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St. Mary’sNEWSLETTER

VOLUME 10 – NO. 1 May 2012MISSION STATEMENT

St. Mary’s follows the Holy Faith Philosophy of creatinga school community whose central purpose is the religious,moral, intellectual, human, social and physical-recreational education of the student. The educationprogramme of the school is directed to the growth of thewhole person. It aims to form integrated and self-reliantChristian people who are eager to build a better world.

ContentsHEADLINES 1BUSINESS DEPARTMENT

NFTE 2SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

BT Young Scientist Competition 4Biology 4TY Physics 4

ROINN NA GAEILGEComórtas Díospóireachta Ghael Linn 5Na Béaltrialacha 5Seachtain na Gaeilge 6

P.E. AND SPORTS DEPARTMENTHockey 7Basketball 8Gaelic Football 9Health Week 9Tag Rugby 9Athletics 9Badminton 9

ART DEPARTMENT 10SPHE DEPARTMENT

World Cultural Day 11Friendship Week 11

RELIGION DEPARTMENTGraduation 2012 12Faith Friends 12Second Year Retreats 12Catholic Schools Week 2012 12The Novena of Grace 12Ash Wednesday 12

CSPE DEPARTMENTClass 3 Shannon’s Action Project 132 Allen’s CSPE Action Project 132 Ree’s CSPE Action Project 13

HISTORY DEPARTMENT 13COMPUTER CLUB 13MODERN LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT 13

Let’s Celebrate Europe 13ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Library News 14English Trip Stratford-Upon-Avon 14Drama Day Out! 14

STUDENT COUNCIL 14MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Liam Lawton – All Hallows Concert 15Emmanuel 2012 15Practicals 15St. Mary’s Music Showcase15Team Spirit – Olympia Concert 15

DEPARTMENT OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLINGIncoming First Years 16Second Year Subject Choice 16Female Engineering Role Model Day 16DCU Access Programmes 16Sixth Years 16FETAC 16

HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENTJunior Certificate 17Leaving Certificate 17Kitchen in the Castle Cookery School 17

MATHS DEPARTMENTProject Maths in Action 18Mathematical Olympiad 18Maths Department Links with D.C.U. 18Maths World Day 18First Year IMTA Competition 18John Hooper Medal Statistics Competition 18Monthly Maths Challenge 18

TRANSITION YEARBiology 19TY Food Module 19TY Fashion Show 19French Film – “Panique au VIllage” 19TY Work Experience 19TY Film Festival 19

ST. MARY’S PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION 20

1. Business:A. Won International NFTE CompetitionB. Finalists in Young Entrepreneur of the

Year Competition

2. Science:BT Young Scientist Competition:Second place in the “Physical,Mathematical and Chemical Sciences”section

3. Gaeilge:For the first time both Junior and SeniorIrish Debating teams reached the LeinsterFinal.

4. Sports:Hockey:Four finals – three wins!

A. One Junior Leinster League TrophyB. Two Northside League Trophies

– one Junior, one Senior

Basketball:Team won Junior Division 1, Dublin SSA League.

Winning Streak for St. Mary’s, Glasnevin

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A huge congratulations to the NFTE class of 2012. What a yearof success!!!

In a class of thirty two students, there were eighteendifferent businesses, ranging from scrumptious baked goodsand dazzling jewellery to fabulous beauty products. We canconfidently say that we are surrounded by inspirational youngentrepreneurs.

When the girls undertook the NFTE module in September,they slowly began to realise the commitment and level ofwork that would be needed for success and we were not letdown.

The girls quickly came up with their business ideas and werebusy marketing their businesses. It didn’t take long for theschool community to be aware of what products and serviceswere so easily available in the school at such affordable prices.We organised in-school trade fairs at lunchtime and invitedthe whole school to attend. These proved to be very profitablefor the businesses and they gave a great financial boost totheir further expansion.

Many of the businesses then got the opportunity to trade atthe RDS Christmas Craft Fair in late November and this wasnot only a very profitable experience for the girls but alsogave the girls a chance to meet with other youngentrepreneurs from around Dublin.

BUSINESS DEPARTMENTNFTE

Kellie Fitzgerald and Aoife Maguire, International Winners with theirBusiness “Finger Tips”.

Niamh Hickey and Aileen Keane, Regional Finalists with theirbusiness “Naybaileen”.

Jessica Corbally, NFTE Alumni student was also presented with aspecial award at the NFTE finals.

Kellie Fitzgerald and Aoife Maguire receiving their international NFTEaward in NYC in April.

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BUSINESS DEPARTMENT (contd.)

All this hard work paid offwhen Kellie Fitzgerald and AoifeMaguire entered theInternational NFTE Competitionon February 2nd, with theirbusiness “Finger Tips”. The prizewas an all expenses paid trip toNew York for four nights in April,where they would representNFTE Ireland and meet all otherInternational NFTE winners. Thegirls presented their businessplan and despite the stiffcompetition on the day, we gotthe news that they had won. Thegirls were on a high, what anachievement! The girls travelledto NYC on April 16th and had anamazing experience and metother inspirational youngentrepreneurs from around theworld. They have even beenoffered scholarships to study inthe states in the future.Congratulations girls, what anamazing opportunity.

We must also mention thementoring the class receivedfrom Derek Dunne and TomForde, AIB Drumcondra. Wereally appreciate their help andsupport. Derek even came to theschool to judge our in-classcompetition. Derek was veryimpressed with the standard andhad a very difficult time reachinga decision. After muchdeliberation, Niamh Hickey andAileen Keane, were announcedas class winners. Niamh andAileen’s business, “Naybaileen”was the imported high qualityELF make up, which as you canimagine was highly popular in aschool of eight hundred girls.“Naybaileen” went on to presentits business plan in March andwon that section of the Nationalcompetition. The girls were nowone of six finalists from all NFTEbusinesses in Ireland to competeat the NFTE National Awards, tobecome Young Entrepreneurs ofthe year. Unfortunately the girlswere pipped at the post by ConorMurray of Blanchardstown YouthService. But what an achievementgirls, you did yourselves and theschool proud to be one of the sixoverall finalists. Congratulationsto you and all of the NFTE classwho have really outdonethemselves this year.

What a year!! Can we top itnext year? Watch this space.

