Bennekerry entered a boys and a girls team into the Division 1 Cumann na mBunscol. The boys got to the semi-final but bowed out to a very strong Bishop Foley team. The girls had a great run of form and made the final against Gaelscoil. It was an very even match with Bennekerry pulling away in the later stages to win their second consecutive title.

Three girls from Bennekerry NS combined with students from other schools from Carlow were selected to play in the Allainz Cumann na mBunscol Laighean Ladies Football Blitz in DCU. They bet Westmeath, Louth and Dublin to make the division 1 final but bowed out to an extremely strong Meath team. Well done girls!!

As part of our Active Flag we have commenced MUSIC MONDAYS – this is music on the yard for everyone to dance to during break. It is a great success and it gets everyone moving more.

We launched our Active Schools Flag campaign in March, with a whole-school assembly. At this assembly, the Active Schools Committee were introduced to the school. The committee spoke to the school about the Active School Flag, the slogan competition and performed our Active School Chant. 

All classes in the school got active for 10 minutes, every morning at 10 o’ clock from January 22^nd for 3 weeks. 10 @ 10 is an Operation Transformation initiative to get children active while having fun for 10 minutes. Each video showed how a little exercise everyday can make a big difference! These videos were great for waking the children up and getting their heart rates up after working so hard at their desks. The children loved these classroom exercises and will continue with these mini-workouts into the future. 

We try as much as possible to get the children up and moving throughout the school day.We also ensure they get physical activity in their classrooms,even when it is raining and they are unable to go outside. Some of the the activities the children do in their classrooms everyday include: GoNoodle, Just Dance, 10@10 and  Cosmic Yoga.

 Yoga 

What a scary day we had on Friday 27^th October for our annual Witches Walk on the school grounds. Bennekerry NS was a scary place to be. There were many ghosts, spiders, witches and skeletons roaming around the school. The pupils and staff did a lap around the school to show off their spooktacular costumes. 

As part of our attempts to raise awareness about healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle, we have taken on the Super Troopers Programme. Each child has a booklet which sets them simple targets for each night. There are also suggestions regarding healthy eating and mindfulness. Details are available on-line at https://supertroopers.ie.

During the month of October, all pupils in Bennekerry NS began the Run Around Europe Challenge in conjunction with Active Schools Ireland. One lap of the school pitch equated to 1km. Every child that completed a run around the pitch covered a kilometre. The total kilometres ran from each class were added together and the number of kilometres the entire school ran that day was then taken off the distance from their destination. We began in Dublin, and then went to London. From London we visited many places such as Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Talinn, Riga, Moscow, Vilinius, Minsk, Tblisi and  Ankara. It was an excellent initiative that the pupils enjoyed taking part in. Many pupils decided to do extra laps at break time and during movement breaks to try and boost the total and to reach as many destinations as possible. 

As part of maths week we were 'actively' out and about measuring, recording and calculating. 

Autumn League: We had a very successful autumn football league this term. Over 110 students signed up, our biggest number yet! We had six boys’ teams and four girls’ teams competing and all matches were extremely competitive. After hard fought league stages and semi-final play offs, the Westmeath Wolverines defeated the Sligo Slingshots in a fantastic girls final under difficult playing conditions. In the boys’ final, an enthralling match ensued and a late goal from the Wexford Warthogs saw them pip the Armagh Avengers in another super game. Thanks to Ms. Deirdre Tomlinson and Mr. Danny Curry for their help in organising and refereeing the games.