St Mary’s Events
October 2018
0824 Awarded Most Merits for September
Mrs Kearney is very pleased for her wonderful form class 0824 who collectively have achieved more merits in September than any other Year 8 class. Mrs Hughes rewarded them with treats this morning in recognition of this achievement. Well done 0824, Mrs Kearney is very proud of you all. Keep it up!
Matilda’s Birthday Lunch
To celebrate 30 years since Roald Dahl’s Matilda was published, pupils were invited to take part in a competition. Pupils had to design a poster to illustrate what Matilda looked like now and her chosen career, or create an invitation to her birthday party. The English Department was really impressed by the many creative and wonderful entries. A massive well done to all entrants. The chosen winners attended a special birthday lunch and enjoyed some birthday cake and treat sweets!
Macmillan Cheque Presentation
The Year 14 Rights Respecting Council began fundraising activities this term with their annual Staff Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. A cheque for ÂŁ350 was presented to Mrs Martha McGrath from the Newry and Mourne Macmillan Cancer Support Group by Miss Kirkpatrick and members of the School Council.
Year 12 Welcome Police Ombudsman
As part of GCSE Learning for Life and Work, Year 12 are researching the work of the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland. On Thursday 4th October, we welcomed Maria McCourt and Alison Tumilty from the Police Ombudsman’s office. Maria and Alison delivered a talk and even brought some police equipment with them. It was a very informative session and will definitely help in completing LLW Controlled Assessment.
EVERY DAY COUNTS Winners for September 2018
Congratulations to our EVERY DAY COUNTS Monthly Draw Winners for September 2018
‘I Am Social Media’ Presentation
As part of their Media unit in English, Year 10 pupils received a presentation from Trisha Heaney from ‘I am Social Media.’ Ms Heaney gave the girls an insight into her career and provided them with many invaluable advertising and marketing tips, and advice on running their own businesses. Pupils were thoroughly engaged and one lucky pupil received a spot prize of two complimentary tickets to the upcoming ‘Frockin Fabulous’ event! Year 10 pupils are currently completing a Media Unit in English and will soon be launching their very own St. Mary’s merchandise – so watch this space! Many thanks to Ms. Heaney for a wonderful morning.
Blythswood Shoebox Appeal Fundraiser
Congratulations to Class 1104 and Miss Bellew who held a cake sale which raised a total of ÂŁ235.75. All proceeds are in aid of the Blythswood Shoebox Appeal. Thank you to all the staff and pupils who brought in buns & cakes and also to the Home Economics Department for the use of all their equipment.
Samaritans Towpath Walk
Congratulations to our Year 10 pupils who raised a total of ÂŁ1046.39 for their walk on Newry Towpath. All proceeds will be donated to the Samaritans.
Experimental Art Workshop
St Mary's Art Department were delighted to host St Mark’s A Level students and staff for an experimental workshop. Pupils got to experiment with various materials and techniques to support their A Level coursework. This was a fantastic experience and we look forward to continued collaboration in the future.
Year 8 Prayer Service
On Thursday 11th October, St Mary's celebrated a beautiful prayer service to welcome our Year 8 students and families into our school community. The theme was being positive and being kind and how these attitudes can lead to great things. Well done to all our Year 8 pupils who read and sang so beautifully – a very talented group of girls!
St Mary’s Business Students Welcome Deli Lites Owner
On Friday 12th October, Siobhan Reel, owner of Deli Lites, visited the Business Studies Department and our Year 13 Cambridge Technical students. The girls had the opportunity to interview Siobhan on many aspects of running a successful enterprise, from types of ownership to Recruitment and Selection and excellent Careers advice. This interview will prove invaluable to the girls as they complete their Unit on Business Resources. Thanks so much Siobhan!
Celebrating St Ronan’s P.S 25th Anniversary
This year St. Ronan's Primary School, Newry celebrates their 25th Anniversary and Missionary Children (the Charity of Pope Francis) celebrates its 175th birthday. Two past pupils of St Ronan's, Ellen Clarke 0815 and Abbi O’Donnell 0837 and Mrs A Hughes, Year 8 Year Head and Transition Co-ordinator, had the privilege of being invited to the school to help staff celebrate this wonderful occasion.
Student Accepted for Newry and Mourne Youth Council
Many congratulations to Year 12 student Aoife McLoughlin who has been accepted to join Newry and Mourne Youth Council. We wish Newry and Mourne Youth Council every success in the coming year.
Head of Consulting at Nueda Visits Year 13 and 14 Business Classes
Neil McKeown, Head of Consulting at Neueda, visited our Year 13 and 14 Professional Business Services classes on Monday 15th October to talk about how important persuading and influencing and technology are in the role of a PBS consultant. Many thanks for your visit Neil, the girls found it extremely informative.
Year 12 Business Students Welcome Local Entrepreneur
On Monday 15th October, Aisling Mc Ardle owner of ‘The Hairdressers’ took part in an interview with Year 12 Business Studies students. The interview focused on the skills, risks and rewards of being an entrepreneur.
SNAG Committee Launch Lunchtime Games
Monday 15th October was the start of Lunchtime games organised by The SNAG committee. This is for our pupils to come and play every Monday and Wednesday. It is a great opportunity for the girls to make new friends, forget about the stress of class and to have some fun over lunch. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the games.
