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Message from Gerry Bennett

It’s been a tumultuous year, it’s been a challenging year but it’s also been a very fast year. Perhaps because many of the usual markers of a year – like the State exams, the Autumn GAA Championship matches, the Debs and graduations, or Halloween – either didn’t take place or were so changed or subdued, we seem to have sprinted almost to the end of 2020.

All of us will take our memories from this year with us, probably for the rest of our lives. It has been a year of solidarity, huge caring and togetherness, and it has been a year of terrible loss, sacrifice and hardship for many. We all look forward to 2021, I’m sure. The news of the vaccine gives us great hope that we can return to the things we love, like sports and meeting with our friends and family. But I also hope that we can take with us some of the learning and experiences of pulling together, of looking out for neighbours and vulnerable relatives and friends as we move beyond the restrictions of the pandemic.

It has also been an extraordinary year in our schools. Almost overnight in March, you all had to switch to on-line learning. Zoom or Teams or Whatsapp became the new normal.

It was fantastic to be able to return to our school physically in September. This did not come about without enormous effort and dedication from the whole school community. At our network meetings of Edmund Rice school leaders, principals around the country continuously expressed their gratitude and huge appreciation for the wonderful work of their school staff in providing quality learning and educational experiences in very challenging conditions. They also praised students and families for the part they were playing in ensuring that schools could continue to stay open, even throughout the second lockdown period. This great spirit of partnership and the collective effort that went into creating caring school communities are two elements of our Edmund Rice Charter. It was great to see them playing out as lived experiences through difficult times.

While the principals were quick to praise others, we cannot forget the work that they have all done – supported by their boards of management – firstly, throughout the summer in getting our schools re-opened, and then keeping them running safely since.

We pray that the launch of a vaccination programme will bring this pandemic to an end but we need to protect ourselves and others in the meantime, particularly over the Christmas holiday.

I hope you enjoy reading about the inspiring events and programmes that did take place in our schools over the past few months.

I want to wish you all a safe and happy Christmas and great hope and joy in 2021.

Gerry Bennett - Edmund Rice Schools Trust

“And they came with haste, and f ound Mary, and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” – Luke 2:16

May you f eel God’s presence in the candles, that sof tly spread their glow at Christmas and may you experience the wonder of His abiding love, as He guides you, through each day of the coming year. May God’s Blessings be with you and your f amily throughout the Christmas season and into 2021.

Catholic Schools Week 2021 The January 2021 edition of E-Síol will be dedicated to illustrating the wide range of activities that take place in our Edmund Rice schools during Catholic Schools Week.

Please select one of these activities and submit a short article and some photographs to show the celebration.

We would love to see all our schools represented in this edition.

Rice College Westport

Missionaries f rom Home

Last November Ms Ryan Jennings received a photo from Seamus Gill, a Mellon Educate Building Blitz volunteer, that brought joy to her heart, to her students and the Rice College, Westport School community.

Seamus Gill presenting students in Cape town South Af rica with school supplies and tracksuits f rom Rice College Westport.

It all began in September 2018 when class teacher Ms Ryan Jennings and her TYC Religion class decided to set up a project themselves. Inspired by a teaching colleague, Ms. Mannion, who had volunteered with Mellon Educate the previous July, the class decided to become “Missionaries from Home” - the title of their project. Deciding to base it on the Team Hope Shoe Box Appeal, they began to research their project by contacting the Mellon Educate office and interviewing local volunteers they knew. Their aim was to create supplies that were compact and reasonably light to travel with the Volunteers to Cape Town, South Africa.

“After a lot of discussion and trying to figure a suitable, achievable task, an idea came to light,” Ms Ryan Jennings explains. A sandwich bag of school supplies was agreed on and a plan put in place. The class created a sample bag with markers/colouring pencils/crayons, 2 pencils, an eraser, pencil sharpener and pencil case. The students drafted a letter for local businesses in the town and set about spreading the word, explaining what was needed and establishing dates for collections. Students were placed into groups and each group took responsibility for a street of businesses in Westport town.

Sample of sandwich bag of school supplies

The task involved a lot of time- walking, talking and gathering, and my word did those students do a fantastic job. Local businesses in Westport town inundated the boys with supplies. Some businesses even placed special orders for stationery to donate to the cause. It truly was overwhelming. The task of packing the supplies took place during their free time, sometimes even getting help from other classes and staff. The final count was over 300 sandwich bags packed full of supplies with the students ensuring every bag looked similar. They also received school bags and, very generously, a set of over 50 tracksuits were donated from our Sports department in Rice College. TYC sorting supplies f or packing

Due to such a huge response from the local community, Mellon Educate headquarters encouraged Ms Ryan Jennings and the TYC class to liaise with Seamus Gill a local volunteer with Mellon Educate Building Blitz. Seamus was very grateful and delighted with the donations collected and agreed to bring everything to Cape Town with his building volunteer comrades the following November. Patrick Kerrigan TYC, Seamus Gill Mellon Educate Volunteer & Class teacher Lorraine Ryan Jennings

This would not have been possible without such a great community spirit. The guidance and encouragement from Ms Ryan Jennings, determination from the students of TYC to make it a success, the generous contributions from local businesses and, to complete the circle, having a local man hand deliver the supplies to the most grateful students in Cape Town, South Africa.

What a wonderful fulfilling project the class of TYC 2018 with their teacher Ms Ryan Jennings made into a wonderful success.

We wish the class of TYC, who are now our Leaving Cert Class of 20/21, the very best in their studies and also, we hold a little hope that their “Missionaries from Home” project sowed a seed that may encourage them to serve those most in need at a future stage in their lifetime. CBAs and the new Junior Cycle Course

2B Religion class worked very hard on their Classroom Based Assessments. Over a three-week period, they researched a specific Person of Commitment and prepared a presentation on their person of choice. Most chose a person with a religious commitment and the results were fantastic! One student made a website about St. Patrick, others made PowerPoints and presented their findings to the group. Some used a word document and images of their person of faith. At the end of each presentation there was a question & answers opportunity. Over all, a very informative and educating experience for the boys.

Our Amber Flag Award f or Promoting Mental Health:

“Think Positive- Be Positive”

We were awarded our first Amber Flag in June 2020 for promoting positive mental health in our school. The committee organised various activities and events which helped us to secure this award. As part of our application we held a Positive Living Week for the whole school community and the theme was "Think Positive - Be Positive". During the week students participated in various workshops and attended talks which focused on empowering students to make small changes to their daily routines. Evan Regan (former Mayo football player) visited the school and gave a talk to senior students about the importance of good nutrition and the impact it has on mental health. Lianne McManamom from Mayo Mental Health Association held a "Breathe" workshop with our 2nd year students and 1st year students attended a drumming workshop with Antony McNamee. The week was vast and varied. The primary aim of applying for this award was to give our students the opportunity to focus on themselves, engage in some personal development and to highlight the importance of positive mental health. We would like to thank Ms. Ferguson for her tremendous work and effort in attaining this very special award for our school community. Past Students Wear the Mayo Colours with Pride

Rice College, Westport is extremely proud of all our past students who were named in Mayo’s Senior team line-up on the 18th October, with past student Mark Moran making his debut & being named Man of the Match, scoring an impressive 1-2. Well done to all past students- Lee Keegan, Eoghan Mc Laughlin, Fionn McDonagh, Mark Moran and Rory Brickenden. Teacher, Mr. Kevin McLoughlin is also a star player for our Mayo team. Could this be the year the long-awaited Sam Maguire comes back to Mayo after 69 years? Rice College turns Spooky for Halloween

“Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”

(William Shakespeare, Macbeth)

Halloween was celebrated in style by many our classes. Ms. Mannion’s 1B English made spells to turn their teacher into a toad. Ms. Hopkins 5th year Art sketched Halloween-themed still lifes & our Multiple Disabilities Special Class designed Halloween decorations in Art with Ms. Kennedy & découpage candle holders in Woodwork (MTW) with Mr. McManamon.

3C RE Class Visit St. Mary’s Church, Westport

Pastoral Coordinator Martin Dunne spoke to some of our 3rd years about sacraments, rituals & symbols which will be useful for their Junior Certificate Religious Education Journal Work Project. They will be the last cohort of students to the do the journal work project. The boys found it very informative and helpful.

Volunteering in the Townships of Cape Town

Sharing a throwback to October 2019, when we celebrated the Extraordinary Month of Mission in Rice College, Westport.

Over three days, Carrowbeg House, Westport held an exhibition outlining the work many volunteers in our local community, and further afield, have been involved in throughout the years. Our very own Miss Mannion’s stint as a Volunteer teacher in the townships of South Africa was included in the exhibition and our Leaving Cert Applied class got to learn all about the work that goes on behind the scenes in our community to help those in need. The boys pictured have worked very hard themselves on fundraising projects alongside different charities so it was a treat for them to witness how their input has been so important in bringing a smile to the saddest of faces. Hopefully, it won’t be too long before we can be involved again in both exhibitions like this, and fundraising campaigns for our chosen charities. Transition Year Mini Companies

Our TY students have set up Mini Companies as part of their Business module. One group has chosen to make wooden snowmen and a second group are making Christmas logs, with 20% of profits to benefit a local charity. Orders have flown in for both and our elves have been very busy getting them ready for their new homes. The boys also suggested that the Christmas logs might be nice as a token of remembrance for a loved one, which is a lovely, heartfelt sentiment.

Coláiste Phádraig Lucan Coláiste Phádraig CBS Lucan Talent Show 2020

Coláiste Phádraig’s Virtual Talent Show was held on Friday, October 23rd. As always there was great excitement and a brilliant atmosphere around the school on the day of the show which was streamed simultaneously into every classroom from 9am. Eighteen acts competed in this year’s show in total having recorded themselves at home and there was an impressive range of talents displayed from singing, dancing, guitar, keyboard and trombone playing to rapping, DJing and art displays. There were also some surprise and hugely entertaining teacher acts too which the students really enjoyed!

