Our School News
Mobile School Library Visit
The Galway School Mobile Library visited our school today, 16th November. We got to browse the books and meet the librarians. We look forward to reading the books we picked in the weeks ahead.
Look at our pictures to see 2nd and 3rd class choosing some super reads!
Chess Workshop
3rd to 6th Class had a chess workshop on the 15th of November, which was facilitated by John Alfred, who is a school chess tutor from County Limerick. He taught us the rules of chess and lots of different strategies.. This was a fantastic opportunity for the children to learn a new and useful skill, that promotes critical thinking. We are looking forward to welcoming him back in the New Year! We will be busy practising all we have learned in the meantime, with the new chess sets that the school has ordered.
Book Week
The pupils thoroughly enjoyed book week by visiting the 'Book Fair' each day and participating in activities such as 'DEAR Time' each day, 'Character Picture' quiz, table quiz and dressed up as their favourite characters on Friday from books they have read. Well done to Mrs Lynskey for co-ordinating the week!
5th and 6th class pupils meet Irish International Rugby Star Ailsa Hughes!
5th and 6th class pupils meet Irish International Rugby Star Ailsa Hughes!
The pupils from 5th and 6th class attended the Gort Rugby Club Primary School's Tag Rugby Blitz today the 7th November 2022. The pupils were coached by Ailsa Hughes and the Gort Rugby team of coaches. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the coaching, matches and refreshments afterwards.
Book Fair
Our annual Book Fair has started this week in school. Loads of books for all ages at discounted prices. The books may be seen by parents at pick-up times on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday of this week.
Our Book Fair also continues online until the 22nd of November.
Online gives us so many additional benefits
Order from the comfort of your home, open 24 hours from dates below.
Easy to use online system, quick checkout, no need to register.
Wider choice of titles, over 2,000 books to choose from.
Age graded website to make it easy. All orders are delivered in sealed bags
Check out categories - Bargain Box, Under €5, Sport etc
Our school will get fantastic commission of 50% in free books,
for every 2 books you buy our school gets 1 free book!
It is important that you use this link so that our school gets the commission on your purchase
To order click on https://bookfair.tarabookco.ie/ or if you use the main site click on the red box Online Book Fair
click on shop now
Password 14642T
At Select your School please click on Ballyglass NS
World Book Day books can be purchased for .50c Key WBD in search.
If you buy from the main site our school will not get any commission so please use the link above.
If you are not asked for a password you are on the wrong site, you can phone 091 777005 for assistance.
Halloween Fun Dress Up
We had a very 'Spooktacular' assembly today!
Well done to everyone for making such an effort for our fancy dress!
Happy Halloween!
29/10/2022
Maths Week
We have just finished a very enjoyable Maths Week in Ballyglass. Children in all classes participated in lots of fun Maths activities during the week. These included maths games, online Maths webinars, daily Maths puzzles, maths investigations and maths art. We also had great fun trying to guess the number of jelly beans in the container.....there were lots of very close answers but the winning guess came from Adele in 5th class! Well done to all the children who participated in the daily activities with great enthusiasm.
Pumpkin Time
Aaron Keane, 5th Class brought in some of the smashing pumpkins he grew this year and visited all the classes explaining how he come to grow such amazing pumpkins!
Sport
2nd and 3rd class enjoying the fresh air outside with our GAA coach David Huban.
Getting ready for Halloween
2nd and 3rd class are busy getting ready for Halloween by painting Haunted houses and Picasso inspired Frankenstein's
Mini 7's
Well done to all the boys and girls in the senior classes who played in the mini 7's hurling and football competitions last week. They put on a fine display and did their school proud.
WOW Day
We had a WOW (Walk on Wednesday) day on Wednesday 21st September
Thanks to all the parents who walked with us!
Music Lessons
We are really enjoying our Ukulele Lessons with James our tutor from Music Generation every Wednesday. We are learning new tunes and hope to perform them for all parents before Christmas.
National Tree Day / Lá na gCrann
Second and Third class celebrated National Tree Day by investigating and looking at the many trees growing around our school. We were lucky to receive a Holly sapling from 'An Taisce' and we discovered it's the female Holly tree that has red berries. We did a collaborative Art piece for our display board.
