THE sun shone down on pupils and staff of Scoil Eoin, as a morning of great fun unfolded for the official opening of their ‘Outside Storytellers Garden’ on Friday.
The new outdoor space looks amazing for the kids, with a large chair and mushroom seats carved by Limerick man, Will Fogarty, artificial grass and painted butterflies on the wall.
“We wanted to look at an outdoor teaching space for quite a while,” said Principal Ciaran O’Toole. “We hope it will be more than a storytelling garden.We might have lunchtime performances and dramas,” said Mr O’Toole.
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“A lot of research has been carried out in outdoor learning environments and the impact it can have on children. It has shown that children become more aware of social and personal developments in their lives. Their self-esteem and confidence is reported as being lifted because of the freedom of the outdoor classroom,” he said.
Mrs. Ena Geary, chairperson of the Board of Management cut the ribbon and officially declared the garden open.
Malachai The Magnificent was on hand to add to the mystery of the magical space and he was joined by storytellers Bryan Murphy, Sean Lyons, Anthony Garvey, the school’s own Mrs Kayrena Bolger — who told the story of the Three Little Pigs with help from the pupils — and resident school poet Sean Farrell.
Sixth class pupils gave a lovely rendition of ‘The Bare Necessities’ while Peggy Sweeney was called on to sing a song to close proceedings. The event was expertly organised by Scoil Eoin Student Council and Mrs. Carol Anne O’Donoghue. Scroll down for photos…