Back in 2018, we decided to undertake a project to develop and create a Sensory & Biodiversity Garden for our school.

A sensory garden is an interactive space that is accessed by all children in the school and wider school community.  It is a garden environment that it designed with the purpose of stimulating the senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell & touch. This stimulation occurs courtesy of plants, herbs and the use of other materials such as wind chimes, tactile panels and different textured surfaces.

Our vision was to create a space that was colourful, interactive and engaging for all our pupils at Gortskehy.

We would like to thank a number of people who helped us achieve this vision –

Thank you to our parents –  PJ Commins, Pat Hession, Fintan Forde and Andrew Heaney along with Justin Commins and Kieran Varley for the removal of the hedging and installation of the fencing posts back in September.

Thanks to Christine Mannion and members of the Rural Social Scheme for their assistance with the installation and painting of our fence railing & gate. To Martin McHale for rotavating the soil in preparation for the raised beds and walkways.  To Brian Naughton for his help with building the raised beds, tactile board and painting.  Thank you to Jamie Hession for his assistance with garden painting and freshening up our Buddy Bench. Thank you also to Melissa Walsh of MW Design, Print & Signs for her enthusiasm and creativity in designing and supplying our vibrant garden signage.

It is wonderful to have the support of our pupils, past pupils,  parents and the wider community in developing this worthwhile project.

The next stage of the project is for our pupils to plant our garden with a variety of plants to appeal to our senses and to enjoy this wonderful space for many years to come.

We have created a short video which gives a snapshot of the transformation of this space  – we hope you enjoy!

In March, 2013 we visited Paris and Strasbourg in France.  This video is over an hour long and divided as follows:

0-7.10: Eiffel Tower

7.10-10.30: Open top bus tour

10.30-23:10: Champs Élysées; Arc de Triomphe; Louvre; Irish Embassy

23.10-28:40: Versailles

28:40-45:15: Ecole Elémentaire Bouchesèche HOENHEIM, Strasbourg; Maginot Line

45:15-64:40: European Parliament; European Court of Human Rights

64:40-68:10: Strolling the streets of Strasbourg; GAA football match;

68:10-71:40: Our final day and journey home.

Link

We were all excited when Pádraig Fitzsimons came from the Primary Planet magazine to present our award for winning their TPP video advert competition.  The Primary Planet is Ireland’s first magazine for children and we get it at school. We won 3 laptops and a camcorder for our school. GreenIT were the sponsors of the competition and our teacher won a weekend away. In second place came Windgap N.S from Kilkenny followed by Scoil Chóca Naofa, Kilcock, Co. Kildare.

Then we had a raffle for a laptop for one of the pupils. Everyone in the Senior room who helped make the video had their name in a hat. I couldn’t believe it when Pádraig Fitzsimons pulled my name out!!

I was very happy. Then Rebecca’s name was pulled out for a TPP hoodie. A photographer took photos and everyone had a great day. 🙂 View our winning video advert here. By Amy, 6th class.

As we look back on the past week we remember what a great adventure we had. We travelled by car, plane, bus, metro, RER train, TGV, coach, tram, boat and taxi. And, of course, we walked a lot!

We had a brilliant week in Paris and Strasbourg. My favourite trip was to the Eiffel Tower. 🙂 Justin.

We had a really good week in France.  It was nice to meet all the French pupils and visit their school. 🙂  Rebecca.

We had such a fun week in France. We saw so much, and we all got to do some shopping in Gap :-p Amy.

I really enjoyed France this week. We saw lots of different things and they all were really good! There were lots of great opportunities. Really enjoyed visiting the school in Strasbourg. Thanks Mr. Ó Beirn!  Rachel 🙂

It was great to visit France!! It was such a good opportunity to visit all the wonderful things. We saw things from markets to the Eiffel Tower. Marie 😀

It was great fun. Ice-cream in France is great. We were really lucky and got to see famous buildings such as the Palace of Versailles and the Eiffel Tower. All in all a great trip.  ENDA 😛

Had a wonderful time in France. Have great memories to cherish. You’re a fantastic group to be with. Thanks for bringing me. Sandie 🙂

We’ve arrived safely in Manchester. Our flight for Knock leaves at 10.35. It is due to leave on schedule and we hope to see everyone again at 12 noon. In the meantime it’s off to check out the duty free. 🙂