News

Spring and Summer 2025

Placing a great emphasis on independant reading we were delighted to hook up with the Mobile Library Service in the village and encourage the pupils to sign up and build a healthy habit! No ESB one day in January saw us focussing on outside learning, one of the tasks being to measure our much loved village cork tree. Panckes got mixed, tossed and eaten and we enjoyed our daily thought for the day during Lenten Assemblies. Our Bake Sale pre Easter helped subsidise swimming for Term 3 and we had our usual Egg Hunt before the Easter holidays. This year we got to partake in The Something Fishy Project . Spending time in Tomnafinnoge is always a popular choice!The year wound up with School Tours, Sports Days, End of Year Service and Sports Days. Best wishes to pupils and staff who are heading onwards along their journeys.

Highlights from the 2024 Autumn Term

The year got off to an amazing start with a phenomenal fundraising on line auction which enabled us to complete the renovations in the building . This means the entire building is now in pristeen condidtion and we get to utilise the whole premises as we incorporate the wide curriculum and allow the pupils every opportunity to grow and learn. The kitchen that looked so delapidated in the background for pancake Tuesday photos will be tackled in the summer. Huge thanks to the local community and businesses that supported us so generously.

The Autumn term also saw the Open Day,Harvest Festival, Hallowe'en Dress Ups , a fond farewell to our former Chairperson Canon Brian O' Rourke, trips for the Junior Room to Gorey Little Theatre and a wonderful Jessie Tree Service . Santa never fails to appear and suddenly the first term was over.

Updates on our school. For any questions, please see our Contact Us page

June 2024

The busy year has flown by and as always the last few weeks have seen a whirlwind of activities. Most importantly we are delighted to have our long term secretary, Sandra Masterson, back in place. Many thanks to Helen Mooney who kept us afloat in the interim and also facilitated our After School's Club for infants, keeping them busy but having such fun in the evenings.

Joe Brennan finished up the Blast Arts and Creativity in Education Programme where the Senior Room learned so much about storytelling, developing great oral skills and building creative imagination. The children performed for parents and friends and went on to create their own books of one of Joe's stories, The Lonely Pigeon.

With beautiful resources from Jacqui Wilkinson, Church of Ireland Centre , DCU, this Lenten Season we went on A Prayer Journey through Lent. We really enjoyed coming together each day to explore a thought. We also visited the church to find out about Stain Glass Windows with the children producing works of art for the Bishops Art Competition as their response .

Once we returned after Easter we were busy with a sponsored walk in Tomnafinnoge, six sessions of swimming and a course of Ball Skills with Jackie Kinch. For another art project we all tried our hand at tie dye and created colourful results.

School tours took place in early June with Juniors visiting Wells House and Seniors testing their courage and agility in Castlecomer Discovery Park.

Instead of a central Choral Festival this year we were delighted just to join with our sister parish school, St Columba's. Principal Michelle Hunter Garland, her team of energetic staff and three buses of children joined us for a lively service followed by refreshments and Sports for All. Lorna Maher added her usual polish to our musical efforts. Despite a gloomy forecast , the sun shone all day until the children lined up for their return bus trip. It was a fantastic event which only happened with the support of our parents who helped to feed us all and our fantastic staff who jumped hoops themselves to put it all in place.

As the children began to wind down towards the holidays we did a Tidy Towns Clean Up around the park, showing off our beautiful new high-vis jackets Staff turned their attention to plans for September 24/25 and the Board of Management decided to tackle a renovation project to the rear of our incredible 200 year old school. Be sure you will hear more in the Autumn Term!

Updates on our school. For any questions, please see our Contact Us page

June 2024

The busy year has flown by and as always the last few weeks have seen a whirlwind of activities. Most importantly we are delighted to have our long term secretary, Sandra Masterson, back in place. Many thanks to Helen Mooney who kept us afloat in the interim and also facilitated our After School's Club for infants, keeping them busy but having such fun in the evenings.

