This week we completed the election of our new Student Council. Nine children from 3rd to 6th class were elected following a wonderful campaign. The children will now provide a voice for all the pupils in our school with the aim of making our school the best it can be!
Candidates seeking votes from their classmates.
Well done to all the candidates who put their name forward for election. There were some wonderful posters on display and the presentations were innovative and considered.
The Elected Members!
The newly elected members of the student council held their first meeting on Friday. They will now focus on gathering ideas to make our Active Week one of the best ever before meeting again in two weeks time.
Our First Student Council MeetingEach of the girls recieved a survival kit!
This week the infant classes were learning all about The Zoo in Aistear. The animals were treated by the zoo vets and children designed and built their very own zoos.
3rd Class visited the Library this week
Over the past three years, we have been working together to introduce cursive writing throughout the school. This has been incredibly successful and the children’s writing has improved immensely. Part of this process is granting a Pen Licence to pupils when they have successfully mastered writing with pencil. This week the children in 3rd class were presented with their Pen Licences by Ms. Walsh and Mr. Healy. The girls also got a new pen to use from now on!
Our After School Activities continue each day with the children enjoying Cookery, Speech & Drama, Funday Monday Club, Chess Club, Basketball and the newest additional is Games Club with Ms. Bohan and Ms. Ralph.
This month we focused on Gaeilge for our Star Pupil Awards. The pupils made a great effort to speak more Irish throughout the day, especially during Seachtaine na Gaeilge. Here are this month’s winners. 🌟
Congratulations to the 34 girls from 5th and 6th class who received the Sacrament of Confirmation from Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly in the Cathedral last Saturday.
The children were joined by their families for the intimate ceremony. We say a huge thank you to Margaret Healy and Fr. Joe Walsh who helped prepare the girls for this special day.
Our camogie team have been busy training for the past number of weeks in preparation for the County U13 Camogie Blitz which took place in Rosegreen last Thursday.
The girls played four games on the day and showed great determination throughout. The first game was against Grange NS. Laila Mulhaire, playing in goals made three wonderful saves in this game while Aoife Ryan and Robyn Carroll worked tirelessly in the middle of the field. Grange, however, proved too strong in the end and won the game.
Next up for Presentation was a game against Upperchurch NS. Patricia Dyl Phillips and Ghina Aljonwani proved stern in defence throughout this game but Upperchurch, who would eventually top the group at the end of the day, carved out an impressive win. A great goal from Nicole Egan was the highlight of the game for the girls in wine.
The hosts, Rosegreen NS, were next up. Lily Purcell and Amelie Nuvoloni were dominant at midfield but scores were hard to find in this tight game. Eve Barrett created a great chance for a goal only to see the Rosegreen ‘keeper make a wonderful save. Heartbreakingly, a last minute point snatched victory for Rosegreen but there were many positives to take from the game, not least the great displays from some of our 4th class girls, Emma Griffin, Sophie Tobin and Rachel Fitzgibbon.
Goal!
Our final game produced the girl’s best performance of the day. Ballylooby got off to a great start with two early goals but the second half belonged solely to the Thurles girls. Goals from Eva Barrett and Robyn Carroll as well as a point from Amelie Nuvoloni meant the day ended on a high.
We say a very sincere thank you to the coaches, Ms. Paula Ralph, Ms. Karen Bohan and Ms. Laura Ralph, for the commitment they have shown to training the girls each Monday after school for the past few months. We now look forward to the School Camogie League which we hope will take place in May.
The girls from Second Class received their First Confession in school on Thursday. Fr. Joe spoke to the girls about saying sorry when we make mistakes and about talking to Jesus when we need a friend.
The girls sung beautifully and knew all their prayers for this special day. We thank their teacher Ms. Ciara Gleeson for preparing them so well.
It’s a rare and magical experience, to stand shoulder to shoulder with your team-mates, and to sing the National Anthem before an All Ireland Final. It is in that very moment, as the hairs tingle the back of your neck, that you really appreciate the value of sport, of friendship, of preparation and of pride. And as you holler out those final words ‘seo dhíbh canaigh Amhrán na bhFiann’, the magnitude of your achievement comes sharply into focus.
The morning began in UL with a group game against Fossa NS, Killarney on Court 2 at the scheduled time of exactly 10:54am – everything about the day was planned to the exact minute by Volleyball Ireland and we applaud them for their efforts. Fossa, home to the talented Kerry footballer David Clifford, began brightly and soared into a 6-2 lead. Maintaining your serve is key to winning these games and a tremendous volley from Patricia Dyl Phillips won back serve for the Pres. Three perfect serves from both Nicole Egan and Gemma Jordan provided a platform for Presentation Panthers to take an 8-6 lead, a lead they would hold for the remainder of the match. Winning the first game on a scoreline of 31-19 boosted the girl’s confidence greatly heading into round 2.
