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St. Mary’sNEWSLETTER

CONTENTS

Christmas Fair 1

German Department 1

Home Economics 2

Open Evening 2

Computer Club 2

Spanish Department 2

Business Department 2

European Studies 2

Art Department 3-4

Gaeilge Department 5

Geography Department 5

Modern Languages Department 5

CSPE Department 6

Guidance and Counselling Department 6-8

SPHE Department 8

Religion Department 9

Cinema News 9

Maths Department 10

Transition Year 11

History Department 12

Science Department 12

Prefect News 13

Music Department 13

Transition Year Retreat to Emmaus 13

PE Department 14-15

English Department 15

Green School Initiative 16

Fifth Year Trip to Lough Derg 16

St. Mary's School Council 16

The day was probably one of the worstdays of the year but the community spiritin St. Mary’s refused to be dampened. Itrained heavily and was very cold. In spiteof this the Christmas Fair was a greatsuccess, we surpassed our target of€10,000 against these odds and allenjoyed the day. We had numerous stallsranging from toys, breads, bric-a-brac,books, bottle stall, crafts, to a cafe, makeover room, film, raffle, shop, giant slide,

numerous games, wheel of fortune andphotographs. Santa Claus paid us a visitand the Christmas atmosphere wasenhanced by our carol singers. Thank youto staff, students and parents forvolunteering your precious time to thisventure. The money raised (€11,256) willgo towards paying for the newcomputers in the Computer Room. Well done to all concerned.

VOLUME 7 – NO. 2 December 2009

CHRISTMAS FAIR

German Department

The Fall of the Berlin WallNovember 9th 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germanyand the end of communism in Europe. For decades, this wall physically separatedthousands of families and friends in communist East Germany from those in democraticWest Germany.

Between 1949 and 1961 millions of Germans fled from East Germany in the hope offinding a better way of life in the West. Most of these people were young, highlyeducated and skilled Germans such as doctors, teachers and engineers. Fearing that theywere losing some of their best people, East Germany decided in 1961 to erect a physicalbarrier – the Berlin Wall – to stop emigration from East Germany. While some 5,000 escapeattempts were successful between 1961 and 1989, 171 people lost their lives in a desperateattempt to escape to the West.

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, students studyingGerman from1st to 6th year examined this gripping period of German history. Furthermoreall Transition Year students, in conjunction with the History Department, took part in abrief module analysing post WWII Germany and the Berlin Wall. TY students also had theopportunity to watch the award winning German film “Goodbye Lenin”, which is set in1989 when the Berlin Wall fell.

Ms S. McManus

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OPEN EVENINGOn Monday 21st September St. Mary’s hosted its annual “Open Evening”. Primary schoolstudents with their parents/guardians were invited to visit our school. Our own studentsacted as guides and visitors enjoyed a tour of the many facilities on offer in St. Mary’s e.g.gym, library, cinema, interactive whiteboard room, computer room, science laboratories,home economics rooms, art rooms and other specialist rooms. This year we were proud tobe able to include in our tour a new arts and crafts room and the new school canteen.

Well done to all staff and students for their enthusiasm and hard work. We would alsolike to extend a sincere thanks to all the parents, guardians and members of the widercommunity for their support of the school on “Open Night” and throughout the schoolyear. Continuing the positive trend in recent years an increase in numbers is projected for2010-2011, so much so, that demand for entry exceeds the supply of places available in St.Mary’s.

Ms C. Nolan

SPANISHDEPARTMENT

The Spanish Departmentare planning an excitingtrip to the beautiful city ofSeville. This trip offersstudents the opportunityto experience and enjoySpanish culture. It will takeplace in September 2010. iQue aprovech!

Ms. A Hughes & Ms. E Higgins

THE COMPUTER CLUBThe Computer Club was set up in September for anotheracademic year. All students are welcome to the club whichruns on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday lunchtime from1.10-1.35pm. Well done to the many First Years who havesigned up to the club. Thanks to the Computer prefectsNaomi Wilson, Aimee Rondthaler and Amy Connolly whohave helped out so well in the Computer Club for the firstterm. The Computer Club is delighted that the computerroom has been upgraded with the addition of thirty newcomputers. Students had an opportunity to play onlinemathematical/science games that were on the Scoilnetwebsite during Maths and Science Week respectively.

Ms. M O’Donnell

“Little Chef’s Cookery Club”The Home Economics department wasdelighted to announce this October, thelaunch of a new exciting venture in St.Mary’s run by the Home Economics teacher– Ms. Doheny. The first after schoolcookery club began, for the first andsecond years. It has been a real success inthe school, with students getting a chanceto try different recipes than those done inschool. The students have gained hugeconfidence in cooking and enhanced theirculinary skills immensely. The club runseach Wednesday afternoon from 3.15pmuntil 5.00pm

Ms. E. Doheny

Transition Year Home EconomicsModule for St Kevin’sFor the first time in St Mary’s, the studentsfrom St. Kevin’s transition year engaged ina Home Economics programme entitled“Ready … Steady … Cook”. The programmeinvites and encourages all students to do acookery course, incorporating culinary skillsthat will be vital in their lives ahead. So farthe students have made queen cakes,scones, Potato and Leek Soup, HomemadeBeef Burgers and Chilli mince tacos. Thestudents have really enjoyed theprogramme, even citing it as one of“highlights” so far.

Ms. E. Doheny & Ms. T. Aird

An Bord Bia DemonstrationNovember 26th 2009On the 26th November we were delightedto welcome An Bord Bia to our school. A presentation on food nutrition and theimportance of the food pyramid in mealplanning was seen as very valuable to the5th and 6th year Home Economics studentswho attended. The food demonstrationhighlighted student-eating habits and thecooking of healthy student-friendly,nutritious meals that are quick and easy toprepare. The students found it veryinteresting and of course loved thesampling session that took place at the endof the demonstration!! We would like tothank An Bord Bia for taking the time tocome to St. Mary’s and allow the studentsa different insight into the world ofcookery and nutrition.

Ms. E. Doheny & Ms. T. Aird

BUSINESS DEPARTMENTBusiness/NFTE The Business department is delighted with the enthusiasm and originality of thebusinesses that have emerged in the NFTE (National Foundation for TeachingEnterprise) class. NFTE is an initiative run by Foroige where students are given a start upbusiness grant of 15 euro per student. Students then work in pairs in order to come upwith original money making business ideas. The businesses are just up and running andstarting to thrive even in these recessionary times. Some of the businesses includeGraffiti Shoes, Beauty Bags, Shelly Ryan’s school stationary shop, J&G Charms, Bijoux BeYou.

Keep up the great work girls! And who knows….you may be on the way to makingyour first million!

LCVPThe 6th years are working hard at completing their project work for the exam. Keep itup girls. Also the students had a full day’s interview training and preparation from aninterview specialist Denise Wright on 27th November. Ms Wright went through the‘do’s and don’ts’ of interviews and gave the girls handy and practical advice on havingthe most successful job interview possible. The girls all said that they enjoyed the daythoroughly and that the skills and tips they received would definitely make them moreprepared for the recorded interview in their exam and also for their future careerpaths.

Ms. O. Griffin

EUROPEAN STUDIESOn Friday 4th September 2009 we were very privileged tohave a visit from two past pupils of St Mary’s who work inBrussels. They hold senior positions in the EuropeanCommission. Linda Rowan and Linda Johnson both gave livelyand interesting presentations on the European Commissionand their work in Brussels to all transition year students.

On 20th November all TY students visited the EuropeanCommission Representation in Dublin. Students watched aDVD about Ireland’s membership of the E.U. and the manybenefits of E.U. membership. Students then participated in alively table quiz.

Ms. A Hughes

HOME ECONOMICSDEPARTMENT

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ART DEPARTMENTOur first year art students were introduced to the art elements ofline, texture, form, tone and colour theory. We are delighted withthe great progress they are making. They have developed theirobservational skills using a variety of techniques and materials.Their confidence has grown and we can identify many aspiringyoung artists. The students have also begun to look at works ofart, reflecting on the individual artist’s use of materials andpainting styles. Our first year students designed posters for MathsWeek, had fun with Halloween themed painting and some tookpart in an initiative run by Transition Year. The brief requiredstudents to create an outfit out of clean recyclable waste. Theresults were fantastic and the students modelled their designs in afashion show on 17th of November. All of our first year studentshave had the opportunity to work with clay, creating beautifulhand-made ceramic Christmas decorations that went on sale at theChristmas Fair.

Our second year students have re-visited their drawing andpainting skills. This has enabled them to progress into the craftarea of lino print and graphic design. Students completed originalC.D cover designs using typography and illustration. They too havecontributed to the work sold at the Christmas Fair. They producedhand-crafted reusable bags which were sold at the Fair. Presentlyour Second year students are working on life-sketching with anemphasis on anatomy and movement.