Ms. O. Griffin, Mr. W. Donnellyand Ms. C. Walsh

Denise McDonald, Niamh Gibbons, Chloe O’Neill, Andrada Costea and Marie Tuohy at the RDS CraftsFair in November.

Aoife Maguire of “Finger Tips” giving a personal touch at the RDS Crafts Fair.

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SCIENCE DEPARTMENTBT Young Scientist Competition

Last January Aisling, Aoife and I competed in the 2012 BT Young Scientistcompetition in the RDS. We were one of five hundred and fifty projectswhich qualified to go to the RDS out of one thousand, seven hundred andforty three projects that had entered the competition. The projects weredivided into four categories: Chemical Physical & Mathematical (which wasour category); Technology; Social & Behavioural and Biological. We were soexcited, all our hard work resulted in this moment. The opening ceremonywas held on Wednesday the 11th with Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, formallyopening the exhibition. From then on we were in competition mode, eagerto do our school proud! Over the next three days our project was assessedby several judges, who questioned us in detail about our work. When weweren’t being judged we were sussing out the competition and makingloads of new friends. We were also able to enjoy the various activities theexhibition had to offer. Although the days were long (really long) we stillhad a blast and were sad to see the exhibition come to a close. The awardceremony took place on the Friday evening in the BT Arena. The specialawards were given out first followed by the category awards. As we waitedfor our category to come around our hopes of winning a prize were fading.Eventually it was time to give the prizes for the Chemical, Physical andMathematical section. The senior prizes were the last to be given out. Thirdplace was announced first and when it wasn’t us our spirits were low. Thenwe heard our names being called out to receive the second prize. With ashared look of bewilderment we headed to the stage to receive our prize.We were on cloud nine and so was our teacher Mr. Carr who had to refrainfrom jumping out of his seat with excitement. After a few pictures weheaded home for a well deserved rest.

The experience we had and the friends we made at the exhibition wereincredible. The support and encouragement from our teacher Mr. Carr didnot go unnoticed. We are extremely grateful for all his help and hard work.Thanks sir!!! We would also like to thank everyone who came over to theRDS to support us, it was very much appreciated. Thank you also to all thestaff and pupils who congratulated us on our return. It was a fantasticweek and one none of us will forget!

Niamh McArdle

We were delighted in St. Mary’s to receive anemail on behalf of Minister of State forDevelopment and Trade, Mr. Joe Costello, T.D.,congratulating our students for theirparticipation and success in the BT YoungScientist Competition in the RDS.

Mr. E. Carr

Well done to all the students who took part inthe St. Mary’s Young Scientist Competitionwhich took place in January.

Congratulations to Niamh Gavin and MeganHayes from second year who were the overallwinners.

Ms. Nolan and Ms. O'Keeffe

Minister of State for Development and Trade, Joe Costello, T.D., Aoife Harbison, Aisling Ahern and Niamh McArdle

Biology

A group of fifth year Biology students attended a drama entitled, ‘Stoppingthe Spread of Superbugs’ in the auditorium of the Convention Centre inDublin on Wednesday the 28th March from 6.30 to 8.00pm. It was a fast-moving, hospital-based drama where the audience could get involved byquestioning the experts! Dr. Anthony Hilton guided the students throughthe scientific and ethical issues faced by infection control professionals andpatients alike. The students enjoyed the experience and found it relatedwell to the microbiology aspect of their course.

Ms. M. O’Donnell

TY Physics

Well done to the TY Physics students whosubmitted a question to the Irish Independentnewspaper. On May 1st, The Science for Lifesupplement featured the question: “How comewe can't cure the common cold?” Roisin Cregan'spicture was featured in the paper as arepresentative from the class.

Congratulation to Claire Slevin from transitionyear who recently won a place to attend CRANN(Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructuresand Nanodevices) at Trinity College.

Ms. Nolan and Ms. Compelli

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ROINN NA GAEILGEComórtas Díospóireachta Ghael Linn

Don chéad uair ríamh d’éirigh leis an bhfoireann shinsearachagus leis an bhfoireann shóisearach áit a shroichint sa ChraobhReigiúnach ar an 29ú Márta. Bhí na díospóireachtaí ar siúl inóstán an Glenroyal, Maigh Nuad, agus d’fhreastail luchttacaíochta ollmhór ónár scoil ar an ócáid ghaelach seo. Is é anrún a bhí á phlé ag an bhfoireann shóisearach ná ‘Tá áit gofóill ag an reiligiún i saol an déagóra in Éirinn’. Bhí na cailíníseo a leanas ag díospóireacht ar son na scoile – Eliza Corpus(captaen); Ella Mae Cruz (cainteoir 2); Adela Bulliman (cainteoir 3)

Bhí áthas orainn go raibh muid ag díospóireacht ar son anrúin. Bhí ceithre fhoireann ag glacadh páirte sa ChraobhReigiúnach:

• Meánscoil naomh Mhuire, Glasnaíon, BÁC• Coláiste Chiaráin, Léim an Bhradáin, Co. Chill Dara• Coláiste De La sale, Dún Dealgan, Co. Lú• Meánscoil Iosaif Naofa, Leamhcán, BÁC

Ní dheachaigh ach foireann amháin ar aghaidh go dtíCraobh na hÉireann (Meanscoil Iosaif Naofa, Leamhcán).Bronnadh trófaithe ar na cailíní cé nár bhuaigh siad anleibhéal sin den chomórtas. Molaim na cailíní us ucht nahoibre go léir a rinne said ag ullmhú do na díospóireachtaí.

Is é an rún a bhí á phlé ag an bhfoireann shinsearach ná ‘isméanar dóibh siúd atá fostaithe san earnáil phoiblí in Éirinn’.Bhí foireann na scoile seo ag díospóireacht i gcoinne an rúin.Cé go raibh na cailíní an-chumhachtach agus an-mhaith, níoréirigh leo áit a fháil i gcraobh na hÉireann. Rinne siad an-iarracht ach bhí caighdeán an-ard i measc na scoileanna.Gabhaim buíochas leis na cailíní uilig – Patrice Condon(captaen); Eve Kavanagh (cainteoir 2); Shauna Caffrey(cainteoir 3)

Seo a leanas na foirne a ghlac páirt sa Chraobh:

• Meánscoil Mhuire, An Longfort• Meánscoil Naomh Mhuire, Glasnaíon BÁC• Meánscoil Iosaif Naofa, Leamhcán, BÁC• Iarbhunscoil Mhá Nuad, Maigh Nuad, Co. Chill Dara

Ba mhaith linn ár mbuíochas a ghabháil leis na múinteoirígo léir chomh maith leis an bpríomhoide agus an leasphríomhoide a thug go leor tacaíochta dúinn le linn nandíospóireachtaí.

