Our Time in Tobar an Linn Tobar

Nasc
Its the last year of primary school for the
nine sixth class pupils of Tobar an Linn.
Times here were pleasant, from our first days
of juniors, to our last days of sixth class.
Ms N Leathlobhair was our teacher in juniors
and seniors. We remember when she helped us
settle into school when we first arrived. We
remember when we sang The Monkey Man chines and gadgets. That year we also did the
with all the actions. And of course we remem-
ber the school play at Christmas and the first
school tour we ever had, Abbeyleix Park.
In first and second class, we remember the
preparations for our First Penance and our Ho-
ly Communion. Our teacher was Mrs Griffin.
We remember our Christmas plays and our
school tours, first class was to Abbeyleix li-
brary and Dove House and in second class was
to Bunratty Castle.
In third class we had Mrs Moore. We remem-
ber one of our class mates Fionn Earls moved
to a different school, and the year before a
girl named Sarah Haide had moved school as
In fourth class we had Ms N Leathlobhair Ts
again. That year we went to The National Stud
and The Military Museum in Kildare for our An Mait
h
school tour.
In fifth class, Mr. Crean was our teacher we
entered the Intel Mini Scientist Competition
Linn
and we had lots of fun trying to invent ma- Issue 16/17 3
Inside this Issue
Biz World Junior Entrepeneur Programme We fondly remember our former teacher, colleague and friend Judy Walsh
[JEP] . We had a great year that year because who passed away on the 15th June. Judy taught as Learning Support Teacher in First Holy Com-
the girls won the double in Cumann na mBun- Tobar an Linn from 2005 until 2015. She was the epitome of our school motto munion
scol . We won the football and camogie all in Courage for life, life with humour, humour with dignity. We were lucky to have
Write-A-Book
one year. Judy with us as she shared a wealth of wisdom with students and teachers alike.
Gymnastics
And finally, this year we remember doing the Ar dhs D go raibh a hanam.
JEP and the Mini Scientist programme, and the Debating
Cumann Na mBunscol. The girls werent so lucky
Beyond Earth's veil I cannot see School Tours
in the camogie but the boys made it all the way
to the semi finals in the hurling but sadly lost but my faith is strong, I trust in Thee. Then when I breathe Sports Day
Our school tour was to Athlone to BaySports . I know in time I'll understand. my final breath
Active Schools
Until then Lord, please take my hand. and close my eyes in earthly death,
We had a great eight years in Tobar an Linn,
may I not leave this world alone. Cumann na
and we will miss it very much when we move on
to secondary school in the next few months . My purpose here, may I fulfill, Lord, take my hand and walk me home. mBunscol

well. Our school tour that year was to Tayto and in all things do Thy will. Our Time in To-
By Cody Bland, The trials of life may I withstand.
Park. 6th class. bar an Linn
Walk with me Lord and take my hand.