Green School Committee - Flower Planting
The GSC were busy planting daffodil and tulip bulbs in our freshly dug flower beds this week. Thanks to Noel, our caretaker, for preparing the beds ahead of time. The pupils had great fun getting their hands dirty. Well done!
Co-Ordinator: Mr. Healy
Galway Cross Country Competition
Well done to all our pupils who ran in the East Galway Primary Schools Cross Country competition in Renmore Galway on Tuesday the 20th September.
Ballyglass NS awarded €2,500 IT grant from SAP!
We received the great news that our grant application to invest in iPads and a storage trolley to further progress our pupils as self-directed and reflective learners has been successful.
SAP grant opportunities are allocated to projects and partnerships that are aligned with their mission and focus areas. In close liaison with their employees, partners and SAP technology, the SAP CSR programs and partnerships focus on education and workforce preparedness for both formal employment and entrepreneurial pursuits.
The ipads and trolley will be purchased in the coming weeks and will be used in all the classrooms.
Graduation class 2022
Best wishes to our 6th class pupils of 2022 who graduated on Wednesday the 22nd June 2022.
Active School Flag Winners!
Ballyglass NS was awarded it's second Active School Flag in June 2022. Our school was also selected as an exemplary school for our Creative Walkway which will be showcased nationally in September 2022. The school was presented with an outdoor speaker from Active School Ireland for our achievements. Well done to all involved; Mrs Kelleher coordinator, Mr Monaghan and pupil committee of Mai O'Sullivan, Cathal Morris, Ciara O'Neill, Kyle Linnane, Hannah O'Neill and Iarla Keane.
Gaelic Football Tournament
Well done to the pupils in 4th to 6th class who participated in the Gaelic Football tournament in Kinvara on Tuesday the 14th June. They played matches against North Hampton and Doorus National Schools. The pupils had a super time and played very well!
Ballyglass Walkway
Last Friday the 27th May 2022 we opened our new 'Ballyglass Walkway' with ten teaching stations which include lessons in History, Science, Geography, Gaeilge, English and PE. The walkway was designed by Ms Lynskey and Mrs Kelleher, the wooden markers for each station were made by Mr Healy and the ground works by Noel Fahey.
The pupils thoroughly enjoyed their first lesson and can also use the walkway during break time for fun and games!
Soccer Tournament
The pupils from 4th, 5th and 6th classes all participated in a soccer tournament in Ballinderreen today the 23rd May 2022 which was organised by Doorus and Kiltiernan National schools. Congratulations to all our pupils, they all played very well and had great fun.
23/05/2022
Cycle to School Day
Well done to all our pupils who cycled to school today to celebrate National Bike Week!
19/05/2022
School Concert
Super performances by all our classes in our school concert. The pupils played the ukulele, sang songs and performed Irish dances including the Walls of Limerick and the Brush dance. Thanks to all our parents who attended the concert today. Special thanks to our Music teacher James and Dance teacher Louise.
11/05/2022
Garda Cup
Congratulations to our hurling team who won Divison D in the Garda Cup competition on Friday 6th May in Gort.
Back row left to right: Mr Lynskey, Amy Stankard, James Horrigan, Cathal Morris, Caylum Linnane, Ryan Mullen, Luke Kavanagh, Ms Lynskey and Mr Monaghan.
Front row left to right: Aaron Keane, Ben Carroll, Cian Hynes (Captain), Breen Gilmore and Daniel Lynskey.
New School Mural
Over the past week the pupils have thoroughly enjoyed in assisting in painting our new school mural which surrounds our car park and basketball court.
04/05/2022
Sacrament of Confirmation
Congratulations to our 6th class pupils Emma, Mai, Amy, Ryan and Cian who were Confirmed on Tuesday the 3rd of May by Bishop Brendan Kelly in St Teresa's church Labane.
Congratulations Mr Monaghan!
Congratulations to Mr Monaghan our 3rd and 4th class teacher, seen here celebrating with Dylan Mullen after the Galway Senior Hurling team's great win over Kilkenny on Sunday 1st May 2022.
5th and 6th Decorating the Easter Tree
Easter Time in Ballyglass
Eggs represent new life and rebirth!