Our third year students have begun their Junior Certificate ArtProject. Students selected a theme for the exam which they willdevelop into two dimensional and three dimensional finishedpieces. As support studies are an integral part of the project eachstudent will be expected to research a variety of artists andbecome familiar with their work. It is a dynamic and rewardingproject. We wish our students well and encourage them to makeprojects which they will be proud of.

Our first art module in Transition Year was influenced by a visitto the annual “Sculpture In Context” Exhibition held in the

2nd Year Graphic Design6th Year – Life Drawing

2nd Year Lino Painting 3rd Year Observational Study – Seaweed

2nd Year Textiles 2nd Year Textiles

2nd Year Graphic Design 2nd Textiles

3rd Year Seaweed

Botanic Gardens. Together with some reflections on TheMonument of Light, O’ Connell Street, our T.Y students dividedinto groups and fulfilled the task of creating a piece of sculpturethat they considered to be in context with St. Mary’s and itsenvironment. They explored themes that would reflect areas ofstudy within the school. The second art module will see ourstudents participating in the annual D.I.Y T.Y competition held inSt. Michael’s Holy Faith Secondary School. The criterion of thecompetition is for the students to create something wearable frommaterials not usually used for wearing. Students will work ingroups and each outfit will be showcased with a dance routine toa backing track of 3 minutes on stage/catwalk. We look forward toseeing their weird and wonderful creations.

Our fifth year students have completed a very diverse and skilledsculpture project. Each student made her own personal response tothe task, using methods of modelling, construction and carving inher final piece of work. Their themes were self-motivated anddemonstrate great originality and talent. They have also begun tolook at the Pre-Christian world of Irish art in their studies of ArtHistory and Appreciation.

Our sixth year students continue to perfect their craft skillsworking in embroidery, clay modelling, puppetry, posters, bookcraft, lino and batik. They have also completed studies in fore-shortening and gesture in life-drawing. Students haveconcentrated on film appreciation and product design. Theirstudies in art appreciation were further enhanced by apresentation given by Ms. Mary Greene from the National Museumof Ireland. Ms Greene spoke to fifth and sixth years students aboutthe Eileen Gray Exhibition at Collins Barracks. She informed thestudents on a lay-out and presentation of the exhibition, whiledescribing the diverse work of such a talented and influentialwoman. Now that our sixth year students have moved away fromcontemporary art in Ireland they are beginning to embrace theworld of European art. There is much work ahead and again wewish them well in their preparations for their Leaving CertificateExam with thought also to those students who are preparing theirportfolios for Art College.

Ms. N. Cunningham, Ms. C. Kavanagh

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6th Year Batik – Craft 6th Year Life-Sketching

Clay 1st Year Clay2nd Lino Painting 1st Fashion Recycling

2nd Textiles 5th Year Sculpture 5th Year Sculpture

2nd Year Graphic Design

ART DEPARTMENT (contd.)

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Bhaineamar go léir an-tairbhe agus an-taitneamh as an obair – This school termhas been an interesting and rewarding timefor Roinn na Gaeilge in St. Mary’s.

Bhí Taispeántas ar siúl sa scoil – Well doneto all the students who helped out on theIrish stand at the “Open Night” on Monday21 September 2009. The stands werebeautifully decorated with Students’ workfrom the many different Irish classes. Thework, and indeed the endeavour, in puttingtogether all the worthwhile presentationsby all the Irish classes were admired byeverybody present on the night. None ofthis would have been possible, however,without the hard work, effort anddedication of all the Irish Teachers. Thanksto everybody for all their help and co-operation. Ní neart go cur le chéile!

Bhí dea-scéala againn maidir leis angComórtas Díospóireachta a bhí ar siúl. Cuireadh tús leis na Díospóireachtaí anPhiarsaigh arís i mbliana. Bhí FoireannShóisearach agus Foireann Shinsearach agdíospóireacht sa chéad babhta denchomórtas. Tá an comórtas seo á reachtáilag Gael Linn do scoileanna dara leibhéal arfud na tíre. Rinne na foirne an-iarracht agusbhí caighdeán an-ard ann i measc nascoileanna. Tá an-áthas orainn a rá guréirigh go geal leis na cailíní.

Ar son na Roinne agus ar son na scoile,déanaimid go léir comhghairdeas leis nacailíní. Déanaimid comhghairdeas freisin leisan Múinteoir a bhí acu, Iníon Ní Chonluain– On behalf of Roinn na Gaeilge, andindeed on behalf of all the schoolcommunity of St. Mary’s, we congratulateall the members of the team. We must notforget their Teacher, Iníon Ní Chonluain. Amore detailed Report on the Irish Debates isto be found in this Newsletter. Maith sibh, aChailíní, agus lean leis an obair íontach!

Chuaigh Ranganna go dtí Amharclann anAxis – Bhí na puipéadóirí, ar a bhfuil geanorthu, arais leis an turas náisiúntameánscoile, dírithe go háirithe arChurraclam na hArdteistiméireachta. Chuiran comhlacht “Fibín” an dráma “An Triail”

ar an stáitse san Amharclann Axis i mBaileMunna ach ní hé “An Triail” mar a bhfacatú riamh é! Bhí puipéid agus ard-siamsaíocht i gceist an lá sin.

Mrs. Bogan’s 6th Year Honours Irish classalong with Mrs. Murphy’s and Iníon NíChonluain’s Fifth Year classes attendedperformances of “An Triail” in the AxisTheatre in Ballymun. Bhain na cailíní an-sultagus an-thairbhe as an dráma.

Turas go dtí an Ghaeltacht – Beidh turas agdul go dtí Gaeltacht Ghaoth Dobhair i nDúnna nGall i Márta 2010 D.V. An maith leatsaa bheith páirteach ann? A more detailedReport on this proposed trip to theGaeltacht is to found in this Newsletter. Onbehalf of Roinn na Gaeilge, we would liketo thank Iníon Ní Chonluain agus Iníon NíLúing for organising this trip.

Beannachtaí na nollag ó Roinn na Gaeilge.Mrs. C. Bogan.

DíospóireachtaíCuireadh tús le Comórtas Díospóireachta anPhiarsaigh arís i mbliana. Bhí foireannshinsearach agus foireann shóisearach nascoile seo ag díospóireacht sa chéadbabhtale déanaí. Triúr a bhí ar gachfoireann agus bhí ceithre fhoireann agiomaíocht lena chéile. Is iad seo a leanas nascoileanna a bhí páirteach sa chomórtas aran 12 Samhain.

Meánscoil Mhuire, Clochar an Chreidimh Naofa, GlasnaíonColáiste Pobail Chaisleán CnuchaColáiste Belvedere, Sr. na Danmhairge

ThuaidhColáiste Chaisleán Cnucha

Chuaigh dhá fhoireann ar aghaidh go dtían dara babhta, Clochar an ChreidimhNaofa agus Colaiste Belvedere. Bhí an lámhin uachtar ag an dá scoil thuasluaite agusthaispeáin said go raibh caighdeán an-árdacu sa Ghaeilge. Is é an rún a bhí á phlé agna sóisir ná ‘Ba cheart dúinn ár gcuidlaethanta saoire a chaitheamh in Éirinn’,agus bhí said ag díospóireacht ar son anrúin. Léirigh captain na foirne, PatriceCondon go bhfuil dualgas orainn tacaíocht

a thabhairt d’ár tír féin agus laethantasaoire a chaitheamh sa Ghaeltacht. Ansinphléigh Eve kavanagh (cainteoir 2) nabuanna móra turasóireachta ata ag an tírseo nach bhfuil ag alán tíortha eile timpeallan domhain. Labhair Shauna Caffrey(cainteoir 3) faoi na buntáistí móraeacnamaíochta don tír seo a bhaineann leisan tionscal turasóireachta. Léirigh sí nachbhuil neart go cur le chéile agus gogcothaíonn an tionscal seo a lán postannadúinn. Bhí rún casta á phlé ag na Sinsir, sésin go bhfuil an iomarca airgid phoiblí áchaitheamh ar na hEalaíona in Éirinn. Bhína cailiní ag díospóireacht in aghaidh anrúin agus bhí pointí éifeachtacha acu.Luaigh captaen na foirne (CatherineCormican) go bhfuil géargá le hairgeadpoiblí a chaitheamh ar na hEalaíona, gospeisialta an tionscal turasóireachta. PhléighDenise Callaghan (cainteoir 2) scéimeannaéagsúla a thugann tacaíocht do nahEalaíona in Éirinn. Léirigh sí chomhtábhachtach is atá sé tacaíocht a fháil ónsparán poiblí. Ansin thug Lauren Craven(cainteoir 3) eolas dúinn faoin gcomhairleÉalaíne. Luaigh sí go gcuireann anChomhairle seo postanna fiúntacha ar fáilgo díreach agus go hindíreach.Ba mhaithlinn ár mbuíochas a ghabháil leis an luchttacaíochta a d’fhreastail ar an gcomórtasdíospóireachta. Comhghairdeas libh achailiní!

