|
|
Newsletter Summer 2010
Principal's Message
Patricia Dwyer
As another year comes to a close I am delighted to say that the summer term finished in bright sunshine and with a wonderful array of activities for the Mercy College community. Our gym was filled to capacity with students, members of the Board of Management, Parents' Association and invited guests for our Awards Ceremony - a perfect opportunity to mark achievement and celebrate another eventful year. We gave out many trophies and certificates for academic, sporting, musical, artistic and community involvement, while students with excellent attendance and timekeeping had their achievement marked at end of year assemblies.
Of course, the last days of term saw us say goodbye to our outgoing 6th year students. Their end of year celebrations said much about their time here and their connection to our community - they were vibrant, fun-filled and showed great spirit. We wish them well in the Leaving Certificate examinations and every success in the future. Similarly, I wish to extend every good wish to our Junior Certificate students as they undertake their first state examinations.
As you know, Mercy College prides itself on encouraging each girl to fulfil her potential and use each of her many talents. We saw much evidence of that in the TY show - Oklahoma, during Mercy Melodies, and on Sports Day. Our choir enjoyed great success at the annual Feis Ceoil, winning the Fannin Cup for best two-part school choir in the country. Our soccer, volleyball and basketball teams also brought home medals and trophies over the course of the year. In addition, our students have travelled to Auschwitz and Omagh, Paris and Krakow, Carlingford and Ferrycarrig.
As is always the case the girls did not forget those less fortunate than themselves. They raised money for Haiti through a wonderful talent show and a quiz. They wore pink to fight breast cancer and purple to fight cystic fibrosis.
The year came to a close with the school winning the Irish Institute for Architects competition 'A Space for Learning', which saw Transition Year students from Mr. O'Mahony's Technical Drawing class work with three qualified architects to redesign our courtyard area in the centre of the building. Work will get under way during the summer holidays to turn the plans into reality. We look forward to seeing the finished product.
School Development planning has continued throughout the year with all members of the school community involved in looking at our Code of Behaviour. The facilities for students will be further improved during the summer when our two computer rooms benefit from a complete upgrade through the Summer Works scheme.
We celebrated the arrivals of Ms. Dunwoody's son Zachary in October, and Ms. Daltún's daughter Kate in April, Ms. Walsh's son Eoin in June and look forward to more happy news from Ms. Traynor in the weeks ahead. We wish them all well.
May I extend my gratitude to all of the staff of Mercy College, who make the activities and achievements you will read of in this magazine possible. Their commitment to the students is outstanding. May I wish the staff, the students and their families an enjoyable, sun-filled and relaxing summer. I look forward to working with you all next year.
Patricia Dwyer
Menu
School Completion Programme
Drama Club
The Drama Club, funded by the SCP, did a play called "Romeo and Jules". Rehearsals took place every Friday after school. The play was roughly based around a Dublin version of Romeo and Juliet. We had two amazing directors Johnny and Tara who worked with us. Many thanks to all. We had a fabulous time.
Emma O'Donohoe
Menu
Hip Hop
Every Friday from 1.20-2.10 Ms. Cunningham takes us for after school dancing. We are currently rehearsing for a performance in Mercy Melodies, which will be held towards the end of term. Any person is welcome to join. We have had a brilliant time socially and it was a great way to keep fit and make new friends.
Tammy Williams and Kelly Radford (1st year)
Menu
Homework Club
The Homework Club runs after school from Monday to Thursday - 3:45 until 4:45. This is run for 1st and 2nd year students and is well attended. We are all given a sandwich and bottle of water - to keep our minds alert!! Ms. Baker is there to help us if we are having any difficulties with our homework.
Elijah Mallari (1st year)
Menu
Breakfast Club
This is still running and has been extremely successful with very high numbers of students attending. Thanks to all our helpers. We hope to continue the Club during the next school year.
Menu
Adventure In Paris
Willow made a book this year entitled "An adventure in Paris". We entered into the 'Make a book' exhibition. This exhibition was held in the Civic Offices in Dublin. We visited the display and saw our book among all the others on display that were sent in by other schools. We then went to McDonalds for lunch and went back to school, where we were all given a copy of the book. The students of Willow are: Rebecca Warren, Shauna Hanley, Shannon Hamilton, Niamh Nolan, Rebecca Kennedy., Jordan Cooney and Emma Matthews. Many thanks to Rosemary for baking us a wonderful cake.