Joe Brennan finished up the Blast Arts and Creativity in Education Programme where the Senior Room learned so much about storytelling, developing great oral skills and building creative imagination. The children performed for parents and friends and went on to create their own books of one of Joe's stories, The Lonely Pigeon.

With beautiful resources from Jacqui Wilkinson, Church of Ireland Centre , DCU, this Lenten Season we went on A Prayer Journey through Lent. We really enjoyed coming together each day to explore a thought. We also visited the church to find out about Stain Glass Windows with the children producing works of art for the Bishops Art Competition as their response .

Once we returned after Easter we were busy with a sponsored walk in Tomnafinnoge, six sessions of swimming and a course of Ball Skills with Jackie Kinch. For another art project we all tried our hand at tie dye and created colourful results.

School tours took place in early June with Juniors visiting Wells House and Seniors testing their courage and agility in Castlecomer Discovery Park.

Instead of a central Choral Festival this year we were delighted just to join with our sister parish school, St Columba's. Principal Michelle Hunter Garland, her team of energetic staff and three buses of children joined us for a lively service followed by refreshments and Sports for All. Lorna Maher added her usual polish to our musical efforts. Despite a gloomy forecast , the sun shone all day until the children lined up for their return bus trip. It was a fantastic event which only happened with the support of our parents who helped to feed us all and our fantastic staff who jumped hoops themselves to put it all in place.

As the children began to wind down towards the holidays we did a Tidy Towns Clean Up around the park, showing off our beautiful new high-vis jackets Staff turned their attention to plans for September 24/25 and the Board of Management decided to tackle a renovation project to the rear of our incredible 200 year old school. Be sure you will hear more in the Autumn Term!

December 2023

We opened our doors inlate August , welcoming our new SNA Edyta Misiak to Shillelagh NO.1. Mr Ray Byrne, who has often worked with us before was back to guide learning in the Junior Room while Ms Deane was off duty. Helen Mooney kept things going in the office. By December much learning has taken place and as we reflect on the term it is amazing how far we have all come. We love our new running track which adds greatly to access to the field in wet weather. Sincere thanks to the outgoing Board of Management and a warm welcome to our new members who took up office on Dec 1st. The children rounded off the term with a heart warming Nativity, Christmas with the Aliens. A huge thank you to everyone who supported our recent Christmas Raffle which was just 50 euro short of our target of 1500 euro when all expenses were deducted.

June 2023

Great to draw another busy year to a close. We have been on school tours, held our Sport's Day and End of Year Service. We are especially proud of our lovely Willow structure which the children have named Hannah's Hut in memory of its benefactor, Hannah Tutty nee Driver. We wish our school leavers every sucess as they head off to pastures new .

Dec 2022

It has been a really busy term and we can't believe it is almost Christmas!

We look forward to meeting our new patron, Bishop Adrian Wilkinson and wish him well in his new position.

We had a lovely buzz about the school for our Open Day in September and the Application Process is now open. Please see the poster below on this News page and a link to all necessary forms on our Home Page.

We love the new Traversing Walls which were installed this term. Working your way across these builds gross and fine motor skills but most of all it is just FUN!

The Senior Room got busy with weaving with willow under the tutelage of Beth Murphy from the Heritage Council . We look forward to Beth returning to work with us on a living willow structure. This project was all made possible because of funding from a past pupil, Hannah Tutty, who very generously bequeathed some of her President's Bounty to us. Hannah passed away recently in Australia in her 102nd year. We send love to her family in their loss.

Safety is always part of our learning and this term brought a visit from the Carnew Fire Brigade and and outing for the Seniors to Carnew Mart to join with other schools for this Farm Safety project. Alma Jordon of Agrikids gave a lively and informative presentation and sincere thanks to Carnew Mart and IFA for a great experience.

Hallowe'en is an exciting time in any school and our mini-company were extremely busy baking tarts and organising fun competitions coming up to the break. We also took part in Canon Brian's Teddy Bear Service on the 30th Oct.

