This week began with Primary One joining us for the first time at Monday morning assembly. They were magnificent and behaved impeccably. Well done Primary One.

Tuesday was a busy day but an even busier evening! Our ‘Meet The Teacher’ evening was very well attended (over 300 parents/carers) and all who came along to the Cyber Bullying Presentation said how beneficial it was. Paper copies of the presentation will be issued tomorrow. I am delighted parents/carers found the presentation useful and informative, as Gareth said; technology is a magnificent teaching tool but it must be used under close supervision.

My thanks to all parents/carers who came along and took time to listen to the presentation and participate in meeting their child(rens) teacher(s). Thanks also to staff for being so accommodating and setting up the open areas to allow parents to peruse the resources and the classes. Although we are only a couple of weeks into term already the school is vibrant and inviting with a wide range of children’s work on display. A sure sign of our staff’s committment to ensuring another excellent academic year for all of our children. HMIe are currently very focussed on ‘increased expectations’ for our children. I believe this is a key strength of our school – we give of our best and we ask our children for their best. We are continually striving to improve our teaching methodology and provide a life long learning experience for our children.

On Wednesday afternoon we were deliighted to welcome parents/carers and friends of Priamry One for their very special blessing from Fr Millar. This was established two years ago and has very quickly become one of the highlights of the P1 year. It was a beautiful, simple ceremony which made a great impact on children and adults alike. My grateful thanks to Fr Millar for taking the time to conduct this service. His weekly presence in our school and his continued support for all we do is much appreciated.

I’m afraid after Wednesday my Blog comes to a close as I was not present in school Thursday and Friday. I was attending the annual Catholic Headteachers conference. However, I am reliably informed all went very well in my absence. My thanks to Mrs Campbell and Mrs Mullen for taking over for these two days – not easy when they are so heavily class committed.

On Friday evening Mrs Campbell, Mrs Carr and myself attended Mass in O.L.G.A Cathedral to celebrate Mr Tom Gorman become a Permanent Deacon. The Mass was magnificent, the music was outstanding. It was one of the most Spititually uplifting Masses I have ever had the pleasure of attending. Many congratulations to Tom and a huge thanks to both Him and Bridie, his wife for the kind invitiation. I was honoured to be there.

Nursery Blog

This week, before Mrs Murphy brings us up to date on the weekly gossip I must let you know we have some ‘visitors’ in the nursery who have not been invited! could I plead with all parents/carers to please check children’s heads as we have an outbreak of nits in our nursery. (and now you are all scratching your head – as am I)

Here’s the latest goss……

Another busy week down in the nursery. The children completed their Golden Rules books which can be seen by all in the cloakroom before they move to the library in the cosy corner.
The measuring activity continued outside this week with the children chalking round each other and Mrs Little to see who is the tallest and who is the smallest.
In the writing area the children have been drawing around their hands and listing their achievements and personal likes for the “This Is Me” topic. These can all be seen on display in the nursery. They have also been drawing self portraits in the art area using a mirror to look at their very own features before drawing them.  In the creative area the children were set a junk modelling challenge to create a boat made of recycled materials. Please have a look at their fantastic creations in the cloakroom. This leads nicely to our new Eco Board which has been created in the cloakroom. We are already an Eco friendly nursery as we recycle junk, paper, food, we plant vegetables, we have a water butt in the garden and we are planning to have lights out time as part of our nursery week but we are looking for suggestions to be even more eco friendly. Please leave any suggestions on the board provided.
Hi Five For Fruit who provide the fruit for the nursery are looking for parents/carers to take part in courses such as Healthy Eating, Healthy Lunchboxes and Low Cost Meals to name but a few. If you are interested in taking part in any of these courses please put your name on the list provided.

Most of the children got a chance to explore the softplay area this week which was a great success. They acted out nursery rhymes such as Humpty Dumpty where they worked together to build a wall and had great fun falling off the wall over and over again. Great fun was had by all. They also visited the gym hall for the very first time. This was also a great success with the children playing getting to know each other games and lots of physical activities.
Mrs Imray introduced a new song box which is full of props that link to songs and nursery rhymes. The children get to choose a prop, guess the song or rhyme and then everyone gets to join in. Watch this space we think this box is going to grow and grow!