The Parish of Renmore, as we know it today, was established in 1971.
Canon Jack O’Connor was its first parish priest and he quickly set about the task of building schools to cater for the rapidly growing population. Scoil Chaitríona Junior enrolled 104 boys and 103 girls on 2nd July 1973 under its first principal, Roisín Bean Mhic Cumhaill.
The other five teachers on the staff at the time were Mrs. Joan Ray, Mrs. Eileen O’Donnell, Mrs. Mary Smith, Sr. Noirín Concannon and Ms. Máire Geoghegan Quinn. There was one Second class, one First class, two Senior Infant classes and two Junior Infant classes.
In 1974 the Senior School opened using classrooms just completed in what is now the Junior School. In July 1975 the Senior School pupils and teachers moved into their own section of the school. Mr. Richard Burke T.D., Minister for Education, officially opened the new schools, and Most Rev. Dr. Michael Browne, Bishop of Galway, blessed the new complex on September 26th.
Click on the map to see a larger version of the map of the Renmore area.
We are using (and loving!) GoNoodle - a fun and free website that helps get the wiggles out.
GoNoodle.com has hundreds of movement games and videos that get kids dancing, running, jumping, stretching, deep breathing, and more. After the kids take a quick activity break with GoNoodle, they're able to really focus on learning.
Here's how to try at home:
Go to www.gonoodle.com
Click "sign up"
Pick "Parent or Kid" and create accounts for each of your kids!
At present there are 425 pupils (230 boys and 195 girls) and 34 teachers in the school
The staff is made up of:
1 administrative principal
20 mainstream class teachers
3 special class teachers
4 learning support teachers
3 English as a Second Language teachers
3 Resource teachers
2 Speech and Language therapists
9 special needs assistants
2 school secretaries (shared with Senior school)
1 caretaker (shared with Senior school)
1 Home Schoool Liason teacher (shared with Senior school)
We had a beautiful Carol Service tonight in Renmore Church.
A huge "Well Done" to our singers, readers, recorder players, percussionists, and of course to our teachers and SNAs, our principal Mrs.Coleman, to Fr. Mulkerrins and Fr. Peter and to Ms. Cunningham and Ms. McGuire who organised all so superbly!
What a wonderful preparation for Christmas.
October 28th, 2016
Well done to all for the wonderful costumes and for your help with our annual Hallowe'en walk fundraiser.
A huge Well Done to Ms. Lally's junior and senior Glee Clubs for their marvellous performances of Thriller and Ghost Busters.
otos from our visit to Alere with the Time to Read programme can be seen by clicking on the photo below:
April 12th, 2016
In the interest of child safety dogs are not allowed in the school grounds (even if on leads).
Tuesday, March 15th, 2016
Raising the Irish Flag
Friday, March 11th, 2016
All second classes attended a wonderful Dental Hygiene workshop in school today.
March 4th, 2016
We are out I'm afraid.
It's official (email and radio bulletin).
We had a super super day.
Well done to all!
You can hear the results here: (at 19:00 on the counter)
Maith sibh go léir! February 10th, 2016
Well done to 2nd class, Room 9 for their wonderful performance of Cochaillín Dearg
in Kinvara on Wednesday. We have got through to the next round of the competition in Inverin early March.
A huge "THANK YOU" to all who helped with sets, props, costumes, make-up, and kind words of help and encouragement. What a great team effort!
Thank You!
6/2/2106
Click on the photo to learn more about the Year Of the Monkey 2016
18/1/2016
We are so pleased to have received the HSE's Healthy Schools flag.
We are the first school in Galway to get this flag!
Well done to everyone!
Our Irish flag. 14/1/2016
Sergeant Wayne Fitzgerald and Sergeant Marita Lafferty visited us (as did our Mayor, Frank Fahy) to present us with our Irish flag and the Irish Proclamation.
It was a very special occasion.
Many thanks for all the information we received about Easter Monday 1916, for patiently answering our many many questions and for joining us in our reading of the proclamation and the singing of our National Anthemn.
Click to view more photos of our celebration
Click to take an interactive tour of Dublin Rising 1916
13/1/2016 Time to Read
is a wonderful reading initiative that has been rolled out in our school today.
Thanks to Alere and to the ESB for allowing us to become involved in such an inspiring programme.
