Tuesday, December 17th was one of the highlights of this school year. A night to celebrate the wonderful talents and gifts of teachers, staff members and pupils as we performed I’m Gonna Shine (Junior – Second Class) and No One Wraps Like an Elf (Third – Sixth Class).

We thank sincerely our teachers, staff members and pupils for their energy, hard work and enthusiasm. This was a special night with so many stories onstage and so much to be proud of. A wonderful team effort, everyone playing a part.

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

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 interest, enthusiasm and effort and very grateful of your commitment to us.

To our performers – Mr.Kelly, Ms.Connaghan and Richella who added so much to the night with their performance during the interval. We sincerely appreciate their generosity of time and talent. Thank you also to Adrian McDermott for his support with sound and lighting. Again, this added so much to the evening.

Míle buíochas to Leo Gavin, the CE Scheme and the Charlestown Development Association for their great help before 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. Thank you also to all who volunteered to help on the night, this helped greatly with the success of the event.

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.

On behalf of all the staff at St. Attracta’s N.S., I would like to wish all our pupils, past pupils and their families a happy and peaceful Christmas.

I would like to thank our Board of Management, Parent Association, parent body and the wider Charlestown community sincerely for all their help, support and kindness throughout the past year. This is, as always, very much appreciated.

Nollaig faoi shéan agus athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go léir.

Le meas,

Brian

It’s all systems go here in school as we prepare for our Christmas Concerts / Performances on Tuesday, December 17th and Thursday, December 19th.

We begin at 7pm on Tuesday in the CBD Complex where students from Junior to Second Class will perform I’m Gonna Shine followed by No One Wraps Like an Elf – Third to Sixth Class Students.

Following these performances on Thursday at 1 pm here in school we will welcome the parents and families of children in Sugradh, Sonas, Saolta, Sasta and Spraoi to join us for Christmas songs and play.

We are so looking forward to these very special events and thank all our pupils and teachers for all their hard work in preparation.

Further details of arrangements will follow in the coming days.

4th Class enjoyed a very informative Fire Safety presentation recently from Dermot Horkan of Charlestown Fire Service.

Dermot’s presentation gave an overview of fire safety, how fires are started, how they can be prevented and how we should react if we encounter a fire.

The children enjoyed hearing about the work a fire officer carries out while also learning about the dangers that fires can pose. The children learned about how they can help prevent fires in their homes and also how to pass on the fire safety message to their families.

Dermot took questions from the children and answered all their questions in a fun, informative and very professional manner before giving the children the chance to investigate the protecting clothing/equipment. A lucky few got to dress up in full safety clothing.

A special word of thanks to Dermot for this excellent informative presentation. Our students enjoyed this visit.

We celebrated ‘Thanksgiving Day’ and the end of our whole school theme of ‘America’ on Thursday last, with a special breakfast for all.

We have all learned so much over the past month, with this theme capturing our students’ imaginations. It was fitting to bring it to a conclusion on ‘Thanksgiving Day’ having witnessed the presidential election earlier in the month also!

Well done to all our students and teachers, and thank you sincerely to Gemma, Conor/Emer and their team at Delaney’s Mace for their help and support with this morning.

We had a fabulous evening of light in the school grounds on Wednesday last Dec 4th. After having to reschedule Samhain Lights ‘Sleeping Giant’ Lantern exhibition and battle with wind and rain in the setting up of it on Wednesday, it turned out to be a wonderful evening of community spirit, celebrating the creativity and artistic skills of our students, the children in neighbouring schools and of course being lead and coordinated by the very talented Tom Meskell.

Along with this beautiful exhibition and ‘Samhain Lights’ stained glass exhibition held in the Arts Centre over the October bank holiday, Tom compiled a piece of work for the children based on biodiversity and the impact of our carbon footprint on the environment. This project was a prototype for an environmental awareness arts project. The idea behind this project was that the ‘The Giant’ represented all of us waking up to the reality of the world we now live in. This highlighted the importance of reducing our carbon footprint to ensure we look after our environment and reduce the impact of climate change.

Please find a link attached below to a survey, in which Tom would very greatly appreciate your feedback on the ‘Samhain Lights’ events, and would like if the children could also give their feedback on it too.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K7RHY2Q

We would sincerely like to thank Tom, Emma O’ Donohue who worked with our 5th and 6th classes on their stained glass windows and The Mayo Arts Squad for allowing us to once again work with them on this fabulous environmental project. We look forward to working with them again soon.

Please note the rescheduled ‘Sleeping Giant’ event takes place on our school grounds this Wednesday evening, December 4th from 6 pm to 7.30 pm. We ask that you enter the school grounds through the Swimming Pool gate to the rear of the school. 

We sincerely thank Tom Mescall and The Mayo Art Squad for their vision, and hard work allowing our students to be creative, and considerate of their futures and the environment. 

We look forward to what promises to be a wonderful evening and hope on this occasion the weather is a little kinder.

It has been a very busy return after our mid-term break Friday as we embraced our new theme ‘America’, began preparations for our Christmas Show, completed Cycle Right Training, welcomed our school nurse, celebrated World Diabetes Day and put our best feet forward for our recent Parent- Teacher meetings.

There were similar themes at our recent assemblies as our teachers commended our Students of the Week. Students who work very hard, try their best, who are going over and above in class and showing great commitment and interest in their work. We heard of students who are team workers, problem solvers and of those who enjoy collaborating with their peers. We also learned of students with a very positive attitude to school, consistently displaying a can do attitude and consistently going the extra mile. This is as always brilliant to hear.

Well done also to Ms.Delaney and her 4th Class students who led a Mass of Remembrance for the departed members of our school community. A special thank you also to Fr. Johnston for his kind words. Ms.Connaghan, Mr.Kelly and Ms.Quinn for leading us in song and to all our students from 1st to 6th who supported 4th Class so well on the morning. Maith sibh go léir!

Finally, thank you to all our Mum’s, Dad’s and family members who attended our meetings in such great numbers. It was lovely to welcome you to school.

Reminder: We are closed on Friday next November 29th as our school has been requisitioned as a polling station for the General Election.

Have a great week!

Well done to Fifth Class who recently completed Stage One of the Cycle Right Training Programme in a six-week block.

This was a very practical, informative and enjoyable learning experience for our students which incorporated off-road and on-road training:

Initially, on our school grounds, our students developed their understanding of ….

• Theory and Rules of the Road training.
• Core bicycle-handling and road-skills training.
  • Starting, stopping, balancing, pedaling and cornering.
  • Turning left and right, including shoulder-checking and signaling.
  • Cycling with other cyclists.
  • Cycling in a simulated road environment.

In their final session in smaller groups, they participated in a trainer-led cycle, guided and directed on correct positioning and decision-making on the road. This also incorporated…

• Recognising potential hazards on the road.
• Where to be on the road, when to look and signal.
• Road signs, road markings, bike infrastructure – how to use them.
• Surfaces and weather.
• Parked cars.
• Junctions and how to approach them.
• Simple roundabouts and how to approach them.

A very special word of thanks to Simon and Pauline Walsh of Atlantic Sports Coaching for their delivery of this programme and also for the lovely rapport they developed with our students. Thank you also to our wonderful Fifth Class for their fantastic engagement over this six-week block.  

We’re certain our involvement in this programme will be of benefit to these students going forward!