Ms. N. Ní Chonluain & Ms. N. O’Donnellan

Na Béaltrialacha

Bhí béaltrialacha ag daltaí na hArdteiste idir an 16ú agus an20ú Aibreán. Is fiú 40% den scrúdú iomlán an bhéaltriail.Guímid gach rath ar dhaltaí an teastais shóisearaigh agus ardhaltaí na hArdteiste. Ádh Mór oraibh a chailíní.

Roinn na Gaeilge

Left to Right: Patrice Condon, Shauna Caffrey and Eve Kavanagh

Debating team and supporters

Patrice Condon, Eve Kavanagh and Shauna Caffrey

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ROINN NA GAEILGE (contd.)

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Bhí Seachtain na Gaeilge a siúl sa scoil ón 12ú – 16ú Márta. Bhían-chuid imeachtaí ar siúl. Bhí comórtas póstaeir aguscomórtas aiste ar siúl. Rinne rang Ms. Devine sa 6ú bliain rangcócaireachta. Tháinig ceoltóirí isteach sa scoil agus sheinn siadceol Éireannach tradisiúnta. Bhí céilí agus tráth na gceist arsiúl sa halla. Ag deireadh na seachtaine bhí bronnadh nanduaiseanna agus taispeántas griangraif agus físeáin. Bhuaighdaltaí duaiseanna le haghaidh an damhsóir is fearr, an póstaeris fearr, an fhoireann a bhuaigh tráth na gceist agus doniarracht is mó ag labhairt Gaeilge. Bhain daltaí agusmúinteoirí an-taitneamh as agus táimid ag tnúth leis anmbliain seo chugainn!

Ms. N. O’Donnellan

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P.E. AND SPORTS DEPARTMENT

Hockey

Four Finals and Three WinsCongratulations to all the hockey teams on their successes thisseason. It is fantastic to be able to report that this year was avery successful one again for St. Mary’s Hockey Teams! Atreble winning season with four teams in finals!

Lots of different factors contributed to this success. Startingin September, hockey sessions on Saturday mornings got allthe girls eager to go for the year!! We would like to take thisopportunity to thank everyone involved in helping withhockey this year and for helping to make it a great success.Thank you also to the players who attended training in allweathers and who subbed for different teams this year. Youstepped up to the level so well and made a huge differencewhen needed. The support we received from the side line wasbrilliant all year also with lots of parents, teachers and friendssupporting, even on the chilly and rainy days. Thank you to allthose who cheered us on along the way! The achievements ofall teams this year are a result of our hard work andcommitment. It didn’t come easy on occasions but our beliefnever wavered.

Senior Hockey – Northside League Winners

The senior team aka “Action Hero Team” started its hockeyseason with a coaching blitz given by guest coach Ben. Thegirls really enjoyed Ben’s training session and he inspired themto get back into hockey mode this year! They entered theNorthside League and played some very closely contestedmatches. It was also fantastic to have sixth year players,Aishling Ahern and Jenny Moriarty, representing St. Mary’s intheir last year. They made a valuable contribution to thesenior team. The team notched up wins against longestablished hockey schools such as The King’s Hospital, St.Joseph’s Lucan, Holy Faith Clontarf and Manor House beforefinally beating Mt. Sackville in the final. They have now wonthe Northside League for four years in a row. This is a fantasticachievement and they have also set a great example for theup and coming players. Well done Action Hero Team onanother great season!

Third Year Hockey – Junior Team – Junior Leinster Winners &Northside League Winners

The Junior team entered the Junior Leinster League and theNorthside League. Having won both titles last year, greatexcitement mounted as the team pondered whether this couldbe repeated again!! Despite competing in a higher divisionthe enthusiasm was fantastic. They started their leaguematches in an upbeat and positive mood. There were manymatches with goals in the last few minutes and also an EPICquarter final performance with extra time and a penaltyshoot-out. This set them up well for the Leinster Final againstMt. Anville, which they won 1-0 in the last six minutes! Theteam played against teams such as The High School, LoretoFoxrock, Rathdown, Notre Dame Des Missions and AlexandraCollege. It is fantastic that they won the double again and itwas a little surreal achieving both the Junior C Leinster titleand the Northside League title against Santa Sabina. This wasa fantastic achievement for the team and for the school. Theteams thoroughly enjoyed training, showing great dedicationand enthusiasm throughout the year. Well done to the JuniorTeam on a fantastic year!

Sister Act – Senior Team with four sets of sisters!!

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P.E. AND SPORTS DEPARTMENT (contd.)

BasketballSecond Years shoot to success in Dublin Junior Final!On the 28th of April our Junior Division 1Basketball team travelled to the NationalBasketball Arena in Tallaght to competeagainst league leaders Mt. Sackville. After agreat season and many intense trainingsessions the girls were fired up for a toughfinal and they did us proud. All four quarterswere played with great skill anddetermination and resulted in a nail bitingfinish, with St Mary’s team winning by justone basket. Congratulations to team captainMichaela Cambe who led the team so wellthroughout the season and to Sally Ahernwho received an award for player of thematch.

A big THANK YOU to coach Ms. E. Murphy,her dedication to the team throughout thewhole season made success possible. Thankyou also to the parents and the supporterswho travelled to Tallaght and helped to makethe day so special.

Our Senior and Third year teams were alsovery successful this year. They reached thefinal stages of their leagues against Mt.Sackville and Maynooth CC. Both teams didus proud. However they were unfortunatenot to reach the final. We wish them all everysuccess in the future.

