Our 5th and 6th Class students recently enjoyed the Language Connect Programme, having the opportunity to learn both French and Spanish for the first time in a twelve-week block.

It was a great success and learning experience for our students. A very special word of thanks to visiting tutor Douglas Whitaker from the Westport Language School for these engaging and fun workshops. Our students really enjoyed the programme and we’re certain that it will be a great introduction and of benefit to girls and boys as they move to secondary school in the coming year(s).

Fianlly, thank you to Mr.Clarke and Ms.Tierney for for their support with this project.

Sixth Class participated on Friday last in the Regional Vex Robotics Finals at Atlantic TU Sligo. This was a wonderful learning experience and the culmination of many months of hard work.

In preparation, our students became familiar with programming, sensors, and automation and honed their critical computational thinking skills needed to succeed in both the 21st-century workforce and in everyday life.

This project encouraged creativity, teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving among our groups. New strengths and talents became evident as our young engineers collaborated together in teams.

We are very proud of our Sixth Class and are most grateful to their teacher Ms.Tierney who embraced this project and new learning with such enthusiasm.

We are now accepting enrolments for the new school year 2023/24.

Our Enrolment Application Form is available in the Parents and Quicklinks sections on the homepage of our website www.stattractasns.ie  (Parents & Quicklinks section).

We would be very grateful if you could download this form and send it back by email (scanned copy) to office@stattractasns.ie or by hard copy and post to our school.

We would also appreciate it if you could fill in a short pre-enrolment form by using the following link https://www.aladdin.ie/i/5142428197584896 Thank you to all who have done so to date.

We are very much looking forward to meeting our new Junior Infant students and their parents/guardians on Friday, February 10th at 2.15 pm. This will be the first of two visits this school year as the pupils prepare to transition to Primary School.

Should you have any queries or questions, please do not hesitate to get in contact by email at office@stattractasns.ie or by telephone at (094)9254905.

Welcome back everyone, we hope you all had a lovely Christmas and have a very healthy and happy year ahead!

Our first week of the new year in school has really flown by. It has been all hands on deck in all our classes as we embraced our new whole school theme the Polar Regions. All our teachers reported being delighted with their students’ efforts throughout the past week. Tús maith leath na hoibre!

As it is the start of the new year we learned of children who returned to school full of enthusiasm for the new year. Teachers described children who appeared to have made New Year’s resolutions and are living up to them in class. It is never too late to try something new or give doing something a different way a chance. We heard children described as young teachers in the making and an example to our school. A caring, kind, honest and considerate attitude toward others is a lovely description of our students. We strive to do our best, to show our best and to be our best.

Maith sibh go léir. Táimid fíor bhródúil asaibh.

Well done also to our Students of the Week of Friday, December 16th who finished Term 1 on a high. Again, we are so proud of your hard work and effort throughout a very busy period in school.

Bainigí taitneamh as an deireadh seachtaine!

Last evening, we had one of the highlights of our school year. A night to celebrate the wonderful talents and gifts of teachers and pupils as we told the Story of Christmas through song. We thank each and every one of our teachers and pupils for their energy, hard work and enthusiasm. This was a special night.

There are so many people we would like to acknowledge and thank for ensuring it was a great success:

Firstly, Fr. Johnston, Fr. Doherty and the Pastoral Council. We felt very privileged to be in St.James’ Church and are very grateful that this could happen. Thank you also to Francie for all his support in the background.

A very sincere thank you to Richella O’Connor who worked so hard alongside our teachers preparing for this night. We are so appreciative of her enthusiasm, interest and effort.

To our performers – Sarah Kilcoyne, Tony Fitzgibbons and Declan Folan who added so much to the night. We really appreciate the generosity of time and talent. Holy night will live long in many of our memories. Thank you also to Joanne Gallagher for her support with harmonies. We are so grateful for her time and interest.

