Pupils at Kesh Primary School talk hobbies, food, and family

They shared lots of interesting anecdotes about their teacher, Mrs. Irvine.

They also had a thrilling conversation about crisps and crisp sandwiches, a topic which they are deeply passionate about.

The first to speak about their school are Jessica and Thomas, who have lots of thoughts on school dinners.

Victoria Johnston: Do you like school?

Both: Yes.

Jessica: I like the school dinners.

What are the best school dinners?

Jessica: Hot dogs and chocolate cake.

Thomas: I take school dinners and packed lunch.

What do you put in your lunch box?

Thomas: In my packed lunch today, I had crackers, oranges, and I can’t remember what else I had.

Did you not make it this morning?

Thomas: No, my dad did.

Is Mrs. Irvine a good teacher?

Both: YES!

Why is she a good teacher?

Jessica: She lets us have play at the end.

Thomas: We have a jar that we put stars in and when we get to the end, we get a surprise.

What surprises do you get?

Thomas: We got extra playtime.

What games do you play? Football?

Thomas: We just run about.

Will you tell me a Kesh Primary School secret?

Thomas: I don’t have secrets. But we had shared education today.

What is that?

Thomas: We had people from the schools in Lack and Ederney. I know like three people from Lack, I don’t know what class they are in.

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Thomas:  I have to go keep my sister’s horses; you have to go there every single day. I don’t really like it.

Is she a good big sister?

Thomas: I have two sisters, one is young and one is big.

Jessica: I have two brothers; Harry is three and Robbie is ten months.

Tell me, Jessica, about looking after your baby brother.

Jessica: I lift him to my mummy and sometimes I change his nappies; I only do it when there is pee.

Nellie and Bert were keen to talk about playing outside, gymnastics and dinners both in home and at school.

Is P2 hard?

Both: No.

Could it be harder?

Both: No.

What do you like about school?

Nellie: Play outside.

Bert: Play outside.

What is your favourite thing to play outside?

Bert: Tag.

Does anything funny ever happen in your classroom?

Bert: No.

What is good about Mrs. Irvine as a teacher? Does she let you play?

Both: Yes.

Bert: We play Hide and Seek.

Where is the best hiding place?

[Silence.]

Do you not want to reveal your secrets? Let’s move on. Do you like PE?

Nellie: I do gymnastics, there is like bars and a trampoline, and we do straight jumps and straddle jumps.

How high can you go?

Nellie: Really high!

I have been told school dinners here are good, what is the best dinner here?

Bert: Sunday dinner.

Nellie: I am getting Sunday dinner today.

How do you take your chicken dinner?

Nellie: We go up and ask and then say yes or no

Do you take carrots and potatoes and other vegetables?

Bert: Yes, I would like lots for everybody.

What is your favourite dinner at home?

Bert: Meat.

What type of meat?

Bert: Meat, carrots, spuds.

Who makes the dinner at home?

Bert: Mummy and daddy.

Nellie: My mummy always cooks.

Does daddy do any cooking?

Nellie: I don’t know yet, he can’t even do this hairstyle, he can just do ponytails.

Do you pick out your own bow every morning?

Nellie: My mummy picks it , she is good at picking. If it was a ponytail she would pick a school bobble.

Do you spike up your hair before school?

Bert: Daddy and me.

Good friends Emily and Izzy were full of giggles and craic when they talk about Barbies, crisp sandwiches and baking.

What is good about school?

Emily: School.

Is anyone in your class funny?

Izzy: No.

Emily: She is!

What do you play?

Emily: I play outside

Izzy: I play Barbie inside.

Do you like Barbies?

Izzy: Yes.

What are your Barbies like? Do you have many?

Emily: I have 5.

Izzy: I have 50.

Emily: I have 50 hundred.

You had 50 hundred Barbies?

Emily: No, they are in the play area, but I have a kitchen.

In school?

Emily: In school and at home.

Izzy: I have a basketball hoop at home in my bedroom.

What do you do for fun?

Emily: I get to make buns and homemade bread with my nanny.

Izzy: I get to make banana bread with my nanny.

Emily: Oh Izzy, I make banana bread as well.

Do you like baking?

Izzy: My nanny teaches me banana bread and top hats.

I love top hats.

Izzy: Nanny did it for me; one day my nanny made me crisp sandwiches.

Emily: I LOVE CRISP SANDWICHES! When she [nanny] makes them I ask her to put the crisp in the sandwiches, and then they end up on the side of my plate, and I have to put them in, and it’s a toastie and it's, oh, ha, hot!

I have never had a toastie crisp sandwich.

Emily: I have heard of Oreo crisps.

What is your favourite flavour?

Izzy: All crisps.

Emily: Pringles are my favourite, but some of them are hot, hot.

Izzy: I like prawn cocktail.

Emily: They are spicy and oval.

What sound do you make when you eat Pringles?

Izzy and Emily: Nom, nom, nom, nom!

Hailey and Noah were adamant that Year 2 were the best class in Kesh Primary School because they are so helpful.

They were also full of praise for the teacher and classroom assistants.

Are Year 2 the best class ever?

Hailey: They do good work.

Noah: (Pointing at photographer John McVitty.) He’s taking photos of me!

It is for the paper, so tell me Noah, why are Year 2 the best class?

Noah: Because we do really, really, really nice things.

Like what?

Noah: Tidying up the school and even doing our homework!

How do you tidy up the school?

Noah: We do what the teacher says to tidy up the school.

Do you listen to Mrs. Irvine all the time?

Both: Yes.

Is Mrs. Irvine a good teacher?

Hailey: And Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Thompson, they are fun and classroom assistants. Mrs. Walker is a library and a doctor.

Noah: Mrs. Thompson sorts out our homework and if anyone falls in the playground, she takes them into the school.

What do you do for fun?

Hailey: I go to gymnastics, ballet and Rainbows.

How long have you been doing ballet?

Hailey: Over a year?

Noah, do you do ballet?

Noah: No! I do boy gymnastics.

What is that?

Noah: I do beams.

Hailey: That’s what the girls do; there are loads of boys in my gymnastics class, but none in ballet.

Do you need some to come?

Hailey: No! Rainbows is only for girls, and Beavers is for boys.

Do you get school dinners?

Noah: I want to go right now for my tum-tum.

Hailey: I get a packed lunch.

What do you put in your packed lunch?

Hailey: Sandwich, a Frube and some Oreos.

Do you make it?

Hailey: Daddy makes it.

Noah: Sometimes I am going to have a packed lunch in Year Two but I didn’t get to have had one yet. My mummy and daddy didn’t get me one yet, they didn’t know if I was allowed a packed lunch.

What are you going to put into your lunch?

Noah: Crisps and oranges

Do you have a favourite type of crisps?

Noah: I don’t know what flavour they are.

Hailey: I like the pink ones, I like the colours.

Noah: I like the green ones.

Hailey: I like all of them.

Some of the other children told me they like to have them in their sandwiches, do you do that?

Both: Ew! Yuck!