SCHOOLS

A STONE’S throw away from where they spent seven eight years of school, the Presentation Primary Class of 2021 got together in St John’s Church on Sunday. The occasion was their delayed Confirmation Day and the girls were reunited with teachers Ms Gibbons and Ms Broderick to finally enjoy the […]

SATURDAY was another busy day for First Holy Communions in town with both St John’s Church and Our Lady and St Brendan’s Church hosting ceremonies. At St Brendan’s it was the turn of Third Class pupils from Listellick NS to receive the sacrament, along with one pupil from Scoil Eoin. […]

THE pupils of St Brendan’s NS in Blennerville finally got to enjoy their First Holy Communion Day on Saturday morning. Delayed from the traditional May date, the weather stayed dry while they arrived at St John’s Church, but the heavens opened as soon they went inside. However, a wet day […]

A TRALEE student has won a category in the 67th Texaco Children’s Art Competition. The winners, runners-up and merit award recipients in seven different categories were announced on their website today. Clodagh McCluskey, a 15 year old student at Presentation Secondary School Tralee, won Category B (14-15 years) for ‘Feathers’, […]

IT was a busy Saturday morning at St John’s Church as families of 47 Gaelscoil Mhic Easmainn pupils arrived for First Holy Communion Day. Like the rest of the Tralee schools, the ceremony was postponed from the traditional May date due to COVID restrictions and had to be divided into […]

TOGETHER again, one last time. The boys and girls of the Caherleaheen NS Class of 2021 were reunited on Sunday for their belated Confirmation Day. The 23 friends wore the uniforms of their secondary schools for the ceremony celebrated by Fr Seán Jones while their former teacher Ms Bradley was […]

PUPILS from third class in Holy Family Primary School finally enjoyed their big day out at the weekend when they received their First Holy Communion. While May is the traditional time for First Communions, it was delayed by COVID restrictions, so the ceremony finally went ahead in Our Lady and […]

THEY may be attending the various secondary schools around town now, but the CBS Primary School ‘Class of 2021’ had a very good excuse to meet up again on Saturday. The occasion was their belated Confirmation Day at St John’s Church and families were blessed with the weather as they […]

Unprecedented grades inflation increases CAO points requirements, but Kerry’s applicants sweep up a copious supply of college offers in Round One says Billy Ryle… The record-high Leaving Cert grades have caused a dramatic increase in points requirements for many third level courses for the second consecutive year. There was an […]

KERRY County Council said it is open to arranging a public awareness campaign in relation to the use of jet skis and other leisure craft in Fenit and other parts of the county. The issue was raised in a motion by Sinn Féin Cllr Cathal Foley at the meeting of […]

MINISTER for Education, Norma Foley TD was on hand to launch two new Leaving Certificate Programmes at Coláiste Gleann Lí on Friday. The new programmes are Computer Science and Physical Education and will be offered from this year to Senior Cycle students at the school.The two new courses are being […]

IT was a long time coming, but Confirmation Day finally arrived for the Scoil Eoin Balloonagh Class of 2021 on Saturday. Our Lady and St Brendan’s Church hosted three separate ceremonies to accommodate each of the classes taught by Ms Sugrue, Ms Daly and Ms Curtin. The ex-pupils wore the […]

SEPTEMBER is about to see a plethora of First Holy Communion ceremonies hosted in churches around the county as more and more restrictions are lifted. Last Saturday saw children from Caherleaheen National School gather in St John’s Church in Tralee for their belated big day out. The boys and girls […]

BRILLIANT sunshine lit up the glorious setting of the Church Of The Purification in Churchill on Saturday morning as families arrived for a special day. Like last year, the Spa NS First Holy Communion day was delayed until September, but there was very much a summery feel to the occasion. […]

IT’S been such as bizarre time for the Class of 2021, but the fruits of their labour were finally realised on Friday when the Leaving Cert results were revealed. Like last year, students received their results directly on the Candidate Self Service Portal so they didn’t have to go to […]

