As part of our ongoing Class Acts series, The Clare Echo paid a visit to Scoil Maighdine na Mhuire in Newmarket-on-Fergus last week to talk to some of the fourth class students.
From their favourite school subjects to local sports and even camogie fashion, these young students had plenty to say. When asked about their favourite subjects, the class had a wide range of favourites with some students holding strong interest in maths and Irish with others preferring P.E. or Art. Whether it was the creativity of Art, the problem-solving in Maths, or the excitement of PE, each student had their own reason for picking a favourite.
The pupils were full of praise for their teacher too, highlighting Mr. Doyle’s helpful nature, love of sport and “chill vibe.” “He’s really funny. He tells jokes and sometimes if you tell a teacher a joke they won’t say anything but Mr. Doyle will just laugh,” said Vivienne. “He always helps us if we are confused about something,” commented Rowan. “He does a lot of activities,” said Aoibhionn, “we do P.E every Wednesday and he always brings out other sports and to play hurling and football.”
“Recently we have been doing quite a lot of gardening as well,” added Collin.
One thing that stood out was the class’s involvement in their Green Schools biodiversity project. The pupils explained that since their teacher Mr. Doyle is one of the teachers on the Green Schools Committee, they have been very involved in the school’s current endeavour to achieve their tenth green flag.
The school has a garden and flower beds built from repurposed tyres where the students plant vegetables and flowers. The students also shared that the school has opted to not cut the grass at the front of the school building to create a safe habitat for bees and other pollinators. The pupils proudly shared what they’ve been working on, from planting to learning about pollinators and local wildlife.
Sport is clearly a big part of life at Scoil Maighdine na Mhuire. The class listed off a variety of games and activities they take part in, including handball, basketball, soccer and of course hurling and camogie.
One topic that sparked a lot of reaction was the recent Munster Championship match between Clare and Tipperary. The disappointment at Clare’s loss was felt deeply among the young fans. When asked how they felt the Clare Senior men could have improved their performance, the students had plenty of advice for Brian Lohan and his team.
“They need to work on their catching, they dropped an awful lot of ball,” said Conor.
“Their goalie should have saved a few more scores,” said Maisey.
“I think they could’ve done better,” added Ellen, “because everyone was making space for them to run through and they didn’t use it.”
While they had no shortage of opinions on the senior game, the girls in the class also brought up issues from their own experience on the pitch. A lot of the fourth class girls play camogie both during school and with teams outside of it, and the conversation naturally shifted to a debate that’s close to home: skorts versus shorts.
Two students, Ellen and Vivienne, highlighted how they feel it is unfair that camogie players are not given the choice between wearing a skort or shorts during their own championship matches.
“They are just so tight,” said Ellen.
“And they actually hurt because they are so tight,” added Vivienne.
“When you go to run you feel like ‘oh this is gonna snap because it’s so tight,’ but when you wear shorts they just flow with you.”
Although they can see that some people on their team prefer to wear skorts while playing camogie, both Ellen and Vivienne feel it would be best if players were simply given the choice.
Sixth class presentation
Fourth class were not the only students to be visited by The Clare Echo team.
Stuart Holly, editor of The Clare Echo, spent some time with the sixth class students to speak to them about news and media in County Clare. Holly told the class about different forms of media, all of the potential roles they could pursue if they wanted to work in news or journalism, as well as explaining the logistics of how The Clare Echo newspaper is made each week.
