News and Recent Happenings

September 2023

Scratch Coding

5th class have been learning about block coding through Scratch.  Each child animated their names using code.  It is great to see each child bringing their interests into their projects.  The children were applying the maths concepts we have been learning about to animate too - real life maths - degrees of rotations etc.

Sunny shadows

4th class enjoyed the sunshine this week by completing an experiment on the Sun and the shadows it creates. We have been looking at how the Earth spins on an axis while also orbiting around the Sun. This leads to our shadows being different sizes and going in different directions at different times during the day. To see how this works we drew our shadows in the yard early in the day and stood in the same spot later to see how much our shadows moved. We were amazed to see how quickly  this happens.

June 2023 

School Tour Season 

Junior Infants School Tour 

Junior Infants enjoyed a day a Loughwell Farm in Moycullen. From feeding farm animals, ten pin bowling, barrel train ride...and that was only the first half of the day. Children made great memories in what was their last trip of Junior Infants. 

Senior Infants School Tour 

Senior Infants went on tour to Birr Castle Demesne. They had a fantastic day of exploration and adventure. They visited the vegetable garden, inspected the various types of tress and plants, followed the solar trail and finished up our time in the grounds in the 'World's most amazing playground' equipped with a treehouse of dreams. A day out wouldn't be complete without a trip to Supermac's before hitting the road back to Bullaun.

First Class school tour 

The sun was shining as First class headed to Aillwee caves and the Birds of Prey Centre for their school tour. Our guide brought us on a tour of the dramatic underground of this amazing landscape. We heard all about the bears and how the caves were first discovered. We ventured deep down into the caves and saw stalagmites and stalactites and heard how caves form in limestone. From there we headed to the birds of prey centre which is home to one of the largest collection of Eagles, Owl, Falcons and other birds in the country. We watched in awe at the flying display as the birds demonstrated their majesty of the sky over the dramatic Burren landscape. Afterwards we went to Traught Beach where we had lots of fun on the sand building castles and collecting shells. We had a fantastic day.

Second Class School Tour

Second class reached new heights on their school tour to Wildlands in Moycullen.  The boys and girls took on the Zip and Trek adventure course and faced their fears of heights.  Well done to all the children for taking part as it is so important to try something new even if it's a little scary! Turns out the zipline is great fun! Second class then tried out the climbing walls and challenged themselves to reach the top or at least get higher each time they did it.  To end our day, we explored the fairy garden and had a game of hide and seek.  Every school week should start with a trip to Wildlands!

Third Class School Tour

Third class headed off on a very exciting school tour to Shannon River Adventure! We had the most amazing action-packed day. We took part in a selction of team-building activities, followed by archery, wall climbing and a dynamic obstacle course! After lunch, we togged out in our wetsuits and hit for the water. Everybody put their fears to one side and conquered every single activity, which included pier jumping, kayaking and a mud slide! Overall, we had a fantastic day on the most memorable school tour!

Fourth Class school tour

Fourth class travelled to Boycey sports in Castlepollard Co. Westmeath for their 2023 school tour. Great fun was had on all the different activities and the class represented the school excellently showing great maners throughout the day.

With plenty of action

Some the activities including a rock and roller, a wrecking ball, football darts, disco dodgeball, carnival games and cube games. On the way home we stopped in Athlone service station for some McDonalds and some treats, Well done Fourth on behaving so well on the day. 

Fifth and Sixth Class School Tour

Fifth and Sixth class went to Athlone for a full day of fun and activities on their school tour at the beginning of June. First they had a full morning in Bay Sports. Then they went to Planet to play Laser tag and Astro soccer. After a morning full of action, it was time for food and they stopped off in Supermac's in Athlone town and then did some shopping in Golden Island Shopping Centre. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day. 

Making an impact - First Lego League

One of the core values of the First Lego League programme is that the children should learn that the work they are doing could make an impact on others.  On Friday 9th June, the boys and girls in 2nd class invited each class in the school to their room so that they could showcase their hard work and to share their new creative ideas.  This was a fanstastic opportunity for 2nd class to present their projects and to speak to crowds.  It was a definite success and their confidence grew throughout the day! 

