School News
Here’s what’s been happening in Gracehill
Reading Millionaires!
We are delighted to celebrate the success of these two pupils from P5 and P7 who have achieved their first AR millionaire certificate. Having read just over one million words since the beginning of the school year is a significant achievement and we are really proud of how hard they have worked. Well done!
Senior Cup Finals Day
Having qualified in the top four teams in Ballymena, our school football team had the honour of travelling to the main arena at Ballymena Showgrounds for Finals Day. We were drawn to play Fourtowns in the semi-final whilst Camphill played St. Mary’s Portglenone in the other. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the vital goal and lost 1-0 to Fourtowns after a hard-fought match.
The boys picked themselves up and started well in the Plate final but couldn’t convert either. There were plenty of shots, headers and chances that were well saved or hit the woodwork. Extra-time too was still a stalemate, and penalties were needed to decide a winner. Jake made a super save to deny Camphill’s first penalty and our boys were extremely brave, stepping up to take their penalties and scoring all 5! Gracehill won 5-4 on penalties to win the trophy!
A great end to a rewarding season, Mr McClelland.
Netball Blitz
The school netball team headed to their second tournament of the year at Seven Towers Leisure Centre with a mix of excitement and determination. They played well, winning one match and scoring three goals, a huge achievement for the team against tough competition. With each game they grew in confidence, refined skills and learned new techniques. It was a day of great fun, with the team leaving the tournament feeling proud and motivated for the next challenge.
A big well done to Rebekah, Freya, Emily R, Mia R, Emily C, Mia McC, Catherine, Annie and Fia.
Love for Life Visit
Love for Life were in school on Wednesday 2nd April providing our children with the opportunity to have engaging and respectful conversations about strong healthy relationships, looking at physical and emotional changes and using the online world to build and maintain healthy relationships. Their engaging programmes were enjoyed by all the children involved.
Rugby Blitz at Coleraine RFC
Well done to our rugby team who competed at an Ulster Rugby Blitz at Coleraine RFC on Tuesday 1st April.
They played 4 games against Fairview, Moorfields, Ballymoney Model and Macosquin/Damhead, winning 2 and losing 2.
There was some fantastic running rugby, impressive offloads and brave tackling. A special mention to those who were trying rugby for the first time. Very well done.
Musicians of the Month - March
Congratulations to our Musicians of the month for March, chosen by our music tutors.
Girls Friendly Football Tournament
The P7 girls had a fantastic time at the friendly football tournament in Cullybackey on Wednesday. Although they faced tough competition from Braidside PS, Buick PS, and Ballykeel PS, the girls played with great teamwork and determination. Despite losing all three matches 1-0, they made some brilliant attempts on goal and showed great sportsmanship.
Our goalkeeper made several brilliant saves, keeping the team in the game and showing real skill. The girls enjoyed every moment of the tournament, playing with enthusiasm on a beautiful sunny morning. The team should be very proud of their efforts!
World Book Day Celebrations
We have enjoyed a super couple of days celebrating World Book Day. Our beautifully decorated classroom doors have brought so much colour and excitement to our corridors and made us curious to read the books on display. We’ve participated in live online lessons and quizzes, heard real life authors read their books and completed a competitive Literacy activity in each year group. P3 really enjoyed taking part in local author Paddy Donnelly’s live draw along.
P5, 6 and 7 have enjoyed learning about local children’s authors and voted for their favourite as part of Mid & East Antrim’s Democracy week. There was great excitement about Andrew Crooks, a past Gracehill pupil, featuring as one of the top children’s authors with his book ‘My Amazing Bedroom’.
The standard of work in our class book activity competitions was amazing. The winners will be on display in the library and we are really looking forward to awarding book voucher prizes next week in Assembly.
Thank you so much for all the effort put in to creating costumes. There was a fantastic atmosphere in Friday’s assembly and at our playground parade. The wonderful costumes certainly generated conversations about popular books and characters. Enjoy the special feature of photographs below!
Our class activity winners. Well done!
Hockey Tournament
Congratulations to our P7 girls’ hockey team who placed 2nd overall in the Ulster Hockey Pearson Cup trials on Wednesday in Antrim.
The team have qualified for the Pearson Cup at Stormont in April.
Well done girls!
Champions!
Ballymena 5 a-side Winners 2024- 2025
The school football team spent Thursday 27th February at Antrim Forum playing some 5-a-side football. The team were in a very competitive group with 8 other teams and managed to win every game except one against Ballykeel. The boys scored 17 goals in the group stage and their confidence and team spirit grew as the day went on. They beat Dunclug, Braidside, Diamond, Moorfields, Broughshane, Camphill and Kirkinriola. Ballykeel also won 7 games and scored 17 goals so both teams progressed to the semi-finals.
Ballykeel beat Carniny 3-2 in an extra-time thriller while Gracehill beat St. Colmcilles 5-1 to set up a repeat showdown of the group stage. Coming from behind twice, Gracehill showed character and went on to win 6-3 in a superb team performance. Every boy scored over the course of the day with Will netting (approximately) 18 goals.
Huge congratulations to Will C, Rory C, Billy K, Jacob C, Alfie H and Callum B.
Netball Tournament
Recently the school created a Netball after school’s club and were invited to play at a tournament. The girls travelled to Seven Towers Leisure Centre on Wednesday 19th February to play against all the schools in Ballymena and surrounding areas. The girls did brilliantly and won two matches, 3-0 against The Diamond and 2-1 against Ballykeel. We had a brilliant time socialising and playing against the other schools and getting to know the sport even further.
A big well done to Rebecca, Isla K, Chloe, Lucy A, Megan, Freya, Emily R, Mia, Emily C and Katie for doing so well with minimal training and working brilliantly as a team.
