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Gort Sceiche – a tilled field surrounded by a whitethorn hedge.
Gortskehy National School was founded in 1887 with the current building completed in 1964. A major renovation was completed in 2002. Based on enrolment projections Gortskehy N.S. will maintain its two-teacher status under the new allocation of teaching posts. Our school promotes personal achievement through a broad and balanced education.
“The Best” is demanded of and expected for each student. The philosophy of the school demands high standards of work, personal behaviour and respect of self and of others. The motivation for excellence is fostered by providing opportunities to excel in a variety of subject areas.
Each year the children perform in Scór na nÓg and in early 2011 after many months of practice, the children performed with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland in the Royal Theatre, Castlebar. Irish Dancing Lessons are available after school between 3 and 4pm (subject to demand). For a video and more information click here.
Sport forms a vital part of our school activities. Both the boys and girls field a football, spikeball and soccer team every year. In 2011 the girls’ football team went on to reach the Cumann na mBunscol County Final and enjoyed playing at McHale Park, Castlebar. In 2012 the girls’ football team won the Ballyhaunis/Area Division Cup for the first time. The children also take part in the FAI 5-a-side soccer competition while last year the mixed Spikeball team were narrowly beaten in the county final in Kiltimagh.
Technology forms part of a stimulating learning environment where the children are introduced to computer programming and film making. In November 2011 we received a national award at the FÍS Film Festival in the Helix, Dublin for our film ‘Job Done’. The children received the award for Outstanding Achievement in Film Making for ‘Horror’ and are very proud of this achievement given the record number of entries from schools all over the country. The pupils also received an award at this year’s Fresh Film Festival in Limerick, an amazing achievement considering there were over 440 entries, many associated with national film schools.
The school has also invested in Fizzbook netbooks for the pupils which are used daily in every subject area. We are the first primary school in Ireland to have the pupils’ video work featured on An Lár TV, a Community TV channel for the Irish Diaspora. anlar.tv has an audience of between 2,500-3,000 people per day in around 50 countries. Gortskehy NS joins a list of other educators providing content for the channel such as the University of Limerick, the Royal College of Science at UCD and the Irish School of Animation in Dublin. The Gortskehy pupils used Skype to record face-to-face video interviews with Colette O’Flynn, Research Officer at the National Biodiversity Data Centre in Waterford, Brian Curran of Ireland West Angling and Herbert Dingerkus of the East Mayo Anglers’ Association. The childrens’ DVD is informative and records their artwork, research, interviews and exploration of a local stream with the assistance of Aisling Wheeler from An Taisce. It received an excellent review in the September 2011 edition of InTouch, the primary school magazine for primary teachers in Ireland.
Our website was one of three shortlisted for the Eircom Junior Spider Awards in 2010 and also in 2011. While the pupils did not win the overall prize they had a memorable day at both of the awards ceremonies in the Helix, Dublin. The pupils are introduced to computer programming in the senior room and are about to publish their own html5 game in May.
Gortskehy NS is also proud to be one of twenty primary schools in Ireland selected to take part in MissionV, a project supported by the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) and the first in Ireland to use 3D modelling software and programming tools to teach part of the primary school curriculum. It is innovative in the teaching of STEM (Science, Technology, Education & Maths) subjects while demonstrating the practical applications of architecture, geometry and computer programming. The pupils’ work was exhibited in the MissionV Learning Hub, a dedicated virtual exhibition hall during National Science Week in November 2011.
The school is very well equipped for science and Gortskehy N.S. was the only school from Mayo selected to exhibit an experiment at the RDS BT Young Scientist Exhibition in 2012. The ‘Acids and Bases’ chemistry experiment, incorporating a lego robot built and programmed by the children, received an award at the event.
The children and staff were delighted to have recently been awarded their third green flag from An Taisce and are currently working on a two-year programme themed ‘Transport’ to achieve their fourth. The school is fortunate to have Tom Murphy and Rose McHale who take excellent care of our buildings and grounds.
Tá caighdeán Gaeilge an-ard sa scoil le Gaeilge den chéad scoth ag na múinteoirí agus dearcadh dearfach i dtreo na teanga ag na páistí. French is also taught in the senior room which is supplemented with pen-pal and video links with our twin school in Dijon.
Earlier this year Gortskehy NS was invited by a school in Austria to take part in the EU Comenius School Partnership Programme. The programme commences in 2012 and will involve joint projects with schools in Turkey, Romania, Austria, Italy and Estonia. It will be an excellent opportunity for the children to learn about other countries and cultures. All in all, it’s a very busy and exciting time in Gortskehy National School.
@gortskehy This is why I like Twitter. Gives schools and educators like “2 teacher schools” a voice nationally&I/nationally. #edchatie #win
— Donal O’ Mahony (@domaho) July 14, 2012
Wow!
Just came across your wonderful website and then stumbled across the fact that you’re a two-teacher school… That even makes your achievements more amazing! Hope our website (Askeaton Senior NS) will look as good as yours some day.