They may have inspired some future engineers or policy makers - by sharing their knowledge of renewable energies.

Clay Pinch Pots

The 2nd class students are enjoying the process of creating the form and shape of their pieces.  The children learned the new technique of pinching to create their bowl.

5th Class Music and Film Project 

No Man's Land 

5th Class have created and directed two of their own original songs. The first song 'No Man's Land' depicts the horrors of World War I. The video was recorded in a field near the school. The children acted as an army battalion and assumed roles as sergeants, generals, medics, snipers, messengers and spies. They all worked super hard and gave it their all to create this video. 

The children then edited the video from start to finish. 

Both songs were recorded in Bullaun Church with Paddy Jordan using a recording system called Logic. Logic is used in many recording studios and was used to create some great songs. To start the recording process the lead vocal was recorded with accompanying instruments.

The whole class came together to create a group vocal for the chorus'. A range of instruments were incorporated with the songs including piano, guitar, bouzouki, drums, and fiddle. Following the recordings, the songs were engineered, mixed and mastered by Paddy Jordan in his recording studio in Labane. 

Victory

The second song 'Victory' illustrates team camaraderie and working as part of a group. The video was recorded in various locations around Bullaun village including Bullaun Pitch. The 5th Class children played the parts of Gaelic football players, coaches, locals and a referee. The children were very committed to the creation of the video, even recording a scene at Supermac's on their school tour.

 Well done 5th Class for this incredible achievement. 

Camogie Crew

Well done to these amazing 4th class girls who raised an incredible €450 for the Galway hospice. They set up a stall selling sliotars, grips, keyrings, flavoured water and delicious homemade lemonade. Huge thanks to everyone who supported this very worthy cause, an amazing achievement. They presented the cheque to the hospice last week.

May 2023

Junior Infants Mystery Tour 

As part of our unit of work on Transport and Holidays Junior Infants went on a Mystery tour. 

We started with a short trip on the bus to Attymon Train Station. There, we met the conductor who showed us in to our reserved carriage on the train.  All aboard and we headed to Athenry. We had a chance to look in the train driver's cab and see all the controls. We visited the Ticket office and sat in the Waiting area while we watched the train pass by. A short walk to the playground to let off a bit of steam.  Then we headed back to the Train station, where we crossed the footbridge above the tracks. Back on to the train where we met another conductor who told us all about working on the train. 

What a day! The excitement could hardly be contained in our carriage! 

Fiesta!

First class enjoyed learning all about Mexico this week with a few well deserved drinks in the sun. Pineapple and orange juice with ice, strawberries and an umbrella! We didn't forget the tortilla crisps!

Our Scoil Éanna Camogie and Gaelic Football Team 

2023

Manning Cup Inter-Schools Track & Field 2023 

Well done to the 44 boys and girls who proudly represented the school in this year's Manning Cup Inter-Schools Track & Field Competition. Every child from Junior Infants to Sixth Class trained hard and took part in the trials for this prestigious event and should be very proud of themselves. 

We had a very successful evening in the sunshine bringing home the 3rd place plaque in both the boys and the girls events. 




Events included sprint, long distance, hurdles, relays, ball throw and long jump. 

Our Locality - Bullaun Village 

Senior Infants put their art skills to the test today. We took a walk around the village taking note of all of the important buildings and features of our beautiful Bullaun. Our focus was then turned to the church. We noted the shapes, colours and features of the church and surrounding area. The children worked quietly and contently to draw their own version of the church - meanwhile somebody may have snuck over to ring the bell in the bell tower. Ssshh!!!

Novel Weather

4th class made the most of the gorgeous weather and did some reading of our class novel Kensuke's Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo outside. Hopefully this will lead to love of reading outdoors and on holidays in the future.

First Lego League Showcase

Well done to 2nd class on creating wonderful projects based on the theme of energy.  They focused on making renewable energy possible in the local area of Bullaun.

Have a look at our video for more information!

