News at St. Colmcille’s

St. Colmcille’s Primary School, Ballymena Parents’ Newsletter Publish Date: Spring Term 2009

Issue Number 5

Welcome to our Spring Term Newsletter. The school has been a ‘hive of activity’ starting

with a very successful Open Night in January ending with the Year 7 presentation on their

project ‘Flight’. During the term over two hundred pupils registered for the extensive after-

school activities which have now become part of school life at St. Colmcille’s. The

children in Year 7 received their Transfer Test results and their parents have selected the

post-primary school they wish their child to attend in September. I congratulate all the

Year 7 pupils on their excellent results – we at St. Colmcille’s are very proud of you.

We have had many opportunities to celebrate success with the children this term, not only

in the academic areas of learning, but also in extra-curricular events such as Art

competitions, Science & Technology Challenge, Credit Union quiz, Soccer and Gaelic

Football. The school was extremely busy during the Ballymena Festival. Once again the

school ‘swept the boards’ at the Festival this year winning the most successful school

award in three classes.

The school was also inspected by the ETI in February and received an outstanding report

which is due to be published in the coming weeks. These successes are a testimony to all

at St. Colmcille’s and I am so proud to be part of the team that encourages all our pupils to

‘be the best that they can be’.

Mr B McKenna - Principal

St. Colmcille’s opened its doors to the wider community during the school’s open night in January. Many families came to see first hand, the excellent provision that St. Colmcille’s can offer their children. The Year 7 pupils helped direct families around the school and show how the computer suite is used. Other pupils demonstrated a variety of learning activities, whilst Ganesha O’Donnell and Anthony McGuigan entertained guests on arrival by playing their violins and saxophone. Cara Smith and Lydia Gardner played clarinet in the Key Stage one resource area and Caolan Stuart was on hand to demonstrate some of the technology models made in Key Stage 2. Teachers were present in their classrooms ready to assist all those who wanted to learn more about the school.

Throughout the term a number of Year 12 pupils from St. Louis Grammar School have been visiting the Year 7 children as their “Faith Friends”. The project aims to add a wider community dimension during the children’s preparation for confirmation. The grammar school pupils helped the children understand the Story of Pentecost and the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit in a lively and friendly manner. It was an excellent opportunity to show the Year 7 children other young people sharing their faith and spreading the message of the gospel. The programme included a number of dynamic activities such as music, drama, group discussion and ICT. The St. Louis pupils were delighted to have the opportunity to link with our primary school and develop useful skills for the future. We too were also delighted to forge stronger links with our neighbouring post.-primary school. We would like to extend our gratitude to St. Louis Grammar School and in particular Mrs Toman and Miss Pickering for all their hard work and effort shown throughout the project.

World of Owls

On Tuesday 20th January Mike from the World of Owls centre in Randalstown came to St. Colmcille’s to exhibit and teach the children about some of the animals that they care for at their centre. The children were enthralled to see barn owls in flight and watch the giant Eurasian Eagle Owl as it flapped its enormous wings. As you can see in the pictures above the children were able to get very close to some of the animals on display including the boa constrictor, lizard, tarantula amongst other species. The money raised at the event will help the centre increase the number of animals that they can care for and soon one of the owls at the sanctuary will be named by the pupils of St. Colmcille’s.

The ‘Time to Read’ programme has continued to be a great success this term. Gill Agnew a member of staff from M&S and David Mc Causland a retired engineer spent a short time each week with the children reading together from books that have been specially selected for the scheme. The children this term have been delighted to continue with the programme and have successfully read a wide range of books. David presented a number of early edition Beatrix Potter books to celebrate the success of the programme. The school would like to extend their gratitude for the time and effort given by both Gill and David.

After last year’s success, the Year 7 children once again attended the “Be Safe” event at the Ballymena Business Centre on Friday 30th January in association with the PSNI, the NI Fire Brigade and Ballymena Borough Council. During the course of the day the children took part in a number of workshops teaching children how to stay safe; for example, what to do if there is a fire at home, reducing crime, and electrical safety in the kitchen. The day was extremely informative and the children learned how to reduce the risks around them in a very active and fun way.

During the first week in March, Catholic schools across Ireland celebrated their identity.

Schools and parish communities were invited to celebrate the distinctive richness and

diversity of Catholic education. 'Walk in the Light' was chosen as the theme for the week.

The Catholic school seeks to walk in the light of the Gospel, Catholic education is based

explicitly on the Gospel integrating faith and life, promoting justice and peace and

contributing to the common good. To celebrate this special week in our school year, Miss

Stewart’s Year 5 class performed an assembly on the theme of “Love” with prayer, music

dance and drama. At the end of the assembly we were able to introduce our new school

chaplain Fr. Toland to the children and staff of the school and we look forward to working

with Fr. Toland in the future.

The children of St. Colmcille’s were delighted to have been awarded 1st place in this years Credit Union Quiz on Monday 2nd February. Catherine, Brenda, Joseph and Ruairi were victorious in what was a very exciting and nail biting quiz. Two teams from the school qualified for the Regional Finals. Well done to all the St. Colmcille’s contestants.

