WALKING through the main door of Gortjordan National School outside Kilmaine in South Mayo, one cannot help but be hit by the enthusiasm and warmth that floats through the bright and airy building. In the classrooms, the pupils are happily going about their business, along the corridors drawings and painting lines the walls, while outside the visiting birds are chirping gaily as they feed at the bird-table. An air of fun circulates throughout the school but amidst the laughter lies a deep appreciation for nature, for art and for the world all around.

A three-teacher school, Gortjordan NS is a home-away-from-home for its 59 pupils. The children love their daily environment, they take pleasure in the ambience within the school and on a nice day, the climbing frames, hopscotch, playing fields and walkways provide hours of enjoyment for the innocent children.

Gortjordan NS was originally built in 1896 as a small two-room school but four years after celebrating their centenary, the school-goers and Board of Management began to think earnestly about the possibility of a larger venue, after they won the top prize in the ‘Building For The Future’ competition. With this victory came a £50,000 cash injection and it was decided that this money would be used, together with some local contributions, towards the redevelopment of the school. At the same time, the school’s application for a development grant was sanctioned and so, work began on the new premises.

The teachers and students moved from their small venue into prefabs for a whole school year during the final stages of the project and were delighted when they took up residence in their state-ofthe-art building in September 2005. Of course, there was nobody as pleased with the result as the three teachers, who have collectively served in the school for over 100 years (Principal Donal Carey since 1970, Ann Hyland since 1973 and Mo Mullin since 1975).

Gortjordan NS is undoubtedly a wonderful place to work and to receive your education and each of the teachers are quick to point out that the thought of looking for an alternative post has never crossed their minds. While the teachers and students were over the moon to be moving into their new school in 2005 however, Donal Carey was conscious that some of the atmo-sphere would be lost in the move. Needless to say, he had no reason to fear on that account.

At the rear of the school, the facilities are second to none. The playground is colourful and safe with a climbing frame, balancing pole, seesaw, play house, sand pit and much more. A captivating water feature is nestled in the garden, while an area has been set aside for the children to plant tulips and other flowers. Sewing the various plants gives the pupils a feeling of ownership and respect, creating an uplifting spirit in every classroom and along every corridor.

The creativity of both the students and the teachers is blatantly obvious in Gortjordan NS and they are constantly entering art competitions and other events to showcase their work. It came of little surprise therefore that the school decided to contact ‘Images’, a Donegal-based company who frame children’s artwork for dis-play in their schools.

The idea behind ‘Images’ is to promote art in schools, allowing the children to learn from each other by viewing the pictures in their frames. In the normal scheme of things, very few children would ever have the opportunity to have their artwork framed. Children regularly produce lovely work and bring it home, where it is usually stuck on a wall or the fridge door. Many parents intend to frame these pictures at some stage but, more often then not, they just don’t find the time.

As a company, Images make it easy for parents by not alone framing the pictures but by displaying them in school. Some children excel at academics, others at music or sports, but for many teachers who have worked with Images in recent years, they have commented that this exhibition has brought the best out of others who have a flair for art.

On Tuesday last (January 30), Gortjordan NS was awash with colour and excitement, as the children waited anxiously to see their pictures adorn the exhibition stands in the school hall. The Images team arrived in the morning to hang the pictures and during the day the children were given a chance to visit the exhibition, before their parents arrived at the school that evening to view and perhaps purchase some of the pictures.

With their patience slowly fading on Tuesday morning, each child eagerly anticipating seeing their pictures on the walls, the class groups took a little time out to tell the Western People what they enjoy most about art and how much they were looking forward to the day ahead.

In 6th class, Grace Stevens (12) explained that the school often enter competitions, while Michael Connolly (12) said that he got a ‘great thrill’ each time he finished a picture. Joseph Murphy (12) pointed out that he had drawn a kingfisher as one of his pictures, as he liked using a multitude of colours, while Amy Burke (11) explained that she liked art because it shows what people real-ly like.

