We had two projects from our classroom in the Heritage in Schools History Competition this year. Lisa O'Donovan did a project on her mom's home townland of Shandrum, 'A Blast from the Past' focusing on the Church of Ireland Church and School which are both located in the townland. The church is still in use but the school is closed with many years. She did a huge amount of research online and in interviews, and the resulting project book would be extremely interesting for anyone who went to school or attended Church there. She also did a super model of the Church.
Laura Deasy did a project inspired by her grandparents, her nana and grandad in Cork and her nana in West Cork, 'A Glimpse into Cork in the 1950's'. Laura also did some wonderful research and there were fascinating stories and photos, including one of people skating on The Lough in Cork in the 50's. Laura also dressed a doll in great 1950's style. The project books will be family treasures, keeping history alive into the future. We were delighted that both girls got prizes, Lisa getting second place and Laura third. Well done to both, it was fantastic work! Two teams took part in the Credit Union Quiz in Skibbereen and both represented the school very well indeed, with the Junior Team coming in Third Place which was a great achievement. There was great excitement when the results were announced!! Jordan, Daniel, Ellissa and Laura all smiles at the Credit Union Quiz
We had an exciting start to 2017; in January the pupils in the Senior Room had a project in the RDS Primary Science Fair entitled “How can we generate and use Solar Power in our classroom.” We had great help from Shane’s dad to build a model of a solar panel with a tiny little water tank and radiator. It also had a thermometer and we could monitor the temperature in different conditions. Unfortunately, we had to be very patient as the sun refused to shine for days on end but even on a cloudy day the panel heated the water and radiator so we knew it worked!. Eventually, we were able to draw graphs of the temperatures reached on a cloudy day, a partially sunny day and a very sunny day and as predicted, the sunnier the day, the higher the temperature. We also used a lamp in place of the sun and showed that the nearer the lamp the hotter the temperatures. We used the lamp for demonstration at the Science Fair which was held in Mary Immaculate College in Limerick. It was a very enjoyable day, not even the early start at 5.45am could dampen spirits! As well as explaining our project to the judges and the public, there were many interesting shows and exhibits to visit during the day - all in all a great day out and a fantastic experience for the children involved. A big thank you to the parents who helped with the project and who travelled with us on the day! We were delighted to hear the results of the Cork Heritage in Schools Competition. Eli won First Prize for his project, A Story Worth Telling, which told the story of his great-grandad, James Henry Coleman. The class got Second Prize for our project, Easter 1916 and The Seán Hurley Story. We had worked very hard on the projects and found it all very interesting. Some of the children went to the Silversprings Hotel on Wednesday March 15th to collect our prizes. This was a very appropriate day for the Awards Ceremony as we had raised the Tricolour earlier in the day! The children in the Senior Room have been working on a Project called ‘Easter Rising 1916 and the Seán Hurley Story’ and have entered it in the Cork Heritage in Schools Competition. Seán Hurley was born in Moulagow, Drinagh in 1887 and was the only Volunteer from Cork to die in the Rising. Around 1906, Seán went to London and got a job in Harrod’s as an office clerk. Some of the people Seán met were involved in trying to gain freedom for Ireland and Sam Maguire swore him into the I.R.B. Michael Collins came to England too and Seán helped him to settle in. Sean’s sister, Kitty, married Michael’s brother, Johnny, in 1907. Michael used to call Seán ‘Cousin Jack’. Michael Collins also joined the I.R.B. and in 1914 they both joined the Irish Volunteers. In early 1916, Seán Hurley, Michael Collins and others decided to return to Ireland. Seán took part in the Rising during Easter Week and was fatally wounded in Church Street, hours before the surrender. Fr. Augustine wrote to the Hurley Family in June, telling them of Sean’s death. They hadn’t even known he was in Dublin taking part in the Rising, so to hear he was dead was a huge shock! Fr. Augustine said in his letter that some of Sean’s last words were: ‘Tell my mother I died for Ireland’. We made a book telling Seán Hurley’s story and how it fitted into the story of the Rising. We also did a lot of research into what life was like 100 years ago and where our families were at the time. We did a display of artefacts we collected which was very interesting. We made a big wall hanging, based on 1916 and Seán Hurley. It is approximately 1 metre by 1.2 metres, we did felting, silk painting, drew pictures and transferred them onto cloth – we will let the photos explain the rest!
Lisa O'Donovan in Third Class got a very exciting letter in school in December. When she opened it she discovered she had won Runner-Up prize in the Credit Union Poster Competition. She was presented with her prize in Skibbereen Credit Union on December 10th. Her poster was displayed in the Credit Union, as was Gerard Keohane's - he must have been close to a prize too! The theme of the Competition was 'My Favourite Book Character' and Lisa drew Charlotte's web.
Members of the Irish Navy and Army visited the school and presented us with an Irish Flag and a copy of the Proclamation. It was a very interesting visit as they spoke about their jobs, their training and the significance of the Flag.
The chchildren filled shoeboxes for the Team Hope Shoebox Appeal. In the midst of the excitement that goes with Christmas it is good to remember the true spirit and meaning of Christmas and in a small way bring some happiness to the lives of people, especially children, who are not as well off as ourselves
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Teresa HollandI teach 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes.
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July 2017
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