Menu
Summer Project
The next summer project will be running from 21st-25th June and it is open given to all Junior students. A lot of Senior students give their time and help. Activities include, trips to Clara Lara, Carlingford. Any interested person should contact Linda in school or phone 086-7304334
Linda Devitt
Menu
Culture Vultures
Visite Au Cinema
Le 10 mai dernier 40 élèves de Mercy College (5th et 4th yrs) sont allées au cinéma pour voir un film francais qui s'appelle "il y a longtemps que je t'aime" ( I've loved you so long)
L'actrice Kristin Scott Thomas joue le role de Juliette, 40 ans, qui essaie de reconstruire sa vie après avoir passé 15 ans en prison. Son crime était choquant mais les circontances de sa vie étaient tres difficiles et stressantes pour elle.
La reaction des élèves était tres positive:- "C'était un film fascinant", "C'était très interessant", "C'était captivant". Beth Valente a dit que "C'etait un film excellent mais très, très triste". ( Malheureusement on avait oublié le Kleenex! ). On attend déjà avec impatience notre prochaine visite au cinéma!
Monsieur Hogan
Menu
Seachtain Na Gaeilge 2010
Bhi roinnt immeachtai ar siúl sa scoil seo i rith seachtain na Gaeilge. Bhain gach duine sult as gcluichí ranga, tráth na gceist Boird agus céilí mór leis an gcéad agus dara bhliain. Bhi orthu pictiúir a tharraingt bunaithe ar téama Gaeilge. Fuaireamar roinnt pictiúir iontacha. Comhgairdeachas do gach duine a thóg páirt sa chomórtas. Bhuaigh Beata Rastawicka sa dara bliain agus Amy Gibbons sa chéad bhliain. Chomh maith le sin bhi comórtas sean focal ar siúil gach lá. Bhi lón gaeilge ar siúil sa teanglann gach lá ó 1:10 go 1:50 do dhaltaí sinsearacha. Bhain siad an-taithneamh as na milseáin go léir. Go raibh maith agaibh do gach éinne a ghlac pairt i rith na seachtaine.
B. Nohilly agus N. Dorgan
Menu
Rudo U Cursi
Hoy vivimos a la perilously "Rudo u Cursi". La pelicula se tiata de dos hermanos, Beto y Tat. No tienen dinero y vivien en un plantacion de plantanos.
Je convierten en famosos y ricos jugandores de futbol. Beto tiene una novia pero es un esta fador. La familia de Rudo viene para visitar pero volver a casa. Al final, Rudo pierde la pierna y Cursi trabaja como entrenedor de un equipo de futbol.
Robyn Curry
Menu
Student Council
It's hard to believe that another year has passed in the life of the student council. 2010 began with snow and ice, which meant our annual sponsored walk was postponed several times but eventually we got our walking shoes on just before Easter. The sun was shining and we had fun admiring the late arrival of the daffodils and other shrubs in St Anne's Park. Once again thank you so much to all who contributed to the amazing €2300 euros that was raised.
Both staff and students spent much time discussing our CODE OF BEHAVIOUR document. Representatives from the student council met with parents and members of staff to thrall through the document. All students completed a questionnaire. Results will be shown to students in September.
Members of the council linked up with Ms. Byrne (HSCL) to attend a Traveller Information Workshop in Northside Library. The event was a great success.
This year we had several informal meetings where senior and junior members chatted about school life, study, college etc.
Perhaps this could be built into the activities of the council next year. Council members linked up with management on a regular basis, the weary topic of make-up is still under discussion.
Finally I would like to wish all students the best of luck in the forthcoming exams.
