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Ms. Byrne’s 5th Class Tour to Wheelchair Basketball!

Ms. Byrne’s 5th Class Tour to Wheelchair Basketball!

HOW WE FOUND OUT:
Last Wednesday Cian told the class that we were going to the Irish Wheelchair Association and that we would be playing basketball in wheelchairs. The whole class were very excited. Cian told us that we would be going on the 20th of March, four days from then! It was the same day I had chess club, but I was happy to miss it and go on the tour instead.

GETTING THERE ON THE COACH:
On the 20th we had to get the coach at 11.40am. By then we had done Maths, PE and had some food. Then it was time to get on the coach. Everyone had to have a partner and my partner was Ciarán. We got on the coach and went to the Irish Wheelchair Association. It was a 40 minute drive there and back.

WHAT WE DID WHEN WE GOT THERE:
When we got there we went into the big basketball court and everyone got in a wheelchair. The first game we played was “Build Up”. Cian was the fastest out of all of us at this game.

The next game we played was a course around the basketball court and the objective was not to let the ball fall out of your grasp. The next game we played was a real game of basketball. There were four teams at the start and then there was one big match. After that match we got to do what we want for a bit and then that was it.

GOING BACK ON THE COACH:
When we were leaving all of us got some treats. Most of us had them all gone before we got back on the coach! On the way back we talked about the fun we had during the different games. When we got back to school we went straight into class for our bags and then we went home.

REFLECTION:
It was a great day out with my class and it was amazing to see how hard it is to play basketball in a wheelchair. You need a lot of upper body strength to wheel the chair. Going to the Irish Wheelchair Association gave me a better understanding of how hard it is to go around in a wheelchair all day. I now know what Cian must do every day and I’m so proud of him and to be his friend.

Written by Riley Hearns, 5th Class

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Bhí Seachtain na Gaeilge iontach againn! There were a variety of activities i rith na Seachtaine including tráth na gceist, léitheoireachta le ranganna eile, damhsa, amhráin agus dánta gaeilge, ceol le bagpipes agus alán spórt agus spraoi! We finished the week with lá glas agus a special Assembly le paistí agus múinteoirí ag damhsa, ag canadh agus ag seinm ceoil. There was also a beautiful performance from the School Choir. Go raibh míle maith agat do na múinteoirí Mr. Harte, Ms. Casey, Ms. Grall, Ms. Burke, Ms. McCabe, Ms. Nangle agus Mr. Duffy. 

First Game of the Mini Basketball League

First Game of the Mini Basketball League

It was great to see the return of basketball in the school this week. Both the boys and girls’ teams entered in the Meath Mini Basketball League. Both teams started off well this week with wins against Duleek National School. We look forward to playing other schools in the League. 

School Art Exhibition!

School Art Exhibition!

It was lovely to have the return of our Children’s Art Exhibition in the PE hall this week. The hall was transformed into a sea of beautiful colours and pictures created by our talented students. The students loved showing off their art work to their friends, teachers, SNAs and parents. Thank you to our Parents’ Association who provided tea and coffee on Tuesday evening. 

We Walk On Wednesdays!

We Walk On Wednesdays!

In St. Paul’s NS, we are working hard to make our school and our beautiful community here in Ratoath a clean, green place to live! Our Green School committee is working on many initiatives to inspire the children to make changes for the benefit of our environment and wider world. One of these initiatives is ‘Walk On Wednesday’ where we are asking the children and adults to make a special effort on Wednesdays to walk to school. Cars are great, but the more we use them, the more fumes and emissions that are entering our environment. By choosing to walk to school even one day a week, we hope this will help our community with less traffic and keep our air cleaner too! If you would like to walk to school even more of the days- that’s super! Feel free to get those feet busy on the scooter or bicycle too if you’d prefer!

We took some pictures of some of our pupils walking to school this morning. Well done to everyone who made a special effort and we hope to see more of you ‘Walking on Wednesdays’!