Welcome from Gerry Bennett
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Welcome to the Summer 2021 edition of E-Síol, the last for the current school year. What a year it has been. Le cúnamh Dé and the continued roll-out of the vaccination programme, we will begin our next school year in less challenging circumstances.
The celebration of the Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice on 5th May was a particular highlight of the last term and I would like to thank all of you for your participation on the day and in contributing to the videos and the music. It was great to be in the presence of the Edmund Rice community from around the world, including Christian Brothers and friends from the education sector. I'd particularly like to thank Jo Hart and Brian Garrone from Australia for their contributions.
I hope you enjoy the stories from our network of schools, which I believe give a very clear picture of what constitutes an Edmund Rice education.
I wish all of you a very enjoyable Summer break, when it comes.
Tá moladh mór tuillte agaibh agus guím gach rath oraibh sa todhchaí.
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A Message to our Leaving Cert Students 2021
I was lucky enough to be able to see one of the graduation ceremonies for the Leaving Certificate class at one of our schools and I was really struck – even at the distance of being on line – by the energy, the fun, the camaraderie between the class mates and the mutual respect between the staff and the students.
Perhaps what struck me most was the final song chosen by the year – ‘I’m Ready’ by Kodaline. I have to admit that I wasn’t familiar with the song, but its lyrics, its positivity made me really think about what this exam year, last year’s class and indeed all of you have lived through over the past year. You have had to deal with issues and experiences that, frankly, were more like something you’d expect in a fictional film. But, you have all been so strong, so resilient. And while some of us may have had a tougher time than others, we have, I think, as a network, as caring young people, following the values of Blessed Edmund Rice, looked after one another as best we can.
The increase in the vaccination roll-out gives us great hope. The indications are that when we all return to school in September, things will be much more like the school days we had prior to March 2020. Things will have changed. Things are unlikely to be back to “normal.” But, as Kodaline says, we will be ready for whatever happens. This year’s Leaving Class will be ready to take on new things, be that in college, in new training, in work, or taking time to consider what you want to do. Because again to quote the song, you have to follow what you love, because you are all capable of being everything that you want.
My best wishes to you all as we finish up another year of disruptions and pressures like we never really imagined. But, what these years have taught us is that if we stick together, we will emerge stronger. I’ll leave the rest to Kodaline -
Look me in the eye when I am talking to you
It's easy to get nervous I've been feeling it too
Yeah it's kinda crazy
Yeah it's kinda dumb
Never let the pressure overpower the fun
Yeah I'm sure your parents might be saying it to you
Follow what you love and you will love what you do
Never let the pressure tell you that you're not
Capable of being everything that you want
Gerry Bennett
CEO, Edmund Rice Schools Trust
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Blessed Edmund Rice Feast Day |
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219 people from the Edmund Rice community around the world joined us for an online celebration of his feast day on 5th May. We would like to thank all of you for your participation in this event and we include some of the presentations from the celebrations.
Br Philip Pinto made a very interesting presentation and our own Dr Aiveen Mullally led a reflection.
Below we have videos of Br Pinto, The Mount Sion Choir, students in Edmund Rice schools around the world greeting us and, finally, ceol deas from the Coláiste Eoin agus Coláiste Íosagáin. |
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Mount Sion Choir, under the direction of Colette Kearney, opened with the beautiful 'This is Your Song'. |
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Cian Hanrahan wins National Cooker Challenge
Twelve year old Cian Hanrahan Doon has won the Irish Times children's cookery competition. An accomplished hurler, he has shown great hands in the kitchen as well as on the pitch.
His winning entry of a Victoria Sponge was decorated in a very creative sea theme and it caught the judges attention to attract first prize in a field of over 100 entries from around the country.
Proud parents, Majella and Tomás, encourage their sons to be creative in the kitchen and develop the life skills to be independent and self-sufficient. They praised Cian's school, Doon CBS, for encouraging Cian to develop his skills in this area.
Principal, Joanne Breen, gave Cian all the details to enter the competition as she was very aware of his interest in cooking and baking. She is delighted with Cian's success and said that the whole school is very proud of his achievement.
Well done, Cian.
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Return to School
It was smiles all around as classes returned to school after the lockdown. We pray that everybody remains safe.
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Adam English
Munster Minor Hurler 2020
Pictured with the President of the G.A.A., Aogan O Fearghail, when Adam played in Croke Park in the Cumann na mBunscol I.N.T.O. / G.A.A. Mini Sevens exhibition games in 2017.
Adam is the Munster Minor Hurler for 2020.
He was captain of the Limerick Minor hurling team that won the Munster Minor hurling title in 2020.
He received the man of the match award in the Munster Minor final and Munster Minor semi-final.
A great honour for Adam, his family and Doon.
Adam is a former student at Doon C.B.S. Primary School.
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Buddy Bench
Pictured (left to right): School Pupils, Cian Murphy, Eoin Murphy, Michael Dillon, and S.N.A. Mary Campbell Ryan, at the Buddy Bench in Doon C.B.S. Primary School.
The Buddy Bench was made in the workshop at Limerick Jail on Mulgrave St., Limerick and presented to the school by Prison Officer, Tom Murphy.
The school is grateful for the kind gift.
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Munster Award Winner – Tomas Lynch.
Tomas Lynch, centre, Limerick Minor Hurling goalkeeper, who was honoured with a Munster Electric Ireland G.A.A. Minor Special Recognition Award for his work as mentor and coach to the students of Doon C.B.S. Primary School. He is pictured with 6th class pupils and school principal Ms. Joanne O’Connell at Doon C.B.S. Primary School.
Tomas is a past pupil of Doon C.B.S. and did his transition year work experience at the school. He is student at Scoil na Trionoide Naofa, Doon.
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Couch to 5km
All pupils in Doon CBS thought it would be a good idea to do the Couch to 5km this year. We are very fortunate to have a running track adjacent to our school, and here is where we did all our training. We ran laps every day and eventually progressed to running from 5 to 10 to 15 minutes without stopping in preparation for this tough event.
The 30th
of April was the day of reckoning. 2nd and 3rd travelled to Doon Gaa pitch to complete their run while boys from 4th, 5th
& 6th class decided to run through our local woods in Kilmoylan. Well done to all pupils who participated and completed this fantastic event. It was great to get out in the fresh air and complete a challenge some of us thought we couldn’t.
Roy Collins
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Farewell Friends
Goodbye but see you later to our eleven 6th
class pupils. Much thanks to the Parent Association who kindly sponsored half zip hoodies. All were delighted and very grateful!
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First Penance
Congratulations to our eight 2nd class pupils who recently made this First Panance. Thanks to their class teacher Mrs. Breen for preparing them so well and to Fr. Donnelly for overseeing this event in a safe way. Hopefully they will receive the Sacrament of First Holy Communion when it is safe to do so.
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Edmund Rice Feast day 5th May
On May 5th we celebrated Edmund Rice Feast Day. A prayer service was held in our school yard in the morning and lots of prayers and stories of Edmund were shared. As a special treat, all pupils were given an ice-cream to celebrate and more importantly no homework was given that night!
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Happy Birthday Br. Dormer!
Happy Birthday to out former principal Br. Domer.
He celebrated his 70th birthday this year and is still as energetic as ever. We wish you health and happiness!!
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Tráth na gCeist:
Our 2nd yr quiz team took part in the 1st ever virtual National Final (Craobh) of the Tráth na gCeist Boird Feachtas on 20th
April. The four students, Cillian Lawlor, Eoin McGarty, Luke Gibbs and Alex D’Alba, had qualified for the Craobh by finishing 2nd in the Dublin Regional Round that was held in October. This year saw the final streamed live on the Feachtas Utube channel to each of the 21 teams participating from schools throughout the country.
Coláiste Phádraig had the youngest team taking part in the final with the majority of the other teams containing four senior students. There were teams from all Irish secondary schools (Gaelcholáistí), Gaeltacht schools and English medium schools competing for the prestigious Micheál Mac Gréil Perpetual Trophy plus the honour of being crowned National Tráth na gCeist winners 2021. Coláiste Phádraig has enjoyed great success in this competition having being outright winners three times since 2014.
Our 2nd
yrs enjoyed a solid opening round with a score of 7/10 but unfortunately a tough set of questions in the 2nd round saw them drop down the leader board as they could only manage 3 correct answers out of 10. An excellent 3rd round score of 9/10 repaired some of the damage at least. The team were 7 points off the leaders at this stage so it was all about finishing as strongly as possible even though victory was a remote possibility by now. The final three rounds were at least consistent as the team scored 6/10 in each one to finish with a respectable final total of 37/60. The top three teams finished with 51, 52 and 54 respectively so the standard was extremely high, as is always the case in the Craobh.
Our four 2nd
yrs should be very proud of their efforts as it was challenging for them to fully understand every question and a few of the questions required Leaving Cert knowledge. The event lasted ran for over two hours so they should be commended for speaking Irish the entire time, even when they went out for fresh air whenever they had a very short break between rounds. The students are determined to qualify for the Craobh again next year and then try to finish higher up on the leader board. Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach! (We live to fight another day).
We commend the students on being outstanding ambassadors for the school throughout the Tráth na gCeist competition 2020/21. It is always uplifting to see young people embrace the spoken Irish so passionately. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, “Beatha teanga í a labhairt”. (A language lives through being spoken)
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Awards
The Coláiste Phádraig end of term award winners were announced on April 12th, the day all students finally returned to the classrooms in schools throughout the country. For the Online Engagement Term award, students were nominated by their subject teachers based on their engagement levels with remote learning since the schools were closed at the start of January. Teachers took into account the students’ attendance at Zoom classes, their active participation in the lessons as well as the timely completion of the homework assignments on Google Classroom throughout what was challenging and demanding term for teachers and students alike.
The winners of the Online Engagement Term award
were as follows: 1st yr- Joel Emmanuel. 2nd yr: Ethan Krstinic 3rd yr: Jack Griffin. Senior: Eoin Shorten. Each winner received a 20euro voucher plus a framed certificate in recognition of their fine achievement.
The following students won Gaeilgeoir na téarma awards: Evan Whelan (1st yr) Michael Casey (2nd yr). Jaime Miguel Sales (3rd yr) Mark Beagan (Senior). These students greatly impressed their Irish teachers with their efforts to speak Irish online over the past three months and also their exceptional diligence with regards to their homework assignments. Comhghairdeas ollmhór a dhaltaí agus coimeád suas an sár-obair. Ba chóir go mbeadh sibh uilig fíor-bhródúil as an sár-iarracht a rinne sibh le linn na dianghlasála an Ghaeilge a úsáid agus a labhairt. Mar a deir an seanfhocal “Beatha teanga í a labhairt”. (A language lives through being spoken)
Separately, Mr. Lyons, who is Year Head of 1st
yrs, arranged for weekly engagement awards for each 1st yr class, with each winner receiving a 5euro lunch voucher. The winners were as follows; 1Shaw: Cian Butler and Matthew Byrne. 1Joyce: Colin McSherry, Christopher Sheriff. 1Behan: Jamie Bateman, Eamon Jaber. 1Beckett: Darragh Kane, Dara Reilly. 1Yeats: Efrin Abi, Adam McMahon.
