SANCTA MARIA COLLEGE, BALLYROAN, DUBLIN 16. Volume 8, Issue 2 Dec 2009 Http://www.sanctamariacollege.com Email [email protected] SMC News Denise Burns This newsletter contains reports of many events in debating, sports, careers, etc. It is only a sample of the many events that have been occurring in recent weeks. Students have participated well in a wide range of activities. And now all the December events are upon us! … Music Night on Thursday 10th, Carols services on Monday 14th, Subject Fair for 3rd and 4th Year information on senior cycle subjects on Monday 14th, House exams for 1st, 2nd and 5th Years commencing on Tuesday 15th, Block classes for 3rd and 6th Years commencing on 15th, rehearsals for 4th years and individual interviews for 4th Years re options for 2010/2011 also commencing on 15th. On Friday 4th December we welcome Rachel Devlin and Natasha Paul (last year’s Leaving Cert class) to a morning tea celebration in school to recognise their recent Scholarship awards from Trinity College and UCD. The awards are based on their excellent Leaving Cert results. 3rd and 4th Year students and parents have received much information about Senior cycle options and significant decision time is looming soon after Christmas. We are very concerned about the loss of classes through industrial action. We are unfortunately in a winter of discontent with industrial strife, fears about the budget and the economy, unprecedented flood damage to homes, farms and businesses …. Underlying all this strife are claims and suspicions about corruption, injustice, arrogance, incompetence.... In spite of all our anxieties, may peace in our hearts and in our families be a reality for us during the Christmas season. Best wishes to all our families, Denise Burns, Principal. SANCTA MARIA STUDENTS WIN U.C.D. AND TRINITY SCHOLARSHIPS Natasha Paul with her teacher Ms. Williams in UCD. Rachel Devlin with her parents in Trinity College. We are delighted to announce that Natasha Paul and Rachel Devlin can be added to the long list of students of Sancta Maria College who have won scholarships to third level colleges. Natasha Paul was presented with the U.C.D. Entrance Scholars Award in the College of Arts and Celtic Studies in the O‘Reilly Hall on 20th November 2009. Rachel Devlin won Entrance Exhibition to Trinity College on the basis of her excellent results in the Leav- ing Certificate Examinations. Exhibitioners along with their parents and teachers were honoured at a reception in the Dining Hall of Trinity College on Monday evening, the 23rd November. Natasha and Rachel‘s achievements sit proudly beside the seven students recently awarded prestigious places in The National College of Art and Design. No school in Ireland has secured more places for their students in N.C.A.D. than Sancta Maria College over the last twenty years. Behind the GREEN scenes Well, since starting 3rd Year, there‘s nothing I can say has made me feel more like part of the school than being in the Greener School Committee. We‘ve being trying our best to get the school community ready in order to apply for the Green Flag school status. We have appealed to students for any ‗green‘ ideas and some of the few we got are really clever and green. We hope to put them into action soon. We are really grateful for these ideas and we thank all the students who partici- pated. One of the things we‘ve done is to paint the black wheelie bins green. This took quite some time — in fact a number of Fri- days and Mr Brennan, Ms Reilly, Jera, me and Laura. It was fun and in the end we always had a cup of tea. I think that‘s what I always looked forward to. We‘ve done now with the painting. The next step is to ensure the green bins are ‗rolled out‘ and that every class and corridor has a green bin. We urge all students and teachers to participate by putting all your litter in the appropriate bins. Every little bit helps and we need all the help that we can get. I believe if we work as a community, we stand a good chance of achieving our goal which is to recycle as much paper as possible. If you have any questions ask any one of the green school committee members — their respective names are posted up on the Green School notice board in the G.P. room. Mitchell Chisvo 3A2 The Long Corridor The Greener School Committee would like to thank Ms Burns for facilitat- Remember to bring in any old or broken ing the Committee‘s expressed wish to brighten up the long corridor with electrical goods for recycling in the blue new lights. Mr