Anna Rosenfelder is a professional puppeteer whose son Till is in junior infants. She will be working with the younger children to create magical birds, grasshoppers and butterflies for the children to hold in the parade.  Sarah Kernaghan who runs our after school club will be working with the older students to make flowers from recycled milk jugs and buttons.

We would like to ask parents to contribute multicolored buttons, straws and colored plastic bags(the flimsy variety) to be used in the creation of the artwork. Paul Sharkey has already pledged to provide all the empty plastic milk jugs we would need. All donations can be sent in with your children and given to the class teacher.

If you are happy for your child to participate, or if you as parent or guardian would like to volunteer as a chaperone , please fill out this form:

We expect the children to spend about two and a half hours participating on the day, probably between 11.30am and 2pm on the 17th of March.  Please contact the PA if you have any questions.   We are always delighted to have more parental input.

Lion Dance to Celebrate Chinese New Year

The courtyard was surrounded by children, parents and teachers from both Greystones Educate Together and Gaelscoil Na Clocha Liatha as well as local councillors Derek Mitchell, George Jones and current mayor of Greystones, Chris Maloney.  The Lion Dance was performed by two kung-fu athletes as the head and tail of the “Lion” respectively, and three musicians with drums, gong and cymbals. The children were delighted with the traditional dance which lasted about 15 minutes in which the Lion pranced around, rose to its and rose to its hind legs.  Towards the end of the performance the lion mimicked eating a head of cabbage and spitting it out which is a traditional sign of luck.  Evan Furlong prepared traditional Chinese New Year’s snacks of fried rice cakes and mandarin oranges for the spectators and tea was served upstairs in the parent’s room.

The New Year celebration continues on the 16^th and 17^th.  Catherine and Naomi’s classes will each perform versions of “The Willow Pattern”, a love story from China. Connor and Edel’s Junior Infant classes will perform the “Beijing Dance”, a gentle little dance performed to the music of a well-known song about Beijing.

The children have been learning about the art, culture and history of China over the past month.  They have created several displays inspired by China which can be seen in the hallways and the Wicklow room.  The Taiwanese Embassy has generously loaned the school a small exhibition of Chinese artefacts which can be viewed in the library.

History of The Lion Dance
The legend says “Nian” was a fierce monster that especially liked kidnapping children. He terrorized villages year after year. Finally, one year, a lion defeated and chased the monster away. Nian vowed to return next year. This time the villagers did not have a lion to protect themselves. So, they solved the problem by creating a costume likeness of a lion and two villagers used it to scare Nian away. This is the reason the lion dance is performed every Chinese New Year.

Legend also says that loud noises from the drum, other instruments, and firecrackers helped scare Nian away. Red is worn during the New Year celebration because it was also believed that Nian was afraid of the colour red. The word “Nian,” thought the yearly ceremony, has become the Chinese word for year.

Another origin of the lion dance is that an emperor of the Tang Dynasty had a dream in which a strange creature saved his life. When he woke, he described his dream. His advisors said the creature he described resembled the lion, a creature from the West. The emperor commissioned the lion dance in honour of the creature that saved his life.

We recently talked to artist Paul Flynn who worked on the project and told us a bit more about it:

“The Greystones Art Group recently held an art competition for primary schools in the Greystones area, which included Greystones Educate Together. The theme of the Art competition was ‘My Wicklow’. During the course of the competition the school principal Catherine asked the Greystones Art Group if we could do something for the children with a room that was available in the school, under the same theme ‘My Wicklow’. I was asked to call by and find out what sort of things reminded the children most about Wicklow and what they would like to see in the room. The pupils talked about some of the many places that they have been to in Wicklow. The suggestions were Powerscourt Waterfall and gardens, Glendalough, the Sugarloaf, Greystones beach, the sea, trees, forests, sheep, cows, and an area for everyone to make a contribution to the room.”

A proposal was put together which the school approved. The solution was a large mural with a seating area where the children could display animals created by themselves, just like a mini cow parade and a small beach area representing Greystones beach. It was decided to use all of the suggestions as a composite image in the mural and use the pond and the two winged horses in Powerscourt gardens as a focal point. The floor of the room, being blue, was ideal for representing the sea.

“While we were still painting the mural, Catherine brought the children into the room to have a look at us working and all we could hear were gasps of amazement from the children as they entered the room. This made it all worthwhile putting all the effort in. The project took five days to complete from the blank wall to the finished installation. The children were given patterns of sheep and cows to colour and come up with their own unique design. This way the children could create something to add to the installation.”

The mural was created using acrylic paints and covers 19.5 square metres of wall space. 12 square metres of green Baize were used to create the grassy/seating area and 150kgs of play sand were used to create the beach area. The artists were Paul Flynn, a professional artist from Bray who is President of the Greystones Art Group, Marie Loftus who is the Secretary of the Greystones Art Group and Sinead Loftus, her daughter, who was on work experience for her transition year, who also made a great contribution.

The application process for a school bus for children in the Charlesland, Kilcoole and Delgany area is moving along and the inspector is expected to give his recommendation shortly. There should be more news in the coming weeks.

The decision was taken following a review of the weekend weather forecast at a meeting of the Government’s Emergency Response Committee.

The Minister accepts that the closures will cause inconvenience but said the safety of student, teachers and parents was more important.

The decision comes amid growing fears among school principals and boards of management about the impact of further severe weather on school communities. It will be widely welcomed by them.

Schools have been telling RTÉ News of strong health and safety concerns, centred on footpaths and roads in their wider areas.

A decision on whether Ireland’s 4,000 schools will remain closed or re-opened later next week will be made following a review by the Committee at a meeting on Tuesday.

from RTE web site.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

The Board of Managemenmt would like to organise a school bus service for those who live more than 3.2 kilometeres from Greystones Educate Together. The Department of Education and Science criteria are as follows:

• Where there are at least 7 eligible children in a distinct area who are attending the nearest suitable school and are available for transport
• Where there are 5 such children in a distinct area, living at least 4.8 kilometres (3 miles) from the school
• Where there are 4 such children in a distinct area, living at least 6.4 kilometres (4 miles) from the school
• Where there are 3 such children in a distinct area, living not less than 8 kilometres (5 miles) from the school.

The application made by the school to the DES will include the name, address and date of birth of each child.

To qualify for this service Greystones Educate Together must be your closest multi-denominational primary school.

If you are interested please phone or text your details to Jessica on 087-6467771.

Regards,

On behalf of the board of management,

Jessica Bird