Halloween 2017
St Vincent de Paul Collection
Thanks to everyone for your support of the recent St. Vincent de Paul hygiene packs collection. These packs will be given to needy families in the Limerick area so your kindness will be felt at a local level. St. Vincent de Paul have asked us to pass on their sincerest thanks for your generosity.
ArdScoilHurling Blitz
This year ScoilNaomhIósafenteredthe ArdScoil Hurling blitz. PatMurphyand PádraicKearneywereto beour managers. So we got preparedwith some trainingbeforethegamesandtriedto get our heads in thegame. The managers saidour captainwouldbeJohnathanByrne.
Inour first matchwas againstCrecorawehadasuperfirst halfagainstaslow startingCrecorateamandwe were leading by ninepoints. In thesecond half theywere awhole differentteamandwelostour momentum andCrecoramadean unprecedentedcomebackto beat us bytwo points.Wewere devastatedbutwe hadto keepourheads up. Wehada breakbeforeour secondmatch, which we needed towinto stayinthe competition. Our second matchwas againstSixmilebridgefrom Clare. Itwouldbeatoughbattlefor us. Sadlytheyleadthe wholegamethroughdespiteour hardefforts.Patrickand Oisínscoredagoal toliftour hopes butitwasn`tour day. Intheendwe displayedawonderful performance butno gloryor luck.
All inall weenjoyedourselves andthatiswhatmatters most.After thegame we gota t-shirtandsomesweets. Wedid ourselves andtheschool proud. The futureof AdareHurlingis bright.
By PatrickandMiloin5th
Bebras
Last month 5thand 6thclass didanonlinecomputingtestcalledBebras. We enteredthe10-12 category.
We had to recognizepatterns inproblemsand solvepuzzles.We competedtobethebestinLimerick. The winners gettogotoDublin to compete to be thebestin Ireland.
In some of the levels we had tocreateapathtoget to the end.In another problemwe had tofind the mostefficientwayto fill jamjars. In another problemwe had tobreak as little walls aspossiblesothe personcouldget tothetreasure.
SeanO’Donoghuecamefirstin 5th Class.Ronan O’Donnell,GearóidLowryandDylan Herbert camefirstin 6th Class.
Bebras was veryfunandwe hope wewill doit nextyear.Thebestthingis thatit isall educational!!!
ByDylan HerbertandRoryMorrissey
Gymnastics
All of the school started gymnastics in October. We did it every Monday. Our teacher was named Mark Cranitch. For eight weeks, he taught us how to do a forward roll, a backward roll, a handstand and a headstand. He made us do a warm up beforehand because otherwise you could get injured from doing these gymnastics. Mark did great demonstrations on what we were going to do. He was so funny that if he hadn’t become a gymnastics teacher he probably would have been a comedian. But sadly it had to come to an end. 0ne of the last things we did with him was that we had to make a human pyramid.
By Cian and Mark
Halloween
OnFridaythe28thofOctober ScoilNaomhIósaf students dressedup in amazing costumesfor Halloween. Wealmostgotscaredoutof our pants!
Everyonecameto school dressedupin scary,Halloweencostumessuchas spider-man,grimreaperandan I-phone. We do anactivity wherewe do laps aroundourschool calledrunaround Europe,this timewe did itinour costumes. Itwas great‘craic’untiltherewas few minor injuries.
Wesprintedto the hall excitedly,therewere manyactivities to do such as throw theringsontothewitch’s hat, shoot cups withanerf gunand don’t knockthegrape off theflour pilewithaknife. After awhilewelinedup, grabbedahurley and gotreadyto hitthepiñata. Itwas awitchona broom stickandwhen Mick finisheditoff sweets andchocolateswentflying everywhere.
After the hall weagreedto go outsideandplay some dodgeball inour costumes,itwas greatfunalthough we struggledto moveinour costumes. Afterwards wewentto assembly. Stephentold us not to go near bonfiresand havefuntrickor treating.
Overall, Halloweenisafuneventthatwe celebrateeachyear. Itwill also beon nextyear.
