Togher N.S.

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Pride In Our School

There are lots of reasons why I have pride in my school. My school is called Togher N.S. It is situated in the middle of West Cork, near Dunmanway, in a beautiful part of the countryside. My school is quite a small school, with 59 pupils, a lot of whom aren’t Irish like myself.

My family moved here when I was 4. My parents decided to stay here because my older brother and sister liked the school so much, that they did not want to leave. The atmosphere is great. There is no bullying or racism, and I have lots of friends here. My teacher said the best thing about my class and 5 Class, is that we are all honest.

The school itself is warm and light, because there are lots of big windows. There is a fish tank in our room, and there are eleven fish. One of them is called Tubby. He is the best one.

When we have to do history or Irish, there are lots of posters and dates in history, and Irish sentences up on the walls of the room to help us.

Many years ago, there were so few pupils that the school looked like it would close, and a few more years ago, so many more children had come, that two more classrooms had to be added on. My mum thinks that the teachers actually like teaching, and they like the children. The teachers are great and they try to get as much money for the school as they can, by entering as many competitions as they can.
We are really lucky in our teachers and helpers, and we have a computer expert (Ms O’Connell), and our headmistress has a great sense of humour.

We do things that other schools might not do. Like we make Christmas cakes each year, and we make other delicious things like pumpkin soup, and pancakes, stir fries and pizza.

In school we do art on Wednesdays, and we have a person called Katrin who teaches us, and it is really fun. On Thursday s we do tag rugby. It is such fun. Kayne teaches us and he is from New Zealand, and he is the coach who coaches at my Rugby Club as well. On Friday s we do football with Charlie. He is a good coach and it is quite good fun. On Wednesdays after school I play table tennis, and we have biscuits and juice. A person called Vicky trains us and we have a good time.

We have achieved great things for a school that is so small. For example, in 2006, we won Sciath na Scoil, and in the same year we became West Cork Champions in chess. Last term, we became Cork Champions in chess as well.

We were also in the top 30 schools in Ireland in the Grace Nolan competition. We won best adapted script in the FÍS film competition.

I had a lot of fun writing this essay, and realising how great my school is.

By Jake Inglis, 6th Class

Pride In Our School

I moved from England two years ago. Now I go to Togher N.S. I enjoy it more here, because there are no bullies and most people are friendly and caring.

I’ve realised no matter how many sports facilities you have for your school, it won’t be a school without people who care about you, and people you care about. We get a big chance to do things that a lot of schools might not get to do.

We went to Dublin for the Grace Nolan Awards. Anoshi won. Her story was very sad, because she lost her mother. She was delighted when she won. Everybody made her feel proud. We all congratulated her. It was a great day.

The people in the school all work together to make it a better place. Nobody ever feels left out, because children and teachers make sure they’re not. That’s what makes a school a school. We all get the chance of a good education and freedom, which are two of the most important things a child needs in their life. But the most important thing is friendship and a good relationship with children and teachers and helpers. We have that relationship, so that is a wonderful reason to be proud.

Our school is set in a place near the mountains. It’s a beautiful view. When you’re walking to school, even on a wet day, it looks beautiful.

The warmth when you walk in is very comforting. Many children don’t even get the chance of an education, never mind warmth in the building. We are all very proud of our school. When you walk in the front door, there are photographs on the walls of many occasions and trips we’ve been on. Also there are pictures of when people came to our school. It’s very interesting for visitors, because they get the chance to see all the activities we’re involved in.

Our school has a lot of sports facilities. We play rugby, soccer, football, table tennis and chess. We get professional trainers to teach us. We go swimming every September. Everybody in the school goes. We have rugby training every Thursday.

We also have drama, which is a great way to boost our confidence. Because some people might get shy and drama encourages you not to be shy and just have fun with everyone else. We make up plays every Thursday. It’s great fun. Also we made a film, which was shown at Bantry Cinema. It was called The Fairytale Oscars. It won an award in Dublin.

Hope you enjoyed the story about my school, and understand why I am so proud of my school.

By Ella Ashworth, 5th Class