Amy O'Carroll (Head Girl and Secretary of student council)
Menu
LCVP Mentors
On Tuesday the 20th of April sixth year students from the Schools Business Partnership programme attended a Celebration event in the Department of Education on Marlborough Street. The event was attended by the Tanáiste and Minister for Education and Skills Mary Coughlan, Sean Haughey TD and other representatives from the business and education community. The sixth year girls have been taking part in the programme for the past two years and the event was the culmination of their work and participation in the programme, for which they received a certificate on the day. The Schools Business Partnership run by Business in the Community Ireland aims to partner schools with a business. To date 158 partnerships have been established around the country and 75% of student participants in the programme say it has significantly impacted on their decisions to complete their Leaving Certificate. Mercy College has been teamed up with Office Depot in Rosemont Business Park in Blanchardstown. Throughout the two years the students, who include Aoife Brennan, Samantha Feery, Sandra McCormack, Shauna Prendergast and Rebekah Wright have been meeting with their various individual mentors who have been assigned to them in Office Depot. These mentors have offered them friendly advice, guidance and encouragement throughout their two years in the programme. The mentors in Office Depot gave up valuable time to spend with the students and their experience and guidance has been invaluable. A huge thank you is due to Office Depot and especially the Mentors there who have looked after and treated the girls amazingly. They have done so much for this group of 6th year students as well as also working this year with 5th year LCVP students.
Menu
Anyone For A DVD?
On behalf of Ms. O'Hanlon, Emma, Savannah and myself, we would really like to thank everybody including Matisse, who donated books and also to Tom and Máire for the work, time and generosity that they have given to the library over the past year. Indexing books can be a very time consuming job and without their help, it would have taken much longer. The library has seen many significant changes since September. We have a wider range of books and we have now officially opened a DVD library. New members are welcome and the cost of joining the DVD library is €5. For more information, please contact us in the library. Thanks to Ms. O'Hanlon for keeping us going. Without her we wouldn't stand a chance!
Holly Kealy (5th year)
Menu
Home School Community Liaison News
Since taking over from Ms. Daltún in March, I've had a very interesting, challenging and enjoyable few months settling into my new role. Many thanks to the parents, students and teachers who have helped me find my feet! I have been delighted to meet so many parents who welcomed me into their homes or joined in some of our courses or volunteered at paired reading. I have also been delighted to meet our next year's new first years at our transfer day. Here are just a few of the HSCL activities that have taken place over the last couple of months.
Linda Devitt and I were privileged to be on the organising committee for the first ever Northside Traveller Education week, which took place from April 26 - April 30. Lots of events took place all around the Dublin 17 area, including the Living History Project, which visited the primary schools in the area. Ms. Cassidy's 2nd year Art class put in enormous efforts to design and create a beautiful mural which was the centre piece of the week's launch in Coolock library. Girls from the class and others from the student council attended the launch which was hosted by Sean Haughey, Minister for Life Long Learning and they represented Mercy College, in a way that should make us all proud. Martina Collins, 5th year, gave a speech at the launch and was interviewed by local radio. The mural is to be framed and presented to the Bell Centre in Darndale, where it will take pride of place in the foyer.
At the end of March our adult art class held an exhibition of their work. The talent on display was overwhelming and the launch day was enjoyed by all who attended. Some artists even sold some of their work. Those pieces could be priceless some day!!
Parents took part in other courses, including Healthy Food Made Easy course funded by the Northside Partnership. Parents learned how to make healthy and delicious meals on a budget. They received a cookery book and a certificate on completion of the course, met other parents and had a great laugh every week in the process!
Our local committee which is comprised of two students from Mercy College, two from Chanel College, 4 girls from Scoil Chaitríona and 3 boys from St. Brendan's have been working on a project to raise awareness of money issues and budgeting with younger children.
Following a talk from MABS, they have been working on surveys for primary school children and hope to present their findings over the next week or two.
Ms. Dwyer, Mr. O'Mahony, Ms. Conneely were delighted to meet the parents of our incoming first years at our meeting. We hope that it's the first of many enjoyable collaborations we'll have with these parents over the coming six years.
If you would like to take part in any of the free courses available for parents in the school, help out in the first year paired reading programme or arrange for me to visit you in your home, please feel free to call or text me on 087 6550995
Emer Byrne, HSCL Co-ordinator
Menu
Feis Ceoil
After school choir is on every Monday with Ms. Doherty in Room 4. We recently took part in the Feis Ceoil competition. We were really excited when we got to the RDS. We sang our hearts out on two songs we had been learning all year. Our hard work paid off! We left Mercy College as a normal school choir but came back as a Feis Ceoil award-winning choir, having won the Fannin Cup.