Guidance Counsellor Billy Ryle congratulates Leaving Cert students on their results, but after the celebrations it’s important to pay attention to what comes next… The long wait for 61,125 Leaving Cert candidates (57,952 LC Established & 3,173 LC Applied), including 1806 candidates from Kerry (1700 LC Established & 106 LC […]

ST Brendan’s NS in Blennerville has been going from strength to strength in recent years, especially since the new school opened in 2016. This is evident in the numbers now attending as 30 new junior infants began their schooldays on Wednesday. Prinicipal Robbie O’Connell said the children settled in well, […]

SCHOOLS all over town welcomed their new junior infants this week. From the biggest school to the smallest, all the children were made feel equally welcome by staff as the little ones’ educational journey began. The town’s largest primary school, Scoil Eoin in Balloonagh, saw three classes of pupils arrive, […]

TO mark the reopening of schools after the summer break, Minister for Education and Kerry TD Norma Foley visited a number of schools in the county recently. It was an opportunity to meet staff and students and to wish them well for the year ahead. The Minister’s Foley’s tour of schools […]

Teacher at Presentation Primary School, Helena Hennessy, describes the excitement as the new Junior Infants began their schooldays this week… As is customary for the first day back at school, the excitement and anticipation was palpable on the corridors of Presentation Primary School this week as the students returned after […]

THERE was the usual excitement at Holy Family NS on Monday morning for the new arrivals. In fact, the juniors weren’t the only ones beginning at Holy Family. A new principal, Maria O’Regan, was also starting her time at the school having taken over from Ed O’Brien who has just […]

PRIMARY school pupils in Kerry and around Ireland are being challenged to get creative in how they learn and think about Europe through the Blue Star Programme, coordinated by European Movement Ireland. The Blue Star Programme teaches primary school children about Europe through creative activities and projects that complement the […]

AND so the fun begins. Monday saw the arrival of nearly 40 new children to CBS Primary School and the beginning of a wonderful educational journey. Friends for life were made in Ms Quirke and Ms Donoghue’s classes in the new, impressive extension to the school which opened this time […]

A NEW chapter in the lives of young children began at Caherleaheen NS and O’Brennan NS last week. The junior infants were dropped off by emotional parents but the kids were unfazed and happy to meet their new friends. “It’s been brilliant with no tears, all went really well and […]

ANOTHER first day at school at Gaelscoil Mhic Easmainn went as smoothly as you’d expect, with two classes of junior infants beginning a new journey. “Everything went great this morning,” said Principal Cáit Uí Chonchúir. “The parents had visited with the children on two occasions previously to get used to […]

EXCITEMENT abounded at Listellick NS on Thursday morning as parents brought their children to begin their schooldays. Teacher Ashley Reynolds said everything went very smoothly, with no tears shed and children settled in very quickly and comfortably with their new friends. However, they may not be too long in their […]

WITH the current mini-heatwave we’re experiencing, it doesn’t feel like back to school time is here again. However, the uniforms have appeared and emotional parents were present and correct on Thursday morning at Spa National School as the junior infants arrived in the sunshine. It all went smoothly and teacher […]

WE hope the upcoming weekends in September and October will be as kind weather-wise to those making their Confirmations and First Communions! Another glorious, sunny day saw the Class of 2021 Sixth Class pupils from Listellick NS converge on Our Lady and St Brendan’s Church for their long awaited special […]

THEY may be starting a whole new chapter in their lives soon, but there was one last aspect to their primary school lives to complete for last year’s Holy Family NS sixth class pupils. Nearly 30 pupils and their parents were in Our Lady and St Brendan’s Church for their […]

MINISTER for Education and Kerry TD Norma Foley has announced the increased provision and significant investment in special education for CBS The Green. Initially the school was approved funding under the Additional Accommodation scheme for the provision of a new technology room and preparation area. Today, however, Minister Foley announced […]