Month: April 2014

-  General School Information

Reopening of our School Pitch

Today saw our children play on our new school pitch for the first time. They have been so patient over the past number of months waiting expectantly to get out on the grass!!

Over the Easter break the goalposts were put into place. Sincere thanks to Ciarán McBrien, Joe Lenehan, Marty Fleming , Owen Callaghan and all at Charlestown GAA for their help and assistance.

Finally and perhaps most importantly a special word of thanks to Kieran Durkin who has invested so much time, energy and interest into ensuring our playing field was ready for all the children to use. It really is a credit to his hard work and enthusiasm.

It is a resource which we are delighted and fortunate to have!

-  General School Information

Lord Mayors of Bermingham and Armagh visit St.Attracta’s

Our new school term began this morning with a very special visit from Lord and Lady Mayoress of Bermingham Councillor Mike Leddy and his wife Pauline. Councillor Leddy was joined by Lord and Lady Mayoress of Armagh Robert Turner and his wife Barbara and Doocastle native and Manchester businessman John Kennedy CBE.
Their visit was the concluding event of an official visit to Mayo and in recognition of the achievements of our school community over the past year.

The dignitaries visited Rang 3/4 initially where they learned about the Dissolving Boundaries programme. Lord Mayor Turner was especially interested in our links with St. Brigid’s Ballymoney and how our project has been developed.

We then moved to the school grounds where Rang 5/6 treated our guests to a lovely medley of Mayo tunes! Fr.Tommy Johnston Chairperson of the B.O.M welcomed each of our guests and we planted a tree to mark the occasion with all our dignitaries involved.
Our visitors noted the lovely atmosphere throughout the school and how well mannered, knowledgeable and interested our children are. Even after their long Easter break!

As we alluded to it was a lovely morning. A special word of thanks to all who joined us on the morning. It was lovely to welcome back some past parents to our school. Thank you also to JPS landscaping for all their help with this event and to Paddy our School Caretaker who as always had our school grounds looking so well.

-  General School Information

Mayor of Birmingham to Visit St. Attracta’s.

On Monday morning April 28th at 10.45 a.m. we are thrilled to have the privilege of welcoming Lord and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham Councillor Mike and Pauline Leddy to our school to conclude their official visit to Mayo.Joining Councillor Leddy, will be Lord and Lady Mayoress of Armagh Robert Turner and his wife Barbara, the Cathaoirleach of Mayo Council John O’Malley and Doocastle native and Manchester businessman John Kennedy CBE.

This will be the final stop on their visit to Mayo and is in recognition of our achievements over the past year.
The dignitaries will hear about the projects that are ongoing in our school particularly the Dissolving Boundaries North /South initiative in Rang 3/4. We will then plant a tree in the school grounds to commemorate the occasion.

The visit will last approximately forty five minutes. We would be delighted if any parents are free on the morning to drop by for the tree planting ceremony which will take place shortly after 11.am. in the school grounds. We apologise for the late notice of this event however the final details have only been confirmed to us this afternoon.

Finally we hope you had a lovely Easter break. We look forward to welcoming you all back to school on Monday morning.

Bainigí taitneamh as an deireadh seachtaine !

-  General School Information

Beannachtaí na Casca!

Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh go léir.

Tá an t-am ag imeacht agus tá laethanta saoire na Cásca beagnach taghta!. The time is flying by and already the Easter season is upon us!

Term Two concluded on Friday afternoon and all our students and teachers can have a well earned and deserved break after a long term of very hard work.

To end our term we had Stations of the Cross in the school hall and also our Easter Raffle. Again we sincerely appreciate the extremely generous donation of four beautiful Easter Hampers we received in the past number of weeks. We raffled two of the hampers among all of the children at assembly.

There was great excitement in the hall as Fr.Johnston picked the winning tickets. The winners came from opposite ends of the school: Ciarán Honeyman of Rang 6 and Patick Sitek in Junior Infants. Well done to both of the boys !

Throughout the week there has been great activity in all the classrooms preparing for Easter, We hope you really enjoy a selection of photos on our corridors and in our rooms that best capture our preparation for Easter.

Junior and Senior Infants created some beautiful Easter Chicks which looked so lovely on our school corridor. Both Miss Sloyan’s and Mrs Reilly’s students produced lovely bunny ears which looked great on the children and on their classroom windows! Also Rang a haon’s pictures of their Egg Rolling. Egg rolling is an old Easter custom. People rolled eggs eggs down a grassy hill. The person whose egg reached the bottom first was the winner. Did you know that an egg rolling competition is held in the gardens of the White House – home of President Obama in Washington DC every year.
First class had great fun trying it out !

Rang 3/4 created some beautiful clay pots for Easter Chicks and their yummy Eggs. Well done to all the boys and girls they turned out so well!

Finally we wish all our parents and children a very Happy Easter!

Beannachtaí na Cásca oraibh!

-  General School Information

Spring Clean in St. Attracta’s

Students from 3rd to 6th took part in the National Spring Clean last week in our school grounds.The National Spring Clean is Ireland’s largest anti-litter initiative organised by An Taisce. It is an important part of our Green Schools programme.

The campaign runs throughout the month of April every year with clean-up events taking place in towns and communities all over the country. Over 500,000 volunteers participated in clean-ups throughout the country last April.
Our students investigated our school grounds. We pride ourselves on having a very tidy school environment with Paddy our caretaker being very busy ensuring this. However we were very disappointed to find various types of litter in our hedgerows which we looked at very closely. This litter was often unrelated to our school which again was a concern. Green School Committee members from the Senior Classes will discuss this with Ms.Delaney and their younger members at their next meeting after our Easter break.

