Our athletes did us proud at the Primary Sports!! Click here to see how!!
Easter Egg Fundraiser
Our Easter Egg Fundraiser raised over €1,200 for Marymount Hospice and "Bóthar".
We welcomed "Billy" the Goat who was purchased with some of the proceeds of the fundraiser, and who will travel to Africa to make a huge difference to the families who will welcome him.
Our Easter Egg prize winners were very happy with their lot! Míle buíochas le gach duine a chabhraigh linn.
"Calling In To The Neighbours"
Our school has established links with Marymount Hospice since the facility moved to Waterfall.Our prize winning band were warmly welcomed of late and entertained all with some marvellous music and singing.
Our Easter fundraiser also raised some much needed funds for Marymount, which will be presented shortly.
John Spillane "Rocked the Joint"!!
Chuireamar fáilte ar leith roimh John Spillane le déanaí, a thug cuairt orainn mar chuid de Sheachtain na Gaeilge. Chan John cuid mhaith amhráin óna CD, "Songs We Learned At School".
The pupils had entusiastically learned many of the songs in anticipation of John's gig and needed no further encouragement to sing old favourites such as "Óró 'se do bheatha abhaile", "An Poc ar Buile" and "The Rattlin Bog" with great gusto.
Many parents and friends also attended and joined in the singing of songs that were and are still learned at school!
Slán, Mick!
The school community paid tribute to Mick Curran on his retirement recently. Mick made a enormous contribution to our school over many years and will be greatly missed by all. Cómhgháirdeas leat MIck agus gura fada buan thú!
Pictures below show Mick addressing the pupils for the last time and below further, thinking long and hard about what the wrapped retirement gift to the right, might contain!
Craobh Fichille 2012 / Chess Championship
Chess has grown steadily in popularity since its introduction to the school in 2009. This year, 49 players entered our annual championship, which was open to players from Rang 3 onwards. Comhgháirdeas le Diarmuid, a bhuaigh an craobh i mbliana. Cómhgháirdeas freisin, le Tighernán, Charlie agus Áine. All four will represent Scoil Bhailenóra at the forthcoming Primary School Chess Blitz.
Rinneamar Gaisce!
Our school was awarded a Gradam Gaisce Scoile recently, in recognition of excellence in the promotion of Gaelic Games. The award reflects the outstanding contribution of numerous figues within the school community to the promotion of our national games among pupils. Cómhgháirdeas leo uilig. Go maire sibh i bhfad!
Picture shows Michael Kearney and pupils representing the school, in the company of Jimmy Barry-Murphy and Cork Snr. Football and Camogie Stars.
The school band performing on stage in City Hall for Cór Fheile na Scol last Wednesday 28th March
Cór Fhéile na Scol 2012
The school band will perform in Cór Fhéile na Scol on Wednesday, 28th March. Cór Fhéile na Scol is a non-competitive festival of music, song and dance for the primary school children of Cork city and county. The show will begin at 7:30pm in City Hall.
Feis Maitiú 2012
On the 27th February, 94 children left the school at 8:30am to go to Fr. Mathew Hall for Feis Maitiú.
When we arrived in the theatre we were seated and our teachers got the tin whistle group ready. Both 4th classes performed in the tin whistle group and they played really well! The adjudicator must have thought so too because they were awarded first place and once again brought home the cup for the third year in a row! I think the cup would find it very hard to settle in another school!
After that we were allowed to have our lunch and then it was time for the band to get ready to perform. We had to wait until last to perform as there were four other bands in the competition. It was great to see all the other bands from different schools and they were all very good! Our band played brilliantly and got a big cheer from all the parents and other children in the audience. The adjudicator said that they were very good and awarded us with second place! We were delighted!.
When we came back to the school we had a pizza party to celebrate our success! We had a great day!
Pancake Tuesday 2012!!
4th class had great fun making pancakes for Pancake Tuesday!
In the morning we went over to the Scout Den and made the batter. We were in small groups and we made one bowl of batter per group. We used flour, salt, eggs, milk, water and melted butter. We put the bowls aside and went back to our classrooms. Then after lunch our teachers made the pancakes and we were allowed put our own toppings on them. Yum!!! More...
Feis Maitiú 2012
It’s that time of year again! The sweet sound of music can be heard in all households in Ballinora as young musicians prepare for Feis Maitiú!
