Last week the children from 2nd & 3rd class headed off with great excitement for their school tour to Horizon Outdoor Activity Centre in Westport. Mr Rushe, Mrs McCafferty and 32 eager children departed Charlestown at 8:30am for the short trip to Westport. The weather was forecast to be dry and hot so sun cream and shades were the order of the day. The children arrived at the Activity Centre and were met by staff members who brought us to our information meeting. We were briefed on the 6 activities that the children would be taking part in and also about the safety procedures of the centre. Then it was off for a day of fun and memories.

Each child got to take part in archery, rock climbing, trampoline aeroball, high rope climbing, fencing and a blindfolded trust activity. There were lots of cheers, laughter, screams and high jinks as the children got stuck into each activity. As always we were so proud of the excellent behaviour of our children.

We arrived back at the school at 5:20pm tired, dirty but very happy. A sincere thanks to all the parents for helping make the day a success and for having the children ready for action.

On Wednesday of last week our Junior and Senior Infant Class went on their school tour to Graune Pet Farm. They had a great time feeding the animals in particular the goats and geese and petting the puppies and rabbits.

After spending time with the animals they enjoyed lots of play activities which included sand, giant slides, bouncy castles and a really fun zip wire. After they all had a lovely lunch before returning very tired to school! Well done to all the girls and boys who were so well behaved throughout the day. We hope they each had a great time!

4th, 5th and 6th class had a fantastic day of fun and adventure on Tuesday last in Delphi Adventure Centre. Here the children got the opportunity to conquer their fears on completing the high ropes challenge and do a leap of faith.

They also took part in the bushcraft survival where they took on the role of Bear Grylls and learned how to do some basic survival skills including making a fire and a shelter from natural materials. There was great competition between the boys and the girls during this activity. The highlight of the day for everyone was the very fun, wet and thrilling kayaking activity. The children got ‘stuck’ into getting their wetsuits on, where there were lots of giggles and team work experienced.

On completing the kayaking the children got to jump off the pier into the water and have some free play. The best part of the day was getting to push Mr. Clarke into the water….some might call it pay back!! It was a brilliant day out enjoyed by all.

The children from our school would like to invite all parents, family members and people of the locality to visit the school in the coming days (Friday/Monday) to see their very first Art Exhibition.

Each child in the school has contributed a piece of artwork that they completed during the year and is displayed wonderfully in the school hall. You will be amazed at the beautiful display of colour, texture, crafts, imagination and talent in all the students of our school. Ms. Henry’s 4th and 5th also have their beautiful display of the clay pieces they produced during their CRAFTed project with Henri Hedou along with Mr. Clarkes 3D engineering construction pieces. It is an exhibition not to be missed!! We’re very much looking forward to meeting you all!

Finally a very special word of thanks to Ms Henry who has coordinated this wonderful event.

Reminder: Green School Flag Raising Ceremony on Friday at 12.30pm and Class Graduations on Monday at 1pm. All details in recent circulars.

A very special word of thanks to our past pupils Erica and Holly who visited our school earlier supporting our 5th and 6th Class Junior Entrepreneur project ‘Don’t Judge’.

We are very grateful to the girls and indeed Charlestown Foróige Club for their very kind words about this project and in particular for their generous support. We are delighted that this important message is very much to the fore even amongst our older siblings and friends.

Many thanks again to all involved in the Foróige Club. This gesture was very much appreciated. All here in St.Attracta’s wish it continued success.

We had a special Don’t Judge assembly in the sun this afternoon resulting in a very positive end to our school week. We discussed the importance of our 5th and 6th Class JEP project and the key messages that were reinforced by it. Many of our students dressed for the occasion all in the hope that the key message not to be judged would be observed.5th and 6th Class sincerely support the wonderful they received throughout the project from all our students and families. It was very much appreciated.

When discussing our students of the week what stood out was our pupils work ethic when asked to perform a task. We all have things that are difficult for us, but some of our pupils have shown amazing perseverance in achieving goals that they had previously thought were out of their reach. A message that was reinforced by all the teachers was that we all need help along the way, and it’s okay to get help.

We heard of children who are very helpful to their teacher daily in the classroom. Again this week teachers told us that they have children in their classrooms who could earn this award every week. It was heartening to hear all the positive things that were describing our children today. Our schoolyard was hopping with positivity. Maith sibh go léir.

Finally a special word of thanks to all who donated books and helped out with our Bookfair this afternoon. As always we sincerely appreciated your support.

Reminder:

School will be closed Bank Holiday Monday June 5th and re-open Tuesday morning at the usual time.

Tuesday: Our school photographer will visit on Tuesday June 6th. All details can be found in our most recent circular.

Have a great weekend everyone!