Best of luck to our Boys’ Senior Football Team who take on St. Declan’s N.S., Ashbourne in Páirc Tailteann, Navan in the Cummann na mBunscol Meath Division 1 Shield Final tomorrow, Saturday 26th May at 5.30pm. All support would be greatly appreciated on the day to cheer our boys on.
St. Paul’s Senior Football Team
St. Paul’s N.S. -Semi final photo
The children from First Class to Sixth Class had a special treat today when they got to watch a performance of The Secret Garden. The Sixth Class children had a “back stage” session with the cast afterwards who gave them lots of inside information on the performance which has left them very excited for their own performance of Matilda in June!
Last Friday, the 27th of April, we had our annual sponsored walk and run. In the “run” up to this, the children have been working very hard on “The Eur-Run” challenge. Have a look below to see how each class level is progressing.
Each class will continue to reach their assigned destination by the end of the year.
For our sponsored walk and run, Junior Infants to Fourth Classes walked different routes around the village while Fifth and Sixth Classes headed up to Fairyhouse and ran the racecourse. The total distance of this racecourse is 2.7km. Below are the results from this run.
Fifth Classes
Sixth Classes
Well done to everyone who took part. We had a great day! Thank you to the Parents’ Association who supplied each child with an apple and a bottle of water. Thank you also to the children and their families for gathering sponsorship money for our school.
As part of renewing our Active Flag this year, our school is accepting the challenge to “Run around Europe.” We are very excited about this and have named it the “Eur-Run.”
Each class level has a target destination. Have a look at the destinations and distance each class level will “run to” as a collective group. It will be an accumulation of the distance each child has run. The class teacher is monitoring the progress of his/her class on a record sheet. The distance completed by each class is also displayed on a banner outside their classroom door. Have a look at the progress the children have made so far.
Remember our Sponsored Walk for Junior Infants to Fourth Classes and a Sponsored Run for Fifth and Sixth Classes will take place this Friday, the 27th of April.
Junior Infants
Senior Infants
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
Junior Infants Banner
Senior Infants Banner
First Class Banner
Second Class Banner
Third Class Banner
Fourth Class Banner
Fifth Class Banner
Sixth Class Banner
Congratulations to Conor, in Fifth Class, who represented St. Paul’s in the Spelling Bee Meath county final.
Following a school based competition between all the children in Fifth and Sixth Class, Conor was the last student standing after spelling all of his words correctly. This meant Conor would represent St. Paul’s in the county final, which was held in our school. Conor had the support of his class in the PE hall and did extremely well, getting to the second last round. Well done Conor!
Spelling Bee
We are delighted to have raised €1,487 on Daffodil Day, which was donated directly to the Irish Cancer Society. Many thanks to everyone who donated money, and a special thank you to our Student Council who worked very hard selling pins, daffodils and raffle tickets on the day.
There was great excitement in school today when we had our annual visit from the Easter Bunny. He had lots of fun visiting all of the children and he even left a little treat for the children to find in an Easter Egg Hunt!
Ms. Cowley’s Junior Infants
Ms. Ruane’s Junior Infants
Ms. O’Sullivan’s Junior Infants
Ms. Kennedy’s Senior Infants
Ms. Bagnall’s Senior Infants
Ms. Hession’s Senior Infants
Ms. Prendiville, Ms. Moore & Ms. Mullen’s 1st Classes
Ms. Burke’s 2nd Class
Ms. Hamilton’s 2nd Class
Ms. Egan’s 2nd Class
Ms. O’Riordan’s 3rd Class
Ms. Smyth’s 3rd Class
Ms. Bates’ 3rd Class
Ms. Brennan’s 4th Class
Mr. Duffy’s 4th Class
Ms. Ní Chinnéide’s 4th Class
Ms. Broderick’s 5th Class
Ms. Ní Mhurchú’s 5th Class
Ms. O’Reilly’s 5th Class
Ms. Dennehy’s 6th Class
Ms. Kieran’s 6th Class
Mr. Harte’s 6th Class
Ms. Talty & Ms. O’Connor’s Classes
Today, Ms Broderick’s class visited Kilmainham Gaol. Our tour started at the front gates of Kilmainham Gaol. Here we were met by our friendly guide called Lisa.
Lisa began the tour by bringing us to the chapel inside the gaol. Here she told us the captivating story of how Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford were married just hours before Joseph was executed due to his participation in the 1916 Rising. Following this, we were led through the old and new parts of the gaol. As we walked through the gaol, we were able to experience a real feeling of what life was like for a prisoner in Kilmainham. The cold and damp conditions the prisoners felt were evident due to the many windows and little or no heating in the prison. Our guide informed us that the prisoners mainly survived on porridge, bread and stew. She also told us that prisoners were kept in their cells for 23 hours per day and were only allowed one hour to exercise and empty their chamber pots!
When we reached the east wing of the gaol, many of the cells were open. There were many plaques stating the prisoners’ names that slept in these cells during the lifetime of the prison. Some of these were Joseph Plunkett, Eamon De Valera, Edward Daly and Countess Markievicz. The children were fascinated to see the size of the cells.
Another famous cell inside the prison is that of Grace Gifford. She was imprisoned during the Civil War, after her husband’s death, for her promotion of Sinn Féin policies through her work as an artist. The cell in which she slept contains a painting of the The Blessed Virgin and the Christ Child.
Our tour ended in the Stonebreakers’ Yard. Our guide explained to us that it was in the Stonebreakers’ Yard that fourteen of the leaders of the 1916 Rising were executed in May 1916. Today this is commemorated by a plaque and two crosses in the yard.
Kilmainham Gaol
Stonebreakers’ Yard
Played in the National Indoor Arena, Blanchardstown, the boys and girls U-11 teams and the boys U-13 team represented Meath in the Leinster Finals. Our U-11 girls were first into action. Playing with great determination and no little skill, they defeated Corduff NS in the semi-final 4-2. This set up a contest with Rush NS, Dublin in the final. The girls rushed into an early lead, one which held all the way to the end and were crowned Champions of Leinster with a victory of 5-2. The U-11 boys also faced Dublin opposition in the form of St. Attracta’s NS where the boys raced to a 6-0 victory. Spirits were high and with the U-11 Girls having achieved Leinster glory the boys were determined to bring home the second gold of the day. The boys were pitted against a very strong Rush NS team in the final. This was a thrilling contest where both teams faced a flurry of attacks displaying great skill and determination. Our boys responded brilliantly and claimed a well-deserved victory with a final score of 7-5. Next up was our U13 Boys with an encounter against Rush NS, Dublin in the semi-final. This game was a very close affair, with our boys matching their talented opponents. While the boys were narrowly defeated on a score line of 7-5, they can hold their heads high. The boys bounced back from their semi-final defeat to beat St Attracta’s NS in the playoff following an intense game which resulted in extra time to separate the two teams. However, our boys responded brilliantly and claimed a well-earned 3rd place in Leinster with a 6-5 victory. It was a proud moment as all the St Paul’s teams were presented with their winning shields and medals.
