As has been the case throughout this term, many students are working extremely hard in class. This is a fact noted each week by their teachers who consistently recognise that so many are deserving of the ‘Student of the Week’ accolade. All we say is continue to DÉAN DO DHÍCHEAl! (DO YOUR BEST!) and you will be rewarded. All our teachers certainly see and appreciate your efforts and hard work!

As mentioned hard work was a dominant theme this week, where students gave 100% to their work, cooperating and taking a great part in class discussions, activities and debate. A lovely quote about one student was also that they were always very pleasant and kind to others, while being very helpful in class. Another great quality noted was that of being a great listener, this a key skill to ensuring success in any of our classrooms. Finally we were delighted to hear that many of those selected were working so hard at their tables and indeed with different strands of the Maths Curriculum where difficulties had surfaced previously.

Well done as always to those selected this week, we were delighted to hear of your hard work and interest in doing well.

The students of our Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Classes had a wonderful morning at the Museum of Country Life in Turlough where they enjoyed an excellent show/workshop ‘The Weather Show’.

It involved an interactive presentation covering principles such as atmospheric pressure, convection currents, sound, optics and electromagnetism. What our students found most enjoyable was the manner in which theory and practice was linked through fun and exciting experiments. The children learned all about thunder and lightning, how rainbows are formed while also examining climate change. They learned of the destructive power of extreme weather,in particular how tornadoes are formed. We explored areas that are subject to these extremes looking at the impact this has on their environment.

It was a most informative morning highlighting the importance and relevance of Science to our/the children’s everyday lives and a fitting way to conclude our Science Week celebrations.

Finally we were delighted to have the opportunity to wander through the fantastic Museum of Country Life, a great way to end a lovely morning.

Some important dates for your diaries in the coming weeks.

Wednesday 26th November Parent Teacher Meetings Day 1
Thursday 27th November Parent Teacher Meetings Day 2

Our annual Parent/Teacher meetings will take place on Wednesday/Thursday 26th/27th November.
The school will close at 2.45p.m.
Further information about the meetings will go out to all parents in a circular on Wednesday of next week.We look forward to meeting you then. Táimid ag tnúth le bualadh libh ansin.

The Parish Christmas Carol Service will take place on Wednesday evening December 10th at 7 p.m.Further details of the evenings events will again follow.

Finally our Christmas Concert will take place on Wednesday December 17th at 7 p.m. This year we will also have a matinee performance on Tuesday afternoon December 16th at 12.30 p.m. As with the Parish Carol Service arrangements will also follow.

All About Bees

On Wednesday October 22nd classes 2nd, 3rd & 4th took part in an “All about Bees” workshop. They were visited by Tom Finnerty from Western Seaboard Science Project who spoke to them about the life of a bee. It was an interactive workshop where the children got to learn about bees, explore videos relating to the topic, engage with the hive and view a sample hive.
The audio visual display was informative and very enjoyable. The children experienced what daily life is life for a “Queen bee”, a “worker bee” and a bee keeper. They got to see the process that happens in order for the honey to be bottled and found on shelves in a supermarket. It made the whole process more real and gave them an insight into how food products are created while also understanding how difficult life can be for a bee keeper. It was very informative and lots of fun.
A special word of thanks to Tom for visiting our school. We really appreciate his time and expertise.

We are really looking forward to the Community Day which will take place this coming Sunday in the C.B.D Complex from 2-5 p.m.

It promises to be a very exciting afternoon particularly with the release of the results of Community Futures Surveys and the recent School’s ‘Art and Photography Competitions’, the opportunity to visit the local community stands and to enjoy the various activities which will be found throughout the hall.

Most importantly all members of the community can vote on the aforementioned results and have their say in what they feel is/should be of importance to Charlestown going forward.

We would love to see as many of our students/parents/guardians on the afternoon and look forward to welcoming you there.

A warm welcome back to all parents/guardians and pupils to the St Attracta’s for the new academic year 2014 – 2015.

We have had a great first week, and are very happy with how all our students have come back to school,starting as they mean to go on!

Our new Junior Infant class in particular has settled very well into the routines of school life, working hard for their teacher and making new friends.
A special welcome also to new students who have joined us throughout the school. Again, we’re delighted with how well you’ve integrated into our classes/school and are delighted with your progress.

We hope all our new children and their families will be very happy here with us and have a long association with our school.

Reminder our Junior Infants will continue to finish at 12 Noon each day this week, however as and from Monday next September 15th the children will finish at the normal time of 2.05 p.m.

Building Update
All our Parents/Guardians should by now have an update of where we are at with our building works from the letter sent home to each family on Friday last. We expect that there will be great progress this coming week and hope that the main works will be finished inside the next fortnight.