St. Brendan's Boys Primary School

Rugby Coaching ; We welcome Stephen Niland to the school and he has begun rugby coaching with 5th / 6th classes each Friday. This will hopefully entend to other classes as the year goes on. Boys are asked to bring in old runners / jumper etc as the pitch will get mucky after mid term.

Offaly schools Gaelic Football Champions : Congratulations to all the football panel under the management of Mr. Kennedy on the a great victory in winning the schools football title. 2 in a row ! The team trained hard with a great team spirit and played with fairness ,honesty of effort and great skill in each game. They were unbeaten all year and defeated a good Dromakeenan team in the final by a score of 1-4 to 1-2 with Captain Sam Smith proudly lifting the cup.

Mr Kelly and Ms Treacy took 16 boys from 3rd – 6th class to the Offaly cross country athletics comp in Tullamore.
Team medals –
Ind medals-

Cumann na mbunscoil hurling- Well done to our school hurling panel under Mr.Kennedy on winning the schools final for the 1st time since 2006. The final against Shinrone/Clonlisk was an epic that went to extra time with fantastic skill and dediction shown by both teams. The whole occasion and competition this year can only point to good things for the future of Offaly hurling. Full report to follow from Cumann na mBunscoil.

Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Carroll took 3 teams of boyts from 5th and 6th classses to leah park tullamore to take part in the FAI 5 A SIDE soccer comp. The boys had a great day with excellent behaviour and good soccer skills. They were defeated in the final by an excellent Durrow NS team who go on to Leinster.

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.

Mr. Kelly and Ms.Dooley took 17 boys from 3rd to 6th class over to the Harriers in Tullamore last Thursday for the Primary Schools Cross-Country Athletics meet. The boys were in teams of 4 from each class and were the top four runners from school trials held by Mr.Crofton earlier that week. The boys had a great day (as you can see from the photo) with lots of laughs and tired legs. The team from 3rd class comprising Ricky/Aaron/Matthew and Darragh won Gold overall for the school and there were also individual honours for Matthew , Ailbe and Nathan. The boys arrived back to a great welcome and the added bonus of homework off ! Thanks to cameraman Lee for the great photo.

Mr. Kennedy brought three teams from the school to the indoor hurling blitz held in Shinrone. All teams performed very well reaching finals, semi-finals and one team brought back the cup winning the final. Well done to all participating teams who represented the school with distinction and honour. The teams were very well prepared as Mr. Kennedy had run a school indoor hurling league at lunch time in the weeks leading up to the blitz.

Skippy John visited the school and instructed all classes on the art of skiping. The pupils were very interested in the demonstration and thoroughly enjoyed the presentation. They were told how to hold the rope, how to turn the rope, how to skip in various rhythms, speed skipping, one footed skipping, pairs skipping, backwards skipping and skipping with a long rope with many friends. He also showed them how to look after and mind their rope and explained the health benefits gained from doing the skipping exercises. Skipping ropes were on sale afterwards and there was huge interest in the skipping project. Afterwards, various areas of the school yard were set aside as designated skipping areas and the pupils were able to practice their skipping skills in safety with their friends.