Well done to our Junior Infant / Senior Infant-First and First-Second Classes who had their classrooms and their school corridor looking so well as they left for home for their Mid Term breaks.
As always when we walk through the school we realise we have so many talented and creative pupils. A special word of thanks to all our teachers for their hard work. All the children have made a wonderful start to the new school year.
We are really looking forward to the Community Day which will take place this coming Sunday in the C.B.D Complex from 2-5 p.m.
It promises to be a very exciting afternoon particularly with the release of the results of Community Futures Surveys and the recent School’s ‘Art and Photography Competitions’, the opportunity to visit the local community stands and to enjoy the various activities which will be found throughout the hall.
Most importantly all members of the community can vote on the aforementioned results and have their say in what they feel is/should be of importance to Charlestown going forward.
We would love to see as many of our students/parents/guardians on the afternoon and look forward to welcoming you there.
Best wishes to our past pupil Dean O’Connor and the New York ladies team as they face Wexford in the TG4 All-Ireland Ladies Junior Football Championship Final this coming Sunday September 28th in Croke Park.
Dean is part of the New York management team and will have great support from his family and the wider Charlestown community in Dublin. Dean was a student here with us from 1980 to 1989, before moving to New York in 1999.
We wish Dean well and hope his nieces, nephews and all his supporters have an enjoyable day on Sunday. Best wishes also to the Charlestown u-12,u-13 and u-14 Girls teams who are travelling to the games on Sunday and will no doubt be shouting for New York with their strong Charlestown connections.
A warm welcome back to all parents/guardians and pupils to the St Attracta’s for the new academic year 2014 – 2015.
We have had a great first week, and are very happy with how all our students have come back to school,starting as they mean to go on!
Our new Junior Infant class in particular has settled very well into the routines of school life, working hard for their teacher and making new friends.
A special welcome also to new students who have joined us throughout the school. Again, we’re delighted with how well you’ve integrated into our classes/school and are delighted with your progress.
We hope all our new children and their families will be very happy here with us and have a long association with our school.
Reminder our Junior Infants will continue to finish at 12 Noon each day this week, however as and from Monday next September 15th the children will finish at the normal time of 2.05 p.m.
Building Update
All our Parents/Guardians should by now have an update of where we are at with our building works from the letter sent home to each family on Friday last. We expect that there will be great progress this coming week and hope that the main works will be finished inside the next fortnight.
We look forward to welcoming you all back to school on Monday 1st September and in particular welcome our new Junior infants.
As you are all aware work is progressing well on the replacement and upgrading of the flat roofs to the front of the school.
We are delighted to inform you that this afternoon Friday 22nd August 2014 we have been allocated additional funding to enable us upgrade and repair the pitched roof to the original school block at the rear.
While confirmation of this funding has come late in the year, we are going to continue with the works and get them completed as early as possible before the winter approaches. We appreciate this will cause disruptions for the first two weeks of the new school year but are confident the benefit of these works will pay off immediately.
We ask that you prepare the children for this prior to their return to the school. While every possible provision will be made to have the grounds safe and secure,we would appreciate your co operation as construction works are in progress in order to help the children settle back in to school as easily as possible.
We really are delighted to have received this additional funding and are confident that it will greatly improve the environment that all of our children and school staff work in each day. We will outline,prior to our return, any changes to our students’ arrival and dismissal as a result of the works.
Reminder: School Uniform collection this Monday August 25th 2-4 p.m. in the Pastoral Centre
Again as always we appreciate your cooperation and support.
Have a great weekend ! Maigh Eo Abú !
On Monday afternoon the school uniform jumpers and tracksuits will be available for collection from the Pastoral Centre between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Please note that this is from the Pastoral Centre and not the school due to the building works.
We hope you all have had a lovely summer and enjoy the remainder of the break!
Best of luck to Leanne Duffy, past pupil Carrie Loftus and the Mayo U 14 team who play Kerry this Sunday July 20th in McDonagh Park Nenagh in the All Ireland U14 A Final.
This is a fantastic achievement for the girls and indeed the ladies section of Charlestown GAA to have two representatives at this level.
We wish the girls the very best for Sunday.
This afternoon we will have we will have a short graduation ceremony for each class in the school hall.
Please see the timetable for our afternoon below. All parents/guardians/family members are invited to our school to enjoy this special occasion!
Graduation Timetable
Junior/Senior Infants Ms. Delaney 1 p.m.
First/Second Class Ms.Sloyan / Mrs.Reilly 1.30 p.m.
Third/Fourth/Fifth Class Mr.Rushe / Mr.McDermott 2.15 p.m.
Sixth Class will have their Graduation Mass on Thursday June 26th evening at 7.30 p.m. here in school.
We had an early start to ensure an action packed day. Arriving in Delphi we were struck by the beautiful scenery and landscape around us. We talked about the effect the Ice age had on this landscape and this brought what we had learned in class to life!
At the outset we agreed in school on these activities
1. Kayaking
2. Climbing and Abseiling
3. Orienteering / Cooperative games / Team Tasks
Our morning saw us as one group Kayaking and this was most enjoyable. As the pictures illustrate we were very comfortable in the water and received many compliments from our instructors for the ease with which we learned and took their directions on board. They were delighted that we made such progress in a short time.
After a short lunch break the groups were divided for the remaining activities swapping after ninety minutes. Climbing and abseiling tested each of the students particularly those who had difficulties with heights, however it was amazing to see how each of these students overcame these fears making it to the top and down again.
The orienteering section of our day brought us deep into the forests of Delphi. Map reading skills were tested as the children engaged in games such as “sniper” and team building exercises, while navigating their way through the woods in search of targets.
This led us to the outstanding beauty of the Owenagloch river valley, under the shadow of Mweelrea and the Sheefry Hills.
Again, the children were praised for their enthusiasm and co-operation with each other in all exercises. A most enjoyable was had by all!