At the end of the Show, every student in the school got the chance to vote for his top three acts. The TY students collected and counted the votes before handing them to the principal. Mr. Brady then read out the top three acts over the intercom with each act getting an (extremely loud!) cheer.

In third place was 6th yr Eoin Wood whose DJ Norman act greatly entertained the students by mixing songs of a similar tempo to great effect. Eoin confidently and enthusiastically joined old beats with newer tunes, all from the dance electronic genre of music, resulting in a catchy, upbeat and enjoyable act that went down well with all year groups and he received 100 euro for his efforts.

In 2nd place was 2nd yr David Farrelly on acoustic guitar. His upbeat performance of Ed Sheeran’s “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” received a great ovation around the school and it was clear, from the reaction he got, that he was an outstanding contender for the top prize. He was happy with 2nd place and his reward of 100euro but no doubt he will be back again next year, determined to go one better!

The winner, with a huge number of 1st preference votes, was 1st Year John Judd Joshua whose uplifting, energetic and extremely powerful keyboard performance of “Our God” by Christian singer/songwriter Chris Tomlin, impressed everyone. His vocal range was incredibly impressive for someone so young as he reached a high F-sharp on a few occasions, a skill that is quite hard to master for a lot of young musicians. John poured his heart and soul into his performance and his passion, sincerity and sheer enthusiasm really endeared him to the watching students and staff alike. John was the deserved winner of this year’s Talent Show and he was presented with €150 and a framed certificate by Ms. Bonner.

In a lovely moment, John explained to Ms. Bonner that he was going to donate his entire winnings to a charity that is close to his heart. We highly commend this selfless act of generosity which is very much in the tradition of Edmund Rice. We are very proud to have such a caring, decent, talented student who has already become a wonderful ambassador for the school.

The TY students were a fantastic help to Ms. Bonner throughout as they organised and ran the show to a high standard. Shane Whelan in particular did a phenomenal job editing the entire show which ran for almost two hours. Shane committed an enormous amount of time into ensuring that every act was given the required time to display their talents and that each performance flowed seamlessly into the next one. Everyone was greatly impressed by Shane’s professional standard final edit which greatly added to the sense of occasion.

The Talent Show was a wonderful event for the entire school and the perfect way to finish up before the mid-term break.

Tráth na gCeist Boird Feachtas:

Coláiste Phádraig CBS Lucan continued its strong recent tradition of success in the Tráth na gCeist Boird Feachtas as our 2nd yr team advanced to the National Final after the recent Dublin regional round held on Thursday 12th Nov.

Having claimed the prestigious National Title a remarkable three times in the past six years (2015, 2017, 2018) and the Dublin title four times in the same period (2015,2017,2018, 2019) the school entered two teams this year. Due to COVID-19 regulations, each school was responsible for organising and running the Tráth na gCeist on the same day. The questions and resources were emailed to each school two hours before the start of the quiz, which was held in our school canteen.

Traditionally there are two students from senior cycle and two from junior cycle on a team of four. However, this year junior and senior students were kept apart to avoid unnecessary mixing of year groups. Our senior team consisted of three 6th years, Michael Connolly, Ali Kalee and Alex Knowles, and they scored a respectable 36/60, with two poor rounds costing them a lot of points unfortunately. Our junior team consisted of four 2nd Year students; Cillian Lawlor, Eoin McGarty, Alex D’Alba and Luke Gibbs. Considering that some of the questions, all through Irish of course, were hard to understand at times, they performed remarkably well to finish with a score of 40/60. These scores were then sent onto Feachtas, the organsiers of the Tráth na gCeist, who compiled a scoreboard based on all of the results sent in that day from the participating schools.

In truth, our students were somewhat resigned to not qualifying as at least 45/60 is usually required to advance as one of the top two placed teams. However, the following morning we received the final scoreboard which had our 2nd years in 2nd place, just two behind the winning team. The students were understandably delighted (they are all extremely competitive!) and they received €5 Eason gift vouchers each and more importantly a place in the National Final to be held in March 2021. Tá siad go léir ag tnúth go mór leis an gCraobh an bhliain seo chugainn.

Annual Awards Night

Due to the extended school closures in March, Coláiste Phádraig’s annual Awards Night 2020 had to be cancelled. The winners of the five main awards were announced via Zoom at the final assembly of the year in May. The students were subsequently invited by the principal Mr. Brady to attend a small award presentation in the school on Monday 19th October where they were presented with their awards in person.

TY student Liam Garrigan received his Sports Star of the Year Award in recognition of his consistently impressive displays for the school’s u16 hurling team that won the Dublin title. Liam is an outstanding athlete who also plays football and basketball for the school to a high level so he was the stand out choice for this award. Conor Devlin was presented with the Transition Year Student of the Year award in recognition of his enormous contribution to TY throughout the year. Conor got involved in all aspects of the programme and was willing to try new things and get out of his comfort zone. He worked well with his fellow students and impressed his teachers with his enthusiasm, cheerfulness and initiative.

Seán Young won the From Each, His Best award in recognition of giving of his best at all times in every aspect of school life. Seán’s resilience, determination and courage in the face of adversity has been an inspiration to others throughout his time in Coláiste Phádraig. Seán served as a Prefect for a year and he always carried out his duties with commitment, positivity, good manners and kindness. All of his teachers are very proud of him and delighted that he won such a prestigious trophy.

Jordan Whelan won the Padraic Naughton Award for 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.

Jordan was selected as he impressed everyone with his good manners, cheerfulness, positive attitude, respect for teachers and staff. His outstanding work as a prefect, in which both displayed leadership, initiative and maturity, was also a big factor in his selection. He was always willing to stand in for any absent prefects and he was extremely obliging with his time whenever management needed help with after school meetings and events.

The main award of the school year, The Tommy Brennan Student of the Year, was won by 6th yr Mark Daly. 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 four students was drawn up, with Mark 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.

Since 1st yr, when he got involved in interschool debating competitions and the Tráth na gCeist, Mark fully embraced life at Coláiste Phádraig with enthusiasm, passion and cheerfulness. An outstanding prefect; punctual, responsible, respectful, patient, helpful, firm but good-natured, polite and pleasant, Mark now adds his name permanently to the list of outstanding past winners of this hugely important award.

While the winners must return their Perpetual Awards before the next Awards Night in May 2021, they get to keep the beautiful silver engraved platters they were presented with as mementoes of their achievements. They students also had their name engraved on small metal plates which went up on the school Roll of Honour display board in the main building, where they will remain permanently. The school management were determined to ensure that the students got the same opportunities and remembrance as previous winners despite the curtailed school year.

Congratulations to the five students on their awards. Artist of the Month Award

This award has been introduced to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding talent and creativity of the many budding young artists in our school.

3rd yr Max Leonard was the inaugural winner of this prestigious award for October 2020

Max is very passionate about his art and began working on a Graphic design project based on the theme ‘Patterns’. His work is at a very high standard and incorporates all of the art elements that have been practiced since Max began art in first year.

The work Max has produced is similar to the style of illustration Irish artist Philip Treacy is known for. Philip Treacy the award –winning haute couture milliner, has had many exhibitions all over the world and has designed hats for Lady Gaga, Madonna and British Royalty. At Coláiste Phádraig we have a connection with Philip Tracey as his nephew Andrew Treacy attended our school from 2009-2015.

1st yr Noah Carroll won the award for November. Noah decided to choose Visual Art after sampling all six subject options for 1st year during the 6 week Subject Tasters module before the Midterm Break in October as he felt that the subject would nurture his creative side and since joining the class Noah has shown a great natural ability for the subject and greatly impressed his Art teacher Ms. Ryan.

There are two 1st yr Art classes this year such is the popularity of the subject and both classes are currently learning and practicing the Art elements also known as ‘the building blocks of Art’. Noah produced a wonderful piece of work which shows a great understanding of colour and tonal mixing. This piece of work was developed to incorporate Line, Tone, Form and Colour with an emphasis on typography and drop shadow. Noah’s work was a beautifully designed composition that marks him out as a very promising young artist with an immense talent for Visual Art.

5th yr Taaseen Kalam took part in a competition to design a logo for a new online company called Eccounts in November. Taaseen, with the encouragement and support of Ms. Ryan, took on the project in a very professional and determined manner. Tasseen’s colourful, clever and artistic logo was selected out of hundreds of others and the company paid him for his work and received the design on a canvas. This logo design will be used by this business company going forward on all their stationery and website.

Ms. Ryan takes great pride in her students’ art work and wishes to commend the above winners on their outstanding achievements.

Ardscoil Rís Limerick

School Mass

The Opening of School Year Mass for Ardscoil Ris took place this year on the 6th of October 2020. This is usually the first event of the year for all students and staff to gather as a community. While the traditional liturgy gathering did not take place, staff and students did gather virtually.

The Opening of School Year Mass was streamed to every class for all students and staff to watch. The theme of hope was very evident in this liturgy, with readings and music reflecting our need to stand together as a school community and support one another through this time. Sci-Fest

Niall Meade is a 5th year student in Ardscoil Rís, Limerick. He is competing in the SciFest National final with his project titled “Scootsure – Making Electric Scooters Safer & Insurable Using AI”.

Niall said that “scooters first came on my radar the summer of last year when my friend fell off his scooter and grazed his knee. I went back to school last year and my teacher started asking us to think of ideas for the Young Scientist and SciFest competitions. I began to explore how I could make scooters safer. I decided to use artificial intelligence to predict the terrain in front of the scooter. If the terrain is considered dangerous it will limit the speed of the scooter accordingly. I also used artificial intelligence to make sure the driver is wearing a helmet. If the driver isn’t wearing a helmet the scooter won’t turn on.”

