Issue 22

News at St. Colmcille’s www.stcolmcilles.com St. Colmcille’s Primary School, Ballymena Parents’ Newsletter Publish Date: April 2015

Issue Number 22

Welcome to our spring term News at St. Colmcille’s. This has been a busy and exciting term full of events and opportunities for the children. Once again the children of St. Colmcille’s have excelled in both the academic and extra-curricular arenas. The children have represented the school in science and technology events, quizzes, sport, music and speech and drama competitions. I congratulate the children of Year 7 who were prizewinners in the UK Finals of the Formula 1 in Schools competition – a remarkable achievement as they were against primary, secondary and grammar schools from England, Scotland and Wales. The Year 7 children are also world record holders and will be listed in the 2016 Guinness Book of Records. The school hurlers made history too, becoming the first school team to reach the county finals in the Cumann na Bunscol tournament. The school holds the prestigious Primary Science Quality Mark and to this end had an exciting Science Week packed with workshops, investigations and visits from scientists. The after school clubs have once again proved very successful with over two hundred and eighty pupils registered in various clubs. Catholic Schools’ Week is an important event each year and the children took time to reflect on this year’s theme, with one of the highlights being the invitation to the Year 4 children’s grandparents to visit the school. Last week the Year 3 children made their First Confession. It is on occasions such as these that the home, school and the wider parish community come together to help our young people grow in faith. The school has much to celebrate this term. I trust you will enjoy reading about our school both in this Newsletter and by visiting the school website.

Mr B McKenna –Principal

Catholic Schools’ Week 2015

Catholic Schools’ Week was celebrated from 25th – 31st January. This year’s theme was ‘Catholic Schools: Called to Serve’. During this special week each class acknowledged Catholic Schools’ Week in different ways including attendance at daily Mass and celebrating Grandparents’ Day on Thursday 29th January. The Year 4 children wrote personalised prayers and presented these to their grandparents at a very heartfelt prayer service in school. There were special assemblies at the beginning and end of the week to show us all how we are called to serve with love, kindness, joy, truth and justice.

As part of the religion programme, Year 2 have been looking at lots of special places.

They went to visit a special place of prayer – All Saints’ Church, Ballymena. The visit helped the children to develop a great sense of reverence for the church. Fr Delargy kindly gave the children a tour of the church highlighting the most important features including the stained-glass windows, altar and tabernacle. In gaining this knowledge the children can begin to feel more at home in the church.

On Saturday the 10th January the Year 7 children celebrated their ‘Called By Name’ ceremony in All Saints’ Church. During the ceremony the children reflected on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and thought about the commitment they are going to make as they prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation on May 5th. Well done to Lucy, Liam, Angelina, Michael, Mary-Kate and Mia who had special roles during the Mass.

Year 3 celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Tuesday 24th March in All Saints’ Church with the parish clergy. This celebration demonstrates God’s forgiving love to the children in a very active way. The children took part in a presentation including the retelling of the ‘Good Shepherd’ story. The singing rounded off what was a very special event in the lives of the children, their families and the wider school community. We would like to thank Fr Darren, our school chaplain, and all the priests of the parish for their continued support.

The boys and girls have very generously collected lots of toiletries for the parish Apostolic Work Society. These will be sent to the missions in Africa to help those less fortunate than us. Medical and hygiene products are very expensive in developing countries and our donations will make a big difference to the people who receive them.

A big thank you to all the parents and children who supported this worthwhile cause.

Monthly Draw Winners January: Kaeley Logan February: John Ireland March: Sean O’Brien Thank you for your continued support of the PTA fund-raising activities.

Easter Raffle Winners 1st Niamh Cassidy 2nd Aoibhin Cosgrove 3rd Maeve McMullan 4th Grainne Walsh 5th Emma McCann

6th Cathy Kane 7th Michael Donaldson 8th Brian McCambridge 9th Jackie Kerr 10th Lucy Donaldson

A huge thank you to the small group of parents who work tirelessly for the school’s PTA.

Over the last seven weeks three students have been completing their teaching practice in St. Colmcille’s. Miss Quinn was in Miss Stewart’s Year 2 class, Miss Diamond was in Mrs McAleer’s Year 6 class and Miss McAleenan was in Mrs McMullan’s and Mrs McAtamney’s Year 2 class. The students worked very hard and fully immersed themselves in the life of St. Colmcille’s. They have learnt a great deal during their time at our school and we wish them well as they continue their studies.

This term we welcome two new temporary members of staff to St. Colmcille’s. Mrs June O’Kane and Miss Kiara McDermott are Learning Support Assistants who are working with children who have specific learning needs and in the Foundation Stage. We trust they will enjoy their time with us in St. Colmcille’s Primary School.

Book Week provided an opportunity to promote literacy and reading in St. Colmcille’s.

There were a number of fun-filled activities organised to celebrate the week.

The storyteller, Liz Weir, started Book Week off with a tale or two! All the year groups had a workshop with Liz and not only did she tell lots of exciting stories, she provided the children with valuable tips to improve their own creative writing.

The children also participated in a paired reading session with a child from another class. This gave the children the opportunity to share their favourite stories with one another and allowed the older children to read to their younger schoolmates.

Year 5 students visited Waterstone’s Book Shop in the Fairhill Shopping Centre. They made up stories using ‘Story Cubes’ and designed and made their own bookmarks.

Book Week coincided with the Book Fair coming to school. It was a tremendous success and the children had the opportunity to get their hands on some new reading material. As a result, the school has received £1,425 commission to buy additional reading resources for the children.

Thank you for your continued support.

Book Week came to a close with a special assembly in which the children and teachers dressed up and each class got to walk around the school hall in a ‘character parade’. Not only had the children to dress like their book character, they also had to take on the role of their character for an interview- we heard from Goldilocks, Miss Trunchbull, Gansta Granny and the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas as well as many others!

Congratulations to all the children from Year 3 who have successfully completed the Reading Partners programme. Mrs Beattie, Mrs Clarke, Mrs Hayes and Mrs Kelly worked with the children during the spring term developing their reading skills. The school would like to thank the reading partners for all their hard work throughout the year and to the parents whose support at home made the programme so successful.

The School Choir

Robinson Cup

Congratulations to everyone who took part in 2015 Ballymena Festival. We are very proud of all the children who took part in this year’s event. Being able to give a performance to such large audiences, especially during a solo performance, takes great confidence and courage. The school choir this year were runners up in the Ballymena Festival of Britain Cup. The adjudicator commended the children on their vocal performances and particularly their discipline as a choir.

The Year 7 Choral Poem were also runners-up in their class. The adjudicator commended the children on their discipline and on the expression they used to bring the poem to life. Many children were prize winners and cup winners in the speech and drama, music and singing classes. Congratulations to Sophie Byatt and Cara Kane who were presented with the Jane Ross Memorial Shield and the Robinson Perpetual Cup respectively for vocal musicianship at the Festival Gala. Congratulations also to Karina McQuitty who was presented with the Robinson Cup by Mrs McDonald for her positive attitude and commitment during the Festival.

This tremendous success is testimony to the children, their teachers and parents who prepared them so thoroughly. Congratulations everyone!

Year 7 Choral Poem

Individual First Prize Winners

Northern Ireland Champions

On 2nd February Year 7 won the NI Formula 1 in Schools competition for the second successive year. In preparation for the competition the pupils completed a STEM project on the Science of the Car. They designed and made a model F1 car for racing. The pupils also had to make a presentation on the project as well as be interviewed on their understanding of the manufacturing process. At the awards ceremony the pupils won the 'Best Presentation' category as well as coming away with the top award.

UK Prize Winners

On 11th March the Formula 1 team travelled to the UK Finals held in the NEC, Birmingham. As Northern Ireland champions, they competed against 18 different primary, secondary and grammar schools from England, Scotland and Wales. The pupils had to make a 8 minute presentation on their project to a panel of judges, discuss their CAD drawings with a team of engineers as well as race their car. At the awards ceremony the pupils won the judges discretionary award and were placed 2nd overall in the UK Finals. The judges commended the children on their knowledge and understanding of the Science of the car, the high quality of their research and how they integrated the STEM subjects in their project. The school would like to thank their main sponsors for enabling the children to compete at the UK Finals – K&G Mc Atamney’s, Butchers; Conor Agnew & Co, Solicitors and Duke of York, Belfast.

There is a strong tradition of music in St. Colmcille’s. Children play a range of string, brass and woodwind instruments. During the year selected children successfully completed the Associated Board Graded Music Examinations at the Antrim Board Centre. Listed are the pupils who completed the examinations this term.

Grade 1

VIOLIN

Helen Donaldson

FLUTE

Aoibhin Cosgrove

Aoife Zensque

Lara Haughey

We would like to thank Miss O’Boyle, Mrs Mullan, Mr Heron and Mr Tohill from the NEELB Peripatetic Music Service who provide instrumental tuition to our pupils.

On 13th March Raptor Education were delighted to come into school to talk to everyone about birds of prey and what we can do to help protect them. Mark and his colleagues told us about different birds of prey and they even brought some for us to look at. We learned how to tell the difference between old and young birds and also how to distinguish between males and females.

Barney the Owl was even allowed to fly around our classrooms!

The Pupil Council have been busy collecting and counting Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers. So far they have collected 4,670! These vouchers will be exchanged for P.E. and play equipment for our school and the Pupil Council will be responsible for ordering these. The Pupil Council would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has brought in vouchers so far and remind you that the voucher scheme runs until 5th May 2015.

The Eco Council have had a busy term learning about alternative energy sources and working with local engineers to make solar powered and wind powered devices. As part of a Sentinus project, we were paired with Michael and Joe from Schrader who came in to school to show us how to make simple solar panels, wind turbines and solar powered windmills. We look forward to Term 3 when the ECO Council go to W5 for a celebration event of all their work. The Council also have plans to visit the Chemistry department at the Queen’s University, Belfast where they will be working on a project with some researchers to see how a range of different materials can be recycled and made into new products.

St. Colmcille’s participated in this year’s Credit Union Quiz on Friday 30th January with four teams competing against local schools in a test of their general knowledge. The teams competed very well and were placed second and third. Congratulations to all the children involved.

Joseph, Paddy, Shaun and Tara competed in the annual Cumman na mBunscol quiz on the 11th February. The quiz tested their knowledge of all things Irish, including myths and legends, geography and of course the GAA. The children enjoyed the challenge and equipped themselves very well during the quiz.

As part of their Play Based Learning topic Houses and Homes Year 1 have been ‘Busy Builders’ this term. The children have had a lot of fun designing and building their own houses.

The fire fighters of Green Watch came to visit Year 1 at school. Tony talked to the children about the equipment fire fighters use and what to do if anyone sees a fire. Year 1 then got to explore the fire engine and use the hose!

Science Week once again proved that there are many budding scientists in the classrooms of St. Colmcille’s!

During the week, pupils from every class were involved in Science workshops, investigations and technology challenges. We also had visits from W5 and the chemistry department at Queen’s University, Belfast. Year 7s from surrounding primary schools came to visit to take part in a STEM challenge. At a special assembly to close Science Week, each class presented a story from the news which had a scientific theme and Super Scientist certificates were awarded to pupils from every year group. What a busy week!

Below are just some of the highlights of the week…..

Classroom-based investigations in Year 1 and 2

Key Stage 1 Investigations in the assembly hall

Technology Challenge for Year 6 and 7 to build a flying object

Inter-school Technology Challenge to build the tallest tower to support a Crème Egg

Thank you to all the parents who came in to talk about how they use Science in their jobs

W5 Science Workshops

Mrs Ivy Ridge from the Ballymena Inter Ethnic Forum arranged for the musical group ‘Beyond Skin’ to visit St. Colmcille’s to perform a concert in celebration of cultural diversity. The group consisted of musicians from India, Uganda, Slovakia and Northern Ireland. Not only did the children get to hear them play, the children also got to join in with the band. Ballymena Lord Mayor also came to the school to see the children participate in the music workshop.

The Year 7 children attended the annual Bee Safe event in the Ballymena Business Centre on 26th January in association with the PSNI, the NI Fire Brigade and Ballymena Borough Council. The aim of the event was to teach children life saving skills in relation to fire safety, road safety, safe use of the internet and drug and alcohol misuse. The day was very useful and informative and will help our children to stay safe and make informed decisions in the future. The school would like to thank all the organisations and volunteers who helped to facilitate the event.

Laurence Speight from Bryson Energy visited St. Colmille’s on 15th January to talk to the children about renewable energy and how to make our homes energy efficient.

Tara and Matthew were the models as Laurence showed us how we can keep a house warm in just the same way as we keep ourselves warm. That’s the last time anyone will have the heating on and the windows open at the same time!

St Colmcille’s has a long established contact with Queen’s University, Belfast and in particular the Science departments. Christopher McKenna, a Mechanical Engineering student visited the Year 7 children on Monday 9th March as part of their ‘Science of the Car’ topic. Christopher showed the children how to use CAD (Computer Aided Drawing) ICT packages to create 3D drawings of their car designs.

