Mrs Gillespie, who has been a teacher in St Ita's since its opening is retiring from full time work. We held an assembly to celebrate her retirement. Everyone in St Ita's wishes Mrs Gillespie a very happy and healthy retirement.

Last week Rafay and his Mum started their day very early. They were up early to prepare a beautiful lunch for the entire St Ita's staff to thank them for Rafay's journey through St Ita's. 

Thank you both for such a wonderful gesture and a delicious lunch!

Our wonderful Musical Theatre teacher, Wilson is delighted that some St Ita’s pupils will be performing with him in the forthcoming Grand Opera House productions of Oliver and Evita. These young actors had the opportunity to visit this beautiful theatre recently so we couldn’t resist getting some photographs taken.

 We are so proud of our P7 Netball team who made it to the NI Primary School Championship Final on Saturday the 3^rd of June.

The girls competed in four matches, but sadly missed out on progressing to the final stage. The girls demonstrated fantastic teamwork 

skills and determination. Rose McCartan won 'Player of the Team' for St. Ita's. She played the position of WA with a high level of skill and confidence. 

Congratulations to all teams involved! 

The Moneyrea Football Tournament showcased the football talent of local teams along with some amazing individual performances. The highly competitive group stages resulted in  semi-finals being contested between teams from Comber, St Ita's, Gilnahirk and Academy Primary Schools After two hotly contested semi-finals, one of which saw a last kick of the ball equaliser and penalty shoot-out, Gilnahirk met St Ita's in the final. A tense, exciting match saw St Ita's run out as the 2023 winners of the Moneyrea Football Tournament. Congratulations boys! Thanks to everyone at Moneyrea and Dessie from DW Coaching for fantastic day and to Armstrong Meats for sponsoring the BBQ.

North Down Rotary Club Primary School Musician of the Year 2023

Huge congratulations to Abi P6 and Yan Bo P7 who took part in the Rotary Club Primary Musician of the Year competition last week. The heats were held on Wednesday 31^st May and both Abi and Yan Bo qualified for the finals which were held on Friday 2nd June.

Abi performed two beautiful renditions on piano and Yan Bo performed two wonderful pieces on violin. Altogether 14 primary pupils took part in the finals in Towerview Primary School, Bangor. The competition provided an opportunity for young people to experience performing in front of an appreciative audience and to develop their self confidence in the process.

Abi and Yan Bo are exceptionally gifted musicians, and this was such a beautiful evening of music. Congratulations to you both on your wonderful talent! We wish you many happy years of music making.

Daniel from P7 has been showcasing his new found photography talents recently. On trips to the Lagan towpath and Newcastle, Co. Down, Daniel took his camera to snap some photos of the local wildlife. The results were impressive. Well done Daniel, you clearly have an eye for finding beauty in nature. We are all very proud of you. Keep it up!

Here are some of Daniel's favourites.

St Ita's Pupils, Amelia, Isla and Holly are members of the Rosario Under 12 Girls' Soccer team who played in the Final of The S.B.Y.L Cup.

Up against a very strong Barn United team last Sunday at The Danny Blanchflower Stadium, Rosario rang out 2-0 winners of the final! Congratulations girls, along with your Rosario team mates on lifting the S.B.Y.L Cup.

Children in Primary 4 to Primary 7 were asked to give a short 1-minute presentation or written piece on the character that they chose for World Book Day. The children were amazing and really showed their passion for reading. Winners from each class were selected. Congratulations to all the children. We have loved hearing your enthusiasm for reading, well done!

Hydebank Wood College kindly donated a variety of plants to our school . These included beautiful sunflowers and vegetables such as broccoli and tomatoes. We plan to earmark a sunflower for each class and hold a competition for the tallest sunflower! Our Eco Committee will help Ms Sheila Smart, our school gardener, plant these around the school grounds on Tuesday 23^rd May. We would like to thank Hydebank Wood College for kindly donating the plants. The girls and boys will get a lot of fun planting them and watching the sunflowers grow!