Fifth & Sixth Class Blog

In January, we read a poem about fireworks. We talked about exciting words to describe them and then we wrote our own verses from the firework's perspective. To bring the poem to life, we made 3D fireworks inspired by the poem, experimenting with different paper techniques.

Blast = Creative Classroom! 5th and 6th class have just finished taking part in the BLAST Art and Creativity programme, working alongside artist Karen Webster. The pupils explored a wide range of artistic techniques, including watercolour painting, creating their own sketchbooks, and using beach materials and clay to design ephemeral artworks. They also pressed seaweed and used it in gel printing, combining natural materials with printmaking skills. The programme encouraged

Well done to our team that won the Cuman na mBunscol Sligo sports quiz. This is our second year in a row coming out on top and everyone in Rathlee NS is very proud of the team's achievement. They will now go on to represent Sligo at Connaught and All Ireland level.

Our 3rd–6th class students enjoyed using LEGO Spike kits this month as they explored programming and engineering concepts. They designed and built a variety of models and then wrote code to make them move and respond using motors and sensors. They also learned how to debug their code by testing, identifying errors, and making improvements when things didn’t work as planned. Students developed important skills such as coding, problem-solving and critical thinking. They also sh

3rd - 6th class pupils recently completed a brilliant 6-week multi-sports programme with Youth Sport West to promote increased participation in sport and physical activity. The children enjoyed basketball, athletics and olympic handball - building their skills, confidence and teamwork, all while having fun. Huge thank you to our coach Bernie for her expertise and encouragement.

Our annual Christmas performance takes place next week. Hope to see you all there.

We had an exciting day in Rathlee NS as our 3rd–6th class pupils proudly showcased their projects for our Science Fair, held as part of Science Week 2025. The event gave pupils the opportunity to become real scientists - investigating, experimenting, and sharing their discoveries with others. Each class began by presenting their experiments in their own classroom. Pupils demonstrated their work, explained the scientific ideas behind it, and answered questions from their peers

We were delighted to welcome Sligo ladies senior champions Eoghan Rua to our school. A special congrats to past pupils Leanne Taylor, Orna O'Dowd and Claire Duffy! Best of luck to the girls in their Connaught quarter final v Glencar-Manorhamilton.

We are listening to the novel the owl who was afraid of the dark. During our art class we made owls inspired by Plop the main character. We also learned about Kandinsky who was known for using shapes, lines and bold colours.

5th and 6th enjoyed another busy maths week. We combined maths and wellbeing by surveying all the children in our school about PE. Our research and analysis produced some very interesting results. We also put our analytical skills to good use when doing our daily problem solving. Finally, we all know that maths is all around our environment so we used our school grounds to carry out a very enjoyable maths trail!

We are all really looking forrward to the Easkey Scarecrow festival. Thanks to our 5th class girls for creating Pothole Patrick who is the proud scarecrow representative from Rathlee NS !

As part of our Science lessons, we carried out an exciting experiment using bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and food colouring . When we mixed the ingredients together, we watched a colourful and fizzy reaction take place! The children observed how the vinegar (an acid)  reacted with the bicarbonate of soda (a base)  to produce carbon dioxide gas , creating bubbles and foam. We even experimented with different colours to make our “mini explosions” even more fun! It was a great h

The Sligo Primary Schools' Cross Country competition was held in Rathcormac last weekend. Our athletes trained very hard over the last few weeks and put in great individual and team performances. There is athletics and cross country training for children age 8 and older every Monday evening from 6.15 - 7pm in Enniscrone with West Sligo Athletics Club. Give it a try!

Our girls' and boys' teams enjoyed a great day of gaelic football in the Cumann na mBunscol mini 7s competition held in Castleconnor. We played really competitive games against Enniscrone NS, Corballa NS and Kilglass NS. Well done everyone!

We hope everyone is having a great summer. We will be delighted to welcome back all our pupils next week. We especially look forward to welcoming our junior infant children who will be starting their first day in school!

We had a lovely time exploring the sea shore today. We discovered lots of little crustaceans and various types of seaweed. We also covered a little local history on the way there!

We are thrilled to announce that our school has been awarded its 10th Green Flag, this time for Global Citizenship – Food and Biodiversity! This prestigious achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of our entire school community in promoting environmental awareness, sustainable food choices, and the protection of biodiversity. Through a variety of projects, from planting crops to exploring food miles our students have shown incredible commitment to making a positive

We had a fun-filled and active day at Bay Sports Athlone where we participated in a variety of land based and water based activities.

The weather didn't get in the way as we had a thoroughly enjoyable Sports Day with lots of fun team games and activities. We are very lucky to have our yard, pitch and soft play area for these days.

