Miss Mack’s P5/P6 class took their learning outdoors with a trip to Dundrum Castle, gathering inspiration for their upcoming narrative writing pieces.

The children explored the historic site, using their senses to capture the atmosphere. They focused on what they could see, hear and smell, collecting rich descriptions filled with adjectives and similes.

This immersive, hands-on experience allowed them to connect with their surroundings and develop vivid setting descriptions for their stories. 

We can’t wait to see their creative writing come to life!

Over this past academic year, Sacred Heart P.S. has joined forces with St Mary’s P.S. Aughlisnafin and St Malachy’s P.S. Kilcoo to form an Extended Schools’ Cluster.

The Department of Education's Extended Schools’ programme aims to improve levels of educational achievement for children by providing the additional support that they might need to help them reach their full potential. The funding allows schools to offer a wide range of services or activities to help meet the learning and development needs of pupils, their families and local communities.

Sacred Heart P.S. is the lead school in this cluster and has used the financial resourcing available to institute counselling and speech and language provision within school. The cluster money is being used by all three schools to facilitate a programme of physical literacy through the Bee Active service provider.

Today, Mr Murphy from St Mary’s P.S. Aughlisnafin and Mr Lawlor from St Malachy’s P.S. Kilcoo along with Mr Fitzsimons attended an Extended Schools’ seminar in which planning for 2025/2026 was agreed upon and effective practice among the cluster was shared.

St Malachy's Primary and Nursery School, Kilcoo
Finn Primary School

A tremendously successful POSH Sponsored Walk took place on Saturday morning past. A fantastic turnout of children, family members and staff enjoyed the 5.5km route around the Murlough Nature Reserve and beach. The support of the Coastguard and the collaboration with the National Trust was key to the smooth running of the initiative.

Thanks goes to POSH for their excellent planning and organisation of the event. It was enjoyed by everyone and in the process we collectively raised a superb sum of money for the school. A final total will be announced in due course.

8 Sacred Heart P.S. pupils competed at the final McGrady’s XC event of the year at Tollymore Forest Park on Sunday past. A big well done goes to the Murlough AC contingent of Niamh, Caoimhe, Sophie, Shea, Lochlan, Cailie, Neil and Cahal for their effort and participation!

Our P3’s received the Sacrament of Reconciliation this afternoon in the Sacred Heart Church. Led by celebrant Canon Fleck, the boys and girls participated brilliantly in the service, contributing via song, music, drama and readings.

Thank you goes to Mr McCartan for leading the class in their preparations and to our classroom assistants Miss Aimee O’Toole, Mrs Betty Hogg and Miss Katie-Louise Poland for their support. Gratitude is extended  to our school choir under the auspices of Mr Doyle along with Mr Paul Madden for their beautiful singing and musical accompaniment. We thank as well Mrs Mary Polland for having the chapel prepared so beautifully for the occasion and our classroom assistant Miss Annette Kelly for her contribution.

Finally, to the boys and girls of P3. You have now reached another milestone on your spiritual journey. Well done!

P7 travelled to the Ballydugan Medieval Village to put their acting skills to the test. 

They produced an excellent version of the St Patrick’s Story and are looking forward to seeing it when it’s exhibited in the St Patrick’s Centre.

P5/P6 had a fantastic visit from the Dairy Council as they explored the importance of healthy eating and staying active. The session covered the different food groups, what foods belong to each and how they benefit our bodies. A key focus was on calcium and its role in keeping our bones and teeth strong.

The session also highlighted the importance of balancing food with fitness. They discussed simple ways to reach the recommended one hour of activity per day, such as walking or biking to school, playing outside, or even activities like walking the dog or bouncing on a trampoline. The message was clear - staying active doesn’t have to mean hours of sport; small, daily habits add up!

To make learning fun, the children took part in an energetic food and fitness rap and each received a booklet filled with useful information and tasty recipes to try at home. A big thank you to the Dairy Council for an engaging and informative session!

Sacred Heart P.S. travelled to St Patrick’s Park, Newcastle, today for the FunFit East Down GAA Tournament.

Pitted in Group 1, the boys enjoyed three great games, winning two of them and finishing runners up. The runners up spot afforded them a place in the Cup quarter final.

The first group game was a fantastic 0-06 to 0-01 success over St Caolan’s P.S. Darragh Cross. This was followed up by a 2-05 to 0-00 triumph over St Mary’s P.S. Aughlisnafin with the Dundrum team playing some of their best football of the tournament in this match. The final group game was against St Paul’s P.S. Cabra who incidentally went on to win the Cup. The tussle was nip and tuck all the way with the Cabra outfit winning 1-04 to 0-03 at the final whistle.

The quarter final of the Cup was a very tough match against St Joseph’s P.S. Carnacaville. The game was even for the 1st half with Carnacaville leading 0-02 to 0-01 but a flurry of goals from the St Joseph’s side saw them progress, reaching the Cup final in the end.

Another productive outing for Sacred Heart P.S. as they look to build on this with upcoming blitzes, tournaments and Cumann na mBunscol activity in the pipeline. A big thank you goes to Dundrum GAC Coaching Officer Ruairi McGuigan for his support and help with the school team.

Dundrum GAC
FunFit Sports

Mr McCartan’s class are learning a lot about measuring as part of their Numeracy topic work. They decided to head outdoors with rulers and metre sticks for a few tasks. 

Taking advantage of the lovely weather, the class worked in pairs to draw lines out on the tarmac using chalk with their measuring devices. After drawing a line out, the boys and girls were asked to write the measurement beside it. 

They all really enjoyed taking their learning from the classroom to the outdoors. No better way to learn!

P7 made the trip to Newcastle Community Cinema for the Trailblazers Showcase Day. The boys and girls have been involved in a digital film making project over these last few months. Collaboration has been undertaken with Holy Cross P.S. Atticall, Killowen IPS and Newcastle P.S. The showcase day saw the unveiling of the video productions from each school. The finished pieces were highly entertaining with some great directorship and acting on show!

WheelWorks