March Newsletter

Trócaire

The P5 Bring and Buy Sale for Trócaire, will take place on Friday 31^st March and our P6 Cake and Bun Sale will take place on Tuesday 4^th April.

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

Workshops

Unfortunately the ParentingNi Positive Parenting course was cancelled due to poor attendance.

A free one day First Aid course for parents will take place on Saturday 29^th April in school. A maximum of 12 participants only will be  allowed to attend. Details will be confirmed shortly.

Gaelic Blitz Victory

Congratulations to St Mary's Gaelic Blitz teams who came first and second at the Banbridge Blitz organised by Michael Feeney last week. Well done to JJ McGrath, Adam McCann and Robert Lorencs who were presented with Best Player plaques. Thank you to Mr. McGrane and Mr. Devlin for taking the boys to the tournament.

Thank you to all who were able to collect and send into school the Irish News tokens.

Time 4 Me

The Barnardo’s Time 4 Me service is now fully operational. Referral forms to meet with our Time 4 Me counsellor are now available from the school website. Completed forms should be returned to the office marked for the attention of Mrs Flanagan or Mr O’Hagan.

Afterschool Club

Children attending the Afterschool Club must be booked in advance via the school office or directly through Afterschool Club. A space cannot be guaranteed for children not booked to attend.

Table Tennis

Congratulations to our P6 and P7 Table Tennis Teams who received silver medals in the Ulster Primary School Table Tennis Team Event (Banbridge Region). Well done to all but especially to Fionntan Keenan, Cormac Topping and Aleyah Peniero.

Netball League

Well done to the girls from St Mary’s Netball Club who took part in the ABC Netball League on Thursday 9^th March. The girls did exceptionally well. The second round takes place on Friday 24^th March at Dromore Leisure Centre. Good luck girls. Thank you to Mrs Moore for taking the girls.

Mass during Lent

Mass continues to take place in St Therese’s each Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8.15am during Lent. Please encourage your child/ren to attend before school.

World Book Day

World Book day was celebrated on Thursday 2^nd. This year the school again decided to use this event to raise the profile of Seapatrick Lourdes Committee, Banbridge. The annual Pilgrimage to Lourdes takes place in May, and offers hope and comfort to the sick in our parish. 

St Mary's appealed to the generosity of its parents and a staggering £475.00 was collected, after each child wore a costume to represent a character from a book and donated £1 towards the Lourdes Fund.

Dates

Confirmation for Primary 7 pupils will take place in St Therese on Sunday 7^th May at 3pm.

First Communion for Primary 4 pupils will take place in St Therese on Saturday 13^th May at 11.00am.

School will close at 11.15am on Wednesday 12^th April for the Easter holiday. School reopens on Monday 24^th April.

PTA

Please return Fun Run/10k/5k entry forms to the school office. Additional forms for the Run on Sunday 2^nd April, commencing at 11.00am from St Mary’s, are available from the school website or from the school office.  

Shannaghmore Visit

Well done to all our P7 children who attended Shannaghmore Outdoor Education Centre last week. Shannaghmore staff remarked on how polite, well-mannered and well-behaved all the children were. The boys and girls had a terrific time. Well done everyone! Thank you to Mr Mackle, Miss Mackin, Miss Von Cysewski, Mr McCreery and Mr Doyle for attending with the children.

School Build

The new school build is continuing to make good progress. The school is on course to meet the agreed deadlines. At present we plan to close on Friday 23^rd June. The following week we intend to relocate furniture etc.  to our new premises.  Please continue to check the school website for updated photographs of progress on the new school site.

Thornton’s Workshop

On Tuesday 11^th April all our children will have an opportunity to decorate their own Easter Egg with Thornton’s.  The cost for an individual Easter Egg and workshop is £3.00 per child.

Parking 

Please continue to use St Therese’s car park to avoid congestion on the Scarva Road. There is limited parking in St Patrick’s car park. The drop off arrangements are working well and we would encourage parents to either park in St Therese’s car park, if you wish to escort your child to the school playground,  or use the supervised drop off points in St Patrick’s car park. Clann na Banna car park is designated for staff parking only during the school day. It becomes very congested by 8.30am and parents parking there are putting children accessing the car park at risk. Please use the drop off arrangements.

School Certificates

Congratulations to Karol Trebunia, Jan Boersma, Aaron Keenan, Chad Magee, James Quail, Adam McCann, Aidan Knipe, Dumi Fratescu, Fionnan Cunningham, Jade Joyce, Harry McGovern, Aoife Monaghan, Niamh Poland, Carter Gorman, Ethan Moles, Shannon Lvery, Jack Conlan, Olivia Whaite, Matthew Grimes, Katie McGovern, Orlaith Norby, Nikolas Skartsolia, Mycheaelaa McEvoy, Fergus McSherry, Zara Pearc on being awarded a class certificate for great work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday, 24^thFebruary. A special award went to Mrs Pauline Comiskey who completed her first 5K last weekend.

School Menu

Please check the school website for the monthly menu.

Please note school meals now cost £2.55 for P1 to P7 children and £2.45 for nursery children.