Chef Alison Mc Moreland gave a demonstration evening for parents focusing on healthy eating ideas and suggestions for lunch boxes. Delicious!

​For those of you who weren't able to make it we've posted some video clips below.

We made a great start to our Health Promoting Schools Initiative last term, with the emphasis on promoting  new sports in the school,  thanks to Youth Sports, including Multisport for the Juniors and Basketball, Gymnastics and Soccer for the rest of the pupils. This term sport is being continued with Multisport for the younger pupils, Hurling for the middle schools and Rugby for the Seniors.

This term our focus will be on Healthy Eating in our school. The children are excited about this and we have got off to a good start with changes in place with regard to foods  allowed and have seen a marked improvement in the variety of healthy foods included in lunchboxes already. The pupils are being taught about the benefits of a balanced lunchbox and have come up with great ideas of their own and an openness to try new foods. Please check out our 'Sugar' board on the board in Halla. Makes interesting reading!
The week of October 12th-15th is our Healthy Eating Awareness week and includes lesson plans and activities for pupils. On Tuesday October 13th  we are holding an information night for parents in the school hall on Healthy Eating ideas, with a demonstration of foods by Chef Alison McMoreland. All are welcome to attend!
We will also have a Healthy Eating Food Festival in the hall on Thursday October 15th for pupils, with stalls of food for the children to taste. We would welcome any contributions that parents would like to drop in on the day to make this a success.
Please check out links on right hand side of  this page for games, activities and ideas on Healthy Eating!

 Thanks to Ms. Ryan, our school garden got off to a good start in March last year with the children in Senior Infants participating in planting a wide variety of vegetables and herbs. They started with a Garden Centre in the classroom, learning about the various seeds and the conditions for growing them. The plants were then moved outside into a large raised bed (made by our caretaker Liam  with a generous donation of topsoil by a parent Audrey Doyle) The pupils helped to tend the garden and water the plants and  - such excitement! - when they went out in late September to harvest the produce. Peas, broad beans, runner beans, courgettes, mangetout , celery, carrots,, potatoes, purple sage, tarragon, thyme, parsley, and  rosemary to mention but a few! On Monday October 5th with the help of fifth and sixth class we used the produce to make a delicious soup for over two hundred pupils. Most of them really enjoyed it and came looking for more!! Interestingly, none of  the pupils involved in planting and growing the vegetables refused to try the soup. So pupils then understood the concept of food coming from the earth to the table and not just off a supermarket shelf! We are hoping to further develop the garden in the coming year and to involve as many pupils as possible in the planting, growing, harvesting and cooking of the produce and would welcome any help from parents/grandparents with time and an interest in gardening or woodwork skills( to help create some raised beds).

For a medium pot of soup you will need:

1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
2 potatoes
2 courgettes
3 sticks of celery
half a butternut squash(optional)
fresh herbs
1 1/2 pints of vegetable stock
dash of cream/milk(optional)

Method:
Roughly chop the onion and garlic and fry together until soft.
Add the stock.
Season with salt and pepper.
Roughly chop the rest of the vegetables and place them in the pot with the stock, onion and garlic.
Simmer for 30 minutes. Then add the herbs and simmer for a few more minutes.
Use a hand blender(adults only!) to blend all the ingredients together.
Stir in a dash of cream or milk if desired and enjoy!