Jim Scally and Paddy are presently installing these lights bin in the old kitchen area beside the large and Ramon will attach the students‘ art work to the walls. These canvasses green bins! List in the G.P. room. painted under the watchful eye of Ms Kelehan‘s Fifth and Fourth Year stu- dents will brighten up our day especially during the winter months ahead! Sr. Basil, Mr Flynn, Ms. Gaughan, Ms.Reilly and Ms. Leydon pictured at a reunion of all the students who travelled to Kenya over the past number of years. The group made a com- mitment to support plans to make a future trip in aid of the orphans of Kenya. Parents Association News At the P.A. meeting on Tuesday 3rd November a new committee was formed. Chairperson: Nicole le Blanc. Assistant Chairperson: Tríona Murphy. Secretary: Siobhán Garvey. Assistant Secre- tary: Damien O‘ Donoghue. Treasurer: Alex O‘Neill. Assistant Secretary: Bridget Cahill. The final sum raised in the Bag Packing in October was €2,151.00. Thanks again to everyone who took part. Clean up of the locality’09 Butterfield Residents‘ Association was out in force last Saturday morning, despite the crisp weather. Master of events was Mr Fintan Walshe who organised the various ‗clean up‘ gangs. He delivered as promised—gloves, claws and bags. There were treats handed out as we finished. Thank you Mitchell, Dean (the brother), Ciara, Laura and Jera for turning up and doing your civic duty. There is one request: Fintan, why not have this wonderful activity in September when it‘s warmer? Out with the Old and In with the New Thanks to the Board of Management who replaced the Baby Grand Piano with a spanking new model. The old piano has graced the music room since Sancta Maria first opened and has entertained thousands of students. Long may the new Gershwin piano entertain countless new students. Towards a Cleaner School – The New System There are now recycling bins in all the class rooms and in other prominent locations—please let us all use these bins properly. The students who have volunteered to empty the green wheelie bins and give so generously of their time–— find it disheartening when bananas or sandwiches and so on are put in the wrong bin. This has to stop and I believe will stop if a little thought and consideration is taken before you or anyone else litters. Show you care by not littering and put all recyclables in the green bin [list beside green bin]. The green school members will be paying unannounced visits at lunch time — just before the bell goes for class and in the afternoon to see what the class rooms are like. The criteria should be displayed on your wall/notice board in the classroom. There is one on the Green notice board. Three cards will be used to indicate judgment: red card is not good and will cost a deduction of points from the green officers’ score sheet; yellow is a warning and finally a green is what you want if you wish to score high marks. It is up to your class and all your class mates to work together if you desire to win the prize. This kicks in immediately and runs up to Christmas. I suggest some one take responsibility for those decorations which can make a huge mess! Thanks to Ms Kelehan and our LCA students of 5th and 6th Year who made our beautiful new Crib. The Crib attempts to capture something of the ordinariness of the birth of Jesus and at the same time point to the great mystery of the connection between the human and the divine that is a key to life for us all. D. Burns CAMOGIE Congratulations to the Junior team who have reached the Dublin Colleges League semi-final. They defeated Assumption, Walkinstown 3.1 - 2.0 in a very exciting match. Scorers included Catherine McDonald, Lisa Gillen and Katie Murphy. Good Luck in the semi-final against St. MacDaras. L.C.A. General Education Task (Art Exhibition) On 13th October we the 5th year LCA class organised and hosted The Junior Cert. Art Exhibition. It was a wonderful night and we got loads of compliments from parents, students and teachers. We made everyone feel welcome; we served refreshments and of course cleaned up afterwards. We took photographs and video of the event. The art work was amazing and we thought of all the hard work and time that went into creating it. So a big thank you to all the excellent artists in 4th and 5th year. Finally a huge thank you to Ms. Kelehan, Ms. Flanagan, Ms. Burns and Mr. Mac Gabhann for all their encouragement and support throughout the task. Sarah Layton, Aimee Bannister, Micheala Hogan and Aisling O’ Connor.