Well done to all of the above the winners. Our 1st yrs especially deserved great credit on their fantastic engagement with remote learning for the duration of the school closures. Their excellent attendance, punctuality, attentiveness, enthusiasm, good manners, initiative, impressive motivation levels, positive attitudes and timely submission of homework assignments in an extremely challenging period in their education was truly uplifting and inspiring.
Coláiste Phádraig has a very proud tradition of presenting awards to deserving students and the following beautiful Irish proverb perhaps best encapsulates the school’s philosophy: “Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh siad. Cáin an óige agus titfith siad” (Praise the youth and they will flourish, criticise the youth and they will fall).
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Time Capsule
Back on Oct 19th 2016, the 1st yr students of class 1Lead buried a time capsule on the school grounds after completing their archaeology studies in History class with their teacher Mr. Sweetman. On Friday 14th May 2021, the very same students (all older and much wiser!) met up with Mr. Sweetman to exhume the capsule and find out if the enclosed container was strong enough to preserve the items they buried in it back when they were in 1st
yr. There was a tangible sense of excitement and curiosity as the students dug into the soft grass and eventually hit something solid.
Our first picture below shows the capsule being buried by the then 1st years in 2016.
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As they carefully removed the time capsule from the ground, the students seemed to be transported back to their younger, giddy selves as they excitedly peered into the container, keen to discover just what their 1st yr selves had buried and how well the items had been preserved. Each student had actually written a letter to their future selves and thankfully the letters were still in good condition. As they each opened their letters and revisited their past, there was gasps of amazement and laughter as they reconnected with the younger versions of themselves and read about their own hopes, aspirations and dreams for the future (which was the present day by now!). Some of them had written that they hoped Liverpool would finally win the Premier League by now and thankfully the dreams and hopes of the 1st yr Liverpool fans back in 2016 came true in 2020! Others hoped that they would win trophies with their teams (some did, some didn’t), some hoped that they would get their own room some-day (most did!), some hoped that they would make lots of new friends in school (thankfully all did) while others hoped to travel abroad with the school (the majority did).
The second picture shows the beginning of the dig to recovery of the capsule.
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Some of the other items removed included selfies of each student (which made for some gentle ribbing and teasing!), a class photo, a copy of The Irish Times from the day the capsule was buried, the 2016 School Yearbook, an All-Ireland Final match day programme from 2016 between Dublin and Mayo (surely worth auctioning on ebay!), the Lucan newsletter from that week plus a history exam that the students completed back in 1st yr. It turns out that it was their 1st ever history exam in the school (how appropriate!), and they finally got to see what they got in the exam! One student got 95% but missed out on one question-on archaeology of all topics!
The group very much enjoyed the occasion, reminiscing with each other and Mr. Sweetman about the past and reconnecting with their younger selves.
The final picture shows the recovered capsule.
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Zambia 2020 update
Elevenof our senior students, along with five teachers, were due to travel to Zambia for an Immersion Project on 27th May until the 10th
June 2020 for what would have been be the school’s 2nd Zambia Immersion Project in recent years. The group were extremely busy and active fundraising for the trip for almost a year before came the devastating news that the trip would have to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Everyone involved was understandably very upset that they would miss out on such a potentially life-changing experience that they had set their hearts on for so long. It took a while for them to come to terms with this bitter blow but eventually they understood that they had to accept it and move on. They also had to decide what they would do with the funds that they had raised, which totalled an impressive 6,600euro. After a number of socially distanced meetings, it was agreed that the 11 students would each donate 600euro to a charity that was close to their hearts.
One student chose to donate his share of the funds to the Irish Cancer Society as his own family have had to bear the devastating consequences of cancer and he wishes to contribute to the fight against this terrible disease in a small, but very meaningful way.
Another chose Doctors Without Borders, in recognition of the phenomenal worldwide work it does for those that cannot afford to pay for medical help. The student was keen to point out how lucky we are to live in Ireland, with access to high quality healthcare and also many other health services we take for granted, and so believes that it is important to help those in areas of conflict and extreme poverty throughout the world.
600euro was also donated to Jigsaw by a student as he felt that the charity, that works with helping young people overcome mental health challenges and illnesses, is especially needed for those that have struggled to cope with lockdown over the past 15 months.
Another student donated the 600e to Izzy’s Journey as this cause is very close to his heart. Isabella Villena is a 10yr old girl from Palmerstown who was diagnosed with an extremely rare condition called Aicardi Syndrome as a baby. This is a genetic brain disorder that typically only affects little girls and Isabella was sadly born without a vital piece of her brain. As a consequence of this, she will need constant care and attention every day of her life and she will also need to take a range of powerful medications to manage daily seizures. Every day of her life will be a constant struggle for Isabella and her family and eventually Isabella’s life will sadly be cut short due to this condition.
Another student chose St. Vincent De Paul because he recognised that more people are visibly struggling with isolation, loneliness and homelessness as a result of the pandemic and he feels that this well-established charity is extremely trustworthy, reliable and efficient with their donations.
A donation of 600euro has also been made to CRY Ireland (Cardiac Risk in the Young-a charity that raises awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death) in honour of our sadly departed past pupil Ryan McKeon and his father.
It really is heart-warming and truly inspiring hearing what the Zambia group have decided to do with their hard earned funds. We greatly commend the eleven students, Taha Ahmad, Jamie Clarke, Michael Connolly, Adam Devitt, Evin Dowling, Alex Jaji, Kevin Kelly, Alex Knowles, Conor McDonagh, Josh Murphy and Oisín O’ Neill, on their kindness, thoughtfulness, generosity and compassion, which is very much in the tradition of Edmund Rice. The entire school community is extremely proud of our Zambia 2020 group. They have all been, and continue to be, outstanding ambassadors for our school and the CBS name in general.
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Coláiste Phádraig CBS Lucan Awards Day May 20th 2021
Due to the continued COVID-19 restrictions and regulations, Coláiste Phádraig’s annual Awards Night 2021 could not take place. However, the main award winners for the school year attended a small, socially distanced presentation ceremony in the school on Thursday 20th May.
There were five winners of 1st yr Student of the Year Awards, one student from each class tutor group. The entire year group have had a challenging first year in secondary school due to the absence of extra-curricular activities in particular but they have responded magnificently and impressed everyone with their resilience, positivity, good manners and co-operation. It was very difficult therefore to select just one student from each class but eventually a consensus was reached and the following students won the awards: Efrin Abi, Joel Emmanuel, Evan Whelan, Killian Costello and John Joshua so well done to each of them.
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Jevin Joy, David Farrelly, Freddy Molloy and Cillian Lawlor were the winners of the 2nd yr Student of the Year Awards. Our 2nd yrs have had two successive years severely disrupted by school closures yet they have remained good-humoured, positive and upbeat throughout this difficult period in their education.
Conor Langabeer, Seán Fullam, Harry Thekkan-Davis and Jeeson Roy Perayil were selected for the 3rd yr Student of the Year Awards. It has been a particularly difficult year for our 3rd yr students with the uncertainty around the state exams throughout the school closures but they have responded magnificently to the upheaval and we are very proud of them as a group. Their engagement with online learning was outstanding and their attendance, attentiveness, co-operation and application over recent months has been exceptional, despite the cancellation of their Junior Cycle exams in the summer. They have remained focused, concentrated, respectful and good-natured throughout and they will certainly have earned their summer holidays this year.
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James Ryan, Reece Webb and Brendan Lennon were the deserving recipients of the 5th yr Student of the Year Awards. These three students have been extremely diligent, well mannered, co-operative and enthusiastic throughout their disrupted school year and they no doubt would have made exceptional prefects in a normal school year (the Prefect programme has been temporarily suspended due to the COVI9-19 regulations and disruptions).
Ryan Bayly, Jamie Byrne, Cian Dardis, Matthew Duffy and Eoin Kilduff won Spirit of TY Awards in recognition of their contribution to the Transition Year Programme. These students fully embraced all aspects of the programme and were willing to try new things and get out of their comfort zone. They worked well with their fellow students, used the year to develop personally and impressed their teachers with their enthusiasm, positivity, leadership, initiative and generosity of spirit, getting involved in numerous fundraising activities throughout the year most especially.
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From Each, His Best awards were given to students in recognition of giving of their best at all times in every aspect of school life.
The winners of these prestigious awards this year were as follows: Darragh Kane, Jordain Dilip George, Mario Nunis, Jack Griffin, Calum Conway and Ben Kirwan. Each of these student fully embody the ethos and spirit of this award by applying themselves to the best of their ability with determination, perseverance and persistence.
Padraic Naughton Awards were presented to students for their all round contribution to school life. This award is named after the 1st lay principal of Coláiste Phádraig (1989-2002). Padraic did the vast majority of the groundwork in laying the foundations for the new school building extension and facilities that the students now enjoy so the award recognises those who do a lot for the school in their time here. The winners of these awards this year were as follows: Patrick Rance, Royal Shonowo, Jones Gyebi and Zach Delmar.
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Due to the enforced cancellation of all sporting fixtures throughout the school year, it was decided that the Sports Star of the Year Award would not be given out this year. However, the other four main end of year awards were presented on the day.
Robert Maloney won the overall Padraic Naughton Award, Shane Muragh and Jonathan Somers were the joint winners of the overall From Each, His Best Award while Conor Henson won the coveted Transition Year Student of the Year Award.
The main award of the school year, The Tommy Brennan Student of the Year, was won by 6th yr Kevin McGrane. The award, named after a former teacher of Coláiste Phádraig, is voted for by teachers and management and it is always a tough choice. A short list of students was drawn up, with Kevin emerging as the outright winner due to his overall contribution to school life and his repeated willingness to go above and beyond of what was asked of him. Kevin has fully embraced life at Coláiste Phádraig with enthusiasm, passion and cheerfulness since his 1st
day in the school. An exceptionally talented artist, Kevin has greatly impressed all of his teachers with his impeccable manners, good humour, sincerity, thoughtfulness and diligence and he now adds his name permanently to the list of outstanding past winners of this highly prestigious award.
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Celebrating Edmund Rice Day in Style
Celebrations for Edmund Rice Day took place virtually for Ennistymon CBS for the second year in a row. Students began the day by logging on to Killmallock Facebook Page to participate in the 9.30 mass with Fr Chris. Prerecorded music from our school musicians was included in the ceremony. Students were encouraged to contribute to the prayers and responses.
The First Year students prepared an art display titled ‘The Life of Edmund Rice’ They demonstrated the life and work of Edmund Rice though colour with the ERST Charter at the centre of the display.
Staff were presented with appreciation packs prepared by the Religion Department. Each pack contained a greeting card, sunflower seed, a pen , treats and a prayer card. A cake was cut and shared among the staff. The legacy of Edmund Rice lives on in Ennistymon CBS.
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O'Connell's Primary School Dublin |
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Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice on 5th May
The pupils in O'Connell's pulled out all the stops to make Blessed Edmund's Feast Day a day to remember.
We hope you enjoy the video. |
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1B English Celebrate World Book Day on March 04th
First year English students had great fun celebrating World Book day by dressing up as their favourite characters, designing book marks and ‘toilet roll’ characters from a novel of choice, writing stories and poems, and snapping photos of themselves reading in unusual places.
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Bebras Challenge
Well done to Alex Halpin, Callum Bourke, Layth Maansour, Sean Adams, Fintan Dunne, Harrison Horne & Jamie Van Den Oosten for qualifying and participating in the final for the Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge last month. Best of luck lads from all of us in the Rice College Community.
