Welcome

Welcome to Manister National School. Thank you for taking the time to visit our school website. Our school aims to provide a warm and nurturing environment for pupils to try to achieve their full potential academically, spiritually, physically, socially and emotionally. We strive to be a centre of learning and happiness for all pupils and a source of help and encouragement for all parents. We are extremely proud of our school and community and hope you enjoy your visit to our website!

School News

​Thursday June 29th
So another school year comes to an end. All that remains is to wish you all a lovely Summer and see you on August 30th.

Now that you have lots of time on your hands over the summer it's a great opportunity to catch up on some great books. Have a look at a list of the Top 100 Children's Books here. Print it off, tick off the ones you have already read and pick out a few to read over the summer. Most will be available for free at your local library.
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Cathal and Emily lower the Tricolour for the last time this school year.

Thursday June 29th
Today we say goodbye to our 6th Class students, Cathal B, PJ, Aoife, Kelly, James T, Harry, Jack D, Cathal D, Jane, Emily, Chris, James C, Andrew, Colm, Darragh and Jack Mc. We will certainly miss your exhuberance and energy around the school.

All the best with the next chapter of your lives and be the difference that makes a difference.

6th class wil certainly leave their mark wherever they go.

Wednesday June 28th
Well, all the scores have been totted up and re-checked and the results of the Sports Day Team and Most Valuable Players competitions are in. The competition was very tight, with a tiny two point difference between the first and second teams. There were only 20 points across all eight teams.

So the winners were:

​First: Cork (Emily, Killian, Daithi, Sophia, Emma, Maeve, Harry and Daisy)

Most Valuable Boy: Jack McNamara

Most Valuable Girl: Rachel O'Keeffe

​Distinguished Effort: Gio Lynch

Wednesday June 19th
Well ​done to Alex and Jamie who went through the whole of Junior Infants without missing a single day. We'll have some of what they're having.

Active Week June 19th to June 23rd
Our Active week timetable is as follows:-

•     Monday: Yoga with Stephanie
•     Tuesday: Walk a mile (or more)
•     Wednesday: Penalties on the principal
•     Thursday: School Sports Day
•     Friday: Parent's Surprise (Flash Mob Dance)

Click on the links above to see some photos from the week.

Monday June 19th
Well done to Niall who was part of the Mungret Regional side who won the 16th Annual Joanne O'Brien U10 Soccer Tournament recently.

Thursday June 15th
Junior Infants to 2nd class had a great school tour at the Just 4 Kids Camp in Mary Immaculate College. They had a fun filled day of activities and raised €98 for Crumlin Children's Hospital.

Tuesday June 6th
Congratulations to Harry Lillis who was part of the Under-11 team which beat Adare in the Community Games Hurling Competition recently. 

Friday June 2nd
The West Midland's Theatre Group visited the school and put on a show called Wizard William in the halla. It was a mad-cap comedy and was great fun.

Wednesday May 31st
A disappointing day out in Martinstown today as both our camógie and hurling teams were beaten in their respective finals by Herbertstown and Athlacca. 

Well down to the boys and girls for making the finals and also for the excellent behaviour on the day.

Friday May 26th
3rd to 6th classes had a great school tour to Ballyhass today. Lots of hair-raising activities were experienced but we all arrived home intact.
Have a look at a sample of the photos here.

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Friday May 19th
The infants planted out our vegetable beds today - in between the showers of rain. Looking forward to harvesting our potatoes, onions, sweet-corn, beetroot, carrot, radish and beetroot next autumn.
Some photos here.

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Saturday May 20th
Congratulations to all our 2nd class pupils who made their First Communion today.
Some more photographs can be viewed here.

Wednesday May 10th
Congratulations to all our 5th and 6th class pupils who made their confirmation today. You did your families, community and school proud.

​May the Holy Spirit guide and protect you throughout your young lives and into adulthood.

Wednesday April 26th

Thanks to JP McManus and the Team Limerick Cleanup organisers who delivered a huge cake to the school today to thank us for doing our bit for TLC3.

The cake was so big that everyone in the school (even the teachers) got a slice.

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​Here are some photographs from our TLC3.



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The Green School Committee about to cut into the cake.

Tuesday April 25th

More success on the soccer field over Easter for Isobel, Lucy, Amy and Ella. The quartet played on the Holycross Girls U-12 team which won the Limerick County and District 2nd Division.

​Maith sibh cailíní.