Niall investigated this further. When he looked into scooters more he realised that insurance companies didn’t want to insure them because they didn’t have enough data about how they are used to create premiums. To combat this issue he developed an app for his phone which collects data from his scooter when he is driving it which the insurance companies can then use to measure the risk and create premiums. He got sponsorship for the scooter from On- Semiconductor in Limerick who he completed his work experience with.

He has competed at Young Scientist competition three times in 1st year, 3rd year and Transition Year. He first had to get accepted to the exhibition which meant submitting a proposal of what he had planned for his project. Once he got accepted he began working on his project. For the exhibition in January you are required to have a 50 page report book, poster and presentation prepared. His teacher, Ms. Diane Condon, was a great help getting him prepared before the week in Dublin, he said “she organised a day in the school over Christmas where the students came in and practiced our presentations, trust me I needed it! The week came and I had 3 judges over 2 days, I received highly commended in my category. I always enjoy the week at Young Scientist. Its great fun and you make so many friends up there.”

This was his first year competing in the SciFest competition. Unfortunately it was all online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The regional final which was meant to take place in LIT consisted of him submitting his report and poster for his project online. After judging he received news in August that he had won a Specsavers Making a Difference award and won the SFI Best Project award. There were over 430 projects submitted to this round. With the best project award he had qualified for the National finals, after taking a picture of him with his scooter and had submitted his report he had to prepare his presentation for a zoom call on judging day. His teacher, Ms. Condon, organised zoom calls over midterm to prepare his presentation I had the judging call in the chemistry lab at school. There will be a virtual award ceremony on Saturday, 21st November.

Doon CBS Doon & District men’s shed deliver 4 raised beds to Doon CBS Primary school suitable for flowers or vegetables all treated timber.

Pictured, Tom Hayes and Pakie O’Brien of the Men’s Shed and Joanne O’Connell, School Principal, Doon C.B.S.

Planting Raised Beds

Mr. Donal O’ Connell helped all classes to plant some lovely flowers and vegetables in our new raised beds. All classes will be responsible for a looking after their bed and hopefully tasting some of the results later in the year. 4th and 5th class below proudly show off their raided bed. Christmas Cards

During December, the Student Council decided it would be a lovely idea to send Christmas cards to The Park Nursing Home in Castletroy Limerick.

Dominic Ryan in 5th class article below.

‘At our last Student Council meeting we decided to send Christmas cards to the residents of the Park Nursing Home, Castletroy, Limerick. Included with the Christmas cards were letters talking about ourselves. We prepared the letters over a few days. We then decided to get scratch cards to put into the Christmas cards we had recently prepared as a small gift. We did this at Christmas time for the people who may not be able to see their family members, in the hope it might bring them some joy. We hope they enjoy receiving them as much as we enjoyed making them’.

By Dominic Ryan Summiting Keeper Hill

Well done to 6th class who recently scaled ‘Keeper Hill’. A great experience enjoyed by all. Above the pupils stand proudly with their class teacher and principal Mrs. Joanne O’ Connell Rice College Ennis

Our Charter In Action

Letters in Lockdown

Although we returned to a slightly different school building it was business as usual for our Transition Year students at Rice College. In September our students got in touch with The Clare Volunteer Centre to correspond with residents in local Nursing Homes and Community Hospitals across Clare who are unable to have visitors of family and friends. Due to restrictions in place this has been a very challenging time with many been cocooned for 10 weeks. The Clare Volunteer Centre gifted the TYs with cupcakes to show appreciation. Our students are maintaining communication in the form of Christmas cards. The design is by Brian Coughlan from TY who is the St. Francis Credit Union Art Competition winner.

Junk Kouture This is our second year getting to the grand final of the Junk Kouture competition. Under the guidance of art teacher Ms. Hogan, Carla, Caitlin and Eunice produced this magnificent masterpiece. Our creation was inspired by bees and the girls even used real beeswax in their headpiece. The skirt is inspired by the beehive shape and many hours were spent weaving the bodice from cores of toilet rolls!! A pop of colour was added by attaching beautiful handmade flowers. We think you will all agree Eunice makes the outfit come alive!

John Paul II Awards

In early December our 5th year students had a very welcome visit from Bishop Fintan Monahan of the Killaloe Diocese to present them with the John Paul II Award. The Award is committed to helping young people enhance their spiritual, physical, emotional and social development through participation in school, parish and community activities. These activities were carried out last year pre-covid. As well as the feeling of personal achievement that the students gained from taking part in the Award, it also allowed them the opportunity to participate and demonstrate their commitment to a task and goal in their community.

Transition Year

Fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland

Over the past month, the TY students and Mr. Cleary have been working on a fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. This fundraiser was sponsored by over 50 donors and recorded a total of €870 and counting. In return, the TY1 students did a 10km walk on Thursday the 26th of November.

How the charity was selected?

A list of 26 charities was considered and after a lot of consideration, it was decided by a vote to select Cystic Fibrosis Ireland (www.cfireland.ie). A walk was chosen as the means of fundraising as this allowed us to comply with COVID regulations and guidelines once we maintained social distancing.

We had to consider new ways of collecting the money so we set up a Gofundme page. Declan Hehir, Luca Kulczyski, Cormac Keogh and Aoife Anderson were responsible for setting up the page.

Coláiste Éamann Rís Callan

Remembering Br Damien Brennan

The Brother Damien Cup

This winter as the evenings closed in and the weather got colder Coláiste Éamann Rís became a hive of activity and excitement as the first year of the annual Brother Damien Cup took place.

Having lost our dear Principal Brother Damien Brennan in September 2019 we have had time to mourn his passing. However, we felt that it was now the time to honour his life. We felt that the best way that we could do this was through a hurling tournament. Hurling played such an important role in Brother Damien’s life. He was involved with Kilkenny county minor teams as well as John Lockes hurling club and Tullaroan hurling club. He achieved so much success with different teams down through the years. However, it will be the memories of the service that he gave to our school’s hurling teams that we will cherish the most. He was involved with teams at every age level in our school. His most notable victory was the Senior Leinster Colleges Final win over Saint Kieran’s College in 1998. This man lived and breathed hurling. Not only that, his whole purpose in life seemed to be in trying to get the best out of people. He wanted to help every person that he met achieve their potential.

This was such a special person that we felt every student should be made aware of who he was when they entered the school. His name had to be spoken in the corridors.

It was therefore decided that The Brother Damien Cup would be a tournament for our first year students. They would be split into four teams and they would each be given a team name that had a connection to Brother Damien’s life. Team 1 would be called Arles. Arles was the parish in Laois that Brother Damien was from. Team 2 would be Westcourt. Westcourt is where Brother Damien lived with the other Christian Brothers in Callan. Team 3 would be called Mountsion. Brother Damien was a Christian Brother and Mountsion is the resting place of Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. Finally, Team 4 was called Kilbride. Kilbride was the area where Brother Damien has been laid to rest.

Next we decided on the dates that the games would take place. It was agreed that they would take place every Wednesday on the class after lunch. Each team would play each other once. The top two teams would earn the right to compete for the Brother Damien Cup.

The group games and final would take place over four Wednesdays. Indeed there would be a lot of work to be done in running the events on a weekly basis. Therefore the transition year students were drafted in to help with refereeing the matches, carrying out media duties and for helping with statistical analysis. This worked well as the Transition Years are currently taking part in the GAA Future Leaders Programme.

The competition created great excitement around the school as the matches proved to be very competitive on a weekly basis. At the end of the group stage we had Kilbride and Mountsion occupying first and second place respectively. This would mean that they would battle it out to see who would win the Brother Damien Cup. The curtain raiser on the day would see a playoff between third place Westcourt and fourth place Arles to see who would win the Shield.

Following an exciting curtain raiser Shield Final that finished in a draw we were all set for the main event. This proved to be a fantastic game with great skill on display. In the end Kilbride came out on top and lifted the Brother Damien Cup. Abbey CBS Tipperary

Abbey Angus Competition

In September 2019, five of our Transition Year students embarked on a journey to win five Angus calves. They entered the Certified Irish Angus Schools competition. This competition is run each year by the Irish Angus producer group. The aim of the competition is to highlight the benefits of Irish Angus beef to both the consumer, farmer and the school community.

The first part of the journey was to make a video. This video focussed on how the students were going to raise the profile of the breed. A lot of effort was put into this video and the boys were lucky to get selected to go through to the next round. The next step was an interview which took place in Limerick. This interview looked at what they were planning to do and what they had already done. The students were successful in the interview and this is when the real work started. The team was then selected to participate in the All-Ireland which would take place in Croke Park.

A wide number of activities were underway at this stage. A number of highlights included speaking on the local Radio station, making videos with local vets and Teagasc advisers, writing a recipe book which was full of amazing nutritious recipes involving Irish Angus Beef. This book was made available to all parents of students in the school. A booklet with a list of all the Irish Angus bulls available through AI was also put together. This was available to all local farmers through the Co-Op and other businesses around the area. One of the highlights of the competition was the day we brought a prize-winning Irish Angus bull into the Abbey. The bull was paraded around the school. Students and teachers got the opportunity to witness first-hand how impressive this breed is.

When the day finally arrived in Croke Park, on 04th March 2020, an early departure from Tipperary meant we were fully organised and ready for judging. The panel of Judges included People from The Irish Angus Producer group, ABP, Kepak, Tesco, Department of Agriculture and Agriaware. After a busy day in Croke park explaining to the judges how we promoted the breed and all benefits of Irish Angus beef, we were delighted to be on the five schools chosen to win five Irish Angus calves.