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Blessed Edmund
Rice and Our Memorial Garden
May 5th was a very different
celebration of the life and works of Blessed Edmund Rice in Rice College, Westport
for the second year in a row. On this day annually, we remember Blessed Edmund,
but we also join together with our local community to celebrate a Memorial Mass
on our school grounds in memory of all those we have loved and lost. It is a
very special occasion within our school. Our Memorial Garden, which originated
from an idea for a millennial project, and was designed and erected by
students, gives us an opportunity to think of our loved ones often. It is a
simple, but sacred space for us to visit and reflect. Students visited the
garden throughout the day on May 5th and were given the opportunity to reflect,
pray and chat quietly there.
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Rice College Westport- Graduation Ceremony 2021
This year we celebrated a very different Graduation Ceremony for our Class of 2021. Unlike other years, we did not have the buzz of a whole school community and families gathered together. Instead, we swapped this for a more intimate setting in our assembly hall with a small number of staff and students gathered in a socially distanced capacity whilst our service was live streamed to classrooms and the homes of our 6th
year boys. Albeit very different, it was a very touching service, with many commenting that in fact, they felt it was even more special than years gone by. A very simple prayer service was led by Fr. Charlie McDonnell and a small cohort of students who had volunteered to read or sing during the service. Leaving Certificate Year Head, Mrs. Keating, recited Wordsworth’s ‘Childhood and School-Time’ before telling the lads in the words of Heaney to 'walk on air, against your better judgement'. We congratulated Ronan Slattery and Ryan Askin on their joint ‘Student of the Year’ award and Ray Walsh, Sportsperson of the Year. Our Edmund Rice Award was presented to Eanna Geraghty who has showcased all that Edmund Rice stands for in his six years with us. We wish our Class of 2021 the best in all that they do going forward. We pray that they remember our theme of the day which was ‘Learn from the Past, Live in the Present and Believe in the Future’. We will greatly miss this wonderful cohort of boys.
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Edmund Rice Award- Eanna Geraghty
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Students of year awards- Ryan Askin & Ronan Slattery |
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Sportsperson of the Year- Ray Walsh |
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CBS Kilkenny Secondary School |
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For the second year in succession, the feast of our school founder Blessed Edmund Rice was marked in a creative and novel way in CBS Kilkenny. Last year’s lockdown afforded us the opportunity as a school community, to reach out in the spirit of Blessed Edmund, by assisting and supporting those in our localities who may have been feeling marginalised or isolated. This was a very rewarding way to mark the feast day and to actively demonstrate the ethos of our school within our broader community. The video montage of our efforts, which was created and shared by our Religion Department, allowed us to feel connected to each other and really lifted our spirits at that difficult time.
This year, thankfully afforded us the opportunity to mark the feast day as a whole, if physically distanced, school community. Once more, Blessed Edmund Rice’s example to us was placed within the context of the challenges which the Covid-19 pandemic presented us with; this time through a series of readings, prayers, and classroom-based reflections. Once more, the example of Blessed Edmund Rice shone new light on our difficulties, strengthened our resolve and helped us face the difficulties of the term ahead with hope and determination.
Mr. Rice is not dead. He lives! Yes, he lives the highest, noblest and greatest life. He lives on in the noble band of Christian workers to whom he has bequeathed his spirit.”
Waterford newspaper on death of Edmund in 1844.
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Global Citizenship Education in the Edmund Rice Tradition
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There is no doubt that Global Citizenship Education compliments the ethos of an Edmund Rice school. Here in CBS Kilkenny we have been working hard on developing our Global Citizenship Education across the school through initiatives such as World Wise Global Schools, Green Schools, Advocacy, Student Council and curriculum based work. We recently established a GCE committee in the school incorporating staff and students working in the various programmes that contribute towards developmental education and compliment the ethos and traditions of an Edmund Rice school.
Green Schools
In 2018 during a trip to Mount Sion our students were asked to imagine they were a plant and envisage what they would have to say to the world. This got many of our students thinking about Advocacy and the role that we play in giving a voice to our environment. In this spirit we began work on our school garden this year after a long process of planning and fundraising. We are currently planting native Irish wildflower, trees and crops. Our main aim is to contribute to local Biodiversity. We will also use the garden as a teaching and learning tool to help inform our school community of the importance of Biodiversity in our local area while teaching real life skills that will help them to spread this into their communities. We have started a plant nursery and through this we hope to distribute native Irish plants to our students and their families. We believe that through these actions we are giving the environment a voice. We look forward to the positive impact this will have on all of our students and staff.
CBS Kilkenny were awarded the Diplomatic Silver Passport award by the WorldWise Global Schools in April last. This award is in recognition of the promotion of Global Citizenship Education across the school community. Students took part in a leadership course and these students are looking forward to bringing the knowledge they have gained to the GCE programme. The theme this year was Access to Quality Education and CBS Kilkenny students looked at the global inequalities in education and what we as a school community can do to better these inequalities. We in CBS Kilkenny look forward to progressing Global Citizenship Education in the coming year through curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. |
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Student Leadership Training
Students from 1st to 5th year have just completed an initial pilot of the Edmund Rice Student Leadership programme. We were delighted to be involved and we felt that it would complement the various programmes that we running in Global Citizenship Education. Our students discussed various themes and topics around Advocacy and Transformational Leadership. The students will use this learning experience to support our school programmes. Through participating in this course our students gained an insight into the benefits of promoting Transformational Leadership across our school community. As a group the students have decided that they will assist the school in planning campaigns, spreading awareness and taking action. We look forward to seeing our students develop their leadership skills and contribute to our school community.
Wellbeing and Global Citizenship Education
In an effort to embed Global Citizenship Education across the curriculum we chose Wellbeing as a class where we could take positive actions with our students. We chose to focus on Biodiversity and habitat loss. As part of this we decided that each class group will adopt an animal threatened with extinction. The main aim of this is to spread awareness of the extinction crises while showing our students that we can contribute to this global issue. This will compliment our school garden and will help students to see the value of positive action on an individual and group level. We will continue to spread Global Citizenship Education across the curriculum with a particular focus on embedding awareness in the Junior Cycle programme here in the school.
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Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice
To do something active and to commemorate the Feast Day of Edmund Rice our TY year group took a pilgrimage to our local Killone Abbey in Clarecastle, Co. Clare.
Killone is a National Monument situated in a secluded and picturesque valley on the shore of Killone Lake, near Ennis Co. Clare. The nunnery was founded by Donal Mór O’Brien in about 1189, at the same time as Clare Abbey of the Augustinian Canons.
Killone Abbey was dedicated to St John the Baptist. It was suppressed in 1584 and was recorded as ruins in 1617. To the northeast of the nunnery at the edge of the lake lies St John the Baptist’s well, which is a holy well and altar. Killone nunnery is one of a number of fascinating monastic sites in and around the town of Ennis, in Co. Clare, together with Ennis and Quin Franciscan Friaries and Clare Abbey, especially as it is one of only three existing cloistered nunneries in Ireland.
We were accompanied on our pilgrimage by our transition year co-ordinator and history teacher, we were definitely shocked by the amount of history we were uneducated about especially since these historical sites were right under our noses. Having someone with such knowledge as our history teacher deffinetly made the pilgrimage more interesting and we learned a lot of fascinating stories and facts about the nunnery itself.
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North Monastery Primary School |
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Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice 5th May
This is a presentation prepared by Frank Carroll which was viewed and discussed by all pupils and teachers in the school on 5th May. |
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Healthy Eating and Wellbeing
North
Monastery Primary School in Cork city has encouraged healthy eating and
wellbeing in its students in a bid to tackle stress caused by Covid-19.
The
Health and Wellbeing Week saw students enjoy a market-style spread of food in
the schoolyard, mindfulness and meditation in the classrooms, physical
activities in the field and yoga on the astroturf.
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Wellbeing Co-ordinator and Assistant Principal Maria Carroll, oversaw the healthy food which was set up in the schoolyard like a market for the students where they enjoyed healthy snacks, lunches, fruit salads, hot dinners, and yoghurts. Many companies from the local community sponsored the school for this worthwhile initiative. North Monastery Primary School is also currently part-taking in the Food Dudes Healthy Eating programme.
With a strong focus on promoting positive mental health, pupils participated in daily mindfulness and meditation activities with zumba, dance and deep breathing techniques taught over the week.
Second class teacher Jill Kelly oversaw a circuit activity for all classes in the field while Assistant Principal Miriam Cotter organised yoga sessions for pupils on the school's Astroturf.
Principal Carl O'Brien and Deputy Colin Daly thanked parents for their support for this initiative.
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Oatlands College Stillorgan |
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Blessed Edmund Rice Feast Day
For Edmund Rice day we commemorated our founding father Edmund Rice by holding a school prayer service over the intercom which was heard by all students and staff in the school. We also paid tribute by putting up posters around the school to mark the event, this reminded the school community of the important day.
An Edmund Rice banner alongside a statue of Edmund was positioned at the front door of the school to remind students, staff, and visitors of the founder of the Christian Brothers and Oatlands College.
Within the individualised Religious Education classes, teachers held class based activities based on the achievements and charitable acts Edmund Rice had contributed to Education and to the lives of many young men across Ireland and the world.
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Scifest
SCIFEST is a competition that promotes STEM education and encourages students to display their scientific investigations. Three of our Oatlands College first year science students submitted entries this year. Ahmed Hassan surveyed 268 students about their sleep hygiene. One interesting fact that he discovered was that 131 respondents used an electronic screen before sleep. Aldrick Vipin looked at the history of the universe through time starting with the big bang. And Conor Quigley did a comparative study on the numbers of deaths in 27 Dublin areas between 2019 and 2020, his results found that there was an 8% increase across both years. The students eagerly await the results of the competition. |
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Maths Competition for First Years
Two of our first years entered the Dublin branch of this competition and had great success. Eoin Finneran came second in Dublin and Freeman Chu brought home a prize for first place. A huge success for Oatlands College Maths Department. |
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Transition Year
The transition years have had a very busy last term. Activities have included Kayaking in DunLaoghaire harbour, a hugely popular lifeskills course that taught the students important skills around dining etiquette, personal presentation around dressing formally and just life skills in general. The students learned barista skills with the Dublin Barista school and the teachers were all treated to some fancy coffees at break time.
The skills learning didn’t end there. Oatlands college invested in two cars and the students thoroughly enjoyed learning some basic car maintenance skills including changing tires, changing oil, and fitting lightbulbs and wiper blades among other things. Students were delighted to learn such practical skills and the staff all agreed that the course needs to be run again for many of the teachers too! Other activities included self defence classes, mosaic tile classes (which now decorate the corridors of our school) and the students also got more intimiate than most people would be happy to with a variety of reptiles including snakes and lizards. |
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School Musical
The transition year students in Oatlands College always work hard on and look forward to the annual school musical. This year was no different despite the ongoing pandemic related restricions. The sound of Queen has frequently been been heard emanating from the school hall and from the football pitches where the transition year students have practiced their moves for this years musical, ‘We Will Rock You’. This year, Oatlands College joined forces with a local girls school, Rockford Manor and together they will record the show so that it can be viewed through an online stream at the end of May. Where there is a will there is a way and there was certainly a will this year! |
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Amber Flag
Oatlands College is proud to announce that we have been awarded our first Amber flag from Pieta House. A team that was representative of all years in the school was formed and they worked hard to promote positive mental health in our school. While it was challenging to run events during lockdown after Christmas the team felt that the promotion of positive mental health was more important then than it ever was and so they held weekly meetings on Microsoft teams. A Smiley Pancake competition was run to encourage students to take part in an activity that took students away from their screens. The team also co-ordinated the creation of short video messages from various students that explained what they did as individuals to look after their own mental health, the aim was to inspire other students to take up similar activities. The team is finishing up the school year now by encouraging students to remember the message that we should ‘control the controllables’, we can’t do much about some of the situation we are in but we do have the power to maintain positive mental health.
