Look at Our School

Here are some photographs of what happens in our school.

Beginnings From Endings

In our classroom we try to re-use items in our schoolwork. For an art project we used old fabric and carpet samples to create some pictures.

Our Viking Project

We did a class project on the Vikings. We carried out research in our school library, Gort library and on the Internet.

The Vikings
Around the year 800 the Vikings began to travel from their homes in Scandinavia from the countries we now call Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The Vikings were farmers. When the farmer died the farm was passed to the oldest son in the family. The Vikings had a lot of children. This meant that there were many people who had to make a living. So the other children often had to leave home and find their own farms by knocking down forests. When the land ran out, some had to travel over seas in search of fame and fortune or new land. Mark

Vikings Come to Ireland

At first , the Vikings only attacked places close to the coast. The first Viking attack on Ireland was in 795. They attacked the monastery at Lambay Island off the coast of Dublin. Soon the Vikings began attacking places like Clonmacnoise near the River Shannon.They knew that many monasteriese were bulit near rivers. They also knew that the monasteries hadmany treasures. They stole whatever they could and returned quickly to their boats. Peter

Women in Viking Society
Women remained with their father or guardian until a marriage was arranged for them. A marriage dowry was usually paid.
Women did have some rights, however, and the fact that Viking men were often absent for long periods of time meant that, in practice, women were respected more than in other societies. Both women and men could look for a divorce, by stating the reasons before witnesses. Women could own land. A widow received the land when her husband died. Women ran the house, farm or croft, when their husbands were away raiding or trading. Just as Viking men were buried with their weapons, women were buried with their most important belongings, i.e. shears, sickle, comb, brooch or necklace.
Amy

Viking Home Life

A Viking house consisted of one room , which had a fire or hearth in the centre of it , with raised platforms either side and four storage areas in the corners. The walls were made using wattle and daub and the roof was thatched. During the day the work was done on the platforms and at night they served as beds. This type of house is only found in Viking settlements in Ireland-Dublin, Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Limerick.

By Chloe.

Craft Work

Vikings needed to know how to make things. The men had to be carpenpenters and blacksmiths as well as farmers. They knocked trees, put up buildings, made wagons, sledges, furniture and ploughs. In the forge they made tools and weapons from iron and made leather from animal skin. The women made butter, cheese and a type of beer or ale. They also made all the clothes the family needed.
People who lived in the towns did not make all these things. Instead they bought them in the market, but they were still hand made. Darragh

Long boats
The Vikings went all over Europe. They travelled in wide boats.The big boats were 30 metres long and 5 metres wide. They could hold more than 100 men. The boat was made from thin bouncy oak planks. These were nailed to the rib with metal nails or wooden pegs. Gaps were filled in with pieces of wool dropped in tar. The hull was then painted with tar to keep the water out. David

50 Word Sagas

One of Terry McDonagh's specialities is the 50 word saga. Not to be outdone - Ms Nolan's classes produced their very own sagas. Eat your heart out Terry!
Saga No. 1
Brendanstein by Chloe
Bang! Bang! Listening to the hammer
Staple! Staple! making a body called Brendanstein in Peterswell school now.
The second school on my journey.
I am made of wood, paper and chickenwire
Head done, arms done, legs now - what next?
How am I? Handsome? Pretty? Awful? Next 3 please

Saga No. 2
A Note from Stan By Colin
Hi my name is Stan and I live in an inkwell in Colin’s table in school.
I spend my days being poked at and being spilled by Colin. I’ve watched in sadness all my fellow inkwells vanish in vandalism and sheer carelessness and only a matter of time before its’ my time.

Saga No. 3

The Sparkling Stone by Joseph
I saw a cave when I was cycling down the path of my house.
I heard a noise. I waited.
I saw something shining.
I looked again.
It was a fairy!
It had something in its hand,
it was a sparkling stone.
It was a glowing sparkling stone. Wow!

Terry McDonagh Writer in Residence

In the Summer term 2006 as part of the Friends of Coole Programme, the poet Terry McDonagh held a number of workshops with our 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes (Ms Nolan's). Pupils were found ducking, diving, creating and cheering throughout the 6 week stint in the school. A final performance was given in the Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort in May 2006. Well done everyone!