Sarah Whelan (1st Year)
Menu
Take 5 Summer School
DCU has provided a unique opportunity for two students from Mercy
Sarah Whelan - 1st Year College this summer. Students from 4th and 5th year have applied for the summer school but there are only two places this year. So fingers crossed for the lucky two. The Take 5 Summer School will take place over 5 days from Wednesday 9th - Tuesday 15th June. There will be a final celebration on the evening of Wednesday 16th June where parents are invited to attend. Each of the 5 days will be spent in a different College. The five Colleges involved include D.C.U. , D.I.T., N.U.I. Maynooth, T.C.D. and U.C.D. Each day students will do taster College activities ranging from lectures and workshops to visiting laboratories. They will also take part in sports and a tour of each campus being visited. They will choose one from the following topics - Drama, Marketing, Music or Photography as a subject area for a project they will be involved in over the week. This is an exciting opportunity and will also be available next year.
Good luck to the 6th years and 3rd years in their upcoming exams. Remember "its never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise"! (Nancy Thayer)
Deirdre Teeling (Guidance Counsellor)
Dear Staff and Pupils,
I'm delighted to have this opportunity to thank you all for the warm welcome received on my return to Mercy College, Coolock. Long long ago I had the privilege of being educated in Scoil Chaitríona and Virgo Clemens (now Mercy College), and more recently I've been shadowing Mrs Teeling on a placement from college.
Firstly, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Mrs Dwyer and Mrs Teeling for accepting me on this placement. I have learnt so much about counselling from Mrs Teeling's expertise and gentle personal style. Secondly, I thank all those wonderful pupils who have befriended me over the month and want to wish everyone success in exams and in all future endeavours.
Wearing my other hat, that of Our Little Brothers and Sisters in Haiti, I would also like to say a special thank you to everyone who supported the Haiti Earthquake Appeal. May I thank the fifth year students who organised the fundraising and everyone who contributed so generously.
In Haiti our programmes are gradually getting back to normal and we have made huge strides in two of our new projects. The new neonatal ward at our paediatric hospital is providing much needed care for expectant mothers and the new rehabilitation unit for children who lost limbs in the disaster provides hope and support for those whose lives have been changed forever.
Our work is only possible because of the kindness of others and we are extremely grateful for your kindness and for touching our hearts and our lives.
Adele Lawler
Menu
Italian Visitors
During the 2nd term Mercy College hosted 12 Italian Students. It was lovely to hear Italian spoken in the class and in the halls
Menu
Oh What A Night!!
A reunion of past pupils took place in Mercy College on Thursday March 11th. The evening commenced with a wine reception in the foyer followed by refreshments in the hall. There was plenty of tasty cocktail sausages, platters of meat and cheese, and mouth watering sandwiches to tempt the Mercy graduates. Soft drinks, tea and coffee were also served by many of the present students and staff. Approx. 300 past pupils from all over Ireland ranging from the 1960s to 2009 were in attendance. There was great excitement and a real buzz in the school as the past pupils caught up with each other and their ex-teachers. Lots enjoyed looking at photos displayed around the building. A trip down memory lane was a feature of the evening with past pupils reclaiming their former seats and reminiscing about the good old days.
 |
Many caught up with friends separated by the years and miles. Many shared stories and photos that they came armed with. Many were amazed at the changes in the school in particular in the science labs, library, kitchen and the two computer rooms. Gone were the blackboards to be replaced by whiteboards and interactive whiteboards. A word of thanks must go to Monica for all her ideas and hard work, Sr Moira and Frances Campbell who were indispensable on the night and all the teachers, staff and students who helped to make the reunion a success. I would like to remind all you students that we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary in 2013. We will keep you updated.
Moya O'Leary, Past pupils' liaison officer
Menu
Transition Year
Purple Day
On the 7th May we held a Purple Day in aid of Cystic Fibrosis. Each student had to wear one item of purple with her uniform. Purple and green really looked well together!! Perhaps a new They uniform combination? Each student contributed 2 euro for Cystic Fibrosis. The total amount raised was €350. Many thanks to all who brought money in on the day.
