March Newsletter

Trocaire 

Trocaire is working in over 28 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East helping communities and families to free themselves from the oppression of poverty. As in previous years each class and year group will be organising special money raising events throughout March in a bid to raise as much money as possible, concluding with a non-uniform day on Tuesday 26th March.

Each year we rely heavily on parental support throughout the Lenten period. We are acutely aware of the difficulties of the present economic climate but we hope that together we can raise enough money to make a difference. 

Additional information about the campaign can be found at the Trocaire website at www.trocaire.org. Thank you for your continuing support.

Adults in School

I would like to remind parents of the School's Child Protection Policy which states that only adults employed in the school should be in the school building. All adults entering the school must use the main entrance and report to the school office. For security reasons children have been instructed not to open outside doors for adults. If a parent needs to speak with a member of staff they should approach his/her child's teacher in the playground at the beginning of the school day.

World Book Day

World Book Day takes place tomorrow Thursday 7th March 2013. Various book related and reading activities will take place in school. Children are encouraged to dress up as a book character for the day to make it a fun event. 

Please return all Book Club orders before Tuesday 26th March 2013. Please include your child's World Book Day Token with your child's book order.

Green Day

Friday 15th March is Green Day at St. Mary's as part of our St. Patrick's Day celebrations. All children are asked to donate £1 to 
Trocaire on the day.

Table Tennis

Good luck to St. Mary's Table Tennis Teams who will take part in the inter-school competition on Thursday 7th March in Banbridge Leisure Centre.

Football Tournament

Good luck to St. Mary's Football Teams who will take part in the South Down Schools 7 a-side competition at Newry on Thursday 7th March.

St. Patrick's Holiday

School is closed on Monday 18th for the St. Patrick's holiday. School will reopen, as normal, on Tuesday 19th March.

Thorntons Easter Egg

On Monday 25th and Tuesday 26th March 2013 all our children from P1 to P7 will have an opportunity to decorate their own Easter Egg with Thorntons. The cost for an individual Easter Egg and workshop is £2 per child. 

Easter Disco


A PTA Easter Disco will take place on Friday 22nd March from 7pm to 9pm in the school hall. Admission £3 per child. 

Easter Holiday


School will close at 11.15am on Wednesday 27th March for the Easter Holiday. School is closed from Thursday 28th March to Friday 5th April 2013. School will reopen, as normal, on Monday 8th April.

Eason's Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Niamh Brown who won the St. Mary's Spelling Bee last Friday. Well done to Francesca Scappaticci who finished in second place. Niamh will now represent St. Mary's at the Eason's Spelling Bee. Thank you to Eason's for supplying prizes for the competition. 

Credit Union Quiz

Well done to Claire O'Keefe, Darren Gibson, Catherine McElvogue and Sarah McElvogue who represented the Banbridge area at the SELB final of the Credit Union Quiz held at Armagh City Hotel last Saturday.

Environmental Youth Speak

Congratulations to Alana McGrath and Niamh Brown who represented St. Mary's at the Environmental Youth Speak Competition at Banbridge Council last week. During the Youth Speak competition, school children were invited to speak for 3 to 5 minutes on environmental topics such as: Rethink your rubbish reduce, reuse, recycle. Both Alana and Niamh did exceptionally well. Well done girls.


Inline Hockey Club

The STAR Inline Hockey Club continues each Wednesday in Banbridge Leisure Centre. Parents are requested to make sure arrangements are in place to collect their child from the Leisure Centre at 5pm.

P6 Cake and Bun Sale

The P6 Cake and Bun Sale will take place this Friday 8th March. All proceeds in aid of Trocaire.


School PTA

The next meeting of the PTA will take place on Tuesday 12th March at 7.30pm. 

Please email your recipes, stories and pictures for the PTA Cookbook to
stmaryspta1@hotmail.co.uk or leave them into the school office.

P5 Assembly

Please note the P5 Assembly due to take place on Tuesday 26th March is postponed until after Easter.