Olympic canoeist visits Rathangan school

On Tuesday, November 19, Bunscoil Bhríde welcomed Noel Hendrick, Ireland’s Olympic canoeist, to Rathangan.

After showcasing their cross-curricular work on the Olympics, fourth and fifth class, along with the Active Schools Committee led the Kildare Olympian ambassador through a jubilant and colourful guard of honour before proudly singing Amhrán na bhFiann in assembly.

The children were enthralled by his inspirational talk about never giving up on finding a sport you love and his personal story of resilience.

This visit all came about last September, when Ms Freeborn’s fourth and fifth class created a video application to send to Dare to Believe, demonstrating why Bunscoil Bhríde deserves to have a Team Ireland Olympic Ambassador visit. Out of 1,400 schools, they were one of the lucky 50 to be successful this term.

The school presented Noel with hundreds of creative designs for his new canoe and impressed the Paris ‘24 semi-finalist with their fiercely energetic An Haka Gaelach performance.

After the assembly, Ms Freeborn’s class and the Active School members took part in a visualisation activity with Noel and made time for autographs of course. Having earned their fourth Active School flag last year, this visit was a really special day in the history of the school.

The photographs give a glimpse into just some of the highlights which will be remembered for years to come. The school would like to thank Noel and everyone at Dare to Believe for organising the event.