CEIST Interviews

CEIST is holding interviews over the next 3 weeks for the recently advertised positions for 2 Faith Development Co-ordinators, 2 School Relationship Co-ordinators, and 1 Accounting Technician.

The appointed personnel will be published on the CEIST website and e-News in due course.

Insurance

School Insurance Renewal

All CEIST schools will have been issued with their renewal notices effective from 1st April 2008. The harmonisation of the renewal date for our 112 schools is a result of discussions and negotiations with Allianz during 2007 and the early part of 2008. In addition we have had all our school properties valued and the most up to date information has been collected and collated. Thank you to all involved in the process. The premium is payable in two moieties. The first moiety is due on the 1st April 2008 and the second is due on 1st October 2008.

Allianz - Change of Address

Our insurers, Allianz, has recently moved into new offices.

The new address is:

Trusteeship

CEIST has recently taken over the trusteeship of Presentation South East, which contained 9 schools. This brings the total number of schools under the trusteeship of CEIST to 80. The provinces Mercy West, Mercy South Central, Mercy North, Mercy South, and Presentation South East are now under the trusteeship of CEIST.

CEIST is due to take over the trusteeship of Presentation South West at the end of April, and in May the trusteeship of Presentation North, Sisters of the Christian Retreat, Missonaries of the Sacred Heart, and Daughters of Charity, this will eventually bring the total number of schools under CEIST trusteeship to 112.

School Relationship Co-ordinator Visits

Our school relationship co-ordinators, Damien Kennedy and Tom Loughnane are continuing to visit schools and hope to have visited all schools that were in the Mercy Provinces and Presentation South East by the end of April.

We are extremely grateful for the welcome and courtesy extended during the visits. We would like to remind all schools that have yet to submit the Schools Statistics form to do so as soon as possible. Click here to download the form from the CEIST website.

We are kindly requesting all schools that have been handed over to CEIST to send their Board of Management minutes, after they have been signed, to the CEIST office.

We will be in contact with schools shortly regarding an Annual Report.

If schools have any notable achievements which you would like to have highlighted on the website, we would be delighted to include them. I wish you all well for the remainder of the term.

Le gach dea ghuí,
Margaret O'Brien

IT bulk purchasing

CEIST has received calls from some of our schools regarding IT bulk purchasing.

It may be possible to gain substantial discounts when purchasing IT equipment by pooling all our schools together and buying in bulk from the provider.

CEIST would like to check out if significant discounts can be achieved, and if your school has plans to make IT purchases this year, why not send us an e-mail advising of purchases and we can add to list.

email: jwoods@ceist.ie 

Spirituality and leadership in Education Course

Marino Institute of Education is running a Postgraduate Diploma in Spirituality & Leadership in Education. 

Click on More link below to view course details.

Ballygriffin Visit

At the invitation of the Presentation Sisters, Ned Prendergast and Margaret Farrell visited Ballygriffin, the birthplace of Nano Nagle, and participated in a programme of reflection there during Holy Week. 

Plaque unveiled for Mercy order

The work of the Mercy order in the southwest was remembered on Sunday 23rd March at the unveiling of a plaque in Tralee on the site of the town's first Mercy Convent, a house at No 1 Day Place. 

Day of Spiritual Renewal with Megan McKenna

Urgent notice for all CEIST schools

Re: Invitation for Megan McKenna: Day of Spiritual Renewal

We are looking forward to meeting representatives from all CEIST schools at this, our first Faith Development outreach for teachers.

"Professional formation is never sufficient without the formation of the heart. And the heart cannot be formed without, at least, the challenge of the presence of God"

Pope Benedict XVI

N.B. If you have not already returned the names of those attending, and the venue, please click on 'more' link below to receive invitation form.

Sancta Maria College

Seven students have been accepted into The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) from Sancta Maria College in Ballyroan, Dublin.

This is an amazing achievement as there are only 150 places offered to students nationwide each year. Ms Mairead O' Byrne is their teacher.

Ard Scoil na Ndéise

On Thursday February 7th Ard Scoil na nDéise in Waterford celebrated (a little early!) the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes, in the company of the Reverend William Lee, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore.

It is the 150th anniversary of the apparitions in Lourdes this year. Bishop Lee arrived in the Ard Scoil before lunch and spoke to the twenty 5th year students who will accompany the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes this June as volunteers to help the invalid pilgrims.  

Presentation College Carlow Opening

Presentation College Carlow marked the opening of the new school with the visit of the Minister for Education and Science Ms. Mary Hanafin on the 8th February . 

Windows Defender

Microsoft have free software called Windows Defender that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software.

Click on link below to download the software.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=435BFCE7-DA2B-4A6A-AFA4-F7F14E605A0D&displaylang=en