Ode to School

In the classroom,
Out in the yard,
Having fun,
Having a yawn!
Growing up,
With all your friends,
Drawing, colouring,
The day never ends!
Learning about,
Normandy,
Seeing the world,
In a different way.
Sadly,
When that bell goes,
We gather up our homework,
(Oh no!)
But saying goodbye,
To all your friends,
But still it seems,
Never to end!

by Alison O’Neill (11)
Scoil Mochua Primary School, Aghards, Celbridge

Memories of School in the 50’s

Short trousers, new school bag, jam sandwiches and a bottle of milk. Fear in my eyes, my mother reassured me- “Everything will be fine.”
Into my classroom- the “Master” introduces himself. No niceties- more of a question of “I’m the boss, and if you do what you’re told, you won’t get hurt.”

There was no such thing as charts on the walls, computers, CD players or anything like that. The education system in the 50’s was the ‘Chalk and Talk’ approach. We listened, we learned, and if we didn’t, there would be consequences. This came in the form of the feared ‘bata’. We learned mostly out of fear, but we definitely learned, and we still remember our tables very well!

Later, when I was allowed to go to school on my own, the highlight was calling into Sarah Flood’s shop to buy a pennyworth of jellybeans, which Sarah carefully put into a cone which she made out of newspaper. She also sold ‘slab’, a toffee which was as hard as a rock. Three squares could last you for the day if you weren’t caught chewing it in school. For safekeeping, it was often stuck under our desk. Sometimes, if we had to move places, there was an added bonus of finding a supply of slab stuck under the desk!

At the end of primary school came the ‘Primary School Cert’, an exam which put as much pressure on children as the Leaving Certificate does today. But enough of primary school. The next big adventure was being sent to boarding school. “Sent” is probably the wrong word, as I really wanted to go there. I had heard enough stories about midnight feasts, tuck shops and the like, to make me think that this would be like heaven. It wasn’t heaven, but it wasn’t exactly hell either!

Ciarán McCarthy

Bittersweet

Kellie Marie O Callaghan talked with her nana, Margaret Mc Evoy, about her primary school days in Annagh N.S, Co Clare, in 1935. Here she tells us some of her nana's memories.

Margaret walked 3 miles to school every day, it took the best part of an hour to get there. School started at 9.30am. There was no specific uniform, you wore what you had at home. Many children went to school without shoes, in winter she had to wear hobnail boots. If it was very wet her dad would bring her and her brothers and sisters to school in the pony and trap. They used pens, pencils and paper. In their school, Confirmations were only held every three years. The teacher had a cane, which she used on you if you didn’t know the answer to a question, if you were late, or if you misbehaved.

At lunchtime she played tig, hopscotch and if you were well off enough to have a skipping rope, skipping. Everyone had to bring their own lunch with them to school. She learned reading, writing and maths, if you didn’t do it right you were caned.

There were around 20 in her class. Fourth, Fifth and Sixth class shared a room. It was a two-room school. She attended and all-Irish speaking school where English was taken on as a subject. You had to do a preparatory exam before you left school to see if you were entitled to go on to Secondary school. Some students were lucky enough to get a scholarship to secondary school if they got good enough marks in the preparatory exam. School finished at 3.00pm. Every day you had to bring a sod of turf for the two open fires in the school.

Kellie Marie says, "I think that the best phrase to describe primary school education in those days is ‘bittersweet’. You were privileged enough to receive an education but there was the drawback of harsh corporal punishment which in the 1930’s was prominent. For my Nana and I’m sure for many other people, receiving that education meant that new horizons opened up for her. As a result of her primary school education she got the opportunity to travel to England and become a Nurse."

By Kellie-Marie O’Callaghan
Newcastle
Co Dublin

Words from Oxfam

Jim Clarken, Chief Executive, Oxfam Ireland sent us some very interesting information about education and development in the new millennium.

He tells us that the long-term impact of the global economic crisis of 2008 on education will be severe. Due to this crisis some of the world’s poorest families may be forced to pull their children out of school for economic reasons. With rising malnutrition, the education of many children will suffer due to hunger. Sub-Saharan Africa alone could see a reduction of $4.6bn per year in the total resources available for education to 2010.

Mr Clarken believes we must now band together to tackle one of the most pressing human rights challenges of our day: the denial of a basic education to millions of girls and boys, in the poorest countries.

Thanks you to Mr Clarken for sending us this stark reminder.

Kitengela Primary School, Kenya

We've all seen the images on the Trocaire boxes; the melancholic advertisements on our television screens 'disrupting' our viewing, and the celebrities like Bob Geldof and Bono campaigning against Famine and Drought. To be honest, it was with these images and a feeling of guilt that I volunteered to teach primary school children in Kenya. With these feelings I arrived in Kitengela Primary school. What all these images fail to capture however is the fun, vitality and youth of Kenya. The looks of amusement when I turned around from the blackboard having set an essay title, or the apprehension displayed as they knawed their pencils during a maths test or the friendly greetings of Mzungu' from the locals.

Nowadays, I don't look at the Trocaire boxes with pity but with optimism.

Mike Mc Donald is a medical student a U.C.D.

Final draft of book

Ms Kavanagh Bracken and Mrs Leahy had a marathon meeting yesterday with Patsy Toland, Self Help Africa, and Alan Davis the graphic designer of our book. We made final decisions on what submissions to include in the book.....draft 5 version 3!

Draft 5 version 4 goes to the printer today. We are very happy with what has been achieved and look forward to seeing all the hard work in book form. We are aiming to have our first batch of books by May 18th.

Well done TY's and 5th years.

We will continue to post some stories here so come back soon.
Mrs L