Thank you to Galway Education centre for having some representatives from our 2nd class in to present elements of their First Lego League project.  They had a fantastic day ! 

Incredible Edibles

2nd class have now transplanted their fruits and vegetables to the school garden.  Hoping this weather will bring a good harvest.



Allez les bleus!

Our 8 week French language programme has come to an end. 5th Class really enjoyed their French lessons and decided to dress up for the last lesson. Merci beaucoup Catherine for teaching us! 

5th Class Bullaun and Monivea blitz 

5th Class had a great morning of hurling, camogie, gaelic football and soccer games with 5th Class from Monivea NS. 

6th Class Historical Trip to Dublin

Say Yes to Languages 

3th, 4th, 5th and 6th class are currently learning French as part of an 8 week 'Say Yes to Languages' programme. 

5th class also researched and designed projects on EU countries to coincide with the programme. 

Friendship and Kindness Week 2023

The children thoroughly enjoyed Friendship and Kindness Week this year. They took part in a variety of activities such as 'random acts of kindness', designing a petal for our 'Friendship Flower', our whole school picnic and disco and many more. A huge thank you to the Parent's Association for their help with the Friendship and Kindness Week Picnic. 

Ukulele lessons

5th class are enjoying their ukulele lesson with Chris! 

Research: The Sahara

Did you know a camel isn't born with a hump?

2nd class have been researching the Sahara and in particular how camels have adapted to the habitat.  They can tell you some interesting facts!!

March 2023

Seachtain na Gaeilge - 13th – 16th March

We had a fantastic week celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge this year. The children had a chance to practice their cúpla focal throughout the week. They took part in several activities such as Tráth na gCeist, Bingó and Buddy Reading trí Ghaeilge. Funky Friday also turned green for the week with ceol, amhráin agus damhsa Gaelach. Traditional music was heard throughout the school and we showed off our dancing skills at the céilí mór on Tuesday. Lá glas was on Wednesday where the children and staff dressed in green. We celebrated the week with a wonderful ceolchoirm in the church, where we were treated to some amazing ceol agus amhráin. Bhí an-spórt ag an scoil go léir.


A sound lesson 

4th class have been exploring sound vibrations in science lately. We did an experiment exploring how sound vibrations move, we put some cling film over a bowl and placed some sugar on top of the the clingfilm. The louder we shouted at the bowl the more the sugar bounced on the clingfilm proving to use that sound makes vibrations!!

Renaissance Projects

4th class have been working hard on history projects looking at famous artists, writers and renowned persons from the Renaissance era. The Renaissance was the revival of European art and literature under the influence of classical models in the 14th–16th centuries. The projects came out fantastic and it is a real credit to 4th classes ability to work as historians!!

Incredible Edibles

Students in 2nd class have started the incredible edible project.  They have planted strawberry plants, potatoes, carrots, turnips, chives and spinach.  We are hoping for a good crop later in the year.

World Book Day 2023

To celebrate World Book Day, everyone was invited to dress up as their favourite character from their favourite book.  We loved seeing the creative costumes each child designed to match their character's personality.

Students participated in lots of activities on the day which all aimed to promote a love of reading !!

February 2023


Valentine's Day Ball

Senior Infants donned their finest attire to celebrate Valentine's Day this week. They celebrated love and friendships. It was a day filled with smiles and good deeds. We joined Junior Infants for a Valentine's ball - which broke into a train that spread the full length of the yard. We also marked the day with a "Getting to Know You" event - where each child from infants to 2nd rotated around in a circle introducing themselves and learning more about their school mates. 

SCIENCE BLAST 2023

How does heat affect out local soil?

SFAI SPAR 5-A-SIDE SOCCER COMPETITION 

FIS Award Ceremony

Congratulations to our 6th Class of 21/22 on winning the Outstanding Award for Best Storyboard at today's FIS Award Ceremony in the Helix in Dublin for their film The Last Note. They were also nominated in the Best Documentary Category and Best Soundtrack Category. 

Investigating Wind Energy

Building Anenometers

2nd class marked Engineers Week with some projects investigating wind energy.  They built anenometers to measure the force of the wind.

