Tobar
An
Léinn

Nasc

“ Tús Maith”

Mr. O’ Reilly came to visit our school in February. Mr. O’ Reilly is a pro chess player. This was the first time a chess player came to do chess with us. He came on Mondays at 2:00pm. He told us the rules of chess and he taught everyone in the class how to play chess. Everyone had great competitions with each other. We looked forward to going to school each Monday.
Mr. O’Reilly told us there was a competition about to take place in the Rock School and he would pick the four most interested players to represent our school. The competition really got serious then. Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr. O’ Reilly observed us all very closely and then made the final decision. Orla, Shóna, Franky and James were picked.
On a Friday morning we went to the Rock School. Principal Aherne met us with a warm welcome. We were put into groups and the games began. We were all very nervous. We had refreshments and drinks. It was a fantastic experience. We look forward to doing it again next year.
By Franky McEvoy and James Whelan - 5th Class

Issue 13/14 2

Inside this Issue
First Penance
Confirmation
World Book Day
Lá Glas
Young Scientist
Green-Schools
Swimming
Write a Book.
Global Warming
Green Schools.
Stories & Poems

‘CHESS MANIA ’ Hits Tobar an Léinn

Congratulations
to Ms. Griffin on the birth of her daughter Annie.

We would like to
welcome Miss Barry to Tobar an Léinn.

Dates to Remember
Easter Holidays: Monday 14th—Friday 25th April
Public Holiday: Monday 5th May 2014
Monday 2nd June 2014.
Communion Day: Sunday 18th May at 11am
Confirmation Day: Friday May 30th at 11.30am(SCHOOL CLOSED)

We would like to wish all the Parents, Guardians and Families of Tobar an Léinn a very Happy Easter.

First Penance
On the 27th March 2014, 2nd class celebrated their First Penance. We put a lot of effort into the art work. We made sheep and painted the Good Shepherd. On Thursday afternoon we went to the church to practise with Fr. Kelly. At 7:30pm we arrived at the church. We were feeling nervous and excited. Nuala came to sing hymns at the beginning and end. We sang the song “I’m sorry”. It sounded wonderful. We had to learn four prayers off by heart for our First Penance: “Act of Sorrow”, “Prayer for Forgiveness”, “Prayer after Forgiveness” and “The Confiteor”. We took turns to walk up and sit beside Fr. Kelly to tell him our sins. We said our sins to make us a better person. We all love God and God loves us. If we do not obey our parents, God will forgive us. We are now preparing for our First Holy Communion with Ms. Barry . By Kaja Mc Donald , Caoimhe Moynihan & Adam Maher - 2nd Class.

Over the next few weeks, 5th and 6th class will be busy preparing for their Confirmation on 30th May, 2014. Their “You Shall Be My Witnesses” Programme has now commenced.

Confirmation

Lenten Prayer
Jesus in the wilderness,
In those moments when I choose
To do without
And find it difficult,
Help me, strengthen me
With thoughts of others
Who do without
And have no choice.
Amen.

World Book Day
On the 6th of March 2014 it was World Book Day. This event encourages children to read more books. Pupils from school all over the world dressed up as their favourite characters from their favourite book. When I got to school I met lots of strange characters dressed in costume, such as Detective Theodora, Judy Moody, Dirty Bertie, Dork Diary and lots more. Before small break time we had to go to the top of the class one by one and tell the class about our character and book. All the children that were dressed up got their photo taken for World Book Day. Our teachers gave us a book token, which we can use to buy a selected book from our local book store. I really enjoyed this event and hope it is on again next year.
By Jennifer Holland, 4th class

Lá Glas
Bhí lá glas ar siúl sa scoil ar an Aoine, 14ú Marta 2014. Bhí gach duine ag caitheamh glas.
Bhí t-léine glas orm. Thosaigh an ceol choirm ag am lón. Bhí mé féin agus Colleen ag seinm ceoil,
Is breá liom go mór an lá sin mar bhí craic againn ag damhsa freisin.
By Lucy Donoghue, 1st class

We came together and decided to enter the Young Scientist Exhibition. We sent in our proposal in September and we were delighted when we found out we got accepted!
On the 10th of January we presented our project in the RDS in Dublin. Our project was ‘Why Do We Yawn?’ We got set up and got attention from the public straight away! Many people asked interesting questions about why we yawn. Later in the day we got interviewed for television and they asked us many questions. A judge came around and she was impressed. She was very pleased and loved our posters. She had never seen a project done on ‘yawning’ before, so she loved our idea.
We had a great day. The experience was fantastic. We were very proud to represent Tobar an Léinn.
By: Leah Moffitt, Éabha Young, Shóna Phelan, Orla Joyce and Amy Whelan.