The 5th class students were just as enthusiastic, with Sharon Mellett (11) stating that art depicts who the person really is inside. Sharon’s classmate Micheál Murphy (11) drew an eagle, deer and a fox for the exhibition and said he liked using lots of different colours.

In 4th class, Stephen Maye (10) told the Western People that he liked drawing boats and that it’s always fun doing new pictures, while Thirza Dooley (10) remarked that she enjoyed drawing all kinds of things in nature, particularly using oil pastels. Eoin Mullin (9) said that when he looks at pictures that he has drawn, he feels a real sense of achievement, and Nuala Connolly (9) commented that art can be a great inspiration.

Laura Murphy (8) in 3rd class thought it was great fun doing the pictures for the art exhibition and confided that art is by far her favourite subject at school! Her classmate Dillon Dooley (9) noted that you can get so lost in art that you forget what season it is. For Sarah Stevens (9), she feels that art gives you a great opportunity to use your imagination, while Damien Whelan (9) expresses his great love of tractors and farm life in his work. Deirbhile Canny (9) commented that art allows you to use your imagination to do all sorts of things, and Emma Rodgers (8) stated that she really enjoys doing artwork on rainy days.

In 2nd class, Michelle Keady (8) explained that she had seen a panda in a book and decided to draw one for the exhibition and Doireann Kelly (8) really enjoys experimenting with colours. Marcus Henehan (7) is happiest when he’s drawing dragons and dinosaurs and staying with big animals, Tara Heneghan (8) decided to draw an elephant on a fishing boat for the exhibition. Meanwhile, Aishling Whelan (7) was sticking to the smaller creatures in nature and drew a butterfly using lots of pretty colours.

Carrick Regan-Roberts (7) in 1st class loves drawing animals, birds and all aspects of nature, while Martin Ronayne (7) is so fascinated with all the colours that he often sits down to draw at home. Patrick Burke (7) likes drawing and putting in lots of different colours to make the picture look nice, while Mark O’Donovan (7) enjoys drawing houses and boats, especially the titanic.

In Senior Infants, the children had a great time getting ready for the exhibition, with Patrick Reilly (6) choosing to do an orange sun and Adam Barrett (6) using his twistables to draw a collection of patterns. Tiernan Canny (6) likes drawing and filling the pictures with lots of different colours, Olivia Holleran (6) uses big bold colours, Emma Mooney (6) is in her element when she’s drawing a princess, and Aoibhe Kelly (5) has a great time drawing and painting at home when it’s raining or dark outside. Rachel O’Reilly (6) would like to be an artist or a book illustrator some day, Patrick Feighery (5) likes using lots of different colours and Niall Flood (6) has fun drawing squiggles and doing sponge painting.

As the youngest pupils in the school, the Junior Infants were just as motivated towards the exhibition as the older students, with Kai Bass (5) having great fun choosing the patterns and colours. A lot of the younger children most enjoy drawing gruffalos, while Emma Heneghan (5) thinks green dinosaurs are the best fun to draw! Ryan Regan-Roberts (5) does a great deal of drawing at home with his colouring pencils, while Luke Das (6) enjoys drawing pictures of his uncles, as well as other patterns and faces.

By the time all of the children had spoken about their likes and dislikes, the crew from Images had arrived and the exhibition was finally open for viewing. Needless to say, there was a steady murmur of excitement in each of the classrooms and the children peeped anxiously around the doorframes, waiting for their chance to stroll through the gallery.

The art exhibition in Gortjordan NS served to create an outlet for the children to really express themselves in any way they saw fit. The pictures were wonderfully drawn and magnificently coloured and with hundreds of pictures set in their frames around the room, it was certainly clear why the teach-ers had decided to contact Images. A huge amount of talent is alive in Gortjordan each and every day that the children gather in their school and judging by the myriad enchanting pictures that were on display, there’s every chance that this won’t be the end of involvement in art exhibitions for these delightfully clever students.

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