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Ombudsman for Children
Class 101 in Oatlands college proved that although they were physically far apart during online learning after christmas, they were very capable of effectively working together as a team. The more than school initiative required students to put together a piece of work that displayed how they felt about returning to school on April 12th. The students made a short video that included a clip from each individual student explaining how they felt, the theme that tied each clip together was the passing of a journal from student to student throughout the video. The creative piece was highly commended by the organisers in the Ombudsman for Children, who have sent them a prize for their efforts.
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Teachers and students collaborated in providing, speeches, readings of the proclamation and traditional Irish instrumental music while the Irish flag was raised outside the school on a sunny March day. While only 5th
and 6th year students were in the school at the time the event was recorded so that all students could attended virtually. The ceremony was notably moving and conveyed a sense of unity in the school despite the physical distance during online learning. Students studying at home in all junior years celebrated by dressing up in green and in any St Patrick’s day themed clothes, hats and scarves for attendance at online classes. Fun was had with students showing off their costumes and a prize winner was selected from each year.
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Sponsored Run/Walk for House Build Project in Lima
On Friday March 26th our 5th Years participated in a sponsored 5km Run/Walk on our new CBS Wellbeing Walkway to help fund and build a family home in Lima, Peru.
Later that afternoon, Br. Steve Casey a Christian Brother working with some of the poorest people on the planet, completed a live Zoom link with our 5th Years in their classrooms to view the house and meet the construction team as well as the family who will receive their new home as a Lenten gift from our school community.
Below, is a video which explains the project.
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Video from ERST on Vimeo.
Homeroom visist to Fota Wildlife Park
Throughout the year our homeroom students have engaged in a number of biodiversity nature projects and trips as part of our School of Sanctuary preparations. Our final trip of the year was to Fota Wildlife Park where our students enjoyed walking through the 100 acres of green land with over 100 different species.
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Life in Gaza
CBC, like all schools, is a busy place, especially as we approach the end of the school year. Our 3rd Year Geographers were able to put things into perspective last week during a very interesting class when they were joined live by Mr. Belal Abu Samaan (American School in Gaza). While we are aware of the very challenging issues in this region from media reports, it was very interesting to hear first-hand from someone who is living in a region that is at the centre of a crisis. Mr. Ali Serkouh translated for us.
One student, David Purcell in 3rd Year, volunteered to write about his experience of the class.
Geography Class
On May 10th 2021 violence returned again in the Middle East. Tensions had been increasing for several decades between Israel and Palestine but the extreme escalations of violence were deeply unexpected and has left many wondering what went wrong between the two regions. To truly understand the conflict between the two countries you have to go back to after the Second World War when several European superpowers created a new state to give to the millions of Jews affected by the war. When Israel was first set up several million people relocated to the area and several major cities were established, the capital became Tel Aviv. For many years Israel and Palestine lived in disapproval of each other but in peace.
In 2011 with the help of America Israel set up a new defence system called the iron dome to protect their citizens from missile attacks. at the time the government credited the new defence system as a response to the small terror group Hamas and other out of county threats. Although the relationship between the two countries was strained, peace remained in the area. Then somewhat out of nowhere rockets were being fired out of the heavily densely populated area of Gaza towards Israel. Many of the rockets were intercepted by the iron dome but instead of standing down the much stronger Israel began to fire surface to ground missiles into Gaza, this was an extreme escalation on behalf of Israel as the rockets were fired at civilian targets such as TV and radio stations. Hamas responded to the aggression by firing more rockets towards Israel.
Another key factor in the conflict is the physical geography of both areas, Gaza is an extremely small area but is populated by more than 2 million people. This means any targets in Gaza will mean civilians will be affected. Israel could also fire rockets from the border between the two countries which means any location in Gaza can be attacked with extreme devastation. Hamas on the other hand are limited to mainly short-range missiles many of which have the capability to reach large cities including the capital Tel Aviv, and the majority of missiles end up striking open fields or intercepted by the Iron dome. The presence of the Iron dome and Hamas only having access to short range missiles has led to only 6 Israeli deaths in last 9 days since the conflict, from May 10 to May 19. On the other hand, due to Israeli missile attacks on Gaza over 220 people have died and rising. The Israeli government have killed over 60 children with rocket attacks, many people including members of the European defence commissions have condemned these attacks while others believe the attacks can be considered war crimes as under the 1990 Geneva convention it is illegal to fire at a target with knowledge of civilian targets on site.
On the 19th May of may our class had the rare opportunity to talk to a PE teacher living in west Gaza. He sounded like a typical citizen of Gaza - he was not a member or supporter of the violence demonstrated by Hamas. He talked about the fear he had for himself, his children and his friends. He told us within the last two days two of his cousins had passed away due to rocket attacks one had three children the other had been married less than a month, listening to him talk about his family being killed in missile attacks in his own country reminded me of how the Irish were persecuted by the British forces in the 1900s. As we talked through a zoom link he told us that power was only on for three hours a day and supplies had been blocked from coming into the country by the Israeli military. He also talked about seeing Israeli army members on the border as a show of strength. He also told us of two children that had been caught in a missile attack, in the eyes of the Israeli these children were a threat to them, the reality is that these children were scared and will always be traumatized by what happened. As we talked he also showed us a building roughly 100 meters from his home that had been ‘tapped’ which is the marking of a building before it is destroyed by an Israeli missile he told us the building was a local radio station and had no connections with HAMAS or any other terror organisation.
David Purcell, 3rd Year |
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CBC Preparatory School Cork |
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Our pupils and teachers enjoyed the celebration of Blessed Edmund's Feast Day on 5th May last and a record of the day can be seen at the link below. |
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Mount Sion Primary School |
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Mount Sion Secondary School |
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Coláiste Eoin, Baile Átha Cliath |
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Ag ceiliúradh Lá Éamoinn Rís i gColáiste Eoin.
Le deireadh na scoilbhliana ag druidim inár dtreo, bhí deis ag daltaí agus múinteoirí Choláiste Eoin teacht le chéile mar phobal chun ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar lá Éamoinn Rís.Ba dheas an rud é iad a chloisteáil i mbun ceoil arís tar éis ciúnas an dianghlasála.
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An timpeallacht
Rinneadh crainn dúchasacha a phlandáil ar shuíomh na scoile i mbliana faoi stiúir an Phríomhoide,Máistir de Poire.Tá Coiste Glas na scoile gníomhach ag pleanáil Gairdín Cuimhneacháin.Beidh crainn,bláthanna fiáine agus binse adhmaid ann mar áit mhachnaimh do na scoláirí.Ní amháin go dtacóidh an fhís seo le cúrsaí folláine sa scoil,ach cuirfidh sé go mór le cúrsaí bithéagsúlachta ar shuíomh na scoile.
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Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar |
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TY Biodiversity
Well done to our TY students here in CBS Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar who, in collaboration with Mullingar Shamrocks, the HSE and Slanemore Farm and Nursery, helped to brighten up the workplaces for all HSE staff in Mullingar. Joan Crawford, the functional lead for staff health and well-being in the HSE got the ball rolling when she applied for a Healthy Ireland Grant last year and bought window boxes, peat moss, trowels, gloves, masks and biodiversity friendly plants. Joan then contacted Mr. Farrell from Coláiste Mhuire to avail of the talents of the TY students. Our boys were glad to help out and ended up planting over 500 window boxes. Members of the local Active Age group also got involved and planted some of the boxes with the students while delivering other boxes to the HSE staff. Each of the students and Active Age members got a box for themselves to take home to their families.
Following on from this very worthwhile project our TY’s have been busy working with the local Tidy Towns volunteers picking litter and weeding flower beds. In a year where our TY students haven’t been able to be as active in the community as we would like, we were glad to do what we could.
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Sports Day
As government restrictions eased in early May, school life, like all walks of life, took another step closer to true normality. With outdoor activity for minors being allowed, we took the chance to squeeze in a sports day before school’s end. A detailed rota ensured regulations were adhered to and our students could kick off the cobwebs and get back on the field of play.
Our endeavours were complimented by the weather and the joy of sports allowed everyone to remember days where we took these games for granted. In the playing of the games we realised that play is something that is an essential part of school life. There were no trophies awarded, no winners on the day, yet in one sense, this was a little victory for us all.
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St. Mary's Academy Carlow |
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Blessed Edmund's Feast Day 5th May
On May 5th we celebrated the Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice. Our day began with a student led prayer service, followed by breaktime treats for students and staff. Some students also created lovely art pieces to commemorate the day. |
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We had a Darkness Into Light No Uniform Day in our school on Thursday May 6th in support of Pieta House and Darkness into Light. We asked all students to wear bright colours on the day and bring in €2 to support this worthy cause. We raised €710. |
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Angus Irish Schools |
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Three TY students, Daniel Hennessy, Billy Nolan and Daniel Brennan from our Transition Year classes along with their teacher Ms.Mason, have reached the semi-final of the Angus Irish Schools Competition. They recently had an interview with the local radio station on their project.
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Student Enterprise Awards |
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Congratulations to our terrific TY students - Paulius, Darragh & Ciaran on their recent enterprise awards for best Social Media Marketing Campaign & best in School Enterprise in the Carlow/ Kilkenny Enterprise Awards. Well done men keep the profit coming in!
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Nagle Rice Secondary Doneraile |
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Virtual Career Options and Skills Development Week
Unfortunately, due to Covid 19 restrictions our TY students were unable to participate in Work Experience this year. However, in its place, organised and facilitated by our Guidance Counsellor, Ms Kathrina McCarthy, Nagle Rice hosted its first Virtual Career Options and Skills Development Week for Transition year students - A week long interactive programme of career related experiences giving the students the opportunity to explore future career options and develop some transferable skills that will benefit them in their future school career and beyond. The students were fantastic, engaging with all information and training sessions during the week.
The week provided the students with the opportunity to develop WINGS (Work & Industry Neutral Growth Skills, Walter Vandervalde), skills which create excellent problem solvers, conflict managers and leaders. They engaged with thought provoking material about job; careers; the future of work, and 'work satisfiers'. They completed independent activities and reflections, took part in small groups discussions in breakout rooms, and fed back to the larger group their opinions and learnings - embracing all the time this new way of working. We are so proud of them!
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They took part in Open Ptech, gaining industry recognised digital badges from IBM; they received advice from NUIG students; they took a virtual tour of UCD; they had presentations on Further Colleges of Education, the CAO, Apprenticeships, Study Abroad Options and engineering. A local employer spoke to them about career opportunities; what employers want, and about the benefits of summer jobs to future job applications. During the presentation on apprenticeships students were encouraged if interested in a trade to ‘try a trade’ for a few weeks over school holidays. Some students took part in the first ever virtual ‘Look into Law’ programme run by the Bar of Ireland, giving them insight into the daily working lives of many professions within the law sector e.g. barrister, detective, crime reporter.