Monday April 24th

Well done to Niall, who was part of the Mungret Regional soccer team who were runners-up in the Manchester Cup (in - yes, you guessed it - Manchester) over Easter. They competed with 7 other teams from all around the world, including one team who had come all the way from Malta.

Niall also went to see Championship side Huddersfield beat Preston 3-2 as they pursue a play-off place for next years Premiership. Who knows, we may  yet see Niall lining out for a Premiership side one day.

The photo across shows Niall with signed match programme, match tickets and his tournament silver medal.

​Saturday April 22nd
Can't wait to try out the new yard markings on Monday.

Tuesday April 11th
A hearty well done to Emily and her team-mates who came 13th out of 92 teams from all over the world in the Under-13 8-Hand competition at the World Irish Dancing Championships in Dublin.

With teacher Muirne Bennis and World Championship medals,

Taking the applause

Friday April 7th
Infants heard that the Easter Bunny had visited early this year and there was great activity as we ran around the school grounds trying to find all the eggs she left.

​Check out some of the photos here.

Friday April 7th
Great excitement this morning as we arrived in the school to find that two of our incubator eggs had hatched out overnight. The new arrivals are waddling around and drinking water quite happily.  Now all we have to do is come up with names for them - any suggestions?

Thanks to Conor and Éabha and their dad for lending us the eggs and incubator.

Thursday April 6th
As part of our Green Schools Flag responsibilites and in conjunction with TLC 2017 we held a litter pick of the school grounds and areas around the Community Hall and Church.

​1st to 6th classes participated. We were divided into four different groups and each group was assigned a different area to clean. By the end we had a huge pile of rubbish and the place was spick and span.

​Here are some photographs from the activity.

Déardaoin 23ú Márta - Féile Luimní 2017
Congratulations to all those who took part in Féile Luimní 2017.
Here are some photos of the participants this year!
​Maith sibh!

Thursday March 23rd 
Beautiful view of the snow-flecked Galtees from the school today.

Dé hAoine -  17/03/17   

Thursday March 16th 

A hearty congratulations to Michelle (AKA Ms. Davoren) and Christopher who got engaged last weekend.

Wednesday March 15th 
Thank you very much to Tony Heffernan and John for their visit today with their Bumbleance. Everyone got to look inside the Bumbleance while Tony explained why it is so important for the sick children who use it and for their families. We were all very impressed and we are looking forward to fundraising again for this special cause. 

www.bumbleance.com

Tuesday March 14th 
Well done to Harry and Olivia who presented the winning trophy to jockey Lisa O'Neill at Cheltenham today. Lisa won the race named in honor of their dad JT. 

Tuesday March 14th 

We are looking forward to a visit from The Bumbleance at school tomorrow. We have raised money for The Bumbleance while carol singing in December 2015 and 2016.  You can see what the money the children of Manister N.S helped to raise is used for by looking at their website.  www.bumbleance.com

We hope you agree that this will be a warm welcome for The Bumbleance who help so many families all over Ireland.

Friday March 10th
After-School Activities start up next week until Easter. The activities take place from 3:10pm to 4pm. The schedule is:-

• Mondays: Hurling (5th and 6th Classes) - Mr Lavin
• Tuesdays: Active Club (1st and 2nd Classes) - Ms Sheehy, Ms Fitzgerald and Ms Davoren
• Thursdays: Scratch Computer Coding (3rd and 4th Classes) - Mr Musgrave

Wednesday March 1st
Our two young lads looked very dapper when they stepped out to model some First Communion threads on Ireland AM this morning.

Friday February 17th
Thanks to everyone who came to our open night last evening. We hope you got what you needed from it. If you have any further queries please don't hesitate to contact the school.

School Open Night - Thursday February 16th.
We will be holding our Open Night this year on Thursday February 16th 7pm to 8:30pm. If you are interested do feel welcome to pop along on the night.

Monday February 6th - Grandparent's Day 
​It was lovely to have our grandparents visit our school for Grandparent's Day. 

Fr Ryan said a short service beforehand. The line where he said that "memories are photographs for our hearts" was especially nice.

Afterwards, our grandparents visited our classrooms and viewed some of our work. We had a chance to ask them about school life when they were young.

Finally they went to the staff room and had tea and goodies. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our school. This will be a special memory in our young lives and we hope that it will be a special memory for our grandparents also.​

See here for some photographs of the day.