Dr Kevin Morgan and Dr Graham Forsythe, Chemical Engineers who work on the ReNEW (Resource innovation Network for European Waste) project in Queen’s gave Year 6 and 7 a preview of the ‘fuels of the future’. They explained how they are using science to find innovative ways to get valuable materials from waste such as tree bark, old computers and old mobile phones. The aim of the project is to reduce landfill by at least 95%!

Year 7 pupils participated in a video conference link up with Faughanvale P.S. and Christ the Redeemer P.S., Lagmore to mark Safer Internet Day. The theme of the day was ‘let’s create a better internet together’ and the children had the opportunity to complete a range of online tasks with the partner schools. We enjoyed learning about the other schools and it was pleasing to note that the children are very aware of how to stay safe on line.

Claire Taggart from local company Wrightbus, visited Year 7 to talk to the children about the design and manufacture process behind building a bus. The children discovered that the designs depend on the customer’s requirements and saw different buses from the ‘Boris Bus’ used by London Transport to buses that are exported to Las Vegas and Singapore. Claire’s talk proved particularly useful to the Year 7’s as they designed and made their own cars as part of their ‘Science of the Car’ topic.

Year 7 had their alarm clocks set early on 24th February to make the journey to the Odyssey Arena to take part in a world record attempt organised by the Northern Ireland Science Festival. The record the children were attempting to break was for the largest practical science lesson. Our early start paid off as Year 7 got front row seats and also had the chance to meet Pravin Patel, the World Record Adjudicator. He answered the children’s questions about what his job entails and the world records he has witnessed.

The science lesson was presented by ‘Scientific Sue’ and involved the children solving a ‘crime’ using science. The excitement built as Pravin announced that 1,339 children had taken part in the lesson breaking the previous record of 982 and that we were officially amazing!

As part of the Year 7 topic of Flight, Mr Kevin McElroy, a design engineer from Bombardier, visited to outline the design and manufacturing process involved in making an aeroplane. He explained the history of Bombardier and the forces that act upon a plane during flight. The children thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and will think of Kevin the next time they are in a plane!

As part of the Primary life Sciences programme, Mr Eugene Reid, a Health Care Development Manager with Lilly Pharmaceutical Company visited Year 7. Eugene outlined the different job opportunities that are available through the field of science.

Eugene also explained how he uses science in his own job and Year 7 had the opportunity to debate issues of medical ethics with him such as animal testing and the cost of medicines. This has provided a stimulus for Year 7’s discursive writing. Eugene commended the children on their mature questions and understanding of ethical issues.

Years 5 and 6 participated in a fun and active presentation from two members of the Dairy Council. The main theme of the talk was, ‘Educating children for a healthy lifestyle’. The children were informed of the importance of dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt in a balanced diet and the need to take regular exercise.

St Colmcille’s has been particpating in the Ballymena Area Community CEIP Project throughout the spring term. On Thursday 12th March, John Keenan from PAUSE (Positive Action Using Self-Effort) delivered an Alcohol and Drugs awareness education programme entitled ‘Making Good Choices’ to Year 7. Nuala McKeever from the Sunshine Project, led workshops for Years 4 and 5 on transforming lives through laughter and happiness habits. Zumba instructor, Andrea Kernohan got Years 4 to 7 up and dancing on Wednesday 18th March.

‘Fitness Freddy’ put the whole school through an Easter Bootcamp on Monday 30th March and talked to the children about exercise and healthy diet. Now after all these workouts we are ready for our Easter eggs!

St. Colmcille’s fielded two teams in the South West Antrim Hurling Blitz which was held in the Antrim Forum on 21st January. Both teams displayed great skills and courage throughout the event. We had one team narrowly missing out on a semi-final place while the other team were outright winners. Conan and Joseph collected the winner’s shield on behalf of their team-mates and there was now a county final to prepare for! Well done lads. A credit to all the hard work in the development of hurling within the school.

These boys represented the school in the All County Hurling final which was played in the Ballymena North Centre. The competition was much harder than the South West Blitz but our boys were well able to match the skills of the other teams. St. Colmcille’s were runners up in this competition, getting beaten by worthy winners. This was a great achievement for our boys. Great job lads.

St Colmcille’s girls put their camogie skills to the test on 30th January at the Antrim Forum in the South West Antrim Blitz. They thoroughly enjoyed the day showing great determination and teamwork. The camogie team were out again on 26 th March when they competed in the 7-a-side tournament in Portglenone. The girls got to play matches against local primary schools and had a great time showing off their skills. Well done girls.

