Nessan’s Newsletter May Edition 2013
Just what happened 7th May Sean Kelly MEP visits St. Nessan’s CC 13th May Students visit Clonshire Equestrian Centre 14th May 2DE CSPE trip to National History Museum, trinity College & Leinster House TY’s Healthy Relationships 15th May U19’s Soccer Vs FAS Soccer Team 21st May 1st Year Sports Day 23rd May 1DI and 1DE students visit Bunratty Folk Park 24th May 6th Year Graduation TY breakfast at Kileely Court 27th May JCSP Graduation 5th Year end of year trip 28th May Transition Year Graduation
1st Year Bunratty Trip
Selection of photos from the 1DI & 1DE trip to Bunratty on the 23rd of May
St. Nessan’s students fundraise for Milford Hospice
Staff Zone
Congratulations to Mike & Clare on the birth of their baby daughter Sophie Summer Staff Lunch 31st May 2013 A big
Thank you
to all the staff and students that contributed articles and photos to the Newsletter throughout the year - you make the Newsletter what it is each month. Summer time and the living is easy!! Enjoy the Break
Photo shows LCA2 students and Transition year students from St. Nessan’s. Included in the photograph is Sr. Phyllis from Milford Hospice, school Principal Mr. Eugene O’Brien and staff members Anthony Mc Auley, Maedhbh Dennison and Mary O’ Brien LCA 2 Students and Transition year students from the school recently handed over €855 to Sr. Phyllis from Milford Hospice. The Leaving Cert applied students organised a sponsored walk and sports day for first years as part of a leaving Cert task. The Transition Year students held a bake sale earlier in the year for this worthwhile cause. Sr. Phyllis told the students that their support was greatly appreciated.
Mr. Sean Kelly MEP visits St. Nessan’s Community College
Our Student Council recently provided Mr. Sean Kelly MEP with a guard of honour when he paid a Visit to the School. Mr. Kelly also met our international students and representatives from a number of class groups. The Politician who is based in Kerry but has an office in Limerick gave an informative account on the workings of the European Parliament. He spoke about the work that he was currently doing on data protection and also spoke to students about the dangers of on line gambling.
Junior Achievement Vistakon
St. Nessan’s would like to thank JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT staff Ms Teresa Leahy and Ms Joanne McGuinness for organising excellent activities for our school. 2DE did the Economics of Staying in School with John Page from DELL and 2DI did the programme with Brendan Gordon. 2DI were delighted when Brendan surprised the class with Easter Eggs on the last day. Both classes were then invited out to a fab day in VISTAKON where we got a full Irish breakfast after hearing all about the manufacture of contact lenses in the biggest contact lens factory in Europe. We got a tour of the factory where we saw everything and we even got sample lenses to check them out up close. Then we got split up into groups and we had to come up with our own unique products in a mini-company competition.
SUCCESS SKILLS programme with Transition Year.
Mr Dave Griffin came back to St. Nessan’s and then the Success Skills programme with the T.YR class before they went on the Work Experience placement in January. He covered all the skills and qualities and other factors you need to consider and be good at to make it in the working world. At the end he did a mock interview with some of the class and Anna Sommerer did a great mock interview in English! The whole class got presented with a lovely Success Skills certificate on the last day. Thanks to Dave for doing a great job again.
Rainbows Spectrum
Congratulations to the following 1st year students: LEONA MORAN, STEPHEN TROY, LEE KELLY, JORDAN O’DONNELL, CONNOR HANNAN, NIAMH O’BRIEN who all participated in the RAINBOWS SPECTRUM programme for 12 weeks from December – April this year. All of the group took turns lighting the special Rainbows candle in memory of the people who had died and great respect was shown for them in this opening ceremony. We celebrated their hard work by going to DELTA fun park for some relaxation and the principal, Mr. O’Brien kindly supported the trip.
