The Quay School in Westport was taken totally by surprise last week when a short video recording they made as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge was viewed almost 8,000 times.
As part of Seachtain na Gaeilge a large range of activities was organised to take place in the school over several days. These activities included setting up an Irish speaking restaurant in the school for a day, recording children presenting the “School News” and hosting several traditional music sessions in the school hall. A teoraíocht taisce (treasure hunt ) was organised for third and fourth classes and younger children took part in bingo – as Gaeilge. The whole idea of organising these activities was to present Irish language and culture in a fun way for children to use. The enthusiasm of the children was electric. Congratulations to the children and teachers involved and in particular to Katrina Chambers for her work in co-ordinating the different activities.
For one of these activities, the sixth class pupils worked with their class teacher, Susan Murray, to produce a version of Mamma Mia, as Gaeilge. Numerous practice sessions took place in the school over the course of the week, and on Friday, Mamma Mia was ready. All of the children in the school were invited to the school hall and sixth class dressed in 1970s style clothing. There was a really wonderful atmosphere in the hall as Mamma Mia was performed and a short recording of the performance was added to the school website.
Over the course of the weekend, a large number of past pupils logged onto the school website and emailed messages of congratulations to the children.
