Rang 6 and Rang 1 got together this week to work together during their literacy sessions. Their comments afterwards are testament to the success of the collaboration.

“I used to be scared of 6th Class when I was in 1st- I feel this helps their confidence” (Aoife 6th Class)

“It’s really fun” (Hunter 1st Class)

“We get to cooperate and communicate with other classes” ( Greg 6th)

“My Buddy is very nice” ( Molly 1st)

“It was really nice to connect – we didn’t get a chance to do that at all in the last two years (Freya 6th)

“The kids are really nice” (Magda 6th)

I like it because my buddy is on my bus (Bobby 1st)

Senior Infants took advantage of the warm Spring weather to get out their trowels, compost and seeds  and they set about planting some grass seed and seed bombs. We look forward to seeing what happens over the next few weeks!

Happy Mother’s Day from all the boys and girls in Ratheniska NS, especially those in Rang 2!

World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is celebrated annually on the 21st of March and is a global awareness day that has been officially observed by the United Nations since 2012. This week, we are all participating in the #LotsOfSocks campaign which has been put together  to raise awareness of Down’s Syndrome. To get involved, we wore our brightest, most colourful and, of course, mismatched ones to school. If anyone asks us about them, we tell people that we are wearing them to raise awareness of Down’s Syndrome.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona daoibh go léir!

  The sun was shining and the Holy Spirit was alive and active in all the young hearts of  the boys and girls from 6th Class who received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday, March 5th. They gathered together with their families and sponsors in SS Peter and Paul’s Church in Portlaoise. Following the ceremony, which was celebrated by Bishop Denis Nulty and the priests of the parish, the pupils spent the rest of the day enjoying their time with family and friends.  They were happy to continue this celebration with their friends and the wider school community on Monday.

We celebrated World Book Day in all classes this week. World Book Day is a celebration of reading, authors, illustrators and books. It’s designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world. Books of all shapes, sizes and genres were eagerly brought into class by the boys and girls in Juniors, Seniors and First.  The children eagerly shared their books with their teachers and classmates. Senior Infants even made bookmarks, became illustrators ands created bunting with their illustrations!