For many years we have taken on the tin whistle in Shillelagh No.1 but this year if you pass by, particularly on Tuesdays , you will be greeted by the strumming of the Ukulele! I am really looking forward to Christmas Party day on Tuesday 20th Dec to hear the first little performance !

Have a look at the photos below to get a feel for some of what we have been up to!

June 2022

Sincere thanks to everyone who supported our online draw.

The list of prize-winners is available on the Facebook page, Shillelagh No.1 National School.

Our end of term was bustling with activities including School Tour, Choral Festival, Sports Day, Shillelagh Stars Outing, End of Year Service, Skipathon and Dress up for the Movies. This marked the end to a very busy year indeed and our first full academic year in three!

We are grateful to everyone who helped keep everything running so smoothly throughout the year, especially parents who worked around having unwell children home more than in the past and staff , including "supersubs" in Mrs Beattie and Mrs Steacy who covered so many of the days when staffing was stretched and they could have been enjoying peaceful retirement. Thank you also to our Board Members who take a huge interest in the school , working together to get things done. Special thanks also to Treacy Kearney who keeps our school so clean and as always to Sandra Masterson, our secretary, without whom our school would not be the same!

Annual School Fundraiser

Today we launched our Annual Fundraiser online. Please click on the link below for more details.

https://www.idonate.ie/raffle/ShillelaghNo1N.S.AnnualFundraiser

Enrolment 2022 23.pdf

Oct 2021

Our Open Evening proved a lovely success with parents and children alike enjoying a potter around our rooms and gaining some insight into what we get up to every day.

Thank you to the Shillelagh Stars who organised some Hallowe'en activities on Friday 22nd. All of the children dressed up this year. Well done to everyone and thanks to parents for all their hard work, wrapping mummies and tweaking faces! They looked great!

Sept 2021

Watch out for our new Facebook page to keep up to date with school activities and events :

Shillelagh No. 1 National School

open evening 2.pdf

July 2021

See our new Facebook Page to find out where to buy our lovely Bicentenary Celebration Calendars. Featuring the winning photographs we are offering good value at 10 euro for an 18 month calendar. Thank you to our local retail outlets for facilitating us with circulation.

June 2021

This year our School Tour was to Tomnafinnoge Woods and we were amazed to discover that such a fun day could take place on our doorsteps. Thank you to the guides, Ian , Gillian and Killian, from Wicklow Mountains National Park who made our day so unique with their gently shared abundance of knowledge. Thanks also to our Transition Year students, Ruth and Brandon, who helped out on the day got a little insight into the diversity of the job that is the Primary Teacher's career. Thankfully we did not have to reveal the trick up our sleeve in case of emergency, the chemical loo in the back of my jeep!

Best of luck to our pupils leaving us this year. We hope the Sixth Class enjoyed their afternoon on the Thursday 17th June when they were treated to Afternoon Tea and watched a Film together, sharing pizza. We hope they will drop in over the coming years and keep us up to date with developments in their lives.

Tuesday 15th was our End of Year Service which we held out of doors. Thank you to Mrs Maher for her assistance with the music and to Transition Year student, Brandon for some techie help. It was lovely that parents picking up children were able to catch a little of our service from a safe distance.

Results of Car Treasure Hunt.

Congratulations the Lawrence family who were the winners of the Car Treasure Hunt!

Sincere thanks to all who supported the event. Despite the very warm day for a drive, everyone did very well on the answers. Please find the judges decision on the answers below! ( In the end I gave everyone a mark for the windmill question as it was phrased "can you see?" and everyone seems to have a different slant on that!!)

