St. Patrick’s NS has a strong tradition with the arts. Trips to the theatre, the pantomime, the National Art Gallery, the National History Museum and many other cultural events are an annual occurrence.
Drama in our School
Drama is a very important part of our school curriculum. We believe it gives children the opportunity to express themselves, develop their imagination, build on self confidence and above all, enjoy themselves. It is an exciting and beneficial way for children to learn, allowing them to explore themes and to express themselves and their ideas in different ways. It also encourages self awareness and a deeper understanding of different points of view. As well as being a stand alone subject, Drama is also linked to other areas of the curriculum such as Gaeilge, English, History and S.P.H.E.
Lights, Camera Action!
Each year, the whole school gathers together to perform our Christmas play. This is followed by the senior classes who choose a play themselves and take to the stage at the end of the year. Great excitement is generated throughout the school as every child is involved in the production either making props, costumes, singing, dancing or acting. Senior pupils also participate in an annual poetry recital competition here in the school. Seachtain na Gaeilge offers a great opportunity for dramaíocht as Gaeilge in each class.
Picasso Calling
Every year, our Junior children have the wonderful experience of engaging in visual art experiences in the Pine Forest Centre. Situated just outside Glencullen, pupils spend the day engaging in discovery based learning and creative art activities.
All students participate in the annual Texaco Art competition and a variety of other art competitions.
We hold a number of Art competitions in school each year including our annual Create a Christmas Decoration and Design an Easter Egg competitions.
Sing a song
Here in St. Patrick’s N.S. we are very lucky to have a school choir. One of our talented parents, Ruth Fitzsimon, takes 3rd-6th class for singing every Thursday. This choir provides the music for the First Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation. The choir also performs at the end of the school year for parents and the local community.
Ceol programme
Our Junior classes have benefited enormously from our teachers being trained in the Ceol programme. The Ceol programme presents complex musical concepts in bite-sized chunks, week on week, using simple, age appropriate, illustrated and audio materials, which ultimately develop all strands of music education, i.e., pitch, rhythm, steady beat, composition, performance, and listening and responding development. Our music curriculum is enriched by such an innovative programme and we hope to extend this training up the school. This programme can be viewed at http://www.ceolireland.ie/home.
While we offer many extra-curricular activities in the arts, our daily curriculum is culturally colourful embracing visual art, drama and music. We are proud to have so many aspiring artists, actors and musicians within our pupils.