Friday February 3rd 
​Our 6th class pupils got their secondary school places this week. They've come a long way.

Wednesday February 1st​
It's St. Bridget's Day and Infants have re-created St. Bridget's Cloak.

Wednesday January 25th - Spring is approaching - the cornfield across the road has been ploughed.
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Follower by Seamus Heaney

My father worked with a horse-plough, 
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung 
Between the shafts and the furrow. 
The horse strained at his clicking tongue.                            Continued.......... 

Friday January 20th - Maths and Writing Topics
This month we have been studying about money in Maths and throughout this term we will be studying all about Narrative Writing.

Friday January 13th - BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition
It may have been Friday the thirteenth but it certainly wasn't unlucky for past pupil Hannah Lucey as she won a national award for her project on determining the age of the universe at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. We hope to get Hannah in to the school soon to give us a presentation on her project. A hearty congratulations Hannah.

Monday January 9th - BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition
Well done to past pupil, Hannah Lucey, on qualifying for The BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition which takes this Thursday to Saturday in the RDS, Dublin. Hannah is currently in 2nd year in Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom.

Hannah's project is all about determining the age of the universe. She did this by studying "Globular Clusters" which are very old stars believed to have formed just after the creation of the universe. By using Star Colour and Luminosity data gathered from a telescope in New Mexico she derieved a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (we'll have to ask Hannah about that one!) and from this calculated an approximate age of the universe.

We hope you WOW! them in the RDS Hannah.

Congratulations to all those involved in our carol singing fundraising event.

Congratulations and thanks to all those who helped to make carol singing in The Crescent Shopping Centre on December 21st such a success.  Moms, Dads, Grandparents and friends all helped on the evening by bringing in and taking home chairs, dropping, waiting for and collecting the singers and musicians and by helping with the collection. Thank you to Tina ( Mrs. Keyes ) and her guitar students and last but not least to the singers who had no problem singing Feliz Navidad so very, very often………!!! We raised €1301 in one evening which is divided between two charities. The Bumbleance ( www.bumbleance.com ) and Cenacalo Community in Knock ( http://www.communitycenacolo.ie/ ). Congratulations once again to all involved and Thank you for all your support! Looking forward to raising money again for these two worthy causes this Christmas( 2017)! ! Happy New Year !

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Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad
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A Happy and Peaceful Christmas to all the pupils, parents, families and staff of Manister National School.

​We hope Santa comes. 

Thursday December 22nd - Mags 
We said goodbye to Mags today also. All the best in your new job. We'll miss you.

Thursday December 22nd - Eamon and Rita
Rita and Eamon (AKA The Cleaning Fairies) finished up today.

Rita and Eamon have been coming into the school, after we leave in the evening, for the last 22 years and making sure it is kept spick and span. They have always done a brilliant job and have been a vital part in making sure the school runs smoothly.

A sincere thanks for your devotion over the years and all the best for the future Rita and Eamon. 

Advent Calendar
Check out this advent calendar to discover interesting facts about Christmas all over the world.

​Thursday December 15th - Frosty the Snowman
Juniors and Seniors went to see Frosty the Snowman in a real theatre. Santa Claus was kidnapped by Jack Frost and Frosty and Mrs Claus had to rescue him. Mrs. Claus was very funny. Jack Frost was really scary. It was a really good show.

Here are some photos from the show.

Wednesday December 14th - School Art Exhibition.
Thanks to everyone who turned up to our Art Exhibition this evening. We're sure you'll agree it was a lovely social event for the school community to get together and meet with pupils, families and staff.

All the art pieces were truly fabulous and the frames showed them in their best light. We're sure they will be pieces which you will treasure for the future. Most of all the exhibition will boost the children's self-esteem by displaying their pieces in a real art exhibition.

Finally, a big thanks to everyone who donated cakes, buns and biscuits and especially to the parents who helped with tea/coffee and goodies.
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You can find some photos from the night and results of "Guess the Teacher's Picture" here.

Ms Davoren's Elf on the Shelf is keeping a cose eye on all the pupils (and teachers).

Friday December 9th 2016 - Team Limerick Clean-up "Make a Big Christmas Tree"
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If you're visiting The Crescent Shopping Centre coming up to Christmas keep an eye out for 3rd/4th Classes' Christmas Tree. It's located to the left of the entrance to the Garryowen Mall (the entrance nearest the playground).