ANSWERS

Shillelagh Stick Sculpture
12.15
An Doirioch ( Fada an the Second i! )
Red Orange Green Blue Pink
Deer
15 km/hour
12th and 13th June
Frontline Workers
White and Black
Triangles (Also accept squares and rectangles but you had to have triangles)
Yellow and Black (these caused people problems but they were as Gaeilge in the place names for Mullinacuffe and Coolboy)
Walking
15.30
Shillelagh Community Alert
I myself spotted 13 windmills which meant 39 propellers but my husband says my eyesight is not the best!! Everyone gets a pass on that one!
The Old Mill Race
WW-L-7245-001.00
Pure Mile
Swan
Speed Ramps
Staff Only
Boy and Girl
Fiat spare Parts (Also accept Genuine Spare Parts)
Fox
10c per litre difference

May 2021

Photography Competition

Congratulations to all the winning participants below. We had a great response to the competition and in the interest of fairness we asked someone outside of the school, for whom all entries were anonymous, to judge for us. I think we could have made two calendars with the fabulous entries which we received so please do not be disheartened if your photo was not chosen this time. Thank you for participating and promoting the competition. We now look forward now to the next stage, having our calendars printed.

Overall Winner: Meghan Tyner

Category A:over 18 Winner - Lucy Stevenson

Finalists of Category A: over 18 - Janet Tyner

Jacinta Tutty

Linda Cliffe

Nigel Driver

Lar Giffen X2

Jim Nolan

Betty Dixon

Category B: Post Primary Winner - Samuel Driver

Category C: Primary School Winner - Ella Dagge

Finalists of Category C: Primary School: Rebecca Dagge

Rebecca Dagge

Faye Dagge

Libby Collins

Abigail Driver

Jessica Harte Murphy

Kate Dixon

Click on the links below to view the winning photographs

Overall Winner

Category A: over 18 Winner

Finalists of Category A

Category B: Post Primary Winner

Category C: Primary School Winner

Finalists of Category C

Aistear in the Sun!

April 2021

Well done to the Daffodil Day organisers! A grand total of €457.50 was collected for the Irish Cancer Society.

Walk on Wednesday has resumed! Well done to the first group to get going on day one. We usually meet outside Minmore Farm on Wednesday morning at 8.30 for the Wednesdays of the Summer Term.

March 2021

Photography Competition

Entries are now flowing in for our Photography Competition. See entry procedure in Feb notes!

Virtual Sponsored Walk

Congratulations to The Shillelagh Stars who succeeded in organising and motivating this fundraiser during lockdown.

In excess of 400 euro was raised, hundreds of kilometres walked and The Driver Family were pulled out of the hat to receive the St Patrick's Day Lucky Bag!

February 2021

Bicentenary Celebrations

The Shillelagh Stars have produced a wonderful Commemorative Coaster for our momentous year.

Contact the school at shillelaghno1@gmail.com to order your own coaster, or as a present for someone who may have been a past pupil, staff member, a friend or associate of the school.

Greenschools

Our next project under Green schools is working towards our 7th Flag: Global Citizenship -Energy.

While we will be exploring energy consumption in all its contexts we also keep an eye on our past themes:

Litter and Waste
Energy
Water
Travel
Biodiversity
Global Citizenship- Litter and Waste .

This year while back in school we got involved in The River Derry Bubble Project, under the guidance of Sarah Rubalcava and Maeve Hunter. In December we headed out on a walk in our local catchment area and saw many examples of how important water is in all aspects of our lives. During Lockdown 3 the Senior Children have been gathering evidence from the world around them as they keep their Diaries.

In 2019, while exploring the topic of Global Citizenship 5th and 6th class children earned 3rd place in the All Ireland Competition exploring the area of Global Goals.

Then later in the year a representative group from 5th and 6th class were invited to take part in the Forum on Education for Sustainable Development, held in Dublin Castle. They shared a platform with Minister of State, Mitchell O’ Conner and former president of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner, Mary Robinson. They presented their findings and opinions with great clarity and conviction and were wonderful ambassadors for both our school and the youth of our world.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor opens the 5th National Forum on Education for Sustainable Development

We are looking forward to revisiting the whole area of Energy from a global perspective.

Photography competition

Photography competition poster 1a.pdf

January 2021

Admissions Notice and access to forms to be downloaded for Admissions Procedure

Please see the homepage for the link