Read more about Time to Read by clicking the link below:
Our Time to Read programme provides children in second class, aged seven to nine, with reading support from a business volunteer over a 20 week programme. The programme aims to increase the enjoyment of, and confidence in reading whilst encouraging self-discovery for the participating children. Our programme was piloted in 2010/11 and evaluated by renowned expert Dr. Eithne Kennedy of St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra.
Teachers and participants report significant impacts on the children. All business volunteers who partake in this programme receive training in advance which provides volunteers with the desired outcomes, programme details, feedback and support elements, best practice information in terms of reading strategies and child protection guidelines. Each weekly session consists of the business volunteer reading one to one for 30 minutes each with two children. The children, volunteers and parents have a visit(s) to their local public library. The business also hosts a workplace visit for the participating children and their teachers.
The ESB through its Energy for Generations Fund is Time to Read’s strategic partner and sponsor 2013 – 2015.
Our school has taken part in this year's Shoebox Appeal.
Many many thanks to the families who sent in 235 fabulous shoeboxes this year!
You will make so many children happy.
Science Week Space and Rocket Morning
Hallowe'en Walk
Thanks to all for help with our Halloween Walk,
the sponsorship money, and with the costumes. It was a wonderfully thrilling experience for all.
Watch our dances on:
and check out our scarey teachers on:
Last week was Space Week.
Have a look at what our school got up to during space week:
EU code week (and also Maths Week) are this week (October 10th-18th).
We will have a lot of fun with coding/programming and maths this week.
Keep and eye on what our school are up to during code week:
This is maths week and also EU coding week.
(October 10th-18th 2015)
We will have a lot of fun with maths and coding/programming this week.
Keep an eye on our maths page to see what we get up to for the week:
We are all excited about the two hurling matches on Sunday next.
We are of course shouting for Galway.
UP GALWAY!
We had a lovely remembrance mass for Mrs. Browne yesterday, after which we dedicated our school garden. We love the plaque that our wonderful caretaker Mike made.
Every time we visit the garden we will remember our teacher and friend Mrs. Browne!
Our first Tip Toe Thursday was a huge success.
The weather was lovely, and parents and children enthusiastically walked from Mervue, Ballybane, Merlin and Renmore to be at school today.
We are so proud of all who walked, cycled, scooted or skated to school today.
We can't wait to see a solar eclipse tomorrow (but we won't be looking directly at it!)
February 4th 2015 Senior Infants Room 5 had a wonderful day in Cappataggle yesterday.
They took part in the Irish Féile Scoildrámaíochta drama competition.
We are all so proud of everyone!
You were all wonderful!
January 29th 2015 Learn more about our Food Dudes programme by clicking on the link below:
27th January 2015
We had our carol service in the church this evening.
It was a wonderful occasion.
Well done to all our singers and readers, you were fantastic, and to all for dressing up so nicely and behaving so well. It really was a very special night!
We all went to see a wonderful show in the halla with Steve Allman
Click on the links below to see what the show was like:
See what happened at our Rocket Morning for Science Week
Science Week 2014
Galway Science Week
Please send in old mobile phones.
With thanks!
Our school has won the "Best School Garden" award in the Tidy Towns Awards.
We are all so very proud of all the work we do in our school garden!
Well done everyone!
A huge "WELL DONE" to all our parents, students, staff and friends who helped us today.
We had an amazing day.........fantastic costumes, lots of money raised on our Hallowe'en walk and delicious treats for sharing.
A huge well done to Ms. Lally's glee clubs for their performance of Thriller. Such a shame that weather conditions cut short the wonderful performances.
Thank you so much to all!
What an amazing school community!!
Does anyone recognize these strange people?
Big treat for us: The junior school "Glee Club" will perform Thriller Dance Routine on the school yard after the Halloween Walk tomorrow Friday Oct 24th (weather permitting)
and the senior school glee club will perform their Ghostbusters dance routine. There will be two showings DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER, one after the Hallowe'en walk at around 10:15am and the next at around 1:30pm. Be prepared to be scared at our Monster Dances! If it is raining we will try our best to perform as close to these times as possible.
