Junior Infants, Senior Infants, 4th, 5th and 6th Classes set off on the bus to explore the natural habitat along ‘The Land of the Giants’ around Clare Lake.. Before we set off, we discussed water safety and the children discussed how we stay safe around a body of water. Even with the damp weather the children were very excited.

We found some minibeasts, lots of natural vegetation and birds! We saw ducks, geese and dogs out for their walk! We found lots of snails. We saw bees and flies particularly near the water’s edge. We found Marsh Marigolds, Daisies, Daffodils, Dandelions, Bullrushes, Yellow Iris, Ivy and many trees including Fir, Birch, Ash and Scots Pine.

The children worked in groups and had fun filling out their Eco Safari journals. The whole experience was again very enjoyable and educational, the children are all great ‘Guardians of the Land’. Please take a minute to view a short video of our Eco Safari below, thanks.

“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.” – Douglas Pagels

Over the last few weeks the middle room have learned a lot about the importance of friendship. For friendship week we had our secret friend project, where each child picked a name of another child in our class from the hat. Over that week they were to be extra kind to this person without them realising. At the end of the week each child shared some lovely facts they may have already known or even learned about their secret friend that week. This week we have concentrated a little more on the importance of friendship. The class were divided into groups to create a poem based on our topic. I think the results are fantastic and I’m sure you will all agree.

Following all our hard work we went outside to enjoy some of the lovely sunshine today.

Well done to the boys and girls of 4^th, 5^th & 6^th classes who took part in the South Mayo FAI Primary 5s Competition in Ballinrobe on 11^th April.

The boys’ team played The Neale & Scoil Chomáin Naofa Roundfort in the group stages.  They had a fantastic win against The Neale with brilliant goals from Eoin McGreal (2) and Conor Lydon. Daniel Clarke worked tirelessly up front and Michael McDonagh was strong in defence throughout. Gerard Murphy made some great attacking runs & linking play.

Gortskehy gave a great performance against a strong Scoil Chomáin Naofa, Roundfort.  Josh Wilkins & Alex Jennings worked hard up front and put Scoil Chomáin’s defence under pressure. Eoin McGreal & Conor Lydon displayed great skill in midfield and created lots of scoring chances. It was a competitive and close encounter and Gortskehy narrowly missed out on at least a draw from this game, losing 1-0.

However, they finished runners up in their group and progressed to the Quarter Finals with a game against Taugheen NS. Another well matched & close game with strong performances from Evan Gannon & Cathal Tierney up front and Bradley Murphy in defence. Some courageous saves from Pierce Donnellan kept us in the game right to the end.  However, it was not to be and the game finished with a 1-0 victory to Taugheen.

Our girls’ team played 2 games against Kilroe & Taugheen in the girls’ competition. Both games were keenly contested.  Although the results didn’t go our way, the girls fought hard with some wonderful runs by Jessica Commins, saves by Ruby Donnellan and superb goals from Kellyann Walsh against Kilroe and goals from Sian O’Toole and Olaith Heaney against Taugheen. They all displayed great attacking runs & skill and never gave up.

Overall it was a wonderful day of sport. Our pupils showed great sportsmanship and gave a great display of their soccer skills. They all represented their school with pride and they should be very proud of their efforts.

Well done to all the participating teams & best of luck to those going forward to the next round.

Boys’ Team:  Pierce Donnellan, Conor Lydon, Eoin McGreal, Gerard Murphy, Daniel Clarke, Josh Wilkins, Alex Jennings, Michael McDonagh, Evan Gannon, Bradley Murphy, Cathal Tierney

Girls’ Team:  Orlaith Heaney, Sian O’Toole, Jessica Commins, Ruby Donnellan, Kellyann Walsh

Here are some photographs of our soccer stars in action!