Rathmore National School

Hi guys its Patrick and Caitlin here from Ms Shaws 3^rd and 4^th class and we are informing you about what we do at our big lunch to reduce the school’s energy bills. We go around and check every class in this wonderful school to check if the white board is switched off, the lights are switched off and the doors are closed. There is one class in particular that are the best and it is Ms Shaw’s class and there is one class that is the worst, but we aren’t allowed say who it is…. YET! We will be keeping a close eye on that class. Thank you for taking the time to read our piece in the newsletter.

Here at Rathmore NS, STEAM continues to thrive, with plenty of creativity and collaboration evident across all classes. Our pupil voice is present daily with older pupils stepping confidently into leadership roles, serving as inspiring role models for our younger learners.

We are embracing Book Creator as a digital portfolio tool, enabling pupils to showcase their learning in creative ways. The collaboration between classes has been a joy to witness. Ms. Shaw’s 3rd/4th Class have been guiding Ms. Doyle’s 1st Class in developing their digital skills, with meaningful learning taking place on both sides. Similarly, Ms. Malone’s 5th Class have been supporting Ms. Flynn’s Junior Infants in exploring ChatterPix, while Mr. Collier’s 5th/6th Class have partnered with Ms. Larkin’s class on a similar initiative. These cross-class partnerships are enriching the learning experience for all.

Innovation is flourishing in our classrooms. Junior pupils are exploring early coding with our Bee-Bot, an educational robot designed especially for young children. Meanwhile our senior classes are engaging with LEGO® SPIKE. By combining hands-on LEGO building elements with programmable hardware and a coding app, LEGO SPIKE encourages critical thinking, team work and problem-solving in an engaging, practical way.

Upskilling and learning how these new technologies work is a new and ongoing journey for both staff and students but it is one we are embracing with enthusiasm and excitement.

Well done to our fantastic U11 team who represented Rathmore NS in the Life Credit Union Quiz. After an excellent performance at the Regional Finals in Tougher’s on Sunday, March 8th, the boys did themselves, their parents, and our school incredibly proud.

They narrowly missed out on a place in the National Finals, finishing in a very impressive 5th place—just two points and positions shy of qualifying for the All-Ireland Final.

This is a wonderful achievement for the team, and we extend a special word of thanks to Mr. Collier for his dedication and the tremendous preparation he provided.

Well done to all involved

EMERGENCY SERVICES ROADSHOW

The emergency services roadshow was a major success where the emergency services came to the school and told the 5th and 6th about the work, they do to keep us safe. They also let the infants watch them make their grand entrance and had the 5th and 6th salute them as if they were training to be Gardai and let them go to different stations demonstrating the work they do and the equipment they use. Unfortunately, the firefighters were unable to come because they had an emergency elsewhere. However, Garda Shane and the other emergency services were able to come and show the children all the equipment they use to keep everyone safe. Now we will dive deeper into the Riot Police. The riot police are more heavily equipped compared to the normal Gardai with a larger pepper spray, stronger baton with a spare baton and a riot shield because they have to deal with more ferocious and aggressive threats, unlike the regular Garda. Now we will tell you about the ambulance and the civil defence. The civil defence are a group of volunteers that operate the ambulance and the water safety group by saving people from vicious river currents and bringing people in the ambulance to the hospital if they are seriously injured but if the injury is minor, he will treat them themselves with the medical supplies onboard which they showed to the children. Finally, they also showed us how to throw a buoy to save drowning people and how to carry an injured person on a stretcher. In conclusion, it was a great learning opportunity for us, and it was very awesome when they left with their sirens blaring.

By Adam Topp & Joey Kavanagh

Paddy Walsh (the past principal) and Johnny O’Friel (a former deputy principal) recently came to our school to talk to a few of the classes about what the school was like when they were teaching there. They talked about the history of Rathmore N.S. They also told us lots of funny stories about their school tours and adventures they had with their classes. When they taught the school was in much worse condition than the way it is now. We were told that rodents would enter the building and that there were leaks in the walls and roofs! In fact at the time it was so cold because there was no heating that the pupils had to do jumping jacks to keep warm!

Mr. O’Friel and Mr. Walsh made lots of connections with children because their parents, aunties or uncles would have been taught by them if they went to school in Rathmore. If they did make a connection, they would most likely have a story to tell us about them. Mr. O’Friel and Mr. Walsh knew lots of the parents and some grandparents.

At the time girls weren’t allowed play football for the school, which wasn’t fair. But, there were two girls that were amazing at football, and they were so good that they were better than most of the boys! Then Johnny O’Friel and Paddy Walsh realised how good they were and they let them play in the tournament. He put them in midfield and the football team ended up winning the trophy, so they started a girls football team and then girls were allowed play in every school later on.

Overall, we loved the visit and we learned a lot about the school history.

By Éabha Malone and Isla Kidd