St. Etchen's National School Kinnegad

22/08/2026

From Kinnegad to Ghana!

​With the recent updates to Ireland’s primary school curriculum, many of our existing textbooks needed to be replaced. But rather than simply recycling them, we wanted to ensure these valuable resources found a new purpose.
​We are delighted to share that we’ve delivered our old books to Crosscause, a fantastic charity based in Co. Louth that supports underprivileged communities in Eastern Europe and West Africa.
​All of our former schoolbooks are now loaded onto a container bound for Ghana! They will soon be in the hands of eager young learners, supporting educational and community projects across the region.

It’s wonderful to know our old materials will continue inspiring bright minds for years to come! 🌍💙

Crosscause are also looking for donations of medical supplies and vocational tools. Please contact them if you can support their great work in anyway.

02/06/2026

29/05/2026

Please take the time to look at the excellent animations created recently by the students in our 5th & 6th Classes.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKzqDiAqQuiTdrqDAR5aKmks1Xba21AJg&si=W6LOQkUV3BK-F0WQ

These 'Let's Animate with Mike' projects were completed as part of our Creative Schools.
Aren't they fantastic!
🎥🎞️🎥🎞️🎥🎞️🎥🎞️
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

23/05/2026

🪏 🪴 We had a recent visit from Louise Vaughan from ’Grow it Yourself’.

Louise worked with our eager gardeners in our 3rd classes to plant carrots, parsnips, potatoes, Swiss chard and lettuce. 🥕 🥔 🥬

We are really looking forward to seeing our plants grow. 🌽 🥒

Well done to 3rd class who were so enthusiastic and very knowledgeable about looking after our garden 👏

23/05/2026

⭐️⭐️We are absolutely delighted and so proud that we have been awarded 3rd place in the group category at RTÉ’s This is Art 2026 for their outstanding piece, “This is us!” 🖼️

This wonderful achievement reflects the creativity, imagination and teamwork of our Creative Arts Team and children who worked alongside creative practitioner Caithriona Devine during our BLAST 2025/2026 residency. Through our inspiring “climate optimism” scene, we transformed recyclable plastics into a vibrant celebration of nature. Our message was simple: We need to care and protect our environment. ☀️ 🌺 🌳

Thank you to Caithriona Devine for her guidance and inspiration, and to everyone involved in making this BLAST residency such a memorable and enriching experience for our school community.

We are incredibly proud of our creation!👏🌍
Westmeath County Council Athlone Education Centre RTÉ TodayRTÉ National Arts in Education Westmeath Libraries Robert Troy The Westmeath Examiner Creative Schools

You can view our winning submission, “This is us!”, here:
https://thisisart.rte.ie/submissions/2025/159-this-is-us

Just fantastic to learn that students from St. Etchen's National School Kinnegad have been awarded 3rd place in the group category in RTE’s ‘This is Art 2026' for the amazing work titled 'This is us!' that they produced with creative practitioner Caithriona Devine during their BLAST 2025/2026 residency🤩

Within their work 'This is us!', students created a wonderful scene of 'climate optimism' using recyclable plastics to create a celebration of nature transforming everyday waste into something positive and cheerful.

Congratulations to everyone involved on this outstanding achievement and brilliant BLAST residency👏

Please see St Etchens NS winning submission 'This is us!' at the link below:

https://thisisart.rte.ie/submissions/2025/159-this-is-us

CreativeIrl An Roinn Oideachais agus Óige - Department of Education and Youth Devine Art Studios Athlone Education Centre Tralee Education Support Centre

20/05/2026

🙏A huge THANK YOU to our amazing Parents Association for their incredible generosity and support towards our 5th & 6th Class yards! 👏

The children are absolutely thrilled with the fantastic new outdoor equipment including the outdoor chess board ♟️, ludo 🎲, snakes & ladders 🐍🪜 and not one but TWO table tennis tables 🏓🏓

These wonderful additions will bring so much fun, activity, teamwork and enjoyment to our children for years to come. The excitement on the school playground has been incredible! 😄🙌

♟️ We are so lucky to have such a supportive and dedicated Parents Association. Thank you for always going above and beyond for our children and school community🙏⭐️

17/05/2026

🏆 Huge congratulations to the Westmeath Senior Football Team Westmeathgaaofficial on an incredible victory in the Leinster Final against Dublin today! 🎉👏

The Delaney Cup is coming home to Westmeath where it belongs! 🏆What a fantastic achievement for the players, management, supporters and everyone involved. Your hard work, determination and team spirit have made the whole county so proud! 🙌🔥

A special well done to Mr. Martin , we are absolutely delighted for you and all the team! 👏

Enjoy every moment of this historic success!

16/05/2026

⛪️ Today was a truly special and blessed day for our wonderful 2nd Class pupils as they received their First Holy Communion ✝️🤍

We are so proud of each and every child who took this important step in their faith journey with such reverence, joy, and love. ✨

A sincere thank you to our teachers, parents, guardians, school choir, parish team, and everyone who helped make this beautiful day so memorable.🙏

May God bless all of our Communion children and their families today⛪

14/05/2026

📣 Competition Time! 🎉
Help St Etchens, Kinnegad Win €1,000 Worth of Free Inflatable Hire for the Day 🎉
We’re celebrating the amazing schools in Westmeath & Longford with a massive giveaway! 🏫

St Etchens, Kinnegad, has entered our Westmeath & Longford School Giveaway and they need YOUR help to win!

👍 All you have to do is:
✅ Like this Post and follow our Instagram Page.
✅ Share this Post on your Instagram Story.
✅ Tag three Friends with young children.
✅ Help St Etchens, Kinnegad, get the MOST combined likes on our Instagram & pages.

🎁 The winning school will be the school that has received the most combined ‘Likes’ on our Facebook and Instagram pages and that school will receive €1,000 worth of inflatable hire for FREE – including bouncy castles, obstacle courses, slides, inflatable games & more – perfect for their next school celebration!

📅 Voting ends Friday 15th of May at 10AM
🏆 Winner announced at 1PM the same day!

Let’s help St Etchens, Kinnegad, bounce to victory! 💥




📸 St Etchens, Kinnegad, Westmeath: