CHINATOWN IN ST PAUL'S!

2023, the Year of the Rabbit got off to a flying start in St. Paul’s. Chinese Week took place at the end of January. Form Classes competed against each other in The Great Wall League. These games saw students battling to earn points in races, poster making, quizzes and rabbit-hunting. We are not talking about real rabbits here! Students were set a task to find the 23 hidden rabbit pictures scattered throughout the school. At the end of the week, our 3rd Year students emerged victorious, closely followed by 5th Year and 1st Year students.

Familiar Chinese Week attractions returned; notably our Tai Chi demonstration courtesy of Kat Lee (from the Dublin Lunar New Year organisation) and St. Paul’s Chinatown. Students from all year groups attempted drawing Chinese calligraphy, lantern making and dragon dancing.

We were delighted to welcome 5th and 6th class students from Holy Spirit SNS to Chinatown again this year. Having first visited as pupils in 6th class last year, it was amazing to see our 1st Year students now exhibiting their own material with us. Hopefully we can carry on this tradition in the future.

Our class groups enjoyed creating new projects in Chinese, which will be used in a major presentation next year. Our Chinese Club have sworn me to secrecy here, but all will be revealed in due course. On behalf of our Chinese Club, have a wonderful summer.

Career Guidance Update

· CAO Change of Mind: Change of Mind is currently open for 6th Years CAO applications, whereby you can change the order of your course choices, add new courses or delete some course choices from your application. Closing date is 1st July 2023

· SUSI Grant: The SUSI Grant is open for applications and the closing date is the 6th July.

· REACH+: Well done to the Transition Years on completing the REACH+ programme. This programme helps students in making informed career decisions through understanding themselves, the world of education and the world of work. All students received their certificates of achievement in this programme.

· It was another busy school year in the Careers Department starting with our successful College Awareness Night last October. Students visited college information fairs, attended college campuses, attended STEM events, and speakers from colleges of both higher and further education spoke to students about courses and opportunities available to them.

· Best of luck to four 5th year students taking part in the UCD Residential Summer School from the 12th to 15th June. An amazing opportunity to experience college life while staying on campus.

· Leaving Certificate: Best of luck to all our 6th year students with the Leaving Certificate. Ms King and Ms Fleming hope you will all be very happy with your offers of college courses.

Future You Mentoring Program Ucd

This programme provides students with an opportunity to explore options for after school in third level and ask questions about the transition from second to third level education. It motivates students about their potential to succeed in third level and encourage them to make informed decisions about their future education. Students learn about the various access routes to college and various courses available to them.

Many of the mentors in UCD are recent past pupils of St Paul’s, which is a valuable inspiration for our students. This programme entailed five workshops with the college mentors and one college campus visit.

Well done to the twenty-five 6th year students who have just completed this two year programme.