On Friday, 13th November 2015 159 Christmas shoe boxes were collected from Stonepark N.S. for needy children in Eastern Europe and Africa. The children from Junior and Senior Infants passed the parcels from the G.P. Room to Alison’s car which was full to capacity with wonderful gifts! Some children wore Santa hats as we all sang along to Christmas songs. A huge thank you to everyone who generously donated to a worthy cause.

Each child in the school painted a flower using acrylic paint on a drab wall in the old G.P. Room. The colourful result is a feast for the eyes! It would not have been possible without the watchful eyes of Mary Conlon, Margie Tiernan, James Campbell, Linda Campbell and Bernadette Shea.

Míle buíochas do chách.

“Ó síolta beaga, fásann bláthanna álainne”

115 children dressed up in their Halloween costumes and walked to school for the Halloween Walk of Horror. Some of the costumes were so good you couldn’t recognise the children! Thanks to Tadhg and Julia in 2nd class who designed a spooky poster and promoted the walk. Well done to everyone who participated.

     

This summer in conjunction with Stonepark N.S. Parents’ Association, Longford County Council, Grattan Óg G.F.C. and Kenagh Craft Metal an opening was made in the wall and a safety gate was erected leading from Grattan’s carpark to the pedestrian crossing at the school, allowing children safe access to the school. We are delighted with this and thank everybody involved.

 

‘World Car Free Day’ takes place on Tuesday, 22nd September 2015. We would encourage as many children as possible to cycle, walk or use our park ‘n’ stride locations at The Rocks or Silver Birches. This initiative ties in with our Green Schools Travel Programme that we are currently working on. Thank you for your continued support. Below are some posters that pupils in 4th class designed for ‘World Car Free Day’.

Over 120 children from all classes have created a colourful mural just inside our main school entrance under the guidance of Mrs. Shea. For many children it was their first experience of using real paint on a wall. The fun, chat and camaraderie of the children at work enhanced the whole experience. The theme of the mural is ‘Hands‘; the hands of friendship, helping hands, sharing and caring and partnerships in education. This ties in with our school motto ‘Working and growing together with respect for one and all’.

  

 

Stonepark N.S. were delighted to receive sponsorship from Longford Credit Union to purchase sports tops for their girls’ 5-a-side soccer team. Nicola Burke, Assistant Manager in Longford Credit Union came out to Stonepark N.S. to congratulate the girls on their success. The girls represented their county and province in the Aviva Stadium on the 14th May and took on the winners of Connaught, Ulster and Munster. They finished third overall.  This is a fantastic achievement for both Stonepark N.S. and Olympics Rover F.C. with whom most of the girls play their club soccer. Míle Buíochas to Longford Credit Union.

What a difference a year makes!

From comparative surveys done in school we have found that we really are becoming a ‘greener’ school in relation to sustainable travel. We have decreased car usage from 85% to 39% and we’ve increased park ‘n’ striding to 44%. Carpooling has increased from 30% to 46%. Well done to everyone who has made an extra special effort to use ‘greener’ ways to travel to and from school.

There are more children wearing hi-vis vests (52%) and helmets (69%) when cycling, but we hope to see everyone wearing these next year when surveys are repeated! 

Thank you to all the pupils on the Green Schools committee who have put a lot of work into the travel programme this year. Their work is very much appreciated.

We are currently working really well on achieving our fourth Green Schools flag which is on the theme of Travel which is a two year programme. We aim to use more sustainable ways of travelling to school. Our aim is to increase carpooling from 30% to 50% and increase walking/park ‘n’ stride from 8% to 15%.

We are keeping scores of the people who use sustainable ways of travelling to school with carpooling and travelling by bus getting 1 point and walking, parking ‘n’ striding and cycling getting 2 points. The ‘Golden Boot’ and a prize will go to the class with the most points over a week. The first class to win were 2nd class. Congratulations to them. Keep up the great work in all the classes!

REMEMBER:

1) The Rocks and Silver Birches are our park ‘n’ stride locations.

2) The top of the Ballagh Road at Lisduff has been designated as a place to cycle to/from school.

3) We have a battery recycling facility here at school so send in all your used batteries!

Stonepark NS – Golden Boot

 

5th and 6th classes have completed their cycle training. Thanks to Noel, David and Brendan who have taught the children very important skills for the future.  A sincere thank you to Longford County Council for funding this initiative.

We also completed a cycle audit on Tuesday, 28th April with Caitríona, our Green Schools Officer. The top of the Ballagh Road at Lisduff has been designated as a place to cycle to/from school. The Rocks and Silver Birches are our park ‘n’ stride locations.   We are encouraging as many children as possible to walk or cycle as many days as possible in May and June.