October Newsletter

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/Dates

School will be closed for children from Friday 25^th October to Friday 2^nd November (inclusive) for the midterm break.

Parent Teacher meetings will take place from Friday 25^th October to Tuesday 29^th October (inclusive) 9.00am to 3.00pm.

First Penance for our P4 children will take place on Wednesday 4^th December at 11.00am in the Church of St Therese.

First Communion will take place on Saturday 2^nd May at 10.30am in St Therese.

Confirmation for our P7 children will take place on Sunday 8^th March at 3:00pm.

A full list of school dates is available on the school website or on the school app.

PTA

The Staff and Pupils of St Mary's Primary School would like to welcome the new core members of the PTA committee elected at the PTA AGM on 8^th October.

Thank you to our outgoing core committee:

Chairperson - Caroline Robinson

Vice Chairperson - John Eakins

Treasurer - Clarissa Smith

Our new core committee is:

Chairperson - Leanne Poland

Vice Chairperson - Caroline Robinson

Treasurer - Leah Grimes

Secretary - Denise Quigley 

Our first event will be the 'Halloween Disco' in the school hall on Friday 25^th October from 6.30pm to 7.30pm for P1 to P3 and 7.45pm to 9.00pm for P4 to P7. Admission £3.

Our PTA Lotto tickets are now on sale from the school office and PTA members.

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.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club opens daily at 7.45am. Please note, due to raising costs, Breakfast Club will be £2 per child per session from Monday 4^th November. Please make sure you inform staff if your child has any allergies. Children must be in Breakfast Club before 8.30am to receive breakfast.

Halloween Fancy Dress

A Halloween Fancy Dress/non-uniform day will take place on Thursday 24^th October to help raise school funds. £1.00 per child is requested. Thank you!

Football

Congratulations to St Mary's A team on winning the South Down 7 aside competition at Kilkeel yesterday. After finishing second on their league group the A team needed a last minute equaliser to draw with Iveagh Primary School in the semi- final despite dominating the game. Brodie McCart, our replacement keeper after an injury to James McAleavey, was the hero of the hour saving 2 out of 3 penalties. In the final, St Mary’s again needed to find an equaliser despite being the better team. Again Brodie McCart was our hero making the vital saves in the penalty sudden death shoot out. Well done to Tyler Kerr, Jason Sands Joseph and Jarlath McGinley who all had an excellent tournament for the A Team.

Our B team had mixed fortunes in their league only conceding 2 goals in 4 games.  Unfortunately, poor finishing and a lack of concentration in defence let the boys down. Well done to Fergus McSherry, Leon Brodacki and Jamie Watson who all had an excellent tournament for the B Team. Thank you to Mr Devlin for helping with the teams.

Congratulations to the A team on reaching the semi-final of the second round of the EVO League 2019/20. St Mary's comfortably won their league games to reach the semi-final against Tandragee Primary School. Unfortunately, due to the game ending in a draw St Mary’s did not qualify for the final due to Tandragree gaining more points in the group stage. Well done to James McAleavey, Jarlath McGinley and Joesph McCorry who all had an excellent tournament for the A Team.

Our B team had mixed fortunes only being defeated in one of their league games and narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot.  Unfortunately, poor finishing and lapses in concentration let the boys down. Well done to Jason Sands, Caiden McAlinden and Leon Brodacki 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.

Cross Country

Congratulations to all the girls and boys who took part in Round One of the Northern Ireland Cross Country Championship at Lurgan last Friday. In a good start to the season Annie McEvoy(5), Isabelle Rea(11) and Grace Rea(30) were the first girls home for St Mary's who are placed fourth overall.   

Cathal Hill (7), Jarlath McGinley (13) and Joseph McCorry (15) were first home for the boys. The boys team sit in second place only 6 points behind Trandragee Primary School. This is a fantastic achievement. We are so proud of the girls and boys. Well done!!