ByFinlay andSeánA
Library Visits
Thistermwe visited the local library multiple times. We learnedabout the viciouswarrior
Vikingsandtheuniqueartofpoetry.
A coupleofweeksago,we wentdowntothe library to meetaman namedGabriel Fitzmaurice. There he readouthispoemsfrom hisbook andtoldushow he cameupwith them, andwe listenedintently. Nearthe end, he told usabout haikusandrequestedusto write ourownones. Wewrote several ofthem withsome humorousonesabout Stephen, ourprincipal andteacher.
Another eventwe attendedwasaVikingexhibitionfrom the HuntMuseum in Limerick. They showedusextraordinary replicasofwhattheywore, drank outofandtheir weapons. We were giventhe privilege totry onthe chainmail tunicandcoifandhelmet.We all enjoyedlistening to the peoplefrom the museum andhope tosee themagain.
Itwasaninspiringandfascinatingexperience tomeetthese peopleatthelocal library. We learnedalitany ofknowledgeaboutVikingsandpoetry becauseofthese trips.It wasagreatwaytolearninsteadofschoolwork.
By GavanConway &Ronan O’Donnell
RDSScienceFair
Duringthe month of October our teacher, StephenLavin,told us thatwe were enteringa competitioninMary IinLimerick. Itis called RDS sciencefair.
Stephensplit us intofour groups,oneof thegroups aremakingthe project. It is asimple circuit quizwithalightbulbswitchesand abuzzer.They have experimentedmanytimeswithproto-types before makingthefinal project. Stephenhas helped thethroughoutthis amazingexperiment.
Also someof thestudents have beendoinga projectonScratchfor thescience fair. They havetriedto show how the quizworks. They have beenworking extremely hardfor the past few weeks withmanycreativeways to demonstrate
As wellas thatoneof theremaininggroups werevlogingonwhateveryone was doing duringthe periodof time thestudentwere doingtheir work.They usedIMovieto connectthe interviews together.
Thefinal groupdid PowerPoint. They createda PowerPoint presentation aboutthe circuitandhaw the powerflowsandworks.All of thesefantastic projectswill be presentedat the RDS sciencefair inMary IinJanuary.
This experience has beengreatfor everyonewho participated.Everyonehas truly enjoyedtaking partandwill beagreatachievementif this projectworks outfor us after theimmenseeffortthe class has putin.
ByRonan.MMick
Run Around Europe
RunaroundEuropeis a challenge 5thand6thareattemptingto accomplish.The challengeis torun30,503kmacross Europe’s capitals [43counties]. Each morningwe runaroundthe school tryingto completeas manylaps aswe can. Every lapwe runis equivalentto aKmaroundEurope. We’reroughly onethird of theway through!!! It’s agreatactivity to get children outexercising.
ByGavan Conway &Milo Kane
SPORTS AND CRIB NIGHT
School Crib and Live Crib
Recentlywehadourschoolcrib.Wedida lotofpractising forthisnightofnights.Thecribwasbeautifullybuiltby JoeandPaulineandliteveryyearbyoneluckystudent.
Theschoolcribstartswithcarolsingingandendsoffwith agoodcupofteaandafreshlybakedbiscuit.Wesang songslikeMary’sBoyChild,RockingAroundthe ChristmastreeandevenJoshGroban’s,OHolyNight. ThisyearVinniefromJuniorInfantswastheluckyoneto turnonthelightsforthecrib.Theparentsbroughtlotsof lovelybiscuitsandcakes.Theparentcouncildida lovely jobdoingupthestaffroomtolookitsbestforthespecial nightandbroughtsweetsforeveryone.Theschoolrented amarqueefortheveryproudparentstostandinandkeep drywhilewatchingthemagnificentperformance.
Itwasaneventfulnightbuttherewasmoretocome.The livecribwasonafewdayslater.Itwasoninthevillage hallandthereweremanyamazingactsonthestage. Someboysfromfifthandsixthbecameashepherd.We sangsowellwegotatreatthefollowingmorning.
