Snow Pictures

The playground may be out of bounds for breaktime as it's covered in snow but P6/7 saw this as a great opportunity for some Winter Art.

Primary 1 in Setember 2012

If you have a child who is 4 on or before 1st July 2012 then they must start Primary School in September 2012. Application forms for P.1 are available in the school office or you can download them at http://www.selb.org/pupilparent/documents/2012/primary/Primary%20Application%20Form%202012-2013.pdf At St. Michael's PS, we are committed to providing the best possible learning environment to enable children to develop to their full potential. A school prospectus is available in the school office. Any parent who is considering sending their child to St. Michael's and would like more information are welcome to visit our school to have a look around and talk to the Principal.

Carols in the Clinic!

Our P6/7 class paid a visit to the Newtownhamilton Health Centre on Monday 12th December to sing Carols for the Elderly. The class sang songs ranging from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to Away in a Manger. The morning was topped off with two dances by Oran, our Champion Irish Dancer. A big thank you to the clinic for providing refreshments for the children and after the day's success this could now be an annual event!

Ulster Bank Competition Winners!

Congratulations to Ruairi Davidson in P.6 and Cailean Mackin in P.2 as they won the local Ulster Bank Colouring in competition. The two lucky winners will be treated to a family day out to see Santa in Armagh with lots of other treats thrown in. Well done boys and thank you to The Newtownhamilton Branch Of Ulster Bank for organising the competition.

Post Office Visit

The P1/2 Class recently visited the Post Office as part of their topic work. The children were shown around by Gracie, the Postmistress and they even weighed and posted their letters to Santa. A first class visit all round!

Little People Playgroup Visit

The Little People playgroup came to visit on the 22nd of November to see the Mambo and Jazz Puppet show with our P1/2 class. The show which is produced by Action Cancer taught the children the benefits of a Heathly Lifestyle and was hugely enjoyable. The children then had an opportunity to play together in our new soft play area. A great morning was had by all and we look forward to another visit from the playgroup next term.

Fr. McGuckin's Farewell Mass

Fr Mc Guckin's farewell mass took place in St. Michael's Chapel on Thurs 10th November. It was a tribute to Father that so many staff and pupils both past and present turned up on the night to wish him a happy retirement. Father McGuckin served as Chairman on our school Board of Governors for ten years and was a regular visitor to our school. Enjoy the easy life Father, you've earned it!

Badminton Club

A new Badminton After schools club starts on Monday 7th November for our P5-7 children. This is a great opportunity to learn a new sport and get active. The club is part of our Extended schools scheme and there is no charge. Come along and get involved and you never know...the future Badminton Gold medalist for the 2024 Olympics may come from St. Michael's!

Parent's Questionnaire

At the recent Parent Teacher Meetings, parents were issued with a questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to give parents a platform to give their opinions on our school and help form new targets for our school development plan. Please ensure completed forms are returned to school at your earliest convenience. Additional copies are available on request in the school office.

ICT Accreditation Classes

After school ICT classes for our P7 children start on Wed 19th Oct. The classes will help the children to complete the ICT Accreditation Scheme. At the end of the scheme pupils will be awarded with a certificate detailing their level of ICT competence. All children are encouraged to attend.

Road Safety Walk

Miss Carrragher's class went on their road safety walk through the town this week. The boys and girls have been learning all about road safety and were accompanied on the walk by Road Safety Officers,Gareth and Lorna. As our school is beside a busy road, road safety awareness is vital for our pupils. Well Done to the boys and girls who completed this very worthwhile exercise.

Run For Autism

Our pupils raised £100 for the Annual Run For Autism through our recent non uniform day. Many thanks are extended to our parents for supporting this local charity.

Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds

This term the school has organised a series of High Quality PE lessons for all classes delivered by specialist coaches. Please ensure your child has PE clothes to change into on the day of their PE. P1/2 children can wear in tracksuit bottoms and trainers on their days of PE. The list of PE days for each class is listed below. P1/2 - WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY. P3/4/5 - WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. P6/7 - MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY. P. 5-7 CLASSES WILL ALSO GO SWIMMING EVERY FORTNIGHT. THE DATES LEFT FOR THIS TERM ARE 6/10/11, 20/10/11, 3/11/11, 17/11/11, 1/12/11 AND 15/12/11.

