Latest News

Looking for the latest news? Click into News on the main homepage, follow us on Facebook and keep an eye on our school Instagram for the latest photos and videos!

Archives

Graduation 2022

We wish all our 6th class pupils the very best as they move on to secondary school. They have been a credit to the school and we know they have bright futures ahead.

School Tours 2022

The Senior Room set off for Fort Lucan, Co. Dublin, for a day full of water slides, go karting, adventure playground to name a few things. The Junior Room had a day out to Wells House, Co. Wexford, for an adventure filled day.

Sports Day 2022

We were lucky to get great weather for our annual sports day.

NBI Award Winners

We were delighted to send three of our County Winners to the National Broadband Ireland finals in June. Everyone in the school entered the NBI Imagining the Future competition where they had to show how they imagined some aspect of the future through art. Three children in our school won 1st place in their age categories across County Carlow. They went up to the finals and award ceremony in Barretstown with their proud parents and some classmates. We were delighted to hear that one of Senior Infants won First Place Nationally in her category, Juniors-1st class, and that we had another final winner, coming Second Place Nationally in his category, 2nd-4th class. The third pupil met Ryan Tubridy… Ryan better watch out, this guy could be presenting the Late Late in 20 years time! They all had a fab day and came home with goody bags and happy memories. Well done to everyone for taking part!

Discover Primary Science and Maths Award

We were delighted The Nationalist picked up on our recent achievement in being 1 of 5 Carlow schools to win the coveted DPSM Plaque this year. This is the 4th year in a row we have won the award for significant engagement with STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). Our collaborative Engineering Week project between the two classrooms is always an exciting event, this year being the Paper Playground project. It is great to get recognition for the fun and hard work the children and teachers put into STEM subjects in our school. Well done to you all! The Junior Room tuned in for the award ceremony, which included some fun experimenting.

Annual Art Competition

Congratulations to the winners of our art competition – Ella, Cormac, Christopher, Gavin, Jamie and Nina. This year’s theme was ‘Dreams’ and they could interpret this as they wished. Their work will be displayed in the school corridor for the next school year.

Sponsored Walk

The whole school took part in a sponsored walk in aid of Cois Nore Cancer Support in Kilkenny and the Marie Keating Foundation. We wanted to support one of our aunties, Úna, on her journey and in her fundraising campaign – Uná’s 5k a Day in May. She has raised over €35,000 to date and we are proud to be a small part in her journey.

Term 3 Sports

The children enjoyed their last tag rugby training taster with John on our return from the Easter break. Damien was back for 6 weeks of hurling training with all classes and swimming lessons started back after the May Bank Holiday. We thank the coaches for their time.

Easter Egg Hunt

Senior Room Science Blast

The Senior Room completed their Science Blast investigative project questioning the shape of rocket fins. They presented their work to the Science Blast judge and Junior Room children. We were very impressed and the judge gave them a glowing report. Well done guys! Photos to follow.

Lá Glas 2022

Bhí an-spórt againn i rith Seachtain na Gaeilge. Bhí tráth na gceist (quiz) againn ar an Mháirt. Chanamar amhráin agus dánnta ar Lá Glas. Bhí céilí againn taobh amuigh. Bhí an aimsir go h-álainn agus thaitin an ceol agus an damhsa go mór linn!

Engineer’s Week 2022

We celebrated Engineer’s Week in March. The children were split into mixed age groups over the two classrooms for our big engineering challenge. They had to come up with ideas for a paper playground, plan, design and build it (suitable for a Lego person to play in!) We were amazed with the clever outcomes and very proud of the children for being such good team players, especially the older children making sure the younger children were included and involved. The Senior Room took part in the Meet the Scientist webinar series. We entered the ‘Imagining the Future’ competition and the Carlow libraries/WIT ‘I am an Engineer’ competition too.

An Bosca Leabharlainne

We were very lucky this year to win not one, but two book competitions. The first was An Bosca Leabharlainne – a hand-picked box of over 25 new Irish-language books for our class libraries. The idea came from Áine Ní Ghlinn, Irish children’s author and Laureate na nÓg 2020-2023.

Book Competition Winners

We also won an incredible prize of a little library of books embracing, representing and celebrating diversity, in all shapes and forms. The name of the campaign is Free to Be Me and this is something we strongly believe in at Nurney N.S. This campaign was organised by Children’s Books Ireland and our Little Library was sponsored by The Ireland Funds. The books are a fantastic addition to our class libraries and we are so grateful. It’s great that the children can learn about diversity through a wide choice of modern books, and also for some to have reading material they identify and connect with.

