Happy New Year

Welcome back everyone and a very happy new year to you all. We hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas. We are delighted to see all of our pupils back at school safe, well and full of enthusiasm for the term ahead.

Term Dates

Monday 9th January – Wednesday 12th April 2017

• Mid-term break: Thursday 15th – Monday 20th February (incl)
• St Patrick’s Day: Friday 17th March.
• Easter Holidays: Thursday 13th – Friday 21st April

  Diary Dates

• Phonics Workshop: 9th February 2:30pm
• Election : 2nd March
• Fair Trade Fortnight: 27th February – 12th March
• Catholic Schools’ Week: 29th January– 4th February.
• Confirmation: Sunday 12th March at 11am

School Meals Increase

Remember that the price of school meals has increased by 5p per meal as of the 5th of January. School Meals now cost £2.55 per meal or £12.75 per week

Tin Whistle

We welcome Noel Devine back for the New Year to tutor our pupils on the Tin Whistle. This is a fabulous opportunity for our pupils to develop their musical talents under Noel’s patient guidance. £1 per week.

Milk Money

£3.40 for the month of January, payable now.

Inter-Generational Project

Primary Six children will participate in an artistic workshop on 15th February. The workshop will be run by Gloria Perry. Children will then join the primary six groups from Sion Mills PS, St Theresa’s PS, Glebe and St Columba’s PS, Clady to showcase their work on Wednesday 22nd February.

School Photographer

The School Photographer will be in the school on Monday 30th January. Anyone with pre-school brothers and sisters are very welcome. Please try to arrive at school by 9.15am to reduce your waiting time.

Mindfulness

Our P6 & 7 pupils recently completed their ‘Mindfulness’ Programme which they enjoyed very much. Each pupil received a certificate before Christmas to highlight their achievement and we are very proud of each and every one of them. Miss Gormley had been joining the pupils throughout the programme and will continue to focus upon many of the themes of Mindfulness with the P6 & 7 pupils on a Wednesday afternoon.

After Schools

After School Sports activities have resumed with Danny Gallagher on a Monday afternoon from 3.15 – 4.15. We are delighted that Danny is delivering this for the pupils and would strongly encourage any pupils from P3-7 who are not currently attending to come along and join in the fun. PE Gear required!

Attendance

Regular attendance at school and arriving to school on time are such important contributors to a good education for your children. We appeal to parents to ensure that pupils do not miss school unnecessarily. If your child is ill, please ring the office in the morning or send in a note the following day. Congratulations to those children who had 100% attendance for our first term

Gaelic Coaching

P6 & 7 pupils have resumed Gaelic Football Coaching with Conor Gormley on a Monday from 11.15 – 12.15. PE Gear is necessary for this activity, especially a suitable waterproof jacket or hoodie as the children will be outdoors when it is dry and not too cold!

Linguistic Phonics Workshop: THURSDAY 9TH FEBRUARY @ 2:30PM

Miss Gormley will lead a workshop to support parents on helping your child with Linguistic Phonics. The Linguistic Phonics programme is used as a foundation for teaching your child to read and write. The concept is new to many parents and in the past we have observed great progress in those children whose parents have attended our previous workshops. The workshop is aimed at parents of Primary 1 and 2 children, however, anyone who would like more information is welcome to attend. The session will begin at 2:30pm and will last 45minutes. There will be supervision available P1&2 children during the workshop.

Curriculum Development

As a school we are continually developing different areas of the curriculum and amending the planning and practice in these areas in order to provide our pupils with the best education that we can. This is vital. At the moment we are working on the following areas…

• ICT – Establishing the best tasks for each year group and delivering these in the classroom
• Literacy – Updating the Scheme of Work for Talking & Listening
• Mathematics & Numeracy – Updating the Scheme of Work

As part of this Curriculum Development it is vital that staff have adequate planning time and this necessitates on occasions that our teachers are released from teaching duties. We are delighted to be able to rely upon Miss Brennan as a substitute teacher in these cases. Please note the following dates whereupon staff are released from class… Wednesday 18th January – Miss Gormley – Literacy Development Wednesday 25th January – Mrs Connolly – Literacy Development Wednesday 1st February – Mrs Connolly – ICT Development Wednesday 8th February – Mr Gallagher – Literacy Development

Minecraft

Children in primary 5, 6 and 7 will participate in a series of workshops supported by STEM Aware and funded through Extended Schools. They will develop their creativity in Shape and Space through the Minecraft EDU programme. The workshops will begin on Monday 23rd January.

Prayer of the Month

In school each month we will be focussing upon a different prayer. The children will discuss the prayer in class and at Assembly. Please keep note of the prayer for each month and say this at home with your child.

January Prayer of the Month: Prayer to The Guardian Angel Angel of God, My Guardian dear, To whom God’s love commits me here, Ever this day be at my side, To light and guard, To rule and guide.
Amen.

Value of the Month

Each month we will be concentrating with the children upon a value that we hope the children will show at school and at home. These are listed below. Values will be discussed in class and at Assembly. Each month the staff will identify a member of each class who has been particularly good at living out that value.

This month’s focus: Responsibility. September - Friendship October - Courtesy November - Respect December - Charity January – Responsibility February - Love March - Kindness April – Patience May - Honesty June – Courage
Please discuss these values at home too.