Lotsofpeoplecametotheschoolcribandlivecriband wereamazedbyourfantastictalentonthestage.Let's hopenextyearisjustassuccessful
ByJoshandTJ
Munster Players Visit Adare
TwoMunsterPlayers,IanKeatleyandDuncanCaseyvisitedour schoolon the27thof October2017.ThesetwoMunsterplayers comefromtwodifferentclubs,DuncanfromShannonandIanfrom Garryowen,buteveryweekcometogethertoplayrugbyfor Munster.
Theycametoteachjuniorsto3rdclasshowtoplayrugby.Duncan and Iantaughttheladsmanybasicskills,suchaspassingtheballand receivingtheballcorrectly.Theyalsoexplainedtheknock-onruleto them.
Because,6thclass,5thclassand4thclasswereattheWestLimerick Countyfinal(whichwelost)theydidnotparticipateinthedrills, insteadtheygotautographsandclasspictures.Theyevenmadea guestappearanceontheschoolnews!!!
ThesetwoplayersaresomeofthebestinIreland! It’snowonderwhytheyplayforMunster!
FromLochlann BrownandSeánODonoghue in 5th Class
SchoolGaelicFootball
Theschoolfootballstartedinthemonthof Septemberandevenfromthenwewereeager toclaim thetop spot. Althoughonly third,fourth,fifthandsixthclasses wereable to play, westill had apanelofatleast forty students.
TrainingforourschoolGaelicfootballteamstarted in theearlyweeks ofSeptember, whenouramazingprincipal,andcoach,StephenLavin trainedusweekinandweekouton Wednesday afternoons afterschool.The trainingconsists ofgreatskills,tactics, anda trainingmatch towardstheendof thesession. Overall,mostof oursuccesscamefromour dedication totrainingandourhard work on andoffthefield.
There weretwogroups in the top division,whichwewerein,threeteamsin eachgroup. Thetoptwoteams fromeachgroupadvance tothesemi-final. The schoolthatcomesfirstin theirgroupplaystheteamwhocamesecondintheoppositegroup.The winners of the
semi-finalbooktheirplacein thefinalagainst theothersuccessfulteam.
To beginourcampaign,wefacedArdaghin thefirst round.Thankfully,we beatArdaghwellwhichsecuredus aplacein thesemi-final. Eventhough,wehadsecuredaplacein the semi-final,westillhad toplayNewcastleWest tomakesurewegot an easierteaminthe nextround of thecompetition.Secondly,weplayedCourtneyBoys from NewcastleWest andintheend,webeat themwellby overtwogoals. Wewereoverthemoontomakeit through to thesemi-finalbut tobeatourold rivals, NewcastleWest,wasanevenbiggerboost.Sincewe cametopofourgroup,weendedupplayingBroadfordathomeinthesemi-final, whocamesecondintheirgroup.Oursemi-finalbattleagainstBroadfordwere our toughestencounterto date.Fortunately,wepulled throughandnarrowly beat themby a singlepoint. We walked away withawin underourbelt;wemayhavewonthebattle but the warwasyet to come.
On the27thofOctober,earlyin themorningwegotonourbusandmadeourwayto Mick Neville Park situatedin Rathkeale.AsStephenwas pickingtheteam,thetensioninthe roomwaspalpable.Aswarmof supportersgatheredaroundthe pitch,allofwhom were expectingacrackerofamatch,and theygotwhattheywanted.Thematchstartedwitha bangandeveryonewasputtingtheirbody onthelineforagoodresult.Unfortunately,we lost by amerefivepointsto thetriumphant Abbeyfeale.
Wekept ourheadsheld higheven afterourtragic defeat toAbbeyfeale.Wetruly deserved tobeproudbecausewewerethefirst teamsince2005inourschooltomakeit to theWest FootballFinal.
ByGearóid,Charlie and Jonathan
SchoolNews
We startedthe school news atthe startof theyear. Therehave beenfourmoviessofar.