Senior Room Egg Drop Challenge

The Senior Room worked in groups to design holders and parachutes for their raw eggs. When they were ready to test out their inventions, they invited the Junior Room along for the test and demonstration! There was a good strong wind which added to the excitement!

GAA Coaching

Coach Damien, joined us for 6 weeks to teach Gaelic Football to all classes. The children made great progress while having fun learning new skills and games each week. Rugby training will begin after the mid-term break and we have Damien back again after Easter for an introduction to Hurling. We also have swimming lessons to look forward to in Term 3.

The Gaeity Panto 2021

We had a wonderful day out in Dublin to see The Little Mermaid panto at the Gaeity Theatre. The children and staff really enjoyed going Under the Sea and taking a break from reality!

Readathon 2021

The Senior Room and Ms. Griffin organised a whole-school Readathon to support the Carlow Nissan Toy Appeal. Some of the children went to the toy shop with Mr. Duffy to pick out toys to donate with the monies raised.

Junior Room December 2021

The Junior Room was full of magic and fun on the lead up to Christmas. Click into the Gallery section at the top of the page to view more pictures from each classroom.

Food Dudes

We took part in the Food Dudes programme to encourage children and their families to eat more fruit and vegetables.

Science Week 2021

Roots of Empathy

We have started a programme called Roots of Empathy, with Trish as our facilitator, and Baby Judy as our Teacher. Through watching Baby Judy’s development, the children will learn empathy skills. There is also a wellbeing element to the programme.

Shoebox Appeal

Thank you to everyone who sent in a shoebox (or two!) for the annual Team Hope shoebox appeal.

Space Week 2021

Hallowe’en Fun

Maths Week 2021

Discover Primary Science and Maths

We were delighted to be awarded our third DPSM Plaque for taking part in all things STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at school, and at home! We participate in Maths Week, Space Week, Science Week and Engineer’s Week each year. We joined a virtual award ceremony on the 15th of October. The children’s engagement in the STEM activities is magical! This year’s Science Week theme was Space.

September 2021

We welcomed 5 new Junior Infants to our school.

Term 3 2021

The Junior Room completed a Summer Seaside collage. We held our Annual Art Competition too and the 6 winning entries are displayed on the corridor to the left of the porch/entrance. Photos to follow.

We had a School Tour to Oak Park in June. The children really enjoyed playing outdoors together at the playground, and their nature walk. Even though we didn’t travel too far, it was one of the most enjoyable tours.

Graduation Day for our lovely 6th class was celebrated in-class and virtually. We wish our three students best wishes in their new schools and in their futures ahead.

We held a ‘Yes Day’ for the children in June because they deserved a treat after a tough year! They brainstormed ideas and the adults selected ideas that were safe to run, and it turned out to be most of their ideas!! They had stations in groups in the morning with Art, Drama, Creative-writing&meditation music, and Scavenger/Playground Games. They had an ice-pop surprise, picnic and take-away from Rico’s in Bagenalstown. Later on, they had an outdoor Disco, Little League & Sports games. We were lucky to have great weather on the day and the children were fantastic as always. More pictures to follow.

Our school took part in the Carlow libraries Ninja reading challenge this term. Each child received a bookmark and when they read a book they got a sticker to add to it. Once the bookmark was complete they were certified Book Ninjas! We love reading in our school and this is another fun way to promote it.

Sports Day 2021 was a sunny, active day full of laughs. The children worked in teams to create obstacle courses after the traditional races.

The Senior Room had a video call with Alan O’ Reilly of Carlow Weather and made anemometers. 5th and 6th class had a guest speaker for RSE. Ms. Griffin also arranged a video call with Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny, creators of Wolfwalkers, Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and many more movies and cartoons! The Senior Room also planted seeds as part of the Incredible Edibles programme. The Senior Room showcased their work to the Junior Room outside. They had created theme park brochures and tried to persuade the Junior Room to visit their impressive parks!

We are taking part in the Road to Tokyo Olympic Schools Challenge for the month of May. More information here https://roadtotokyo.daretobelieve.ie/.

The Junior Room took some photos of the field next to our school that is being transformed into a car park, walking track and Nurney Villa soccer pitch. Photos taken May-June.

The Junior Room enjoyed creating music in groups in May.

The Junior Room were happy to be back after the Easter holidays. They love playing on the playground.

We spent several weeks trying out Orienteering and playing co-operative games for P.E.

We celebrated Earth Day on the 22nd of April. Some of the Juniors made fairy rings during their break with leaves, flowers, twigs and stones!