The Heath, Portlaoise, provided the opposition in the second group game. Pauline Kwapinske landed her first three serves in this game to open up an early advantage. Lily Purcell, playing with an injured wrist, was pivotal in this game. Her digs and chasing of the ball ensured an easy 42-10 win and perhaps this game hinted that something special may be on the cards.
The final group game quickly brought the team back down to earth, and the dreams of cruising into an Ireland Final were suddenly splashed with a shower of reality as St. Ita’s Falcons, Loughrea powered to a comfortable 30-12 victory over the girls in wine. In truth, the loss demonstrated how the skills of volleyball can be honed and finessed to a standard we had not seen in this competition before.
Two wins and that one defeat resulted in a Quarter Final place against another Kerry team – Spa NS, Tralee. In hindsight, one could argue that this was the girl’s best team performance of the day. Nicole Egan was superb throughout, landing all her 9 serves and finding the energy to dig and volley when all seemed lost. With the teams level on five occasions, it was clear that concentration and determination were going to be key to being ahead when the final whistle would blow after 10 gruelling minutes. At 20-20, the Panthers won back serve as a stray Kerry serve drifted outside the court. Lily, Gemma and Anna all held their nerve to land their remaining serves and win the final 8 points of the game to claim a spot in the All Ireland Semi Final!
At full stretch!
This time it was St. Ita’s Hawks, Loughrea that provided the opposition – St. Ita’s Falcons had also made it through to the other semi final to play St. Joseph’s Templemore. With butterflies churning in the tummies, the girls took to the court in a bid to make it through to the final. This time it was the turn of Anna Crawford to lead the team with some incredible touches and accurate serves. A blistering start saw Presentation Panthers go 10-1 up and a sense of anticipation could be felt by all. Cheered on by the members of Presentation Pythons,- the girls traded score after score with the Galway team right up until the final whistle sounded. It ended 28-18 and suddenly the realisation of an All Ireland Final beckoned!
That traditional cheer erupted as the last note of Amhrán na bhFiann was sung and Nicole, Anna, Gemma, Pauline, Lily and Patricia took their paces on Court 3 at 13:43pm – everything still exact, everything still possible and everything still to play for. Again it was the blue and gold jerseys of St. Ita’s that stood on the far side of the net. The Falcons had beaten Templemore and were back to face us yet again.
In a rip roaring contest, the teams shared scores as the race to 25 began. Errors were aplenty from both sides as tired bodies and nervous energy collided. The girls from Templemore joined our supporters to cheer on the Panthers in what can only be described as a touch of class. With the game tied at 16-16, it was anybody’s title to win and Ms. Ryan and Mr. Healy struggled to be heard over the deafening noise that filled the UL Sports Arena. Unfortunately, it was St. Ita’s who would find the crucial scores and deservedly claimed the title, 25-19. So close!
The day ended with a medal presentation and, although disappointed to have fallen at the final hurdle, there was a palpable sense of pride and achievement as the girls collected their All Ireland Runners Up medal. Volleyball is a wonderful game that has provided our two teams with experiences that will long live in the memory. After all, it’s not every day you stand smiling, shoulder to shoulder, with your friends to sing the National Anthem before playing in an All Ireland Final and collection a national medal!
Following the success of last year’s, first ever, St. Partrick’s Day School Parade, the children yet again donned the green and enjoyed marching around our beautiful school grounds to mark our National Day.
The parade brought joy and smiles to everyone involved and ended with an impromptu céilí in the school yard afterwards.
You can watch the parade on our YouTube channel.
ON the day we also took the opportunity to raise the school’s 5th Green Flag. This flag was awarded by An Taisce for the school’s work on the topic of Biodiversity.
The members of the Green School Committee, along with the coordinator Ms. Everard, also raised the European Union and Irish Flag. As part of Seachtaine na Gaeilge, the children have been learning Amhrán na bhFiann and it was wonderful to hear them sing our National Anthem as the Tricolour climbed into the bright blue sky!
The highlight of Seachtaine na Gaeilge was our Tráth na gCeist (Table Quiz) which took place on Friday. The quiz had 8 rounds of 6 questions in each round and was keenly contested by the 19 teams involved.
Winners of the Tráth na gCeist
As part of Engineers Week, 6th class designed and built model playgrounds. Here is a great example of one!