Thank you to Brendan Nugent and Adrian McDermott for their support with sound and lighting and also to Donal Healy for his help with photography and video. Again, this added so much to the evening.

Míle buíochas to Leo Gavin and all at the CE Scheme for their great help prior to the evening and again after the event. Thank you also to all who helped in any small way in the tidy up after.

To our Parents Association, for their wonderful support on the night and of our school. We are so grateful for their kindness, generosity, wonderful work and interest in the background.

Finally, thank you to all who travelled and made great efforts to be with us on the night, to our parent body and the wider Charlestown community who as always supported us in such great numbers. It was lovely to be together again and your presence was very much appreciated.

A little later than usual this week but as always we enjoyed a wonderful assembly on Friday morning. Our recurring theme was consistency.

Our teachers spoke of children who could get this award every week of the school year as they consistently try their best.
We heard of pupils who despite all that is going on around them in school, preparations for our Carol Service, artwork and changing of timetables are still working hard and applying themselves to any task set before them. We all know and appreciate how busy and hectic this week can be in school and how this impacts on us all. We also learned of children who confront challenges and fears and are reminded that these students are role models for young and old.

As always, it was an opportunity to be reminded that here in St. Attracta’s N.S. we are motivated by our students who take pride in their work, their classroom and school.

We are proud to award these children our students of the week. Maith sibh go léir.

Students from 3rd – 6th class have recently taken part in a community participation art project. This has been made possible by the support of the Charlestown Community Development group and funding secured by the Mayo County Council Arts Office.

This project is to commemorate the 75 lives lost in the 1908 Maypole Mining disaster in Wigan, UK. A number of those lives lost came from Co. Mayo, some of which hailed from the Charlestown area. We are very lucky to have been invited to take part in this project and to have worked with and been guided by the very talented and helpful lantern sculpture artist Tom Meskell.

The children’s work will be exhibited and open to our school community from 6-8 pm on Tuesday / Wednesday, November 22nd/23rd. It was a wonderful experience for the children and we are very proud of their hard work and effort.

There is an open invitation to all, to visit the exhibition and admire this wonderful project and the children’s work. We would love to see you there.

Finally, a very special word of thanks to Ms. Jennifer Henry who coordinated the project here in school and to the children’s class teachers, Ms.Delaney, Mr. Clarke and Ms.Tierney. Finally, it would not be possible without the talents. help and guidance of Tom Meskell. We really appreciate his work with us.

We were delighted to welcome international athlete Sarah Quinn to our school this afternoon as part of the Dare to Believe programme.

Sarah gave an inspirational presentation to our senior classes, outlining her journey to date and pursuit of her Olympic dream. She spoke of the values required to be an Olympian and how these are transferrable to all our everyday lives.

Sarah reinforced the importance of physical fitness, nutrition, sleep and effort! She spoke of the joy of effort and courage, fair play and striving for excellence. This we can all do every day! We then compiled our own personal goals and even our Olympic-sized dreams!

Sarah’s visit included an interactive trip to the school yard, a torch relay and concluded with a fascinating question-and-answer session with the children.

We are so grateful to Sarah for her time, interest and engaging presentation. She is a wonderful and positive role model for our students. We look forward to supporting her in the pursuit of her dreams in the coming years. Míle buíochas Sarah!

We were thrilled to welcome Charlestown LGFA Connacht Champions to school earlier this afternoon to celebrate their wonderful achievement. What a fantastic performance we were treated to on Saturday afternoon as the girls secured the club’s first ever Connacht Intermediate club championship title.

The girls are wonderful role models for young and old in our community and have brought great joy and pride to so many. Thank you to Fergal, Paul, Deirdre, Chelsea, Jennifer and Patricia for taking the time to be with us this afternoon. Huge congratulations to all the players and management on this fantastic achievement.

All our attention is now focused on the girl’s Semi-Final in Longford on Sunday, November 27th. We wish them well as they prepare for it!