This year, both 4th classes will compete in the Flageolet Bands competition. The Sally Gardens and Kerry Polka are the tunes of choice this year and the children are working hard in preparation! The competition will take place on the 27th February at 9:30am
The school band will once again compete in the Primary School Bands competition. We have achieved great success for many years, even accomplishing first place for the past two years. Lament of the First Generation and Walking on the Moon are our tunes of choice this year. The young musicians are rehearsing every chance they get and who knows, maybe we’ll even make it three in a row!! This competition takes place on the 27th February at 11am.
Each year, we have great support from our parents at Feis Maitiú and it makes a huge difference when we have a crowd cheering us on when we are on stage. Once again, we ask that if there are any parents or relations who are free on that day to come to support us. Here are a few pictures of us practising together
Scór na bPáistí 2012
Two groups will perform in Scór na bPáistí this Saturday and Sunday, 11th & 12thFebruary. One group will represent the school and the other will represent Ballinora GAA in the Muskerry semi-final. Ballinora School singing group will perform in Clondroichead and the Ballinora GAA singing group will perform in Inchigeela. We wish them the very best of luck and express our thanks to Miss Cashman for all her help in preparing the groups!
Above: Four young violinists display the different sizes of a violin
Below: Two young tin whistle players practising for Feis Maitiú
Above: Beginners Violin Group are progressing well! Maith sibh!
Below: Rang 4 developing their computer skills
Rang a 4 have been busy writing stories and using the laptops to type them out. We are getting more used to Microsoft Word. We have also been knitting as part of out visual arts curriculum and making St. Brigid's Crosses. Táimid ag baint taitnimh as comórtas Gaeilge freisin ...more
We welcome everyone back after the Christmas holidays. We are looking forward to a busy and enjoyable term. Happy New Year one and all!
5th class really enjoyed performing in the Christmas Show. more...
The children in Rang a 2 wish everyone a merry Christmas. more...
Barnaby Bear has recently been to Qatar and the junior infants have been finding
out how he got on. more...
Santa Claus is coming to town.
Fourth class had a visit from Santa. They've been reading Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy and taking part in the Christmas show. more...
Budding Film Makers!
Our sixth class pupils were victorious at the National FÍS Film Festival. Their animated film ‘Hey, wait for me’ was nominated for four awards at the Irish Schools’ Oscars Show for primary schools held in the Helix in Dublin. They came away with the award for ‘Best Cinematography’. Congratulations to all involved. The children displayed great creativity and enthusiasm as usual and learnt a lot about the film making process.
Some scenes from our Christmas Show, 2011
First Class has been very busy over the past number of weeks. They've been experimenting with floating, doing an art project on penguins and were the angels for the Christmas Show. more...
Rang a 5 has been busy learning about Italy, making ice-cream [yum!], and preparing for Christmas. more...
Bhíomar ag déanamh cartaí Nollag agus Mainséar i rang a 6. Féach ár leathanach...
Rang a 3 has been busy making robots. more...
'Our Christmas Show'
The rehearsals are underway in what promises to be another very exciting Christmas Concert. This year's show will take place in the GAA Hall. There will be two performances, the matinee at 12.00 noon, and the evening show at 7.30p.m. on Tuesday 20th. As usual, each family will be allocated two tickets, with the remainder of the tickets being available on a first come basis. Tickets will cost 4 euro for the early show and 6 euro for the evening show. We look forward to seeing you there.
Nollaig Shona agus áthbhlian fé mhaise daoibh go léir, a chairde.
Rang 3's Blog
Why not check out Rang 3's blog at this link? It is full of great ideas and gives a flavour of what's happening every day. www.rang3webspiders.wordpress.com
We've been very busy in Rang a 4 over the past number of weeks.Here is one of the Venetian Masks we created. We've been debating and creating radio advertising, among other things. more...
Rang 5 went to Cork's Science Festival, Discovery 2011 in the City Hall. More...
The journalists in Rang a 4 have been keeping to a tight deadline for their articles.
Ms. Flynn's class discussing some findings from their nature trail.
Rang a 5 has been studying the Mona Lisa as well as creating interesting Halloween art. more...
Rang a 6 are delighted with the new laptops. They are busy loading applications on them for the other classes. more...
Senior infants are enjoying reading with their reading buddies from Ms. Cahill's class. more...
A draft constitution for Ballinora National School Parents Association is now available at this link.