Look To The Future Project
For a number of weeks our guidance counsellor Ms. O’Sullivan took us to the computer room. We were doing a web-based project on the University of Limerick on the website www.ul.ie where we had to research information on UL and fill out answers in the workbook we got from Mr. John McDermott who came from UL to talk to us. The winner would get a prize. For our project we had to also write an article where we had to imagine we were studying in UL. This is how Ms. O’Sullivan said she would judge for the prize. The project really helped me to realize that it’s never too early to look to the future and that’s what I did. The winners were : 1st Place Cian O’Donnell who won 15 euro 3 students got runner-up 2nd place prizes: Connor Hannan, Kiera Ryan & Grace Rogan By Cian O’Donnell 1DE
2DE Class Trip
On the 14th May the 2DE class had an early start for their CSPE trip to Dublin. Gerry, our bus driver, Ms. O’ Connor and Ms. O’ Brien along with 22 students left the school at 8.30am. We stopped at junction 14 for a short break and then went on our way to the capital city. At midday we arrived at Trinity College where the students were sitting out studying for their exams. We saw a game of cricket being played here. We didn’t go in to the book of Kells but we saw the building where it was stored. Queues of tourists lined up to see the manuscript. From here we walked to the National History museum where we saw many manuscripts from Ancient Ireland and even Ancient Egypt. Jordan Halvey and Nicole Hannon won prizes for their drawings of the Ardagh Chalice which was found in Limerick after the Famine. After this we went next door to Leinster House where we visited the Dáil and Senate. This visit was organised by Kieran O’ Donnell TD for us. Our visit to the Senate was a lot more lively than the Dáil. At the end of an excellent tour given by Pádraig we each received copies of the 1916 Proclamation. Ms. O’ Brien told us that she had an original one in her attic!!! At the end of the evening we finally reached Dundrum Shopping Centre where we ran as fast as we could to all the different shops! We arrived home tired but happy at 8.30pm. By Aaron Phillips and Jack O’Connor
BITC Skills @ Work Programme 2013
Business in the Community (BITC) is a nonprofit organisation whose vision is to help prepare students prepare for the world of work after school. Students were selected from 5DE and 5DI based on good attendance and commitment to school in term one of fifth year. We met with Ms Eleanor Walsh, the Regional Co-ordinator of BITC, here in school in January and she gave us a talk on the whole programme and told us about all the companies nationally which are involved. She told us we were linked with an organisation which also happened to be a college, LIT. All our visits took place in LIT and Ms Anna Murphy organised everything for us. The Skills @ Work programme consisted of five sessions in our partner organisation, LIT, and we got the opportunity to learn all about the work and the workers there and also the career and study options available to us when we finish school. During our first visit to LIT we met Anna (who had lovely croissants and snacks ready for our break) and she told us our first session was called a DAY IN THE LIFE. We had to interview the new Access Officer, Ms Carolann Bargary, Phillip O’Sullivan, the sports officer and other people in LIT and ask them about their jobs and how they got them etc. The second and third visits we did a lot of excellent work with Ms Joanne Holland, the Careers Officer who helped us improve our CVs and write cover letters, prepare for good interviews and other job success skills. This was valuable learning for the future. The whole group did the MOCK INTERVIEW on 21st March with staff in LIT, unfortunately I was off sick myself. Everyone had to prepare for either a job in Administration in LIT or a job as an Assistant to the sports organiser. The students who got the jobs were Megan Ryan, Sarah Williams and Calvin Prendergast – well done! They were all awarded 20e gift vouchers. On the last day Anna organised some fun teamwork exercises and Mr O’Brien came over and presented with our certificates and enjoyed a nice lunch with us. On behalf of all the students who participated in the Skills @ Work programme this year I would like to say a big THANK YOU to Eleanor, Anna and all the staff of LIT for being so good to us and to Ms O’Sullivan for picking us for this programme and giving us a unique insight into the working world. Jodi Ryan 5DE
Friends for Life
Congrats to BRENDAN PRICE, CHRISTOPHER O’BRIEN, EABHIN DUNPHY, JACK DILLON, LUKE HOGAN, NADIEA RING and NICOLE CLEARY who participated in the FRIENDS FOR LIFE programme with Mr. Corry and Ms. O’Brien from January – May 2013. They successfully completed the FRIENDS programme and were awarded their certs this week. The ‘FRIENDS for Life’ programme is a school-based positive mental health programme. The World Health Organisation cites ‘FRIENDS for Life’ as the only evidence-based programme effective at all levels of intervention for anxiety in children (WHO 2004). The programme helps students to develop effective strategies to deal with worry, stress and change and teaches the skills required to reduce anxiety and promote resilience.