Turas GaeltachtaBeidh daltaí ón dara agus ón gcúigiú bliainag dul ar thuras gaeltachta go GaothDobhair, Co. Dhún na nGall. Beidh daicheaddaltaí agus múinteoirí ó Roinn na Gaeilgeag taisteal go Gaoth Dobhair chun deireadhseachtaine an- taitneamhach a chaitheamhann san Earrach. Ta na daltaí ag tnúth gomór leis an deireadh seachtaine seo agusbeidh deis an-mhaith acu a gcuid Gaeilge achleachtadh agus a fheabhsú. Beimid go léirag fanacht i dtithe le teaghlaigh áitiúla.Beidh imeachtaí éagsúla ar siúl do na daltaí,céilithe agus ranganna ceoil ina measc! Tásúil againn go mbainfidh gach duine an-sultas an deireadh seachtaine seo.

M. Ní Lúing, N. Ní Chonluain & M. Devine

GAEILGE DEPARTMENT

GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENTOn Monday 14th September the Leaving Certificate Geographyclasses of approximately seventy students went to BalscaddanBeach in Howth, Co. Dublin to do their fieldwork assignment. Thishas become an annual event for 6th year Geography students. Thefieldwork aspect of their course accounts for 20% of their finalexam. The theme of this year’s work was “Coastal erosion” andinvolved measuring the height of a cliff and also measuring thebeach material. The students are prepared in advance in school fordoing this work. The girls formally wrote this up for their exam atthe start of the Christmas tests this year. Ms Wilson, Ms Mahon andMs Fay would like to thank the girls for their great participationand cooperation in this venture.

As you know we have lost an extremely valued member, MsAnne-Marie Fay, from our Geography Department during this firstterm. She has now returned to teach in her home county of Cavan.We miss her but wish her a happy and successful career in her newschool.

Ms. S. Mahon

The Modern Languagesdepartment was delightedto meet local primaryschool pupils on September21st at Open Evening.Room 12 was the venue foran interactive languageexperience. Bingo throughGerman, conversation inFrench and fun quizzes inSpanish were enjoyed byall. We look forward tomeeting these enthusiastic

language learners in the not too distant future.Ms. N. Walker

MODERN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT

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CSPE DEPARTMENT

Class 3 Elm’s C.S.P.E. Action Project onAmnesty InternationalAs a class 3 Elm decided to do an ActionProject on Amnesty International. We gotthe idea from our English teacher MsMurtagh as she told us that she wanted toset up an Amnesty group in the school andasked if any of us wanted to join. We allthen decided as a class to raise awarenessand do an Action Project on Amnesty.

Amnesty International was set up by aBritish lawyer Peter Benson in 1961. Bensonset this up to have an internationalcampaign to protect Human Rights asstated in the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights. He decided to do this whenhe heard of two Portuguese students whowere imprisoned for seven years for makinga toast to freedom. Amnesty has over 22million members. They help Amnesty byprotesting and by writing letters toGovernments.

Our class 3 Elm invited a speaker fromAmnesty International to talk to us onFriday 9th October about Amnesty and howit works and how it protects people’s rights.Her name was Sian Thompson. Sian showedus pictures of members of Amnestyprotesting.

We then invited Sian back to our schoolon Friday 13th November for the launch ofour Amnesty group in the school. With helpfrom our C.S.P.E. teacher Ms, Bryne and Ms.Murtagh we set up the Interactivewhiteboard room where we were doing thelaunch. Ms. Lennon, Ms. Murphy, Mr.Hanillan, Ms. Murtagh and Ms. Bryne allattended our launch as well as a few 6thyears. Sian Thompson came back to help uslaunch the Amnesty group in our schooland she talked about what Amnesty does

and how it helps people.The Amnesty group in our school had its

first meeting on Wednesday 18th

November. All students are welcome to join.The meetings are held in the prayer roomevery Wednesday at lunch time.

Class Elm: C.S.P.E. Action Project. Reporting Committee, Eva Thornberry, Jessica Kavanagh, SusanO’Reilly

C.S.P.E. Class Elm Action Project

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING DEPARTMENT

HETACDCU17 Students

EngineeringBiomedical Engineering

Law and Society BCLScienceChildren’s and General NursingMarketing Innovation and TechnologyChemical and Pharmaceutical SciencesGeneral Nursing

Sports Science and HealthLaw and Society BCLChildren’s and General NursingEngineeringScienceBusiness StudiesAnalytical ScienceScienceEducation and Training

DIT13 Students

Accounting and FinanceCulinary EntrepreneurshipBar Studies (Management andEntrepreneurship)Event ManagementProduct DesignRetail Management and ServicesPhysics with Medical Physics andBioengineeringBusiness and GermanNeutraceuticals in Health and NutritionCulinary ArtsFood InnovationRetail and Services ManagementFood InnovationBusiness

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BLANCHARDSTOWN ITApplied Social Studies andSocial Care

DUNDALK ITEvent ManagementMidwifery

TRINITY COLLEGE6 Students

Occupational TherapyMedicinal ChemistryEuropean StudiesEngineeringGeneral NursingArts (German & Spanish)

UCD5 Students

PhysiotherapySocial ScienceArtsPsychiatric NursingArts

MATER DEI2 Students

English and ReligionHistory and Religion

ST.PATRICK’S COLLEGE,DRUMCONDRAPrimary School Teaching (2 students)ALL HALLOWSReligion and English

NATIONAL COLLEGE OFIRELAND (NCI)5 Students

Accounting (Deferred)Business

Accounting and HumanResource Management (2students)Management of Business andTechnology

DUBLIN BUSINESS SCHOOL(DBS)Social Care

NUI MAYNOOTHArts (2 students)

FETAC

COLAISTE IDE6 students

Front Office ManagementMarketing, Human Resourceand Business (3 students)Travel and TourismSports Management

MARINO8 studentsPre-Nursing (3 students)Child Care (2 students)Travel and Tourism (2 students)Beauty Therapy

WHITEHALL6 students

Health and AdministrationReceptionist (2 students)Legal SecretaryHealth AdministrationComputers

CRUMLIN4 students

Fashion Buying andMerchandising (2 students)

Make-up and Special EffectsFashion Merchandising

DUN LAOGHAIRE INSTITUTEBeauty Therapy (2 students)

COLAISTE DHULAIGH3 students

Portfolio CourseHairdressing (2 students)

LIBERTIES3 students

High Scope ChildcareChildcare and MontessoriYouth and Community

PLUNKETT COLLEGEHolistic Health

BALLSBRIDGE COLLEGEEvent Management

BALLYMUN TRINITYChildcare

INCHICORE Creative WritingCostume Design and Make-u

FÁS7 students

Hairdressing (3 students)Computer and Business (2 students)Apprenticeship Hairdressing (2 students)

GAP YEAR 1 student

EMIGRATED 1 student

WORK8 students

Retail (5 students)Clerical (2 students)Hairdressing (1 student)

REPEAT6 Students

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING DEPARTMENT (cont.)

NUI Maynooth AwardCongratulations to Orla McGrath who won1000 euro entrance scholarship award OnMonday 2nd November in NUI Maynoothfor obtaining over 500 points in her LeavingCertificate.

First YearThere was a meeting for First Year parentsto highlight our programme to help thestudents settle into their new environment.The Year Heads and Form Tutors spoke tothe parents about their roles and looked atthe issues of healthy eating, homework andstudy, extracurricular activities and theresults of the students’ questionnaires.

Third YearThe Third Year students sat theirDifferential Aptitude tests (DATS). Thesetests help the students to build up apersonal profile of themselves which willenable those going on into Fifth Year tomake their subject choice. They also are ofvalue to those students who are consideringTransition Year to explore subjects linked to

their aptitudes. Each student will have anindividual meeting with the guidancecounsellors to feed back the results of theDATS.

Higher OptionsThe 23rd Higher Options Conference tookplace at the RDS, Ballsbridge on the 18th ofSeptember. Sixty-three Sixth Year studentsfrom the school attended the event andfound the event very informative.Over 180 universities, higher educationcolleges, further education colleges,organisations and professional bodies werein attendance giving students an unrivalledopportunity to discuss college choices andentry procedures. It was an excellentopportunity for students to avail ofinformation on choice and entry proceduresto Irish and UK higher and further levelinstitutions.