In a normal year, the students would receive the calves at the National Ploughing Championships. This year things had to change. Instead of the boys travelling to meet the calves, the calves were delivered to the school. This was a special day not only for the students directly involved but the entire school and staff as they were all part of the success. At the moment the calves are grazing happily in Glen of Aherlow, on the farm of Darragh Barlow, one of the students involved in the competition. They continue to be a major part of the school’s busy life as there are constant updates regarding diet, weight gain and the work involved in producing quality sustainable nutritious beef. Aspire, Achieve & Excel at The Abbey

Leaving Certif icate 2020

The Leaving Certificate 2020 calculated grades results were issued later than usual, on Monday, September 07th. There was an anxious wait for all students concerned after already enduring a very disconcerting final term to their post- primary education. Within the school on the morning of results issuing, a feeling of emptiness prevailed. We did not have the usual hub of activity around the school foyer and awaited phone calls and emails from the students to discuss their options. Friday, September 11th at 2pm heralded the release of CAO round 1 offers which saw points increase across almost every faculty of university and college course. The vast majority of our students were very happy with their results and course offers but as always there are some, for who their first choice just was not to be. The uncertainty of the pandemic for the last nine months has taught us, that nothing in life can be completely mapped out and for the students who were initially disappointed, all are now content if not happier with their second or subsequent choices. What is for you does not pass you!

As always, we have a wide geographic spread to where our students are studying or at least registered to study for now as most are still engaged in learning remotely. UL, LIT, Mary Immaculate College, UCC and CIT proved to be the feeder education institutions of choice for the class of 2020. Of those who did not progress to universities or institutes of technology, all are currently engaged in Post Leaving Certificate courses, certificates in Agriculture or Apprenticeships. The school is very proud of the hard work and commitment, in every aspect of school life, of all the students in both Leaving Certificate Established and Leaving Certificate Applied 2020 and wishes them well in their future studies and employment. The resilience shown by this particular group of students in times of such great uncertainty is admirable and is something that will stand to them throughout their lives and not just during their studies. Also, the dedication and effort from all the teaching staff must be acknowledged, this played a huge part in driving the lads on to realise their potential and achieve their respective successes.

College Awareness Week & Open Days

In a normal Autumn, we would be booking to visit college open days but all of these events have shifted to online webinars for the foreseeable future. Fortunately, our current 6th Year students visited UL, LIT and Mary Immaculate campuses when they were in 5th Year so they have a greater understanding of what the typical day of a student in college should be like, at least in normal times. College Awareness Week took place from November 23rd – 27th nationally. At The Abbey, the underlying theme was "Aspire, Achieve and Excel" for all students. Activities included career investigations, interviews with teachers on their college routes, college/career focused essay competitions, points calculation exercises, live webinars and recorded sessions from various third level institutions (LIT, UL, Mary Immaculate College, CIT and NUIG). 1st Years created a large "Jobs & Careers" story board detailing their career aspirations, college choices and even made college ID cards to complement it. A group with huge potential in the years ahead. We are keeping this safe and will hopefully display it at their graduation in 2025. It will be interesting to see how this group of students progress and if they are still attracted to similar career areas on graduation from The Abbey.

The highlight for all was the video content we received from our former students regarding their current college/university courses and apprenticeships. Thank you to the students who went to time and effort of putting these detailed and insightful recordings together. They are particularly busy themselves, preparing for end of semester assessments. We received much more content than was possible to share online. It was viewed by students in the school and some more videos will be posted on school media in the coming weeks. Students and teachers are very grateful for these videos. Authentic and genuine information which is invaluable to our current students trying to make informed career decisions. Teachers were also delighted to see the progress former students are making.

Thanks to all students, staff, parents and third level institutions who contributed to all the activities, especially 1st and TY students who were the College Aware ambassadors for the school. Great success in these challenging times.

Congratulations to Conor O’ Donoghue (1A2) winner of the 1st Year careers essay competition and to Harry Hartigan (1A1) winner of the 1st Year careers crossword competition.

How My Future Career Will Make A Dif f erence

College Awareness Week Essay Competition 2020

My name is Conor. I am in First Year in The Abbey School. I want to be a carpenter. Carpentry is a craft I am very fascinated by. I would love to do it in future years. What really got me thinking about carpentry was, just a few months ago when I bought a new hurley. As usual, the few days I waited for it to be made, were exciting and tense. Anyone who plays hurling knows the joy and excitement of getting a new hurley. I am currently waiting on another hurley to arrive. Every morning, I wake up happily thinking that it is one day closer to having the plank of wood in my hands. I realised I would love to make hurleys! You don’t have to be a carpenter to make hurleys, but I am going to get all the education I can on Wood Technology. I know that if I make hurleys, I will put care and love into the craft, because hurling isn’t just a sport, it’s a religion. I think that by making hurleys, I can give customers that joy and excitement that I get every time I buy a new hurley. Even if I do not become a carpenter, I can always make hurleys part time.

Although hurley-making is a passion of mine, it is not the only reason I would like to be a carpenter. Before I even started secondary school, I was excited to try Woodwork. The idea of working with wood and turning it into items or furniture really appeals to me. I knew for certain after trying Woodwork I enjoyed it. Now it is really looking to be a career for me!

I find it quite satisfying to cut, carve, sand and chisel wood into the shape I want. I think it would be great if I could make ornaments for a Christmas tree, make a picture frame, or even create little toys for younger kids to play with. I can already see myself making little customised hurleys with my family’s names on them or for a customer. I’d love to know that I brought joy to someone when they received a gift that they would like to have.

Also, having skills with wood can be very handy for everyday things, if the dinner table leg is broken, no problem! Or maybe I could cut planks to scale to create the floor in a new building, creating surface for people to live on, make memories on. Or maybe I could make the bodies of musical instruments, like guitars and pianos. They have to come from somewhere!

All in all, carpentry is a big part of our lives whether you know it or not. We take many things in everyday life for granted, like tables, chairs, shelves, wardrobes, drawers, counter-tops and doors, the frames of couches, roofs, musical instruments, and pictures. What would we have if we did not have wood? So, in a way, carpentry brings joy, safety, comfort and love to our lives in more ways than one. This is how I want to make an impact on our lives and future generations to come.

Coláiste Eoin & Coláiste Íosagáin Baile Átha Cliath An Pháirc Uile-Aimsire

Táimid ar bís faoin bpáirc nua uile-aimsire a tógadh i gcomhpháirtíocht le Comhairle Contae Dhún Laoghaire-Ráth an Dúin. Tá an pháirc nua suite os comhair Choláiste Eoin agus Choláiste Íosagáin agus á roinnt idir an dá scoil i rith an lá scoile agus ar cíos ag clubanna áitiúla um thráthnóna. Tá Coláiste Íosagáin ar an bhfód le caoga bliain nachmór agus is áis iontach í seo do na ranganna corpoideachais agus do na foirne camógaíochta agus peile sa scoil. Bhíomar an-cheanúil ar an tseanpháirc lábach a raibh an oiread sin ratha ag baint léi d’fhoirne na scoile thar na blianta, ach táimid cíocrach anois do ré nua na páirce agus don todhchaí taitneamhach rathúil atá ag síneadh amach romhainn.

Ardscoil na Mara Tramore

Scifest Champion 2020

Caoimhín O' Leary, a 5th year student here in Ardscoil na Mara has been named Scifest Champion for 2020. Caoimhín was named the overall winner at the national competition which took place virtually from 19th - 21st of November. Caoimhín is no stranger to science competitions and has won prizes previously at Scifest, Coder Dojo and BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

Caoimhín has been working for over a year on his innovative video analyis measurement system that helps rehabilitating patients recover after joint injury or joint surgery. Caoimhín will represent Ireland at the Regeneron Internation Science Fair, based in the United States, next May.

Well done Caoimhín, we are so proud of you! News From LCA & Pink Day

Our LCA students have so far been involved in raising awareness for two very important Contemporary Issues.

Firstly Sarah Ann O Hehir chose to do her Social Education Contemporary Issues task on "Mother and Baby homes". As well as contacting government agencies for research, Sarah Ann invited Karen from "The Babóg Project" in to do workshops with her class and with all TY students. In these workshops, all students sewed a doll, and each doll represented the 6,000 babies who were affected one way or another in these homes.

Secondly, Lilymai Ramsay organised a "Pink Day" to raise awareness for Breast Cancer in our school community. All students dressed in pink, and donated money to this very worthy cause. €1,907 was raised and this money will be donated next month to the Irish Cancer Society. Lilymai has invited a nurse from the Cancer Society to our school to give advice and information to our students in relation to Breast cancer.

We are so proud of all of our LCAs for being active agents in raising awareness and making a positive change in our school community. They have shown themselves to be real student leaders and role models.

Positive Points Recipients Well done to all the students for achieving over 10 positive points.(1 photo , students and principal Mr Padraig Cawley.

Included in photo – Oisin Haylin 2nd yr, Rory Casey 2E, Daniel Andrews 1H, Aine Groves 1D, Niamh Purcell 2D, Saoirse Farrell 2F

Young St Vincent De Paul

The Regional Facilitator of the Young St Vincent De Paul will make a virtual visit to Ardscoil Na Mara to make a presentation to the Transition Year students . The presentation will focus on plans for this year’s committee and projects. Those involved in previous years have gained much from their participation and all are looking forward to learning more on becoming members of the Young St Vincent De Paul Committee.