The Junior Room went on a Field Trip to the quarters beside the school. We explored the nature around us – watching out for nettles and dock leaves, followed two pheasants up the bóithrín until they disappeared into the ditch, and watched the lambs playing in the last field. We read warning signs and learned their meaning, and discussed littering when we found some rubbish. We had to avoid dog poo along the footpath so we had a chat about that too! We observed the school building from the field next to the school – comparing the old building and the newer extension. We talked about farming too when we saw the ploughed field. We took in our surroundings and took photos to see the difference when the new pitch is built. Even though it was right next to us, we really enjoyed the trip out and learned a lot!

We took part in Active Schools Week to promote exercise. We had active homework for the week! The Junior Room enjoyed teaching each other their gymnastics tricks.

March 2021

The Junior Room returned to school on the 1st of March, followed by the Senior Room on the 15th. Thank you to everyone for your engagement in home learning and adhering to public health guidelines on your return. We celebrated Engineer’s Week and World Book day the first week in March. Week 3 we had Lá Glas and St. Patrick’s Day, and our final week Easter preparation and Term 2 birthdays! The Junior Room made parachutes and had a zoom call with the Senior Room on World Book Day. We had a céilí on Lá Glas as well as other fun and games. The Senior Room have been building bird boxes and planting seeds this week!

Junior Room Easter Scavenger Hunt

Engineer’s Week Bridges in the Junior Room

Lá Glas Céilí

January 2021

We hope everyone had a lovely Christmas. Home learning will begin 11th January while schools remain closed under Covid-19 lockdown measures in place. We look forward to being back to school, and in the meantime seeing your work on Seesaw!

December 2020

December was busy with Christmas fun, despite missing Funky Kids, our carol service and Santa calling in to see us. We recorded our Music Generation Christmas shares, made plenty of art, had a jingle boogie and singalong outdoors, discovered presents left by Santa and had our December birthday party.

Fiacra the Reindeer

Santa’s Secret Drop

Music Generation

Nurney wins BIG PRIZE!

Christmas Aistear in the Junior Room

Christmas Dance and Singalong

November 2020

Science Week was jam packed with experiments, videos and fun. One of the highlights in the Junior Room was a special screening of short films created by school children, based on various science topics. The Senior Room even had people dancing on tables! See photos below. Our plaque arrived this week, marking our achievements in Science and Maths in the 2019-2020 school year.

Music Generation is in full swing with our new teacher Elspeth Hayes who is in Marian’s place temporarily. We are taking all precautions to keep the lessons as safe as possible, and the children are really enjoying it.

The Senior Room used their acting skills to play out scences from the Brown Bull of Cooley, and blended acting with Gaeilge to act out scenes from the Bialann, which looks like great fun from the photos.

The children prepared packages of cheerful pictures to send to nursing home residents, and we are getting ready for Christmas art in a week or two to brighten everyone’s homes!

Wonderfest on the 20th of November was a celebration of books. We filled the day with fun literacy activities.

September and October 2020

We held our annual art competition in September. The Junior Room’s theme was based on their time at home since the Lockdown in March 2020. The Senior Room took on an abstract approach. The top 6 were Mollie, Patrick, Sophie, Joseph, Lucy and Ava. The paintings will be on display for the current school year in the corridor to the left of the entrance.

The school also won the SFI Discover Primary Science and Maths award for the school year just gone. Our plaque should arrive soon!

We celebrated Space Week in the Junior Room, and Maths Week as a whole school. Photos are in the Gallery (click on tab above) and more to follow!

Holy Communion

Before returning to school, the 1st and 2nd class of last year received their First Holy Communion. Numbers had to be kept to a very minimum so we could not invite the whole school community to join us. We were blessed with a dry sunny morning and the children’s immediate families attended. Congratulations to Cormac, Lucy, Jayden and Joseph.

Graduation 2020

Ms. Griffin has put together a beautiful video for 6th class on their graduation from primary school. Below are the slides in the video, unfortunately video messages cannot be uploaded on our website. The video has been sent out via WhatsApp to parents phones. We hope to show the slideshow at a face to face graduation ceremony. Thank you to Ms. Griffin and to everyone who contributed to the video. Best wishes 6th class!

Summer Holidays

We have made it to the end of the school year! Well done to everyone for getting through a most difficult few months at home, and to all the children and parents for doing their very best with home learning.

Congratulations to 6th class on their graduation. We wish them all the very best in secondary school and look forward to seeing them when we can hold a graduation ceremony for them. Check out their slideshow on the homepage, and click Useful Information above for next year’s calendar, copies lists etc.

A link to advice for children coming into Junior Infants and our outgoing 6th class can be found on the homepage. Have a lovely summer everyone!