Careers EveningA highly successful careers evening tookplace in our school on Tuesday 13thOctober. Fourth, Fifth and Sixth year

students from St. Mary’s, Beneavin De LaSalle, St. Michael’s, Colaiste Eoin and MaterChristi participated in the event. Over 47colleges and organisations were inattendance on the night and it gave thestudents the chance to meet up with thecollege representatives to discuss theircareer options. The night was a hugesuccess.

Tolka Area Partnership (TAP) formerlyFinglas Cabra PartnershipThe Better Reading Partnership (BRP) aproject launched by the Tolka AreaPartnership began in St. Mary’s in October.The programme helps young peopleimprove their reading skills and gets themexcited about books. Twenty-two volunteersfrom our Transition Year groupingparticipated in the training with the projectco-ordinator Ms. Emma O’Connor to helpfirst year students improve their readingability. Plans are being put in place to startthe programme as soon as possible. Discover DCU

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A Discover DCU workshop under theinitiative of DCU’s Access Programmetargeted at Fifth Year students took placeon November 25th at DCU. It took the formof a workshop to give information to allowstudents to explore their fears, anxietiesand expectations of third level, and to offerguidance and support about studying atDCU. Twenty-eight students participated inthe workshop, which included sevenstudents from St. Mary’s, Kim Kiernan,Paige Dobbyn, Ellen O’Connor, KelseyCarter, Stacey Bennett, Christina Kenna andClaire Sweeney.

DCU Achievement AwardsThe Accenture Achievement Awards schemewas launched by the DCU Access Service forstudents from secondary schools in theNorth Dublin region. It is designed torecognise, reward and encourage excellencein both the academic and extra muralaspects of a student’s school life. Each yearover 400 students are recognised for theirvarious accomplishments and achievements. On the 10th of December the following 4thand 5th year students were awardedunder this scheme at the Helix, DCU:Special Nomination – Lauren Craven,Olga Muhall, Jenny Moriarty, KimKiernan.Community Spirit – Karen Cullen,Elizabeth Gallagher, Laura Colgan,Grainne Lynch, Ellen O’Connor, KelseyCarter.Sports – Jessica Jones, Michelle Lynch,Lauren Coulahan, Lorna Dunne, ChloeO’RourkeAcademic – Rachel O’Connell, AislingAhern, Niamh McArdle, Ariana Rondthaler,Merrusa Matusalem, Amy Campbell. Arts and Culture – Jennifer Moran, Aoife

Harbison, Shannen O’Brien, Amy Coleman,Kellie Anne Murphy.

Fifth Year EveningA meeting of Fifth Year parents andstudents looked at motivation andorganizational skills, study skills, diet andhealthy eating, use of the journal, newcareer developments and the Fifth YearRetreat Programme. The meeting wasintroduced by Mrs. Margaret Lennon andthe issues were addressed by the YearHeads, Form Tutors, Guidance Counsellorsand Chaplain.

Sixth Year TalksThe sixth year students have participated inThird Level talks every Tuesday from earlySeptember. Speakers from Trinity College,NCI, DIT, Blanchardstown IT, Tallaght IT, DCUand NUI Maynooth have been inattendance.

Notice of up-coming career talks will behighlighted on the careers notice board onthe sixth year corridor.

CAO /FETAC/ UCASIn the weeks to follow, students will bedeciding their college choices for filling outtheir CAO forms. A reminder to all SixthYears, that if they apply by January 20ththey will be able to avail of the 10 euroreduction in the application fee.

This year will also see a number ofstudents applying to the UK collegesthrough the UCAS system.

Students are also encouraged to startresearching and applying for their FETACcourses in anticipation of interviews early inthe New Year. Fingal Centre

Life skills programme for a Fifth Year classwas facilitated by a team from the Fingalcentre. A follow up programme will beoffered in the New Year. It is hoped thatthey will offer the programme to otherclasses after Christmas.

16+Task ForceThe 16+ Task Force was formed in 2007 toaddress the need for a multi-agencyapproach to meet the needs of youngpeople aged 16 and over who aredisengaged or at risk of disengaging fromservice providers, and to create a structureand process to work with individuals,placing paramount importance on theirbest interests. The task force has establisheda Service Directory, which maps out theroles of the services in the area andprovides a simple and effective point ofcontact for other agencies and the youngpeople in the Finglas Cabra area. St Mary’sis one of the services included in thedirectory and has been actively involved inthe Task Force.www.16plustaskforce.ie

Finglas Suicide NetworkFinglas Suicide Network 46-47 MellowesCourt, Mellowes Road, Finglas, Dublin 11are a community-based initiative supportingindividuals, families and communitiesconcerned and affected by suicide in aprofessional and culturally appropriate way.It is supported by CONSOLE throughindividual counselling and support groups.

CALL 8648899 for an appointmentCALL 1800201890 for Helpline

Ms. C. Downey & Ms. F. Devaney

GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING DEPARTMENT (cont.)

As the Christmas examsapproached, the 2nd yearSPHE students prepared byrevising different styles ofstudy techniques as well asfocusing on exam languagethat often causes difficulty inexams. Class 2 Valentiacreated beautiful posters thathighlight these key words.These posters are displayedthrough out the school andwill be of benefit to all thestudents in the school,particularly our 1st yearstudents as they prepare fortheir biggest exams insecondary school so far.

Ms. N Cunningham

SPHE DEPARTMENT

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RELIGION DEPARTMENTMass for the School YearThis year the school Mass took place on the 14th October 2009 in Our Lady of Dolourschurch. It was an extra special occasion. Not only did it mark the opening of theacademic year it also marked the handing over of the Trusteeship of the school fromthe Holy Faith Sisters to the newly formed Le Cheile Trust.

The theme chosen to mark this occasion was: “Diversity in Unity”. This theme waschosen to celebrate that , while the Holy Faith Sisters are joining a Trust of elevenother Religious Orders, we will still retain our unique identity and ethos as a Holy FaithSchool.

The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Eamon Burke who did an excellent job of officiatingat this most significant event.

Opening ProcessionThe Mass began with an introduction by Mrs Lennon who explained the meaning ofthe theme and spoke about Margaret Aylward, the work of the Holy Faith Sisters andthe move to the Le Cheile Trust. Miss Murphy led the procession bringing symbols tothe altar. Each symbol represented aspects of our Holy Faith school community.Students from each year group brought: The Holy Faith Emblem; The School MissionStatement; The Ethos Statement. Sr. Maria Concilio and Sr. Mary Lalor carried candles tothe Altar that represented the central message of the Holy Faith Sisters “Faith – thepresence of light in darkness”.

ReadingsThe readings of the Mass reflected the theme “Diversity in Unity” while Fr. Eamon’shomily on the “X Factor” and everyone’s unique talents went down very well with thestudents.

Offertory ProcessionThe Offertory procession presented symbols of St. Mary’s. Students brought a paintingof Margaret Aylward’s lamp, a lamp donated to the school by the Holy Faith Sisters.The first year students were represented by a poster of the Holy Faith symbol with theriver names of our First Year classes on it. Finally, the bread and wine which wouldbecome Christ’s presence among us were presented to Fr. Eamon.

Communion ReflectionThis reflection was taken from the Irish spiritual writer, John O’Donoghue. The title wasaptly called “New Beginnings”.

Transfer of School Trusteeship to the Le Cheile TrustThis was read by Mrs. Carole Downey. The reading was accompanied by a procession ofsymbols representing the Le Cheile Trust. The Le Cheile symbol, with all twelve schoolcrests of the religious orders involved, was first to the altar. The symbol is a St.Brigid’sCross which reminds us of our Catholic roots and traditions. The design imagery isinspired by the Book of Kells. Togetherness is symbolised by different pathways to acentral maze, where there is searching, challenges and new directions. Finally, theinterlocking keys symbolise that education gives access to and opens up newknowledge and new possibilities.

Then the Le Cheile Charter, with the outline of the Mission and Vision that all twelvecongregations entrust to the new venture was presented.

Finally the Le Cheile Candle was brought up and placed on the altar. Sr. AntoinetteKeelan of the Holy Faith Order and Mr. Sean Goan of the Le Cheile Trust both lit thiscandle together, symbolising the unity of the Trust.

This ceremony was beautifully concluded by the choir who sang “We are one in theLord” which was specially commissioned by Le Cheile and composed by Se. MarieDunne for this transition.

