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GOODBYE TO PRIMARY SCHOOL


After eight long years of blood, sweat, tears, laughter, and generally getting away with murder, the Sixth Class kids have, on June 25th, 2003, finally said goodbye to Primary School. We wish them all the best of luck in Secondary School. They have all written their memories of their eight years in our school and here is a random selection.

In Junior Infants, Gary put a thumbtack under my chair and I jumped. My teacher was Mrs Treacy. She was probably my favourite teacher. In Senior Infants all I remember was that Gary and John got lost on a school tour to Dublin Zoo and it took us 15 minutes to find them. We were walking into the little house where the snakes and lizards were kept when we realised they were missing.

In First Class we had Mrs Curtin and we made our Communion. In this class we got stars if you added up the roll book right. In Second Class we had Mrs Dunne. She had a gold book and a black book. Every week she had a student of the week award and I won it once. In Third Class Mr Dowling introduced me to the game of rounders. That year I can remember that we had a bread party and an egg and spoon race. I did the cross-country as well. I got on the Cuman na mBunscol team for the first time. I was in the Lunchtime League as well and our team got to the final but we lost. In Fourth Class I had Mr Dowling for the second year in a row. We did tables in Mr Dowling's. You are asked three tables and if you got them right you were in the game. If you got them wrong you were blackboarded and were out of the game. If you got your tables wrong at the blackboard you had to write out them out ten times. If you won the game you were on the door. When the door was full there was a door final.

In Fifth I had Mr Dunne, the principal of the School. At Christmas we had a big jumble sale and we brought in old toys, books, CD`s and food. We raised a lot of money for St Vincent De Paul. In Sixth Class I had Mr Dunne again. He loved music and I got a guitar and he asked me to bring it in. He loved Bob Dylan and he taught me more about Bob Dylan in two years than I would have learned in a lifetime. We had no jumble sale in Sixth Class. That year we did more work than any other year. We finished all our books and we also did Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? I got into the final along with my friend Alan and Sarah Dowling. All in all, I enjoyed Primary School. Bryan Delaney

I remember my first day at the Heath School. The first face I saw was my cousin Alan. He introduced me to Shane Carroll and Bryan Delaney. When I was asked to read, I wasn't able to. The teacher who helped me was Mrs. Connell. I wasn't very happy in Second Class because I didn't know many people. In Third Class we had Mrs Murphy. I remember that one lad was always bold and he used to be put back into Second Class for the day. I remember we asked Mrs Murphy if we could do a Pokémon project. We did a really good one and I still have it at home.

In Fourth Class my teacher was Mr Dowling. He does all the sports with us. I remember one day I was so tired I fell asleep and Vanessa had to wake me up. I remember that we had to make up a game and Bryan Delaney, Alan Whelan and I made up a brilliant one but I can't remember what it was called. We had to do a project on the Special Olympics and I forgot to learn it of by heart. When I was in Fifth Class I sat beside Freda. I remember the rounders because we won the school league that year. I am not allowed to play on the Heath rounders team because I don't live on the Heath. I don't think this rule is very fair. I remember I had to sit in the 'fridge' because Vanessa's friend came down to visit her and she sat in my seat. Around Easter we had a bread party. A bread party is when you make bread and buns and we would clear away all the desks except for Mr Dowling's desk. We would put all the food we made on his desk.

When I went into Sixth class I was really nervous. I thought it would be really bad. Mr. Dunne is my teacher. He is also the Principal. He doesn't like sport but he loves music and he tells jokes. He is not great at them. He thinks they're funny but we don't. This year Mr. Dowling trained us for a 7-aside blitz. We lost in the final but we had great fun. Also this year we won the U-12 Cuman na mBunscol football final. We were all delighted and went to Treacy's afterwards. Sixth Class turned out to be better than I thought and I am looking forward to going into First Year in the CBS. My memories of the Heath School were all fairly good. I made loads of friends and got to play a lot of different kinds of sport. Brian Ging

On my first day that I was sitting beside Freda. Our teacher was Mrs Treacy. Every morning she used to write the news on the board. She also had a cardboard box that was cut out in the shape of a television that we used to pretend that we were newsreaders and say the news. Our teacher for Senior Infants was Mrs Shortall.