Global Warming
Fossil fuels can be good, but also very bad. This report will tell you all about them. This is the information we learned on our Action Day for our Green Flag for Travel.
Carbon
Carbon is 18% of our bodies. Carbon is in nearly everything. It is very social. It likes to link up with oxygen, forming Carbon Dioxide.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are turf, coal, oil and gas. These are all natural resources. They are formed when animals or plants die and rot. We use them for transport and heat. Although they can be very helpful, they let out carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide makes the earth warmer. Many scientists predict that as a result, in places like the North and South Pole, ice and snow will melt. This will have a bad effect on penguins, polar bears and us. When ice and snow melts, it will go into the sea, the sea levels will rise and before we know it, the sea will be higher than land in places. People are suggesting that we could build walls like in Holland to keep the water out.
Global Warming
Fossil fuels cause global warming. Global warming will melt ice and what if the Poles had no ice? Winter will be summer. There will be no such thing as snow and after years and years, people will think it was just a made-up fairy tale! Well, we can’t let that happen!
What can we do?
We must try to walk or cycle more often. You might think there is no point trying because no one else will. Well, that’s wrong! Even the smallest thing could make a big difference. This is a war for our world! It’s Global Warming! Please do what you can to help, and also, please take this advice very seriously. Thank you. By Alisann Gorman, 4th class

The Young Scientist Exhibition

Swimming
Every Tuesday 1st, 2nd and 3rd class go swimming in Portlaoise Leisure Centre. They are enjoying the experience and learning very important skills.
After Easter 4th, 5th and 6th classes will commence their lessons.

Write-a-Book
We wrote books for the Write-a-Book Project. Most books were non-fiction but a few were fiction. We drew pictures and coloured them with colouring pencils. Children in 1st and 2nd class wrote books as well. We are very proud of our books!
By Fionn Hanley, Chloe Beere and Harry Bland, Senior Infants

Saint Brigid Speaks Out
My name is Brigid, I grew up in a place called Faughart, Co. Louth. My family was wealthy enough and had a good bit of land. My favourite subject in school was religion.
One day a poor woman came to the door begging for food. I told her to wait a second while I went outside to do something. When I was about to come back inside I saw a bucket of milk. I took the milk back inside and gave it to the poor woman. The woman was delighted. After the women left I went up to my bedroom and prayed for about twenty minutes that my father wouldn’t notice. When I went back to the kitchen I was amazed to see that there was a bucket of milk on the floor. I was puzzled at first as to how it got there but I later realised it must have been God.
About two years later, while I was up in my bedroom I heard a knock on the door. My mother and father were gone so I didn’t know if I should open the door or not. I then curiously opened the door. It was a really poor man begging for food. The man started talking about how desperately his family needed food. I then got an idea. I went up to my father’s room and took his best sword out of the glass cabinet. I brought the sword to the man and said, “Here, this is for you.” The man couldn’t believe his eyes. He thanked me several times before rushing down the road to show his family. When my father found out his best sword was gone he was furious. I told him I had given it to a poor man to sell to get food. That calmed him down a bit.
My father began to notice my religiousness. He was not happy about this as he wanted me to get married. After debating for a while I got my way and joined a convent.
I then got the idea of building a church but I had no land. I was desperate for land so I went to the King of Leinster. He brought me to a field with a big oak tree and said I could build my church there. I went ahead with the offer and built my church/convent.
One day I went to visit an old man who was dying. He told me he was a pagan so I explained to him who God was. While I was explaining I spotted some rushes on the ground. I picked up the rushes and made a cross out of them. After explaining how Jesus died on the cross the man started believing in God. He spent his last few minutes believing in God.
By Daniel O’Sullivan, 5th Class.

Easter, Easter
Easter, Easter,
It’s finally here.
So come on,
And give a big cheer.
Easter, Easter,
The Easter Bunny.
Come on down,
Cause you’re really funny.
Easter, Easter,
It’s here at last.
Please, please, please,
Don’t go by fast.
Easter, Easter,
An Easter egg hunt.
It’s so much fun,
In the sun.
EASTER.
By Natasha Dunne, 5th class.

Easter Competition

Design and decorate your own Easter Egg on an A4 sheet of paper. Give your entry to your class teacher with your name on it by Thursday 10th April.
Best of luck to all!!!.