Category: School Year 2015/2016

The boys and girls in Junior and Senior Infants were busy learning about the farm and the different farm animals in April. 

We looked at all the different animals you would find on the farm, the names of their babies and where they live. We practised the animal sounds by singing ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’. We also played a matching game where we had to match the mammy animals to their babies. We showed off our creative skills by making the different farm animals using the playdough and we got to play with the farm and the farm animals at playtime.

Everyone painted a beautiful picture of a farm. We shared our favourite farm animals with the class and then we wrote about it to display in the room.  Look at some of our work below.

Sunday 17^th of April was a special day in the history of Scoil Mhuire, Knockavilla. On a beautiful sunny spring day a large gathering of pupils, parents, grandparents, parishioners, BOM members, school staff and guests joined with Archbishop Kieran O’ Reilly when he officially opened and blessed the beautiful new extension in the school.

Ms Kay Beardmore, Chairperson of the BOM, welcomed His Grace the Archbishop of Cashel and Emly and the very many guests to Scoil Mhuire.  There was an atmosphere of celebration and great pride amongst the large crowd as they enjoyed the wonderful new facilities in the school.  Following an address from Archbishop Kieran the talented pupils of Scoil Mhuire entertained everyone present with a selection of hymns, songs and poetry. Then the real business of the day got underway as Archbishop Kieran joined with the crowds who enjoyed the refreshments and goodies supplied so generously by the school community and organised by the wonderful ladies of the Parents’ Association.

Well done to everyone who was part of this very enjoyable and memorable day in Knockavilla. Comhghairdeas libh go léir.

In the lead up to the Easter holidays we did a lot of work on 1916 and the pupils were very interested in these events which were so important in our Irish history.  We looked particularly at life for children and families in 1916.  Each child wrote a piece about this topic and a number of the stories were entered in the INTO Handwriting competition 2016.  We are awaiting results and are hopeful of a winner here at Scoil Mhuire.

Hi.  My name is Aidan Heney and I am 10 years old.  My hobby is Hot Rod racing.  I race a Nissan Micra.  I race my car at about 50  miles per hour around a track measuring a quarter of a mile.  I would race with about 20 other children.  My car has special safety roll bars and a safety bucket seat to keep me safe.  When I am older I would like to drive a rally car, and be number 1 in the world.

I had my first race on Sunday, April 3^rd in Rosegreen.  I felt very nervous before the race.  At my second last bend I had a small collision with another car, but there was no damage done.  I still finished the race and came 5^th over all.  I enjoyed my first race,  and will race every Sunday for this racing season.

Next Sunday, April 17^th 2016 will be a very special day in Scoil Mhuire Knockavilla.

On that day at 3pm Archbishop Kieran O’ Reilly will come to our school to bless and officially open our new school extension.

We look forward to seeing all our pupils, their parents and families and members of the local community here with us to mark the occasion.

Beidh fáilte roimh gach duine.

1st Class

I have no corners and no edges. What am I?

I have 2 flat round faces. What am I?

2nd Class

James had 36 toy cars and got 23 more. How many cars had he altogether?

1kg of feathers weighs the same as 1kg of coal. True or false?

3rd Class

Three more than me is double 20. What number am I?

At a zoo there are 24 monkeys. The monkeys are divided equally between four enclosures.  How many monkeys are there in each enclosure?

4th Class

I am less than 100. I am a multiple of 3, 4 and 5.  What number am I?

There are 20 candy sticks in a box. Anna eats one-fifth of them.  Eoin eats two-tenths of them.  How many do Anna and Eoin each eat?

5th Class

After cutting this cake into 3 equal pieces, another friend joins the party. You must then divide the cake so that everyone gets the same amount. How would you do it?

A spider is trying to climb up a drainpipe. It takes it 3 minutes to climb a metre but if falls back 50cm each time after climbing a metre. How long will it take for the spider to reach the top of the 6 metre drainpipe?

Congratulations to the pupils and Knockavilla NS Parents’ Association for their great success in the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Thurles. Knockavilla NS won two prestigious prizes on the day – ‘Best School in the Parade’, and ‘Best Overall in the Parade’. Their colourful display ‘Proud to be Irish’ was a great hit on the streets of Thurles.

On Monday 21^st March a large and very happy group of pupils, parents, friends and teachers collected their prizes at a lovely ceremony in The Source, Thurles.

Comhghairdeas le gach duine!

Spring has been very busy in the Infant classroom. All the boys and girls have been working really hard. Junior Infants are flying through their tricky words and can now read 24 of them. Senior infants are busy bees reading lots of books.

Thanks to the lovely weather we’ve been having lately, we went on a spring walk around the school grounds. Everyone enjoyed looking for signs of spring outside. We even had a spring checklist to remind us what to look out for. Back in the classroom we painted some lovely cherry blossom trees and created some lovely spring pieces in art.

The last two weeks of school were very busy learning about the Easter story, Saint Patrick and getting ready to celebrate Proclamation Day. We were very excited at the prospect of performing for not only our parents but our grandparents too. We sang ‘Lá Fhéile Pádraig’ and ‘Bhí Leipreachán ina shuí faoin Chrann’. We coloured some lovely shamrocks and leprechauns for the occasion. 

Teacher helped us to make a lovely ‘Séimí Seamróg’ this week. He’s got really funny legs and shamrocks for feet. 🙂 On the day of the holidays we had a ‘Lá Ghlas’ in school for Seachtain na Gaeilge. Everyone looked super in their green clothes. Thanks to our mummies and daddies for helping us to find something to wear. We made some lovely edible nests with eggs to take home and then teacher surprised us with an Easter egg hunt. We were so good, we found 22 eggs.

We hope everyone has a lovely break.

Happy Easter!!

Lá an Fhorógra i Scoil Mhuire Chnoc a’ Bhile

Proclamation Day in Scoil Mhuire Knockavilla

Féachaint Siar- Súil ar Aghaidh

Tuesday March 15^th 2016 was a very special day in the history of Scoil Mhuire. That date had been set aside as a day on which every school in the country would commemorate the 1916 Rising, and the pupils, staff and local community in Knockavilla celebrated in great style.

We were delighted to be joined by a large crowd of parents, grandparents, family, friends, past-pupils, members of the local community, BOM members as well as retired staff members for an afternoon of commemoration, where all present reflected upon, honoured and remembered the women and men of the Rising.

In glorious sunshine, Eleanor O’ Dwyer, Principal Teacher, welcomed the large crowd, pupils and school staff quoting President Higgins’ description of the 1916 Rising as a ‘stunningly ambitious act of imagination’. The seven men who signed the Proclamation of Independence dreamed of a ‘Sovereign Independent State’ where all Irish women and Irish men would be treated equally. Today we the people of the Irish Republic have a ‘great part to play in shaping the future’ of Ireland. The ideas, enthusiasm and dreams of our citizens, particularly of the young people of Ireland, are needed to continue the work of building a society in which all our people can flourish.

After the National Flag was raised, eight 6^th Class pupils read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, followed by a recitation of Pádraig Pearse’s beautiful poem ‘The Wayfarer’. Then all rose to sing a loud and proud rendition of ‘Amhrán na BhFiann’.

Following the more formal activities of the afternoon everyone came into our beautiful new school hall, where parents, grandparents and friends viewed an exhibition of the pupils’ work about the Easter Rising. Each class performed a selection of poems, tunes and songs, as well as a wonderful exhibition of Irish dancing.

It was a great day of celebration and a very fitting way in which to honour the vision of the women and men of 1916.

Comhghairdeas le gach duine a ghlac páirt san ócáid speisíalta seo.