It is close to Hallowe'en now and all classes are getting ready for our fun walk on Friday. Watch out for great Hallowe'en art all round the school. The highlight of Hallowe'en for us is our annual fundraiser - our "Hallowe'en Walk". We will be dressing up for Hallowe'en and walking around Renmore on the morning of Friday 24th October. Thanks to all for help with the sponsorship money, and with the costumes. See you all on the 24th!
We decided to plant some spring flowering daffodils outside Mrs Browns room. She always loved gardening and flowers.
We planted a daffodil each outside her room in a nice flower bed. We planted them last Friday but unfortunately the crows pulled them up during the weekend. We replanted them on Monday and made sure to plant them much deeper and pressed them in firmly into the ground. We also covered them with nets to keep them safe.
We will see the daffodils bloom in Spring and think of Mrs Brown RIP x
Tree Day, October 9th 2014
We in Scoil Chaitríona Junior are celebrating
in appreciation of all our hard working and dedicated teachers!
SAD NEWS
It is with deep regret that Scoil Chaitríona heard of the passing of our Deputy Principal, Mary Browne on Sunday, July 27th 2014.
Mary taught in Scoil Chaitríona for almost 40 years and will be sadly missed by our pupils, staff and the Renmore community.
She was a perfect lady, a great teacher and a constant support to colleagues and parents of the school.
Her kindness and understanding touched the hearts of all who knew her.
A rock of strength, Mary was capable of seeing the bright side of every situation.
Her smile assured pupils they were in safe hands while in her care and her teaching brought a wide spectrum to her classroom.
She had a special interest in gardening and much of the planting around the school was done by her, whether it was daffodils, shrubs or trees.
Any spare minute was spent planting or encouraging others to do likewise.
Mary was involved in the choice of the newly planted trees at the front of the school and was keen to see that they were our native species.
Her departure from Scoil Chaitríona Junior was premature but her memory will be part of our love of nature that she was so keen to cultivate. It was a privilege to have known Mary.
May she rest in peace and may God comfort her husband, Richard, and her three daughters, Karen, Georgina and Claire.
Ar dheis Dé go bhfuil a hanam naofa.
Science Awards
We have won an Award of Science and Maths Excellence for 10 years in a row.
We are so proud.
Click on the photo below to see all about our visit from Aine Scully of Abbott.
AMAZING SHOWS
We have seen the shows!
Such talent!
Such an amazing director!
We are very pleased to tell you that a grand total of €808.20 collected for Joinourboys in the last week.
A hearty Thank you to all who contributed to this very worthy charity.
For more photos and videos click on the picture below:
GLEE Club and Drama Club Performances
ON: Wed 18th, Thurs 19th, Fri 20th, Tues 24th
HOW MUCH? Free, but we hope to raise funds for the Join our Boys Trust.
This trust has a personal connection to the school. The boys are related to a member of staff.
Archie (8) and his twin brothers George and Isaac (4) are the three brothers from Roscommon who have recently been diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. This is a terminal neuromuscular disease for which there is no treatment or cure. Their parents have set up this trust to raise money to fund new research projects to help find a treatment or cure, and to provide for the boys' future needs. Any donation that you or the children can make at the GLEE CLUB or DRAMA CLUB performances would be much appreciated.
GLEE CLUB parents will view the show on Wed 3:30pm.
DRAMA CLUB parents will view their show on Tues 24th at 2:40pm.
All classes in school will get a chance to view the show.
Junior and Senior Infants on Thursday during school hours.
1st and 2nd on Friday during school hours.
With thanks.
We are so proud of Ms. Connolly's and Mr. Carleton's first classes for representing our school so well at this years Junior First LEGO league.
We are well prepared for disasters now!
Click on the photo below to see more photos and videos of our exciting night.
Sarah Gundy, project officer at NUIG's Network of Excellence for Functional Biomaterials, with pupils Yeshuah O'Brien-Bayer, Eve Smyth and Patrick Bilanga at Scoil Chaitríona Junior school in Renmore during a visit from the prestigious Discover Primary Science and Maths Excellence Squad to celebrate their involvement in the DPSM Awards of Science and Maths Excellence.
Other recent notice
Congratulations to our students who represented us so well at
the Eircom Junior Spider Awards
in Dublin yesterday.
We are so proud of you and of all the teachers and students who help to make our blog good enough to be nominated as one of the Junior Spider Best School Blogs!
