Scoil Mhuire Cloneygowan

O.S..P.C.A
On the 20th of October, Colette Coates from the O.S.P.C.A. (Offaly Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) visited us here at Cloneygown N.S. She gave us a presentation on animal cruelty with pictures of neglected animals. She also told us how to look after our pets properly.
Here are a few tips we learned from Colette

• Vaccination
• Flea and worm treatment
• Neuter and castrate
• Safe and secure garden
• Regular walks for dogs
• Companionship of their own kind
• T.L.C. [tender love and care ]
• Micro chipping
• Put a collar with a tag on your pet Rachel and Emily

Leif Barry
On the 6th of April a visitor came to our school, his name was Leif Barry. He is an Environmental Scientist. He takes pictures of insects and tries to keep their homes safe. The red squirrel is getting bullied by the grey squirrel and being poisoned. So if the red squirrel gets bitten by the grey squirrel it will die hours later.
If someone touches a newt, the newt could die because we are warm blooded and they are cold blooded. When a newt is being attacked, it’s tail can just snap off, and grow back after a while.
There are 22 species of bumblebee, 32 species of butterfly, 18 species of dragonflies and at least 2000 species of moths. He also told us about other living things.
By Nicole Kirwan

Water Treatment
My Dad Brendan Garry came to our school to talk to us about the water treatment plant.
Brendan said that we get water from under the ground and if it ever runs low we have access to the cat holes in Slieve Bloom mountains.
Chlorine is added to the water to kill all bacteria and germs. Chlorine comes in cylinders and if you breath it in you will die instantly.
Flourine is an acid that prevents tooth decay They try to leave lime scale in the water because it is good for us , but it is bad for appliances. Iron and manganese are removed.
The water is also filtered down through sand and gravel. This is a very important process.
Brendan is also a member of our green schools committee. Thank you Brendan.
Owen

Michael Jacobs
3rd to 6th class went on a trip to the bog. Michael Jacobs brought them to the bog, lucky them! Michael talked to them about the bog. They walked down onto Coolraven bog. Coolraven is a short walk from the school but a long walk onto the bog. They wore wellies, rain jackets and p.e uniforms. They kept getting stuck in the mud. They learnt so much. They went fishing and I’ve heard that Gavin Murphy caught a beetle in the drain! They saw a ladybird Michael Jacobs explained how the ladybird takes off from the highest point so he used his hand to demonstrate and the ladybird climbed to the top of his middle finger. Thanks Michael.
Jack Maloney

Brain Day
Erik O’ Hanlon gave a presentation on the 29th of September .Erik taught us about the brain . He talked to us about the grey and white matter and the long and short term memory . Erik is a doctor and a neuro scientist. Erik works in Trinity college . He also passed around a book about the brain and pictures of the brain that had been taken by a MRI scan . I loved my Dad’s presentation I learned so much.
Amie O’Hanlon