Grandparents Day at Scoil San Nioclás

The doors of Scoil San Nioclás, Stabannon opened up on Friday 2 February to welcome friends and relatives to their Day of Celebration.

Staff at Scoil San Nioclás says that there was “an incredible atmosphere” in the school and that it was plain to be seen how much the grandparents mean to the boys and girls.

They said it was absolutely wonderful to see the children so excited to show them around their school and their classrooms.

The day began with a prayer service in St. Nicholas’ Church which is right across the road from Scoil San Nioclás.

The senior pupils lead the service and all of the children in the school sang beautifully. There was a great sense of togetherness.

Scoil San Nioclás has been involved with the Creative Schools initiative since 2019. They really have opened up the world of creativity and the arts for their pupils.

They have hosted workshops in Print Making, Sculpture, Landscape Painting and Illustration. They have invited guests to demonstrate Circus Tricks, Zumba Drumming, Dance, Gymnastics and Yoga. Creative Spark, Dundalk has also worked in conjunction with the staff on creative projects.

Local artist Susan Farrelly was there and spoke about the journey of the amazing mural.

Since 2019 local artist and educator Susan has been creating unique inclusive, creative arts programs for Scoil San Nioclás, Stabannon.

She said: “In 2022 we began the mural project. Each element of the school mural, from 2D design on paper, external wall painting, decorating 3D wooden motifs and lettering was created collaboratively, by and with all the children in the school - a wonderful creative legacy for the community.

“So often we see art work produced for children - they opted for a hands on - learning by doing, design thinking approach.

Art is a visual problem solving tool and all the skills required for that are practical.

“STEAM plays an important role in this school and I saw that over the years that I worked with the school. This STEAM inspired theme enabled us to cover content relating to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths.”

Ms. Flanagan, the school principal spoke about how the “voice of the children” is at the heart of this school and this is evident in the art work.

Pupils, past and present have all been involved in the design. Then the rollers and the paint brushes came out and everyone went outside to paint a section on the wall. They are all so proud of their work!

The school, set in the heart of the country offers a wonderful space both indoors and outdoors for the children to learn and grow in.

The spacious grass areas, the wonderful playground on site and the sensory play areas are thoroughly enjoyed by the pupils during break-times.

There is an outdoor classroom area and they have raised beds in which they grow and taste their own vegetables, herbs and a selection of edible flowers. This is where the children and teachers get to connect with nature.

While the school focuses on the academic performance of its pupils, the school also loves to engage the children in the arts, sport and STEM subjects.

Scoil San Nioclás places emphasis on the overall development of their students, a spokesperson said.

The hardworking staff gives time to each child to grow at their own pace which instills confidence in them.

The school has all the facilities of a Learning Lab which opened in 2022, a fantastic library, well-equipped spacious classrooms and more, to ensure the pupils have it all at their disposal.

“The most precious thing in this world is a smile on a child’s face and today there were plenty of smiles to be seen in this happy school!”, Ms Flanagan said.