Bigstone NS was a hive of activity for three weeks of special events
Pupils from Bigstone NS meet Irish author Caroline Buscher
BIGSTONE NS has been bursting with activities over the past few weeks, tapping into pupils’ creativity, inventiveness and imagination.
Over the space of three weeks, the pupils celebrated Engineers Week, Pancake Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, World Book Day and Seachtain na Gaeilge, all having a terrific time participating.
During Engineers Week, the pupils worked in teams to design, build and test a number of structures such as paper towers, marshmallow bridges, paper-cup towers, rockets and marble mazes. They also investigated which paper aeroplane would fly the furthest.
The whole school came together to weigh, mix, whisk, pour and cook pancakes. As it was a sunny day, they enjoyed eating their pancakes in the school’s new outdoor classroom area. Bigstone NS also commemorated Ash Wednesday Mass by joining Fr John via webcam in St Joseph’s Church, Baltinglass.
The pupils enjoyed World Book Day by dressing up as characters from their favourite books. They spoke about books, created book reviews, bookmarks and joined together for buddy reading.
Seachtain na Gaeilge was celebrated with Frásaí Gaeilge don Lae (Irish phrase of the day), tráth na gceist (table quiz), with pupils also working in groups to create posters depicting a seanfhocal. Pupils also spoke Irish throughout the week and participated in a daily raffle. They learned and .
The pinnacle of the week was on Wednesday, when the pupils, parents and members of the local community came together in the hall for their céilí. Thanks to Mary Goherty, who taught the pupils the two-hand country dance, a reel, the two-hand reel, a waltz, the Siege of Ennis and kindly supplied the music. There was great participation from all involved.
Irish author Caroline Buscher also visited Bigstone NS during the week, through Heritage in Schools. She discussed her books with the students and the creative writing process. The students enjoyed the visit and engaged enthusiastically with all the activities.
The week culminated on Friday with Lá Glas, where pupils in Bigstone wore green to school. Rose and Fiona from Tribe Art Studio, Castledermot came to do an Irish-inspired art lesson with the pupils. All pupils were delighted with their artistic talents and the wonderful canvas painting they brought home at the end of a fun-packed week.
The pupils are currently participating in the Active School Flag ‘Skip Around Europe Challenge’, which involves pupils counting their skips each day and calculating what countries they have reached. Everyone is thoroughly enjoying the challenge.