The goal of the week was to have students emerge from this experience with a new set of skills to add to their portfolios as well as detailed information about different opportunities available to them when finished school. As a result of their impressive engagement and willingness to learn, they achieved this goal.
Well done to our Transition Year class of 2021 who received a certificate of completion for the Virtual Career Options & Skills Development Week.
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Gaelcholáiste Mhuire Corcaigh |
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Chun Lá Féile Éamainn Rís a chéiliúradh i mbliana, bheartaigh Comhairle na nDaltaí crann a tharraingt agus méarlorg daltaí na scoile a úsáid chun duilleoga a chur leis. D'fhreastal Cáit Ní Chéilleachair, Elsey Nic Siomóin agus Jamie Ó hAnragáin ar chomhdháil ceannaireachta ERST le déanaí agus bhí an-béim ar na téamaí nádúr agus ionchuimsitheacht ar an lá agus theastaigh uathu na téamaí seo a chur i bhfeidhm leis an dtionscnamh seo.
The Student Council designed and painted tree with the help of our Art Department, and we got each Student in the school to assist by using their thumb print to make the leaves of the tree – there certainly was a lot of paint (and Hand Sanitiser) floating around!
The idea for the design is that each student has grown and flourished from the roots planted by Blessed Edmund Rice throughout their time in GCM. Special thanks to Múinteoir Pádraigín Uí Chonghaile for her tireless work with the Students.
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Darkness Into Light 2021
We recently organized a yellow day to mark ‘Darkness Into Light 2021’ and to fundraise for Pieta House. Our teacher, Iníon Tóibín, asked us to assist in the organising and running of the day. Undoubtedly, this year has been a very difficult year for everyone. We’ve all felt the effects of isolation and loneliness over the past 12 months or so and, unfortunately, many have failed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Pieta House offer a tremendous service to those battling mental health difficulties. We felt this was a very worthy cause and were more than happy to row in behind the planning of the day.
Firstly, we went around to every class in the school and asked them if they wanted to sign up for the virtual Darkness Into Light event which was scheduled to take place on 8th of May. We had our own school slogan – ‘Cúpán Tae ag Breacadh an Lae’ – as a group walk couldn’t be organised this year as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic. We urged students just to wake up and watch the sunrise whilst enjoying a cuppa, and maybe to go for an individual walk, run, cycle or swim and send a picture of the sunrise to make an inspirational collage. We also organised a no-uniform day and requested that all students wear yellow to promote the uplifting atmosphere and to raise funds for Pieta House. On the no-uniform day we went around from class to class with buckets to collect the money. In total, we managed to raise over €1,300 and we hope this donation will contribute to the work being carried out by Pieta House. Finally, a student brought a drone into school and we organized a socially distanced Darkness Into Light photograph on the school astro-turf pitch.
Renée Nic Craith agus Sadhbh Ní Loingsigh, Bliain 5
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Oatlands Primary Stillorgan |
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We have been having a
wonderful month, celebrating the onset of the Spring season. The
Oatlands garden is bringing us so much joy, and we have really enjoyed sitting
underneath the very beautiful cherry blossom tree. Learning outdoors is so much
fun, and there have been yoga classes, big books reading, as well as nature
walks, tricky word hunts, and shape hunts outside, in nature.
Below are Ms. Beirne and her Class,
preparing and clearing for all the new growth to come.
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100 Days of Big School
Ms. Hilary's Junior Infant Class celebrated 100 days of 'Big School' last week. The pupils really enjoyed themselves and found it hard to believe that they had already spent 100 days in big school.
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Blessed Edmund Rice Feast Day
We have been celebrating the
importance of the spirit of Edmund Rice in our school, especially since
it was his very special feast day on the 5th of May. We are
thinking of our global family of schools around the globe, and of our common
goals towards social justice and kindness to others and to our planet.
Br Edmund Rice continues to
teach us many lessons about kindness, generosity and Christianity. The tenets
of his teachings have never been more important than today. We prayed at
assembly for those in India, and around the globe who have faced many
difficulties this year. Edmund's life is an ever present reminder to us, to
help others in need as much as we can, in our daily lives.
Ms. Parr's class created their
portrait of Edmund Rice, to highlight his outstanding qualities and his ethos
of kindness and selflessness which was the guiding light of his life.
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Nature and Wildlife
There has been a great focus
on all things nature and wildlife in Oatlands of late, and there have
been tadpoles and froglets in Miss Petits class, and Caterpillars in Ms.
Hilary's and Ms. O'Connell's class this term. Respecting and appreciating all
of God's creatures is so important here at Oatlands, and the boys and girls
have been learning all about butterfly lifecycles, frog lifecycles, and about
the many species of ocean creatures this month. Our Aistear theme for infants
this month is 'Under The Sea' and there have been great art and construction
projects underway. Junk Art, sculpting and sensory sand play, have all given us
the sense of the changing seasons.
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Remembering John 'Jack' Duggan (RIP)
Just three weeks ago we lost John ‘Jack’ Duggan, a gentleman and friend, sadly missed by all who had the good fortune to work with him here in the CBS. John joined a much smaller staff in the 1990’s and enjoyed a great rapport with the Tower Hill crew. On moving to the Borris Road location in 2010, the staff grew along with John’s many friendships. We loved working with him because he was a quiet, dignified colleague with wonderful wit.
The esteem John was held in, is certainly not confined to the staff alone. He was an excellent, committed Irish and French teacher, who really cared about his students, as illustrated by former student Brian Dunne below. Irish teachers remarked that they loved getting John’s Junior Certificate students for Senior Cycle because they really knew their Irish, particularly the grammar. Parents respected and were grateful for his efforts with their sons. Outside of the classroom he was tremendously committed to football and hurling , both inside and outside of the school. His quiet, dignified manner inspired huge respect from generations of boys that he taught. This was particularly evident on regular social outings, that the CBS staff enjoyed. When the staff descended on the chosen hostillary in town, we would be immediately swamped by past students, asking only one question- “Is Jack out?”
John was a talented sportsman, he excelled in every sport he played; football, hurling, squash, golf and in more recent times running. Three years ago James Walsh organised a ski trip to Italy for 70 students. Ten other teachers gladly hopped on board. Learning to ski as an adult is not simple, but John mastered the blue slope by day three with determination and good humour. And of course who was the only person on the trip who was able to converse in Italian with the hotel staff?
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Brian Dunne, past student shares his memories;
It was in 1999 when I met Jack for the first time. He had the reputation of being disciplined and tough but fair. As a first year I had him for Gaeilge, one of the least favourite subjects for many of us at the time. Not a pin would be heard drop as Jack set up his old cassette player for listening activities and wrote up sentences on the old chalk board. With his quality handwritten notes and his attention to detail in every lesson, his class became an enjoyable experience. From the onset he had our utmost respect.
It was that same academic year where he also became our coach, leading us to an U14 Colleges ‘A’ Leinster final win against a much fancied St. Declans of Cabra in Sarsfields.
This was to be the start of something special for this group of players. In our time in Tower Hill we were to have many more Leinster triumphs under the guidance of Jack, Noel Donlon, Adrian White and Cyrill Mulligan.
I wouldn’t meet Jack in the classroom again until 5th year where he took honours Gaeilge. More comfortable now in his presence, we had some great laughs. The cassette player was still on the go but was on its last legs. I recall it giving Jack an almighty fright as one of the amps blew whilst he had his ear to it. It was ok to laugh, he smirked himself.
MJ Tierney and I sat to the back of the old prefab with Craig Rogers just in front of us.
If Craig was absent, the joke was that he had gone to our great ‘rivals’, Ballyfin. Jack enjoyed the bit of friendly banter that we had. He delegated the job of bringing the Jerseys to Brownes for a clean to myself and MJ. ‘Take your time’ and ‘There’s money in the bag for a sausage roll’ were his instructions.
In 2003/2004 we went on a journey of football that many of us will never forget. Even though it was to end in defeat in the All Ireland Final in Navan on the first day of May in 2004, the memories of that glorious year in the CBS will live with us all forever. Jack and Noel left no stone unturned that year in their preparation and dedication to the team.
Challenge matches were arranged up and down the country, often not home until dark, the two teachers would make sure we all got home safely. The team picture has pride of place to this day on my wall at home.
On the field and in the classroom, Jack instilled confidence, a want to achieve and do your best attitude in all of us. It made me personally want to do well and impress Jack as I looked up to him as a great role model. He played a major part in my life and the lives of countless others who were lucky enough to cross paths with him. The height of respect and mutual respect is the only way I can sum up so many of our relationships with Jack as a coach, teacher and friend. Upon leaving the CBS and in recent times, the odd pint, coffee and chat were shared with Jack. His colleague summed it up so eloquently for me recently when she joked ‘I could’ve been wearing a bikini on a night out in Portlaoise but all the lads (past pupils) wanted to know if Jack was out with us.’ He was like a local celebrity.
Jack was a legend. We have some great memories to share with each other of our time in Tower Hill as a positive and healthy school environment was created by a terrific student body and staff.
Three weeks ago John was laid to rest, in these Covid times. The streets of Portlaoise were safely lined with students from the nineties, the noughties, the last decade and countless current students. We know because of Covid restrictions many others away in college could not attend. Our thoughts and prayers are with Anna, John’s parents Dan and Margaret, his brothers Cyril and Liam, his sisters Ann and Noeleen and his in-laws, nieces and nephews and all his extended family. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
D. Carroll St. Mary’s CBS.
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St. Marys CBS walk a virtual Camino for Focus Ireland
68 TY students and several teachers of St Mary's CBS Portlaoise took part the Focus Ireland Fundraiser of walking the Camino during the months of February and March. The total raised was €5,800 and total distance covered was 2,886.7km.
We are so grateful to the students, staff and the wider community for their involvement and support of our fundraising. We would also like to thank our Transition Year students and again reiterate how proud we are of them in their attempt to fight the homelessness crisis by supporting Focus Ireland.
It was a massive achievement for the school community during such difficult times and especially to run, walk and jog within the same 5km every day! . During some of our Tuesday afternoon activities classes, we walked together, virtually through Microsoft Teams!
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Ms Hyland is T.Y teacher who introduced the fundraiser to the boys. She said ,“To have been the number one school in the country for our amount fundraised was just phenomenal and we couldn’t be prouder of the lads commitment to the project.’
One TY student commented - "Of course, online learning came with some challenges, but the benefits of TY were still shining through. Although we were limited with what we could do, the Camino was just one of the opportunities that we could work together, while apart. This was where each TY student set up their own fundraising page and walked/ran 114k within the space of 5 weeks in hoping to raise money and indulge us in the Camino Culture while walking on Irish soil. I cannot believe what we were able to achieve. Although our experience in TY has definitely been unique, we can still look back fondly on what we achieved".
Well done to all those in our school community who took part and supported such a great cause.