Fruit Bags on Sale

Fruit Bags are once again on sale in school. The bags cost 40p each and are an excellent way to get one of your recommended 5 a day!

New Play Area for Key Stage 1!

The school is delighted to announce the opening of our new play area for our Key Stage 1 pupils. The playarea was built with funding secured from the Awards for All National Lottery Grant. The children can run, play and climb on the new soft rubber surface with no fear of cut knees or mucky shoes. Look out in the Local papers in the next few weeks for photographs of the official opening.

First Day of School!

The summer is quickly drawing to a close and it's back to school time again. All children, including our new P.1 children are due back to school on Thursday the 1st of September. The Breakfast Club will be open from 8.15am. Any children not attending the Breakfast Club can arrive at school from 8.50am. Classes start at 9.15am sharp. Parents are reminded that P.1 children finish school at 1pm each day for the month of September.

School Uniforms Available Online

The school sweatshirt and polo shirt with our embroidered crest are now available online at Tesco. To order online, go to tesco.com/clothing , then click on school embroidery in the kids menu. Select our school name from the list. It is listed as St. Michael's with our postcode, BT35 0PB underneath. You will then see the embroidered products on offer as well as the other uniform items that Tesco offer in their back to school range. Please be aware that delivery can take up to 14 days. Uniforms are also available in the usual shops such as as McEvoys in Newry.

Attendance Awards

The Buttercrane Shopping Centre in Newry kindly sponsored the school's Attendance awards for 2011. The lucky recipients of the awards were Antanas in P4 and Matthew in P.7, who had the best attendance records in the school this year. The two boys received their awards from Therese from the Buttercrane at a special assembly. They each received a framed certificate and a £25 voucher for the Buttercrane. The race for next year's prize begins in September!

Breakfast Club

The St. Michael's Breakfast Club begins on Monday 20th June. The club is open from 8.15am to 8.45am daily. Children will be offered a choice of cereal, fruit and toast as well as fruit juice or milk for the daily price of 60p. Any children not attending the club are reminded not to be at school before 8.50am as supervision is not available before that time. The Breakfast Club is part of the schools Extended Schools program. It was the top choice in our recent online poll and it is hoped that the club will be of help to our parents for the remainder of this school year and next.

Champions!

Congratulations to the school Soccer Team. They won the annual 5 a side soccer tournament, which was held in Newtownhamilton Primary School foootball pitch. The team won their group without conceeding a goal and came from behind to win their semi final 3-1. The final was against Richmount P.S and the team were excellent throughout, winning the match 3-1. The cup was presented and the celebrations began. The scouts from Liverpool and Man United will no doubt be knocking our doors soon! Thank you to our neighbours Newtownhamilton P.S, who stage this excellent event each year.

Confirmation

The boys and girls of P.7 made their Confirmation in St. Patrick's Church, Cullyhanna on the 27th May. Bishop Clifford conducted the ceremony with Fr. Cullen and Fr.McGuckin. Well done to the children who have reached this very important milestone.

Holy Communion

A huge congratulations to the children in Miss Carragher's class who made their First Holy Communion on Saturday. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day so special for the boys and girls.

Jamie Clarke Visit

On Friday 13th May, Armagh Star Jamie Clarke, visited the school to promote the forthcoming Ulster Championship. The flying forward delivered a special Irish News Championship magazine to each of the children. Jamie also took time to answer some questions from the classes. He revealed that he thinks Armagh will go a long way in the race for the All Ireland and he that was a big Liverpool fan. Here's hoping that his prediction for the Orchard county comes true.

Fruit Snack Shop

The St. Michael's Fruit Snack Shop is now open for business. Fruit bags are priced at 40p per bag. The fruit bags are a good way to have one of your recommended five a day and are supplied by Simply Fruit, partners of the Armagh GAA. Our P6/7 class have taken on the responsibility of running the Snack Shop and as well as ordering and selling, they will decide how the profits of the Shop will be spent. This is a great venture that encourages the pupils of our school to eat healthily and gives our older children a taste of running a business. The shop will be open every morning from 9.00 to 9.15am and also during break time.

Service of Light

The Service of Light for our P.7 children will take place in St. Patrick's Chapel, Cullyhanna, on Monday 16th May. The service is an important part of the preparation for Confirmation and begins at 7.00pm with children asked to be in their seats for 6.50pm.

