'Chick lit' being taught at Limerick primary school

THE ‘EGGCITEMENT’ in the air was palpable as pupils watched their chicks hatch in Caherconlish NS.

The boys and girls have been like hens with an egg as they waited for their new classmates to arrive. Principal, Pa Ryan said they have seven new names to add to their roll book – Moonlight, Snowflake, Crystal, Egghead, Bambi, Pecker and King Kong.

“Third and fourth class picked names for each one depending on their breed and colour. The breeds we have are La Bresse, Light Sussex and Rhode Island Reds. The children are learning how to feed and care for the chicks. It makes learning about science fun and brings new meaning to the term – a living classroom,” said Mr Ryan, of the project run in association with Hatch4schools.

“Many children are coming into school with stories of how their parents and grandparents kept hens. Indeed, many parents and friends of the school are popping in to see the chicks,” said Mr Ryan.

It is a busy time for the school as they are also involved in the Run Around Europe challenge, organised as part of European Week of Sport from September 23 to 30.

“The idea is that the school commits to running the distance it would take to get to a certain capital city in Europe.

“Every lap that the pupils run around the school equals 1km. Our chosen city is Prague which is 1,882kms from Dublin. It’s an excellent initiative which offers great cross curricular benefits in teaching classes about Europe while keeping fit,” said Mr Ryan. Continuing the theme is a family fun day in the Millennium Centre on Sunday, October 1 at 2pm.

There will be cakes for sale, bring and buy, furniture sale, raffle, kids disco and lots more fun activities.