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Amber Flag
The Pieta Amber Flag initiative enables schools and youth groups across the country to raise awareness of the stigmas which exist in their environments, and the stressors on the mental and emotional wellbeing of those within them. We are delighted as a school to have the flag reinstated and have our efforts recognised for all the work which was carried out by the whole school community during the 2020-2021 year in the promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing. A plethora of initiatives took place this year with the major event being the fundraising drive for Pieta House, which took place during the wellbeing in lockdown series in February. Students, teachers, parents and some members of the wider community raised €1,245 between them during the virtual 5km run/walk event which took place. Thanks to all TY students and Mr. Conor Hayes for leading the Amber Flag initiative in the school
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Award of Amber Flag, from left to right – Ben Ryan, Darragh Buckley T.J. Moloney, and Darragh O’ Brien
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Presenting cheque to Pieta House, from left to right – Josh O’ Dwyer, Ben Ryan, Darragh Buckley, Shane O’ Connor and Liam Carew, all TY students at the school
Cycle Against Suicide
Our involvement with Cycle Against Suicide and becoming an ambassador school for the past 2 years is something all at The Abbey are very proud of. The initiative promotes positive mental health awareness. In order to become an ambassador school, there are a number of “gears” which need to be met. These may change from year to year. The framework provides a framework, structure and incentive for schools to integrate mental health activities into their school planning and rewards schools that go the extra mile. To become an Ambassador school, we need to ensure we provide Mental Health Education, carry out project work, engage with the surrounding community with our work and get active. The project is one of the only projects which is student led and allows leadership through service. Our students ran a number of initiatives this year including soccer tournaments for all junior groups prior to Christmas. Thanks to the team of TY students who led this initiative and most importantly kept the momentum going through lockdown along with Mr.Conor Hayes.
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TY Student Ambassadors for the Cycle Against Suicide Campaign donating monies raised from 2nd and 3rd Year Soccer Tournaments.
Inside Out
Inside Out came about as a result of growing concerns around the amount of people with disabilities and older people in our community that have been victims of crime in the past. Seven victims of crime share their experiences of crime on this project in an effort to help make society a safer place for all in the future. This valuable programme was led by Anne Bradshaw (HSE) and Superintendent Des Bell (An Garda Síochána). Four students from each of the three post-primary schools in Tipperary Town were chosen to participate. The twelve Transition Year students engaged with the victims and recount their stories in victim impact statements throughout the book. Thirty females serving time in custody at Limerick Prison participated on the project to offer comfort and understanding to victims of crime and to help steer young people away from committing crimes in the future. A victim can be defined as a person who has suffered harm, including physical, mental or emotional harm or economic loss, which was directly caused by a criminal offence. (Criminal Justice, Victims of Crime Act, 2017).” Engaging with young people on this project has been therapeutic and helpful for victims”, Victim B Jennifer says:
All students worked over the year with Anne and Des along with victims of the crime and also some perpetrators to these criminal offences. They got to understand how crime impacts people in their community, especially those with disabilities. From the other side, they also got some insight into why some of the perpetrators of crime had engaged in these offences, hear their background story etc. The TY students have enabled the programme content to be accessible and relevant to the needs of victims, young people and the broader community in general. The four students who participated on the programme from our TY group are, Sean Kingston, Adam Lohan, Darragh O’ Brien and Ben Ryan. They had a huge role to play and were so giving of their energy and commitment to the project even during the difficult months of lockdown. Thanks to link teachers, Mr. Conor Hayes and Ms. Niamh McCarthy for facilitating the programme from the school side. Our very talented Art teacher, Ms. Jolene Carey has had some of her great creativity published through images in the final booklet also. Huge credit to Anne Bradshaw and Des Bell and the many others within the HSE and An Garda Síochána who gave such enthusiasm to the programme and enabled it to come to fruition even when a global pandemic stood in their way. Inside Out Crime Awareness Handbook has been recently published and is a fantastic read which captures the series of the programme in great detail.
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Inside Out Student Participants, Sean Kingston, Ben Ryan, Darragh O’ Brien and Adam Lohan
Students Voice From Inside Out Project Participants
Sean Kingston “Meeting real victims of crime was a great experience on this project and I was looking forward to hearing the prisoner’s stories”
Ben Ryan “We learned a lot about crime on the project, but we also met people with visual impairments and people with disabilities”
Darragh O’Brien “This project was great to show us there are two sides to every story, we learned about the impact of crime on the victim, but it also taught us about the person who committed the crime”
Adam Lohan “I learned a lot about the impact of crime on victims, I didn’t realise how bad it was”
“The lad just wanted to help me, I was relieved, but I was filled with a sense of shame at the same time… I fell into the “Hoodie wearers are dangerous” Stereotype”. Victim C Statement
Artwork by Ms. Jolene Carey
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Young Economist of The Year Awards
Another great success for TY students Liam Carew and Shane O' Connor who have won a Gold Award for their project entered for Young Economist of The Year which is anchored by the Professional Development Service for Teachers. They will each receive a gold medal and a certificate of participation in the coming days. In addition, their project which focused on "The Changing Landscape of Irish Retail Banking" has been short listed for eligibility for further placings in special interest awards later in May. An online awards ceremony will take on Thursday 20th May. The final aspect of their gold award is an invitation to sit an exam to determine eligibility for the Irish International Economic Olympiad Team. This another outstanding achievement for the boys. Thanks to Mr. Conor Hayes, teacher at the school facilitating the project with the students. Their research was informed by a number of experience personnel in the field of Economics also. Dr. Fergal O’ Brien (Kemmy Business School, UL), Mr. Oliver Brown, UCC, Prof Davide Romelli TCD and Dr. Conor O’ Toole, ESRI. The boys are very grateful to all who helped them to achieve such an accolade.
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Green Schools
This year our Greenschools efforts towards a Green Flag were thwarted, like many activities, because of Covid 19. We have had an unforeseen increase in items that we cannot recycle and unfortunately cannot be reduced. There has therefore been a change in focus of the Greenschools group in TY. Their focus this year has been on improving the exterior of the school and working on improving some of the vast grounds of The Abbey. Every Friday morning the TYs have done trojan work and have benefited from the physical effort needed to carry it out. They have planted over 300 daffodil bulbs along the front of the school including down the avenue and around the lovely stone arch to commemorate the school’s history as an abbey. They have revived the front bank of the school clearing back overgrown ivy and rooting out weeds, planted a wildflower section and reseeded an area of grass. They have revamped the beds in the yard by replacing the bark mulch, pruning back plants and weeding. Tipperary County Council provided over 30 saplings to the school which were also planted by the students. The process has been a learning experience for most; they have learned how to prune back plants, how to plant bulbs and how to set flowers and seeds, how to set trees and how to cut back ivy to protect the host tree. The opportunity to work outside and take a break from the unfortunate necessity of wearing masks has been a great relief for students as well as providing them with an appreciation and ownership of the environment that surrounds them every day. Well done to all on a job well done. Thanks to Ms. Irene Ryan who coordinated all of these activities for Greenschools with the TY students.
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PE Expo 2021
The 7th annual edition of PE Xpo in association with the Physical Education Association of Ireland (PEAI) and Dublin City University (DCU) took place on Wednesday May 5th. The 2021 PE Xpo was moved online this year due to the Covid 19 pandemic in what was a truly unique day in the history of the event. There were numerous projects entered and presented from a variety schools across the country. Special mention must go to the projects submitted by our own teams of Shane O'Connor/ Liam Carew and Darragh O’Brien/ Gary Quirke who were shortlisted to present their projects at the national awards day.
It was to prove a fruitful day for the school as Shane and Liam’s project 'Assessing the Impact of Second Level Education on Adolescent Physical Wellbeing' claimed the Senior Wellbeing category and also claimed the overall Senior National Award. This is the first time our school has claimed a title at the PE Expo and the school are very proud of the boys’ great achievement. There were 24 winning projects across the nine different categories at junior and senior level and for the Abbey School to claim the top prize was a fantastic achievement. Thank you to Mr Seán Mullins for facilitating this initiative with the four students who entered the competition
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Use your Head, Use your Helmet
Young Social Innovators
“Use Your Head, Use Your Helmet”
TY Students were very motivated with making progress on their Young Social Innovators project ‘Use Your Head – Use Your Helmet’ throughout the year. The team was led by Darragh Buckley, Ben Ryan and Shane O’ Connor with many other students involved with various aspects.
The innovative project aimed to raise awareness of the prevalence of acquired brain injury amongst Ireland's young people with a focus on the lack of helmet wearing by young cyclists. The students created a prototype device to remind cyclists to wear their helmet when they sit on their bike, with the added benefit of having somewhere to store their helmet.
In addition to creating the unique innovation, the students also coordinated a cycle safe programme for local primary schools highlighting the safe routes in the locality as well as cycling etiquette. In the Autumn of 2020, TY’s participated in several cycling workshops with Jim Kissane of the Tipperary Wheelers Cycling Club to create their own safe cycling course for younger cyclists. In December 2020, members of the YSI team visited Cullen N.S. to pilot their cycle safety workshop with all students in the school. The plan was to continue with this great community effort and visit many other primary schools in early 2021 but the most recent lockdown delayed that plan.
Since returning to school on April 12th, momentum built back up with this initiative. The team enhanced the workshop and carried out a more interactive version with our current 1st Year students on May 07th. They plan to roll this out local feeder primary schools in the coming weeks before school closes.
It is a super project with huge potential and the team were delighted to be shortlisted in the YSI Finals awards for “Make Our World Safer Challenge Category”. The YSI Awards Ceremony will took place on Thursday 13th May and the team received the huge accolade of being place 2nd overall in Ireland winning the Silver Award.
Huge praise must go to Ms. Niamh McCarthy, Biology and Science Teacher at the school who gave great energy and commitment to leading this valuable initiative with the students. Thanks also to Mr. Conor Hayes, Mr. Eoin Halligan and Ms. Clara Ryan who facilitated various aspects of this project throughout the year.
Another huge success for the TY Group of 2020/2021.
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Edmund Rice Student Leadership Certificate
During the spring of 2021, 20 of our TY students participated in an Edmund Rice Student Leadership Programme facilitated by Thomas Murray of Edmund Rice England and members of ERST in Ireland. We were one of three Edmund Rice Schools nationally that participated in the pilot programme that will become available on a larger scale next year.
The students delved into the four themes of the course by working on one topic within each theme.
Theme 1: History and Life of Edmund Rice
Theme 2: Social Justice (Advocacy and Human Rights)
Theme 3: Leadership (Servant Leadership)
Theme 4: Planning an Advocacy Campaign or Community Project
The learning has been very valuable for them as a group in addition to the synergy created in zoom breakout rooms with their peers from Oatlands College and CBS Kilkenny. The key learning objectives have been synopised by Shane O’ Connor and Liam Carew in the short video clip which can be accessed through the following link. |
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Transition Year 2020/2021
Tuesday, May 18th
marked the final formal day of school for our TY students. In a year like no other they have achieved so much. When they should have been heading on a European tour, they did not leave the county until May 19th. They are a courageous and resilient group of lads who have made the best of a very difficult year. We wish we could celebrate your end of year with a formal graduation, but it just is not possible. A highlight of the year was the first and final trip of the year cycling the Waterford Greenway on Wednesday 19th
May. To the TY class of 20/21, it will always be one to remember. Thank you for your participation from all the staff at The Abbey.
Special thanks for Ms. Julie King for compiling this video which encapsulates many of the wonderful moments and initiatives you have worked on over the Credit to Andra Day (Rise Up) for the background music.
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Student Council News
Blue and White Day
On Wed May 5th, we celebrated Blessed Edmund Rice Day and to mark this occasion we held our annual Blue and White Day in memory of Cora Griffin, who sadly passed away in December 2017, Cora would have graduated from sixth year with her friends this year and this made it especially poignant . Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dilís.