Thursday December 8th 2016 - Lighting of the School Christmas Tree
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We had our traditional 8th of December decorating and lighting of the school Christmas tree today. The youngest girl and boy in the school, Amy and Frankie, got to put on the star and to switch on the lights. Only 17 more sleeps 'til Christmas.

Friday November 25th 2016 - Mangahigh Gold medal winners
Well done to our six budding mathematicians who scored more than 150 points each on Mangahigh during the recent maths week and were presented with their gold medals today. Jane, Ella, Sinéad, James, Sophia and Isobel - ye did yourselves and the school proud.

​Tuesday November 15th 2016 - Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal
Another mammoth effort by pupils and parents this year. Team Hope collected 74 Christmas Shoeboxes from the school today. Many of you reading had taken the time and expense to fill and decorate the shoeboxes. These will be delivered to children in the remotest and poorest parts of the world. Your shoebox will bring a smile to children who think they have been forgotten but your kindness shows that they haven't been.

Thank You for helping out.

Some photos here.

For more details on Team Hope see here - https://www.teamhope.ie/

Saturday November 12th 2016 - Dylan leads Irish Rugby team out at the Aviva

A very proud Dylan MacNamara led the Irish team onto the pitch last Saturday at the Aviva Stadium before a crowd of over 43,000. A profile of Dylan appeared in the match programme also . Maybe one day Dylan will follow in the footsteps of Cian Healy and appear on the front cover of an Irish International Rugby match program.

Dylan certainly brought Ireland good fortune as they ran out 52-21 winners over Canada. Well done Dylan.

Click on the images below to enlarge.

Friday October 28th 2016 - Horror Show at Manister School
Another monstrous effort by everyone this Hallowe'en. Best year ever for the costumes. Well done - especially to the "home-made" outfits which were truly brilliant.

Check out the photos here and decide which is your favourite?

Have a great break and see you on Nov 7th.

Thursday October 27th 2016 - Team Hope Shoebox
Just a reminder that all filled shoe-boxes need to be returned to the school by Friday November 11th at the latest.
More info on Team Hope can be found here - ​https://www.teamhope.ie/christmas-shoebox-appeal/

Monday October 24th 2016 - Mangahigh
​Well done to all pupils who participated in Mangahigh. You were one of 32,079 pupils across 586 schools in Ireland who participated. Pupils of Manister won 1115 points and our school finished 105th of the 586 schools who participated which was excellent for a relatively small school.

A special well done to - Ella, James, Jane, Isabel, Sinéad and Sophia who did magnificently in achieving over 150 points and in doing so will get a Mangahigh Gold Medal. Last year we had only two pupils to achieve the gold medal target, this year we have six.

You can still log in and play Mangahigh if you wish,

​Friday October 21st 2016
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​Wishing Eibhlín and Ronan all the best for their big day next week and for the future.

From all the pupils, parents and staff at Manister National School

Monday October 17th 2016
​The Boys Football played Athlacca in the Cumann na mBunscol South Limerick Final in Martinstown today.

Unfortunately, despite a spirited showing,  it wasn't our day. Congratulations to Athlacca - we'll take ye next year.

More photos here. 

Friday October 14th 2016
​Maths week runs from Saturday Oct 15th to next Friday Oct 23rd. 

Mangahigh is a free website which has lots of fun and challenging maths activities.  Every pupil from 3rd to 6th class has been given a User ID and Password to access Mangahigh. You can use these to log in here - www.mangahigh.com. 

For the duration of maths week you can play any of the Mangahigh activities you win 3, 2 or 1 point(s) depending on how fast and how accurate you are. If you get more than 150 points you will get a really cool gold medal. Two pupils got medals last year. Let's see if we can beat that this year.

Tuesday October 11th 2016
​Lee from Skip-Hop visited the school today. He told us all about the amazing world of skipping. You can check out some videos and photos here. 

Monday October 10th 2016
​Thanks to all the girls who turned up for football training for the last month and who played in theCumann na mBunscoil girls' football matches in Martinstown today. The behaviour was brilliant and ye did the school proud so well done all.

Thursday September 29th 2016
​Well done to our Boys' Football Team who won all three games in their division of the Cumann na mBunscol - South Limerick competition earlier today. They now qualify to play Athlacca in the division final. Maith sibh buachaillí.

Friday September 23rd 2016
Wonderful sight of the corn being harvested across from the school today.

