Ballymoney N.S.
Bottle Top Mural, Ballymoney, N.S. Cork
Ballymoney N.S. in West Cork is a small, rural, Church of Ireland school which packs a punch. The school engages with their local community at every opportunity.
Student voice is central to the school with children actively encouraged to contribute their ideas and are surveyed regularly for their views.
The Polytunnel at Ballymoney N.S. as maintained by students and parents.
They have individual student teacher meetings twice a year so that they have an input into their learning progress and journey through school life. They learn how to listen to others’ ideas and to work collaboratively through their green schools committee, their active school committee and their creative school committee. The students learn all about democracy and citizenship through their participation in The Blue Flag and My Big Friendly Guide to the EU.
As a small school, all 5th & 6th class pupils get the opportunity to represent their school in the Concern Primary Debating Competition each year. They learn how to voice their opinions in public, how to structure their thoughts and how to use persuasive language effectively. It’s a wonderful opportunity to build their confidence.
The students at the school campaign for social justice issues regularly and fundraise for Cork Simon Community, the Irish Red Cross, Ukraine Appeal and for the survivors of the earthquake in Syria and Turkey.
The school places a strong emphasis on the SDGs through debating and the school has an award-winning garden, in which children learn about being a sustainable community and about climate action in a practical and engaging way. They open their beautiful garden to the community for events and support the Tidy Town Competition.
The wellbeing of the students is supported through Zippys Friends, Friends for Life, Lust for Life and Empathy Week
The pillar of creativity is strong in Ballymoney N.S. and the school has created a number of collaborative arts projects such as their ‘Bottle Top Mural,’ their fairy trail, their ‘Ukulele le Chéile’ and they even have an actor in residence.
Teamwork and active learning are fostered excellently at Ballymoney N.S., through outdoor learning in their award-winning garden especially in the polytunnel, which is also maintained by parents. The polytunnel is a place for fun and learning all about sustainability and biodiversity. It also supports their learning when participating in the Annual Spring Clean, being a Picker Pal’s School, planting trees in the community and completing audits of the Bandon River water quality.