Designing Wind-Powered Cars

2nd class have been busy coming up with designs for wind-powered cars.  They have built their designs using recyclable materials.  We had a wind-powered car race to test designs.

First Lego League

2nd Class are very excited to have started the Junior First Lego League.

In groups, they researched and presented a variety of sources of energy:

They used Ipads to research each topic while working in their team to create a poster which they they presented to the class.

The real fun is yet to come as they will be soon building their own renewable energy projects with LEGO. Lots of budding engineers and scientists in 2nd class.

Engineers Week

 Engineers Week started this week with a visit from Medtronic. Joseph Rochford led his team of engineers to give a very engaging presentation on the work of an engineer,  the medical equipment designed and manufactured in Medtronic, the role of robotics in medicine and engineering as a  future career. Many thanks to Joseph and his team. 

Sixth Class visit the Battle of Aughrim

Swimpressive 4th class

4th class recently completed 5 weeks of swimming lessons in Coral Leisure Ballinasloe. Amazing improvements were made by all the children and they are much more confident with heading into water as a result. Water safety is such a vital part of the curriculum and the skills the children have learned will only stand to them.

First Class Designers

First class became fashion designers for an afternoon. They were busy creating new designs for the new season ahead. Keep an eye out for their latest designs in the shops this summer!

New School Jerseys

Senior Infants earned the privilege of giving our new school jerseys their first run out today for their Friday training session. They have been training hard over the past few weeks and all are showing huge progress. I think you will agree they look smashing!

January 2023

Fabric and Fibre Portraits

2nd class created fabric and fibre portraits for Grandparents day this year.  They chose colours, materials and patterns that most reminded them of their grandparents.


Grandparents Day Celebrations 

Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First Class & Second Class.

As part of our Catholic Schools Week celebrations, grandparents were invited into our classrooms from Junior Infants to Second Class to celebrate Grandparents Day. Grandparents play a huge part in children's lives - they often play the part of role model, caregiver, confidant, teacher, guide, cheerleader and supporter. This celebration gave us the opportunity to allow our grandparents a chance to have a sneak peek inside their grandchildren's school lives, meet their friends and teachers and partake in some fun activities and games with their special little people. The warmth, excitement and energy flowing from each classroom that day was wonderful. Thank you to all who travelled from far and near to help make the day such a memorable one. Included is a selection of some of the photos from the day - any omissions were unintentional as they day was so busy.

Junior Entrepreneur Business Visitor

Sixth Class continues its engagement with the Junior Entrepreneur Programme, a programme that gives children the opportunity to experience practical and real-life business learning. As part of this initiative, sixth class invited Megan Dolan, a local entrepreneur to talk about her thriving business The Little Spoon.  Many thanks to Megan for sharing her journey in setting up her own business. 

Sixth Class Celebrate St. Brigid's Day

Peace Proms is a musical experience promoting and celebrating culture, diversity and peace. The Cross Border Orchestra under the baton of Mr. Greg Beardsell creatively weaved the children's voices into a performance of energy and enchantment. An audience of 2,000, gathered in University Limerick to feast on a musical extravaganza featuring the Cross Border Orchestra, soloist, pipers and dancers. Our 5th and 6th classes represented our school in a dynamic spirit of celebration and joy. It was a wonderful experience and such a privilege to be part of this truly special event. We are truly grateful for having been given this opportunity. 

Chinese New Year

2nd Class having been researching and learning about China and the Chinese New Year!  

They created group projects and their own Chinese lanterns for the 15th day of the Chinese New Year - The Lantern Festival!

5th Class Vision Boards






4th class do some shopping!! 

4th class worked hard on creating shopping lists projects from Lidl booklets. We explored money all week and looked at adding up all our items while also figuring out what notes and coins we could use to buy all our items.

Congratulations to the Sarsfields Senior Camogie Team on their recent All Ireland Club Camogie title. They took time out today, to come to our school with their cups, to inspire the future generations of the club. 