In First Class our teacher was Mrs Curtin. We made our First Communion in this class. The priest was Fr O' Byrne. Mrs Curtin had a nature table at the back of the class and we brought in things to put on it. For Second Class our teacher was Mrs Dunne. Every week she gave out a prize for student of the week. I remember she taught us some sign language.

Next I had Mr Dowling. We did a lot of sport with him. If there was a match on after lunch we would get to stay out because he would be refereeing it. For Fourth Class we had Mr Dowling again. We used to have a competition on our tables each day and if you won you got on the door. We also had a game called King of the Castle where you got in a line and everyone was asked a Maths question. Whoever was top of the line got Maths homework off and whoever was on the bottom got script.

In Fifth Class and Sixth class we had Mr Dunne who is the principal. We did a lot of computer work with him. There is also a game going on called Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? There are three finalists in it. I have enjoyed the time I spent in the Heath School, but I am also looking forward to Secondary School. Brenda Young

The only thing I remember from Junior Infants is that my teacher was Mrs Treacy. She was really nice. Her son Gearóid was in my class. In Senior Infants my teacher was Miss Shortall. One day her chair went one fire and another day one of the girls in my class tripped me up in front of the whole class. I was so embarrassed. That year Miss Shortall moved away to Australia. In First Class I had was Mrs Curtin. That year in May I made my First Communion. Mrs Curtin always said a lot of prayers. The next class was Second and my teacher was Mrs Murphy. We did lots of plays and projects with her. That year my cousin Brian Ging came to our school.

In Third Class I had two teachers, Mrs Dunne & Mrs Fitzpatrick. That year Matthew McHugh got third prize in the Listowel story competition for his story "The Skunk who Married the Dustbin". In Fourth and Fifth I had Mr Dowling. We did loads of sports with him, especially rounders. The under 13's won two All-Ireland titles in a row. In Sixth class I had Mr Dunne. That was the Class that we made our Confirmation. And we won the Cuman na mBunscol final. When we were playing Killeshin I hit Mr Dowling on the back of the head with the ball. Alan Whelan

I can't remember much about my first day at school, but I do remember Mrs Treacy welcoming me into the classroom. She brought me in and sat me beside Freda, Sinéad and Brenda. I can remember writing our news. We'd write any news we had and draw a picture at the top of the page. Mrs Treacy had a cardboard box cut out in the shape of a television. We'd go up to the top of the class, put our head in the box, and read our news out to everybody. I didn't have Mrs Treacy for that long. After she left, I had Miss Shortall. I liked her.

Then I had Mrs Curtin in First Class. I remember all the things we did for First Holy Communion. One day Fr Tom gave us the bread of life but it wasn't blessed. For Communion, the readers sat on the right hand side of the church and the people who were bringing up the gifts were on the left. I was on the right. The microphone was on the steps of the altar. I remember going up to read. Fr Tom tipped me on the back when it was my turn to read. In Second Class I had Mrs Dunne. The thing I remember most is doing loads of poems and singing. We entered the Listowel Writers' Week. We all wrote a story and Mrs Dunne sent them in. Matthew McHugh won.

I had Mr Dowling for Third and Fourth Class. I liked the tables league and sometimes we played King of the Castle. I preferred King of the Castle. I liked the school tours as well. In Third Class we went to Tralee on the train. My favourite part of that tour was the Aqua Dome. In Fourth Class we went to Wexford. My favourite part was Curracloe beach. What I really enjoyed best of all was the sport. Football, rounders and table-tennis were my favourites. I won the girls' table tennis league twice. I was the captain of the Cuman na mBunscol team this year. We got through to the final but I wasn't able to play because I broke my knuckle in a practice match. We lost to Emo by a point.

