Open Morning
We held our open morning on Saturday 5th January and were delighted with the response. Parents, pupils and staff came in to act as tour guides and demonstrators and the weather was kind so that everyone got a complete tour of the school and the grounds. We saw a lot of new faces and are looking forward to welcoming many of them in September.P6 & 7 Project
This year P6 and 7 pupils from Kilrea and St Columba’s are taking part in a project on local history and the Victorian period sponsored by CRED and they began with a ‘getting to know you’ session in Kilrea Sports Hall where they played ice-breaker games and introduced themselves. The next outing will be to the Ulster American Folk Park where they will stay over night.Out and about
P6 and 7 began a textiles project to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the building of Coleraine by the Honourable The Irish Society with an historic tour of the town on Tuesday 12th February.The teachers had a special outing of their own when they were invited to meet the Duchess of Abercorn at a creative training day at her Baronscourt estate in County Tyrone. This was part of the Pushkin Project which we took part in last year for the first time. The project aims to promote creative thinking and writing. A group of our pupils will also be invited to visit the estate later in the year.
Class updates
P1,2 and 3 have been learning about the circus. They have been looking at animals in the circus and how circuses have changed. They have read stories, drawn their own clowns and made up names for them. They have even created a Big Top in the playroom, dressing up and pretending to be the different acts. They even persuaded Mrs Young to become the biggest clown in the school!Primary 4 and 5 have been learning about fashion and textiles. They have looked at different types of fabrics and what they’re used for as well as where they come from. They have looked at natural and man-made fabrics and have made a timeline of fashions. They have also created their own designs for a school uniform although I’m not sure Mrs Stinson will be keen on pink, orange and purple as the new school colours.
Primary 6 and 7 have also been studying textiles and have carried out experiments on the absorbency and insulating properties of different materials. They have also visited The Emporium to learn about how fabrics are chosen and used around the home.
They have also started their annual salmon project. Mark Patterson brought along the salmon roe for them to look after and in a few weeks they will release the fry into a stream, close to the River Bann.
Charity
On Friday 11th January we welcomed Beth McIlrath from ‘Save the Children’ and Roisin McCaughan and Elizabeth Snelling from the ‘Zomba Action Project’ to accept cheques for £130 each , the proceeds of our carol service. They explained to us how the money would be used to buy much needed resources for children in other parts of the world.Cash for Clobber was collected on Wednesday 13th February. If you were too late for this one we hope to have another collection in the last term.