October Newletter

St Mary’s is a Nut Free School

Please be aware that we have number of children throughout the school who have a severe nut allergy. Please do not send any snacks that may contain nuts, traces of nut or nut extract.

School Closures

School will be closed for children from Friday 26 October to Friday 2 November (inclusive) for the midterm break. Parent Teacher meetings will take place from Friday 26 October to Tuesday 30 October (inclusive) 9.00am to 3.00pm. A full list of school dates is available on the school website.

School Fund

Thank you to all our parents and families who have already submitted their School Fund. If you have not already done so, please forward it to the school office. A contribution of £10 per child or £20 per family is requested.

School Development Proposal

Please take time to read the consultation document regarding the development proposal to extend our school by an additional 4 classes. 

A copy of the covering letter and consultation was sent to all parents via our app and is available on the school website. Responses may be posted or emailed.

The consultation closes on 30 November.

Swimming Team

Well done to the St Mary’s Swim Team last weekend at the Swim Ulster’s Schools Gala.

Lauren Burns-Atkin, Mychaela McEvoy, Samantha Burns-Atkin, Cathal Hill, Matthew McKevitt and Sophie Quinn all swam amazingly at the weekend, all setting personal best times. The school reached a total of 7 finals thanks to great performances by Lauren, Mychaela, Cathal, Matthew and Samantha which was an amazing achievement. Lauren Burns-Atkin finished off a successful weekend with Gold in the 50m Breaststroke.  

What a great St Mary's team!

Red and Black Day

Thank you for the fantastic support of our Red and Black Day for Clann na Banna. £ 450.OO was collected.

Drop off

Please use the drop off bays in the school. Children can access both playgrounds from the bays. Supervision is in place from 8.45a.m. There is a set of steps next to the nursery which lead directly into the bottom playground. Children do not need to cross any roads or walk through the car park when using these steps. Please do not park in the disabled bays.

On wet or icy days children may enter their classrooms directly from 8.50am. P3 children may use the main entrance at this time. There will be no access before 8.50am.

Football

Congratulations to St Mary's A team on winning the South Down 7 aside competition at Ballinran on Thursday. After comfortable victories in the league section the boys defeated St Mary's, Newcastle, 2-0 the semifinal before going on to defeat Kilbroney Integrated School in the final.

Well done to Dan McAvoy and Lennon Bell and who both had an excellent tournament for the A Team.

Our B team narrowly missed out on a semifinal spot when poor finishing let the boys down. Well done to Joseph McCorry and Jarlath McGinley who both had an excellent tournament for the B Team.

Congratulations to the A team on another shared victory with Bridge Primary in the second round of the EVO League 2018/19 on Thursday. St Mary's comfortably won their league games to reach the semifinal against Tandragee Primary School. Again, the final against Bridge Primary School ended in a goalless draw, with most of the game being played in midfield. Well done to Adam McCann, Pierce White and Eoin Eakins who all had an excellent tournament.

Our B team had mixed fortunes only being defeated in one of their league games and narrowly missed out on a semifinal spot.  Again poor finishing again let the boys down. Well done to Jason Sands, Caden McAlinden and Caolan McGinley who all had an excellent tournament for the B Team.

Thank you to Sean Devlin for helping with the football and our appreciation to Paul Evans and EVO Skills for organising the tournament. Our next tournament is the third round of the EVO league on Thursday 9 November 9.30am.

First Penance

First Penance for our P4 children will take place on Thursday 6 December at 11.00am in the Church of St Therese. Children should be seated by 6.45pm. First Communion is confirmed as Saturday 4 May at 11.00am in St Therese.

Confirmation is confirmed as Sunday 12 May at 3.00pm in St Therese.

Athletics

Well done to all the girls and boys who participated in the first Cross Country race at Lurgan.  After race one, of the new season, the girls are fourth in the school league table following brilliant performances from Annie McEvoy, Isabelle Rea and Mychaela McAvoy. The boys are in ninth place after the first race, well done to Cathal Hill, Tomas Olarte-Wade and Joseph McCorry who were first home for St Mary’s boys.  

Thank you to Mr Devlin for taking the children and to Mr McGrane for organising the runners.

A full list of results can be viewed on the school website.

The next race will take place on Friday 30 November in Armagh. Good luck everyone!

Daily Mile

Our Daily Mile will continue this year. Please ensure that your child brings a bottle of water to school daily.

Pumpkin Competition

A massive thank you to all our teachers, classroom assistants and children for their enthusiasm and creativity today in our pumpkin carving competition. Thank you to our PTA for organising our ‘Pumpkin Carving’ competition. Our thanks to Tesco for supplying the pumpkins to each class.

David McKay from Tesco’s had a very tough job on his hands. Richard, the reporter from the Chronicle, was ‘blown away’ by the high standard of designs.

Congratulations to Mrs Devlin, Mrs Scappaticci and the boys and girls in Primary 3…. this year’s winning class!

On behalf of our PTA… THANK YOU.  Happy Halloween!

School Certificates

Congratulations to Noah Savage, Kayleigh-Ann Meara, Kayleigh McCourt, Lochlann Agnew, Thomas Boreland, Thomas Grimes, Dylan Bell, Cody McClay, Adam Scott, Cassie McAreavey and Heidi McAdam being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 19 October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Ryan Cairns, Ryan Creaney, Stephen Kelly, Joseph McCreesh, Conor Quinn, Aidan Knipe, Lauren Bernes, Caelon Fitzpatrick, Ellie Henning, Eoin Brown, Caolan Fearon, Sierra Meara, Lukasz Rak, Sally Convery, Sarah Moore and Lily McConnell being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 19 October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Tristin Berry, Naomi Muntean, Matthew McKevitt, Liam McAleenan, Harry Fowler, Harvey Chapman, Kori McKinley, Adam McCracken, Charlotte McConnell, Meagan Kearney, Faye McAlorum, Roan Sweeney, Mya Cochrane, Katlyn Bagnell, Jamie Watson and Samantha Burns-Atkin being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 12 October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Melissa Ross, Mateo Guerrero, Lexi McPolin, Niamh McPoland, Ethan Murtagh, Rafael Costa, Mark Faxton, Rosie Copeland, Tammy-Lee Devlin, Ellie McKay, Adam Molek, Eoin Lynch, Amy Fullerton, Emily McKerr, Adam Stevenson, Kate Finnegan, Emma Skillen and Fynn-Young Brady being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 4 October. Well done everyone!

School Menu

Please check the school website for the monthly school menu which is updated at the beginning of each month.