The student council representatives coordinated preparations for the day and all monies raised were in honour of ; Cora's family's dedicated charity 'Touching Hearts', established to support the building of a new Sacred Heart Centre in Waterford for children with physical and learning disabilities and also the Edmund Rice Development in India.
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Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto. |
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ISSU Conference .
The Annual Assembly took place online on Sunday 9th May and we were represented by our Junior and Senior Student Council members Didier Bolger, Giorgi Herterich and Billy Farrell. This was an excellent opportunity for the ISSU Representatives from member schools to attend and experience the work of the ISSU and its policies for the coming years and learn skills to help them develop student voice in Ardscoil Na Mara. The students also had the opportunity to vote in the Elections for Officers who will work on behalf of the union on a national level for the coming year.
Annual ERST Student Council Conference
The annual ERST student council conference was held online at the end of March .
The conference was attended by Conor Hayden, Giorgi Herterich and Billy Farrell and indeed one of our science teachers Patrick Kirwin who ,gave an excellent presentation on the Biodiversity Champion Challenge in Ardscoil Na Mara . The school community has been inspired to plant hedges for butterflies, make bird feeders out of recycled plastic and much more. Patrick’s lively and engaging presentation was one of the highlights for sure. There were discussions on Cultural Diversity also and the event provided an excellent opportunity to engage and meet fellow student council representatives in many other schools .
Student Council Meetings Offline
We have enjoyed attending our socially distant meetings in person again, since we returned after the Easter Holidays. Ms Lonergan and the Management Team would like to thank every Student Council member and the Class Presidents for their commitment and time to ensure the success of the Student Council and the promotion of the student voice in Ardscoil Na Mara. Beir bua a cháirde .
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Focus Ireland
With the Annual Camino de Santiago pilgrimage being cancelled due to COVID-19, FOCUS Ireland took the opportunity to hold a fundraising event from home. Students in the school walked 114km over a 5 week period and raised money while doing so for charity.
the school raised over €2,500 and walked 2,209km in total scoring among one of the best groups in the country in both distance walked and money raised.
This piece was written by TY student, Tara Quinn
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WorldWise Global Schools Students Conference
Our Edmund Rice Youth Ambassadors and two TY students virtually attended with their teacher, Ms Hally attended the WorldWise Global Schools Student Conference recently.
This years theme was 'Our Journey Towards Racial Justice'. The day was an opportunity for students learning, reflection and critical thinking as we move forward collectively and responsibly to create a more racially just school and community. The day started off with a conversation on the particular Irish experience or racial injustice and what change looks like. Students got to hear from guest speakers Sandrine Ndahiro, co-founder of unsilencing black voices, Martin Beanz Warde, comedian from the traveller community, Boniface Odoemene, Black and Irish Instagram co-founder and Tik-Tok content creator, Francesca Hutchinson, artist, student, teacher from the traveller community and Denise Chaila, rapper singer and poet. There was also a virtual presentation of our World Wise Global School Passport silver medal. Overall it was a fantastic and very informative day.
European Youth Parliament
Submitted by Róisín Ní Chadla TY Student
European Youth Parliament (EYP) Ireland runs weekend long conferences for young people across the country, and is part of European Youth Parliament International. The aim of European Youth Parliament is to develop an interest in European issues in young people in Ireland - to empower the youth to question the world around them and come up with innovative solutions to global problems, while emphasising concepts of cooperation and respect.
Róisín Ní Chadhla (4A), Rebecca Kelly (4A), Didier Bolger (4D), Tom Andrews (4D) and Luke Kiely (4D) attended the Munster Session of EYP Ireland. As delegates, they were all members of different Committees, focusing on a particular topic over the course of the session. They participated in Committee Work, producing a resolution on their topic which was then debated in the General Assembly. Well done to Róisín Ní Chadhla (4A) and Didier Bolger (4D) for being selected to represent their school and province at the upcoming 24th National Session of European Youth Parliament Ireland.
Climate Action
Two of our TY’s Aisling and Róisín, attended and spoke at a meeting with Brian Leddin TD, Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on climate action as part of Earth Day 2021 |
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Waterpark College Waterford |
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Celebrating Blessed Edmund Rice Day, 5th May 2021
It was lovely to see the enthusiasm in the College for our Founder, Blessed Edmund Rice on May 5th. We want to thank our three senior Edmund Rice Student Leaders, Caoimhe Power, Sam Verwijs and Jack Corcoran for working hard on both the planning stages and the roll out of the day’s activities. Our Charter was chosen as the starting point for our student and staff events. We decided that we would bring the Charter it to life rather than allow it to be aspirational posters on a wall.
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There is so much that we all do every day that shows our spirit in action. Our Founder’s Day is a time to take stock and explore snapshots of what we stand for. We wanted to unleash the potential of the Charter by acknowledging its values. We strive for excellence in teaching and learning, we value our partners in the local community who work with us and we are grateful for the care that our caretaker and cleaning staff show towards us particularly in these times of Covid. We value the importance of Servant Leadership and we celebrate a strong sense of spirituality being an Edmund Rice School. These are the qualities that an Edmund Rice school values.
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Photos with different groups who embody these values were organised by the students and professionally taken by a local photographer, Michael Wall for the Munster Express Newspaper. First Years, Neeva Coughlan and Stephen Bergin, led us in refection of the life of Edmund Rice, while Third Year students, Anna Martin, Erin Mullaney, Jack Jones and Conan Day helped run a First Year Wellbeing event to also mark the day. Thanks to the Art Department for the massive work on the banner, particularly Reece Cusack Silver and Isaque Leiva Da Silva . A final thanks to Fr. Tom Rogers, our school chaplain, for sharing our Edmund Rice prayer with the school on the P.A. system that afternoon. |
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Merit Awards
Back Row L- R , Ms Pauline Queally , Principal, Calvin Mpofo, Cian Byrne ( Overall Blessed Edmund Rice Award winner in 6th year ), Maria Driver, Mohamed Eldib, Ulysees Galante.
Front Row L-R , Delia Danca, Kacey Farrell , Hanzala Hussain , Megha Macharla, Gloria Ehun and Jamie Lapitan. |
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Edmund Rice Feast Day
The 5th
of May is a special day on the Ardscoil Rís calendar every year, the feast day of Blessed Edmund Rice. As an ERST school, the spirit of Edmund Rice is well and truly alive in Ardscoil Rís everyday. It is an important day for us to commemorate Edmund Rice, and the work he has done for education in Ireland. The feast day began with an opening reflection that was said by a student, and our principal Tom Prendergast addressed the students and staff, and brought attention to the Blessed Edmund Rice Flag that is proudly displayed. Each class learnt about the life and work of Edmund Rice in RE classes throughout the week.
There was an Edmund Rice Display put up in the main reception area of the school. This showed various images and information about Blessed Edmund Rice, and the work he has done.
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Darkness into Light
The 8th of May has become a special day in the year for many people, and the importance of this event has become extremely evident throughout every city and town in Ireland. At 4am on the 8th of May, 18 students and 3 staff members of Ardscoil Rís started a hike in the Galtee Mountains in darkness for this event. Though weather conditions were not ideal, the spirit of the students was superb. Throughout the hike, students talked about how much of a great experience and event it is to take part in.
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Colours Day
All students and staff took part in a colours day in school on the 7th
of May in aid of the Pandemic Crisis in India. A total of €2,700 was collected for the crisis fund. Ardscoil Rís has a strong connection with India. We organise an Indian Immersion every 2 years. A group of students and 4 staff members participate in the immersion.
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TY Kayaking
TY students took part in kayaking activities on the River Shannon. Each TY class went on a scheduled day and time. There were instructors showing the students kayaking techniques and games.
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Flay Day 2021
Congratulations to 6th Year Barra Coffey who received an Apple iPad from Thomas F Meagher Foundation for winning the Best Overall Senior Cycle Award for his poem ‘A Conversation with our Flag’.
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Spiritual Reflection
A number students participated in a special online event held by ERST. This event allowed students to reflect on various topics and spiritual reflections. Students really enjoyed the participating in the event.
Odd Socks 5km Walk/ Run
Transition Year students took part in a virtual 5km walk/ run for World Down Syndrome day. Students showed their support and awareness of the event by wearing odd socks for the event. |
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Transition Year and Leaving Certificate Graduation
As the school year is coming to a close, the usual events of graduations and liturgies are not taking in their usual form this year. That being said, the Religion and Transition Year departments are busy organising virtual events for all students graduating this year. Our graduating classes in both years will be participating virtually in these events, as they will be streamed. The Transition Year graduation will be taking place virtually on May 20th, while the Leaving Certificate graduation taking place on the 21st May.
One Million Stars to End Violence
Our Transition Year students participated in a project about violence. Students wove stars with ribbons. One Million Stars was launched on MLK Day 2021 to build on the impact and growing star weaving movement initiated by the One Million Stars to End Violence project (2012) by weaving artist & founder, Maryann Talia Pau. |
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Coláiste Éamann Rís Callan |
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Our Is Féidir Linn Team celebrating 8 weeks of hard work
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Our TY Overview - Coláiste Éamann Rís
We started TY on the 2nd of September. It was a strange and slow start to the year due to COVID-19. Everyone was wearing masks and sitting beside your friend was a thing of the past. We knew COVID-19 would be our biggest challenge this year so we tackled it head-on.
The year started with lots of physical activities like walks, cycles, rugby and more.
We went on lots of walks around Callan learning about the history and Geography of the town. We cycled around our local villages and towns like Kells, Dunnamaggin and Windgap.
Every Wednesday we got outside and did Rugby with Noel Devlin. He did training, ball work, footwork, and tournaments with us. It was a new sport for many of us.
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Just before the Christmas break, we went into Kilkenny as part of our photography module in Art. We were given a list of photo prompts and were sent around the town to search for photos that related to these prompts. This got us doing something new and different and got us to appreciate and see our city from different perspectives.
After Christmas, another lockdown hit us, but that did not halt us. We continued doing activities, there was always something new every week from talks to workshops and lots more.
We attended online courses like the RCSI’s Transition Year MiniMed programme. This programme offered us the opportunity to experience what it is like to train and work as a doctor. We were shown surgeries during the course and got an insight into the life of a doctor. We also attended dermatology, barbers and concussion courses which gave us lots of valuable information.
Lots of influential and interesting people came to talk to us online while in lockdown. Rory O Connor from Rory’s stories talked to us about mental health, achieving your goals and how he became successful.
We had many more talks from people like a magician named Jack Wise who showed us party tricks and how to be a good presenter, Richard Kennedy AKA the Fitness Freak who gave us nutritional tips and information on how to keep our bodies healthy and Eoin Kelly on building resilience and finding happiness during challenging times.
We were kept busy with many differentand fun activities while online like dance classes, bake-offs, come dine with me, scavenger hunts, fitness challenges and lots more.
Since being back in school we have gone on lots of walks from Kilkenny to Bennettsbridge and Thomastown to Inistioge. We have made lots of progress on our Br. Damien Memorial Garden. Many of our usual events carried on like GAA Future Leaders and Gaisce. We have arranged events for the first years as part of our event management programme. We continued with our personal, physical and community challenges for our Gaisce.
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We had a couple of other extracurricular activities as well since being back.