To support our work outside, we discussed in class the importance of recycling and reusing products. We emphasised the personal responsibility we all have for litter and waste.

Well done 3rd to 6th. You did a great job ensuring our school grounds is litter free for the Easter break!

-  General School Information

Upcoming Events in April / May

Cake Sale:The Parents Association will hold a fundraiser on Easter Sunday morning (April 20th) after 9:30 am and 12 Noon masses. This was a very successful event in last year’s Mayoral Campaign and promises again to be a lovely morning. We would really appreciate the support of all our families through baking (or even if you can’t you may know someone that can!) or by helping out on the morning. ‘The more we bake the more we make’! Please contact Gemma Higgins of our Parents Association (0858057783) if you can help in any way!

We sincerely appreciate the extremely generous donation of the beautiful Easter Hampers we received in the past number of weeks. We will raffle the hampers among those who purchase a cake at the Bake Sale. Again we are most thankful for this very kind gesture.

School will reopen on Monday April 28th at 9.25 am.

On Monday morning May 28th the Mayor of Bermingham, the Mayor of Armagh and the Chairman of Mayo County Council will visit our school to conclude their visit to the area. A tree will be planted in the school garden to commemorate this visit. More details of this event will follow as it was only confirmed to us in the last number of days.

Speech and Drama will be offered in all classes after Easter for a ten lesson programme. All families should have by now received a letter of introduction from Maureen Leonard Dodd and consent forms will go out on our return.

Food Dudes will begin also in all classes on Monday April 28th.

School Photographs: Olga Klofac (Parent of Sofia in Junior Infants/ www.mayophotographer.ie ) will visit our school on Tuesday April 29th offering individual, family and class photos. As was decided last year we will continue to limit the photos to Sixth Class and Junior Infants so as to cut back on further expense for families. Siblings may also have their photos taken with these students.
Should any parent (Snr.Infants – 5th Class) wish to have their child’s/children’s photo(s) taken please do not hesitate to contact us at office@stattractasns.ie or on the school phone and we will make every effort to accommodate you.

First Holy Communion for our Second Class students will take place on Saturday May 3rd in St. James’ Church at 12 Noon.

Europe Day Friday May 9th: On Friday morning May 9th we will host a European open morning at 10 a.m. in the School Hall. All our Parents are invited to attend and speak to the children about the project. Marian Harkin MEP will be in attendance on the morning. Again we will have further details in the coming weeks.

Internet Safety / Nutrition Parents Evening: On Wednesday May 15th we will host a very important evening for our parents with two speakers presenting on these very important areas. Please save the date for this event, we will have lots more information on the evening after the Easter break.

European/Local Elections: School will be closed on Friday May 23rd as the school has been requisitioned as a polling centre for the European and local Elections.

Monday May 26th we will officially open our upgraded school pitch. We have a very special treat in store for all our children on this morning with all our parents again welcome to attend. Details will follow of this event.

We look forward to a new term of working together – teachers, pupils and parents. To quote President Michael D. Higgins “Ar scáth a chéile a mhairimid”.

-  General School Information

Rang a Dó make their First Confession

Comhghairdeachas to Rang 2 who this evening made their First Confession in St James’ Church. The children contributed so much to the ceremony, reading and singing so beautifully while also remembering their prayers and responses throughout their First Penance.

A special word of thanks to all our parents who joined us for this very special evening. Also to Mrs McCafferty for her efforts in having the Church looking so lovely, this again really added to the ceremony.
Thank you to Mrs Reilly also for all her hard work preparing all the boys and girls so well. Each of the children really did her proud and are very much a credit to her efforts.

Finally thank you to Fr’s Doherty and Johnston, both great friends of our school. We sincerely appreciate their support and help always.
Next up for Rang 2 is their First Holy Communion which will take place on Saturday May 3rd at 12 noon. We wish the children well in their preparations.

-  General School Information

Students of the Week Friday April 4th

It really was a pleasure to hear the lovely comments from all the teachers about the students chosen for this week.
Hard work and enthusiastic attitudes were common themes throughout, alongside an eagerness to do very well in class and a willingness to go that extra mile with their homework.
As in previous weeks students have made great improvements. Some with their handwriting and others with their behaviour and application. Others are always so helpful, reliable and above all so kind to others- a comment we were delighted to hear.
One of this week’s students was also described as a great team player, very mature and helpful and this student is always willing to own up if and when they make a mistake. This student really sets a great example to younger students throughout the school.
Comhghairdeachas mhór do na daltaí, bhí sibh ar fheabhas!

Dates for your Diary for next week.

Monday:Please return slips or contact the Parents Association regarding the Bake Sale on Easter Sunday morning.

Wednesday:Junior Entrepreneur showcase day in Kiltimagh hosted by C.M.S Enterprises.
Second Class will make their First Confession in St.James’ Church at 7.30 pm

Thursday: Music with Ms.Fiona Doherty

Friday: Easter Holidays!

Finally thank you to all who returned our uniform and tour surveys this week. We had a fantastic response and will make the results available to you next week.

-  General School Information

Ten Thousand hits on our Site!

Early in January we decided to monitor the traffic on our website and amazingly last evening we had our ten thousandth hit on our site for the first three months of this year.

We would really like to thank all our visitors for taking the time to explore our site and hope that all will return time and time again for regular updates.

We hope everyone continues to enjoy navigating our pages, finding out about our school and our busy school lives.

We have a great sense of pride in our school and we sincerely hope you get a sense of this as you learn about us and our endeavours!