December

Wishing all of our pupils and their families a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Winter Solstice 

21/12

First Class

Christmas Fun in First Class. We had lots of fun with our toys and eating candy canes. We also enjoyed hot chocolate and making lots of Christmas crafts. Merry Christmas everyone.

4th Class Chrismas Party

4th class had a well earned Christmas party in their Christmas jumpers after a very productive term. We had lots of fun showing the class some of our favourite toys that we brought in from home while having loads of treats and some lovely baked goods.

Third Class

Third class enjoying their hot chocolate and cookies to celebrate Christmas holidays! 

Third class having lots of fun working on their Christmas tree decorations!

Third class were super excited to  bring their favourite toys and teddies into class. We had a lot of fun telling one another all about our toys in our 'Show & Tell' activity. 

Of course we all really enjoyed sharing and playing too!

Recreating the Nativity Scene in Senior Infants 

Salt Dough Decorations 

Senior Infants got messy this week making salt dough decorations. They made the decorations themselves, designed, painted and decorated them too. As you can see - they really enjoyed the experience and will proudly see their decorations hanging on their Christmas trees for years to come. 

Senior Infants - Festive Treats 

Senior Infants were treated to hot chocolate (with one or two marshmallows), a Christmas Movie and some Christmas Dance sessions for all of their hard work in the lead up to the Christmas. 

Christmas Village Construction

Second class have been designing and making their own Christmas villages in art and science.

Procedural Writing

Second class really enjoyed their procedural writing task today - how to make hot chocolate !!

Kindness at Christmas

Second class have been practicing kindness to remind us of the important message of Christmas.  They created fabulous cards for nursing home residents to send them some joy this Christmas.  They have also created a kindness advent calender to focus their minds on doing little acts of kindness this festive season!!

Junior Infants visiting the crib in the church in Bullaun. 

Christmas Aistear in Junior Infants. 


Decorating Christmas Trees using Play Dough.

Construction - build your own Christmas structures. 

Role Play - Christmas Eve. 

Fabric and Fibre art - sewing our own Christmas stocking (With the help of 3rd Class). 

Painting - Paint your own Christmas wreath. 



Sean Keane and Sixth Class 

Town Hall Theatre Galway

Sixth Class was invited to perform with Seán Keane in the Town Hall Theatre, Galway this Saturday for his Christmas concert Christmas by the Hearth. Seán visited our school today to meet and rehearse with the children and to share with them his wealth of musical experience and story.  

The Town Hall Theatre Galway

Congratulations Sixth Class for their excellent performance on stage with Seán Keane. Click here to view the concert.

Bullaun Christmas Party

 Sixth Class this week were invited to perform at the Bullaun Christmas Party. They entertained the guests with their tunes, songs and dance. Well Done to all. 

Sixth Class captures the Wonder and Awe of a Winter Landscape

November 2022

Cell Explorers

Sixth Class converted their classroom into a science lab today. Scientists from NUIG Science Department guided the children through the process of extracting the DNA from a banana.

Exploring Dance

This week Second class began exploring creative dance in groups during PE using a dance board game.

They created their own dance sequences and performed them for the class!

Van Gogh Starry Night Inspired Art

After discussing Van Gogh's art work, the children voted for Starry Night as the favourite.  The children experimented with lines to create their own Starry Night masterpiece.

The Outdoor Play Area is a hive of activity this week. 

Here is a peek into a Senior Infants Outdoor Aistear session, Each group is up to something different...

Play Dough is being created in messy play.

Floating and sinking is being explored in a STEM activity.

Our budding artists are designing Christmas Jumpers for this week's Late Late Toy Show. 

Speaking of the Toy Show - the bakers in the kitchen are preparing "Treat Boxes" for Friday.

More STEM - here a group are experimenting with magnets and magnetic materials. 

Crazy Hair Day in Senior Infants 

Senior Infants explored the theme of "The Hairdressers". To bring the learning to life, we had a visit from our very own hairdresser, who kindly helped style all 30 heads and use our newly learned phrases and terms in a meaningful manner. We finished our week with a Crazy Hair Day where every child was invited to style their hair a "Little Differently" for the day. A huge effort was put in by everyone!