Commissioning of the PrefectsThen, after Holy Communion, the Commissioning of the Prefects tookplace. The Head Girl Rachel Nugent and Deputy Head Girls SophieGaughran and Emma Gibbons led the Prefects in their prayer, whichwas followed by a well deserved round of applause from the schoolcommunity.

The Mass this year was an especially significant occasion for theschool and the Holy Faith Order and we in the ReligionDepartment would like to extend our gratitude to all whohelped to make this year’s Mass extra special. Inparticular, we thank the Holy Faith Sisters, Sr.Antoinette, Mr Sean Goan, the Staff, Prefects, ourgreat choir and Fr. Eamon Burke. His good humourand spiritual insight made the celebration of “NewBeginnings” enjoyable and memorable.

Ms. F Kavanagh & Ms. L Bohan

CINEMA NEWSTY Calling the shots – filmmaking in St Mary’s

Last year a group of Transition Yearstudents and Ms. Cunningham embarkedon a short filmmaking project. They beganin January, committing approximately onehour of their time each week after school.They analysed a variety of the filmtechniques used in mainstream filmmaking.Then, they brainstormed looking for ideasfor their theme and agreeing on oneproved difficult.

They persevered however and afterbeing advised that it might be a good ideato work on something most people hadexperience of, they agreed that theirtheme would be bullying. Ms. Cunninghamsuggested collaborating with first-yearstudents, as they had covered this topic inSPHE. This gave the TY film group afantastic opportunity to improve theircommunication skills and the first years achance to make connections, friendshipsand have an impact on their school.

The result of this process was a terrificshort film called “The Music Room”. Theteam used clever direction, photography,editing and music to create a dramatic andemotive work, which delivered a strongpunch. The team of first year actors alsoplayed their part in creating this successfulpiece. Initially, they auditioned, then thesuccessful few received an acting workshopdelivered by the TY students involved. Thefirst years then volunteered their free timeduring the Easter holidays and filming tookplace.

May ’09 saw the official screening of“The Music Room”. All participants andtheir parents were invited to attend. It wasa great evening. There was a positiveresponse to the film and it is the intentionof the school to use it as part of the‘Friendship Week’ initiative, which tacklesbullying in a positive and proactive way.

On a personal note, I wish to thank allthe students who participated in the TY“Calling the Shots” film project for theirdedication. I particularly would like toacknowledge Aisling Martin who gavefreely of her time to edit the film. This tooka great number of hours and she did anexcellent job.

I look forward to working on other filmprojects with the current Transition yearstudents during the coming year.

Ms. N Cunningham

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Open Night Maths StandWell done to all First Years whosubmitted a creative andcolourful poster on BEMDAS forthe Open Night competition.Mr. Mc Carthy, Ms. Gavin andMs. Murphy, at the Mathsstand, answered any questionsthat parents had, when theyvisited the school on OpenNight. The Maths standdisplayed many puzzles forperspective students to solveincluding a rubrik cube, acrossnumber, a jigsaw puzzleand a variety of mathematicaltest sheets. There was also aPowerPoint presentation ondifferent mathematical conceptsfor parents to view and therewas information displayed onthe ‘Misconceptions aboutMaths.’

Maths Week Maths Week was celebrated inall schools countrywide from10th – 17th October. St. Mary’swas no exception! St. Mary’saimed to raise awareness,appreciation and anunderstanding of mathematicsfor all students during thatweek. Interesting mathematicalfacts were posted on stands oneach corridor as well as on theMaths notice board. The eventsof Maths Week were designedto present Maths as interesting,challenging and yet rewarding –and yes, even fun! There werecross curricular links with othersubject departments duringMaths Week. Art studentscreated colourful mathematicalposters and articles on famousmathematicians were sited onthe History notice board. Allstudents in the school wereinformed over the intercomabout the ‘Maths in the City’event which took place onGrafton Street on Saturday the10th October from 11.30-3pmwhere presenters talked allabout numbers! In addition tothis students were made awareof the many activities organisedby the Maths teachers in theschool for each year group.

All First Years completed aMaths trail, which wasorganised by Ms.Murphy in theBotanic gardens on Friday the16th October from 11am until1pm. Students observed on thetrail and focused on the Mathsin the environment. The trailincluded a variety of tasks forthe students to do. The winnersof the Maths trail were MeganNolan, Rochelle Mc Ginley,Jemma Ennis and Mary-LouiseTipones.

All Second Year studentswere delighted to take part in‘The Maths Challenge 2009’quiz in the Choir Hall on

Tuesday the 13th October from9.30-10.50am. This was a veryenjoyable event for all secondyears and thanks are expressedto Ms.Wilson and Ms.Gavin fortheir organisation of the event.Well done to Orla Kavanagh,Jodi Maher, Megan Stamp andMalvina Grondzewska as theywere the outright winners.

All Third Year students wereinvited to participate in the‘Countdown ChampionCompetition 2009’ organised byMs. Mc Cormack and Ms. O’Donnell in the InteractiveWhiteboard Room onWednesday the 14th Octoberduring lunchtime. Such was theenthusiasm and interest fromthe Third Year students that thefinal had to take place thefollowing day at lunchtime. Theoverall winner was Nessa Farrellwhile second and third placewent to Hannah Kelly andJessica Kavanagh respectively.

All TY students endeavouredto solve Sudoku Puzzles withMs.Griffin and Ms.Gavin in theTY rooms on Monday the 12thOctober from 3.00-3.40pm.Transition Years also had theopportunity to challengethemselves mathematically bytaking part in the ‘PrismChallenge’ on Thursday the15th October from 1.40-3.00pm.This is a national competitioninvolving a series of problems inmultiple-choice format, tochallenge the problem solvingdexterity of students. Mr.Hallinan organised both thisactivity as well as the HamiltonWalk for Transition Years.Students walked from theschool to Broombridge onFriday the 16th October. AtBroombridge, students saw atfirst hand the famousinscription that was etched byHamilton in 1893 on the wall atBroombridge.

Fifth year Maths studentsattended either the ‘Magic ofMaths’ show in the RDS

organised by Ms.Nolan andMs.O’Donnell or theyparticipated in a Maths quizduring class. Andrew Jeffrey, amathemagician entertained theaudience in the RDS with arange of fabulous tricks. Manyof his tricks relied on thewonderful world ofmathematics.

Finally all Sixth Year studentswere surprised by amathematical activity duringMaths week! They were eithershown the fascinating DürersSquare – a square that the sumsin any of the four quadrants aswell as the sums of the middlefour numbers are all 34. SixthYear students and teachers alsoenjoyed games of Jenga againsteach other.

Maths ClubThe Maths Club was launchedduring Maths Week by Mr. McCarthy and Ms. O’ Donnell. TheMaths Club aims to help allstudents who have a difficultywith Maths and want that littlebit of extra help. The MathsClub runs Monday lunchtime inthe Interactive WhiteboardRoom from 1.10-1.35pm. Manyof the Maths teachers in theMaths Department are willingto help out in the club. This is awonderful opportunity andstudents who have been absentfor periods of time or have adifficulty with a particular topicare encouraged to attend.

Maths SquadThis is a new TY initiativeinvolving a group of twelveTransition Year students thathelp First Year students withproblem-solving skills in Maths.The Maths Squad and First Yearswork together in the EnglishRoom Wednesdays at lunchtimeand to date it has been a hugesuccess for all involved.

New Changes in the MathsSyllabi – Project MathsA new revised Maths course willbe rolled out nationally forboth incoming First Year andFifth Year students inSeptember 2010. Project Mathsis designed to teachMathematics in a way thatpromotes real understanding,where students can appreciatethe relevance of what they arelearning and its application toeveryday life, and howmathematics can be used tosolve problems. New strands onStatistics and Probability as wellas Geometry and Trigonometrywill be introduced.

Ms. M. O’Donnell

MATHS DEPARTMENT

TY Students solving Sudoku puzzles

Dürers Square

Famous inscription by Hamilton

2nd Years in the Maths Challenge 2009

3rd Years in the Coundown Competition

5th Years setting out on a Maths Trail!

1st Years in the Botanic Gardens

6th Year students trying to recreateDürers Square from memory

Winners of the ‘Maths Challenge’ Quiz/

5th Year students outside the RDS

Countdown Champions in Third Year!

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Tales from TYOur Transition Year students are a terrificgroup of young ladies, so full of confidenceand enthusiasm. During each event, activity,class and talk this year they have workedhappily and diligently. And what a list ofexperiences they have had so far:

Glasnevin cemetery tour, Dublin Zoo,Drama workshop, Defend Ireland talk,Bonding Hike to Howth, AA talk, EmmausRetreat, Traffic school, CARA talk, Songschool, Hamilton walk, Temple StreetHospital fundraising, Cycling in the PhoenixPark, a visit from European Commissioners,Newgrange, Science talk in the RDS,Kilmainham Gaol, Personal developmentworkshop, peer learning activities, RTEorchestra recitals, GAA museum tours.