​Friday September 16th 2016
As part of National Fitness Day we held a Take-On-The-Teachers dodge ball competition, inter-class penalty competition and Mr. Lavin vs pupil penalty shoot-out. 
See here for the results and some photos.

Friday September 16th 2016
Infants harvested our bumper crop of veg today. See here for pics of some alien beetroot and wonky carrots.

Friday September 16th 2016
After School activities will start next week and continue until the October mid-term break. The schedule is

• Boys' Football/Hurling - Mondays 3:10pm - 4pm: 
• Girls' Football - Tuesdays 3:10pm - 4pm
• Irish Club (Art /Crafts/PE/Drama trí mheán na Gaeilge) - Wednesdays 3:10pm - 4pm

Friday September 16th 2016
It's Culture Night and there are events to suit all tastes around Limerick City and County and best of all they all cost absolutely nothing to attend.
See here for a list of events on in Limerick - http://www.culturenight.ie/tax_regional_events/limerick/

Thursday September 15th 2016
Congratulations to Caoimhe who got a third place and to Anna, Harry, Harry eile and Shane who were awarded Highly Commended in the recent Limerick Show Schools Art Competition.

Thursday September 15th 2016
Inspired by the Rio Olympics and interested in testing yourself on a mile run/walk against your son/daughter? Well pop along to the pitch this morning and participate in our Walk/Run a mile. The start times are:-
 5th/6th     9:30am
 3rd/4th     9:45am
 1st/2nd     10am
​ Infants       10:15am

Fair deuce to all the parents who braved going up against the kids. Hope the egos are not too damaged.

​August 31st 2016 - Welcome Back
Welcome back everyone - especially to our new Junior Infants below. Where did the last two months go? Here's to a productive and fun 2016-17 school year.

Some tips for the school lunch-box.
Avoid the Hang-Sandwich Rut - here are some tips to liven up that school lunch-box.

​August 27th 2016 - Limerick Show
Congratulations to Caoimhe O'Riordan who came third and to Anna Barry, Harry McNamara and Shane Duggan who all won Highly Commended Rosettes in the Limerick Show  Art Competition. 

​Congratulations to Maeve Browne who came third in her horse showing competition.

Also congratulations to everyone who helped out with our school garden which won the Best School Garden at the Limerick Show.

School Year Calendar 2016-17

​Christmas Term

• August 31st – All pupils return to school
• September 13th - Roald Dahl Day
• September 15th - Join us and walk/run a mile with your child.
• September 16th - Culture Night.
• September 19th - Talk like a pirate day.
• October 11th - Skip-Hop
• October 15th - 23rd - Maths Week
• October 31st to November 4th inclusive - Hallowe'en Mid-Term Break
• Close on Thursday December 22nd 12 noon  for Christmas Holidays

Easter Term

• January 9th - All pupils return to school
• January 11th/12th 3:30pm - 5:30pm - Parent Teacher Meetings
• January 24th - Circuits starting back every Monday and Wednesday
• Jan 31st  to February 6th - Catholic Schools Week
• February 6th - Grandparents Day
• February 16th 7pm to 8:30pm - Open Night
• February 20th to February 24th inclusive - Mid-Term Break
• Márta 1ú - 17u - Seachtain na Gaeilge
• March 15th - Bumbleance
• March 17th - St. Patrick's Day
• March 27th - Diocesean Inspection
• Close on Friday April 7th at 12:30pm for Easter Holidays

Summer Term

• April 24th - All pupils return to school
• ​April 26th - First Confessions (during school hours)
• Apri 27th - Swimming starts for the next 6 Thursdays (April 27th to June 1st inclusive)
• April 30th - The Great Limerick Run
• May 1st - Bank Holiday
• May 10th - Confirmation 1pm (Note the school will be closed on this day)
• May 12th - Green Schools Flag presentation in Cork
• May 20th - First Holy Communion 12 noon
• Late May/Early June - SIGMA-T, MICRA-T and Drumcondra Spelling Tests.
• May 24th - School closed as teachers on a course on the New Primary Language Curriculum
• May 26th - 3rd to 6th Classes School Tour
• June 2nd - West Midland Theatre Company
• June 5th - Bank Holiday
• June 9th - Open Day for Junior Infants 2017/18
• June 15th - Infants, 1st and 2nd Classes School Tour
• June 19th to 23rd - Active Week and Sports Day
• June 29th - Summer Holidays. Half day.