Our Senior Class enjoyed ‘Cumann na mBunscol Chonnacht’ Day at the Connacht GAA Airdome earlier. This was an event that had been eagerly anticipated by young and old, having the opportunity to experience this fantastic facility. 

Our 5th and 6th Class students were grouped with children from four other schools, each representing their respective counties, Sligo (Our Lady of Mercy P.S.), Leitrim (Fenagh NS and Drumella NS), Roscommon (St. Patrick’s Boys N.S., Strokestown) and Galway(Corrandrum NS).

Throughout the day, the children had the opportunity to enjoy hurling, football, rounders, fundamental movement skills and other fun games in the Dome before moving outdoors for orienteering and outdoor GAA games.

The events were very well organised by Connacht GAA, Mayo GAA Coaching and Games, Cumann na mBunscol Chonnacht with the children moving seamlessly between activities. Our students had the chance to show their wide range of skills and talents while also making new friends from participating schools in a very positive environment. Key skills like teamwork, turn-taking, collaboration, problem solving and inclusion were on show throughout the day,

We would like to compliment Mr.Clarke’s Fifth Class and Ms.Tierney’s Sixth Class on their wonderful attitude and behaviour throughout the day, representing the school with pride.

Míle buíochas to Mr.Clarke, Ms.Tierney and Ms.Sloyan, to all Connacht GAA for their use of the fantastic facility, Aodán Ó Caoimh (Cumann na mBunscol Chonnacht) and Allianz Cumann na mBunscol for making this day possible for all to enjoy. 

Welcome back everyone to a new school year! We hope you all had a great summer break.

A very special welcome to all our new pupils in Junior Infants and Súgradh who have joined our school and indeed to all other pupils who are with us for the first time this year. We trust you will have a happy and long association with our school and hope that you have enjoyed your first nine days!

We would also like to welcome Ms. Horkan, Ms. Cassidy and Ms. McNicholas who join our teaching staff and to Mr. Clarke who returns from Career Break. Welcome also to Sarah Horan and Joanna Hunt who join our school team as Special Needs Assistants. We hope that our new staff members feel very welcome here in St. Attracta’s. We are delighted they have joined us.

Again, this summer we have seen many changes throughout our school, from new blinds to new colour schemes, to devices and resources to benefit all our students and wonderful children in our care.

As always, we have many exciting and enjoyable projects planned for all classes throughout this year. We have lots to look forward to.

We hope you all enjoy tracking our progress on these pages!

On Thursday evening last Ms.Tierney’s 6th Class Graduated from our school. It was a very special evening for all involved. Fr. Johnston and Fr. Doherty concelebrated a very special mass and we had great attendance from family, friends and staff members.

The theme of our Graduation Mass was gratitude and hope, both very appropriate in giving thanks for the children’s time in St. Attracta’s and instilling hope for their future successes in Secondary School.

It was a lovely evening and a fitting end to a wonderful year. After Mass, the children received certificates and lovely hoodies to mark this special occasion before returning to school for refreshments. Thank you to Gemma, Fiona and Ronda for their help and support. Thank you also to Conor, Emer, Joe and the team at Mace for the Ice cream’s for our graduating class.

A very special word of thanks also to Ms.Tierney for her patience, kindness, creativity, dedication and support to the boys and girls over the past year.  Míle buíochas also to all who have contributed to their education and progress at St. Attracta’s NS. We are very lucky to have such a talented and supportive staff. Also, to our wonderful support staff in particular Ms. Sweeney for her guidance, care and interest. She has had a very special relationship with this group over many years.

On Friday morning, there was an opportunity for our school community to say goodbye to our 6th Class. Despite the wet morning, this was an emotional end to our school year!

Ms.Tierney’s 6th Class students have been fantastic representatives of our school, we wish them every success in the future. They will always be part of the St. Attracta’s family!

It was brilliant to see the return of school tours over the past weeks. The excitement of each class leaving school was palpable, particularly for our younger students leaving school by bus, some for the first time.

Students from Junior Infants, Senior Infants, First Class, Sonas, Spraoi, Sásta and Súgradh all travelled to Graune Pet Farm for most enjoyable trips. Second Class visited Mayo Leisure Point for bowling and laser world before travelling to the Museum of County Life in Turlough for a great end to their tour.