Student Council

The Student Council have had several meetings and are busy making plans for the coming weeks. Several members will participate in an ERST student leaders conference to discuss a plan for the annual Student Leadership Conference and all will participate in the annual training seminar

F1 & Maths Olympiad Competitions

F1 in Schools National Maths Olympiad award Finals for First Year students

Storm Racing (Matthew, Rian, Luke, Feidhlim & Oisin) who won We are delighted be presenting ‘Best Pit Display & Enterprise a National Award to two of our Award” at F1 in Schools Ireland 1st Year Students, Abdulahi National Finals 2020 Ahmed 2E and Conor Breen 1H. @F1inSchoolsIRL with Ms Both students took part in the McNabola, Mr O’Brien & Mr Maths Olympiad Competition Cawley. with approx 5,500 other students from around Ireland. The F1 in Schools STEM The competition took place Challenge is a global multi- recently here in our school disciplinary competition, open during Maths Week 2020. to all secondary schools in the island of Abdulahi has placed 2nd in Ireland. It challenges secondary Ireland and Conor has placed 1st in Ireland and we want to take school students to design, build this opportunity to congratulate and race miniature compressed both students on their air-powered Formula One outstanding achievement Both cars of the future. students are pictured with Maths Teacher Mr Cliff & School Principal Mr Cawley

Peace & Justice and Student Leadership

Peace & Justice Student Leadership

Pictured with Principal Mr Our student leadership team is Cawley and Peace & Justice looking really strong. We wish Co-Ordinator Mr McLaughlin are our new Student Council and our Edmund Rice Youth 6th year prefects all the best Ambassadors 2020-21 Liam for the year ahead. The O’Flynn & Alannah Cullinane. We students are pictured with are very proud of these two Student Council Co-Ordinator students and wish them well in Mrs Una Lonergan and School their new roles. Principal Mr Cawley

High School Clonmel

Creative Schools Initiative

The first of the school’s major plans came to fruition on Thursday 15th October. Every student in the school was invited to digitally submit an idea or design for a mural on Google Classroom. These ideas were then sent to The Walls Project, the creative agency that manages the delivery of Waterford Walls International Street Art Festival and carries a comprehensive educational outreach program in Irish schools. Artist Magda Karol was then commissioned to facilitate a workshop and realise a final design of the mural based on student ideas. Magda is an accomplished and successful illustrator, artist, educator and muralist. Over 20 students, from 1st to 5th year got the opportunity to partake in a socially-distanced outdoor spray paint workshop with Magda and assist her in the completion of the final mural.

The Walls Project and their resident artist Magda Karol was also delighted with the overall collaboration and very aptly pointed out that “workshops allow you to forget for a moment the reality of the pandemic, developing the imagination we all need to create and design a better future.”The final result was a beautiful and contemporary spray-painted mural highlighting ideas of inclusion, teamwork and persistence. The central design was focused on the Irish name for Clonmel, Cluain Meala-Valley of the Honey. More importantly, the students involved had fun, were inspired and felt part of a whole school collaborative and creative experience that everyone can appreciate and enjoy.

TY TAG & SPRAY

Almost 60 TY students got to take part in a street art workshop in which they designed their own "Tag" and spray painted their designs onto a wall of the school. The workshop was facilitated by Magda Karol, artist in residence with Waterford Walls. The 3 day workshop was funded by "The Creative Schools" initiative whose primary aim is to promote and create opportunities for students to experience and be creative.

Maths Week

The ethos of Maths Week 2020 was based on the idea that Maths is for everyone. The aim of the High School Maths Department was threefold; to promote a positive attitude towards maths, to advance student attitudes towards maths and to encourage a realisation of its impact on everyday life. It is part of an overarching goal to promote the successful uptake of STEM subjects.

The week’s activities were posted online through the school’s Google Maths Classroom and the students engaged in daily puzzles and quizzes. Daily prizes were given to both the junior and senior winners and there was an overall junior and senior winner at the end of the week. It encouraged informal chat amongst the students about maths and the reward and public acknowledgement of winners only served to encourage further participation as the week went by. By the end of the week over 170 students were active on the maths platform. Congratulations to the overall joint junior and senior puzzle winners for the week. The junior winners were Christopher King and Alex Maber seen below with Principal Ms. Karen Steenson.

The senior winners were Eoin Keane and Conall Ryan seen here with Principal Ms. Karen Steenson.

An Egg-cellent End to Science Week 2020 at the High School

Science Week 2020 made for a week packed with activities and challenges in the High School. This year's core theme was ‘Choosing our Future’, focusing on how science can improve our lives not just in the future but also in the present. The overarching aim of the theme was to explore how science can help us to make positive choices that will impact the environment, our health, and our quality of life. Changes based in scientific evidence that we make today can not only hugely improve our future life but also right now.

The subject matter was broad and incorporated topics such as the future of work, the future of health and wellbeing and how we all live in a world where we have had to mitigate and adapt to the challenges facing society. Unfortunately climate change has not gone away and now society has also had to unite and face the coronavirus disease COVID-19.

The Science Department kick-started Monday with a Kahoot Challenge for all students. The quiz questions were based on students’ prior knowledge on Climate Change and served as a stimulus to get students thinking about the overall theme and what they could do to promote sustainability. The challenge was won by Alby McNamara in 1st year. Further Kahoot Challenges ensued for the week with James Killen, Luke Hannigan, Eoin King and Christopher King winning on the other days. On Tuesday Jen Harris from S.L.I. - Sustainable Living Initiative Waterford visited our Green-schools Committee with a wonderful workshop on the Sustainable Goals and how they can influence our health. Jen also held a workshop during last year's Science Week so it was excellent to have her back and to provide continuity for the students. The workshop proved to be very active and thought provoking for the committee which includes students from 1st to 6th year. Jen also looked at the Sustainable Development goals from the perspective of COVID-19 and how it changes our outlook on them.

On Wednesday, our Transition Year students attended a virtual workshop on Elite Sports Science. Here the boys learned how science helps our favourite athletes to optimise their performance and create the ideal body composition for an All-Ireland winner. They also studied the performance profiling of cyclist Sam Bennett and predicted the marathon performance of Irish running legend Aubrey Storey. They then took part in a body composition analysis with Kilkenny Hurlers. Thanks go to Bruce Wardop and Aubrey Storey in the Department of Sport and Exercise Science W.I.T. for delivering the workshop.

Thursday and Friday were busy days for our 6th year biology, chemistry and physics students as they took part in the Irish Science Teachers Association senior quiz in their class groups. Here Cathal Berrigan, Simon Smith and Michael O’Donnell came out on top, scoring the highest marks.

Science Week came to a close with a splat the following Monday. 35 students had been working hard all week to compete in the much anticipated Egg Drop Challenge. Students had to build a contraption that would help keep an egg intact when dropped from a height. There was an impressive and highly creative array of parachutes, packaging, paper planes, household food items, bird nests, balloon houses (inspired by the film Up) as well as some inventive uses of face masks. The two winners in this section were Patrick Keating (1st year) with his clever bird nest design and Christopher King (3rd year) with a fantastic parachute.

Scoil Mhuire Fatima Cork Séan Óg Ó hAilpín presenting a new set of jerseys to the school.

Historical Walk

In October some boys from third class went on a historical walk of the local area. The aim of the walk was to visit areas with links to past pupils of the school. The first port of call was Tomás Mac Curtain’s former home, and the site of his assassination at the hands of the R.I.C. Next we visited the Shandon historical area, and the home of Iar-Taoiseach and six time dual AllIreland winner, Jack Lynch. It was here we were met by a local historian who imparted great knowledge about the Butter Museum, trade unionist Mother Jones and Annie Moore, the first immigrant to pass through New York’s Ellis Island. Our last port of call was to Shandon sweet factory, run by former pupils the Linehans.

Nagle Rice College Doneraile

Community Spirit is alive and well in Nagle Rice, Doneraile. A place where #YOUMATTER

Edmund Rice once said ‘Have courage, the good seed will grow up in the children’s hearts later on’. We, at Nagle Rice have every faith that those good seeds are well and truly blooming within the hearts of our young people today.

Our Transition Year programme offers a wide variety of subjects relevant to the Leaving Certificate alongside many opportunities for extracurricular activities including Outdoor Pursuits, Enterprising, Gaisce and Drama modules to mention but a few.

This year is no different and our students continue to thrive despite the restrictions in place. Their willingness to adhere and respect guidelines has been and continues to be admirable. Transition Year students in Nagle Rice Secondary School in Doneraile Co Cork have been busy since returning to school, participating in several activities in line with the Gaisce Bronze Award.

Our TYs are undertaking the Bronze award this year. There are four key areas required to achieve this award. One such area is Community Involvement which is all about giving back to the community. The Community Involvement section gives students the chance to make a difference. It is an opportunity to explore and improve interpersonal skills and self-developmental skills. Our students are spending time at The Presentation Convent which is now the local Pastoral Centre doing all sorts of jobs including cleaning windows, washing walls, clearing debris and painting amongst a host of other things They are doing trojan work and enjoying the time spent physically active in their own community. It is a pleasure to see our young people engrossed in their community involvement. We are proud to say the least.

Further community involvement occurred in the form of a walking tour of Doneraile with local historian Nora O Keeffe. It was a wonderful opportunity to discover valuable insights about Doneraile itself and for some their home town. We are blessed in terms of location with Doneraile Park literally across the road, a beautiful wildlife amenity of which we certainly take advantage.

Physical Recreation is another key area of the Bronze award. This area is about becoming physically stronger and improving fitness. Getting moving is a sure way to make you feel healthier, think better, and live longer. TYs spent a fun filled day at Ballyhass Activity Centre on a cold but beautifully sunny day in October. They were blessed with the weather for a day of team building activities. From rock climbing to zip lining, not to mention the aquatic obstacle course, they certainly were not short of things to do!

They continued this physical recreation on another outing, walking the 7km Canon Sheehan Loop. Our students welcomed the opportunity to venture outside and take in the beautiful nature on our doorstep that we often take for granted. A chance to take off their masks and breathe in the fresh air while adhering to social guidelines of course. A wonderful end to their first term as Transition Year students indeed! We must again highlight the positive work ethic and overall spirit of our TY students who have embraced this year with open arms!