Learn more about the Junior Spider shortlist by clicking on the picture above
or
Learn more aobut the Junior Spider Awards by clicking on the picture below
Famous! We are thrilled to have been mentioned on this wonderful Primary Science site:
Scroll down until you see us mentioned:
We have short subscriptions for these sites.
Try them out and let us know what you think:
Username: scoilchaitriona
Password: cat2695
Username: scoilchaitriona
Password (Ask Jane for this password)
Try this out. Our password is caitriona
Well done to the three classes who represented Scoil Chaitríona Junior in the Féile Scoildrámaíochta in Connemara this week.
You gave super performances and we are all so proud of you.
Unfortunately it is the end of the road for us this year but we want to extend a huge "Thank You" to all who helped and supported us and especially to Lorraine who painted our sets, Kelly and Caitríona who provided fabulous props, Yutaka who made the sets and Susan who made the gorgeous costumes. We are so proud of our drama teams both on stage and off stage this year.
Maith sibh go léir!
Well done and Comhghairdeas Mhór
go rang Ms. Crotty, rang Ms. McLoughlin agus rang Mr.s Geraghty!
You were wonderful on stage today.
We are all so proud of you!
3 of the students from our school are among the 300 semifinalists in the Doodle 4 Google competition.
Well done to Michael Smyth from Ms. McLoughlin's senior infant class who is one of the finalists, and to Jay Ryan from Mr. Faherty's second class and Emilly Jedrol from Ms. Ferguson's second class who are also finalists.
We are so proud of you!
Michael Smyth: Ms. McLoughlin's class
Jay Ryan: Mr. Faherty's class
Emilly Jedrol: Ms. Ferguson's class
It is with great sadness that we remember Lucia Cleary, a senior infant student and sister of Josh Cleary in third class, who died this Christmas.
Well done to all who sang so nicely at tonight's carol service.
The teachers were so proud of all of you.
A big Well Done to all the mums and dads who dressed everyone so nicely tonight.
We wish you all a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas!
Our school carol service will be held
ON: Monday, December 16th
AT: 7pm
IN: Renmore Church
All are most welcome to come
Junior infants may dress up as characters from the Christmas story.
All other classes please wear uniforms (not track suits).
With thanks.
We had a wonderful visit from The Bug Doctor for Science Week!
Enjoy Galway science week.
Be sure to check out the FREE festival on
A huge "WELL DONE" to all our parents, students, staff and friends who helped us today.
We had an amazing day.........fantastic costumes, lots of money raised on our Hallowe'en walk, delicious treats for sharing, lovely weather and two absolutely amazing performances from the Scoil Chaitríona Glee Clubs (under the inspiration of our own Ms. Lally).
Thank you so much to all!
What an amazing school community!!
The weather was lovely and we looked spectacular in our costumes.
Ms. Lally's after school Glee Club treated us to a wonderful dance session to the music of "Thriller". It really was a thrilling performance.
The second performance of the afternoon was an equally wonderful performance, this time to the music of "Ghostbusters"
A huge "WELL DONE" to Ms. Lally and her talented dancers.
We are so proud of you.
Can you recognize these scary teachers?
This is maths week and also EU coding week.
(October 10th-18th 2015)
We will have a lot of fun with maths and coding/programming this week.
Keep an eye on our maths page to see what we get up to for the week:
Some of our teachers are right animals!
What big teeth you have Ms. Cronin!
It is October and all classes are getting ready for Hallowe'en. Watch out for great Hallowe'en art all round the school. The highlight of Hallowe'en for us is our annual fundraiser - our "Hallowe'en Walk". We will be dressing up for Hallowe'en and walking around Renmore on the morning of Friday 25th October. Thanks to all for help with the sponsorship money, and with the costumes. See you all on the 25th!
Big treat for us: The junior school "Glee Club" will perform Thriller Dance Routine on the school yard after the Halloween Walk on Friday Oct 25th (weather permitting) and the senior school glee club will perform their Ghostbusters dance routine. There will be two showings DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER, one at around 10:15am and the next at around 1:30pm. Be prepared to be scared at our Monster Dances! If it is raining we will try our best to perform as close to these times as possible.
Scoil Chaitríona will be used as a polling station in the upcoming referendum