Stephenrandomlychoosessixstudentsout of fifth and
sixth. There are fivedifferentjobs:theinterviewer, the weather man,the camera man,the newsman and the sports reporterand there can be two people inonejob. The app iscalledImovie.Inthis appyou take video from thecamera and youcancombine and put the
videostogether andplaythemalltogether like a mini movie andthen you can upload them toYoutube.
Firstyou have to makeyour introwhichis the funniest part thenwe get seriousuntilthebloopers when you messaround.
The schoolnewsis seriouslyfun,it mighttake upyour breakbut it’s worth it!
By Matthew and Jack
School Table Tennis
Thisyearinschoolwehavebeendoingtable tennisintheschoolhall.Therearefivetablesand over30competitorsto play.Youcangooverto thehallatmorningbreak,smallbreakandbig break.Thetabletennisisfor 5th and 6th.
Therewastwoteachersfortabletennisandtheir namesaretheprincipalStevenLavin who teaches 4thto6thAndStephaniewhoteaches2ndand3rd.
Thetabletenniswasonat3o’clockto4o’clock. Therewastwoleagues - leagueoneandleague two.Thereare18peopleinthebigleagueand12 inthesmallleague.InthebigleagueOisínO Sullivanisinthelead.InthesmallleagueConor Wardisinthelead.
Thetabletennisleagueisreallygreatfun.People recommendeverybodyshouldplayit. It isagreat sourceofhealth,funandisveryactiveforyou.
ByCathal,RoryNandHarry
Santa Visit
After the school Mass on Thursday 21st, Santa arrived to visit the boys escorted by the Fire Brigade. Everyone was delighted to see him and to assure him that they would continue to be on their best behaviour up to Christmas Eve. There are some lovely photos taken of the boys with Santa on the website scoilnaomhiosafadare.com so make sure to check them out.
The County Final Adare
TheAdareseniorfootballteamwonthecountyChampionshipforthe firsttimeintheirclub’shistory!Laterthatnighttheteamcelebrated theirvictorywitha largebonfireonthemainroundaboutofAdare.
ThenextdaytheAdareteamvisitedourschoolandintroduced themselvestoeveryone.Thewholeschoolgotaschoolphotowith everyplayerintheteam,someofthepupilsofourschoolaskedthe teamplayersquestionsandhowtheyfeltwhenthefinalwhistleblew. Thecaptain,ShaneDohertysaid“itwasanhonourtoliftthecupfor thefirsttimeintheirclub’shistory!
Whentheassemblywasover,eachclasswent backtotheir classroomswhiletheAdareteamwenttotheschool’sreceptionto getinterviewedby 6thClassnewscrew.Fourmembersoftheteam gotinterviewedby JonathanandfilmedbyRonanMurphy.Jonathan askedquestionsaboutthewinninggoaletc.andsomethatwere alreadyaskedbypupilsintheassembly.Whentheyfinishedthe interviewtheteamsaidtheirfinalgoodbyetoeveryoneintheschool andlefttohittheroad.
We’reprettysureeveryoneinthe schoolenjoyedtheirvisitbecause wesuredid!WhenthenewscrewfinishedtheirnewsonFriday,we hadanassembly,weallwatcheditandallenjoyedit,thatwasagreat day!
By Alfie Fitzpatrick and Ruairi O’Connor
Yard Leagues
TheYardLeagueswassetuptogettheyoungerclassesactive,to havefunandimprovetheirsocialskills.Everyoneintheschool enjoysit.
ThegamesweplayinYardLeaguesarecomprisedofhopscotch, snakesandladders,milkjugs,handballandevensoccer.Incaseyou werewonderingthemilkjugsisagameyouhavetothrowatennis ballintotheairandcatchitinthemilkjug.Thehandballwedofor thejuniorsandseniorsisdifferentfromregularhandball.Yougivea handballtothejuniororseniorandtheyhavetothrowitintoanet fromafarawaydistance.
