School News
Here’s what’s been happening in Gracehill
P7 Leavers 2022
Watch our Primary 7 students leave school for the final time.
P7 Trip to Castlewellan
Day 2 Update
After some ‘sleep’ we woke to a beautiful day down here in Castlewellan. Today we did some archery, laser tag and canoeing in the lake. There were a few bullseyes during archery and the teachers seemed to act as target practice during the laser tag. Canoeing was absolutely brilliant and the teachers got a good soaking…I wonder why?
We’re about to go out and do some orienteering around these beautiful grounds. See you tomorrow!
P7 Trip to Castlewellan
Day 1 Update
We made it safely to the castle (after a very large coach negotiated a very tight gate). In the afternoon we tried some team building games, explored the arboretum, followed a GPS trail and now we have just finished dinner: pizza and chips…yum!
We’re looking forward to having a walk around the lake this evening before some tuck and a movie.
Talk to you tomorrow!
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
Check out how we celebrated 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II!
Many thanks to Miss Williamson and Miss Taggart for pulling this altogether.
Sports Day 2022
Thank you to everyone for making Sports Day a success. The atmosphere created by the children and the parents in the village square was wonderful and a testament to how well our pupils competed. Here’s some photos of the Key Stage 2 afternoon.
Rugby at the KIngspan
We had an absolutely fantastic day at the Kingspan Stadium on 11th May. We joined with schools from across the country and played 3 games. Check out our photos below thanks to Neil McVeigh.
Celebrating Accelerated Readers
Some of our fantastic pupils have read 1 and even 2 million words! Extremely well done!
I don’t like cricket…I love it!
16 children from P6 took part in a Primary School Blitz at Ballymena Academy on 5th April. The children divided into two teams and played 4 games against Camphill P7s. The cricket skills and team spirit on display were top class and the boys and girls won 3 out of 4 games. Many thanks to Wayne Hughes and the NCU for organising this event.
Football at Gracehill
The boys and girls have both been taking part in local football competitions. The boys qualified from their group to make it through to the Senior Cup Finals day on 6th May. They will face Fourtowns, Ballykeel, Buick and St. Colmcilles and we wish them the best of luck!
The girls had a fantastic day at Cullybackey Community Centre. Students from Cullybackey College took warm ups and refereed the games at the girls fun day. For most girls it was the first time they had taken part in a competitive football game. Very well done.
Welcome Workshop
P5 had the pleasure of taking part in a workshop run by local poet Nadi. Nadi grew up in South Africa but has called Northern Ireland home for a long time. She is doing her PhD in poetry at Queen’s University Belfast. In association with Radius Housing, she was showing P5 how to write positively and welcoming letters to residents moving into new houses in Ballymena.
World Book Day 2022
We had a fantastic day celebrating World Book Day on Friday 4th March. It was brilliant to hear the children recommending books to each other and what characters they would like to invite to dinner. Thanks to everyone for all your efforts with costumes. Here’s a short snippet of our parade around the playground.
Fundraising Effort
The P7s raised money for the Community Rescue Service before lockdown. John, one of the volunteers, kindly came into school to collect the £200 raised and to show us what some of the money helped go towards.
Wee Critters Visit
Alan from Wee Critters visited school on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. He brought with him some friends which you can check out in the photos below!
Odd Socks Day
To mark the start of Anti-Bullying Week, we wore odd socks on Monday 15th November. This week we will be having conversations around difference, diversity and the power of our actions and words.
Check out some of our odd socks below.
NI 100 Art Competition
The aim of the competition was for pupils to share their love for the stunning landscapes, natural beauty, people and places of Northern Ireland in 2021. A competition was held within school to determine the entries that went forward to the Education Minister. Well done to everyone who entered and our fingers are crossed for the drawings that are representing Gracehill!
You can see the entries representing our school below.
The Big Clean Up!
Despite the weather today we had a great workforce on hand at Gracehill Primary School clean up.
Some of jobs completed were power washing, painting, weeding, hedge cutting and landscaping.
On behalf of the PTA we would like to say a massive thank you to all the staff and volunteers who took time out today to help enhance the outdoor space at school.
Your help and support was really appreciated and we hope that you enjoyed your delicious brunch!
The Puppet Show!
We were delighted to welcome Helen and her team (including all of the puppets) back to school on Wednesday.
They told us of God’s story and made us laugh a lot along the way. Thank you.
Egyptian Day 2021
The P5s had a blast on the 4th May!
As part of our Term 2 topic on Ancient Egypt, they came in dressed as archaeologists, Pharaohs and even mummies! During the day we ate Egyptian food, played Egyptian games and tried to escape from an Egyptian tomb.
Ben is Back!
Ben, our regional IFA ‘Let Them Play’ Officer, made a welcome return to school today. Boys and girls in P5-P7 enjoy sessions with Ben once a week and take part in highly enjoyable games and activities which teach them about decision making, team work and general ball skills.
Here’s P5 having a blast below!
Christmas Jumper Day!
On Friday 11th December 2020, the school turned out in their best Christmas jumpers in an effort to raise money for Save the Children.
Every class looked fantastic but check out the video to see for yourself.
Odd Socks Day 2020
To mark Anti-Bullying Week 2020, students and teachers came to school wearing odd socks! We talked and appreciated how we’re all different and unique. Have a look at some of our odd socks!