Thank you to our teachers who organised events and accompanied our TYs on trips and excursions throughout this first term. It has been an uplifting and positive experience for all involved and we look forward to continued success in out next term. We are very proud of our students here in Nagle Rice a place where #YOUMATTER Bunscoil Sancta Maria Baile Átha Cliath

Hata Mata Seachtain An Mhata faoi lán seoil i mBunscoil Sancta Maria Baile Átha Cliath Bhí muid ag diriú isteach ar mhata an mhí seo caite agus muid ag ceiliúradh Seachtain An Mhata i mBunscoil Sancta Maria Baile Átha Cliath. Rinne muid cuid mhór imeachtaí le linn na seachtaine le Seachtain An Mhata a cheiliúradh. Bhí cluichí mata againn agus rinne muid hata mata freisin. Nach bhfuil cuma mhaith orainn go léir?

Bhí seachtain den scoth againn lán le spórt agus spraoi. Tá muid go léir ag dúil le Seachtain An Mhata ar an bhliain seo chugainn!

We were focusing on Maths in our school last month as part of our Celebrations for Maths Week 2020 in Bunscoil Sancta Maria Dublin. We took part in lots of different activities to celebrate Maths Week. We played Maths games and also made our own Maths Hats. Don’t we all look fantastic!

We had an amazing week and lots of fun. We just can’t wait to Maths Week next year!

Coláiste Eoin Baile Átha Cliath

In ainneoin na srianta, tá téarma rathúil curtha isteach ag Coláiste Eoin.Thosaíomar an téarma ag dul i dtaithí ar na nósanna nua a bhaineann le cúrsaí sábháilteachta sa phobal scoile. Ní fada go raibh na múinteoirí, maraon leis na scoiláirí , gníomhach agus iad i mbun oibre chun suíomh spreagúil,dearfach a chruthú.

Imeachtaí na hidirbhliana

Maidir leis an idirbhliain,tá formhór na scoláirí sínithe suas don clár GAISCE go dtí seo, an méid is mó le blianta fada! Tá an clár faoi lán seoil ag na scoláirí ag an staid seo, rud a thugann deis iontach do na buachaillí a gcuid scileanna agus luachanna a fhorbairt agus a threisiú.

Lena chois sin, chuadar ar siúlóid chuig Cnoc Cill Iníon Léinín ag tús an téarma a bhí go haoibhinn. Rinne gach rang ceardlann in Airfield i nDún Droma inar fhoghlaim siad faoi cúrsaí feirmeoireachta agus bia.Ba iontach an rud é na daltaí a fheiceáil amuigh faoin aer ag foghlam faoin dúlra agus an nádúr thart timpeall orainn.

Tá tús curtha leis an gclár LIFT (Leading Ireland’s Future Together) agus an clár ‘Future Leaders’ sna ranganna Sláinte agus Mata (beidh rothlú i gceist) ag tabhairt scileanna iontach do na daltaí a bheidh tábhachtach sa tsochaí agus go maith don CV sa todhchaí.

Tá €5,433.96 bailithe ag an idirbhliain ar son Focus Ireland leis an gcodladh amuigh faoin spéir a rinne siad roimh an briseadh meán téarma. Tá árdmholadh tuillte ag Iníon Uí Ghallchóir ,Comhordaitheoir na hidirbhliana, agus na daltaí uilig.

Ag Glanadh suas ár gCeantar

Chuireamar tús leis an bhfeachtas ‘Ag Glanadh suas ár gCeantar’ an tseachtain seo caite- bhailigh na buachaillí 18 mála bruscar taobh istigh do cúpla uair a chloig! Ba mhór an t-árdú meanman a thug oscailt na páirce nua uile-aimseartha don scoil go luath i mí na Samhna.Tá deireadh leis na laethanta ina bhfeicfeá na himreoirí ag dul i mbá sa láib agus iad ag slaparnach sa phuiteach.Anois,tá páirc imeartha d’árd-chaighdeán ar an suíomh a chuireann go mór le saol laethúil na scoile agus follán na scoláirí.Is iomaí laethanta buacacha atá i ndán dúinn ar an bpáirc nua seo!

Tá Coiste Glas na scoile ag tacú go mór le nós rothaíocht ar scoil a chothú.Tá méadú mór tagtha ar líon na ndaltaí atá ag rothaíocht ar scoil i mbliana.Cuireann an Coiste fearas,glasanna agus comhairle ar fáil do na scoláirí chun timpeallacht slán,sábháilte a chruthú dúinn uilig.

Agus dár ndóigh,tá Comhairle na ndaltaí ag obair leo chun imeachtaí spraoiúla a eagrú do phobal na scoil,ag cur taispeántaisí ceoil ar siúl ag am lóin agus ag reáchtáil Cath na mBannaí níos déanaí sa scoilbhliain.Ba iontach an rud é na bratacha agus éadaí ildaite a fheiceáil ar an Lá Bróid a d’eagraíodar ag deireadh mí na Samhna chomh maith.

Bhí deis iontach ag baill an Chomhairle bualadh le daltaí ar Zoom ó scoileanna eile faoi iontaobhas Éamoinn Rís chun ról na gceannairí a phlé.Ba mhór an tairbhe agus an spreagadh a fuaradar óna gcomhghleacaithe i scoileanna ERST timpeall na tíre.Is léir ón gcruinniú go bhfuil nasc agus comhoibriú mór á bhunú idir na scoileanna agus iad ag feidhmiú ón mbunchloch chéanna a leag Éamonn Rís síos go luath sa naoú haois déag.Ní neart go cur le chéile! Waterpark College Waterford

Christmas Hits the College!

This week has seen the beginning of the Christmas festivities here in Waterpark College! Many of our TY and 5th year students have been hard at work over the last few days decorating our windows with festive images and slogans in an attempt to get everyone into the Christmas spirit! Thanks to Ms Cahill and Ms Chionnfhaolaidh for organizing our decoration committees.

We had a short interview with Isaque Da Silva and Jessica Butfoy about their Lamp Post painting. Their answers reveal quite a lot about the nature of their work.

What was your inspiration?

We were inspired by the movie “Narnia,” we thought it was a cool image!

How long did it take you?

Two days in total!

What type of paints did you use?

Acrylics!

Leah Dunphy had a few moments away from the window work to talk briefly about her snowman.

What inspired your drawing?

He’s a very traditional Christmas character, and it would be very wrong to not include him. Are you happy with how it turned out?

I’m quite proud of it.

What medium did you choose?

Acrylics and marker.

We hope you enjoyed the read!

Have a happy and peaceful Christmas from student reporters, Emily McDowell, Adam Finn and Hannah Kelly on behalf of the entire Waterpark College Community

Letters of Hope “It only takes a small candle to take away the dark and in each of us, we can be that light in the world!”

First Year students in Waterpark College have taken Granny Nancy Stewart into their hearts, thanks to her recent “Letter of Hope”. This resilient 107 year old celebrated her birthday recently and decided to cheer us all up with her letter . She says “no matter how bad things have got, I’m the living proof that we can survive and in years to come, this will just be a distant memory”.

Students sent her goodwill messages, birthday wishes and Christmas blessings. Many of them told her how inspirational her letter is and how they think she’s just amazing to have lived through this great life, buoyed up by tea, the chat, baking and keeping the faith. There are quite a few tea drinkers in our First Year group and they love the chat too!

Classmates in 1.3 gathered around their letters and lit a candle to show the difference it makes in these sometimes difficult times. Ms. Kenneally, their Year Head, joined them and took their photos to mark the occasion. She also teamed up with the 1.2 group who decided that our famous pianoforte steps would be a good location for a class photo.

Thanks to all who took the time to wish her well and we’re sure she’ll be delighted to read their letters. Midleton CBS Secondary School Cork

MIDLETON CBS SECONDARY SCHOOL – NEW WELLBEING WALKWAY

A new “Wellbeing Walkway” has recently been created on the grounds of Midleton CBS Secondary School. The promotion of wellbeing is central to the Department of Education’s mission to enable children and young people to achieve their full potential and the creation of the Wellbeing Walkway is a testament to CBS’s endorsement of this national wellbeing plan.

The project was discussed at a number of meetings of the Parent Council who were extremely supportive. They agreed to part-fund the project in partnership with the Board of Management and the school’s Past Pupils Union who were also willing to offer their support to the initiative. The Student Council fully backed the project as did the Green School’s Committee who saw the development as an enhancement of their efforts to secure a Biodiversity Flag for the school.

A looped circuit of just over 800 metres around the school was drawn-up with the assistance of the school’s (DCG) Design & Communications Graphics subject department and construction began on the new walkway during the summer of 2020. The vastly changed school regime we returned to in September because of Covid-19 restrictions has been greatly enhanced by the availability of the new walking facility. Students are encouraged to get out in the fresh air as much as possible during break times. The pathway is 2 metres in width which allows for social distancing to be achieved without fuss. A brisk walk around the circuit provides wellbeing benefits to mind, body and spirit for students.

St. David's Artane Dublin St David’s CBS: Christmas Displays

St David's has always stayed in touch with its roots as an ERST school, and keeps the values promoted by the organisation at the forefront of its ethos. This attitude is on full display in the preparations made for Christmas around the school.

But decorations aren’t the only change inspiring Christmas spirit around the school. Though our annual hot chocolate fundraiser has been cancelled due to coronavirus, donations to the St Vincent De Paul Christmas Toy Appeal have continued strong. Understanding the plight faced by those less fortunate than us, the students and teachers of St David’s banded together to help make Christmas Day one of joy and celebration for families in the area.

During my time in secondary school, it’s never been easier than at present to forget about the circumstances of others, to focus only on those in your circle. But, within and outside its walls, St David’s has strived to keep community spirit strong and the mission of Edmund Rice in mind.

