We were delighted to have a visit from one of our student's pet tortoise, Zippy.

We got to feel her shell, learn interesting facts about tortoises, and also ask lots of questions. 

Thank you to Olivia and her daughter Niamh for bringing Whiskey the Snake to visit Cloneyhurke N.S.

We got to hold a recently shedded skin, get a close up look at a snake and find out about his habitat and eating habits. 

We had a very interesting collection of items on Show and Tell Day. The students brought in a variety of items including Teddies, Books, Jerseys, Lego, Jewelry, Sports Equipment, Souvenirs, and Handmade items. 

We enjoyed learning outdoors. We looked for signs of Summer, investigated the base of a tree, and looked for minibeasts. We love our outdoor classroom, sand area, and bug hotel. 

As part of our RSE Programme, we learned all about our bodies, taking care of them, and keeping them clean and healthy. 

We had so much fun bathing the babies.

We changed, dressed, and fed the babies. We learned about different ways of feeding newborn babies, and discussed what is needed to take care of a baby. 

Thank you to our fantastic Parents' Council for their ongoing work to develop our outdoor learning space. Their recent contribution of two chess/draughts boards purchased from SmallWall School Products have been a great addition to the play area.

The Students' Council have been working with Mr. Cunniffe to implement their plan of having different games and activities scheduled for break times. The students have been enjoying Tag Rugby, Dodgeball and Olympic Handball. 

We are delighted to welcome local artist Mary Slevin to Cloneyhurke NS, where we are currently working on a whole school mural. We cannot wait to share the finished piece with everyone. Thank you to Ms. Barry for overseeing this project. 

The Department of Education arts and creativity in education BLAST Residency initiative aims to support the objectives of the Creative Ireland Creative Youth Plan (2023-2027).

BLAST aims to provide time and the space to work with a professional artist/creative practitioner on imaginative and joyful projects. 

We are enjoying our weekly sessions with Kate Heffernan through the Teacher Artist Partnership programme.

Our chosen medium is photography and Kate has been helping us to design and take part in scavenger hunts and also use photography to explore emotions and expressions.

We are learning about perspective and view point.

Thank you to Ms. Coss for overseeing this project.

We were delighted to support LOFFA (Laois Offaly Families for Autism) again this year for their Rainbow Day fundraiser. LOFFA support vital services for families in our area. 

Staff and students wore brightly coloured clothes and we enjoyed fun games outside. 

Thank you to Ms. Coss for organising Rainbow Day and well done to everyone who donated - we raised a very impressive €100.10

We have been learning about Farm Animals, Ar an BhFeirm, Farm Safety, and different crops. 

We enjoyed playful learning as we used our animals to explore 'Weight' and sorting in Maths. We practiced our writing using Farming calendars and we went outside to set up our own Farms. 

We learned a traditional Irish song 'An Maidrín Rua'. 

We learned about the story of Noah's Ark and brought in our own stuffed animals to recreate the story.

We used fun stickers to create our own Zoo and then we wrote about our drawing.

We created 3D miniature Zoos and enjoyed lots of noisy stories. We brought our toy monkeys to school for a special story and PE lesson.

Thank you to Mr. Cunniffe and the students in the Senior Room for planning a lovely STEAM lesson for us.

The children enjoyed using scented playdoh, circuits, and batteries to discover how to make LED's light up. 

Cluichí & Cómhrá 

As part of our Gaelbhratach work, students from both classrooms meet every Monday morning to play board games as Gaeilge. 

We were delighted to receive a grant of €1,000 to purchase new games and resources to use during this time. 

We are learning in a fun, playful manner and we are enjoying time with our peers through Gaeilge. 

Gaelbhratach Coiste

We had a visit from our Gaelbhratach co-ordinator, Áine Ní Scanláin on the 17th January. 

She was very impressed with the work and committment of our students and Coiste towards our Gaelbhratach Flag. Our Coiste met with Áine to discuss our upcoming events. 

Scríobh Leabhar

We were delighted to be presented with our certificate for participating in the 'Scriobh Leabhar' programme.

Well done to Ms Coss and our Coiste representative who travelled to Laois Education Centre for the awards evening. 

As part of Seachtain na Gaeilge, the students in the Senior Room presented the students in the Junior Room with 'Leabhair Beag' - small books made by the older students to help the younger students learn vocabulary for various topics including 'bia', 'dathanna', 'aimsir'.

Students in the Senior Room  completed projects on Space.                              These included:

• Rockets

• AN-225

• A Day in the Life of an Astronaut

• Unknown facts on planets & solar system

• Saturn

• How long can you survive on each planet

• The Galaxy

• The Multiverse

They presented their projects to their teachers, class, and the younger children. 

Our 6th Class students were delighted to receive their class tops from our wonderful Parents' Council. 

They look forward to wearing them throughout their final year at Cloneyhurke N.S.

We have been discussing our Community, and exploring who our 'Community Helpers' are. We are learning through play. We learned about mechanics, paramedics and opticians.

Thank you to Michael and Criostóir at Brian Walsh Car Sales for inviting us for a tour of the garage. We learned about electric cars, and how mechanics help to keep vehicles safe. Thank you for a lovely tour and our personalised license plate.  

Thank you to our local postman, Mark, for coming in to speak to the children about his work in the Community. We got to make our own postcards and post them. We looked inside the post van and saw all the parcels and packages. 

We are making the most of the remaining fine weather, and getting outside as often as we can. Story time is so much better sitting under a tree!

We are lucky to have an outdoor learning space, and we hope to add to the space this year. 

We are delighted to attend Mountmellick Gymnastics Club for our weekly Gymnastics sessions. We are practicing balance, co-ordination, and movement skills. We are having great fun.

Welcome back to all our students, families and staff. We would like to give a special word of welcome to our new students and staff.

We are very proud of how well everyone has settled in and we are excited for the year ahead.