But don’t just take our word for it, readwhat the girls have to say!

Ms. R McCormack & Ms. Hayes

Song SchoolOn Thursday 12th November, all thetransition year students took part in theSongSchool. Paul, Peter, Joe and Catrionaare from Balbriggan and they visited us fora day and what a fun day that was. We firstplayed games where we had to imitatePaul. We repeated everything he did,making noises, moving our hands, clappingthem, kicking our feet, anything he did wehad to do. It was all about concentration.After those sort of games, the guys put ona show for us. They sang a few songs andplayed the guitar. We were all singing andclapping along with them. After that theyseparated us into groups. I was in a groupwith Sarah, Gemma, Lizzie, Alison, Catriona,Jessica, Lauren, Michelle and Niamh. So wespent the rest of the day writing a song! Itwas actually very hard to do. We decided towrite a Christmas Carol as Christmas wasjust around the corner.

Lizzie and I were the lead vocals, whileSarah, Alison, Catriona, Lauren and Michellewere the backing singers and Gemma,Niamh and Jessica were the rappers. Yes wedecided to add a rap to our ChristmasCarol. We thought it would sound cool witha bit of a mix and it did! So we wrote andrehearsed our song for ages to try and getit right. It finally came to the end of theday when we had to perform our song! Wewere so nervous. I remember feeling so hot,the heaters were on and the nerves weregetting to me, that was no help. But wegot up there and we sang our ChristmasCarol in front of all the students, a secondyear class, a few teachers and elderlypeople from the Log on Learn group.

It definitely boosts your confidence,getting up there and singing in front ofpeople, especially it it’s something youwant to do! I really, really enjoyed the day.Finally, Ms. McCormack and Mr. Collthought everyone did such a good job thatthey are going to let us record our songs!

Hannah Evers 4.27

Kilmainham GaolMy friends and I met at the bus stop at 7.30in the morning. We got it at that timebecause the traffic is usually really jammedin Phibsboro. When we got to the jail we

were split into two groups. The jail itselfwas really interesting. The tour guide toldus that in the past people were hangedoutside as a warning to the public. We alsolearned that women and men wereseparated for mass. The cells were reallysmall and because of the famine somepeople used to get into jail just to be fed.Then the guards realised what they weredoing and stopped it. We saw a roomwhere there was an oval staircase. I wasgoing to ask if it was where the film“Michael Collins” was shot but then thetour guide told us it was. I thought thatwas deadly. The tour guide showed usmuch more but I can’t write it all down asthere was so much, but I thought it wasdeadly!

Aisling Regan 4.38

The year so farTransition year has been a brilliantexperience so far! We have either a trip ora talk nearly every week so no week is everthe same. We are also learning a lot ofdifferent things; Japanese, Music skills,Careers, Leisure studies and some of us(including myself) get to go to St Kevin’sboys’ school to do Metalwork, Woodworkand First Aid! I think it’s great that we getthe chance to try new subjects and get achance to sample all the subjects on theLeaving Certificate syllabus. We don’t do allclasses as normal. We do projects and incertain subjects, like French and Irish, wewatch movies and films in those languages.All I can say is, I can’t wait for the rest ofthe year! We have only started and we stillhave TY production, work experience and aski trip in February. It’s going to be great!

Aoife Harbison 4.28

TY Log on, Learn (TY LOL)Well done to the girls of class 4.38 whoparticipated in the Transition Year Log onLearn initiative. TY LOL was developed as aresult of collaboration between Intel,

Microsoft and An Post. It involves TransitionYear Students teaching computers to olderpeople from their local community. It worksusing a “buddy” system whereby eachstudent is paired with an older person sothat training is on a one-to-one basis.

The programme was a huge success andwe already have a waiting list for next year.The key to its success and indeed, the magicingredient was the co-operation betweenthe two generations involved. It is seldomthat these two generations get theopportunity to work together outside therealm of family environments, but from theget-go there was a real buzz in thecomputer room and a sense that bothgroups were enjoying the task at hand.

I have to hand it to the transition yearstudents, most of whom had never doneanything like this before. It is not an easyjob to take on the role of teacher, but theydid a fantastic job. I could see manyqualities of a good teacher shining through– patience, ability to listen to their buddiesand generosity in imparting theirknowledge. Some of them should definitelyconsider a career in training or teaching.

We also had a marvellous group ofparticipants who joined us every Thursday.They were all a pleasure to work with. Iknow that there can be a big fear factorinvolved in learning to work withcomputers, but everyone got stuck in withenthusiasm. What struck me most was thatin a school full of young people, it was theso-called older people who stood out asbeing full of energy! If I have half theirenergy, zest and positive attitude in mylater years I’ll be a happy retiree. I sincerelyhope that they now have the confidence tocontinue to experiment with computers. Iwould like to take this opportunity tothank them for their time and for inspiringus to run this initiative again next year andhopefully for many years ahead.

If anyone is interested in participating infuture courses contact Liz on 01 8374413.

Ms J. Byrne

TRANSITION YEAR

Bonding trip to Dublin Zoo 7th September 2009 Collecting bikes in the Phoenix Park 13th October 2009

Log on and Learn TY Students cycling in the Phoenix Park

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Poppy Day Remembrance On Wednesday 11th November, wecommemorated Armistice Day, the daywhich brought World War I to an end in1918. The poppy is the symbol of all thosewho have died in conflicts past andpresent. Hence, the 11th November isknown as Poppy Day.

A service of remembrance was held at11 o’clock. Six students from 3 Elmparticipated. They were Patricia Condon,Keeva O’Reilly, Aine Holland, NaomiMcEvoy, Rebekah Reid and Emma Scott.The roll call of honour was read by MrsBogan. The History noticboard wasbeautifully decorated with poppies madeby Ms Cunningham. The poem “PoppyPetals” and various posters were alsodisplayed.

This tradition began last year on the90th anniversary of the ending of WorldWar I and it is a tradition we hope tocontinue in St. Mary’s as it offers us thatopportunity to remember fallen heroeswho in the words inscribed on the KohimaMonument, gave their to-day fortomorrow.

Ms. A MullinsTransition Year students have beenextremely busy with the HistoryDepartment since the beginning of theschool year. Our first history trip was toGlasnevin Cemetary, which is a graveyardand heritage centre. We visited the LittleAngels’ plot and visited the graves ofhistorical figures like Daniel O’Connell. Wealso saw the graves of Michael Collins,Eamon de Valera, Cathal Brugha and otherforgotten leaders and fighters of the 1916Rising and War of Independence. Wevisited Kilmainham Jail where many of the

same men were imprisoned and executed.We found these trips interesting because itreminded us of Irish history and made it seem more real to us. We recently visitedNewgrange, a Neolithic passage tombwhich is over 5,000 years old. An artificiallight was shone through the passage tomband it was fascinating to see how sunlightshines through the roof-box and lights upthe tomb on Winter Solstice.

We have also been working on projectsabout “Women in History”. In groups oftwo we have chosen a particular femalehistorical figure who we believe will beremembered in 100 years time and basedour entire project on her. The chosenpersonalities include Mother Teresa, GraceKelly, Shirley Temple, Rosa Parks, MaryMcAleese and Princess Diana. The projectsconsist of typed information based onresources and pictures in a folder to behanded up to our teacher and a visualpresentation that is presented in front ofour class.

Overall, history has been an interestingsubject for Transition Years to be studyingas we are learning about different aspectsof history that are not included in theusual curriculum. The trips are great funand generate a lot of interest andexcitement within our year and we arelooking forward to the events that willtake place over the coming months. Laura Colgan 4.28

HISTORY DEPARTMENT SCIENCEDEPARTMENT

Sharing our Science week experiences andmore in St. Mary’s

St. Mary’s Science Club was officiallylaunched during Science Week (8th-15thNovember) The Science Club is open to allcurious and enthusiastic first year studentsand meets every Monday and lunchtime inthe upstairs laboratory. This is an excitingopportunity for our students to questionthe world around them and then to roll uptheir sleeves and participate in goodscientific research. We hope this willencourage our students to take science toLeaving Certificate and beyond.

In addition to the launch of the ScienceClub, many other activities took placeduring Science Week. Our Biology studentswere invited to attend a lecture in the RDSentitled “From Passion to PracticalBenefits: Why it’s great being a Scientist”,given by Prof. Luke O’Neill. They were alsogiven a talk on the importance of probioticbacteria in our body. Our Physicistsparticipated in the Nanoquest challengeand Chemistry students attended a set ofchemistry demonstrations given by a guestspeaker. The TY students participated inthe Science Fusion experience in DCU. Ourthird year students were challenged to aScience Quiz, while our first and secondyears allowed their creative side to shine ina Science poster competition. As you cantell, Science Week 2009 was jam-packed inSt. Mary’s. Remember next year to getinvolved!