EMovement Segway's came to our school and an obstacle course was set up for us. We cycled the Blueway along the River Suir. We went kayaking in Kells, we let our competitive spirits show when a group came out to us and set up team building games and challenges. Recently a recording van came to our school and we recorded ads and podcasts giving us an insight into the world of radio.
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As work experience was halted for many, we did lots of things to prepare us for working life like making a CV and Cover Letter, filling out job applications and learning how to be presentable in a job interview. Our parents were happy when we learned how to iron!
We helped out around our school and community this year. “Is Féidir Linn” was set up to immerse the Spanish students into the Irish culture we thought them GAA and Gaeilge. importance of engaging with our local community care facilities. Our local community is a vital part of life in Coláiste Éamann Rís Callan. It has been a long standing tradition for our students to respond to the needs within our community. This year, we tried to get out at least every week and do litter picking for Tidy Towns in an aim to keep our community cleaner.
We at Coláiste Éamann Rís are a community where everyone is accepted. This year, TY’s raised awareness around LGBTQ+ 🏳️🌈 It is very important that all students feel a sense of beloging in our school community.
Overall, we have had a strange but eventful year from which we have learned lots. |
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Fundraiser for Irish Cancer Society
Our TY students organised our very own '5k Daffodil Day' to raise vital funds for The Irish Cancer Society. All the students in the school completed their own virtuak 5K. Their efforts raised €1,800 for this amazing charity and we are so proud of our students for taking on this initiative and making it a success.
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Br. Damien’s Garden
Our little garden began as an idea after our new Art Room was completed in 2018. While looking out the window Br. Damian planted the idea of a school garden in the minds of the then Transition Year students. Our 2018 transition year students drew up the plans and began work on preparing of the grass areas, planting our wild-flower area and sewing perennials’, daffodils and snowdrops. Br. Damien was extremely proud of their achievements and it brought huge joy to him to see these students work so well together with such enthusiasm.
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In September 2019, we as a school, we devastated to have to say goodbye to our dear friend after a short illness and our students decided to dedicate our school garden to the memory of Br. Damien Brennan.
This year our TY students have picked up where the previous group left off working every Friday maintaining and developing the garden adding some beautiful art work and sculptural elements. They have learned how to propagate seeds (our Sunflowers, vegetables and salads are ready to plant out!) created a wonderful wildflower area and even convinced our caretaker to partake in ‘no-mow-may’ in a huge area of land behind the hurling pitch.
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They have learned so much about bio-diversity and the importance of native plants with some of our students using these to make their own oils and balms. We have a wonderful area dedicated to bees and bugs with their own hotel which was made and donated by two junior cert students Mark and Evan. Local Bee-keeper Mr. O’Shea has placed a resting bee hive in our garden that he hopes will attract a passing swarm, we are keeping a very close eye on this! We have vegetable patches (onions, turnip, cabbage, carrots, beetroot and potatoes to name a few!) that we hope to donate and use next September as part of our Home Economic module. We have finally completed the hand carved plinth that was started before covid hit. It sits proudly in the central junction of our garden pathways and contains colourful painted stones, each one signed by our students representing the journey they are on together. Local Callan stonemasons, Molloy’s, have kindly donated a beautiful Kilkenny limestone plinth which now sits at the entrance to our garden and can be seen by passers-by from the roadway outside. The inscription means so much to us. The garden is a quiet place to reflect and take some time away from the worries of the world. It has become a wonderful place for us to remember our friend who we miss every day. |
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Junior Cycle studfents receive Certificates of Completion. |
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Blessed Edmund Rice Feast Day – First Year tree planting ceremony.
CBC was delighted to join Edmund Rice schools across the globe on 5 May to celebrate our shared heritage. It was great to see so many from the EREBB network who have visited with us in the College over the past few years.
This special day was marked by our students and staff with special reflections led by our Chaplain Simon Kelliher.
Our First Year pupils marked the Feast Day with a new initiative involving the planting of a native Irish tree, a Silver Birch, which will represent the Class of 2021. An outdoor ceremony was held for each class where pupils were reminded that the tree would mirror their own personal growth throughout their time in CBC. Like them, the tree would put down firm roots, providing a foundation that would allow it to flourish in the years to come. The tree is also a reminder that our school community has its origins in Blessed Edmund’s ‘planting’, when he began his important work over two centuries earlier. The ceremonies concluded with a reading of the Blessed Edmund Rice prayer. We look forward to making this new tradition for First Years part of our Feast Day celebrations each year going forward. A special word of thanks to First Year Head, Anna O’ Brien, and Marie Delaney from the Science department for their work on this project.
“Have Courage. The seed will grow” – Blessed Edmund Rice, 1837
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Bunscoil Synge Baile Átha Cliath |
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Lá Fhéile Edmund De Rís
Bhí na daltaí I Rang a hAon i mBunscoil Synge ag ceiliúradh Lá Fhéile Edmund de Rís ag tús na míosa.
Rinne siad dán faoi Edmund De Rís agus Ealaín galánta.
The pupils in Rang a hAon in Bunscoil Synge celebrated Edmund Rice in Rang a hAon at the beginning of the month.
They made up a poem about Edmund Rice and did beautiful art work.
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Coláiste Mhuire Baile Átha Cliath |
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Comórtas Tráth na gCeist Boird
Feachtas Óg-Ghluaiseacht Gaeilge
Bhain foireann Choláiste Mhuire an chéad áit amach i gcraobhchomórtas tráth na gceist boird a reáchtáil Feachtas Óg-Ghluaiseacht Gaeilge Dé Máirt, an 20ú Aibreán 2021. Bhuaigh an ceathrar a bhí ar an bhfoireann, Hollie Ní Chionnaith, Kayleigh Cúipéir, Cáit Ní Mhaoilmhiaigh, agus Tomás Ó Conaill, boinn óir, teastais, agus €150 an duine. Ghlac an scoil le buan Corn Mhícheál Mac Gréal don bhliain.
Rinne foireann Choláiste Mhuire éacht mar ghlac 41 scoil le 115 bord páirt sna réamhbhabhtaí. Bhí na réamhbhabhtaí ar siúl i Mí Dheireadh Fómhair agus i Mí na Samhna. Bhí siad ar fad ar siúl go fíorúil. Glacann Gaelcholáistí agus Meánscoileanna fud fad na tíre páirt sa chomórtas seo.
Tá an craobhchomórtas le feiceáil ar Utube ag an nasc seo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Is Óg-eagras í Feachtas Óg-Ghluaiseacht Gaeilge a eagraíonn clubanna óige, gréasáin shóisialta agus imeachtaí éagsúla, agus Comórtas Tráth na gCeist, trí mheán na Gaeilge.
Tá chuile dhuine i gColáiste Mhuire an-bhródúil as Seaimpíní nua na hÉireann agus ar ndóigh tá an fhoireann iad féin i mbarr na gceirtlíní geala!
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Seoladh Slí Chun Dé
Bhí ócáid fíorúil, fíorspeisialta againn i gColáiste Mhuire agus ar líne ar an séú lá de Mhí Bealtaine agus Slí Chun Dé leis an tSiúr Mairéad Ní Bhuachalla RSC á sheoladh againn. Is Séiplíneach na scoile í an tSiúr Mairéad le níos mó ná ceathrú céad anois agus tá pobal na scoile thar a bheith bródúil as an leabhar áisiúil, iontach a scríobh sí do scoileanna na tíre. Is leabhar le Searmanais Phaidreoireachta do Dhéagóirí é Slí Chun Dé a bheidh á dháileadh ar scoileanna ar fud na tíre agus a bheidh ar fáil go leictreonach chomh maith. Is sár-bhean í an tSiúr Mairéad, seoidín na scoile, a chuireann go mór le spiorad an Choláiste agus bhí áthas orainn í a cheiliúradh ar an oíche.
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Ár mbuíochas ó chroí le chuile dhuine a thacaigh linn agus leis an aoí speisialta ach go háirithe, An tArdeaspag, Diarmaid Ó Fearghail. Tá aitheantas speisialta tuillte ag Lily de Búrca an Comhairleoir Deoiseach Oideachais a chabhraigh go mór leis an tSiúr Mairéad agus í i mbun pinn
Craoladh an ócáid beo ar youTube agus is féidir breathnú air ag an nasc seo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNIhkxr_JkI
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Seomra Faoin Aer agus Gairdín Bhláithín
Cuireadh tús le tionscadal fónta roimh an Nollaig le cabhrú linn i gColáiste Mhuire dul i ngleic le srianta Covid-19. Tógadh seomra faoin aer i gclós na scoile agus críochnaíodh an tógáil díreach in am d’athoscailt na scoile i Mí Feabhra. Tá an-éileamh ar an seomra agus is mór an chabhair é dúinn é i láthair na huaire. Reáchtáltar mór-thionóil ann, úsáidtear é do cheardlanna idirbliana agus ranganna drámaíochta. Mar chuid den tionscadal tógadh “Gairdín Bhláithín”. Is gairdín crochta é i gcuimhne ar iar-mhúinteoir dár gcuid, Bláithín Ní Dhubhlaoich, a bhásaigh i Mí Lúnasa an bhliain seo caite. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dílis. Ár mbuíochas leis an Ms. Ní Chearbhaill, an Mr. Ó Cuirc agus le Peter Keogh, Feighlí na Scoile, a chabhraigh linn “Gairdín Bhláithín” a thabhairt chun beatha. Tulcaí buíochais le chuile dhuine in oifig ERST a chabhraigh linn agus a thacaigh linn i dtaca leis an tionscnamh seo. Tá nasc anseo chuig físeán a shoiléiríonn áileacht an tionscnaimh seo: https://youtu.be/Z2V8uTnCcn0
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Equality of Educational Opportunities and Outcomes
As part of our Social Action and Advocacy programme this year we focused on equality of the educational opportunities for students in our schools, regardless of social background. Existing research strongly suggests that educational outcomes for students from lower socio -economic backgrounds do not compare favourably with those from students from more affluent backgrounds. A working group of school leaders have engaged on this topic over the last few months exploring this issue and considering a response, with a particular brief to come up with practical interventions which will increase the opportunities for some students in accessing and remaining in education. The working group are now finalising their plan and this will be launched in our schools in September. Thank you to all who took part.
School Ministry and Liturgy Preparation Course
Our recent School Ministry and Liturgy Preparation Course was a great success. We offered this course to schools across all the Trusts and we were delighted that 150 teachers participated over the 5 nights. It was great to see so many teachers engaging with the presentations and participating with the breakout and feedback sessions. The evaluation responses have been extremely positive and we can sense a desire among our teachers for further such courses / programmes to assist them in their work. We plan to keep these conversations going in the new school year.
EREBB Student Leadership Course
60 students from 3 of our secondary schools participated in a pilot of the Student Leadership programme designed collaboratively between ourselves, ERST NI and Edmund Rice UK. Thanks to Tom Murray, Edmund Rice UK for facilitating this pilot course. The programme will be rolled out to all schools who wish to take part in September. A further training session for any staff who wish to teach this course will be held at the beginning of the new school year.
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Masters in Education Studies (Leadership in Christian Leadership)
We would like to bring the course below to your attention and also the fact that 6 bursaries are available.
Unfortunately, the information night will be over by the time you read this notice. |
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“Be intent on prayer and whatever will happen will turn to our good”
Blessed Edmund Rice
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