Ms. D. Maher, Ms. E. Murphy

Right: Sally Ahern(Player of the Match);Ms E. Murphy (Coach)and Michaela Cambel(Team Captain)

Below:Junior Division 1Basketball Champions

Second Year Hockey – Minor 1 & Minor2 TeamsWe are delighted to have two Minorteams and 2012 was a great year for theteams. The Minor 1 team entered theLeinster League and Northside Leagueand played against teams such as HolyFaith Clontarf, Manor House, SuttonPark, Dundalk Grammar and Cabra. Itcompeted very well in the LeinsterLeague, but was unable to win its group.The Minor 1 team went on to reach theNorthside League final, having narrowlymissed out last year. The girls weredetermined to reach a final, however,they were beaten by Sutton Park in thefinal. These two teams had already metin the league and they were very closelymatched with a 1-1 draw. However, onthe day of the final Sutton Park took thegold. The Minor 2 team missed out onreaching a final this year but is noweven more determined for next year.The minor teams trained every weekand were very enthusiastic.

Well done to all our goalies this year,who made some outstanding saves,almost like Inspector Gadget!! This yearwe had special power from our custommade colourful wristbands, stating ourfavourite mottoes, ‘First to the Ball, Lastto Give Up’ and ‘Action Hero Team’.Everyone wore their wristbands withgreat pride!!

The achievements of the school this yearare a huge credit to all involved andhave without doubt inspired andencouraged the uptake of hockey in theschool for the future. The St. Mary’s girlscertainly do have a passion for hockey!We highly recommend everyone tocome along and join hockey.

First to the ball, last to give up … go St. Mary’s!!

Onwards and Upwards for next year!!

Ms. Boran, Ms. Maher and Ms. O’Keeffe

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P.E. AND SPORTS DEPARTMENT (contd.)

Gaelic Football

Sam Visits St. Mary’sIn November 2011 Dublin footballer, PaulCasey, visited St. Mary’s with the SamMaguire Cup. This brought greatexcitement to the school with all the girlskitted out in their blue and navy. Aspecial thank you to Ken Keoghan fororganising this as it meant a lot toeveryone in the school. Hopefully thiswill encourage the girls to keep up theirparticipation in GAA in St Mary’s for2012/2013.

Gaelic football got off to a great startthis year in St Mary’s with ourfundraising walk to Enniskerry. This walkraised over one thousand euro whichwent to kitting us out for the year ahead.The fundraising has supplied the schoolwith a new kit which will be here forSeptember 2012. Hopefully this new kit willbring great success to GAA in the school.

We would just like to thank the girls and theirparents for all their support throughout the lastyear for both the games and the fundraising. Toall of the St. Mary’s girls who are representingDublin at present, at different age levels,congratulations and best of luck.

Under 14s GaelicOur first and second years made a veryimpressive start in their debut season in theUnder 14 Leinster Championship. The girlsshowed great dedication in training throughout

the year which proved to be the foundationupon which their excellent championship resultsmaterialised. Having defeated St. Josephs Rush,St. Michaels Finglas and St. Dominics, Sutton,the girls topped their group and qualified forthe Leinster Quarter Final. The girls weredefeated by a very strong Templeogue team butshowed great effort throughout. This impressivestart will be extremely beneficial to the girlsnext year. Well done to all involved. A specialmention to all the teachers who helped us outon match days.

Mr. Donnelly, Ms. Maher, Mr. Beirne & Mr.Madden

Some of our Gaelic Football players with the Sam Maguire Cup

Health WeekHealth week wasanother huge successthis year raisingawareness of health,diet and fitness in St.Mary’s. The weekincluded Early Birdactivities, skipathons,trampolining, healthysnacks and crazy relayraces. We alsoincorporated ourannual sports day intothe week including allstudents from 1st to4th year. All classeskitted out in theircolours and competedin a very friendly yetcompetitive manner.The day was a hugesuccess and we hope ithas promoted sport inthe school, inspiringthe girls to getinvolved in the manyextracurricularactivities provided inSt. Mary’s.

Ms. D. Maher

Tag Rugby

Well done to all the TY students who took part in a tag rugbytournament in DCU. This tournament was run by DCU students inconjunction with Leinster development and it was a great success.Coming up against teams from Loreto on the Green and Manor Housethe girls had their work cut out for them. St Mary’s entered six differentteams. They really represented St Mary’s very well with one team inparticular coming out on top, beating Loreto in the final. We hope thatthis will inspire some of the girls to take part in Tag Rugby in the schooland possibly in the local clubs in the area.

Tag Rugby Winning Team Kate Dwyer, Sophie Mulhall, Louise Dalton, Sarah Lloyd, Sinead McArdle, Lauren

Brady, Lauren Lambert, Kellie Hanlon, Jillian Caffrey

Congratulations to Sally Ahern fromclass Erne on a fantastic Athleticseason. She competed in bothschools cross-country and track andfield, clocking up impressiveachievements:

• First place in the West Leinster1,500 m confined Cross Country

• Third place in the West Leinster1,500 m Track

• Fifth place in the West Leinster2,000 m Cross Country

• Twenty-fourth in the Leinster 2,000 m Cross Country

Well done Sally, best of luck in your upcoming events.

Sally Ahern

Athletics Badminton

This is just a short note to say a fond farewell to five ofour Senior Badminton players who leave us for pasturesnew in June. They are:

Doreen Loma, Ria May Beloso, Patricia Villamar, Maria Kristina Jacinto and Aulin Contredas.

They have been great representatives of the school for thelast five years both on and off the court and I will misshaving them around at training sessions for their sheerdedication and sense of fun. I wish them every success inthe future and hope they continue to play badminton.

Ms. A. Moggan

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ART DEPARTMENTOur First Year Art students created fantastic clay vessels usinga variety of modelling techniques. They explored the form andtextures of insects, birds and animals. Following on from thatthe students learned the principles of portraiture as a startingpoint for work on their shadow puppets. They have chosensubjects as varied as Justin Bieber, Cinderella and MarilynMonroe. Finally, fish and their wonderful patterns have actedas inspiration for a lino-print. Students have carved beautifuldetails into each block and have made stunning prints in abroad spectrum of colours.

Second Year students completed original and expressiveself-portraits that were exhibited in the school. They soughtinspiration from Irish and International 20th century artistsand gained an understanding of the relationship betweenpainters and their subjects in their artwork. Seachtain naGaeilge was enhanced by banners created by studentsdepicting seanfhocails using original typography and design.Students also developed this work further into individualcalligraphy pieces. The final term was spent familiarisingstudents with the 3D section of the Junior Cert. Art Project.

Third Year students completed their Junior Cert. Projectsand Drawing Exams. It was very rewarding to see all the workpresented together. Students have focused on 3D work, lino,puppetry, embroidery, calligraphy and packaging sinceChristmas. Well done to all.

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SPHE DEPARTMENTWorld Cultural Day

The SPHE and E.A.L department joinedtogether to celebrate World CulturalDay on Wednesday 21st March. Thefollowing is a student account of theday.

In celebrating World Cultural Day, wegot a chance to learn about othercountries and their cultures. Ms. Griffinand Ms. Cunningham did a great job inorganising this event. There weredifferent cultures participating on theday. These included girls from Spain,India, Poland, the Philippines andEngland. We explored these culturesthrough powerpoint presentations,dances, song and food. We enjoyedlearning about the history, culture andtraditions of each country. We especiallyenjoyed tasting all the delicious foodserved by students from each country.We can’t wait for next year already!

Marie Nollora, Raluca Ghinescu,Miliscent Rayes and Anna Maria Jose

Friendship Week

In conjunction with the SPHE department, studentsexplored ideas relating to friendship: e.g. what it isto be a good friend and how to identify bullying.Every student in the school had the opportunity tocreate a friendship bracelet for a member of herclass. Each student chose three different colours torepresent important characteristics of friendship.They had the opportunity of learning the skill ofcreating a friendship bracelet.

Ms. O. Griffin

ART DEPARTMENT (contd.)

Transition Year students havecontinued to develop their appreciationof architecture. They have followed BrianSewell as he travels the pilgrim route toSantiago de Compostela examining theamazing light filled wonder of St.Chapelle in Paris, Chartres Cathedral andthe Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao enroute. They have also looked at Georgianarchitecture and futuristic architecturalmodels as inspiration for their chosenbuildings for their project work.

‘The Monument of Light’, O’ConnellStreet, proved an interesting stimulus forour Fifth Year Art students who createdoriginal marquettes in 3D. They exploreda variety of materials and methodologiesto depict a public sculpture examiningthe relationship between the urbanlandscape and Street Art. They furtherdeveloped their skills in Still-Life, Craftand their appreciation of Art History. TheNational Gallery of Ireland and TheNational Museum provided a wonderfulopportunity for students to view Irishpaintings and artefacts that they arestudying for their Leaving Cert.

Our Sixth Year students built on theirLife-Drawing skills with practise andthrough their investigation of the workof the Renaisssance painters andsculptors. After much careful preparationthey took their Leaving Cert. PracticalExams in May. We wish them well intheir Art History Exam in June.

Ms. C. Kavanagh and Ms. N. CunninghamArt Department

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RELIGION DEPARTMENTGraduation 2012This year Graduation took place on Thursday 24th of May. Thetheme chosen by the girls came from Isaiah 60:20, “Our sun willnever set”. This was to signify the fact that although one chapterof their lives was drawing to a close, a whole new and excitingchapter was beginning.

This theme was evident in the many suns which brightened upthe walls and which represented each student’s sunniest momentin St. Mary’s. More light was added with the lighting of thebeautiful Graduation Candles which were hand made for the girlsby the Redemptoristine Sisters of St. Alphonsus Road.

The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Bob Whiteside, who made it avery spiritual and memorable experience. Readings were said bythe Head Girl, Niamh McArdle, and Deputy Head Girls, MeaghanRose-Nel and Grainne Lynch. Each class was represented in thePrayers of the Faithful. Then, for the Offertory Procession thestudents brought up a basket of scrolls representing each class.The scrolls contained accounts of what each of girl hopes the nextsunrise will bring.

The Mass was further enhanced by the many talents of the girlswhich included dancing, music and for the first time ever, a 6thYear DVD, created by Anna O’Hanlon from 6 Yeats.

The school choir, under the direction of Mr. Coll and Ms.O’Rourke, made the night extra special with its beautiful singing.Mrs. Lennon and Ms. Murphy presented the girls with theiremblems, to represent their time in St. Mary’s. It was with a sadheart that we said goodbye to Mrs. Downey, Mr. Hallinan and Mr.Dempsey who retired after many years of dedication and serviceto the students of St. Mary’s.

We, in the Religion Department, would like to thank all of thestaff, students and parents who worked so hard to makeGraduation such a special night. A special thanks to Noel, Gerryand Matthew who worked so hard to transform the gym into sucha great venue.

The Religion Department

Faith Friends

Once again, two of our fifth Year classes, 5 Birch and 5 Pine, tookpart in the “Faith Friends” programme with Ms. Phelan’s and Ms. Cooney’s 6th classes in St. Brigid’s National School in Januaryand February of this year.

All involved participated with great enthusiasm and found theweekly visits both enjoyable and enlightening. The programmeculminated with two Prayer Services in the school Prayer Roomwhere certificates were presented to the girls from St. Brigid’s byour fifth Years. The service was enhanced by the beautiful singingof some members of the school choir.

It was a very worthwhile and enjoyable experience for all thoseinvolved and we would like to thank all those concerned,especially our fifth Years who represented the school so well.

Ms. L. Bohan and Ms. M. Byrne

Catholic Schools Week 2012

Catholic Schools Week took place this year from Monday, the30th of January, until Friday, the 3rd of February. The themeof the week for this year was, ‘Christ’s Living Body Active inOur World’. The week was an invitation to us to think aboutthe difference our faith can make to our personal lives and toour school community. The week was also an opportunity forSt. Mary’s to celebrate the fact that we are a Catholic school.

We chose to mark the week in a number of ways. Eachmorning, a ‘thought for the day’, was read out over ourschool intercom. Staff and students alike were invited topause, listen to the thought and take a moment to reflectupon it. For our senior cycle students, their religion teachersprepared classes that focused on the road to Emmaus story.This story is a symbol of Christian life. It is a story about hopeand reminds us that when we feel discouraged, the Lordbrings support and hope.

For our junior students, their religion teachers preparedclasses that focused on the Beatitudes. As Christians, we areDisciples of Christ and are called to live as Jesus lived. TheBeatitudes prompt us to think about the way we are livingand how we might improve our behaviour and our attitudestowards others. Posters were displayed all around the school,reminding us of the different Beatitudes and the meaningsbehind them. First year students were invited to draw their own posters based on a particular Beatitude that theyliked.

Two important feast days took place during Catholicschools week, St. Brigid’s Day and also the feast of St. Blaise.We celebrated St. Brigid’s Day by listening to a reflectionabout her life, her deeds and the importance of St. Brigid toSt. Mary’s. We also made St. Brigid’s crosses with seniorstudents and then displayed them in the Prayer room.

On the feast of St. Blaise Catholics have their throatsblessed, as Blaise is said to have once healed a child who waschoking. We decided to provide students and staff with achance to have their throats blessed by a minister of theEucharist, using blessed candles. The response from theschool community was very positive and a lot of people tooktime out of their lunch break to come to the prayer room. Itwas with this ceremony that we ended Catholic schools week.It was a great celebration and helped us to remember andcelebrate the fact that we are a Catholic school.

Ms. C. Murtagh

The Novena of Grace

The Novena of Grace took place from the 4th to the 12th ofMarch this year. A member of the Religion Department was in thePrayer Room each day from 1.15 to 1.30, to guide all those whowished to take part in the Novena and pray for their specialintentions.

Ms. L. Bohan

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday took place on Wednesday 22nd of February thisyear. It was marked in the school by a reflection over the intercomby Ms. Byrne on the significance of Ash Wednesday and itsrelevance to our lives today. This was followed by the distributionof blessed ashes throughout the school by members of theReligion Department to all those who wished to receive them.

Second Year Retreats

The second year Retreats have become an important part ofthe school’s diary and once again all second year classes wereeach given a day retreat in the Ruah Retreat Centre on St.Alphonsus Road, Drumcondra. Over the course of five weekseach class made its way down for some time out of its busylife. The retreat was a great opportunity for the classes toreflect and think about the greater things in life. They learnt alot about themselves and about the other students in theirclass. The retreat facilitators were full of praise for the secondyear students, they enjoyed working with the girls. Thestudents said that they really loved the day and they felt it wassomething they would always remember.

The Religion Department

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CSPE DEPARTMENTClass 3 Shannon’s Action ProjectWe are in class Shannon of third yearand we visited Dogs Trust for our actionproject on Friday the 16th of March2012. Dogs Trust set up a nationwidecampaign in 2005 to help prevent unwanted dogs being lefthomeless and to prevent stray dogs from roaming the streets.Due to the high destruction rate in Irish pounds, Dogs Trustrescue and re-home over one thousand puppies and dogs eachyear. As it receives no government funding, it is up to it as acharity to raise money for food, shelter and veterinary care forall dogs. Dogs Trust help people who are on social welfare toenable them to get their dog neutered for a fee of twentyeuro.

While doing this particular aspect of our action project, weenjoyed learning new facts about Dogs Trust and the work itdoes. Many of the class pupils were emotionally attached tosome of the helpless dogs. As a class we all participated in acake sale to fundraise for Dogs Trust. We raised three hundredeuro and we donated it to Dogs Trust. We raised awarenessaround the school and at home. Many of the students were so

attached that they have nowgone and got dogs. Thankyou to all who came andsupported us at the cakesale and helped us to raisemoney for a worthy cause.Also thank you to Ms. Byrneand Ms. Sullivan for helpingus to complete this actionproject.

Lucy Carroll and Hannah Kelly, Class 3 Shannon.

2 Allen’s CSPE Action ProjectFor our action project we chose to look at the issue ofhomelessness. We got into pairs and came up with ideas onwhat we could do to help. Each pair got a job to do and weinvited a speaker in from the Simon Community. We learnedall about the life of homeless people and he gave us tips onhow to help. In return we collected old books, clothes, CDsand toys and donated them to the Simon Community. Thanksto everyone who helped us with our action project.

Aoife Ennis and Megan Murphy

2 Ree’s CSPE Action ProjectFor class 2 Ree’s CSPE action project, we went to Dublin Zoo toraise awareness about endangered animals and conservation.We had thirteen committees in our class, each having adifferent task to do. The tasks included finance,communication, photography, newsletter and using theintercom. We also had a cake sale to raise money, so that wecould adopt an animal in Dublin Zoo. We raised €137.50 forDublin Zoo. Many thanks to everybody who supported ouraction project.

Shannon Confrey and Shauna Melia

HISTORY DEPARTMENT

COMPUTER CLUB

MODERN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT

A group of fifth year students has taken over the running ofthe History notice board. They have volunteered to takeresponsibility for ensuring it is up to date on a weekly basis byresearching what happened around the world on each date.Many thanks to Eve Kavanagh, Sarah Horan, Aislinn Farrell,Patricia O’Beirne, Claire Concannon, Niamh Molloy, JessicaCray and Aimee Bennett.

Transition Years recently completed a history and heritage daywhere they visited the Book of Kells, the National Gallery andthe Natural History Museum in Dublin City Centre. They arecurrently completing source evaluations of films for their finalhistory module of the year, World War II Through Film.

Leaving certificate history students completed twenty percent of their history exam when they wrote up their ResearchReports on Thursday 19th April 2012. We wish the girls everysuccess in their exams in June and in their future careers.

Ms. G. Hayes (History Co-ordinator)

Many students have attended the club since Christmas. Manyactivities have taken place in the club. To celebrate MathsWorld Day, first year students attempted to go onto specificonline Maths websites. Some of these students also completedIT ‘Maths World Day’ posters in the Computer Club.

TY students completed projects. Senior students added the finishing touches to their L.C.V.P. projects. Thanks to Ms. Murphy, Ms. Byrne, Ms. Duffy and Ms. O’Keeffe who help Ms. O’Donnell supervise the club.

Ms. M. O’Donnell

Let’s Celebrate EuropeThe department of modern languages celebrated Europe day,9th May, with great gusto. A lively European-themed tablequiz was enjoyed by all first years under the guidance of T.Y.language students. Second years engaged in flag making andhelped decorate classrooms. Our fifth year language pupilsenjoyed a European breakfast while chatting in the variousEuropean languages they study.

Ms. N. Walker (Co-ordinator)

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ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

Once again this year, the library held aBring a Book, Buy a Book sale in aid ofSt. Michael’s House. Thank you to allwho donated or bought books duringthis campaign. Over two hundred eurowas raised for this worthy cause.

Thank you to all who supported ourLibrary Book to Film Festival in January.As part of our continued effort to raisemoney for a computerised librarysystem, we are running a LibraryReadathon! Call into the library for asponsorship card and to see the prize forthe student who raises the most money.

We are delighted to announce thatbestselling author Siobhán Parkinson,visited the school on May 10th. She metwith students to speak about her workand the writing process. As her booksare so popular, we were very excitedabout her visit.

The members of the Creative WritingClub continued to meet each Friday at1.10 in the library. Preparation isunderway for the group’s fourthmagazine. All contributions welcome!

The Book Club met every Thursday at3.00pm in the library. It was a greatopportunity to catch up on reading. Thisterm we showed films of books studentshad read. All suggestions were welcome.

We went book shopping last monthand have a great selection of new booksavailable for borrowing! The library isopen every lunch break for reading andproject work.

Sr. Maria and Ms. Sullivan

English Trip to Haworthand Stratford-Upon-Avon

This year senior students travelled to thebirthplaces of the Bronte sisters andWilliam Shakespeare. The trip tookplace over three days and involved travelto parts of Yorkshire and Leicester inEngland. On Friday morning we met inDublin airport and flew to LeedsAirport. From there, we made our wayto the beautiful and historic village ofHaworth. Haworth Parsonage was oncehome to Charlotte, Emily and AnneBronte and has been lovingly restored toits 19th Century condition. The girlscould see the crumbling graveyard thatinspired their gothic imagery, view thetable where many of the classic novelswere written and visit the museumdedicated to their work and legacy. Wealso took part in an engaging walkingtour around Haworth, led by our guideJohnnie Briggs. He pointed out anddiscussed numerous places of interest tothe lives of the Bronte sisters.

We then travelled to Stratford-upon-Avon on Saturday and visitedShakespeare's birthplace. The girlsexplored the house, museum andgrounds in beautiful weather and weretreated to an impromptu puppet versionof “Romeo and Juliet” performed byactors in the walled garden. The realperformance took place that eveninghowever, when our group attended aRSC production of “Twelfth Night”. Wereally enjoyed a witty romantic comedyof mistaken identities and unrequitedlove - it was the definite highlight of thetrip.

There were plenty of opportunitiesfor us to relax and unwind too. One ofthe lovely cultural aspects of the tourwas the leisure time: students couldwander along the cobbled streets ofeach town, browse their quaint shopsand sample the local delicacies andtreats (or sweets!). Congratulations alsoto Ciara Ryan and Laura Byrne, thebowling champions of Friday night, andto Paulina Buczkowska, Jessica Jonesand Kate Uzell who won the PhotoCompetition.

Thanks to everyone who supportedthe trip and to the students themselvesfor their excellent behaviour andparticipation. It was a great success!

Ms. D. Callan (English Co-ordinator)

Drama Day Out!

As a reward for their hard work anddedication, all the actors involved in theChristmas production of “A ChristmasCarol” were treated to a special day out.The girls had spent months rehearsingand delivered superb performances onboth nights so it was only fitting theygot a day to relax and enjoy theirefforts. They spent the morning in theIrish Film Institute watching RomanPolanski's version of “OliverTwist”before heading to Temple Bar fora delicious lunch. Well done to the girlsagain for a wonderful show!

Ms. D. Callan (English Co-ordinator)

STUDENT COUNCIL

The Student Council has reached the end of another very busy andproductive year. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute andthanks to three sixth year students who have been so dedicated to theStudent Council and who have contributed so much during their years onthe council. Aisling Ahern, our chairperson this year, led the council so ablyand willingly. Melissa Kitching and Meaghan Rose-Nel were also verydedicated members of the council and worked hard on behalf of all thestudents in our school. I wish you all the best in your Leaving Certificategirls and hope that your experience on the Student Council will be valuableto you in the future. On behalf of the Student Council I would like to wishall the sixth and third year students every success in their exams.

I would like to pay tribute to Patricia O’Beirne, Vice Chairperson, (5Willow) who has stepped in to act as chairperson in recent weeks. Finally, Iwould like to encourage all students to seriously consider joining ourStudent Council next September. Application forms are available from Mrs.Hughes.

Mrs. A Hughes

Library News

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MUSIC DEPARTMENTLiam Lawton – All Hallows ConcertThe members of St. Mary’s Choir were invited asspecial guests to Liam Lawton’s 20th Anniversaryconcert, in All Hallows College, on the 16thDecember 2011. The choir was asked to provide thechoral accompaniment to five of his songs. Thechoir also had the honour of singing one of its ownrepertoire at the concert. The college chapel wasfull which gave a great atmosphere to the night. Itwas a great night of inspirational music and thechoir was delighted to be part of it. Since thisperformance, Liam has kept in contact with thechoir and he intends to invite the choir to join himagain in a future project.

Emmanuel 2012St. Mary’s was well represented again this year atthe Emmanuel Concert in the Helix on the 13thMarch. Sixty members of the choir participated inthe concert. The students had a great day in OurLady of Victories Church when they joined thechoirs of other schools for rehearsals and attendedworkshops. All students enjoyed the experience ofsinging in the Helix. A huge thanks to all thestudents in the choir, who always work so hardthroughout the year, and who are always sodedicated.

PracticalsForty-eight Junior Cert students, nineteen LeavingCert students and close to three hundred pieces ofmusic - this made for a busy time in the MusicDepartment in preparation for the Music practicalexaminations. All the girls had worked hard andboth examiners commented on the high standard ofmusic performed. The style of pieces performedvaried, from Irish Traditional music to classical, andfrom contemporary music to rock. Finally we wishour third and sixth years every success in theirwritten examinations in June.

Navan Choral Festival 2012The choir attended the Navan Choral Festival for

the first time on Friday 11th of May. It was a greatexperience for the choir. It has worked really hardall year and this highlighted everyone’scommitment to all the practices throughout theyear.

St. Mary’s Music ShowcaseTowards the end of the year the musical talent of

St. Mary’s was showcased in one night of greatentertainment in St. Mary’s Choir Hall.Performances on the night consisted of studentsfrom the Junior and Leaving Cert. classesperforming their practical pieces. Classperformances from 1st, 2nd and 5th year musicclasses, the TY music classes and the school choiralso featured. It was a great night of music and agreat way to end the musical activities of the year.

We are looking forward to more exciting musicalprojects with the choir next year.

