Dear Parent and Guardians,

Attendance Thank you for sending your child into school despite the poor road conditions. Yesterday we had almost 90% attendance which is great in the circumstances.

Annual school enrolment is now open for the junior infant class to start in September 2023. Only 30 places are available. The 30 places will replace the current 6th class pupils who will leave us at the end of June. Contact the school for enrolment application forms.

Construction of two modular classrooms began this week at the rear of the school.  The classrooms will be ready in about six weeks. The new classrooms will give us more space for the pupils already in our school.  We will not be enrolling any new children for these new classrooms.

Our new school building is in the planning stage. When built, the new classrooms will be to cater for the school pupil numbers we have. We will not be adding to these numbers.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funding awarded to St. Attracta’s.  This scheme is about making it a safer for our pupils to walk and cycle to school. Roscommon County Council and the National Transport Authority (NTA) will develop customised plans for our school. RCC to carry out the work on the roads leading to the school.  The first step will be a parent survey, which you should receive in the coming months.

School’s Quiz Team will participate in the Credit Union Quiz on Sunday, 29th January and the Cumann na mBunscoil Quiz on 1st February. We wish them all the best.

School band is preparing for St. Patrick’s Day. Please encourage your child to regularly practice the tunes on the tin whistle or accordion (2rd to 6th class)

GAA coaching continues this term for all classes as part of their P.E. An inter-schools blitz  for some 3rd to 6th class pupils will be run off in the Connaught Centre of Excellence on 22nd February. Another blitz will be run in the Dome on a later date for some pupils in Infants to Second Class.

Ballaghaderreen GAA Club invites children to become members. Membership forms are available from the school or on the club website here.

Active School’s Run Around Ireland is a fitness initiative for all pupils in every class. It will start next week. Two / three  times weekly children will run in the yard for up to 1km each time.

After school clubs are running in the school since the start of term. All are fully booked. Let us know what after school club your child might like and we’ll explore if it can be run. Read more here. 

Thank you for your continuing support to the school.

Noel Loftus

Principal