For Fifth Class half of us went to Mr Dunne's and the other half stayed with Mr Dowling. I liked Mr Dunne's even though we did a lot of work. Sometimes in your spare time Mr Dunne would let you play games on the computer. We played Who wants to be a Millionaire? I entered it and in the first round I won ten thousand euro and got through to the next round. In the next round I got the same as I did in the first round. Now I am through to the final against Alan Whelan and Bryan Delaney. Mr Dunne is going to record that on the video camera. One thing I didn't like about his class was that there was no school tour. But overall, I really enjoyed my time in the Heath School. Sarah Dowling

I remember our first day in school. I was really scared until I met Bryan Hyland. I knew him from playschool. I didn't want Mammy to bring me in. I wanted her to just go off and leave me go into the classroom on my own. I don't remember a lot about Baby Infants only that every morning when we came in we would have to take out our copies and write OUR NEWS. If our writing was good enough Mrs Treacy would give us a star. We had to write what kind of day it was and what we were going to be doing for the day. I also remember having to join the dots. I tried to write my own name but didn't succeed.

In Senior Infants I had Mrs Shortall. She was a very nice teacher because she let me away with things and she got me to do most of the jobs for her. Before we went home she always took out a book and read it to us. But she went to live in Australia. I still remember the book we were reading in Senior Infants. It was all about Patsy Panda and Danny Bear.

In First Class I had Mrs Curtin. I made my Holy Communion with her. I said the prayers. Mrs Curtin always loved when people brought in flowers for her May altar. In Second Class I had Mrs Dunne. She liked teaching us sign language and she had a Black Book for the bold people. Every week she would pick out the student of the week. I liked Mrs Dunne because when it came to Friday we used to have to write an essay. But we didn't really, because she wrote most of it for us!

Then I had Mr Dowling for Third and Fourth Class. He is a brilliant sports teacher, and only for him we wouldn't have any sports on the Heath. Another thing we played in his class was tables. It is a good game because it is a good way of learning your tables. We did a lot of projects in Mr Dowling's. All about inventors and things like that.

In Fifth and Sixth Class I had Mr Dunne who is very pernickety. As he says, there is a right and a wrong way of doing something. We are all looking forward to making our Confirmation. We are going up to the church for a practice on Tuesday. I enjoyed my time in the Heath School and I'm looking forward to Secondary School next year. Sinéad Hennessy

I remember in Junior Infants we always use to put thumbtacks on each other's chairs. My teacher was Mrs Treacy. She was probably one of the best teachers. We always played soccer at lunch time. In Senior Infants our teacher was Mrs Shortall. One day her chair went on fire. That year we went to Dublin Zoo on our school tour. We were going into the reptile house when our teacher realised that Gary and John had got lost.

In First Class we made our First Communion. Our teacher was Mrs Curtin. She use to take the class out for P.E. That's all I can remember. In Second Class our teacher was Mrs Dunne. She used to have writing competitions. She entered some of our stories in competitions and Matthew McHugh and Padraic Whelan won. We also had pen pals in America. We made a video of ourselves and sent it over to them and they sent one back to us.

I can't remember much about Fourth Class. We had Mr Dowling. That was the first year I had played rounders. We made it to the All-Ireland and won. Fifth Class was probably one of the best because Mr Dowling did loads of sports like football, rounders and cross-country. We went to Tralee, Co. Kerry on our school tour. We went to the Aquadome and the Theatre and some place about Antarctica. We always use to play King of the Castle and if you got on the door you were good and if you got into the All-Ireland you were very good. Even I got into it, how, I don't know!

In Sixth Class we had Mr Dunne. We were the very first class to do science in the Heath school. We were only the second class to make our confirmation in the Heath church. Well, good-bye to primary school. Here I come, secondary school. James Farrell

HISTORY TODAY LOCAL NAMES MURDERED ARTISTS

NO MORE, NO LESS PICTURES OF OUR AREA FORTY FACES

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