Many of our classes have represented our school by carol singing in a number of local areas recently.

Our 1st and 4th Classes were carol singing on Astna Square, raising money for the Clonakilty Christmas Lights fund.

Our 2nd and 3rd Classes visited Bushmount Nursing Home and performed for the residents of the Bluebell Ward.

Well done to all involved in these recitals. You did Knockskeagh proud! 😀

Well done to our Senior Infants class on their amazing Christmas Nativity play this year.🎭🎵

They performed for parents and grandparents on Friday 12th December. They had performed for a dress rehearsal two days before hand for some of the older classes in the school and they were a massive success! 🎵

It was a fantastic production and well done to everybody involved in preparing the pupils for their amazing performance. The Senior Infants should be very proud of themselves.

On Sunday 23rd November, Knockskeagh NS were asked to provide a choir for the opening of the Christmas Lights Celebration that was held in Clonakilty.🎵

This concert showcased talent from 5th and 6th classes and the carol singing was held to promote Christmas cheer prior to turning on the lights in the town, whilst also raising money for the Christmas lights fund. The choir entertained a large crowd at Astna Square and they showcased their unbelievable voices for everyone to hear.

On the day, we were blown away by your generosity! Thank you very much for your donations. 💖

Well done to all involved in this concert. You did Knockskeagh proud! 😀

Here is a video of some of the performances.

Over the last four Thursdays, 2nd and 3rd Classes have engaged in Art workshops as part of the BLAST in Education Initiative. 🎨

Our assigned resident artist for this year was Julie O’Hea, and she has been focusing on the Visual Arts strand of Construction in the workshops. 👩🏻‍🎨

Children in these classes began by thinking about and discussing their personality traits, and explored what animal they believe represents these traits. Initially, they then drew these animals, before bringing them to 3D life, by using recyclable materials. 🦊🐭

When those creations were completed, the classes formed groups, where they came together to make larger 3D animals. These animals were combinations of the different personality traits of the children in that group.

These residencies are supported by the Department of Education and organised through the West Cork Education Centre.

Many thanks to Julie for the fun and engaging workshops which the children in Knockskeagh will remember forever. 🎨

African Drumming

Every Tuesday over the last few weeks, each class has engaged in African Drumming workshops.

Building on knowledge and skill from last year, each class have been introduced to basic rhythmic concepts of West African and world percussion through drumming, chanting, body percussion, call and response and storytelling.

Using the West African Djembe (pronounced djem – bay) students assemble in the drum circle.  They connect to rhythm and sound using a variety of percussion instruments, bells and shakers. It really is great fun!!

Everybody used look forward to drumming time each Tuesday. 🥁😀 

Many thanks to Patrick for the fun drumming lessons and we look forward to the last two weeks.👏

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Clonakilty International Guitar Festival 

Wow! 🎭 What an amazing 2 shows we had in Rossmore Hall on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd April. This year, our whole school show was “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” 🍫 and the cast and crew were absolutely out of this world!  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Classes have been busy over the last few weeks rehearsing and all this hard work definitely showed during both performances. They absolutely nailed all aspects of the show, including the acting, singing and dancing and without a doubt, there is a bright future in showbiz for those who want it! 🎭

On both nights, staff and audience members were treated to two unbelievable performances and we couldn’t be more proud of the pupils. 💗

The performance was recorded both nights by Greg Mulcahy and once the final editing has been completed, we hope to take 6th class to the Park Cinema for a special screening. We are all looking forward to seeing the finished product and details of how the recording can be accessed will be forwarded when available. We are also very grateful to Mark Coombes for once again photographing the performance and we look at forward to seeing the shots that were captured backstage! 📸

We would also like to send a massive thank you to the Hall committee in Rossmore who were excellent in answering any questions we had. As always, this year’s production has been a real team effort with 6th class pupils and staff putting in trojan work. Huge thanks to everyone for their hard work and well done! 👏🏻

“A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wiser men.” Willy Wonka 🩷

Trip to Darrara Agricultural College 2025

On Tuesday 11th March, 2025, Senior Infants headed off to Darrara Agricultural College to be shown around, and what a treat it was! The sun was shining all day for us!

We got to sit up on the tractors 🚜, it didn’t matter to us whether they were John Deere or New Holland. 😊 Then we went to visit the new lambs that have been born and best of all, we all got to hold one. 🐑 They were really cute! After that, we went to see the new baby calves. 🐮They were too big for us to hold, but we were able to rub them. We were very quiet so not to frighten them. We learned what happens in the milking parlour and saw all the machines that are needed so we can have milk on our tables every day. 🥛 Lastly and definitely the best part was everyone got to “drive” a tractor in their real life simulator. It was amazing to get that practice in.

We definitely have some young budding farmers amongst us👨‍🌾. How lucky are we to have this service practically on our doorstep! Thanks to everyone at Darrara Agricultural College for all your advise and guidance. We will most certainly be back! 😊

Darrara Agricultural College Visit

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) recently visited our school with all classes learning about the importance of road safety in an age-appropriate way.  🚗

We discussed how to safely get to and from school, how to cross the road safely, the importance of zebra crossings and how to correctly use them, safe cycling skills🚲 and how to be safe when you are a passenger in a car.🚗 These vital skills are essential to keep us all safe on our roads. 

The visit certainly enhanced all our pupils’ knowledge of the rules of the road.

Thank you very much to the RSA for giving us these life-saving tools!