Our Third and Fourth classes enjoyed a great day out in Boda Borg, Lough Key and Jump Lanes Carrick on Shannon, Fifth Class the Shannon River Adventure and Sixth Class visited Galway for Pure Skill, Jump Lanes Galway and Galway Aquarium.

These were all fantastic tours that young and old really enjoyed! It was great to return to normality and see the return of school outings and tours this summer.

Throughout Term 3, our mini-leagues were in full flow for the students of our 4th, 5th and 6th Classes. The teams navigated their way through very competitive league stages before reaching the Quarter and Semi-Finals. Teams throughout were very evenly matched, with many games decided by a single score or some good fortune!

On Thursday last we had our Final Day. Sligo v Kerry in the Cup Final, Donegal v Roscommon in our Shield Final and Dublin v Roscommon in the Plate Final. There was a brilliant atmosphere provided by our Junior Classes and Mr.Rushe on sound. A special word of thanks also must go to Ms.Henry’s wonderful Third Class who led the prematch parade which you can enjoy below.

Comhghairdeachas to Sligo, Donegal and Dublin who were victorious. Thank you to all our young players who displayed great skill and gave their all throughout the final term. This provided us with fantastic entertainment. The future is certainly bright here in Charlestown.

We had our final assembly of this school year on Thursday morning last. This was an opportunity for us all to reflect on the school year gone by and give thanks for so many positive learning experiences.

We began by congratulating our Senior Girls team on a fantastic victory in their Cumann na mBunscol Final. What an achievement this was. As a school community, it was lovely to recognise this special event in this way.

This was also the final assembly for our 6th Class students, an opportunity for us all to say thank you and well done to Ms.Tierney’s Class. We wish each of our graduating students well always as they depart for Secondary School.

Thank you also to our departing staff members for their hard work, interest and support throughout the past year. We are most grateful to Mc. Nicholas, Ms.Mulligan, Joanna and Sarah for all they have done for us all.

Our teachers then gave a short review of their school year, thanking their students for great work and recognising the many improvements and progression that were in evidence throughout the year before awarding their final Students of the Week. We thank all our students for their hard work in the most trying of circumstances throughout this school year.

Following Assembly, all classes visited Mace for a lovely and well-deserved treat- Icecream for all!! We are so grateful to Conor, Emer, Joe and all the team for their kindness to young and old. As always this was very much appreciated.

This morning we said goodbye to Mrs.Eileen Vesey. Eileen worked in our school from 1981 to 2014, giving a lifetime of service as our School Cleaner and Traffic Warden.

Eileen was central to school life in St.Attracta’s, looking after our pupils and school with great care and attention. She ensured all our students arrived to school and departed safely each day and often went above and beyond the call of her duties. Eileen was always held in the highest regard by her colleagues, our school’s parent body and above all our students for whom she had a kind word to each day.

We offer our deepest sympathies to the Vesey and O’Connell families at this very sad time.

May Eileen rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam.

What an afternoon we had at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, where our Girl’s team contested the County Final!

It was a great achievement for our school to have a team featuring at this final stage, highlighting also, the great work that is ongoing in Charlestown in the juvenile section of our local G.A.A. Club.

Our opponents Behy NS, Ballina, proved to be very talented and competitive opponents. Despite starting well, our girls were rocked by three excellent goals which saw us level at the midway point of the second half. However, the response was amazing, each player playing their part in a fantastic team performance which ensured we were victorious. It was a performance full of heart, determination and a ‘never say die’ attitude from all. We really were put to the pin of our collars to succeed!

The girls have each put in a huge effort into their training and preparation throughout this year with each panelist contributing so much. It was a wonderful experience to compete on County Final Day and a memory we hope will last with the girls forever.

Finally, a very special word of thanks to our coaches, Ms.Tierney and Gemma Higgins. Thank you also to the many parents, friends, family members, teachers and schoolmates who gave us such great support from the sidelines. We really appreciated this.

Huge congrats to our past pupils Amy Mahon and Jessica Casey, who both are playing starring roles in recent weeks in the Women’s National League for Sligo Rovers.

We are all so proud of the girl’s achievements and have enjoyed following their progress.

We wish Amy and Jessica every success for the season ahead.

Maith sibh a chailiní!