Music Non Stop Shane Dundon has been recording down in the Northside Learning Hub. It was a fantastic learning experience and we hope to do a bit more in the new term. Christine
Daytrip to Clonshire Equestrian Centre
The horses out there were beautiful. The way they moved, the way they jumped. It was like a day at the RDS. Outside the stables, there was a walker. Beautiful bay horses walked around, they neighed, shook their manes and snorted with the breeze going through their hair, the smell of the Land of Horses. So calm and relaxing you’ll hear the soothing breathing sound of the horses, so gentle and quiet. The second you talk to them, they talk back through their eyes. If you look deeper in their eyes, they’ll let you into their soul. In Clonshire, those horses are not just about colour and looks, it’s about their character, how you treat them, deep down the bond grows stronger that is difficult to break. You’ll have to understand them for them to understand you. You’ll have to love them for them to trust you. You’ll just have to feel their feelings. They are the only creature that will take you flying. Anna and Deirdre work there, they are not getting paid but enjoy every moment with the horses. They want to qualify in horsemanship’s to understand horses more than anyone will ever understand. Some may say horses are dangerous and huge. They may be huge but they allow human beings to ride them. They have a heart that you’ll never understand. It’s called a silent communication in the same way deaf people communicate by hands, they use their body language. If you were brought up in a deaf family, the horses will trust you and let you in their soul straight away. They may have little minds but their heart - you can never imagine how much heart they have. A horse will never go near anyone who is cruel or bad and they sense it, a horse goes to good people because they are good themselves. Anna and Dee probably love horses all their lives but still know it takes a lot of skill working with them. In Clonshire, the horses have a smile if you look hard enough, you’ll see it. You can whisper to them without words, it’s all you have to do to connect with them. The dogs out there run freely without fear of the horses. When you drive through Clonshire, the horses gallop freely in the field. I feed one horse who got out of his stable and came over to me. And yes, it was sore falling off the 12th time, but you still get back on. Everyone in life makes mistakes and horses are no different. they probably weren’t prepared for the jumps, or maybe the rider didn’t have the right aids on her leg. Horses are an unpredictable animal and have you ever jumped so high that you’re terrified of falling off with nothing to hold onto except the manes. These horses are truly amazing creatures. Anna explained, if you want to do the course, it’s a lot of hard physical work and nonsocial. It’s easy for horse lovers as it’s something they’re interested in and they’ll never get bored of it. In Clonshire, the place is kept spotless and you can spend the day watching the movements of the horses hooves - especially the Spanish horses Lipanzzer or Auldsnatio. They also move their eyes 360 degrees unlike humans. There are also ponies out there, and we got to meet Bob. He’s quiet funny looking, small and short legged but groomed so perfectly also. Their coats are very smooth and shiny. Every horse has a different temperament, but you still love them all the same. It is a dream to own a farm full of horses - watching them graze, sunbathe, galloping out into the sunset. In Clonshire, Sue is facing the whole field, she had her Amanda McNally feeding one of the horses at Clonsire dreams come through. Remember you got to aim for your target and go for it. It’s all about hard work. By Amanda McNally 5DI Contact Details : St. Nessan’s Community College, Moylish Park, Limerick. Phone: 061 - 452422 Email: info@stnessans.com www.stnessans.com
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