Theclassesthatdoitarejuniorsandseniors,and5thand 6thclass supervisethem.TheYardgamesrunonMondays,Tuesdays, WednesdaysandThursdays,butifit’s rainingwedon’tdoit. However;attimesinthewinterwedon’tdoit becauseit’stoocold. Thegroupsarecalledzebras,elephants,lions,tigersandelephants.
Theyardleaguesaregreatfunforeverybody.It willbegreatcraicin 2018!
By David Moore
Happy Christmas FromScoilNaomhIósaf Parents Council
Happy Christmas to all! It’s been a busy first term for everyone at ScoilNaomhIósaf, including the Parents Council. The AGM was held on October 5th with a regular meeting taking place on November 9th. See below for details of officers for the year ahead.
Our first event of the year was a fundraiser – our 3rd Annual Golf Classic. The funds raised go directly towards funding ICT in the school. As a result, over the last 3 years, you will have seen an increase in the numbers of laptops, iPads & Electronic Whiteboards in use in the school. A sincere thank you to everyone involved in the organisation and sponsorship of this key fundraiser.
In this newsletter you will see articles written by the boys in 5th and 6th classes about their experience of the Halloween Fun Day, Crib Launch, and Visit from Santa. The Parents Council have been delighted to be involved with these events. We’ve had huge support from Mums and Dads across all the class groups in making these occasions happen – thank you so much! Your support is always hugely appreciated.
We have a busy, fun year ahead in 2018, kicking off on Friday 2nd February with our Annual Fun Pub Quiz. Don’t forget to book the babysitters!! This is one of our main fundraisers for the Annual School Show at Easter. The Pub Quiz is always a very enjoyable night out and a great way for parents to catch up with each other in a fun and social setting. We look forward to seeing many old and new faces there!
We would encourage any parent who can find an hour or so to spare, to join in and help out at the various events planned for 2018. Every little helps and at the end of the day all of our boys benefit from our collective engagement. Along the way, many rewarding and lasting friendships have stemmed from involvement in the wide range of activities that the Parents Council undertakes. Please do come to the meetings to stay up to date about what’s happening.
On behalf of all parents, we would especially like to extend a sincere thank you to all of the staff at ScoilNaomhIósaf. They are never found wanting when it comes to supporting and championing any of the events that take place throughout the school year. The time, energy and dedication they so willingly give to our boys is something we as parents appreciate very much.
Le gachdea-ghuíigcomhairnaNollagagusna h-athbhliana!
Yvonne.
The following are the officers for the coming year:
Chairperson:Yvonne SheahanVice–Chairperson:Lorraine Kirby
Secretary:Elaine FitzgeraldTreasurer:Sineád Johnson
ClassRepresentatives
Juniors: Mary GoherySeniors: Denise Duggan1st: Máire Daly
Lorraine Kirby Yvonne O’Neill Noreen Driver
2nd: Jill Devery3rd: Carmel Collins4th: Karina Byrne
Audrey Fahey Ekaterina Dvornaya Anna Marie Geaney
5th: Helen Moore6th: Sally LowryNPC Liaison: Mags Wallace Marie Murphy
Christmas Holidays
The School closes on Friday 22nd December at 12.30pm for the Christmas Holidays. It will re-open on Monday 8th January 2018 at 9.20a.m.
We really appreciate your support throughout the year and of course the pupils are the main beneficiaries of your generosity. The staff in the school welcome your input and if you have any constructive ideas they would be delighted to take them on board.
Thanks to our Board of Management for their work on behalf of ScoilNaomhIósaf . Their advice and input is greatly valued by everyone at the school.
A big thank you to the Parents Council under the leadership of their Chairperson, Yvonne Sheahan. The Parents Council give of their time to organise various events and projects throughout the year for the good of the school and its pupils. We are very appreciative of all their hard work and efforts throughout the year.
Finally, I would like to offer the staff of ScoilNaomhIósaf, my most sincere gratitude for all the help and support throughout the year. They are a wonderful staff and no task or job is beyond them.
A Very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous NewYearFrom All of the Staff at
ScoilNaomhIósaf