Friendship Week
During Friendship week the pupils participated in the following activities:
The pupils listened to the the story ‘The Rainbow Fish’. Each day the pupils selected a class mates name from a ‘Friendship Jar’ and an act of kindness from ‘Acts of Kindness Jar’. They wrote their good deed on a fish scale, and attached it to the school fish on the ‘Friendship Week’. In groups the pupils explored the meaning of friendship and made posters on their ten top tips on how to make a Friend. In music class all the pupils learned a Friendship week song ‘Count on Me’ by Bruno Mars. For Art the Junior and senior infants – working in pars the pupils the decorated hand prints, the pupils in 1st and 2nd class make posters and the pupils in 3rd to 6th class made 'Compliment Showers'. On Friday the pupils play word and board games in groups. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the week which was co-ordinated by Mrs Kelleher.
01/04/2022
Basket Ball Tournament underway!
Teams are made up of pupils from 3rd to 6th Class.
Two teams play each day.
Who will be this year's champions?
Final to take place on Friday 8th April!
Bella the Ballyglass Calf
Great excitement in Ballyglass today as 'Bella' the calf, which the pupils have purchased for Ardrahan GAA fundraiser, visited our school. She arrived in great style wearing an Ardrahan jersey! Many thanks to Tom Forde and Darragh Healy for bringing Bella to the school. The calf will be reared by Tom on his farm.
Congratulations to Sinead O'Neill in Senior Infants who had the winning name for the calf
25/03/2022
New Laptops from Integer
Many thanks to Mike Parkinson from Integer, Galway who presented our school with five laptops today. As part of the Integer Doing Good Initiative, Bally glass National school was selected as a worthy recipient, as the school is innovative and creative in how it uses technology. Integer value how technology can assist educational development, learning and training and are delighted to support schools and other organisations in County Galway.
#integerdoinggood
21/03/2022
St Patrick's Day
All our pupils turned out in green today in honour of St Patrick and paraded around the school yard this morning. They all looked super!
16/03/2022
Cycle Right
The Cycle Right program finished today and all the pupils that completed the course received a 'Level 1 Certificate in Cycling. Over the past four weeks the pupils in 3rd to 6th class learned how to cycle safely on busy roads. The pupils thoroughly enjoyed the program and learned loads!
10/03/2022
Chicks have hatched!
What a wonderful surprise this morning when the 3rd and 4th class pupils arrived to school to find three chicks had hatched. Thanks to Aaron Keane in 4th class and Sinead Fordham who have set up and managed the project for the past three weeks and even checked on them over the weekend!
07/03/2022
Cycle Right Schools
The pupils in 3rd to 6th class commenced the 'Cycle Right' programme today. Cycle Right is the national standard for cycle training. It provides practical cycle safety and skills training to promote competent and confident cyclists. Over the next four weeks they will receive four lessons in which they will be empowered to move safely as a cyclist in complex, changing road environments in their locality.
10/02/2022
French Lessons
On Monday 7th of February the pupils of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th classes commenced French Lessons. Ms Moran a French Teacher from the 'Primary Languages Project' will visit our school for eight weeks. The course will introduce the pupils to a third language and help prepare them for when they start to learn a third language in Secondary school.
Active School Leaders
During break time today our Active School Leaders from 1st class to 6th class commenced teaching the junior and seniors infants playground games. They all had great fun!
They will continue with this program every Tuesday and Thursday for the next ten weeks.
02/02/2022
Grandparents Day
As part of Catholic School Week we invited all our Grandparents to join our school on a zoom call with each classroom. The pupils recited poetry, sang songs and interviewed their grandparents.
Thanks to all our Grandparents who participated the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the event.
Marathon Challenge
Congratulations to the pupils in 5th and 6th class who completed their 'Marathon Challenge' on Friday the 21st January 2022. The initiative was set up by 'Marathon Kids Ireland' and 'Galway Sports Partnership' and it's ambassador was former Irish international David Gillick.
The pupils ran 1km per day for the past nine weeks. On completion they were each awarded a medal, t-shirt and neck scarf. Well done to all the pupils!
See our Active School page for more photos of the event.