Our Environmental Heritage

How We Look From Space

Examine the map carefully and see if you find us. The effects of human influence are to be seen everywhere on the landscape. Human influence is evident in towns, fields, bogs, marshes, forests and stone wall fences. Visit Google Earth and see us in three dimensional form.

It is the policy of the school to encourage pupils to protect the local environment. If you should visit us, play your part in protecting the environment also.

Protecting Our Environment - The Garden Project

Marie Mac Namara (outside the wall) speaking to the pupils of Fifth and Sixth Classes. Looking on are Tina Kessler (Parent, left facing) and Cathy Treacy, Teacher.

The Ducks

Three ducks on loan to the school looking for slugs to eat.

The School Garden
On Thursday the 23rd. of February, the staff, together with Tina Kessler and Marie Mac Namara, organised the visit of three ducks to the school garden. The ducks belonged to Marie Mac Namara of Gloves West, Athenry, Co. Galway. Marie introduced the ducks to each of the classes in turn, starting with the Infants. She discussed the purpose of bringing them to the garden and how pupils could learn from their habits. She explained that they were being used as a form of biological pest control in the garden. In recent weeks the garden has become infested with slugs and since slugs form part of the ducks' diet, they could be used to control the slug population in the garden. "Pest control in this way would be preferable to using slug pellets or other forms of chemical pest control," she said.The pupils had many questions about the lifecycle of ducks, their usefulness to humans and their use as a form of biological pest control. By the end of the visit pupils had a much better understanding of the delicate balances that exist within the natural kingdom and how we should seek to protect these through organic methods rather than distroying them by using chemicals.

It is the policy of our school to protect our natural environment and heritage.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

A Prize Winning Project About Our Local Heritage

Title Page of Winning Project.

A project entitled "Our Local Heritage" was a prizewinning project for our school. The main topic of the project was Athenry a Heritage Town. The project was undertaken by the pupils of Fifth and Sixth Class of 2004 - 2005. Athenry is a medieval town situated about three miles west of our school. The medieval town of Athenry has survived largely intact for almost one thousand years. Its walls and castle, some of its towers and its market cross survive intact to this day. The project describes this medieval heritage and the heritage of Templemoyle - an old monastic settlement situated beside our school.

Our Spiritual Heritage

The Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Stained glass

This photograph of the stained glass window in the front of the church depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary in a blaze of light. Our Church has many stained glass windows. Others are situated on the sides of the building. A better understanding of their positioning may be had by viewing the post entitled Our Church. The positioning of the windows is important, as they reflect the suns light into the building at different times during the day. Sunlight is reflected through the windows onto the floor of the church. This light is then reflected back onto the congregation. The religious significance of this play on light is that Jesus is the light of our lives and that the congregation who pray here must seek to reflect that light in their own lives. The church is part of the architectural heritage of our community.

The Main Altar

It is around this altar that we celebrate school events such as our beginning and end of year masses. But most particularly it is here that we celebrate our First Holy Communion and Confirmation. This altar is an important part of our Christian heritage.

Our Church - The Church of The Immaculate Conception

Our church is situated in the centre of the community of Newcastle. It is situated directly opposite our school. The design of the windows is the most significant feature of the building. The position of the stained glass windows on the side and front of the building are obvious from this photograph. Observe the way in which the sunlight plays on the stained glass windows on the west side of the church. This church plays an important part in the spiritual development of the pupils of our school.