Fís Nomination

Sixth Class short film The Last Note has been shortlisted for the FÍS Film Award Ceremony which will take place at the Helix Theatre, Dublin on the 22nd of February 2023. Congratulations to all involved.  The Last Note documents the demise of the country house dance and dancing at the crossroads with the passing of the Public Dance Hall Act of 1935 which greatly impacted rural musicians in particular Junior Crehan, a West Clare fiddler. Click here to view the film.

History and 1916 Projects

Sixth class presented their diorama history projects on 1916 to their class. Their work creatively captured the social, political and economic events of that time.  

Surfing in Lahinch

A day of determination, resilience, fearlessness and fun was had by all as the Fifth and Sixth Class took to the wild Atlantic waves for a day of surfing in Lahinch. 

Peace Proms 2023

Fifth and Sixth Class travelled to the University of Limerick today for a choir workshop with Mr. Greg Beardsell in preparation for the Peace Proms concert on Sunday 29th of January. It was a day filled with music, dance and fun.

Science Week 2022

All of the fun of science week has begun!  Scoil Éanna have a lot of trips, guest speakers and fun science activities planned for each class.

Junior Infants

Junior Infants made a Rainbow Bridge and learned how to make new colours.

Senior Infants 

Our exploding rockets experiments brought screams of delight to everyone.

Diffusion - Senior Infants 

Senior Infants exploring the colours of the rainbow. 

The colour and sugar from the Skittles dissolve into the water and then diffuse through the water, making it the colour of the Skittles. And yes.....they got to eat some Skittles in the end!

Galway Atlantaquaria Visit - Science Week 2022

Senior Infants, First Class and our Special Class were very lucky to secure a visit to the Galway Atlantaquaria who were offering complimentary tours to a limited number of schools across the county as part of Science Week. 

We took advantage of the amazing playground next door and had our picnic looking out at the ocean. 

First Class

We had lots of fun during Science Week in First Class. We spent some time building bridges and testing them to see how strong they were. We had some 'Fireworks in a Jar' and we also investigated Static Electricity with balloons and a woolly blanket.

Second Class

The boys and girls of Second Class completing a science investigation on colour mixing Skittles.

Second Class made ice-cream in a bag by creating a chemical reaction between ice and salt. After numerous attempts and with a lot of shaking of the bag... we finally made one bag of icecream!  

An rud is annamh is iontach! - What's rare is wonderful! - they loved tasting what they had made.

Third Class 

As part of Science Week we used water, oil, food colouring and Berocca tablets to make our very own Lava Lamps! We had lots of fun learning about the density of the liquids and how they react to the bubbles!

Fourth Class 

We had lots of fun constructing tall bridges over our books as part of Science Week 2022. We focused on building high bridges using a variety of materials. The bridges were then tested as to how much weight they could take!!

Sixth Class : Solar Energy

 October 2022

Trip to Carrabane Woods 

Junior and Senior Infants went to Carrabane Woods. We had an action-packed day where we collected leaves, seeds and nuts, listened to stories, sang songs, recited poems, had to wade through water, spotted fairy doors, built forts and firepits and explored the woods with our friends. Everyone was exhausted after our busy day. 

Aistear 

Senior Infants making great use of our newly revamped outdoor play area. 

They are exploring our Autumn theme.

Signs of Autumn in Turoe Pet Farm

The boys and girls of Senior Infants along with our Special Class were busy being Science Detectives - looking for signs of Autumn. We walked to Turoe Pet Farm where we were kindly allowed to explore the facilities. We stopped to taste some blackberries along the way. We hunted for seeds, nuts and leaves along our journey.  

We filled up our collection bags to share our findings with the children from other classes back at the school. We even managed to squeeze in some time to play in the playground!

Maths Week 2022

All of the classes have been taking part in fun real-life maths activities. 2nd class have been playing maths games and completed a maths escape room challenge.

Library Visit 

Junior and Senior Infants and the children from the Special Class were lucky to be invited to visit the Loughrea Library