We are delighted to be taking part in the Music Generation Ceol na nÓg music programme this year in 1st and 2nd class.  Through a weekly workshop, pupils will have the opportunity to explore the world of music through fun and interactive activities with a highly experienced musical tutor, Gráinne Hambly.

This month, through the theme of Autumn, the lesson focused on integrating creative movement activities through music.  As you can see from the photos, the girls and boys really enjoyed using the scarves as Autumn leaves to explore different musical concepts.  Maith sibh, a chaillíní & a bhuachaillí.

In September, 1st and 2nd class enjoyed listening to and reading the story “Roy, A Tale of a Singing Zebra” – a story about following your dreams, making friends and new adventures.  We used the story as a stimulus for creating some Art. The boys and girls really enjoyed creating their zebra designs and experimenting with different shape patterns to create cool zebra stripes.  The finished creations look great!

Did you know? Zebras are actually black with white stripes!  Here is a link to some other fun and interesting facts about zebras.

Zebra facts!

As we start a new school year, 1st & 2nd class are busy exploring the theme of “All About Me”.  This week, we put a fun twist on our self-portraits and created Minecraft selfies. Great work, boys and girls!

Creative Schools Week is a celebration of creativity in schools which includes both In-School Celebrations and Online Celebrations. The week is an opportunity to share, showcase, and connect all the exciting creative work that is being undertaken in participating schools around the country.

Gortskehy NS was selected to participate in the pilot phase of Creative Schools in 2018 and since then, we have have enjoyed many opportunities for our pupils to build their artistic and creative skills; to communicate, collaborate, stimulate their imaginations, be inventive, and to harness their curiosity.

This year, our school submission, featuring the 3rd and 4th class radio show was selected by the Arts Council to feature in the 2021 Creative Schools Online Celebrations.

The Online Celebrations will feature on the Art’s Council website here, from  Wednesday May 12th to Friday, May 14th.   Gortskehy NS and the Radio Show  will feature in Episode 1, which will launch on Wednesday, May 12th.  We are inviting parents and families to tune in to view the celebration on May 12th. Congratulations to Ms. Thomas and the talented pupils of 3rd and 4th class on this fantastic feature –  a wonderful achievement. 

@Claremorris946 @jojo_hynes @creativeirl @artscouncil_ie

“For the next hour, we advise the whole country move to level Gortskehy”

As part of our Creative Schools initiative 3rd and 4th class were presented with the opportunity of creating a radio show. We worked very hard with Jojo Hynes, our creative associate and Claremorris Community Radio. We started by brainstorming ideas and began the creative process of putting radio pieces together. We learned how to make radio reports, how to present items for radio and how to structure an hour of radio. We covered everything from the news and weather to farming to the sports desk and everything else in between. We also included some seasonal pieces as it was being aired on Christmas Day 2020.

We would like to thank Jojo Hynes and Claremorris Community Radio for giving us the opportunity of a lifetime. We had great fun putting this together and we hope you enjoy ‘Gortskehy Radio’ as created by 3rd and 4th Class. We definitely have a few budding radio stars in our midst here in Gortskehy National School.

Link

Gortskehy on Claremorris Community Radio 94.6 FM.