Patrick Byrne

6th Year

ERST Prefect

St David’s CBS Roscommon CBS

Helping the Homeless

The TY students along with their teacher Ms Aoife Coyle have launched an initiative in the school to help provide warm sleeping bags for homeless people. They have been hard at work collecting crisp packets for the Bivvy Bag Foundation which turns old crisp packets into blankets for the homeless. This was a great opportunity for the students to help out the people who need it most.

The students will collect old crisp packets at home and also encourage other students and teachers in the school to donate their crisp packets to the Bivvy Bag Foundation. These crisp packets will be stuck together and made into blankets for the homeless. The foil in the crisp packets keeps in heat so it will be great for a goods night sleep and keeping people warm. The foundation was set up by a volunteer for the homeless, Pen Huston. She was delighted to hear about the students at CBS Roscommon pitching in to help a good cause. The TY students have been working very hard collecting these crisp packets. One student had these words to say;

“ It feels amazing to be helping out for a good cause and I’m so glad the teachers organised this for us. “

We’d like to thank Ms. Coyle for organising this initiative for the TY students and we look forward to see their progress very soon. We’d also like to thank for working with the school to collect these crisp packets for a good cause. (By Daniel Hughes)

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Senior Students of the Edmund Rice ASD Centre in the CBS Roscommon created this artwork inspired by the school environment and community. They worked collaboratively on this piece choosing recognisable buildings, architecture and symbols with in the school. The colours chosen were expressive and communicate their feelings and emotions evoked in response to school life. Created by Eoin Fenton-Hanley, Bren Healy, Shahid Shafiq. Gaelscoil Sáirséal Limerick Nuacht

Tar éis an méid iarrachta atá curtha isteach i dtaisteal glas le bliain anuas ag tuistí na scoile, páistí na scoile agus go háirithe ár gCoiste Glas le Múinteoirí Edel, Katie agus Pádraig, fuair Gaelscoil Sáirséal ainmniúchán mar chuid den comórtas Dúshlán Taistil Mór 2020! Bhí an áthas orainn go deo an bua a bhaint amach don scoil scútala is fearr sa tír. Thíos tá grianghraf don Choiste Glas agus Príomhoide na Scoile.

Gaelscoil Sáirséal were delighted to have been nominated this term for the Travel Green Flag Awards & The Big Travel Challenge 2020. We were thrilled to be awarded with the national prize for best School for Scooting 2020. Pictured below are Members of the Green school committee, Teachers Edel, Pádraig and Katie with the Principal Ian Ó Madagáin.

Ní raibh críoch leis an gCoiste Glas le taistil amháin i mbliana ach lean síad ag tabhairt aire don timpeallacht le plandaí agus bláthanna don gheimhreadh a chur. Seo cuid de na baill nua don choiste glas.

The Coiste Glas were also busy continuing to improve the school environment by planting winter pots and flower boxes. Pictured below are some of our newest members of the Coiste Glas.

Mar chuid den obair leis na daoine áitiúla táimid ag cur Ciseáin Nollag le chéile le haghaidh Teach Altranais Naomh Camillus. Bhí ár dteaghlaigh ar fad fíor- fhláithiúlach agus iad ag tabhairt go leor rudaí deasa dúinn do na ciseáin seo. Beidh na ciseáin á sheoladh againn go luath.

As part of our community outreach programme this year we have been collecting donations for the local Nursing Home St. Camillus, Limerick. Our families have been very generous in donating baskets, pyjamas, slippers, crossword puzzle book, biscuits and chocolate treats. These hampers will be delivered in time for Christmas.

Charleville CBS Cork

Amber Flag

Thanks to Evan and Dermot of the Amber Flag team who spent time today putting together this display of all the things we are grateful for here in CBS. The past two weeks, students were asked to write down three things that they are grateful for in their lives to help us to focus on the positives.

Excelling in teaching and learning whilst building links with local community On 10th November 35 higher level Irish students in 5th and 6th year participated in Gaeilge 24. This was a 24 hour Irish speaking challenge. This challenge is organised by Conradh na Gaeilge each year and students from all over the country participate. This year our event was hosted in Charleville Park Hotel to allow for a safe and socially distanced event. All students collected sponsorship in advance of the challenge which went towards t-shirts and wrist bands for all students, with any profits going to Conradh na Gaeilge. Over the course of the day students participated in Irish quizzes, an Irish film screening, yoga as Gaeilge and an Irish raffle. Prizes for the events of the day were kindly sponsored by Bridgets, Ray Lee’s Centra, Dunnes Stores and The Oriel. The day was a huge success with students making huge efforts to speak Irish for the day and actively engaging with Irish as a living language. Beatha teanga í a labhairt.

TRANSITION YEAR – BUILDING LINKS WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS

Transition year students had a busy morning on the 7th December. Guest speakers from Charleville Chamber of Commerce, John Paul 11 Awards and HC21 gave informative and inspiring presentations to the boys.

Ray Lee, a past pupil of CBS Charleville took the boys through the formation of the Centra Stores in Charleville and the work of The Chamber of Commerce. One of the key messages that Ray passed on to the TYs was that that the staff and community form an integral part of his business .Ray went on to tell the boys that the business had to adapt and change when new challenges arose, an example of this is the new click and collect service in Centra. This has proven to be a successful and vital service for all members of the community.

Bernadette from the Cloyne Diocesan Youth Services made a presentation on the John Paul 11 Award. TYs are going to commence their community and church involvement for the award in early January. Students will prepare the readings for morning mass in Charleville and work in their own parish church. Transition Year students have already recorded Christmas Carols as part of their community work and they will distribute them to the local Nursing Homes.

Owen Curtin took time out of his busy schedule to talk to our Transition Year students. Owen is founder and chairperson of HC21 one of Ireland’s leading medical care distributors.

He engaged students by recalling the choices he made in his career and the different paths that life can take you. Owen started out working in the stores of in the South Infirmary and gained valuable knowledge of the medical distribution services. This grounding on the job and the people he worked with have stayed with him in all his business ventures. One piece of advice that he got along the way was that” a bad pen is better that good brain”.

Four local groups benefited from Owen’s generosity, NCBI, St Vincent de PAUL, St Joseph’s Foundation and Charleville Tidy Towns. Each group were presented with €500. Owen’s went on to present a number of vouchers to the TYS for their community work and engagement in the talk.

One of the key messages that the boys took away was that there is something out there for everyone and if you fail at something you can start again.

St. Mary's Academy Carlow

ASD Class

Cian’s Story

As an Edmund Rice school where inclusion is at the heart of everything we do, St, Mary’s CBS enrolled Cian in 2017. Cian is young, dynamic boy who has Autism and is unable to speak. At that time, we knew that we had to find a new way to communicate and educate, but we are up for the challenge.

In October this year, Cian received his Junior Cycle Profile of Achievement (JCPA). As a SNA who works with Cian, I was overwhelmed with joy for him and his family and I felt compelled to record a tribute to him, his family and our school community.

His family has given me permission to publish my thoughts.

At the age of four, Cian was in a school where his education was via Applied Behaviour Analysis or (ABA). ABA is a type of therapy that can improve social, communication, and learning skills through positive reinforcement. However, this method did not suit Cian and he was unable to show his true potential.

When Cian was 9 years old, his mother Mary discovered a woman called Soma who had developed a method of communication Rapid Prompting Method (RPM) for her own son who was nonverbal and autistic. Mary and another mom reached out to Soma and within 6 weeks a lady called Erika Anderson and her colleague Amy Campbell of Ace Teaching and Consulting, Green Bay, USA arrived in the West of Ireland to commence teaching some parents and their children.

RPM is an academic method which can lead to communication and consists of the student either pointing to separate laminate boards containing letters, numbers, and characters or using a pencil to do the same on a stencil board with letters, numbers or characters. Mary arranged an RPM workshop in the school Cian was attending at the time but they wouldn’t adopt this method of learning. They felt Cian couldn’t count to 5 and didn’t know his colours and it didn’t seem that this new method would have much chance of success. Mary decided to remove Cian from the school to home-school him in RPM, convinced this was the right way for him.

Cian re-entered the school system in 5th class and applied for enrolment in St. Mary’s Academy in one of our ASD classes. I, as his future SNA, and the two teachers who coordinate the ASD classes met Cian in the last few weeks of his time in 6th class before entering the CBS.

The then principal was very supportive of Cian coming to the CBS and also facilitating RPM for him. Erica and Amy returned in May 2018 for an RPM three- day workshop in a local hotel. Parents attending also noted how many CBS staff had attended this course and I explained that this type of support was part of the culture of the school.

The initial 1st school term was a massive learning curve as we all got to know each other, build trust and try to get the academic process established. There were definitely some high levels of stress and uncertainty but slowly we edged our way through the year. The stress diminished and the lesson time grew as the need for breaks reduced.

That trend has grown year on year where Collette and other teachers could achieve fully ‘open’ communication with Cian via RPM, which means complete self-expression. This is particularly useful in English where the students’ opinion really matter.

In Maths I am in awe of what his teacher, Ella, has achieved. What started in 1st year as a one minute lesson built month on month to a 45-minute lesson in RPM.

Considering the massive range of symbols used for equations etc, Ella often had FOUR different RPM boards to deliver a lesson. It has been fantastic to observe the interaction between Ella and Cian. Also, the support by the school was shown when Wesley, one of the Construction Studies teachers, produced a custom-made RPM board of characters to facilitate Cian in Maths

When Colette went on maternity leave for Cian’s 2nd year I was concerned that the lack of continuity would be broken but thankfully Barry and Cian formed a good connection and currently the same connection again in Transition Year.

Another teacher, AJ, has been brilliant with Cian, in particular in that first term when it was quite challenging. Sometimes it took getting into the trampoline with Cian to de-escalate him or a series of movements before a lesson began. Then the lesson commenced. Whatever was needed was done; sometimes it was just backing off and going to the sensory room if deemed it was too stressful.