Lisa Kelly
Menu
Carlingford
On May 11th 18 transition year students revisited Carlingford Adventure Centre. They did a variety of outdoor activities that included canoeing, high ropes and nightline. Night time consisted of very little sleep and a lot of Volleyball!! We had an even better time second time round. Many thanks to Ms. Rooney, Ms Harrison for once again making this fun and freezing experience possible!
Menu
Work In The Community
As part of the 4th year programme, in December we did a work experience placement. The aim of this is for each student to try a job that they think they would like to do on leaving school. In March, each student had to get involved in volunteering in the community. The areas that students chose varied from volunteering in hospitals, old folks homes, crèches and many other areas. We all enjoyed the work and it gave us a valuable insight into areas where a lot of people give up their time to help out in their local community.
Jessica Madden
Menu
YSI
Our 4th year YSI class decided to do something to help when the Haiti earthquake struck. So on the 19th March we held a table quiz featuring among other things a "Did you do your homework?" round. We donated our money to a charity called Haven represented by Ronan Yorell from Deloventos. He was going over to Haiti to help out in the aftermath. All money raised will be used to help with the re-development programme.
Congratulations to our 5th year winners.
Gemma Ryan
Menu
Hip Hop
This took place during school and it was great fun to see those of us who were extremely stiff and all over the place and those girls that were natural dancers. We had a brilliant fun and came out feeling tired, hot yet somehow refreshed.
Nicole Foley and Rebecca O' Hara
Menu
Garda Road Safety
During April a representative from the Garda Road Safety Division visited the school to talk to us about safety on the roads. He highlighted what happens if you drink and drive and what could and would happen to you if you did not wear a seatbelt. It really brought home to us the importance of wearing a seatbelt and reminded us to never ever drink and drive.
Jessica Madden
Menu
Macbeth
On Wednesday 5th May, 4th and 5th year students went to the Abbey Theatre to see the production of Macbeth. We spent two hours in pure silence as we soaked in all of the drama. The stage was fantastic and the actors portrayed their characters very well. The suspense throughout the show was epic. It was really brilliant to see a play that we are studying come to life as it makes things very realistic and enjoyable.
Sarah Purcell
Menu
A Space For Learning
On the 25th and 26th February a group of 24 of the girls in Transition Year took part in a nationwide competition called A Space For Learning, sponsored by the Royal Irish Architecture Foundation. Three recently graduated architects came to Mercy College to help the girls take part in the competition. The challenge was to focus on a particular area in the school and design a space that would be of value to the students. As a group we came up with various designs for the courtyard. After a while of deliberation, the architects came up with a final design, which they submitted to the competition. Our design was chosen as one of the top ten in the country, which means that our design will be built in the courtyard. The students' designs and models will form part of a national touring exhibition in late 2010.
Amy Fowler
Menu
Mad Yokes
Our Mini Company Mad Yokes started off in a completely different direction but bit, by, bit we managed to come out with a healthy profit. Part of the profit is being donated to the sports department to purchase much needed Volleyball posts and the balance towards the purchase of 5th year lockers. Our T-shirts for the 6th year students went down very well and many of you may have seen them on sports day. Our raffle prize winner Katie Foran was thrilled with the top prize and decided to go and see Rihanna in concert. In the end everyone came together and our hard work paid off. We would like to thank all of those who contributed to the raffle with a special thanks to Sandra’s School of Motoring and Gillian Byrne 4th year.
Beth Valente, Managing Director
P.S. The Purple Gorillas, the other 4th year Mini Company has also contributed the balance of their profits to the Volleyball Posts and lockers. Many thanks to all the 4th years and especially for their hard work throughout the year.
Paula Downes
Menu
Rainforests Of The World
Transition year students successfully completed their Geography Module in a very artistic way. During the first term we did a very colourful project on the Rainforests of the world. In the last term we made model weather instruments.
Mr O'Malley chose Sarah Purcell 4.1 Campbell Stores Recorder and Lea Fitzsimons with her partner Amy Fowler 4.2 Wind Vane as worthy winners. Each were given a voucher for 20 euros.