Well done to our boys team on winning the Sligo Cuman Na mBunsol gaelic football shield final. We defeated Monasteraden NS in a closely fought battle, on a wet evening that could have gone either way. The boys and girls teams in our school have great potential. Keep training with Easkey Gaa and Eoghan Rua during the holidays!

Busy Bees! We had a great day with Peter Neary where we learned all about our native bees and the wonders of how honey is produced. It was fascinating.

Thank you to Stokane NS for hosting a very enjoyable soccer blitz for our 5th and 6th classes. It was great to play with and against children from other local schools.

Our Lorg Na Scealaiochta story telling trail took place in Kilglass Woods. The event was the culmination of two years of creative endeavours by our local schools. From puppet making to story writing, the Creative Cluster has been a fantastic success and a source of creative inspiration to the children in our school.

5th and 6th class have been learning all about the Great Famine for the last number of weeks. We were delighted to be in the Jackie Clarke Museum where we deepened our knowledge further of this seismic event in our history.

Our school currently has an art piece on loan from the Glucksman Exhibition. We are delighted to be involved with this creative initiative which is supported by the Arts Council. It has been a great stimulus and inspiration for the childrens' artistic activities.

All roads lead to Rathlee on Friday June 13th for our annual 5k fundraiser for our school. It is always a fun evening and is a great way for everyone in our school community to get together. See you all there!

Our boys and girls footballers were in Gurteen today to play Culfadda NS. Both teams played very well and our boys have progressed to the next phase of the Cumann Na mBunscol competition.

We learned all about water pollution this week. Our 5th and 6th classes demonstrated to our 1st and 2nd classes an experiment about how different pollutants can impact water quality.

Well done to our 4th, 5th and 6th class boys and girls who played against Curry NS. Both teams worked really hard in lovely, sunny conditions. Training continues every Monday after school.

The weather has been fantastic this week. We were able to transplant our peas and beans to our raised beds. We will be busy weeding and watering for the next few weeks!

The weather has been glorious the last couple of weeks and we have been on our school pitch practising our skills regularly. We have training every Monday after school and GAA coach John works with each class on Thursdays. We are really grateful to have such fantastic facilities.

We had great fun last week getting active and working with our team-mates as we solved some tricky riddles which we had to find around the school grounds.

5th and 6th explored the concept of buoyancy by designing boats from a variety of materials in different shapes. Then we added weight to see which boat would sink first!

Well done to the boys and girls who competed in the hurling amigos skills competition in very pleasant conditions at the Sligo GAA Centre of Excellence in Scarden.

We all love reading in Rathlee NS and this year's Book Fair has been a tremendous success. Thanks to everyone in our school community for your support.

Creative Writing Workshop We were delighted to welcome author Gerry Boland back to our school. This week we worked on writing short stories and we got loads of great tips on how to become better writers.

Well done to our sports quiz team who represented Sligo and put in a great performance in the Cuman Na mBunscol All Ireland Sports Quiz held in Tullamore.

Bonjour! Our 3rd - 6th class children have just completed a very enjoyable and useful series of French lessons with tutor Brendan Doyle.

We were delighted to participate in the Easkey St. Patrick's Day Parade. The children dressed up in environmental themed costumes and played their tin-whistles. Thank you to all who took part and all the staff in our school who helped on the day.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh!

This week in science, we investigated surface tension using our art lesson on the northern lights as a starting point. We mixed food colouring with milk and then dipped soap in to observe the chemical reaction.

Seachtain Na Gaeilge is ea an tseachtain seo. Comhghairdeas le buaiteoiri ar dtrath na gceist rang a cuig agus rang a se!

Author and poet Gerry Boland worked with our 3rd-6th class children in a very enjoyable poetry workshop. We were delighted to welcome pupils from Killeenduff ns who also participated as part of our Creative Cluster.

Well done to our boys and girls teams who performed very well in the Cuman na mBunscol Amigos gaelic footballl skills competition held at Enniscrone GAA club.

Congratulations to our 5th and 6th children who received the sacrament of Confirmation from Archbishop Francis Duffy in St. James' Church Easkey. Thank you to our Parents Association and all who helped prepare refreshments for the children and their families back in our school after the ceremony.

We had a very enjoyable morning in Easkey yesterday where we played Enniscrone and High Park in an indoor hurling blitz. Well done everyone.

At break we took some photos. We were very excited to spot a small nest in a tree in the front yard. We painted some lovely spring flowers in our art class.

This week in science we investigated polymers and how their molecular chains form seals when punctured by a sharp object. We tested this theory using a sharp pencil and a bag of water.

Our 5th and 6th classes worked with artist Kiera O'Toole as part of the Blast Arts and Creativity in Education Residency. Over a number of days, the children used recycled materials to create some fantastic pieces of art.

It was a beautiful day for soccer in Cranmore. Our boys did the school proud and came tantilisingly close to qualifying for the next stage of the competition.