Musicians of the Month - January
Congratulations to our Musicians of the month for January, chosen by our Strings and Woodwind tutors.
Slip into Slippers
To raise money for Age NI, our school councillors decided to host a ‘Slip into Slippers’ day on 31st January.
We loved seeing the variety of slippers on show and all for a worthy cause.
Thank you for all the donations and support.
7-a-side Football Finals Day
After winning at Fourtowns, the school football team qualified for the 7-a-side Ballymena Finals Day. They travelled to Ballymena Academy on 29th January to play the best teams in the town. They beat Carniny 1-0 followed by St. Colmcilles 4-0 to win their group and progress to the semi finals.
However, the boys just could not get that crucial goal against the Buick in the semi-final and the game finished 0-0 after extra time. Rory came closest by hitting the post at one stage. The referee called for penalties to decide the game and Buick took theirs clinically to progress to the final. It was agreed that Gracehill would share third place with Moorfields Primary after playing an enjoyable game.
It was great to see the boys gel and play some excellent football with lots of different goal scorers over the course of the day. One of the Coaching for Christ referees commented that Jacob was his player of the tournament. Well done to Carniny who ended up winning the tournament.
Well done Jake, Isaac, Jacob, Archie, Billy, Alfie, Rory, Matt and Charlie.
Tag Rugby and Netball Sessions
Our P7s have been enjoying both Tag Rugby and Netball coaching sessions kindly provided by Ballymena Academy. We greatly appreciate them sharing their expertise with us.
Carniny Football Friendly Afternoon
P6s 4-2 win.
The P6s went 2-0 down in the first half and struggled to stay in the game. However, Karter immediately started the second half with a stunning long range strike. The rest of the half the team were electric and went on to come back and win 4-2.
P7s 3-2 loss.
The P7s played out a tough 0-0 first half with lots of energy but nothing to show for it. They went into the lead with a goal thanks to Alfie which silenced the home crowd. Carniny responded with 3 quick goals. A dubious call by the referee ignored Will’s appeal for a penalty and Gracehill, fired up, went pushing for more goals. Will scored a superb breakaway goal to bring them back into it. Carniny held their nerve and played out to win.
Both Gracehill teams showed plenty of spirit and desire which was extremely pleasing to see. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Well done to both teams and thanks to Carniny for hosting.
Ulster Hockey Blitz
P7 had a super morning out at Antrim Forum for an Ulster Hockey Blitz.
Well done girls!
We were delighted to turn our assembly hall into our very own theatre on Friday 29th November for our school pantomime.
Little Bo Peep was extremely enjoyable and got us into the festive spirit.
Many thanks to parents fot supporting this event.
Pantomime Time
Champions!
Well done to our football team who travelled to Fourtowns on 28th November and returned with a trophy!
They beat Fourtowns, Buick, The Diamond and Groggan to win the group and proceed to a 7-a-side Finals Day in the new year.
Well done Archie, Billy, Jake, Alfie, Charlie, Isaac, Karter, Will and Jacob.
Gracehill’s Ramble for Children in Need 2024
We wanted to celebrate Children in Need day by wearing as much yellow as possible and doing our very own ramble around Gracehill village. We raised a fantastic £480 for Children in Need!
Well done everyone!
Football Friendlies
We are very proud of our footballers who travelled to Cullybackey College on Thursday afternoon. All but 2 of our players were playing football at a senior level for school for the first time and they did brilliantly.
They played four games and won all but one. Very well done to Jacob, Oscar, Matt, Billy, Megan, Finlay, Rory, Charlie T, Charlie B and Karter.
Craft Club!
The boys and girls have had lots of fun at craft club so far this year. They have made scarecrows, autumn wreaths, keyrings, oil pastel paintings and bookmarks so far. Hope you enjoy our photos of our creations.
Odd Socks
To mark anti-bullying week 2024, we joined thousands of children across the UK in wearing odd socks on Monday 11th November.
We love how odd socks symbolise how we are all different.
Football Friendlies
These pupils represented our school so well last Thursday at Fourtowns Primary School. They competed in a friendly football tournament and played Buick, Groggan, Fourtowns and The Diamond.
Well done Noah, Seth, Ben, Alicia, Henry, Toby, Kali, Annie, Callum, Rory and James.
Countryfile Ramble for Children in Need
One of our P5 pupils, Sophie, was selected by BBC Children in Need to take part in their Countryfile Ramble. We are so proud of Sophie and all that she has achieved. She was on BBC 1 on Sunday 3rd November and you can still catch up on BBC iPlayer.
We will be holding our own Gracehill Ramble on Friday 15th November where we will be wearing yellow items of clothing and raising money for Children in Need.
Musicians of the Month - October
Well done to Mia, Theo and Isaac for performing so well in music this month.
Keep up the hard work, we are so proud of your achievements.
The village is hosting its 5th annual Scarecrow Festival this weekend.
If you’re around the village make sure to wander over to the the school drive where you’ll see our fantastic entry!
Well done to all pupils and staff for their creativity.
Gracehill Village Scarecrow Festival
We are extremely thankful to Maine Dental and Hutchinson Engineering for donating our new school hockey kit.
It looks fantastic and the girls cannot wait to get playing in it.
Many thanks to all our parents that helped organise this.
New Hockey Kit
The Bramley Bunch
John, Kye, Archie and Leon were out picking the apples off our trees coming up the school drive.
They were able to sell them to members of staff and the school community for a bargain price of £1!
The boys decided to donate all profits from the apples to school funds. There will be lots of crumbles made this weekend…
New Beginnings
Our newest additions have made a fantastic start to Gracehill Primary.
Check out some of the photos below of them settling into P1.
