senior Infants songs/play (for anyone who missed 1^st show)

1.30pm                 6^th class- Carol singing in Sandymount – home after if note

Friday 22^nd Dec                  12.30pm               School Holidays ( Final advent assembly in school)

No school lunches today so all boys asked to bring a snack

School mass at start of year– Thanks to all involved for supporting a lovely and special school mass in the hall. This marked the start of the year and also was where we could celebrate the 20 years Mrs Mary Lonergan had given to our school. The music and parts of the mass were chosen specially and it meant a lot to her. The finale was the “Ode to Mrs Lonergan “ which was sung with gusto by 200 boys and which was specially written by Ms Majella Killeen. Afterwards there were presentations from the school and Parents and Mary spoke at the end to thank everyone. Her words echoed the passion and commitment she has always shown to the school and indeed St Brendan’s PS will always be in her heart.

We were delighted to link up with Birr responders again this year to upskill in the area of CPR and First Aid. The staff of the school did after-school sessions with David McEvoy and all agreed that it was an excellent course to do and a great skill to have in life.
David then organized Ross and Christina to do a day course with our 6th class pupils and their parents. The boys really got stuck and we were delighted to have so many parents attend. Thanks to Ms.Treacy, Rose Harte and Carambola for the tea and sandwiches. Sincere thanks to Birr Responder group for being so generous with their time and expertise. David McEvoy pledged to try train 1000 people this year and I believe our school brought him near 700 so that’s fantastic going to all concerned.

We are delighted to have our newly upgraded and decorated computer room officially opened. Huge thanks to Ian Murray for all his work in setting up the 20 desktops and flatscreens and getting it up and running with network and WIFI. Pictured are some pupils accepting cheque from PA Chairperson Caroline Boyd and PA Treasurer Lucy Franks. To our Parents Association who raised the money and all who support them last year we say a massive thank you– To the boys we say ; use carefully respect technology, be aware of its advantages and dangers and enjoy many years of learning !

Santa Visit: With the help of our Parents’ Association Santa visited St. Brendan’s. He arrived this year in his sleigh. He visited and had a cool selection box in his bag for all the classes.

Parents’ Association Christmas Draw
Our hard working Parents’ Association organised their Christmas Draw again this year in support of our school activities. With wonderful prizes on offer all tickets were sold . Draw took place on Tuesday 20th December with Mr Tommy Shaw ( Superhero!) pulling out the winning ticket. The 1st prize of a PS4 went to our very own Noah Lynskey from 2nd class—Congrats Noah !We would like to thank all the sponsors, organisers and supporters of this great initiative. It is always one of the highlights of the school year.

Full list of sponsors ( over 50 prizes) and winners can be viewed on PA facebook site

Hurling
Hurling coaching with Eoin Pilkington is going very well and it is also great to see Junior Infants and Senior Infants playing on wednesdays . Lunchtime hurling for all boys continues each Tuesday.

Mr Kennedy has also set up a lunchtime hurling league for junior boys ( 1st—3rd) and is a great success on the top field.

The order for hurls and helmets under the Cumann na mBunscoil has been submitted. We will contact families who have placed orders in the coming weeks.

Congratulations to Mr.Kennedy and his hurlers on good championship displays so far this year. Team are playing with great skill and spirit with new players really coming to the fore. They have played challenge matches with Clareen and Ballaclla and championship wins over Carraig/Killeen and Dromakeenan with a narrow loss to Shinrone/ Clonlisk. Another victory followed last week away to Banagher. Well done Boys