Milltown National School

We had 8 boys and girls competing in the County Sports Athletics competition in Craughwell today. We had athletes in the Under 9, Under 11 and Under 13 groups. There was a long distance race of 800m for U11 and U13, with the U9 group running 400m. The U9 sprinters ran 60m while the U11 and U13 boys and girls ran 80m. After a lot of heats we had a number of children reach the semi finals and 3 athletes reach the finals. They competed in the Under 9 sprint, the Under 13 sprint and the Under 13 long distance race. All the Milltown athletes came together to cheer on our runners in their races. Despite running some very hard races, they just missed medals. There were treats all around in our picnic area to celebrate a job well done. We are so proud of all the athletes for running their hearts out. They did the school proud. Thanks to all the parents who came to support. 

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of showcasing the work we have done with Milltown Heritage Group for Biodiversity Week.  The Natural History Museum ‘Dead Zoo’ at Collins Barracks had a ‘community curator’ drop in session where members of the wider community came to meet the people behind the community projects the museum has featured. Milltown National School,  along with Belmont National School, displayed the projects we have worked on for the heritage group. For us, it was our ‘Irish Animal’ book project which we have now extended to display through VR technology. We also were there to talk about the bird ringing our school took part it in the park in Milltown which has provided such valuable data for the study of migrating birds.

It was an honour to be there and have our projects displayed. Thanks to Pauline for extending the invite to us and championing our work.

The senior end of the school went on their school tour to Galway Atlantaquarium on Friday. This was a very hands on tour with the children getting stuck in on the beach and in the lab. They began with a beach safari where they explored Grattan Beach at low tide. The children were searching for all the sealife that has washed ashore. They explored rock pools and small crevices where they found  crabs, mussels and sand mason worms. Their tour guides explained about all of the creatures they found and everyone got to see the variety that the tide had left behind. They were returned to the sea when the beach combing had finished. After a short break, the children got a tour of the aquarium where they saw the fish that inhabitant the seas, rivers and canals around Galway. This was a great opportunity to get up close to dogfish sharks, cod, seahorses, pike, rays and even congor eels. 

The children then became marine biologists as they headed to the lab to dissect a squid. Squid are common to the deep parts of Galway Bay and the children learned all about their anatomy in a very practical way. This was a such an amazing experience that we know they will remember forever. 

After all that hard work, there was a all deserved  pit stop in Supermacs before the journey home. 

It was a lovely day out and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Thanks to everyone at Galway Atlantaquarium for a great tour. 

First and second class took inspiration from David Hockney for art this week.  They painted a pool scene inspired by Hockney’s famous painting ‘A Bigger Splash.’ They learned about him as an artist and painted a swimmer in the typical Hockney style with deep blues and block colours. We are all looking forward to sunnier days ahead!

Well done to our boys and girls teams who were in action this week for the Cumann na mBunscol competition. The girls had their blitz on Tuesday and got all the way to the play offs. The boys powered through their games to reach the next stage. We are so grateful to the parents who help us through training and support. We really appreciate it. We are so proud of all the children for how they represented the school. 🔵⚪️