A full set of results is available at the link https://athleticsni.org/Results

Daily Mile

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

Erasmus+ 

Our Erasmus+ project @museart has been awarded both the etwinning certificate and quality label from the British Council.  These awards are issued to schools who have completed projects which demonstrate excellent practice throughout their European partnership.  We are delighted to receive these awards. 

Sustrans Award

St Mary’s have received the Bronze Sustrans Award in recognition for our efforts in travelling actively to school over the past year. Dave Wiggins, our Sustrans Officer, presented the award at a recent assembly. Gianna and Laochra accepted the award on behalf of Key Stage 2 and Charlie and Skye on behalf of Foundation and Key Stage 1. We are delighted with this award and would like to thank all our pupils, parents and staff who have made an earnest effort to travel actively to school, when possible. We look forward to your continued support in this current year, and your participation in our active travel initiatives, which will hopefully lead us on the road to gaining our Silver Award. 

School Certificates

Congratulations to Jason Sands, Ben McAteer-Lavelle, Noah Savage, Lucy McParland, Grace Hamilton, Lochlann Agnew, Tierna Fearon, Cara Copeland, Roan Sweeney, Gianna Scappaticci, Adam Henry, Shayne Fitzpatrick, Kayleigh Ann Meara, Siofra Darragh, Niamh Jordan, Aiden Knipe, Owen Moles, Rian Masterson, Ryan Cairns, Aoife McCreedy and Cerys McGrath on being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 4^th October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Cormac Poland, Maria Olarte-Wade, Zach Burke, Eva Kate Gribben, Mya- Jane Porter, Meagan Kearney, Cerys McGrath, Ellie Henning, Sophie Glendinning and Cameron Richardson on their fantastic 100% attendance for 2018-19. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Natalia Kurek, Saoirse McQuaid, Ronan Connolly, Anna McCrumlish, Jay Devlin, Matthew Greer, Danny McPolin, Lila Henry, Brogan Campbell, Oisin McGrath, Finn Kearney, Riley Masterson, Heidi McAdam, Annie Wilson, Kayleigh McCourt, Sadie Groves and Tessa Tamati on being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 4^th October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Jack Jardine, Ronan McGrath, Aidan Loughlin, Tiernan Ryan, David Frstescu, Enda Quinn, Zara Cochrane, Finn Kearney, Bronagh Byrne, Bobbi Clydesdale and Tara Hill on their fantastic 100% attendance for 2018-19. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Jonny Austin, Charlie Robb, Ellen McConnell, Orlaith Campbell, Pola Amborska, Harrison Smith, Megan Cairns, Bronagh Byrne, Stephen Lynn, Darragh Moran, Pearse Downey, Tymon Jablonski, Emeli Udo, Riley Diamond, Tyler McEvoy, Ethan Church, Conal Hill and Joe Wilson being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 11^th October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Ciaran Connolly, Fionn Sipson, Joseph Gribben, Corey Paxton, Ethan Mone, James Kearney, Niamh Poland, Isabella Groves, Faye McAlorum, Meagan Kearney, Jack Mooney, Aoife McGrath, Samantha Burns-Atkin, Eve Rooney, Erin McCreedy and Gracie Anne Grimes on being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 11^th October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Ella-May Jardine, Isabelle Mooreland, Conor Scannell, Jonah Matthews, Finn Campbell, Matthew Greer, Mia McKinley, Anna-Leah Grimes, Filip Hoppe, Daniel Leonard, Conor Paxton, Sienna Cranney, Aoibhe Clement, Sarah Cowgill, Connlaoth Cunningham, Eabha Parfitt and Erin Fitzpatrick being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 18^th October. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to George Forshaw, Eryk Slawinski, Tristin Berry, Kornelia Bielnska, Eoin Lynch, Caithlin Grimes, Daniel McGivern, Liam Cribbin, Aoife Deegan, Milo Quail, Aaron Duffy, Maddie McDowell, Pili Olarte-Wade, Mya Jane Porter, Isabelle Rea, Sophie Hanratty and Pati Ziaja on being awarded a class certificate for good work and excellent behaviour during the week ending Friday 18^th 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.