Congratulations to Miss Cunningham for having successfully completed her Post Graduate Qualification for Headship and was awarded her certificate by the Education Minister Mrs Catriona Ruane at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast on Wednesday 4th February. Well done Miss Cunningham from all at St. Colmcille’s!

On Wednesday the 18th February the Year 5 classes had a special visit from the local fire brigade. The children listened to a potentially life-saving talk on fire safety including what to do when a fire is discovered; safety around the home and how to contact the emergency services. St. Colmcille’s would like to extend our thanks to the Fire Service for their time and support.

It has been another busy term for the school’s Eco Council. On 5th March a panel of eight judges assessed St. Colmcille’s against a set of criteria as to how eco-friendly the school is. I am delighted to report that we passed the assessment and the school was awarded the Eco Flag. The judges paid tribute to the hard work of all the pupils in our school. Well done to everyone involved!

The Year 1 children visited the “Teddy Clinic” at the Antrim Area Hospital in February. Each child brought their favourite teddy to the clinic where they learnt how they could be X-rayed, how to take temperature, how to bandage their furry friends and other activities. A great time was had by all and hopefully reduces the fear and anxiety many children have when faced with the unfortunate event of having to attend hospital.

Congratulations to Niamh, Dylan and Sam who were this years winners of the Credit Union Easter draw. Each child received an Easter egg and a goodies bag to enjoy over the Easter break! The Credit Union operate a savings scheme for pupils at the school. If anyone is interested in starting the savings scheme please contact the school office.

After the recent success of the Year 7 technology challenge three pupils namely, Paul, Ryan and Aoife attended the NEELB challenge in the Antrim Board Centre on Monday 2nd March. The children had the difficult task of designing and making a space craft with a remote controlled door using pneumatic power. They put their skills into action and made a very promising model. Well done to the young engineers!

Top Left: The school received sponsorship from the Ulster Council and the Antrim GAA for hurling equipment. Kieran Megraw presented the school with the resources. Top Middle: Cara and the girls from Year 7 show great skill as they take on their opponents in a 5 A-Side Girls’ Gaelic Competition at St. Patrick’s College on the 28th January. Top Right: The school was represented in the St. Patrick’s 5 a-side football competition at Dunclug on the 19th March. We were unlucky and were beaten semi-finalists. The boys showed great character and determination. Well done lads! Bottom Left: Our first outing in the Senior Cup on February 5th was against a very strong Mount St. Michael’s team. Although we were playing a very skilful team the lads showed great resilience and determination, never giving up. In the final picture the group of boys reached the semi-final of the competition in Dunclug, a fantastic achievement as the Year 7’s were missing due to a school trip. The boys had a great day and represented the school extremely well. Congratulations boys.

The revised curriculum is focused on the development of skills that the children can use across the curriculum. Year 1 have certainly been developing a wide range of skills in a fun and dynamic ways as can be seen from the photographs above - from outdoor maths play to building robots. This term the children have been studying the theme of houses and homes which permeates through all the tasks the children complete. Miss Cunningham has told us how the children decided there was a great deal of building work required in the Year 1 classroom from the teacher’s desks to the chairs and tables. Quotes were made for the work to be carried out and the bill was brought to Mr. McKenna!!! Next term the children will be investigating the theme of animals and no doubt it will be a roaring success.

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Well done to the Year 7 children who received their swimming awards. The boys and girls have been attending swimming lessons every Friday afternoon, developing their skills, fitness and having great fun at the same time. At the end of the programme each child had to complete a swimming test over various distances and using different swimming styles. Many of the children managed to swim over half a mile! They were all delighted to have successfully completed the tests and to receive their awards.

St. Colmcille’s ran its second book fair during March as part of World Book Day celebrations which has been even more successful than last year! The children from each class were given the opportunity to look at all the available books and teachers shared some of the stories with the children helping to develop a love for reading. Some classes used the book fair as an opportunity to study genre and learn about different authors. What is more, the book fair raised £1900 - 60% of which the school receives in commission. That means the school can now spend £1100 on books that will benefit all of the children throughout the school. A further 10% was donated to comic relief as part of Red Nose Day celebrations. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those that supported the book fair.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in 2009 Ballymena Festival. Standing up in front of an audience, particularly in a solo performance, requires great confidence and the school is very proud of all those who took part. This year the Year 7 children won the McFadden Cup with their wonderful rendition of “Foolish Robert” The adjudicator was very complimentary on the children’s performance awarding them the highest marks of the festival!! Years 3 and 5 thoroughly enjoyed the “Music for Fun” class. The school choir once again won their three classes- the Shafto Adair Cup; the J Dinsmore Cup and the SW Anderson Shield. On Saturday 7th March, at the Festival Gala Presentations, the primary school was awarded three bursaries: £100 Primary School Choir Championship, £100 Top Primary School in the Vocal Classes; £100 Top Primary School in the Speech and Drama classes. This tremendous success is testimony to the children and their teachers who prepared them so thoroughly. Congratulations to everyone!

