Scoil Phádraig Naofa Bandon

Sciath na Scol Champions
Scoil Phádraig Naofa Bandon beat Cloyne in the football Sciath na Scol final in Páirc Uí Rinn on November 24th. Cloyne opened the scoring with a free after a minute. However the rest of the half belonged to the Bandon side with the inside line of Ellis Asemota and Ioan Madalin causing havoc for the Cloyne rearguard. Ellis scored the first goal after a good pass from Niall Daly.Ellis then followed this up with a point before Ioan Madalin got a similar score. At half time it was 1-2 to 0-1.
Ellis Asemota started the second half with a superb point and Madalin finished off a superb Dylan O' Callaghan pass for another goal. Cloyne tried their upmost to come back but superb defending by Dominic Hurley, Ben O' Connor, Ben Donegan, Dylan O' Donovan and Conor O' Driscoll kept them at bay. With five minutes to go Cloyne got a goal back but a superb Gary O' Shea block denied them another certain goal. Team captain, Mathew El Sonbokhty, who played very well throughout, gratefully accepted the cup on behalf of a delighted Bandon side. Scorers: E Asemota 1-2, I Madelin 1-1. Team: S Smigelski, B O Connor, D Hurley, D O’Donovan, B Donegan, C O’Driscoll, M Elsonbokhty, N Daly, G O’Shea, D O’Callaghan, I Madalin, E Asemota, Z Nagy, C Fitzpatrick, R Fitzgerald, E Robinson, C Nnaemeka, C Burke, C Kelleher, D O’Flynn.

Chess Club
Scoil Phádraig Naofa has gone chess mad this term! Over 100 boys are participating, during their lunch breaks, in chess tournaments from 1 to 6 class. Any boy who was interested in learning chess was taught by Brenda Nyhan and Anne Caher. We are grateful for the assistance of Mr. Eoin O’Leary of Hamilton High School, who gave the teachers tips on how to set up a chess league. Transition year pupils, Aidan Fitzgerald, Ciaran Broderick, Niall Murray, Alec Chmiel and Roland Korom also assisted in monitoring the games during their week long work placement.

Listowel Writers Week competition
A group of 4th class boys took part in this competition in which they had to write a story in their own words to a maximum of 500 words. Some of these stories are excellent and we look forward to hearing the results. Well done boys!!!
click here to find out more about this festival. http://writersweek.ie/

Irish Dancing

The Boys of Scoil Phádraig Naofa participated in Irish dance classes during the past term. Teacher Helen Healy taught the basic steps in Irish Dancing and Barn Dance to 1st , 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes for 4 weeks in October and to Junior , Senior, 5th and 6th classes for 3 weeks in November. All the boys enjoyed the activity and it was a wonderful opportunity for them to experience an important part of traditional Irish culture.

Chritmas Carol Singing
On Monday December 19th boys from second to sixth class took part in carol singing in The Riverview Shopping Centre. They prepared so well for the singing and created a great atmosphere for busy Christmas shoppers. They sang songs from Frosty the Snowman to Away in a Manger. The boys raised a substantial amount of money and we all appreciate the great generosity of the public. Well done to all involved!

Science Week 2011
The third week in November was a very exciting time in Scoil Phadraig Naofa as Science Week 2011 was underway. The aim of celebrating science week is to promote the relevance of science ,engineering and technology in our every day lives and to demonstrate the importance of these disciplines to the future development of irish society and to the economy.

The students were introduced to this year's theme 'The Chemistry of Life' by participating in an extraordinary science-art competition. The competition was designed to introduce the general concepts of the elements and the periodic table through the superhero 'League of Extraordinary Elements' with characters such as Hydrogen Girl and Carbon boy.

Throughout science week all classes were busy engaging in chemistry related activities. This year Nicola the scientist also led inspiring workshops relating to chemistry in each class. These science workshops included the Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Class making delicious lemonade, Second and Third Class creating cool crystals and Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Class splitting water to create hydrogen and oxygen using an electrical circuit. We would like to say a huge thank you to Nicola for organising the innovative workshops.

