Lending a hand at Ballymahon NS

A group of Transition Year students from Mercy Secondary School in Ballymahon have redecorated the school yard of the local primary school as part of their studies. Daniel Howlin, Shannon Walsh, Hayley Doherty, and Jake O’Shea carried out the work as part of the Community Involvement module of their course.

“They did it all on their own initiative,” said Ballymahon Primary School Principal, Herbert Farrell.

They decorated the area by painting hopscotch courts, play mazes and other activities all around the playground. There are even maths games which can be integrated into the curriculum.”

Herbert explained that a number of groups were delighted to help out when the four students showed an interest in carrying out the work: “Longford Sports Partnership provided the stencils, and the school board and parents association got together and paid for the paint.”

Speaking about the benefits of the new playground games, Herbert said: “Most importantly, it’s helping to keep them active and healthy, but they’re also having a lot of fun. A lot of them have come up to me and thanked me for the games, but I’ve told them it’s the students from Mercy Secondary School that they have to thank, so the junior and senior infant classes have gotten together and bought Easter eggs for the four of them.”