Horseleap N.S.

Congratulations to Ms. Carey and the Green School committee on achieving their sixth Green Flag on the theme of 'Global Citizenship: Litter and Waste'. Teachers and pupils have worked hard over the past two years, learning about sustainability, participating in Picker Pals and reducing, reusing and recycling! Our 6th class pupils represented us as they collected the Green Flag on 21st May at an Awards Ceremony in the Radisson Hotel, Athlone. We plan to have our flag raising ceremony in mid-June.

The swifts can be seen (and heard!) above our school every day now that the summer is here! They live in the roof of our school and return each May from their winters in more tropical climates. The number of swifts in Ireland has been declining in recent years as many of the high buildings where they used to nest are no longer available to them. We are proud that they have chosen to return to our school each year. Did you know that swifts spend most of their life airborne? We are always delighted to spot these remarkable birds around our school - it truly marks the beginning of summer! Can you spot two in flight in the photograph below?

Active School Week was held from 29th April to 3rd May. The pupils from Horseleap N.S. enjoyed a range of activities. We held our bi-annual 'Bring Your Bike To School Day' and the children participated in a circuit of challenges to become better cyclists. Our tag rugby coach John also visited during the week and the Senior Room made a trip to Paddy Ryan's to try their hand at pool.

Paddy Madden, Heritage in Schools expert, returned to our school on the 8th of May. We had a wonderful day exploring our school grounds with Paddy, examining plants and drawing pictures.

Well done to our Cumann na mBunscol team who played a great game against Rahugh N.S. on 9th May.

Thank you so much to Caroline who visited us from Kilbeggan Library and inspired us to read and write and embrace creativity of all kinds!

We took a stroll around Horseleap yesterday as part of our History and Geography programme. We saw the Gageborough River, St. David's church in the distance, the old pump in the centre of the village and of course, the famous horse statue. We finished our trip with a visit to Paddy Ryan's shop to get some ice cream.

On the 28th March, our solar panels were installed by JFW Renewables. These solar panels are fully funded by the government. We were lucky to be located in one of the counties chosen for this pilot project. Inside our school, we have a screen installed where we can view the amount of energy that the solar panels are producing and the amount of energy that we are using. We hope to see a huge reduction in our electricity bills!

We couldn't have had a better start to our Easter holidays with the arrival of Patrick from Picker Pals. Patrick explained how the idea of Picker Pals came to him and how he developed his ideas into a book. He played games with us outside and inspired us to keep collecting litter. We will soon be featured on Picker Pals TV!