An Unforgettable Christmas
It all started on a cold winter morning in December.
It was the day before Christmas Eve and the teachers and pupils of Scoil Nioclais were celebrating the last day of school. All round, there was a great atmosphere, and there were colourful decorations everywhere. All the children were looking forward to Christmas Eve with great excitement.
In Miss Chawke’s sixth class, the children were having a Christmas party. Food and fizzy drinks were on the tables. All of a sudden, there was a shout from Rob who was looking out the window “Snow! Snow! Snow!” everyone rushed over to where he stood.
There was commotion and excitement in the classroom. Before they knew it, the window was covered in snow. “I’m going to build a snowman,” yelled John. “I’m going to have a snowball fight,” shouted Conor. The class returned to there party and the snow continued to fall heavily and silently. After a couple of minutes Bean Ui Laoire came into the room and asked Miss Chawke for a quick word. When Miss Chawke returned to the room, Rob noticed that she had a flicker of panic in her eye.
After about half an hour Bean Ui Laoire came over the intercom. “Could all classes and teachers stay in the building, the snow has covered up all of the doors, we are doing all we can to remove the snow, please remain calm.” The classroom was eerily silent.
The party was stopped and the whole class was concerned about getting out. “I’m digging my way out<” cried Dovydas. “We don’t have any shovels” Said Sarah. Nothing could be seen outside the window except white snow. Miss Chawke went into the classroom next door to talk to Mr Walsh and everyone remained quiet. When she returned Emer asked “will we get home for Christmas Eve?” To everyone’s horror, Miss Chawke replied “I’m not sure.”
At that moment, Mr Moynihan came into the classroom and told the class that he was going to make mince pies in the staff room. “That snow is going nowhere and I’m not missing my Christmas food!” he cried. Nobody was sure if he could cook but before anyone had the chance to say something Dovydas yelled “I’ll help” and sprinted out after Mr Moynihan. At this stage the children were panicking.
Later on, Mr Walsh came into to the classroom with his guitar. He started playing songs to cheer the children up but nothing could lift their spirits. At a quarter to four the intercom sounded again. The children looked up in hope. The message was for all the senior classes to come to the hall. In the blink of an eye the corridor was in chaos.
When at last all the classes were seated in the hall Bean Ui Laoire began to speak. “As you’ve all heard the doors of the school have been covered in snow and can’t be opened. We are doing all we can to stop the situation worsening. We have just rang the fire department to come and dig the snow away. This process may take a couple of hours so please remain patient.”
When the classes returned to their rooms every child was filled with annoyance. “How could something like this happen<” wailed Mark. “I don’t know” replied Ms Chawke. “The good thing about Christmas is that you’re not in school,” exclaimed Niamh.
Some while later Miss Chawke got a phone call from Ms Lee. After the phone call Ms Chawke told the class that they had just began to dig away. “Don’t get your hopes up about getting out soon. There has been a huge build up of snow,” said Miss Chawke. “How long does it take to shovel away some snow,” moaned Daniel.
After a couple of minutes Ms Horgan entered the classroom and spoke to Ms Chawke. When she left the room, Ms Chawke told the children what Ms Horgan had said. The excitement in the classroom rose to incredibly high. Nearly all of the snow had been removed. Ms Chawke brought them down to the main entrance door. All of Ms Chawkes sixth class were staring intently at the door.
Suddenly Eadaoin screamed.”There’s a hole in the snow, look.” And to everyone’s delight there was a hole. Finally there was only a sheet of snow left on the door. But to everyone’s dismay the snow had turned to ice. By this time nearly the whole school was gathered around the main entrance door in the building.
Just then a fire department axe broke through the ice and down it fell. The whole school erupted in cheers. People were jumping for joy. The atmosphere was electric. Bean Ui Laoire was crying uncontrollably. All the pupils were brought out into the yard. After a couple of speeches about how well behaved they were when all this going on, the children went home. Christmas had just begun!!
The End