The children of Years 4 and 5 have continued to develop their friendships with pupils from Carniny Primary School. The Year 4 hosted a fun for all day with Paul Diamond on Friday 27th March. Even Miss O’Donnell had to get kitted up in trainers as part of the festivities! The Year 5 children also worked in teams to make kites from recycled materials with Maurice from EMC2 on the 10th and 11th of March and as you can see from the pictures above the children loved testing them out!

Billy O’Flaherty from the PSNI has been working with the year 7 classes a part of the CASE programme. During the project the children discuss and examine a number of issues such as: the need for rules and laws; hate crime; internet safety and drugs. After

Easter the children will be awarded their certificates of participation. We would like to offer our sincere thanks to Billy for all the hard work he has put in to this very effective programme.

St. Colmcille’s Primary School recently made a successful bid to the NEELB for funding to

carry out a project primarily involving Year 7 on the theme of flight. The children worked in

partnership with Bombardier Aerospace and St.

Louis Grammar School, and took part in a wide

variety of activities including an inter-school

technology challenge, nature trails with the Ulster

Wildlife Trust, and interactive workshops at W5 in

Belfast to name but a few.

One of the most exciting events was on the 15th March when all the Year 7 children travelled

on board their very own private Q400 Flybe aeroplane from the George Best Airport; flying

around the Ards Peninsula to the Mourne Mountains and returning 45 minutes later - an

experience many of the children are unlikely to forget.

As a finale to the project the children of Year 7 gave a presentation to parents and

pupils of the school as well as a number of invited guests on Friday 3rd April. The

presentation was a celebration of all the work completed and included drama, music,

exciting science demonstrations, and a display of the children’s writing, art and

technology models. This was an enriching learning experience for all the children.

The school is very proud of the work and effort that each of the children involved put

into this project. Many of the invited guests were astounded at the professionalism of

the children and were amazed by the variety and complexity of many of the activities

they carried out. Well done to all involved!

Year 3 celebrated the Sacrament of reconciliation on the 1st of April in All Saints

Church with Fr. Toland our school chaplain. The children performed a

wonderful drama about the Good Shepherd and the beautiful singing rounded

off what was a very special event in the lives of the children and their families.

The PTA hosted a ‘Deal or No Deal’ fundraising event in the school followed by a children’s disco. The night was very well supported and a great success raising a staggering £1156.50 for school funds. We would like to say a big thank you to the members of the PTA for their ongoing commitment to the school and in particular for their efforts on this occasion making the event such a great success!

The Year 3 children have successfully completed their ten week reading partners programme with Mrs Beattie and Mrs Clarke, two of our classroom assistants, who are newly qualified in this field. The children read a wide range of exciting books over the course of the ten weeks. Congratulations to our reading partner boys and girls. As the programme has been so successful we hope to extend it into the next term.

Monthly Draw Winners :

January Jack Agnew

February Oonagh O’Neill

March Liam Tennant

Next Terms Draw Dates: Friday 1st May Friday 29th May Friday 19th June

Year 3 have been learning all about Space this term as part of their World Around Us topic. They have found out about the Solar System, Neil Armstrong and the first landing on the Moon, Comet Lulin, Black Holes and Living in Space. The project ended with a very exciting visit from the Armagh Planetarium. A large dome was erected in the hall. In the dome, the children enjoyed a presentation on space as well as sitting in darkness star gazing. The children agreed it was great fun. A big thank you once again for all the books, telescopes, pictures, posters and toys sent in from home to help make the children’s learning more exciting.

Tuesday 21st April Term 3 begins

Monday 27th April Y7 Service of Light – 7.00pm

Monday 4th May School Closed

Monday 11th May Confirmation – 5.00pm

Monday 25th May School Closed – staff development

Sunday 7th June First Communion – 10.00am

Monday 15th June Sports Day

Friday 19th June Y7 Leavers’ Mass – 12.00pm

Friday 26th June End of Term : School Closes at 12.00pm

The pupils in Key Stage 2 elected representatives to sit on the school’s Student Council. They meet each month with Mr McKenna to discuss issues and to make representation to their classes. The Council have designed pupil questionnaires to ascertain the views of the pupils regarding Play and Pastoral Care. The work this term included selecting playground markings for the school yard, establishing an Anti-Bullying policy and reviewing the school dinner-time procedures.

The Trócaire 2009 Lenten campaign is focused on people who have been forced to leave their homes because of armed conflict to seek safety elsewhere. Khalid Salat Sheikh Ali and his sister Asma are two such children shown in the top right picture This is their story in Khalid’s words ….My name is Khalid. I’m 7 years old and I live in Somalia. When I was 6, I moved house with my mother and my five brothers and sisters. We didn’t move because we wanted to - we moved because rockets were being fired into our neighbourhood. The seven of us had to walk for 15 days, carrying my baby sister Asma all the way. She was only 1 month old. It was a terrifying journey. I miss my friends and my school. I don’t know if we can ever return home. The pupils of St. Colmcille’s have responded to this call for help and have worked tirelessly during Lent to raise money for this important cause. Under the guidance of Miss O’Kane each class organized a fund raising event from filling smarties tubes, raffles, silly slipper day to bun sales in Year 2/3 as can be seen in the photographs above. To date the total money raised is £1300 and we would like to thank all those in the school community that have supported this year’s campaign.