Finally, we must not forget to mentionthe Biology Fieldtrip to the Phoenix Park(10-11th September) in which our sixthyear students participated. They completedfive mandatory Ecology practicalexperiments during the day and did sowith care and diligence. A portfolio ofthese experiments will be prepared by eachstudent for revision purposes.

Ms. R McCormack

Some members of St. Mary’s Science Club 2009

Science Week – Collecting bugs using a pooter andsweep net

Science Week – Using a quadratSixth Year Students working together on their ecologyfield trip

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Transition Year Retreat to EmmausOn 28th September ’09, Transition Year students took part in a religious retreat atEmmaus Retreat House, Swords. When we got there, we were divided up into smallgroups and given a team leader. We worked on topics such as team-building and self-confidence. The girls and I though this was an unforgettable experience as it really gaveus a chance to get to know each other much better. We shared our thoughts andopinions of the spiritual dimension of our lives and we exchanged stories of our hopesand dreams for the future. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and got a lot of the day ofprayer and reflection.

Choir Fundraising MarathonIt has been a very busy term indeed forthe Music department with many excitingactivities taking place. On Friday 25thSeptember, the school choir was asked tosing in the Pro-Cathedral to fundraise forthe homeless people in Dublin. The choirperformed for over two and a half hourswith several other school choirs fromDublin in a singing marathon. Throughoutthe night, the choir also heard a numberof stories about how the money it raisedwould help those people who arehomeless. The night was a great successand overall, the girls helped to raise 2250Euro. Well done to all the girls involved!

School MassThe choir has been extremely busy duringthe term. It helped provide joyous songs atthe opening school mass. To celebrate thehanding over of the school to a new trust– ‘Le Cheile’, the choir sang a speciallycommissioned piece called ‘NewBeginnings’ by the composer Ian Callanan,who worked with the choir duringEmmanuel 2009.

Christmas CarolsStudents from the choir were involved inan evening of Advent Reflections andCarols in All Hallows College Chapel onWednesday 25th November. The girls wereasked to sing a selection of carols andprovide backing support to the soloists onthe night. All Hallows College hope tomake this an annual Carol celebration andit’s great that our students have beeninvolved in it.

The student council decided that theywould like to provide carols and Christmasmusic for the convent community. Withthe help of some choir members, this wentahead and was most enjoyable for thesisters in the convent.

LYRIC FM CompetitionThe choir has been entered into acompetition, which is being run by LyricFm. The girls have been working onbuilding up their repertoire and haverecorded two challenging pieces in three-part harmony for the competition. Theresults of the competition will be knownin late January so we wish all the girls thebest of luck!

RTE Concert OrchestraOn 19th November, the 6th year musicclass along with the transition year musicappreciation group travelled to GriffithCollege to hear the RTE Concert Orchestraperform Hector Berlioz’s ‘SymphonieFantastique’. The RTE Orchestra performedboth movements of the symphony, whichwill be examined in the Leaving CertMusic exam in 2010.The concert was followed by an interactivetalk where the orchestra dissectedimportant parts of the symphony,explaining and illustrating the manytechniques present in the music. It was awonderful opportunity for the girls to seeand hear a world-class orchestra in such asmall setting as it really brought the musicwhich they had studied in class to life. Welook forward to attending many similarevents throughout the year.

Ms. M. O’Rourke & Mr. C. Coll

MUSIC DEPARTMENTPREFECT NEWS

Hi there! Rebecca, Sophie and Emma hereto update you on the development of ourrole as sixth year prefects. We began ourschool year early with a two day LuccaLeadership programme which we reallyenjoyed. We learned valuable leadershipand communication skills to help us fulfilour roles as prefects. We were thenintroduced to the first years in a funfilledorienteering day including games andtreasure hunts. It was a great way to get toknow our prefect classes and for them tofeel comfortable in our school community.Our next step as prefects was to keep upwith our visits to 1st and 2nd year classes.We quickly realised a strong connectionwas being built.

Halloween quickly came upon us and itwas the first opportunity since the start ofthe year to organise a fun event with ourprefect classes. A day full of apple bobbing,mummy-wraps and loads of sweets wasenjoyed by all. Needless to say our prefectclasses warmed to us! Other prefectsinvolved in the film and the computer clubhave also been working hard to add to theextra-curricular activities in our school.

A day to remember that is special to allprefects took place in October. That wasthe day we took our oath at the schoolmass. Other school events included ourChristmas surprise for all 1st and 2nd yearsand our Christmas fair. They wereanticipated with great excitement. So far,the year has gone well and we hope to domany more fun things in the future.

Sophie Gaughran, Rebecca Nugent and Emma Gibbons

The Homework Club has been a greatsuccess. It is a chance for first years, everyWednesday and Thursday, to get help fromsixth years with their homework or anysubject they need assistance with.

Every week there is a great turn out andthe students find it very beneficial. Notonly did the Homework Club help the girlswith their school work but it also gavethem the chance to make new friends withstudents from other classes and they wereeven able to help each other in some cases.It created a stronger link between firstyears and sixth years.

Now we’re sorry to say that because ofthe stress and strain of sixth year, we have

Rebecca Nugent (Head Girl) with Sophie Gaughranand Emma Gibbons (Deputy Head Girls)

Right: Homework ClubBelow: Prefects 2009/2010

to hand our role as co-ordinators over to thefifth year students.

We hope they enjoy it and find it to bejust as successful as we did! Best of luck girls.Niamh Ronan & Ciara Dalton 6.37

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Gaelic FootballGaelic football will be reintroduced this year with an U14 team inthe Leinster league. This will commence in the New Year. Seniorswill also be training and playing friendly games in the New Year inpreparation for entering the league in 2010. We wish all playersevery success.

SoccerThe soccer season has kicked off again this year with the girlstraining every Wednesday on the new Astro. St Mary’s school hasentered a U14 and a U16 team into the Leinster league and wewish them every success in their up and coming games.Ms. D Maher

Basketball

Basketball got off to a flying start this year with the introductionof two new coaches and four teams entered in the SSA league.Ciaran Dunne, experienced coach of UCD Marians has come to trainour seniors and cadettes. Ms. E Murphy has taken on the first andsecond years teams after much experience in schools in the past.

Our seniors are in the premier division and showing every chanceof coming out on top. After defeating Maryfield 48-31 andnarrowly missing out by five baskets against Mt. Sackville, we feelthey have every chance of beating local rivals DCGA and this willtake them to the semi-finals.

Our cadette team is also training hard this year and have sometough games ahead against such teams as St Mary’s, Baldoyle andOur Ladies, Drogheda.

Participation levels have risen substantially in our junior teamsthis year so students are training hard to prove themselves worthyfor the teams. Both teams have games coming up against St.Mary’s, Baldoyle and Our Ladies, Drogheda and we wish themevery success in their league.Ms. D Maher

Badminton ClubEvery Wednesday a dedicated group of first and second yearstudents stay after school to practise their Badminton skills. Someof these students have never played Badminton before and so forover an hour each week they learn to play while enjoying spendingtime with their classmates. The girls are now looking forward toparticipating in a Christmas Tournament against each other.

Badminton TeamsWe wish all our teams every success during the 09/10 BadmintonSeason. Already St. Mary’s have got off to a very good start withsome exciting and excellent play from all those studentsparticipating. Keep up the good work girls but most importantlycontinue to enjoy it!Ms. Moggan & Ms. McCormack

HockeyIf you build it……they will come! It’s Hockey Time……It’s AstroTime…Hurrah!

We now have our very own Astro-turf pitch. The excitement startedon day one with the first years’ sports day induction. This was afantastic success, introducing the students to the many sports andactivities that the Astro has to offer. The induction day also lead toa great response from students for new hockey players both in firstyear and throughout the other years!

With the excitement of playing hockey on our new pitch the Firstyears were eager to join the school hockey teams. We immediatelygot started with a First year introduction to hockey on Saturdaymornings in September. The First years thoroughly enjoyed theSaturday mornings. We are now delighted to have three First yearteams.

We started our Leinster league matches in an upbeat andpositive mood. The Senior team with students from 4th, 5th and6th year have played some very closely contested matches. SomeSenior team students also demonstrated their leadership skills withthe First years by helping and preparing them for matches. Welldone girls!

