Here in Threen N.S we celebrated Seachtain Na Gaeilge by participating in a number of fun activities. A local dance teacher called to the school to teach some Irish dancing to both the pupils and the adults. The children really enjoyed the dancing lessons and some of the children who attend dancing lesson showed us some of their fantastic skills as they performed a couple of jigs and reels.

We also had jelly and ice-cream to help celebrate seachtain na Gaeilge. Some of the children along with Mary made green and gold jelly and this was accompanied with some vanilla ice-cream which helped to create the Irish tricolour. The jelly and ice-cream was delicious and all the children really enjoyed it.

Finally to complete our Seachtain na Gaeilge activities the children took part in a Tráth na gceist. Every child in the school took part with the teams consisting of a mixture of both older and younger pupils. There were four rounds of ceisteanna and two teams finished level at the end of the quiz. Well done to both teams.

Third, fourth, fifth and sixth class were learning about The Celts in history. The children were split up into groups and each group did some research on The Celts. The children learnt about their homes and houses, their farming methods, their pastimes, the clothes they wore, the festivals they celebrated, the weapons they used and other interesting facts about the Celts. The children really enjoyed researching about the Celts and working in groups to complete their projects.

Mrs Callaghan’s room learnt how to make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. The children had great fun mixing and putting all the ingredients together.

Below is the recipe on how to make pancakes which has been written by Megan Flanagan:

1. Wash your hands.
2. Crack the egg into the bowl.
3. Whisk the egg.
4. Sieve the flour into the bowl.
5. Add the egg to the flour and whisk.
6. Add milk and water to the mixture and blend.
7. Add a drop of olive oil.
8. Add sugar.
9. Cook the pancakes.
10. Now they’re ready to eat.

Third, fourth, fifth and sixth class were learning about Irish Bogs in Geography. The children were split up into groups and each group did some research on a different aspect of Irish bogs. The children learnt lots of interesting facts about the history of Irish bogs, the different birds and animals that are found in Irish bogs, the different plants that are found in Irish bogs and they also learnt about bog pools. After the children put their projects together, they presented them to Mrs Callaghan’s room.

On Tuesday the 13^th of February the children took part in the annual tradition of Pancake Tuesday. The 6^th class children helped Mary and Mrs Callaghan to prepare the pancakes for everybody in the school. Strawberry syrup, nutella, lemon juice, chocolate sauce and sugar were just some of the toppings the children put on their pancakes. The pancakes were delicious and everyone really enjoyed them. The 6^th class children even got time to practice flipping some pancakes.

On Wednesday the 20^th of December we held our Christmas show in the Trinity Arts Centre in Castlerea. The children performed a drama called ‘The Apprentice’ during the first half of the show. ‘The Apprentice’ is a story based around the nativity and the children loved taking on the roles of all the different characters. During the second half of the show, the children performed a variety of songs and instrumentals that they had learnt with their music teacher Martina Walshe. We are very lucky to have such talented children in our school.

Congratulations to Sarah Joyce on her recent success in the Irish Christmas Tree Growers Poetry Competition. Sarah won first prize in the Connacht region with her wonderful poem ‘The Christmas Tree’. Sarah won a Christmas tree for our school and also a Christmas tree for herself. As a regional winner she also won a cash prize of fifty Euro. We are all so proud of Sarah and her wonderful achievement. Below is Sarah’s winning poem:

The Christmas Tree

The Christmas tree

was all alone,

He sat in the forest

On his own!

He waited and waited

Until the day,

A family came

And took him away.

They put him in the living room,

For everyone to see,

He was so beautiful

The little Christmas tree.

On the 21st of November 2017 the senior room went on a tour to see some historical sites in Trien. On our tour we were accompanied by the Historical Group from Trien.

Our first visit was to Kilkeevan cemetery. One of the first things we saw was a place outside the cemetery where babies who weren’t baptised were buried. We then went inside to look around the cemetery and we saw lots of unmarked graves. There was also church ruins inside the cemetery which dated back to the time of St. Patrick. We also saw a tomb in the cemetery where the Kings of Connacht (The O’Conors) were buried.

After visiting the cemetery we went to see The Méaróg stone in Cloonkeen.  The historians told us that a giant threw the stone from the Hill of Brockey. The giant was trying to throw it at another giant on the Hill of Fairymount but it landed instead in a field in Cloonkeen. On the stone is the giant’s handprint. We tried to move the stone but we weren’t strong enough.

The final site we visited was a Mass Rock which is located in Willsbrook. This rock was where people celebrated mass during the penal times in the seventeenth century. During this time it was illegal to go to a catholic church so people instead went to mass in an isolated area such as the one at Willsbrook. We had a great day and we learnt lots of interesting things about our local area.