The PE Hall was transformed into a colourful art exhibition last week! Well done to all of the boys and girls who produced such wonderful pictures! There was lots of variety in the pictures, ranging from unicorns to flowers to football matches to portraits to animals and much more! The children, staff and parents really enjoyed the opportunity to come and visit the PE hall and view everyone’s art work! Thank you to our Parents’ Association for providing tea and coffee on the Wednesday night.

On Wednesday 24th January, St Paul’s NS competed against Mullaghbuoy NS, Dundalk to debate the motion “Ireland is the best country to live”. The children of St Paul’s NS proposed the motion while the visiting team opposed it. Both schools were represented by six students from 5th and 6th classes. The six students who represented St Paul’s were Cormac as Captain, Hannah as second speaker, Oscar as third speaker while Shaun, Sarah and Isabel acted as time keepers on the day. As Captain, Cormac introduced the other speakers and outlined what they would be talking about. He himself spoke passionately about the culture, mythology and importance of the Irish language. The second speaker, Hannah, referred to the advantages of our climate, our geographical location and the validity of having English. She also highlighted the OECD results on how happy Irish people are in the world. The third speaker, Oscar, presented facts on the tourist industry and the success of the Irish food industry and how many Irish products are being sold world-wide. There was a lot of whip lashing from the opposition team as facts about the health crisis, employment figures, crime rates and the impact of the recession on Ireland were emphasised. However, after a long conference, the adjudicators announced St Paul’s NS as the winners. The proposition arguments carried the motion that “Ireland is the best country in the world to live”. The debating team will take part in the semi-final of the competition on Tuesday, February 27^th against St Kevin’s GNS, Kilnamanagh, Dublin. They will be debating the motion “Boys’ or Girls’ schools are better than Mixed Schools”. Fingers crossed they will succeed in the next round.

All four of our Olympic Handball Teams qualified for the Meath County Finals in Gormanstown College last Tuesday 13^th February. The teams have been working hard, training twice a week in preparation for these games. Their hard work and dedication paid off with each team winning a Meath County Medal. Each team had to play a semi-final match in Gormanstown College to make it to the Finals.

The U11 Girls got the school off to a winning start playing a fantastic semi-final and beating Yellow Furze NS to secure their place in the final. A thrilling encounter followed in the final against Skryne NS where after full time it was a drawn match which resulted in extra time. Both teams gave it everything which saw both sides score wonderful goals and extra time ended level again. It was then decided that both team would play for Golden Goal and St. Paul’s were lucky to get The Golden Goal and be crowned Champions of Meath.

The U11 Boys continued the winning steak by sealing their place in the final by a win over Skryne NS in the semi -final. The boys had a tough task ahead of them meeting Yellow Furze NS in the final. However, the boys team showed great determination and skill to win the match and be crowned Champions of Meath.

The U13 Girls Team played a fantastic, high energy semi-final against Yellow Furze NS displaying great skills but were unlucky to lose 3-2 in the last minute of the match. However, the girls picked themselves up and played excellently against Robinstown to win and come 3^rd place in Meath-a great result.

The U13 Boys Team played a fantastic semi-final against Wilkinstown NS to secure a place in the final. The boys then had to take on Yellow Furze NS in the final. The boys showed great skill and determination but were unsuccessful against a very strong Yellow Furze Team. The boys finished 2^nd in Meath- Well done Boys!

The U11 Boys and Girls Olympic Handball Teams and the Senior Boys Olympic Handball Team have all made it through to the Leinster Finals coming up on the 26th February at the National Indoor Arena in Blanchardstown. We are all very proud of the children of St. Paul’s NS for how they perform and represent the school at all the events. A very big ‘Thank You’ to all the teachers who give up their time to train the teams throughout the year. We wish all three teams continued success as they continue on their Olympic Handball Jouney.

Our boys mini sevens Gaelic footballers recently took part in the local area blitz. Our boys defeated Coole NS and Ratoath SNS in our group stage. With only one team qualifying for the next round, the final game of the day was a winner takes all tie against Rathbeggan. Following an exciting and very close game of football our boys persevered and were rewarded by winning the game. As a result the boys qualified for the county final day in the Meath Centre of Excellence at Dunganny. Here the boys faced a very strong grouping. First the boys took on Gaelscoil na Boinne of Trim and came out victorious. The boys then had the task to take on Kilcloon NS. The boys played terrific football and led for most of the game. With a minute to go and a point down the boys never gave up. Unfortunately, having hit the crossbar in the final minute the boys were unlucky on this occasion and Kilcloon NS were one point winners. The boys did very well to make it to the finals day, being only the second St. Paul’s boys football team to do this. We are extremely proud of how the boys represented themselves and the school. Also a big ‘thank you’ to the boys of Sixth Class who were overage and came to our training sessions to give the mini sevens team a good training session. We look forward to starting up Football in the Spring again.

Our boys and girls competed in round one of the Olympic Handball Meath League in Gormanstown College on the 20th November. All teams have been working hard, training twice a week in preparation for these games. Each team had to play a number of matches in Gormanstown College. All four teams are doing very well and will continue their plight to qualify for the semi-final stage of the competition. The next qualifying day is taking place in Gormanstown College in January. We wish them all the best in the latter stages of the competition.