Scoil Mhuire Carrick-on-Suir News December 2020

Care Packages

Our Transition Year Class 4 Denise put the final touches on their care packages for Greenhill and Mooncoin nursing homes. A massive thank you to all students and staff who contributed to this initiative to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to nursing home residents who have been so severely affected by restrictions since last march.. Staff and residents at the nursing homes were extremely appreciative of the girls’ kindness and Christmas spirit.

Another TY class 4 Deirdre co-ordinated the collection of basic school requisites to send to the Irish army and Rotary in the Lebanon where it will be distributed as part of a UNIFL project.  The literacy aid will go to the South Lebanon area where our army has long been involved in school projects with the locals.  The students also baked and sold brownies in school, raising €300 to help buy PPE equipment that Rotary will distribute in Beirut where the devastating August dock explosion left 350,000 people homeless overnight. Member of IUNVA (Irish United Nations Veterans Association) visited the school to meet and thank the students in person. Pictured is Emily O Keeffe presenting a cheque to Sean Cosgrave, Chairman of IUNVA in Clonmel.  Also present were John O Sullivan of Rotary, Seamus Cagney and Bobby Cantwell of IUNIVA. The presentation took place at the Memorial tree in honour of the late John Stuart, school caretaker and member of IUNVA.

 

‘Stand Up’ Week 2020

‘Stand Up’ Week 2020 was a huge success with many awareness-raising activities and visible displays of support for the LGBTI community. Organised by the Student Council and co-ordinated by Ms. O’Connell with assistance from Ms. O’Grady and Ms. Cummins, students attended a Zoom presentation on the topic of homophobic bullying and had daily reminders on the intercom of the importance of support, solidarity and kindness. Transition Years sewed rainbow facemasks that were sold each morning in the school. The week culminated in a non-uniform rainbow day on Friday with the additional excitement of a Guinness World Record attempt for the most LGBT masks worn in one place! We await the adjudication…….

 

Have a Heart

💙 Our Transition year YSI group decided to choose the theme of well-being for their project this year and named it ‘Have a Heart’. Their aim with this project is to investigate and promote student wellbeing across the school year. They began by setting up social media accounts for their project as a way of connecting with the school community and then carrying out a whole school survey to establish how students were feeling about school in general, coming to school during a pandemic and what actions might help to improve student wellbeing. They organised a non-uniform day in aid of Pieta raising more than €600 and asked the entire school community to wear blue, the colour to signify support. They also organised a flash mob outside to coincide with the non-uniform day. Currently they are working on a Wellness Wall which has a prominent space in one of our public areas in the school building and will be populated with positive quotes, tips for physical and mental health, information on upcoming virtual events, and weekly film and Netflix recommendations as well as their joke of the week. The group has also expressed an interest in staff wellbeing and is looking at some future initiatives to contribute to that 💙

 

 

1st Year Science

Below are some Cell models produced by our very talented first year Science students.

 

Green Schools

Congratulations to the Green Schools Committee on the Award of the Green Flag last year.  The Flag was raised on 01 December in conjunction with Energy Awareness Week in the school. Well done to all involved!

 

Christmas is Coming….

In a very different year for everyone, the prospect of Christmas has raised our spirits! All classes are busy collecting for the Junior St. Vincent de Paul Society to provide much-needed funds to the charity. Classrooms have been decorated and it is becoming a competitive sport. Our annual Carol Service -the highlight of the year for many – cannot take place with restrictions but we are delighted that we will be able to record and broadcast an amended service to the school in the coming week.