Barefield school pupils have a spring in their step

OVER 260 pupils from first to sixth classes at Barefield National School are gearing up for the school’s annual spring concert, which will be staged in Glór, Ennis on Thursday, February 10.

In recent years, the concert has been a sell-out in Glór and the children have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of performing on stage at the top-class venue and having the opportunity to act, sing and play music with state-of-the-art stage lighting and sound systems.
Paddy Conroy, teacher at Barefield National School, said pupils across all classes are busy learning songs, dance moves and their lines for the performance in two weeks’ time.
“We came back to school in early January and ever since then, there’s been a real buzz in the school preparing for the concert. Pupils are practising a lot for their big performance and are learning lots of new songs and trying to perfect their roles in plays for the show. It always brings a real air of excitement to the school, and everyone gets involved, which is wonderful for the school,” he said.
Most classes in the school and some combination of classes are putting together plays for the concert. First class will be performing a play called The Letter, which Mr Conroy explained is essentially a fairytale with lessons about honesty.
“Second-class pupils will perform The Restaurant, a play in which everything that can go wrong will go wrong. This is a comedy with music. Third class are doing an adaptation of the classic tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, while fourth class will perform a musical with plenty of surprises. Fifth class are doing a play with music set behind the scenes of a concert. This play is a lot of fun with lots of pop music, including a performance of the Jedward hit, Under Pressure. Sixth class will perform a play based on the classic story of Cinderella, which will also have plenty of music,” he added.
The plays will include all kinds of music and dance, from traditional, to classical, hip-hop, to pop, among others. The concert will also feature performances by the school’s céilí band, marching band and the school choir. There will also be a performance in French.
All money raised from the concert will go back into the school for future activities and costs. A raffle with a wide range of prizes will also be held on the night.
Junior and senior infants of the school, as well as the playschool attached to Barefield National School, Over the Rainbow, will perform their own concert in the new school hall on Tuesday, February 8. “There is about 105 children in all between the playschool and the junior classes and they are all learning song, dances and short plays now for their own show. The 7.30pm showtime in Glór is a bit late for them to be on stage, so that is held during the day instead,” Mr Conroy explained.
The Barefield Spring Concert organisers this year are teachers Peadar McMahon and Aisling Daly but all staff at the school are helping to pull the show together.
“The children always really enjoy preparing for the concert and the big performance itself and this year is no different. There are so many talented children in the school and it’s brilliant to see everyone pulling together for the concert. It is always great to perform in Glór and with all of the equipment used for the production the children really do feel like little superstars for their performance. It’s been a great success for the school in recent years, with the audience thoroughly enjoying the performances and I’ve no doubt but that this year’s concert will be just as good, if not even better,” he added.
Tickets for the concert are available from Glór online at www.glor.ie or from the Glór Box Office on 065 6843103.