Quizbrain 2016

June 30th, 2016

We had a hotly contested Quizbrain competition this year. Children from 3rd to 6th classes competed in four rounds of questioning to find out the top 20 children who then qualified for the semi-finals. After two rounds of semi finals, Rafew, Dylan, Matthew, Rachel and Colin qualified for the grand final which took place on Wednesday afternoon. All five finalists entered to halla to rousing reception, each finalist bringing many supporters with them. After five tricky rounds of questions, Dylan Coughlan came out on top, holding off constant pressure from Rafew and a late surge from Colin.

Before the winner was announced, the whole school had the pleasure of attending a fantastic presentation from Jack and Lee on their Titanic project. They put great work into their powerpoints and their presentation skills. The Titanic model they created could bring any teacher on a summer cruise with less of a chance of sinking than the original model!!

It was also announced that the White team were victorious in our Sports For all day and they nearly raised the roof off the school when they heard their good news!!

Congratulations Dylan, the other four finalists, Jack, Lee and all the White team!!


Goodbye from 5th Class

June 29th, 2016

We had a great year in 5th class. We learned lots and had a bit of fun on the side. It was great to get five new students into our class….our reputation must be good!! We had many highlights throughout the year including our Christmas Play, playing in the wheelchairs, Junior Achievement, all the 1916 work, playing the tin-whistle, minding the infant classes, Mr. Quinn’s wedding, learning how to spell JCB, Lee learning to cycle, getting on well in class, all the chats and stories, our school tour, Sports Day and making this movie to name a few. We’re tired now, so we need to rest for a couple of months!! Huge thanks to Mr. Quinn, all the staff in St. Tolas and to our parents for helping us through the year. Looking forward to 6th class already!!

 


Thursday Note 23rd June 2016

June 24th, 2016

Dear Parents/Guardians,

We hope you are well this week as we come close to the end of the current school year. Our news is as follows

  • We welcome Ms. Vaughan back to school today as she returns from maternity leave. We also say farewell to Ms. Hogan and thank her for all her hard work and dedication in her time here in St. Tola’s. We wish Ms. Hogan all the best for the future.

(click here to read the rest of this news item…)


Sports Wheelchair Fun and Games

June 24th, 2016

On Monday, 5th class were delighted to have Steven Casey from the Irish Wheelchair Association join us to talk about wheelchair sports. Steven gave us the loan of nine sports wheelchairs which we were free to use for the entire week. Steven told us all about how he plays basketball and hurling. He was really fast moving around our hall. We all got a chance to use the wheelchairs. In the beginning, we found it really hard to move them in a straight line but by the end of the week, we could move them backwards, spin them around in circles, play relay races and we even managed a few games of basketball!! You need a lot of skill and upper body strength to play basketball. It’s a really fast sport and we learned how to multi-task by moving the wheelchairs and dribbling the basketball at the same time. We had so much fun throughout the week that we wanted to share the fun with Senior Infants, 2nd, 4th and 6th classes. Huge thanks to Steven and to Milena also who organised the chairs for us. We were wrecked after them!!


Graduation 2016

June 21st, 2016

Our school held it’s Graduation ceremony this morning in the school hall. We had a huge turnout of parents, family and friends to attend this special occasion for our 6th class children. Fr. Arnie gave a lovely service and thanked everyone for their support throughout the year, especially those in the sacramental classes. After the prayer service, Ms. Fitzgerald and Ms. Hogan said some lovely things about our 6th class students. Ms. Fitzgerald read a story and Ms. Hogan read a poem, each with a special message for 6th class. Ms. Hogan created a beautiful slideshow with photos of memories of 6th classes years in St. Tolas. As this was being played, every child in 6th class shared a special memory that they have from their time here. Aoibhin spoke on behalf of the class and thanked Ms. Hogan, Ms. Vaughan and Ms. Fitzgerald and all the rest of the staff for their support throughout the year and their time in the school. 6th class presented Ms. Hogan and Ms. Fitzgerald with flowers and some other gifts. Flowers were also presented to parent, Caroline Halpin, thanking her for all her commitment to the Parents Association over the past 14 years. It was a beautiful Graduation ceremony and thanks to all who made it such a special day. Well done to our 6th class pupils and we wish you all well in secondary school!!