Our Junior team started their games with great success beatingDundalk and Loreto Beaufort and are unbeaten to date. This is agreat achievement in this year’s Leinster league. Well done to theJuniors and keep up the winning spirit.

Great excitement gathered as the First and Second year teamsprepared for their first hockey matches. The girls were highlyexcited by the prospect of playing another school and took greatpride in representing St Mary’s in hockey. The enthusiasm wasfantastic.

With our new Astro pitch and such enthusiastic and talentedplayers, the future of hockey is bright. We highly recommendeveryone to come along and join hockey.

Go Astro, onwards and upwards!!

Ms Boran, Ms Nolan, Ms Maher, Ms Gavin

PE DEPARTMENT

1st Year Basketball Team

Junior Team v St. Louis Rathmines

First Year Hockey Team

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Hip HopI would like to take this opportunity to thank three of our Seniorstudents, Hazel McCarthy, Caroline Cummins and Aoife Jenningswho give generously of their time and energy to organise Hip Hopclasses for the Junior students. The girls have created really livelyand original dances for the Juniors to perform and in turn they arelearning and loving it.

Hip Hop Dancing

Ms. Moggan

PE DEPARTMENT (contd.)

Creative Writing ClubStudents have responded veryenthusiastically to the new creative writingclub set up by Ms. Leahy. Our buddingwriters meet every Monday at lunchtime inthe English room where they are guidedthrough workshops to improve theirwriting skills. There is much talent amongstour members who have produced veryimpressive work do far. With such promisewe may even see some of our students’names on bookshelves in the future!Ms. E Leahy

Cinema NewsThe school community continued to benefitfrom our wonderful resource of the schoolcinema. The students of English were ableto enjoy film versions of their exam textse.g. “King Lear”, “Wuthering Heights”, “OfMice and Men”, “Romeo and Juliet”, etc.

Transition year students have a “FilmStudies” module as part of the TYcurriculum. They study “Genre “ in film andin particular the “Teen Genre”. Theyenjoyed films such as “Mean Creek”, “TheBreakfast Club”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”and “Maria, Full of Grace”. This helpsprepare them for the film study which ispart of the Leaving Certificate curriculum inEnglish.

The “Film Club” continues after school –usually once a month on a Thursday. So farmembers have enjoyed films such as “WildChild” and “Halloween”. New members arealways welcome.Ms. C Nolan

Library NewsSincere thanks, on behalf of the Englishdepartment, to Sister Maria Concilio for herongoing work in the school library. We

especially appreciate her help inintroducing first year students to thecontents and workings of the library. Shewelcomed each class enthusiastically andexplained to them how the libraryoperates. She assisted them in choosingsuitable books and made them feel at easeusing the library. First year students arenow busy doing book reviews andextending their class “book worms”. Welldone girls!

St. Mary’s school is very lucky to have thevaluable resource of a well stocked library.It certainly enhances the teaching andlearning in the school. The library alsosupports and encourages lunchtime/leisuretime reading so that students canappreciate the joys of reading for pleasure.Ms. C Nolan

Stratford TripIn September, an English trip was organisedto Yorkshire and Stratford to learn moreabout the famous writers WilliamShakespeare and Emily Bronte. Thestudents, from sixth year and transitionyear, travelled with their teachers Ms.Callan, Ms. Murtagh, Ms. Nolan and Ms.McCormack.

The tour started early Friday morningwith the ferry to Holyhead. From here, thegroup made their way to the beautifulhistoric city of York. The main event thisevening was a Ghost Tour. The guideentertained and terrified the girls with talesof war, plague and orphans, pointing outvarious gruesome sites as they made theirway around the city.

Nerves recovered, Saturday morningstarted with a visit to the HaworthParsonage, home of the famous Bronte

sisters. This beautifully restored museumprovides background on the lives of Emily,Charlotte and Anne as well as informationon their famous literary works such as“Wuthering Heights” and “Jane Eyre”.

That afternoon, the group travelled toStratford, home of William Shakespeare.The girls got the opportunity to wander thecobbled streets and explore the quaintshops on arrival, then later they attended apowerful performance of the history play“Julius Ceasar” in the Courtyard Theatre.Tours of Shakespeare’s Birthplace and AnneHathaway’s cottage on Sunday completedthe cultural visit to this town and Sundayevening was spent in a more modern wayin the shops and cinema of the CheshireOaks Retail Outlet.

Overall, the trip was really enjoyable andthere was excellent participation andbehaviour from all students. Hopefully theEnglish trip will become a regular event inthe school calendar. Thank you to everyoneinvolved.

Trinity LecturesStudents from sixth year got their chance toexperience college life when they attendeda recent lecture on “Wuthering Heights” inTrinity College. Dr. Jarlath Kileen exploredthe theme of cruelty in the novel and alsoraised interesting issues about ourfascination with the central relationshipbetween Catherine and Heathcliff. After hespoke, a lively discussion took place withthe audience, with students from St. Mary’sasking some challenging questions.

The next English event for sixth yearstudents will be the UCD DramaSocperformance of “King Lear” which takesplace in early January.Ms. D. Callan

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

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Green School Initiative TY Recycling Fashion CompetitionA Greenschool committee was set up on November 5th 2009. Itsaim is to reduce the amount of waste generated in the school. Itmeets at lunchtime most Thursdays. The Committee comprises ofteachers, fourth year students and two sixth year environmentalprefects. Ms. A. Wilson

This year transition year students started a new module aboutsustainable living. One group wanted to create awareness aboutlitter in the school. For this they held a competition in a first yearArt class. The students had to design a piece of clothing from‘rubbish’. The end products were fantastic. Well done to all thefirst years involved and the transition year group for this excellentinitiative.Ms. M Byrne

Fifth Year Mystery Trip to Lough Dergand the Boda BorgOn Thursday 24th November all fifth year studentsalong with some very willing teachers headed offfor the annual fifth year “Mystery Trip”. And, yes itremained a mystery until three buses pulled upoutside Lough Key Forest Park, Co Roscommon.Even then it was still a bit of a mystery as no onehad ever heard of the Boda Borg, but not for long,as over one hundred teenage girls descended onthis maze of forty seven rooms. It contains fun-filledactivities, imaginative puzzles and enjoyable tasksbut no instructions!! Not a bother for St. Mary’sgirls!!Ms. M Byrne

Here is one student’s comment on the day…

For our mystery trip, we went to Boda Borg inRoscommon. We did not know where we weregoing until we got there. When we arrived we splitinto groups of four. Before entering, we left ourbags and valuables at the front desk. In the roomthere were loads of different coloured doors. Theblack door had the hardest tasks inside. The reddoor had the easiest tasks inside. When you pass atask, you would go through a secret door to doanother task. If you pass three in a row you gotyour card stamped. The group with the most stampsat the end won. Some tasks were mind puzzles andothers were physical tasks. In one of the physicaltasks we were not allowed to touch the ground. Wehad to swing from ropes. The trip was a lot of funand helped us get to know other people and makemore friends.Naomi Murphy 5.32

St Mary’s School CouncilThe student council has been busy this term discussing student issues such asscarves, sixth year privileges and plans for getting involved in the School Fair andsinging for the Sisters in the convent before Christmas. We had a training andbonding afternoon on Tuesday 10th November. It started with lunch in thecanteen and continued with lots of discussion and finally a full council meetingwas held. It was great for the whole council to be able to spend so much timetogether and the afternoon was enjoyed by all. As the student council is thestudent voice in the school we welcome all new suggestions and ideas. Pleasecontact your year representative with any ideas and suggestions you have.Looking forward to hearing from you.

Mrs. A Hughes (student council liaison teacher)Laura Scanlon (chairperson), Ciara Dalton (secretary)

Student Council 2009/2010:Chairperson: Laura Scanlon 6.34

Vice chairperson: Lisa Barry 5.33

Secretary: Ciara Dalton 6.37

Assistant Secretary: Catherine Cormican 5.30

P.R.O.: Amy Connelly 6.37, Yseult Byrne 6.37, Aisling Ahern 4.28

Treasurer: Eilish Kelly 5.33

Council Weblink: Aisling Martin 5.33

Liaison with prefects: Rebecca Nugent 6.34, Jessica Powell 6.34

5th Year: Alison Martin 5.33, Emma Carter 5.30

TY: Aisling Ahern 4.28, Melissa Kitching 4.38

3rd Year: Emma Haumber 3 Beech, Jade Brady 3 Maple, Hannah Kelly 3 Maple

2nd Year: Laura Byas 2 Lambay, Anna-Korena Doherty 2 Tory,Ranzenallie 2 Valentia

1st Year: Aine Ford 1Shannon, Kate McNamara 1Liffey, Rochelle McGinley 1Lee