Kildare primary school celebrates Grandparents Day
Joseph Wixted with Grandad Joe, Nanny Rita, Aoife, George and Hugo
Churchtown National School’s annual Grandparents Day kicked off on Tuesday, 1 April, on a bright sunny day with daffodils in full bloom.
The school’s annual event, which is usually held in January to coincide with Catholic School Week, had been postponed due to the spread of flu in the local community at the time.
While those at Churchtown NS were disappointed to postpone, the event’s rescheduling couldn’t have been planned for a better time!
School Principal Gayle Murphy told that they might just have to change the event date to April for good.
She said: “It was just beautiful. The weather was so nice. It was fantastic, and there was a great turnout.”
Churchtown students prepared the day themselves, putting together the mass which included songs and readings in the mass which went on from 11am until 12.30pm with help from Fr Hannon and Conor McCann.
The children sang ‘Our Lady of Knock’, ‘The Curragh of Kildare’ and even the ‘Grandparents Song’ as well as many others with wonderful accompaniments from excellent community music teachers Jacinta O’Donnell and Geraldine Flannagan.
After mass, students and their grandparents were invited for a cup of tea and a chat, and even got to see some of the classrooms afterwards.
Principal Murphy said: “It’s a day to celebrate grandparents and remember grandparents that can’t be with us.”
“We are a small rural school with a close-knit community. It’s a nice way to invite people to be part of our school community.”