Term 3

We are into Term 3, and past the 50 days at home mark. We have updated our Home Learning section to include an ‘At Home Gallery’ so you can share photos of your home learning with your friends and the school community. There is also a new links for parents button. Remember you can contact Mr. Duffy, Ms. Griffin, Julie and Mrs. Reid by emailing nurneyhomelearning@gmail.com if you need support with home learning or would like to get in touch. We will start to interact with the students via Seesaw after the May Bank Holiday. Please click on Home Learning to keep up to date with the latest news, and to see your weekly learning targets.

Term 2

We were off to a busy term before school closed on March 12th. Highlights include Science Blast, World Book Day, Engineering Week, Pancake Tuesday, Seachtain na Gaeilge, ‘Australia’ project work, Senior Room trips to Coláiste Aindriú’s boat engineering event and a musical at the Presentation De La Salle. We had a Fairtrade Carlow competition winner in 2nd class and had also started a weekly well-being exercise run! We were also in preparation for our céilí on Lá Glas, Sacrament of Reconciliation, Discover primary science and maths application, and a music-themed Grandparents and Grand Friend’s Day. Take a look at our Gallery for a selection of photos from these events. Click on HOME LEARNING for activities to do at home while we are closed.

Christmas Visitor

Santa visited on our final day of term and brought two sacks brimming with books for the children. We had a birthday cheer for one of our Senior Room boys too!

Christmas Musical Celebrations

Thursday was a busy day with our Music Generation in-house share among the classes in the morning and our annual Carol service for family and friends in the church that evening. Thank you to our two music teachers Marian and Mary for all the work they do with the children during the year.

Sponsored Readathon

We held a Readathon in December to raise money to buy toys for Carlow children in need. All the children spent the day reading and taking part in reading related activities. Once all sponsorship money came in, the Senior Room picked out toys from catalogues with their budget. Some of the children went to the toy shop to buy the toys. Over €350 worth of toys were delivered to the Nissan car dealership in Carlow to pass on to the Carlow St. Vincent de Paul toy appeal. We are so proud of the children and their families for their incredible generosity. Many thanks to the children, sponsors and staff, particularly Ms. Griffin for the wonderful idea and organising the event.

Christmas Art 2019

Panto Winter 2019

The children enjoyed their trip to the Gaeity to see their production of Aladdin.

Anti-Bullying Pledge

After our Stay Safe lessons on Bullying, the whole school wrote a slogan to go with their agreed Anti-Bullying Pledge. You’ll find it at the front door of the school!

Nurney Community Fundraiser

The Nurney community teamed up to run a raffle around the Ploughing Championships. The raffle was a huge success and profits were divided equally among the 3 groups. Thank you to the Parents Association, sponsors, ticket sellers, and all involved.

Ploughing Championships 2019

The Gardaí have notified the school that due to traffic management plans, for the Health and Safety of the children, the school will be closed for the 3 days of the Ploughing Championships, Tuesday 17th-Thursday 19th September 2019.

Graduation 2019

Emotions ran high on Graduation Day as we said Slán to our 6th class graduates, and a much-loved family and Fr. Declan who are both moving away. Recounts of happy memories were shared and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room! Mr. Duffy presented awards for Best attendance and recipients went home with bookshop vouchers. Fr. Declan received a thank you present for all his work in the school – school masses, sacramental celebrations, and his role on the Board of Management. Mr. Duffy unveiled our Discover Science and Maths plaque. The 6 winners of our Art competition were announced. The staff would like to wish all those leaving us a heart-felt thank you for enriching our school community and best wishes for the future.

JEP Fun Day

The Senior Room shared the profits of their JEP project to fund a Fun Day for the whole school on Wednesday 19th June. The day was full of fun and laughter as children took part in a treasure hunt and showed off their dancing skills in a Group Dance-Off, outdoor disco and games of musical statues. Ms. Griffin delivered pizzas from Rico’s in Bagenalstown and the ice-cream van arrived to finish off the day. Many thanks to the Senior Room and Ms. Griffin. Remaining profits are being donated to a local charity and to purchase school equipment.

School win Science and Maths Award

The teachers have been working hard this year to promote Science and Maths in the school and to extend the children’s learning experiences. We entered the SFI Discover Science and Maths Award, having compiled documentary evidence of the activities and events the children took part in. We were very pleased to be awarded the plaque, the top accolade. Congratulations to all the pupils on their fantastic achievement.

Music Generation Share Summer 2019

Family and friends came to our Summer ‘Share’ to see what the children get up to in music class with their tutor, Marian Gaynor of Music Generation. Year on year, we can see a growth in their musical development. Many thanks to Marian, and to our wonderful tin-whistle teacher Mary Hennessy, who work with the children all year round.