Blythswood Shoebox Appeal Raffle Winner
Pictured are the lucky winners of the raffle which was held to raise money for the Blythswood Shoebox appeal. From left to right are: Eugenia Doni, Emer McCarthy and Jordana Fitzpatrick. Thanks to all who contributed.
Samaritans Cheque Presentation
Well done to Year 10 students and their teachers and classroom assistants who enjoyed a sponsored walk in aid of the Newry Branch of the Samaritans. The walk from Jerrettspass into Newry City took place along Newry’s historic canal tow path and took just over an hour and twenty minutes. Year Head Mr Morgan and a group of Year 10 students presented a cheque for £1,046 to Mary Burns, representative of the Samaritans in Newry.
CCLD Students Visit Rathore School
Year 13 CCLD Students spent a wonderful morning at Rathore School. They were given a tour of the school facilities and a talk from the Vice Principal Mr Jim O’Hare on all the wonderful work carried out by all the staff at the school. The visit will help our students with their assignments for their Childcare course. We would like to sincerely thank Rathore for allowing our students to visit.
GCSE Geography Fieldwork
Year 11 GCSE Geography Students spent an action packed day on the Shimna River on Friday 19th October. Starting at Site One near Fofanny Dam and finishing at Site Five in Tipperary Wood, the students donned their wellies and measured river characteristics including width, depth, velocity, gradient and bedload. This was in preparation for their Unit 3 examination in June. Everyone had a super day.
Art Students Visit National Gallery in Dublin
On Friday 19th October, St Mary’s students joined St Mark’s and Dromore High School students at a drawing workshop in the National Gallery in Dublin. They spent the morning learning about the history of the paintings and studying the master’s Picasso, Monet and Gauguin. They then used sketching to observe and respond to details and techniques. The afternoon was spent in the Roderic O’Connor exhibition, were the students had the opportunity to view Van Gogh, Gauguin and Picasso masterpieces first hand.
Children's Rights Project
On Friday 19th October, 1013 welcomed staff from the Centre for Children’s Rights at Queen’s University, Belfast. We were delighted to welcome Laura Lundy, Professor of Education Law and Children’s Rights who is leading the project, along with Global Child. The pupils have been working tirelessly on this project since earlier this year to promote human rights for children. We are privileged to be the only school working as an advisory group for the project. We look forward to continuing the programme later this year, after the consultation process takes place. Well done to 1013 for all their hard work.
0824 Shoebox Appeal
Pupils from 0824 have been very generously filling shoe boxes for our annual appeal. Mrs O’Hara was delighted to receive 22 boxes from 0824 and form teacher Mrs Kearney is once again very proud of her class. Well done 0824, a fantastic team effort and so lovely to be thinking of others at this time of year.
Coffee and Connect Morning
Our School Council Representatives organised a 'Coffee and Connect' morning with both Mrs Cosgrove and Miss Crawley. This was a great opportunity for the students to reflect on their first term of school and all that they have achieved. They discussed various potential strategies that they may implement in the future, and received invaluable student opinions and feedback from both the Junior and Senior students.
Year 13 Business Students Welcome First Derivatives
On 24h October, Leanne Maguire from First Derivatives visited our Year 13 Cambridge Technical in Business students. This was a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain an insight into the world of Human Resource Management and how the work they are doing in the classroom applies in the Professional Business Sector. Thanks Leanne!
Ceramic Workshop for Art Students
Our AS and A Level Art students had a fantastic day working alongside Mr Trevor Woods of Mount Ida Pottery, Banbridge. Our artists were joined by students from St Mark's High School, Warrenpoint for the wonderfully creative ceramic works
Team Building Afternoon for School Council
Our Rights Respecting School Council had a fun team building afternoon and were treated to pizza and a Halloween movie as a reward for working so hard this term as a council. Well done girls and Miss Kirkpatrick for a great team effort this year so far.
Past Pupil Career Talk
We would like to sincerely thank one of our past pupils Lauren Carroll who visited St Mary's to talk to Year 13 & 14 students who are considering applying for Nursing this year. Lauren currently works in the A&E Department of Daisy Hill Hospital. Lauren imparted her advice on the application process for Nursing at QUB and what to expect on the course.
Numeracy Week 2018
Numeracy Week 2018 has been the biggest and best to date. From a Numeracy Murder Mystery Hunt, Puzzles of the Day and the Mental Maths Madness Morning, it has been a busy week. Congratulations to all who participated, both Staff and Students.
Health and Fitness Day
St Mary's celebrated a Health and Fitness Day with the whole school community joining in with the fun activities. Our PE Department welcomed Danielle Hughes Quinn who held dance classes for our pupils and staff. The activities were a fun and exciting way to get pupils active and highlight the importance of lifelong physical activity. We would like to thank Danielle for a wonderful day of exercise, dance and fun. St Mary's Student Nutrition Action Group (SNAG) were also busy organising some healthy treats for staff and pupils. Everyone enjoyed sampling smoothies, fruit kebabs, vegetables and hummus and guessing the identity of some hidden fruits and vegetables. SNAG are committed to encouraging healthy lifestyle and healthy eating with the aim of promoting our student’s self-confidence.
GLAMS Squad Announced
Congratulations to the six pupils who have been selected as members of our new student group, GLAMS (Girls Leadership and Marketing in Sport). Good luck girls.