We had a visit from Portlaoise Fire Officers, Paul and Mary, this week. They called in to see Third and Fourth Classes and held a very practical and informative session with the children regarding fire safety in their homes. A lively question and answer session followed and all the children went home well informed on what to do if they ever were in the unfortunate position of having a fire in their home.
Almost a month has gone in our school year and our new Junior Infants have well and truly settled into school life as the photos below demonstrate so clearly!
We had a visit last week by some members of Birdwatch Ireland.. They checked out our bird boxes and we were delighted to hear that all 5 boxes have had nests in them during the nesting season. We will continue to keep an eye on them during the next few months.
Cumann na mBunscol season is in full swing at the moment in our school. The boys and girls from 4th, 5th and 6th classes are enjoying their training sessions under the watchful eye of Mr Conway. This year , the boys will play against Killeshin, Graiguecullen, Abbeyleix, Killenard and Holy Family(Portlaoise). The girls are up against Mountmellick, Abbeyleix, Killenard, Ballylinan and The Heath. Best of luck to all.
We started our new school year with our AGM recently. Events of the past year were outlined and we had a very active discussion about plans for the year ahead. We would like to welcome anyone who couldn’t make it on the night to join us at our next meeting. Email ratheniskaparents@gmail.com or ring Jacqui at 086 4503003 for details.
The boys and girls in 1st Class have been out and about exploring the natural environment in the school grounds. They talked about the hills and hedges around Ratheniska. They examined the trees in the school yard, they collected oak and sycamore leaves and finished off the session by doing some leaf rubbings.
All the children from 3rd to 6th Classes are continuing their computer studies under the vigilant eye of Alan from riomhairetech.ie. The children from 3rd Class were delighted to start their computer classes and even after the first two weeks, their word processing skills are coming on in leaps and bounds. We look forward to seeing what Alan has in store for all in the year ahead!
A warm welcome back to all our children and teachers for our new school year. We welcome especially our newcomers! We are looking forward to a great year ahead.