Last October Cian did an RPM session from which I took a little extract..

”It has taken me a long time to get the control over myself so that I am not running around and stomping up and down. Over time I made myself cooperative seeing how much they believed in me”

There was more to his communication, but I think Cian mentioned ‘believed in’ twice.

I think every member of staff that has worked with Cian knew exactly his potential and it is when Cian is happy that his academic and creative mind can be expressed. Mary has said Cian sits in the car at 8.30am waiting to go to school. I am delighted for Cian that his potential has been realised with the grades he earned.

I am delighted for Mary and Willie, who are exceptional parents. I am so happy they have finally seen Cian achieve completion of the Junior Cycle. Cian would have been only the 2nd student in Ireland to sit State exams using RPM. Well done Cian, you are legend.

Bunscoil McAuley Rice Kilkenny We have had a very unique first term in Bunscoil McAuley Rice this year. We were delighted to embrace the new normality that the school reopening brought and are now well used to our hand sanitising regimes, our pods and bubbles, our new yard times and finish times and all that we are doing to stay safe.

Amidst these new regimes, we were excited to see our new school extension starting and we are really looking forward to having a fantastic new library and ICT room very soon. We are also delighted to announce our new Peace and Justice Group this year. Our Peace and Justice Group have been very busy raising awareness in school of Temple Street Children’s Hospital, The Good Shepherd Centre in Kilkenny, The Society of St Vincent de Paul and the fight against single use plastics. We had a ‘Fancy Dress’ during Halloween and raised money for Temple St Children’s Hospital and on the 8th December, we supported the Good Shepherd Centre in Kilkenny by raising a huge amount of fantastic donations. We are looking forward to our Christmas holidays and we will celebrate this with a ‘Christmas Jumper Day’ on the 22nd December. This will be a fundraiser for The Society of St Vincent de Paul. In the weeks and months ahead, it is our vision to become a School of Sanctuary – a place of welcome for everyone, especially refugees, asylum seekers and other sanctuary seekers and marginalised groups. Our Peace and Justice Group have been busy making welcome booklets for our Syrian children and their families attending our school and all children are having great fun learning Arabic in their classroom. We are looking forward to sharing further project work with the whole school community in the new year.

We would like to wish you all and your families a safe and Happy Christmas and many blessings in the new year from all at Bunscoil McAuley Rice.

Coláiste Mhuire Mullingar Here in CBS Mullingar our Social Justice committee have had a very busy month in conjunction with our First Years and Student Council.

Our Social Justice committee decided to create care packages which will be delivered to the local nursing home next week.

Our Student Council and Social Justice committee have also decided to recycle the empty wipes buckets by offering them to all members of the school and these buckets have been in high demand.

Our TYs are having a Christmas Market next week, selling products they have made in class with some of the money made being donated to local charities. CBC Preparatory School Cork

First Holy Communion

Congratulations to our 3rd Class boys who celebrated their First Holy Communion on Thursday 1st October at St. Patrick’s church. A big thank you to teachers Mr. Steven Lynch and Mr. Ger Buckley for all their hard work in preparing the boys for this special occasion and to Ms. Sonya Keogh for the beautiful music. Matthew Keane from 4th Class sang the hymns on the day as the boys sat together with their families in the pews. Canon Dan celebrated the mass and it was a very special event for the boys and their families. Monthly mass continues to be celebrated virtually each month with all classes logging in via ZOOM.

Maths & Science Week

This term the boys at the Prep School celebrated Maths Week and Science Week 2020 with plenty of games and activities throughout both weeks.

School Awards

The 2020 School Awards took place a little later than usual this year. The Awards Ceremony was held via ZOOM with classes logging in from their classrooms as students were presented with their award. Congratulations to all involved. Mount Sion Secondary Waterford

Science Week

Our annual Science Week took place from the 9th to the 13th of November. There were a host of activities put on for the boys during the week including our Transition Years building robots, poster design competitions, quizzes and a fact of the day, which was broadcast by the boys over the intercom. Huge thanks to the Science Department for putting on such a great week - especially Ms. Moloney and Ms. O'Brien.

Stand Up Week

"No one would have to come out if everyone chose to come in"

We held our 2nd annual Stand Up Awareness week during November which we marked on the final Friday with our rainbow day. Staff and students alike were encouraged to get involved by wearing a variety of different coloured clothing to show that Mount Sion CBS will not tolerate homophobic or anti-LGBTI+ bullying. Our Wellbeing teachers also worked very hard all week in educating the boys on the different terminologies used in the LGBTI+ communities. College Awareness Week

College Awareness Week took place from the 23rd to the 27th of November. We had speakers in from I.T. Carlow, W.I.T. and a study skills workshop. The study skills workshop in particular, which was delivered by Tom Magee from The Amazing Brains Company, was particularly beneficial for the boys and the feedback was incredibly positive from it. Thanks to Mr. Maher for organising such an important week for the boys.

IBM Quantum Computing Programme

Two 5th Year Computer Science students, David Bjelac & Sebastien Jazmin, both applied and received places on the IBM Quantum Computing programme recently. It is an international course where accepted students take a full-year course called “Qubit by Qubit’s Introduction to Quantum Computing” from October 2020 to May 2021, consisting of live lectures, labs, and problem sets. David and Sebastien attend online Saturday lab sessions with 200 students and Sunday lectures with 2,000 students and most impressively there are only 10 Irish students in total on the course.

This is a wonderful achievement for their development and a great achievement to gain a place on this prestigious course. Many thanks to Ms. Barron also for helping the boys with their preparations.

Transition Year Art

Transition Year group 4A completed their first Art project, a group artwork based on the work of artist Sonia Delaunay. The art module is the first one to be completed in many many years in our school and the talent of the boys is clear for all to see. Many thanks to Ms. Hodge for all the hard work she is doing in ecnouraging and inspiring the the boys to discover talents which otherwise may not be known!

ARTiculation

Max Sarba (6th Year) competed in the ARTiculation National Final on 5th November representing the South East Region. Different to previous years, this year's final was held via Zoom. Each of the four finalists involved had to complete a PowerPoint and a pre recorded video presentation on a piece of art, artefact or architecture of their choice. Max took us all the way back to Ancient Egypt with a marvellous presentation on The Second Outermost Coffin of Tutankhamun. Well done Max!

Transition Year Mask Designing

Ms. Kennedy's engineering classes recently took part in a mask-designing project that involved vacuum forming, designing and painting. 6 boys have since been selected based upon their masks to decorate windows in the G.P. for Christmas. Professional painter Maeve Doherty chose Danielius Neverauskas, Rahmat Tarakhel, Scott O’Connell, Renato Sic, Scott Wickham and Kingsley Ekedozie as the finalists for the next stage of the competition. Stay tuned to see who will win the overall prize!

Principals New to Our Network

Fiona Lennon

St. Mary’s Academy CBS, Carlow

My name is Fiona Lennon and it is a great honour and privilege to be returning to my native town of Carlow as Principal in the school where I taught Maths, Physics and Science for 10 years. I began my teaching career in St. Aidan’s C.S. Tallaght where I spent many happy years and was on secondment with the Project Maths Development Team for 6 years. I subsequently moved into the role of Deputy Principal at Ardscoil Rís, Griffith Avenue before moving to Cross and Passion College, Kildare where I also served as Deputy Principal.

I am passionate about teaching and learning and believe that together we can create an environment where each student in our care flourish as individuals, have high expectations of themselves and set no limits to what they can achieve in life.

I am looking forward to opportunity of working with such a dedicated group of staff and in playing such a vital role in the formative years of the young men of St. Mary’s Academy CBS, Carlow.

Pauline Queally

James' Street CBS Dublin

My name is Pauline Queally and I am privileged to have been appointed as the new Principal of CBS James's Street. I hold an honours Masters in Leadership and Management in Education from Trinity College Dublin. Over the years, I have held many leadership roles, including Deputy Principal, Acting Principal and Principal in two other schools. I am passionate about the leading of teaching and learning. I have worked for the PDST as a Local Facilitator and I have a great interest in methodologies and differentiation. Central to my philosophy of education is the integral role of pastoral care in fostering the students' self-esteem, enabling them to fulfill their full potential.

Kathy Mullen

St Fintan's High School Sutton

My name is Kathy Mullen and I was appointed Principal of St. Fintan’s High School following the recent retirement of Mary Fox. Having previously worked in the financial sector for fourteen years, I began working in St. Fintan’s in 2006 and as well as teaching History, I have been the joint co-ordinator of the SEN Department for many years. I have been heavily involved with pastoral care in the school and was also joint co-ordinator of the school musical for the past three years. I then went on to develop my leadership skills as an API and APII and later acted up as Deputy Principal in 2018/19.

John McHugh Ardscoil Rís Griffith Avenue Dublin

My name is John McHugh and I am the newly appointed Principal of Ard Scoil Rís, Griffith Avenue, Dublin. Originally from Donegal, I am a graduate of the Mater Dei Institute of Education and DCU. I spent 20 very happy and formative years of my teaching career in Collinstown Park Community College, Clondalkin, Dublin. Four years ago, I was appointed as Deputy Principal in Loreto Secondary School, Bray. While sad to leave a wonderful school, I am looking forward to the privilege of leading another wonderful school. My interests in education include ethos, policy, planning and the law.

EREBB LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE

Enrolment is now open for the next round of the Leadership Certificate. More details here and on the poster below.

We would highly recommend this course to current and prospective school leaders. Edmund Rice Schools Trust

Meadow Vale, Clonkeen Road, Blackrock, Le gach dea-ghuí don Nollaig agus don Dublin A94 YN96 Bhliain Nua. Ireland Unsubscribe