The Day I met the President Camn Tobar

Cumann na mBunscol
This year in Cumann na mBunscol, the boys
were more successful than last year. They
trained a lot more and there was more
teamwork than last year. They pushed
themselves as much as they could trying to
defend and get every point they could. In
the semi-finals the boys lost by a few
points, it was very close. They were playing
against Clonaghadoo.
The girls werent as successful this year
because they were in a much harder divi-
sion and couldnt get into the finals.
Hopefully next year both teams will be
pushing harder, more teamwork and more
training, chanting each other all the way.
By Gavin Conroy,
5TH Class
We wish our Sixth Class, James, Matthew,
Cian, Tommy, Ronna, Cody, Anna, Eleanor
and Erin the best as they move on from
Tobar an Linn. Always remember your
Ts Maith in Tobar of Linn as you con-
tinue to blossom into bright stars of the
future.
School Closes at 3pm on Tuesday 27th June.
School re-opens on Wednesday 30th August.
Have a lovely summer.
President Michael D. Higgins came to open the finished boardwalk on Our Camn Tobar
the Abbeyleix Bog on the 25th of May, 2017. There were many pro- hurls are being con-
jects and displays in the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel where President Hig- structed. Thank you
gins made a long speech about how we should be protecting rural Ire- for your patience.
land and how places like this should be preserved. We spent our earn-
ings on our school
After his speech, he began to look at the projects and displays in the tour to Bay Sports
room. Thats when I left to get ready for my part in Athlone which we
When I was 10 years old, about 2 years ago, I had taken a walk on the enjoyed immensely.
bog in Abbeyleix and when I came home I started to practise my fid- By Niamh Tunney,
dle. After a while, I started messing but notes started forming a mel- 5th Class
ody. That day I had composed my first tune of many and I called it
Cotton on the Bog.
I played at the entrance of the bog in front of President
Higgins with my bodhran playing brother, Pauric (1st
class). There was a round of applause and the President
came to shake our hands. A woman came to tell him how
the tune came about but in the end, he never knew the
name of it!
Ah well, at least I got a great photo.
By Erin Lalor, 6th Class
 Our First Holy Communion
Second class made their First Holy Communion
on the 14th May 2017. We started getting
ready for Our Communion Day back in October.
When we had a meeting with Fr. Kelly.
The Communion Day was very special. The
weather was lovely. The sun was shining but
there was a little bit of rain. Everyone looked
great. The boys were handsome in their suits.
The girls all had lovely dresses. We all brought
up special gifts to the altar at the start of
Mass. I brought up an English book. Fr. Kelly
called all the boys and girls to the altar to lis-
ten to the Gospel.
The Write-A-Book Project
rd th
The 3 and 4 class participated in the Write
A- Book competition this year. Some people
wrote a narrative story while other people did
a factual piece. A teacher from another school
decided who came 1st and who was highly com-
mended. Katie Grant came 1st in the Write-a-
book competition. She wrote Its a Cat-
astrophie -a funny story about a young girl
who loves cats but might be allergic! There
were also six highly commended books written
by Seana Dunne, Isabella Troy, Christopher
Phelan, Leah Bergin, Chloe Beere and Evan Far-
rell.
We all got a certificate. Everyone enjoyed
writing stories!
By Sive Lalor,
3rd class.
Debating Tournament
This year, 3rd,4th,5thand 6th classes took part in
a friendly debating league. We debated topics
about the safety of boxing , childrens use of
mobile phones and whether or not homework is
a bad idea . Everyone on the team had a specif-
ic job, the captain, the speakers and the re-
search assistants . Everyone put lots of effort
I thought the communion tasted funny but I
will get used to it. Members of all our families
took part in the Mass. My grandad read the
reflection after communion. Ms N Leathlob-
hair and the choir sang lovely hymes during the
Mass. At the end of Mass second class sang If
I were a Butterfly.
After mass we all had a great time with our
families. Thanks to Fr. Kelly and Ms. Moore for
helping us get ready for our communion.
By Niamh Stackpool
2nd class.
Gymnastics
About eight weeks ago, 1st to 6th started
gymnastics. We started off with tumbles
and then moved onto handstands and
cartwheels. Eventually we moved onto
handstand competitions. On the last week
we made a show to demonstrate all the
skills we learned in the past six weeks.
Everybody from 1st to 6th class enjoyed
gymnastics very much because it was so
much fun, as well as teaching us to be fit
and strong and learn new skills. Thank you
to Portlaoise Gymnastics Club for coming
into our school.
By Orla Colley
4th Class
to try make the debate the best they could.
The finals are about to take place and everyone
is very excited. We hope to have another
league next year .
By Grinne Keane,
4th class.
School Tours
Beasts, Bowls and Boogie!
On Wednesday 31st May, Junior and Sen ior
Infants and First and Second Classes went on
a school tour. Everyone was very excited. We
went to the National Reptile Zoo in Gowran,
where we saw loads of reptiles like crocodiles,
lizards, tarantulas, spiders and a snake. It was
so big I didnt think it was real. There was a
man who showed us the reptiles up close and
allowed us to touch a king snake that can eat
other snakes. We saw a girl tarantula who was
called Rosie. She has eight eyes and eight
legs. We had to be careful because she has no
bones in her body and if she fell she would
die. We got back on the bus to go bowling in
Kilkenny. We were divided into teams but it
was about having fun .There was even a disco
that lasted until the end. Everyone was danc-
ing, even Ms. Moore! We had food from Eddie
Rockets delivered to us .It was very nice. We
all had a wonderful day.
By adaoin Moynihan
1st class.
Vikings of Dublin
On June the 13th, 3rd and 4th classes went on
our school tour. We went to a Viking Museum,
Dublinia. We learned about Viking houses and
that the doctors hadnt a clue what they were
doing. We also learned that when Vikings died,
they were buried and rocks were put on top of
them to stop them coming to life again.
Sports Day
On Friday the 16th of June,the school had the sports
day. Things kicked off at 12;30 . At the beginning,
4th, 5th and 6th class, were divided into 6 teams A-F,
for a soccer league . While this was going on the rest
of the school took part in an array of activities.
These activities were Giant Snakes and Ladders, Con-
nect 4 , Draughts, Jenga , Zorbies and even a Bounc-
ing Castle! After the league 4th, 5th, and 6th class did
these activities also .
Finally, the last activity, the race. After the race we
all got a medal and an ice-cream . Everyone really en-
joyed the day .
Mark Hearns, 4th class
Later we went to St. Patricks and had lunch
and ice-cream there. After that we went on
the Viking Splash Tour. We drove around the
city and spotted all the well known landmarks.
We splashed into the Grand Canal and saw
some more famous buildings from the water.
We all had a great day!
By Fionn ONeill
3rd class
Making a Splash!
On Monday the 12th of June, 5th& 6th clas-
ses went to Baysorts in Athlone on our
school tour . We left at 8am and travelled
by bus for one hour. First thing we did was
get changed into our wet suits and put on
our life jackets. The first activity we did
was pedal boating which was where two or
four people controlled a small boat which
was powered by pedalling and we enjoyed
it. Some other activities we did were Chi-
nese dragon boating, kayaking, bushcraft
survival, land and water challenge course
and Irelands largest inflatable water park.
At ten minutes past four we left Bay-
Sports and arrived back at school at half
past five.
It was a very good school tour.
By James OSullivan,
6th class
Active Schools
On Monday we did Jiu Jitsu . We did jumping
and pulling. We took part in Active Lines on
Tuesday. We did jumping and jumping jacks.
On Wednesday we had an obstacle course. We
did hurdles and ladders. We had yoga on Fri-
day. We went on mats and took off our socks
and shoes. We did lots of animal shapes and
we relaxed to music. I loved it.
On Wednesday we did an obstacle course. One
of my favourites was the beam. On Thursday
we went on a walk to Tynans farm while the
other classes did gymnastics. We went on a
scavenger hunt.
By Anna May Hogan and Beth Phelan,
Senior Infants.