Castle Gardens Primary School, Newtownards

28/08/2026

Good afternoon
The first newsletter of the year is online below.
https://sway.cloud.microsoft/gF4ncheCFP56rthG?ref=Link

We're back on Tuesday after the Bank Holiday on Monday.
Have a great weekend
Mr Gray.

Good afternoon

19/08/2026

A Great Day of Professional Learning

It has been a busy and very productive day for staff at Castle Gardens Primary School! Some of our teachers were at Nettlefielfield Primary School in Belfast taking part in valuable training on Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), helping our speech and language staff to further develop their knowledge and support the pupils in their care.
Meanwhile, staff here at Castle Gardens took part in training focused on dyslexia and how best to support pupils with dyslexia in the classroom.
It has been a fantastic day of learning, sharing good practice and strengthening our skills, providing a great start to our preparation for the new school term. Well done to all our staff for their continued commitment to supporting every pupil! 🌟

28/06/2026

Less than 2 hours remaining!

Castle Gardens Primary School PTA's Annual Raffle 2026Renowned local artist Terry Bradley has very kindly and generously donated one of his beautifully framed…

27/06/2026

Less than 2 hours remaining in the PTA’s Terry Bradley raffle.
Tickets close just before midnight tonight with the draw taking place on tomorrow morning.
Entry is open to all so please like and share with your friends and family to help raise funds for our wonderful school.

Castle Gardens Primary School PTA's Annual Raffle 2026Renowned local artist Terry Bradley has very kindly and generously donated one of his beautifully framed…

25/06/2026

⚠️ Urgent recall: Squeezy Dumplings toys are being recalled due to a serious chemical risk.

Testing found that the outer layer contains excessive levels of benzene.

If inhaled, benzene can cause irritation to the eyes, nose and throat. Exposure to larger amounts may also cause a burning sensation in the digestive tract and skin irritation.

Affected product:
Squeezy Dumplings

The product is sold in a plastic basket-style pot containing a single soft plastic dumpling.
No batch numbers or product identifiers are provided on the product or packaging.

If you have this product, stop using it immediately and keep it out of the reach of children.

23/06/2026

Another sporting first for Castle Gardens!
Earlier this week one of our pupils took part in the Flogas Irish Junior Golf Open Tour event at Greystones Golf Club in Co Dublin.
In a field of 36 competitors from all over Ireland, Silvana played the 18 hole competition in the U11 age group.
Played across two formats - stableford scratch and stableford points - it was in the latter format that she excelled. A fantastic 7th place finish was secured and 1st overall in the girls competition.

The courage needed to take part in a national level golf competition is immense so huge congratulations to Silvana for stepping out of her comfort zone and doing this.

golfirelandofficial led sessions and our staff took KS2 pupils through the Unleash Your Drive primary school programme this year.

All sports journeys start with first step and this week a wonderful one was taken by a pupil in Castle Gardens.

18/06/2026

17/06/2026

🎉 What better way to finish your primary school athletics journey than with a podium shared with your best friends!🎉

Well done to Sofia, Logan and Lexie for yet another evening of distinguished performances tonight at Bangor Sportsplex. The girls shared a fantastic 6 medals between them, Sofia earning one of each colour.

The trio of P7 girls were joined tonight by Silvana (who continues to break school records in the throws) and by a newcomer to track and field competition, Aaron. Both Silvana and Aaron were fantastic with Silvana narrowly missing out on a medal in the shot put.

The undoubted highlight of the evening was, however, a magnificent 1-2-3 for the P7 girls in the 600m in what is likely their last ever race for Castle Gardens.

16/06/2026

Girls Finish the Season in Style.
This afternoon our girls football team finished their season with victory in the ANDBC 7-a-side tournament at Londonderry Park.

Nail-biting penalty shootout victories in the semis against St Finians and Victoria in the final secured the title after a series of strong performances in the earlier games.

Congratulations to the girls for their efforts all year, including those who couldn’t play today because they were sailing!
Thank-you to Mrs Wynne and Mrs Stevenson and Sam for their coaching, Mr Stewart for organising the Thursday sessions in school and all the parents for their help with lifts and support in all weathers.

There is no truth in the rumour that Thomas Tuchel has called up several of the girls for penalties in the World Cup!