On Friday of Science Week a science exhibition was held in the hall. Each class in turn visited the science exhibition. The visit began with an introduction and a Fifth Class performance of 'The First Ten Elements of the Periodic Table'. The class then had an opportunity to explore the the stalls which displayed a variety of experiments undertaken by Second to Sixth class. Each session concluded by the class viewing of the Science Week 2011 Photostory which recorded the weeks events. Well done to the boys who represented their class at each stall and also to Fifth Class for organising and running the event.

Science week is now over for another year. Congratulations to all of the students and teachers for making Science Week 2011 so successful and this year's theme The Chemistry of Life so memorable. Check out scienceweek.ie for interesting experiments to try at home.

Jubilate Flower Festival
In October, the school was invited, along with others in the parish and community, to participate in the "Jubilate" flower festival in St Patrick's Church. The purpose of this event was to raise funds for the restoration of the church organ. Our theme was "Praise God for Autumn" and we had to create a display that portrayed this.
Parent, Jo Twomey co-ordinated the project with the help of Catherine Quinn and some 4th Class boys. Mr O' Callaghan surrendered a pair of his wellies to be filled with concrete for the scarecrow! Junior classes painted corn sheaves, others made hedgehogs and mice and painted toadstools. Colourful leaves and various baked products were sourced as the finishing touches.
The final display was a sight to behold along with all the other displays in the church helped to contribute to a wholly successful community/parish initiative

Kindertransport
In November The Graffiti Theatre Company visited 5th and 6th class to do the Kindertransport Drama. This drama involved huge preparation and research by the boys. They studied World War II in depth and especially researched the Kindertransport Operation. This was a train that delivered Jewish children from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany and Austria to Great Britain. The children were placed in British foster homes, hostels, and farms. Often times the children would never see their parents again. The boys acted as the children on board the train and they encountered many challenges on their journey. It proved to be quite an emotional experience and the boys definitely got into the role of the Jewish children. It was such a worthwhile experience and very much enjoyed by the children.
For more info check out these sites http://graffiti.ie/
http://www.kindertransport.org/

Greenwave Project.
First class are keeping a close eye on nature by participating in the Greenwave project. This project requires the boys to spot the signs of the various seasons. Following a walk in the Nun's Garden in October, the boys were able to see first- hand the signs of Autumn all around them. The project also encourages pupils to log changes in wind direction and temperature.
check out http://www.greenwave.ie/ for more info.

Photography Competition.
Congratulations to Maksymilian Lipinski, first class, who was awarded first place in the Welcome Inn Threshing Festival photography competition. Max captured a butterfly landing on a hydrangea plant during a walk in the Nun’s Garden. All of first class participated in this competition and the following boys were highly commended: Adam Kowal, Ronan Doyle-O’Donovan, David Szabo, Diarmuid O’Driscoll, Cullen Raymond and Aaron O’Mahony . We are grateful to Cullen Raymond and his grandfather, well-known local photographer, Martin Quirke, for loaning the class a camera. The boys really enjoyed having the opportunity to capture some beautiful images.

A number 3rd class boys recreated the story of The Three Little pigs by making the figures from clay and constructing 3 houses. They pu a show on for all of the classes dramatising the story in their own words. With the help of Ms Cremin the took 185 photos and placed them in movie maker to produce the 30 second clip on our left. Well done boys, Great work!!!

The lengths we go to at Scoil Phádraig Naofa to get to school.....
During our recent cold snap driving contitions were extremely dangerous so some staff found alternative transport to school!!!

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School Game Playing Day
SPN boys took part in the 2010 School Game Playing Day on Friday 22nd October. We had lots of fun on the day where we raised funds making a valuable contribution to our school. For more info visit www.ngpw.ie