B. O'Regan
Menu
Oklahoma
During the second week of February we did our annual musical with Chanel College. This year it was Oklahoma. Anybody who was interested in the lead roles had to put themselves forward in December and they were put through a rigorous selection process. Rehearsals started in earnest in January. These took place in Parnell's GAA Club and Chanel College. It took many weeks of practice and when the opening day finally arrived the place was buzzing with excitement and nerves. We played two matinées and four nights. Despite the credit crunch most nights were packed and everybody thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We would like to thank everybody who was involved in the production because without the back stage helpers, stage designers, dressmakers, supervisors, the show would not have been possible.
Jessica Madden
Menu
Mercy College Coolock Sports News
The girls of Mercy College Coolock have been very active in the '09/10 year travelling all over the country to Basketball, Volleyball and football matches.
Girls of all years have been taking part in lunch time and after school training sessions in Football, Volleyball and Basketball.
Menu
Football
This year Mercy College entered in the F.A.I Dublin Schools Football League.
U-14 and U-16 and reached the knockout stages of each tournament. The 1st Year students were also very active took part in a local 5 aside competition and many also played U-14. The 1st years must be commended for training every Friday all year round.
Menu
Volleyball
Volleyball is going from strength to strength in the school. Girls trained at lunch time and after school on Mondays throughout the year. The school's first senior team made it to the All Ireland quarter final this year and likewise the 2 cadette teams. These teams have developed great skill and all girls are senior again next year. All team members must step it up and really work hard next year to aim for top positions.
Menu
Basketball
The senior basketball team won the Dublin final and had a good run in the All Ireland play offs. The 2nd and 1st year team had a very successful Dublin campaign and was narrowly beaten in the Dublin final.
Menu
Teachers 3 - 6th Year Students 1
Sports day turned out to be a very eventful one this year. Yet again staff defeated the 6th year students in the annual soccer challenge match. It was a fairly clean match with only three people sent off. Ms. Dwyer was sent off for wearing a Liverpool Jersey!! Ms. Cassidy and Erica McCabe were off for questioning the referee!! Everything was done in very good spirit and well done to all who played. The rest of the day was filled with a variety of sporting fixtures and congratulations to all who won medals and prizes. 6th year students organised a bouncy castle that was enjoyed by all in the year, as well as some teachers including myself who revisited my youth. Unfortunately my back and joints weren't what they used to be!! Must remember that next year. It was also nice to hear music playing and students and staff dancing and even doing "rock the boat"!! Thanks again to our past pupil, Ciara Madden, for being our DJ. I would also like to thank Ms. Fitzgerald who did an awful lot of work organising the day and to the staff and students that helped out on the day. Most of all, I would like to thank Mother Nature for providing us with the sun!!
Paula Downes
I would like to thank all those girls who are actively involved in lunch and after school sports and encourage them all to keep up next year.
Mercy's Motto next year: TRAIN REAL HARD
E. Fitzgerald, PE Teacher
Menu
Annie
Next year the school will put on a production of Annie. This will give students of all years, the opportunity to perform or get involved in backstage. The rehearsals will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. All you budding actors and backstage designers will be able to sign up for this production in September.
Ms. Doherty
Menu
Where Are They Now?
Kerrie Ryan plays professional soccer in the UK and she has recently transferred from Portsmouth to Chelsea. We wish Kerrie all the best in the future.
Menu
The 3r's
Mercy College continues to spend time developing the literacy skills of our students.
These Literacy Initiatives are part of the JCSP (Junior Certificate Schools Programme). The aim is to improve skills and develop a love of reading.
October saw the first initiative called DEAR (Drop Everything & Read). This involved the entire school, stopping whatever they were doing at 10.40a.m. and taking up a book and reading for twenty minutes. The peace and silence was wonderful! Perhaps it might be worth trying this initiative at home and get all the family to read together.
Second years read several million words in Term 2 and they celebrated with pizza.
All our first years were involved in some way in the "Paired Reading Programme". This wonderful programme gives students time to develop confidence in their reading skills. Sincere thanks to the many volunteers in our community who give of their time so generously.
