Askeaton Senior National School

The Community Council event called “Unity in the Community” on Sunday 1st October was a great success.

The pictures show some of the project-work prepared for this community event.

The Community Council of Askeaton / Ballysteen have launched a new initiative this Autumn called “Unity in the Community”. The big event will take place this Sunday afternoon (1st october) in the Community Hall, and all are invited to attend. (Children need to be accompanied by a responsible adult.)

Each organisation, club and school in the parish has been invited to submit a display to portray its place in the community. The theme of “Unity in the Community” has been adopted in each class and integrated into the various strands of the school curriculum for the past few weeks. The pupils from 3rd to 6th have examined the various aspects of the local community in an age-appropriate way through projects in Gaeilge, English, History and Geography as well as Art and Craft.

Due to the limited space available in the Community Hall for the display, only some of the projects will be taken there. The other project work may be viewed in the school.

The pupils put a great effort into completing their various projects and are justifiably proud of their achievements. It was beneficial to all to raise awareness of the positive features in the Community of Askeaton /Ballysteen.

                           more photos to follow….

Our pupils and staff were honoured today by the visit to Askeaton Junior and Senior National Schools of the 1st Citizen of Limerick.

Kieran O’Hanlon, Mayor of the City and County of Limerick, took some time out of his busy schedule and received a great Askeaton welcome. Our esteemed guest was met by the principals of both schools Ms Aine O Connor and Mr JP O Connell and escorted to the GP room where all of the pupils and staff  were gathered together for this special occasion. The Mayor then gave a very interesting and age-appropriate talk about his role and the type of work he does. He told us about the chain of office and the red robes that a mayor wears when representing Limerick City and County.

He had two important messages to impart to us. The first is that we must all be proud of our county and at all times keep it clean and free of litter.  The other message is that we must always be kind and helpful to others as proud citizens of Limerick.

The pupils then were afforded the opportunity to ask individual questions of the Mayor. He was happy to impart information about the work he does as Mayor and some interesting events he has attended recently. He told us about the car which is provided for the Limerick Mayor and which always has a number plate of L 1 . A driver is also available to accompany the Mayor in his official role. Each Mayor has a term of one year at a time but could be elected more than once. This Mayor Kieran O Hanlon was previously elected Mayor in the 1990s and he is extremely proud of holding this office as our representative.

Rinne gach rang in ár scoil  iarracht speisialta an Ghaeilge a chleachtadh i rith Seachtain na Gaeilge.

Bhí  imeachtaí Ghaeilge  éagsula ag tarlú i ngach rang mar shampla damhsa, amhránaíocht, filíocht agus  tráth na gceist, chomh maith le cúrsaí ealaíne.

Bhaineamar an-taitneamh as usáid na Gaeilge sna ranganna go léir.

Rinne gach duine sár-iarracht an Ghaeilge a usáid.

The school community attended Mass for Ash Wednesday at 9.30am in St Mary’s Church on Wednesday 1st March. Following in the tradition of our forefathers the congregation along with Father Seán celebrated the ceremony of blessing the ashes and distributing them to remind us all of penance and contrition. Fr Seán with the help of pupils from each class showed us practical examples of ways we can all show kindness to others during the season of Lent. Suggestions from pupils included inviting others to join in our games, visiting elderly relatives, helping at home with housework and sharing money with those in other countries where poverty is the norm.

At Askeaton Senior NS today the pupils really enjoyed making and eating pancakes as they participated in carrying out some of the age-old traditions associated with Shrove Tuesday.

The following text is from a website called  http://www.thisischurch.com/index.html

                                           Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent. It’s a day of penitence, to clean the soul, and a day of celebration as the last chance to feast before Lent begins. But there’s more to Shrove Tuesday than pigging out on pancakes or taking part in a public pancake race. The pancakes themselves are part of an ancient custom with deeply religious roots.

Penitence

Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the ritual of shriving that Christians used to undergo in the past. In shriving, a person confesses their sins and receives absolution for them. When a person receives absolution for their sins, they are forgiven for them and released from the guilt and pain that they have caused them. In the Catholic or Orthodox context, the absolution is pronounced by a priest. This tradition is very old. Over 1000 years ago a monk wrote in the Anglo-Saxon Ecclesiastical Institutes:

In the week immediately before Lent everyone shall go to his confessor and confess his deeds and the confessor shall so shrive him.

Shrove Tuesday celebrations

Shrove Tuesday is a day of celebration as well as penitence, because it’s the last day before Lent. Lent is a time of abstinence, of giving things up. So Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren’t allowed in Lent. Giving up foods: but not wasting them. In the old days there were many foods that observant Christians would not eat during Lent: foods such as meat and fish, fats, eggs, and milky foods. So that no food was wasted, families would have a feast on the shriving Tuesday, and eat up all the foods that wouldn’t last the forty days of Lent without going off.

The need to eat up the fats gave rise to the French name Mardi Gras; meaning fat Tuesday. Pancakes became associated with Shrove Tuesday as they were a dish that could use up all the eggs, fats and milk in the house with just the addition of flour.

The annual ancient tradition of making Saint Brigid’s crosses on 1st of February was once again in evidence in Askeaton Senior NS today.

The pupils were delighted to try out the craft with the lush green rushes collected by Mr O’Connell.

The pupils in these photographs are from 3rd class with a few from 5th class and 6th class.

The pupils obtained tremendous enjoyment from the process of creating the crosses and were justifiably proud of their efforts.  Many are planning to make more crosses at home for family members following in the tradition of St Brigid, whose feast day is today.   🙂   🙂

Pupils from Askeaton Senior NS had a very successful day at the Dancing Feis at Cappagh Community Hall last Sunday. The girls pictured here love Irish dancing and practice with their friends at lunchtime each day. On Sunday they won medals and trophies galore for individual jigs, reels and 2-hand reel competitions which they danced with light shoes. They also won prizes for a hard-shoe dance called “St Patrick’s Day” including a perpetual trophy.  Their dancing teacher Melissa Keane must be extremely proud of the achievements of her pupils.  Congratulations Emma, Libby and Lily who are all in 4th class 🙂