Dear Parents,
You will be aware that we are celebrating Seachtain na Gaeilge in the school from March 1st-13th. To date we have seen a number of activities and events taking place in our classrooms and school, ranging from seanfhocail competitions, to set dancing, and pop songs in Irish. We have a number of activities due to take place including a tráth na gceist (quiz). Unfortunately we have had to postpone our Maidin Caife (coffee morning) to a date later in the year.
Below we have shared resources that will help increase the opportunities provided to children and parents to use their Gaeilge outside the school environment. Any opportunity to use Irish outside the school is going to benefit your child as they progress through our school and throughout post-primary school. We strongly encourage you to engage with the resources below.
http://www.irishforparents.ie is a comprehensive website providing several links for parents. These links include opportunities for reading, video and music through Irish and the content is engaging for children.
http://www.TG4.ie is perhaps the most widely used and accessible of the resources available for engagement with the Irish language. The cartoons for children and age appropriate shows, are not only shown on television, but they are available to view of the TG4 player. The app is easily downloaded to devices, along with the Cula4 app we currently use on school iPads.
Raidió Rí Rá is an online radio station broadcast entirely in Irish. You will find it at http://www.rrr.ie, on DAB radio and on their app. It is easily accessed at home or in the car and is a great opportunity to hear the language regularly.
Coláiste Lurgan are well known for their YouTube videos where they have translated famous songs to Irish and provided the lyrics for children to sing along. You will find their videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/tglurgan and are a positive use of screen time!
The Cork City and County Library services are also full of Irish resources you can share with your children. Story time this Saturday is due to take place in Irish to celebrate Seachtain na Gaeilge. The library is free to join and you will find further information at http://www.corkcitylibraries.ie.
The most important thing you can do to encourage your child to use their Gaeilge, is to show them that it is a language that is alive. Use your own ‘cúpla focail’ whenever you have a chance. Use simple instructions they hear in school and show a positive attitude towards the learning and use of the language.
We hope the above will help you promote the use of Irish with your children. We intend to build on the positive approach of Seachtain na Gaeilge and to continue many of the initiatives and approaches taking place in recent weeks.
Kind regards,
Patrick O’Connell