Hooley in the Hall and Dance-a-thon
On Thursday 11th February the hall was packed with pupils, parents and friends for our charity Hooley. Pupils have spent the last few weeks learning some dances and each class gave a demonstration before getting their parents up to join in. There was also a raffle and many thanks to all the local businesses, parents and friends who so generously donated the prizes.
On Friday morning Mrs Stinson’s class started the day with a special themed assembly and then the dancing didn’t stop until 3.00 pm as each class did a stint on the floor. All the money collected, will be presented to the local Causeway Down’s Syndrome Support Group which provides help and advice for children with Down’s Syndrome and their parents.
We also said a very sad farewell to Miss O’Boyle who has been with us for eleven years and we wish her all the best in her new post in Sandelford Special School.
Remember December?
It seems like a long time ago but December was a busy month with rehearsals and visits. P1-3 went to Ballymoney to see a pantomime on 2nd December and on 17th Fun for All came to school where each class had quizzes, races and games on the bouncy castle.
Tuesday 15th December was the carol service in St Patrick’s Parish Church. The children led the service and the church was filled with family and friends. The collection, along with the money from Christmas Jumper Day, will be presented to ZAP and Save the Children next week. Thank you again for your continued generosity.
As well as the carol service pupils displayed their singing talents two other times in the last few weeks. Firstly they were at the switching on of the lights at Kilrea Diamond when they were joined by the children from other local schools and the choir from Uganda and, secondly, on Saturday 19th December P3 and 4 could be heard on ‘Your Place and Mine’ singing and talking about Christmas.
Friday 18th December was the last day of school and Santa popped in to check that everyone had been behaving. We also had a visit from Denise Rosborough on behalf of the African Children’s choir to collect the special suitcase we had prepared for Linnet who was in this year’s choir. The children will be presented with these when they return to Uganda. Inside were lots of clothes and things she will need when she goes back to school, as well as photographs and information about Kilrea Primary school. Thank you again to all the families who donated items for the case. They will be very much appreciated.
Eco (and other) matters
Before Christmas the P5—7 pupils had a talk from Bryson House about saving energy and P5 also had a fire safety talk from local firefighter Martin McAllister.
The Eco-committee stall at the craft fair raised £150 for Eco-projects such as their planting and their hedgehog hotel. We are also continuing to recycle printed materials, ink cartridges and textiles, through ‘Cash for Clobber’, and after Christmas we will be recycling cards and stamps.
P7 have once again started archery lessons and we have a few budding champions in training. The Ulster Scots project is also continuing with a series of talks and workshops on living history. Already we have met a Musketeer from the 1600s and a Viking from 1000 years earlier. We are also looking forward to Mr Corscadden joining us to train us in orienteering.
The younger children have spent the last few weeks learning about light and dark and animals which come out at night. In particular they have studied owls, especially Plop, the owl who was afraid of the dark. All kinds of artwork featuring our feathered friends can be seen around the school.
Meanwhile Key Stage two have been studying the Victorian period. They have learned about Victoria and her husband Albert, what people wore, what work they did, what it would have been like to leave school at 13 and be sent to work, and what it was like to live without technology. They also discovered that many of the things we take for granted today, such as electric lights, the telephone, the camera and the postal service were invented in Victorian times.