A Night of Firsts!
Congratulations to all our Primary Three children who prepared so well and participated so reverently in their First Confession on 4th March in St. Mary’s Star of The Sea Church, Nunsquarter.
Indeed it was a night of firsts!! It was of course the Primary Three childrens’ first time making their Confession, but was also Mrs O’Neill’s first year preparing the children for first Confession and Fr. Neeson’s first sacramental duty as our new Parish Priest!! Nerves were on edge!! Nevertheless, the whole service went off without a hitch and the children really enjoyed their special night!!
A big thank you to all the parents and to Fr. Neeson, who worked so hard in preparing the children, along with Mrs O’Neill and Sarah. A special thank you to the Primary Seven children who volunteered to re-enact the parable of The Lost Sheep, and of course, a huge thank you to Miss McAuley and our wonderful choir who sang so beautifully (as usual) and made the night really memorable. A special word of thanks to Maura Lipfird who played along with the choir (as always), and to Eimer Magee who accompanied the choir on the guitar, as Mrs O’Neill really couldn’t be in two places at once!!
Famine Fever Hits St Mary’s
On Friday 27th March, the excitement was tangible throughout the school. Primary 6 and 7, along with their teachers and classroom assistants, took on the persona of Irish peasants during Famine times, to participate in a pilot programme in the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum. This visit was organised to coincide with their study of the novel “Under The Hawthorn Tree – Children of the Famine” by Marita Conlon-McKenna.
The programme consisted of a two hour tour of the folk exhibits, where they met many of the characters from the novel. The favourite amongst most of the children seemed to be the poor old beggar, who sadly “died” of hunger before our eyes! Others were delighted with the landlady being forced into paying for passage to America for some lucky families! The children loved the interaction with the characters, and were lavish in their praise of the day’s events. Comments like: “It was the best day ever!” and “I can’t wait to go back in June!” were part of the children’s evaluations for the Museum’s Education department. Hopefully we may feature on their website soon!
Ark Farm
As part of our topic for March/April P.1 and P.2 are learning about spring and the farm. To really bring our learning to life we visited the Ark Farm in Conlig. This was also linked with our SCRP (Schools Community Relations Programme.) The P.1 and P.2 children from Victoria P. S. Ballyhalbert were with us on our trips. As can be seen in the photographs a busy but fun time was had by all!
Confirmation 2009
On Wednesday 01 April 2009 The Most Reverend Noel Treanor Bishop of Down and Connor (Pictured) conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on the children of the parish.
There were 18 pupils from St Mary’s confirmed in a beautiful ceremony at Mount St Joseph’s Church Ballycran. For many years the pupils from P4 – P7 have sang beautifully on this day, but this year they surely surpassed all other years and there was praise on the lips of everyone who heard them. On parishioner commented that he was proud to belong to the parish after hearing such singing from the youngsters.
Afterwards the confirmandi, their sponsors and family enjoyed refreshments in the beautifully decorated hall back at St Mary’s. the school flag and bunting flew proudly over the playground and added to the sense of occasion.
The children of primary 7 would like to thank anyone who helped in any way to make their biog day so special.
Water Babies
For the last 8 weeks Primary four and five pupils took to swimming like ‘ducks to water’. Each Thursday they worked enthusiastically practising a variety of swimming techniques: swimming strokes; diving into the water; retrieving objects and completing lengths, all the while enjoying themselves! All their hard work paid off when they successfully completed their swimming programme and now they eagerly await the presentation of their swimming badges after Easter!! Well Done to all involved !
Several useful websites ...CLICK THE LINKS BELOW!!
