School Activities

Physical Education & Sport

Rathgormack National School provides a broad physical education, incorporating the six strands as laid out by the Department of Education. We are very fortunate to have the use of the large astroturf playing pitch directly across the road as well as the Community Centre hall and playground & park there.

We offer a wide range of different activities to allow our pupils to sample different sports. Children are requested to support their school and take part in school-organised activities, to the best of their ability.

These include:

Gaelic Games: Competitive football for boys and girls is organised in the first term through the Cumann na mBunscol competitions. The school has won these competitions a number of times.

Hurling is organised through the Cumann na mBunscol competition in the
Spring term. Again, the school has won these competitions a number of times.

Soccer: The school has competed in the FAI / Futsal 5 a side soccer competition for boys and girls and locally organised soccer blitzes

Cycling: Cycling lessons are provided to the infant pupils every year and we run an annual Bike Day where all students partake in a cycle. Infants use the park across the road. 1^st & 2^nd class cycle a route on the road and 3^rd– 6^th classes cycle a longer route. We also combine cycling skills on the yard and Bike Maintenance workshops with Bike Day, as well as Road Safety lessons.

Swimming: Lessons are provided for 1^st to 6^th classes. Chldren are bussed during school hours to the Séan Kelly Sports Centre in Carrick-on-Suir.

Gymnastics: Lessons are provided for all classes annually through external coaches DKAM Sports, funded by our Parent’s Association.

Dance: Dance is taught as part of the Physical Education curriculum. In addition, pupils also participate in Irish Dancing lessons as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge each year. Zumba dancing has also been provided by external coaches, funded by our Parent’s Association.

Hill Walking / Farm Walks: Children in 5^th & 6^th class have participated in hill walks, hikes, water walks, farm visits as part of various nature, local history, local geography projects. We are very fortunate to have our school at the foot of the Comeragh mountains and we love to be able to get out and enjoy our beautiful surroundings.

A Sports Day is held annually with the emphasis being on participation and fun.

Music

Music is taught as part of the curriculum at each class level and has always been an integral part of life in Rathgormack N.S.

Music: Music lessons- percussion, drumming, singing, introduction to musical instruments, etc have been provided for all classes by external company Mobile Music School for a 6 week duration.

School Choir: Our school choir is made up of pupils from 3^rd to 6^th class and sings at the two major sacramental celebrations each year – Communion and Confirmation.

Peace Proms: The school has participated in the Peace Proms. Normally we allow 3^rd, 4^th,5^th & 6^th Class this experience. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to sing on stage accompanied by a full orchestra

Visual Arts

We strive to provide children with a broad and balanced curriculum so that they get to experience working with various art media – drawing, paint, clay, construction and fabric and fibre.

Artwork is framed and displayed in the school corridors.

Artist in Residence Programmes: We regularly get involved and request artists to work with specific classes to enhance children’s exposure to art. They get to work with artists specialising in pottery / mask making, etc & we are currently working on a programme to create a new mural for the school.

Competitions: Children regularly enter art competitions but the emphasis is on participation and enjoyment rather than winning. Artwork is displayed in the classrooms and school corridors

Knitting/ Sewing: Ms. Casey gets her class involved in knitting and children create simple headbands, arm bands, Easter pom-poms, etc. These are showcased every year.

Cooking & Baking

We have our own oven in our staff room & have the use of the oven in the Community Centre too. We also have 5 double cooking plates as we like to involve the children in cooking and baking. Our infant class cook porridge, bake gingerbread men, bake cookies, pancakes, in small groups as part of the Aistear Pogramme. Older classes bake buns, make pancakes, Chocolate Easter Nests, pizza’s, stewed apple,

Information and Communication Technology

We have been fortunate to have a set of iPads for use with all classes. All classrooms are equipped with interactive whiteboards and projectors to help improve the interest level of lessons and our Resource Rooms have Interactive Flatscreens installed. We are currently planning on increasing the number of iPads for use in line with the school’s digital Learning Plan.

Science

We have regularly been awarded the Discovery Primary Science & Maths Award for our collective approach to Science & Maths Activities. We participate in both Science Week & Maths Week events- putting on Science exhibitions for one another and for parents, going on Maths trails, attending Maths & Science Shows in Waterford Institute of Technology & working on Science projects at home with the assistance of parents.

Green Flag Enviromental Awards

Rathgormack NS has been involved in the Green School Programme for approximately 15 years, with the whole school community dedicated to making our school and grounds a beautiful and environmentally friendly place to learn. We have successfully been rewarded 7 Flags so far: Litter and Waste, Energy, Water, Travel, Biodiversity, Global Citizenship-Litter & Waste and Global Citizenship-Energy.

Green-Schools is the Irish branch of an international environmental education programme and award scheme known as Eco-Schools. It is designed to raise students’ awareness of environmental and sustainable development issues through classroom study. Green-Schools is run by An Taisce, in conjunction with local authorities. The scheme offers a way to take environmental issues from the curriculum and apply them to the day-to-day running of the school, for example reduce litter, waste and fuel bills. This process helps students to recognise the importance of environmental issues and take them more seriously in their personal and home lives. The Green-Schools award is given to schools that successfully complete the programme.

Religion

Rathgormack National School is in the parish of Clonea Rathgormack and is under the patronage of the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore. The school upholds a Catholic ethos.

The sacraments are a very important part of the Catholic faith and we support the work of parents in passing on the faith to their children. Children are prepared for First Confession and First Holy Communion at second class. Children in fifth & sixth class receive the Sacrament of Confirmation every second year.

Parents are the primary educators of their children and this is especially true of religious beliefs. The school’s role is one of support and preparation. We strongly encourage parents to say prayers with their children and to play an active role in helping their children prepare for the sacraments.

On certain occasions throughout the school year, the children participate in prayer services, services of reconciliation, receive Ashes on Ash Wednesday and attend beginning & End of Year Masses.

School Tours

School Tours are organised each year. Most tours are organized for May/June but may be held earlier when there is a special event occurring that would be of benefit to the pupils. Such events may be musical, dramatic or sporting in nature and can enthuse the children in that area of the curriculum. At other times, the tour may visit areas of historical, geographical or scientific interest.

Popular end of year tours include trips to our local Comeragh Wilderness Camp, Dunmore East Adventure Centre, Castlecomer Discovery Park, Lismore Heritage Centre and local pet farms.

Charities

An important part of educating children is to impart a sense of social responsibility. As a result, we do a certain amount of fund-raising for charity during the school year. We try to support local, national & international charities. We annually support the Lion’s Club and the Christmas Shoebox Appeal. Individual classes sometimes adopt a particular charity eg. Crumlin Children’s Hospital, South East Mountain Rescue Association, Carrick-on-Suir River Rescue, The Ukranian Appeal, by donating Conformation money, organising cake sales, going on a fundraising walk, etc

Quizzes

Rathgormack hold a high standard in competing and placing in local quizzes. Our 4^th, 5^th & 6^th class pupils attend these quizzes in their own time after school, representing their school and we have won quite a few over the years