ALLIANZ CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL PIECE FOR MAY 2021 INTOUCH PIECE
SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT – SCOIL ÍDE NAOFA, CO. KILDARE
Scoil Íde Naofa, in many ways, is your typical rural primary school. Found in Kilmead, Co. Kildare, the school has grown steadily since its founding in 1949 and is now a 190 pupil strong, co-ed primary school with its first ASD class opening in 2021-2022. We bring our core, holistic values that we develop and encourage in school with us when it comes to our participation in the Cumann na mBunscol. Barcelona FC has a motto, ‘Més que un club’ and we have adapted that to ‘Níos mó ná scoil’. School experience goes beyond the traditional subjects- the best memories come from life around school. Cumann na mBunscol participation is integral to that.
For us, it’s all about participation & enjoyment. Everything from U-11s camogie to U-13 football to Basketball to cross country running & table quizzes, Allianz Cumann na mBunscol has given and continues to give our pupils a chance to develop not only sporting skills but life skills; A growth mindset when it comes to improvement, how to deal with challenges with proper preparation, the importance of team work and encouraging each other and resilience in dealing with disappointment when things don’t go our way. We are ever present at events and always go out with the same positive mindset- to do ourselves proud.
The support and connections with St. Laurence’s GAA club have been a massive support in this effort and numerous past pupils have represented the Lilly Whites with honour over the years. Current Munster Rugby player Jeremy Loughman learned to kick a ball in Kilmead NS after coming home from the USA and Ireland’s Fittest Family finalists, The Mileys, are steeped in Scoil Íde Naofa sporting history. We are always looking to bring home that elusive silverware but that success is a by product and not the end product. For us, success is measured by how far we’ve come and continue to go and thanks to Cumann na mBunscol more and more children get that chance while continuing to feel part of our school- ‘Níos mó ná Scoil’.
NATIONAL ALLIANZ CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL WEEK JUNE 2021
We will be hosting a National Allianz Cumann na mBunscol Week from June 14th – 18th. This will be an action packed week full of activities/challenges for all participating schools to get involved in. A flyer with more information will issue to all schools in the coming weeks which will outline how schools can register for this exciting week. We hope as many schools as possible take part. Please keep an eye on our Twitter account @cnambnaisiunta for all our latest news/updates.
Final Reminder - Cumann na mBunscol 50th Anniversary Publication
Cumann na mBunscol as we know it was founded in 1971 and will mark 50 years in existence this year. Although the current pandemic has put many events on hold, Cumann na mBunscol plans to publish a book to mark the development of Gaelic Games in primary schools over the course of the last half century. Joe Lyons and Ciarán Crowe have agreed to take on this task. Both have been involved in Cumann na mBunscol for well over 30 years. Gary Farrell, Rúnaí of Coiste Náisiúnta, has sent an e mail to all counties asking them to fill in a template which Ciarán and Joe believe will kick-start their work. We would encourage all counties to email this template as soon as possible to Ciarán and Joe at cumannnambunscol50th@gmail.com. To coincide with our 50th anniversary, many counties have been tweeting photos and articles from their archives and we would encourage all schools to do this and to tag us @cnambnaisiunta and our sponsor @AllianzIreland on photos with the hashtag #AllianzCNMB50.
GAA LEARNING PORTAL
For excellent cross curricular lesson plans and GAA themed lessons please visit https://learning.gaa.ie/primary-school.
BY JOHN MANLEY DUALLA NS & PRO NATIONAL CUMANN NA MBUNSCOL