Art Competition 2019

To brighten up our school, the staff decided to launch an annual art competition. The 6 winning pictures will be displayed on the left corridor wall for the duration of the following year. The theme is ‘Nature in Nurney’ and all students will create their entries at school. Winners will be announced on Graduation Day!

Nurney Field Day 2019

Many thanks to all who supported the Field Day this June. Organisers, Patricia Salmon and Joey Nolan, alongside the Parents Association, Board of Management and staff; Volunteers on the day; Rico’s in Bagenalstown for sponsoring the BBQ food; Sponsorship from local businesses; Family, friends, friends of friends for attending the event and making it a success, and anyone I’ve left out! Proceeds go toward the school to make it the best learning environment possible for our children. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

JEP Showcase Day at the RDS

The Senior Room traveled to Dublin on the 20th of May 2019 to showcase their Junior Entrepreneur Project to other schools. Their final product, The Little Book for Little People, was a huge success and their project was shortlisted for the Community Champions award. We are very proud of our students and we thank Ms. Griffin for leading the class in the programme.

Confirmation and Communion 2019

Our 5th and 6th class received the Sacrament of Confirmation on the 30th of March. One of our 2nd class children received the Sacrament of First Holy Communion on the 11th of May. Congratulations to all, and thanks to Ms. Griffin for preparing the children for Confirmation.

Grandparents and Grand Friends Day 2019

Grandparents and special family members joined us in April for a twist on Grandparents’ Day – an Easter Bonnet competition! The standard was incredible for our very first year running the event. Many thanks to all who took part and for the staff who organised and ran the competition. We were lucky to have an independent judge – one of our Board of Management and local lady, Philippa, judge the competition. 1st place won a hamper of goodies – a voucher for the Arboretum, flower bulbs, knitted tea cosy, and a large Fairtrade chocolate Easter egg. The other prizes were chocolate Easter bunny, eggs and flower bulbs. All children who took part reveived an Easter egg too! The winners are as follows:

1st Place – Wow Hat – Patrick, James, Christian, Gavin, their Nanny and Mum Deirdre.

Tallest Hat – Olivia, her Granny Lorraine and Mum Annie. 

Widest Hat – Emma and her Auntie Josie.

Hat with Ears – Chloe, Christopher and their Grandparents, Peg and Hugh.

Egg Hat – Zara and her Auntie Noelle.

Seachtain na Gaeilge – Lá Glas

To mark Seachtain na Gaeilge, and to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, we held a Lá Glas at school on Friday 15th March. We began with a Céilí, played Irish tunes on the feadóg stáin and the Seomra Shinsearacha made presentations on influential Irish people. To conclude the day, we had a Tráth na gCeist. Comhgairdeachas to Team Tíogar Bán who won the comórtas. Bhain gach duine baint as an lá.

JEP Book Launch

The Senior Room are taking part in the Junior Entrepreneur Programme this year. They learned about business in a hands on and collaborative way. Some of the activities included brainstorming product ideas and developing these; inviting in guest speaker and local entrepreuneur Rachel Doyle; pitching their product ideas in a Dragon’s Den inspired format; selecting a product for further development, bringing it to life; promoting their product, live on KCLR; and holding a product showcase day.

The final product is a colourful activity book for children based on Carlow. The book launch was a huge success and well supported. The book costs €5 and is for sale through the school, The Little Shop in Bagenalstown, and the Post Office in Leighlinbridge. The Senior Room will be attending a JEP event along with other schools participating in the programme. Well done to the Senior Room for their trojan work, and thanks to Ms. Griffin for leading the children in a wonderful project.

Art Competitions and Engineers’ Week

Two artistic boys recently won art competitions. Fairtrade Carlow awarded Noah for his colourful Fairtrade promoting poster. An award ceremony was held in the Carlow Parish centre, where his family and teacher joined him in celebrations. Noah won a chocolate Easter bunny, which of course was Fairtrade chocolate! 

Maurice won an art competition held by Coláiste Aindriú in Bagenalstown, which ran in conjunction with their Engineers’ Week. The principal came to our school to present him with a prize and also gave the Senior Room a Meccano set for their participation in their Engineers’ Week event.

Science Week 2018

Children became scientists for the week experimenting, learning about scientific discoveries and carrying out science-based activities. 

Maths Week 2018

The whole school took part in fun maths activites to mark Maths Week. Everyone participated in the Manga High Maths Challenge at home. We had three medal winners in the Senior Room, who earned over 150 points. 

New Pupils

Four new children joined us in the Junior Room this September. We hope they will be very happy in Nurney.