Our School Blog
Dear Parents/Guardians,
We would like to extend our congratulations to both our Junior and Senior teams for representing Castletara in the Credit Union Schools Quiz Competition, which took place on Sunday February 8th in the Cavan Crystal Hotel.
We are delighted to share that our Junior Team were overall winners on the day and will now go on to represent our school in the District Final on March 6th/7th. We wish Liam, Senan, Ceoladh and El’samid the very best of luck as they prepare for the next round.
We are extremely proud of the effort, teamwork and knowledge displayed by both teams. Well done to all involved!
Thank you to our parents Colette Quinn and Laura Bambrick for preparing the children for the quiz and our teachers Ms. Tierney and Ms. McAdoo.
Míle Buiochas agus comhghairdeas,
Tara
We have begun our Mentor Programme, where our 5th and 6th Class pupils take on the special role of mentors for the Junior and Senior Infants.The mentors meet regularly with their younger buddies to read stories, play games, and spend time together. This programme helps to build friendship, confidence, and a sense of community across the school. Both the older and younger pupils really enjoy these sessions — it’s wonderful to see the smiles and connections forming!
On October 17th 2025 the camogie players in 4th-6th Class of Castletara N.S. headed to Laragh Community Field to compete in the annual Cumann na mBunscol Camogie blitz. The girls played two games on the day against Laragh N.S. and Bailieboro N.S. The girls showed wonderful skill and determination over the day and wore the jersey with great pride. A great day of camogie was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Castletara Abú!
We’ve had a wonderful start to the new term in 2nd Class! Everyone has been so busy learning lots of new things, playing games, and having fun together. We’ve been working hard in class and helping each other as we learn and grow.
One of the highlights of our term so far was our school outing — we had such a great time exploring, learning outside the classroom, and spending the day together. It was full of smiles and laughter! It’s shaping up to be a fantastic term!
We have had a busy September. We are all settling in and enjoying being back. We enjoyed a trip to Ballyhaise to complete the Lady's walk. We loved collecting leaves, pinecones and other wonderful bits from the area. We brought our findings back to school and examined the leaves, inspecting which tree they came from and as we did so we uncovered many millipedes and insects amongst our conkers, pinecones and leaves.
We enjoyed creating some beautiful scarecrows for Art and completing the Credit Union Art Competition as well. We have had a busy month.
We remembered Leon by creating beautiful in memory of me candles as well as drawing and designing jerseys.
We look forward to our Halloween activities.
Welcome Back to 3rd Class!
We were so excited to welcome all the boys and girls in 3rd back to school after the summer holidays. Everyone has settled in well.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been busy with lots of fun and creative activities. One of our highlights was our Lady’s Walk, where we explored nature and learned about the different trees and leaves growing on the trail. The children collected acorns, leaves, twigs, and other treasures from nature, which we later used in our classroom for art and science lessons.
In class, we’ve been working hard on taking care of each other and building a kind, respectful classroom community. The children have also been enjoying writing stories and poems using their imaginations and focusing on correct structure and punctuation.
Our art lessons have been full of colour and creativity — from leaf printing and rubbings to lovely displays about our names and hobbies. It’s been a great way to get to know each other better!
We look forward to learning lots of new things throughout the year and playing lots of games and engaging in fun activities.
4th Class Are Off to a Great Start!
What a fantastic start to the school year we’ve had in 4th Class! We’ve been super busy learning, exploring, and trying out lots of new things — and we’re having a blast doing it!
4th Class Nature Walk Adventure!
On 24th September, 4th Class grabbed their jackets, tied their laces, and set off on an exciting walk.
We were full of energy and ready to explore the great outdoors. As we walked along the leafy path, we noticed how peaceful everything was. We could hear birds singing, the wind whispering through the trees, and even the soft crunch of leaves under our feet. We also collected and looked closely at lots of different leaves. Some were big and wide, some were small and pointy, and they came in all sorts of shades of green—and even a few yellow and orange ones getting ready for autumn!
We learned to spot different types of trees like oak, ash and sycamore by looking at their leaves and bark. After our walk, we chatted about everything we saw, felt, and heard. It was a perfect mix of learning and fun—and we all agreed we’d love to do it again soon! ��
Learning About Our BodiesBack in the classroom, we’ve been busy learning about some very important parts of our body — the lungs and the ear! We discovered how our lungs help us breathe and how they fill with air like balloons. We also learned how our ears pick up sounds and send messages to our brains.
Tin Whistle Time!This year, we’ve also started learning the tin whistle!
Our classroom is now filled with the sounds of sweet melodies (and a few squeaky notes too — we’re still practising!). We’re learning how to play together, and we’re really starting to get the hang of it.
5th Class have settled back into school very well. This year 5th class will be the kindness ambassadors in our school. Every Friday our kindness ambassadors will observe on yard and reward anyone who they see showing kindness. We have also started weekly music generation and drama classes. We have completed our first projects of the year based on the counties of Ireland. As part of Well-Being Wednesday,we enjoyed a trip to “Lady’s Walk” in Ballyhaise Agricultural College. On the same day some of our girls took part in a GAA blitz organised by Loreto College.
We’re off to a great start in 5th class, and we’re really looking forward to everything this school year has in store. It’s been amazing to see the energy and effort already, and we can’t wait to keep that momentum going. Here’s to a fun, successful year ahead—let’s keep up the great work!
