Comhghairdeachas to our most recent Student of the Week recipients who have made a huge effort in many areas from Gaeilge to handwriting while working on a variety of school initiatives.

Teachers reported students who have tried so hard to improve in all aspects of school life. We learned of children who take great responsibility and pride in their excellent behaviour and display a wonderful attitude in our school. As a result of this effort, teachers told us that it’s always difficult to reach a decision each week as so many children are achievers and in contention.

Another very pleasing aspect of today’s assembly was hearing of children who have made a great effort to be excellent team members in their respective classrooms. Collaboration is so important and these students have worked so hard with others to produce excellent work with their peers. We also learned of wonderful students who arrive at school each day with a lovely happy disposition. This gives us all a lift each morning! Maith sibh go léir. Táimid fíor bhródúil asaibh.

Amendment to School Calendar Term 2:

Update to School Calendar 23/24 Term 2: Primary Maths Curriculum: Please note that there will be a full school closure on Monday, 29th January 2024 to allow for onsite staff training and development of this new mathematics curriculum. All primary schools must have a closure throughout this school year and this is the date that has been allocated to us for facilitated training.

Please also note that on Friday, March 8th School will be closed as it has been requisitioned as a polling centre for the Referendum on Family and Care. (https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/c9193- government-approves-proposals-for-referendums-on-family-and-care/#)

We apologise in advance for any inconvenience that these school closures may have.

Dates for your Diaries:

Wednesday, January 31st Cumann na mBunscol Sports Quiz in Carracastle Community Centre at 6 pm.

Friday, February 9th Enrolment Afternoon for our new Junior Infant Class 23/24 at 2.15 pm.

Bainigí taitneamh as an deireadh seachtaine!

We are now accepting enrolments for the new school year 2024/25.

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 9th 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.

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

Tháinig Daidí na Nollag ar cuairt chuig Scoil Naomh Athrach maidin de hAoine. Bhí sceitimíní áthais ar na páistí!

Santa visited the very excited boys and girls of St. Attracta’s on Friday morning. He arrived in style with the Charlestown Unit of the Mayo County Fire Service.

Santa imparted many wise words to all our excited students for the build-up to Christmas! It was a lovely way to finish the term.

A special word of thanks to Paul and of course to Daidí na Nollag for taking time out at this extremely busy time to visit our school.

Students from our 5th and 6th classes visited St.Attracta’s Nursing Home this morning to sing Christmas carols and seasonal tunes. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to meet with and perform for some of the older members of our community.

It was a lovely morning and we greatly appreciate the warm welcome we were afforded and the delicious hot chocolate after! Well done to each of our students of whom we are always so proud. A sincere thank you to all the parents who joined us and helped with transport to and from St.Attracta’s.

Finally, míle buíochas to Ms.Connaghan, Ms.McDonagh, Ms.Tierney, Ms.Peyton, Ms.Sloyan, Ms. Shuana Quinn and Ms.Vanessa Henry who prepared the children so well while adding so much to our visit. Thank you also to Ms.Henry for her musical piece which again was a lovely addition to our performance.

Last evening, we had 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 Animal Rumble Grumble (Junior – Second Class) and Peace Child (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 – Bandjaxed who added so much to the night with their performance during the interval. We really appreciated their generosity of time and talent. Thank you also Adrian McDermott for his support with sound and lighting and also to Vidhu for his help with photography and video. 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 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. 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.

Highlights of the evening will follow in the coming days. We look forward to sharing these with you.

Our Christmas Concerts began in earnest on Thursday last, when the students of Sonas, Spraoi, Sásta, Saolta and Súgradh performed for us in school. This was a very special morning, with so many wonderful performances by our students.

The Gingerbread Man by Sonas was a particular highlight. Here, we saw starring roles by our senior students and indeed staff for the large crowd in attendance. This was followed by fantastic singing and musical performances by our younger students in Saolta/Súgradh and Spraoi/Sásta to ensure that we were all had well and truly entered into the festive spirit.

To say that we are proud of the girls and boys is an understatement. They were all fantastic, acting, singing and playing their instruments in front of a very large attendance. Well done all!

Thank you to all our staff, teachers, and assistants for everything. Your talents and hard work were in evidence to all. Finally, thank you to all our parents, grandparents, siblings and family members who attended in such great numbers. It was so lovely to have you with us on this special morning.

It’s all systems go here in school as we prepare for our Christmas Concerts.

Firstly, on Thursday, December 14th, the students from Ms.Horkan’s Sonas will perform The Gingerbread Man at 10 am here in school. This will be followed by Christmas performances from the students of Ms.Nicholas’ Súgradh and Ms.Munnelly’s Síolta at 10.45 am and Ms.Durkan’s Sásta and Mrs.Colson’s Spraoi at 11 am. We are so looking forward to welcoming all our families to school at this time and enjoying these special shows.

Following this at 7 pm on Tuesday, December 19th in the CBD Complex, students from Junior to Second Class will perform Animal Rumble Grumble followed by Peace Child (Third to Sixth Class Students). Again this promises to be a wonderful evening, one that our pupils and teachers have worked so hard preparing for.

A belated well done to our Students of the Week of Friday, December 1st. As you can imagine, it’s a very busy time of the year as we prepare for our Christmas Shows: The Gingerbread Man on Thursday, December 14th and Animal Rumble Grumble/Peace Child on Tuesday December 19th.

Our most recent students of the week were praised for their attitude to work, to school and helpfulness in the classroom. It’s such a nice gesture to offer help to others. We heard of pupils who have worked so hard preparing for our Christmas shows and also with our whole school theme ‘ Africa’ impressing their teachers.

As mentioned,our classrooms are a hive of activity and it is so helpful that our pupils can step up to the tasks without complaining. This was a theme that ran throughout our virtual assembly. We were told of pupils who just get on with things without making a fuss. We learned of others who were set targets and are working hard at meeting these.

Well done to all our students who have worked so hard throughout this term. As always we are so proud of all of you and the efforts that you continue to make in your school lives. Maith sibh go léir!

Date for your Diary:

The Students from Sonas will perform the Gingerbread Man on Thursday, December 14th at 10.30am in School followed by musical perfomances from Spraoi/Sásta, Saolta and Súgradh. We are so looking forward to this and wish the girls and boys well with their preparations.

Animal Rumble Grumble and Peace Child will take place on Tuesday, December 19th at 7 pm in the CBD Complex. Again, we look forward to welcoming you all to what promises to be a very special evening.