All the children settled quickly and have slept well. They have enjoyed a hearty breakfast of cereals, toast, bagels and bacon and are now getting ready to head out to Ballintoy for the day.
We have all enjoyed an excellent first day of our residential trip. Making own beds and enjoying free time in the centre.
Today was our last day for ‘Friday Fruit’ and we had strawberries and cream rather than the usual fruit. We wish to thank all parents who have come in to school throughout the year to prepare the fruit for us. A special thanks to Laura Calderwood for organising and coordinating the fruit rota.
Our school has received a grant in connection with the upcoming golf Open Championships. This has been used for some golf sessions and also for golf equipment. Yesterday four of our children, Matthew, Harvey, Emily and Lily went to Portrush, for a golf promotion event for schools that had received grants.
Our P6 and P7 children went to an orienteering competition at Coleraine College on Wednesday 29th May Here they were able to put into practice all the map reading skills etc. that they have been learning over the past few weeks. There were four schools in the competition. Congratulations to Andrew and Stephen who came first overall with a time of 9.01 minutes. Sam and Alexander were third overall with a time of 11.57 minutes.
Congratulations to the children who received certificates for April 2019. Certificates were awarded for ‘Progress in Reading’, Ability to explain Mathematical Thinking’, ‘Being Kind and Caring’ and ‘Sharing and Taking Turns’.
Some of our P7 pupils have been enjoying Cycling Proficiency training over the past number of weeks. They have been learning how to ride safely, and how to negotiate left turns and right turns etc. It is important to learn these skills. However, it is very different carrying these manoeuveres out in a playground situation to actual road situations. We hope that they will be able to remember all they have been taught as they cycle safely on the road. The remaining P7 chlldren will start their training in the first week of June.
Today, our P7 pupils attended the Ballymoney Streetwise event. This event, for P7 pupils,aims to raise their awareness of how to keep safe as they take on more responsibility for their own safety as they move from primary school. The event is delivered by a number of different organisations including Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council, Dogs' Trust, Health Trust, NIE, Translink, Home Accident Prevention, Cancer Focus NI, Coastguards and Police Service Northern Ireland. The children had a very good morning and received lots of valuable information.
Some of our P4-P7 children have been enjoying a four week football coaching programme run by Ambassadors Football. As well as teaching and building on football skills, each session has a short, interactive spot about the Christian faith. Thanks to the coaches for coming along to take theses sessions.
We are once again delighted that three of our pupils have received certificates for recent piano music exam success. Grace and Andrew did their Grade 2 Music Exam and Hannah her Initial Music Exam. All three are pupils of Mrs Heather McAleese who teaches piano in school.
Congratulations to Annie, Sam, Ruby and Ella who received Lunchtime awards for this half term.
Yesterday, 20th May, P5,6 and 7 and P7 from St Patrick’s Primary School, had the opportunity to take part in a Shared Education, community sports taster session at the Community Centre pitches. A coach from Northern Ireland Football, Ulster Rugby and from the local GAA club, taught the children new skills for football, rugby and Gaelic football. The children then had short team games for each sport. Thanks to the coaches for this very enjoyable session.
We have received the following message from Stranmillis University College, inviting parents / carers to participate in a survey.
Dear Parent/Carer, Please follow this link to an online survey to explore the views of parents/carers about their experience of accessing or attempting to access services and support for their child’s special educational needs or suspected special educational needs in mainstream schools in Northern Ireland. The survey should take no more than 20-25 minutes to complete. The research has been commissioned by the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People and is being led by a research team from Stranmillis University College, Belfast. Thank you.
Our children have been enjoying the new resurfaced playground over the past few weeks. This week the front playground had the lines painted for the football/hockey pitch and road markings for cycling proficiency. The back playground has been marked with a 100 square, alphabet snake, number hopscotch and compass/clock face. It is lovely to see the children using these at break and lunch time. They will also be used for outdoor learning.
I am sure everyone is well aware that the British open Golf Tournament is being held in Portrush in the summer time. P6 and P7 have been given the opportunity to have some taster golf sessions as part of the run up to the tournament. Their first session was on 2nd May and they all enjoyed it a lot.
On Tuesday 30th April P6 and P7 went to Braid Arts Centre for a Science workshop. The first workshop involved the children using laptops to programme a robotic car to move along a track. They then tested it out on the track. The second workshop focused on bridge building.
On Wednesday 1st May we had a visit from the RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Three lifeguards, came along to our assembly, to talk to us about keeping safe at the beach. They showed the children the different flags that they might see when they go to the beach. The red and yellow flag indicates that there are lifeguards on duty and so it is safe to swim between the two flags. Red is for danger and black and white flags show that only surfers or people with kayaks should go into the sea. They also talked about the dangers of using inflatables in the sea. Demi and Dan were chosen to dress up as lifeguards. They were great models!
The lifeguards also told the children what to do if they ever get into difficulty in the sea between the red and yellow flags. - 'DON'T PANIC' 'HOLD ON TO SOMETHING THAT FLOATS' 'SHOUT FOR HELP'.
P5 created some lovey posters following on from the RNLI visit which can be viewed under ‘Children’s Work’
Now all we need is the summer to come!
P1 and P2 have been looking at ‘The Countryside’ in their topic work. We are delighted to see that some little Blue Tits have made their nest in one of our nesting boxes at the front of school. We are looking forward to watching them over the next few weeks.
We are delighted to be able to share the happy news that Mrs Henry had a baby girl, Esther, on Wednesday. Both have been gladly welcomed back home by a very proud dad and brother. Many congratulations.
Best wishes to Mrs Henry as she starts her maternity leave.