Non Uniform Day

The school will be holding a Non Uniform Day on Tues 19th April in Aid of the Liver Unit in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. A grandparent of some of our pupils recently underwent a successful Liver Transplant and our non uniform day is a way of saying thanks and to raise awareness of the great work of the hospital. Children can donate anything from a £1 upwards in aid of this great cause.

Cycling Proficiency Training

Our P.7 children will be starting their cycling proficiency training with Ms Quinn on Tues 19th April. The pupils should bring their bicycle and bicycle helmet every Friday. This training will teach the boys and girls about the highway code and how to be responsible cyclists on the road.

Black Bag Fundraiser

Our Lenten Fundraiser this year will involve the collection of Black bags of old clothes and textiles. We are asking our families to have a spring clear out and at the same time help our school and Trocaire. If you have any bin bags of old clothes or sheets then please leave them into school in the parent lobby. We then in turn will exchange the bags for cash that will be split between Trocaire and school funds. The money the school raises will be used to buy educational activities for our children who arrive in the morning before school start time. You help in this is very much appreciated.

Newry Democrat

The Newry Democrat came to the school last week to take pictures and interview the children of P1 and 2 for the paper's Kids say the Funniest Things feature. The photographs are in this weeks edition. (01/03/11) Get yours from Day Today or Spar before they're all sold out!

Croke Park Trip

The Croke Park trip was a great success and the children had a really enjoyable day. The Museum and Stadium tour was very informative and it was a thrill to get into the dressing rooms and VIP areas of one of the biggest stadiums in Europe. The trip was part of the extended schools program and it was good to share the experience with our friends and neighbours from Clady and Carrickovaddy schools. We hope that the children will be inspired to go back when Armagh get there to see it on a match day. Although, Mr. Quinn predicts that might be a while so he suggests to go and see Tyrone there in the summer instead!

Tag Rugby

The Tag Rugby after schools club on Thursdays is proving to be very popular with the P5-7 children. Maybe in the future some of our St. Michael's Tag Rugby team will be helping Ireland to a Grand Slam in the 6 nations. Here we have some of the class waiting for Ireland's call!

St. Michael's GFC Underage Training

Underage training for all boys and girls begins next week at St. Michael's Pitch. Under 10 and 12 (P5-7), training is on Tuesdays from 5pm to 6pm starting the 1st of March. Under 6 and 8 (P1-4), training is on Thursdays from 5pm to 6pm starting the 3rd of March. All children, especially new members welcome. Children are asked to bring boots and trainers as if the weather is poor, the hall is used.

Croke Park Trip- Friday 25th Feb

Our P.5-7 children will all be heading to Croke Park on the 25th Feb as part of our extended schools program. Parents are asked that all children are in school for 9.10am sharp. The children will enjoy a museum and stadium tour and lunch will be provided in a suite overlooking the pitch. The bus will be back at school at approximately 4.30pm.

TAG RUGBY!

Don't forget that the after schools Tag Rugby class starts on Thursday the 10th of February for our P5-7 classes.

Little People Playgroup visit for Art Workshop

Our P1/2 children recently took part in an Art Workshop led by local artist Diane McKevitt. Our neighbours, the Little People Playgroup joined us to take part in the fun. Excellent artwork was produced by everyone and the playgroup children enjoyed their visit. More photographs are available to view on the parent's noticeboard in school.

After Schools Art

The P.3-5 classes have started their after schools art class with local Artist Tracy McVerry. The boys and girls will be working towards creating a mural for a wall in our school. The class will run on Tuesdays for 6 weeks from 3pm till 4.

P1/2 After School Cookery Class

Our P1/2 cookery class has started with our Cookery expert Jacinta and her assistant Nicola. There are lots of recipes to look forward to and you never know....the next Delia or Gordon Ramsey may be sitting here!!!

September Intake

A reminder that any parent who wishes their child to start P.1 in September must submit their application form before 12 noon on Wed. 19th January. Forms are currently available in the school office.

Children visit Santa at his Ice House.

On 21st December, Our P1 to P4 children braved the cold to visit Santa and Mrs Claus at their Ice House at Navan fort. A great day was had by all as the children played Christmas games and sampled some of Mrs Claus's home made cookies. The children watched a Christmas stage show and best of all, Santa gave each child a present to remember their visit.