St. Matthew's Primary School & Nursery

06/10/2026

Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends of the School,

Due to overwhelming demand, our exhibition of memorabilia, photographs and the present-day artwork of our children will continue from Wednesday, 7th October 2026 until Wednesday, 14th October 2026.

This will give anyone who wishes to visit — and particularly those who have asked for the opportunity to return — more time to come into school, take their time and enjoy all that we have on display.

During these additional days, there will also be one late evening, which we hope will make it easier for busy families and those at work to visit after dinner and enjoy the exhibition and all that we have prepared for you.

We look forward to welcoming all those who would like to visit for the first time, as well as those who would simply like to return and enjoy the exhibition again.

We will be delighted to welcome you!

Mrs O’ Neill, staff & children

06/10/2026

06/10/2026

Dear Parents, Guardians and Friends of St Matthew’s, 💙💛

I wished to share a few more little snippets with you, so that you too can enjoy reminiscing over some of the special moments from what was such a memorable evening on Friday. ✨🎶

Thank you to everyone who has been sending photographs and videos in. They have been an absolute joy to watch and I know you will all enjoy seeing and sharing in these lovely memories too. 📸💫

I would also like to make particular mention of the beautiful floral arrangements which decorated our dining hall. 💐🌼 Following the celebrations, these arrangements, created by our florist, Rosemary Kelly, have all been carefully repurposed and brought into the classrooms throughout our main school and nursery, where the flowers are now being used to adorn our sacred spaces. 🌸🙏

It seems a particularly fitting way for the beauty of our celebration to live on — a tribute to 150 years of education at the heart of the Short Strand community and a reminder of a very special occasion shared by our whole school family. 💙💛✨

Mrs O’ Neill

05/10/2026

WHAT A DAY AT SCHOOL!

The excitement from Friday evening’s concert is still very much alive in school today! There has been such a tremendous buzz around the place, with our children still basking in the glory of their wonderful performances and, perhaps best of all, congratulating one another on just how magnificent they were. 💫

Today we asked the children to reflect on the concert and share some of their favourite memories. Their words really capture just how special the evening was:

💡 “The lighting in the chapel was incredible. It looked like a professional concert venue and made the performances feel even more exciting. You felt like the star of the show when you were on the altar.” Miles P5

💐 “The flowers in the chapel were beautiful. They made the whole place feel so special and welcoming. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the chapel look so colourful.” Anaya P4

🎻 “The violin, harp and flute performances were incredible. It was exciting to hear instruments that were completely new to me. They added something really special to the concert.
I was nervous before going on stage, but once we began performing, the nerves disappeared. Hearing the applause afterwards made all our hard work feel worthwhile.” Jude P7

And, of course, our fabulous Irish dancers certainly made a lasting impression! ☘️💜

“I loved the Irish dancers. I liked that they changed their shoes and outfits throughout the performance. The heavy shoes were my favourite. I kept thinking it was going to be over and then they would come back out for more dancing!” Logan P7

🌈 “I loved the ribbon dance. All the different colours of ribbons mixed with the different colours of light was amazing.”Fiadh P5

💜 “My favourite part was seeing the Irish dancers. They were so talented and I loved their pretty purple dresses. I’d never seen dancing like that before, and now I really want to learn Irish dancing.” Caoimhe P5

What wonderful reflections from our children — and what wonderful memories they have made. ❤️

For your entertainment this evening, we thought we would share just a little taste of the magic with two special videos: a snippet of our fantastic Irish dancers ☘️ and our wonderful Primary 7 children singing “I Am Thankful.” 🎶

Friday evening was about so much more than performing. It was about confidence, talent, friendship, encouragement and our whole school community coming together to celebrate our amazing children.

And judging by the smiles, stories and excitement around school today, we think this is one concert they’ll remember for a very long time! 🌟

Well done, everyone — you really were magnificent! 👏👏👏

04/10/2026

✨ A Sunday Evening Gift from St Matthew’s ✨

What an evening we had celebrating some truly remarkable milestones in the life of St Matthew’s Primary School & Nursery — 150 years of Catholic education, 40 years since the amalgamation of our former boys’ and girls’ schools, and 30 years in our present school building.

Most importantly, our Anniversary Concert celebrated what St Matthew’s is today: a wonderfully diverse, vibrant and very special school community. 💙

Since this morning, I have been asked repeatedly, “When are you putting up some clips from the concert?” Our inbox is quite literally crammed with requests! Thankfully, videos and photographs are coming through thick and fast from our parents, and I have yet to sift through them all.

However, due to popular demand, we couldn’t make you wait any longer!

So, for our Sunday evening gift to our parents and the wider Short Strand community, here is a little taster from our Anniversary Concert featuring Miss McCambridge and Father Martin O’Hagan. 🎶✨

And believe us when we say — this is only a taster of just how fabulous our concert was!

We will get through all your wonderful photographs, videos and requests in time. Thank you to everyone who has been sending them in and most of all, thank you for the incredible support and enthusiasm you continue to show our school.

For now, sit back, turn up the volume and enjoy this little Sunday evening treat from St Matthew’s. 💙

Mrs O’ Neill

04/10/2026

To Our Parents, Guardians and Wonderful Children

Huge congratulations and our most heartfelt thanks to every single one of you. You were absolutely magnificent.

I hope you are all still feeling as triumphant as we are following Friday night’s extraordinary performance celebrating the anniversary of St Matthew’s Primary School and Nursery.

Boys and girls, you were simply magnificent from start to finish. You turned up on time, looking wonderful, you sang your hearts out and you filled the church with joy. The entire evening was nothing short of an absolute triumph.

We are so incredibly proud of you.

The joy created on Friday evening will ripple through our community for a very long time to come. The messages have been coming through thick and fast since the concert, and it is wonderful to hear just how uplifted and proud everyone is feeling.

There is a beautiful saying that “a rising tide lifts all boats”, and that is exactly what happened on Friday night. Together, we lifted not only ourselves — our hearts, our spirits and our minds — but also the community that we are so privileged to serve.

To our parents and guardians, thank you. We know just how much effort went into preparing the children and having them looking so magnificent for such a special occasion. We know there were busy evenings, preparations and probably some very tired children — and adults! — by the end of it all. Your support made Friday night possible, and we cannot thank you enough.

And to our children: thank you for being wonderfully, magnificently you. You did your families, your teachers, your school and your entire community proud.

Our Anniversary Exhibition

Our parents and visitors enjoyed the anniversary exhibition so much that we have decided to leave it in place in the Assembly Hall for this week.

We know that many people did not have as much time as they would have liked to look through everything on Friday evening, so we would love to give you another opportunity to come in, take your time and enjoy it properly.

We will share details shortly once we have had an opportunity to rearrange some of our clubs and activities that would normally use the Assembly Hall during and after the school day.

Please Send Us Your Photographs and Videos

We would also love to gather as many memories of Friday night as possible.

If any parents or guardians have photographs or short video clips from the church or the celebrations, we would be delighted if you could email them to the school at

[email protected]

We will be putting together our own montage of special moments from the evening, and we would love to include some of your photographs and video clips.

In addition, Louis Moffitt filmed throughout the evening, both in the church and around the school. He will be producing a special highlights film of our anniversary celebrations, which we very much look forward to sharing with you once it has been edited and completed.

Finally, boys and girls — you were amazing.

We look forward to welcoming you all back to school tomorrow at the usual start times. Until then, give yourselves one more enormous round of applause.

You have given your school, your families and your community an evening we will remember for many, many years to come.

Congratulations, everyone — and thank you for simply being fabulous.

Mrs O’ Neill & staff of St Matthew’s PS & Nursery