St. Colmcilles boys’ Gaelic team braved a very cold, wet and windy Creggan to represent the school in the INTO 7’s. The boys were able to display the skills they had been learning at the after school club and for some of the boys it was their first ever Gaelic match. All the boys had a great day, showing good sportsmanship and skill throughout the competition. Well done boys.

This term the Year 7 boys and girls have been attending swimming lessons every Friday afternoon at the Seven Towers Leisure Centre. They have been developing their skills, fitness and having great fun at the same time. We hope the programme will ensure that the children will be safer when swimming outside school. At the end of the programme each child had to complete a swimming test of various lengths and strokes. Many of the children managed to swim very long distances and improve on last year’s performancewell done everyone.

The St Colmcille’s soccer team have enjoyed great success in their matches this term and have progressed to the semi-final of the Senior Cup, with the fixture due to be played in Term 3. We wish the boys luck in the remainder of their games this season. Well done boys!

As you can see from the pictures we have had a very successful Extended Schools Programme again this term. The children have had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of clubs. Thanks to all the teachers and coaches who provided safe and enjoyable activities for so many children.

Year Group

Term 2a

Term 2b

1

Emmie Clegg

Caoimhe Corrigan

Leo Hutchinson

Alex Woodcock

Pearse Neeson

Liam Slattery

Alana Etherson-Cook

Rachel Gillan

Mya Morgan

Maximillian Smyth

Belle Buick

Kirsten Mullan

Luke Martin-Butler

Eva Glass

4

Megan Sherry

Chloe McPeake

5

Rory Dunne

Amy McCambridge

Juliana O’Mullan

Daniel Patterson

Conan McMullan

Emma Clarke

Laura Daniel

Oisin Tierney

Matthew Wray

Richard McCann

Megan Reid

Paddy O’Brien

Year Group

Term 2a

Term 2b

1

John Ireland

Liam Logan

Aoife MacRory

Evie McGarry

Clodagh McAllister

David Damoc

Ciara Connon

Conall Boyd

Alicia Mitchell

Aoife McGuigan-

Niamh Holmes

Oliver O’Donnell

Sean O’Brien

Dona Noble

4

Gavin Kerr

Niza Majo

5

Carter Reid

Ana Barbu

Harry Connon

Connlaith McIlwaine

Martin Czerski

Cara McDowell

Michael Doherty

Cailin Aikman

Emma McElroy

Aimee McDowell

Sophie Doherty

Aoife Devlin

2 3

6 7

2

3

6 7

Clarke

Star of the Month Congratulations to all our Stars this term: January

February

March

Milosz Kowlaski

Adrian Bagoly

Oliwier Grzegocki

Shaun Sibi

Mya Carroll

Conor McKillop

Conor Tully

Jude Johnston

Patrick Scullion

2

Niamh Cassidy

Maria Mitchell

Helena O’Prey

Mia Sung

Mya Morgan

Joseph McGarry

3

Daria Condurache

Caoimhe McPartland

Oliwier Sycryczynski

Oliver McGlone

Caoimhe McCarte

4

Lara Buick

Anna Jordan

Ava O’Rawe

5

Olivia Diven

Hollie Chalkright

Rory Butler

Oliver Doherty

Jakub Kostolny

Oliver O’Rawe

Beth Reilly

Rhys Haveron

Helen Donaldson

Patrick Kerr

Kevin Pan

Tyrone Mitchell

Sophie Byatt

Lucy Donaldson

Amelie Gardner

Kacper Kowalski

Calum McMurray

Cormac Butler

Year Group 1

6 7

Tony Logan

Our Golden Rules In creating an ordered and caring environment the staff and pupils have adopted six Golden Rules that permeate all aspects of school life. All of the Golden Rules have been introduced to the children through assembly. They are clearly displayed in classrooms, the corridors and out side in the playground to remind the children of positive behaviour that is expected. Teachers develop this further by using circle time as a tool to encourage positive behaviour in and outside the classroom.

End of Term 2

Thursday 2nd April

Term 3 begins

Monday 13th April

Service of Light (Y7)

Tuesday 21st April – 7.00pm

Do This in Memory Mass (Y4)

Sunday 19th April – 10.00am

School Closed

Monday 4th May

Confirmation (Y7)

Tuesday 5th May – 12.00pm

School Closed

Monday 25th May

First Communion (Y4)

Sunday 31st May – 10.00am

Do This in Memory Mass (Y4)

Sunday 7th June – 10.00am

Y7 Mass of Thanksgiving

Tuesday 23rd June – 12.30pm

End of Academic Year

Tuesday 30th June

The Principal and Staff wish you all a very holy and happy Easter.