Menu
Poland Trip 2010
On the 27th March a group of 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th year students went to the city of Krakow, home to the bone chilling remains of the greatest site of human mass murder in history. Our first day was filled with a tour of this awe inspiring city with its magnificent castle from ancient times, once home to the royalty of Krakow and then occupied by the Nazis during World War 2. The city is steeped in history and seems as though it still has not been changed over the years. It has its fair share of legends, which our guide Eva spent the day regaling us with, especially about the infamous "dragon of Krakow" who lived beneath the hill.
On our second day we visited the Salt Mines. Magnificent caverns filled with statues made completely out of salt and carved churches build 142 metres underground. Most of us could not resist the allure of the walls of salt and took it upon ourselves to test it by licking the length of the wall!! The lift back to the surface brought out all of our senses of claustrophobia, being pitch black and barely capable of holding two people abreast.
Our third and most poignant day involved a guided tour to two concentration camps. First we visited Auschwitz and then the much larger Birkenau where millions of Jews were killed during World War 2. Piles of shoes, glasses, suitcases and an array of personal belongings really touched us. Ten tonnes of human hair also brought home the sheer brutality and cold heartedness of the murder of innocent people, men, women and children. It was a day of poignancy and shock for us all.
On our final day we went shopping in Krakow. All in all it was a trip to remember.
Laura Cahill (3rd year)
Menu
Omagh
During our trip to Omagh, we went to the weaving cottage where an elderly woman talked to us about the life of a weaver back in the 16th century. She explained to us that when the children returned from school, they had to help with the weaving process. They cleaned the flax and spent almost all of their spare time doing this. They never had time to play games or pursue hobbies. After the talk our tour leader, Mr Kippert, showed us the houses, cottages and then on to the blacksmiths. We were given a demonstration on how the fire was started by using a wind-bag-pipe. One of the students was asked to blow into it!! We were then brought to more houses, a Catholic and Protestant Church, Landlord's houses and most interesting of all, a coffin ship. This ship sailed to America and before it arrived there many people died on board, hence the term coffin ship.
We had a really brilliant time and would like to thank our teachers that brought us.
Ilham Abdullah (2nd year)
Menu
Ferrycarrig
On the 20th April 1st year students visited Ferrycarrig Irish National Heritage Park in County Wexford. This was a very interesting and enjoyable trip. We were shown different features from the Mesolithic Era, Neolithic Era, the Bronze Age, Early Christian Ireland and the Viking Era. A very informative tour guide accompanied us around the park and provided us with fun and helpful details. This excursion helped bring History to life.
Menu
Three Days In Paris - Despite The Volcanic Ash
Our experience of Paris was very interesting. On our first day, we had a tour of the city, our tour guide was full of energy and to lighten the mood he sang us a French song and played his imaginary trumpet. We all thought he was slightly deranged!! The second day it rained, but that didn't dampen our spirits as we made our way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, I would like to say that we climbed the stairs! The students wanted to but the teachers didn't - an age thing perhaps? After that we headed out to Disneyland - we all had a blast and even tricked some of the teachers to go on the roller coaster - some of the pictures taken were brilliant - the look of abject terror on faces!! On our last day we went to Montmartre and some people had their portraits and caricatures done, despite the rain. Last but not least we went shopping in the most fashionable city in the world - we couldn't afford the designer gear - so we settled for an upmarket shopping centre - much more suited to our pockets. We bought loads and the only problem was fitting everything into our suitcases - what with the weight restrictions on bags etc., We were nearly wearing extra layers of clothing!! We had an amazing time and many thanks to all.
Students of Laurel 3rd year
Just a quick note to say thanks to all the students who went on the school trip to Paris. They were all excellent and represented the College very well.
Also thanks to Ms. Doherty, Ms. Dwyer and Ms. Kelly who always are a great assistance on school tours. A special thanks to Aoibh Rogers and Elizabeth O'Reilly who convinced some of us that life was too short not to try a Rollercoaster. Well, after being thrown upside down and spun around, and seeing my life flash before my eyes, life definitely is too short and I will never be trying that again!
Mary Boyle
Menu
Awards
Menu
Edited by: Paula Downes
Designed by: Premiere Print & Labels - Ph: (01) 877 4156
|