Ms. O’Rourke and Mr. CollMusic Department

Teen Spirit – Olympia Concert

On the 29th April, seventeen members of the St. Mary’s Choir wereinvolved in the first ever Teen Spirit concert in Dublin. The project hasbeen a huge success story in Munster with hundreds of young peoplebeing involved over the last four years and now this was the first timethe project was brought to the capital. The aim of the project is toshowcase Teen talent and Christian faith, by using a mix of popular chartmusic, together with well-known classics and also the mostcontemporary Christian music. St. Mary’s Choir Hall was the host venuefor the boot camp rehearsals and the concert itself was in the OlympiaTheatre. Eight St. Mary’s students got solos in the concert which was ahuge honour and there was great support for the girls from staff andparents on the night.

The students involved were:1st years – Megan Reilly, Amy O’Connor, Julia Holbanel, Sarah Moran,

Lisa Fitzsimons2nd years – Leah Deegan, Sharon Ogunyemi,

April Lamai, Nadia Keatinge Hempenstall, Holly Bell3rd years – Michaela Mullen4th years – Roisin King5th years – Eve Kavanagh, Claire Concannan, Kimi Umpad, Siobhan

McNamara and Ranzenallie Caranay

Our students joined one hundred and forty students from differentschool choirs to make up the choir on stage that night. Overall it was avery uplifting and inspiring project and it certainly marked thebeginning of a great project for young people to be involved in.

Rehearsal taking place in St. Mary’s Choir Hall

160 strong choir on stage in the Olympia

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DEPARTMENT OF GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLINGIncoming First Years Entrance exams for First Yearstudents took place onSaturday 4th February. Therewas a very positiveinformation meeting with theparents of incoming First Years on Tuesday 5th ofMarch to review the issues for students andparents and to initiate our long term partnershipfor the next five or six years. To help facilitate thetransition from Primary to Secondary School, inApril we visited the primary schools and spokewith the sixth class teachers about the students’progress and interests. To further this partnershipwe invited the incoming first year parents tomake an appointment at the end of May for aninformal interview with a member of the CareTeam.

Second Year SubjectChoice There was a meeting with theparents of the present FirstYear students on Wednesday March 14th to lookat subject choice for Second Year. A subjectchoice booklet was distributed to all parents onthat night. The counsellors also met with thestudents individually throughout February andMarch to answer any questions about theirsubjects.

Third Years The Third Year students sattheir Differential Aptitudetests (DATS) in December. Thiswas to help those going intoFifth Year to make their subject choice. They eachreceived a booklet outlining what was involvedin the study of subjects for the TraditionalLeaving Certificate. Each Third Year student hada meeting with the guidance counsellors to getfeed back of the results of their DATS. The ThirdYear students, with their parents, attended ameeting on Monday March 7th, to look at theoptions for next year in regard to Transition Year,Fifth Year and LCVP.

Female Engineering Role Model Day As part of Engineers’ Week, DIT WAVES (WomenA Voice in Engineering Society) planned a day forfemale secondary level pupils on Wednesday29th February to give an insight into the world ofwomen engineers and technologists working inall areas of society. Through a series of talks andQ&A sessions the role models told their ownstories of working in the world of engineeringand the routes they took to get to their currentjobs. The students who participated in the dayincluded Kate Steffany Pajarillo, Karen Sinnott,Lauren Wall, Aine Dempsey, Emma O’Reilly,Lauren Nugent, Hannah Kelly, Nicole Sheridan,Rachel Clusker, Isabel Mullhand, Queency Eduaveand Mollie Walker.

DCU Access Programmes

DCU Access Service Student Shadowing DayA number of our fifth year students took part in a variety of DCUprogrammes which encourage students to start thinking about Third Level.

Ten fifth year students took part in the DCU Access Service StudentShadowing Day on Tuesday 28th February. It allowed them the opportunityto take part in student life at DCU. They were matched with undergraduatestudents pursuing courses in areas of interest to them. They attendedlectures with a 1st or 2nd year student in a faculty of their choice. Thestudents really enjoyed their experience on campus and found it veryworthwhile. The students who participated were Laura Byas,Aisling Mahon, Jennifer Hazel, Lisa Kelly, Kiara Mulvey, Naomi McEvoy,Caroline McMullen, Jennifer Cunningham, Isabelle Kelly and ClaireConcannon.

DCU/CITI Career ExplorationProgrammeA group of 5th yearsparticipated in the DCU/CitiCareer ExplorationProgramme for Senior CycleStudents. There was agraduation ceremony held on Thursday 3rd May at 7pmin the Mahony Hall, Helix, for students whoparticipated in theprogramme and the groupreceived a certificate for itscontribution and participation.

DCU Easter Revision CoursesSixth year students were invited to take part in free Easter revision coursesin a wide range of subjects. Students who participated in the programmesfound them very helpful.

Free Maths Revision grinds were also offered for Junior Certificatestudents during the Easter break over a four day period. Sixteen of ourstudents participated in the grinds course and another twenty studentsparticipated in a two hour one-off session on Algebra for higher levelmaths, by George Humphreys. This was held on the 10th April and a lectureon functions and graphs was also held on 30th April. Over seventy studentsfrom St. Mary’s attended both sessions. The third year students who tookpart in both programmes found them extremely helpful.

Sixth YearsCollege TalksStudents had the opportunity to participate in talks with FETAC collegesduring January. Speakers from Whitehall College, Pontifical UniversityMaynooth, Rathmines College, ITB and Colaiste Dhulaigh were inattendance. Students learned about the variety of courses on offer at eachcollege and had the opportunity to ask questions and find out informationin advance of their FETAC interviews and CAO deadline.

CAO applications are now well and truly in and some studentswill be planning on readjusting their choices on their changeof mind form which is accessible online from May 5th-July 1st.

FETAC Many of the students applying for FETAC have hadinterviews and have been offered places subject totheir results in the Leaving Certificate.

We wish all of our Sixth Year students everysuccess in their Leaving Certificate and look forward to linking in with themin mid August for the results. The guidance counsellors will be available inAugust to support the students when they receive their results and later onwhen offers are being made.

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HOME ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT

Junior Certificate

Well done to all the third year pupilswho completed their practical cookeryexams this term. Some of the dishesincluded cupcakes, stir-fries,Mediterranean chicken bake and pastabake to name but a few. They all turnedout beautifully and we would like towish the students the best of luck forthe written exam.

Ms. Walsh and Ms. Doheny

Leaving Certificate

We would also like to take thisopportunity to wish this year’s LeavingCertificate students the best of luck inJune and we hope that their hard workpays off.

Ms. Walsh, Ms. Aird and Ms. Doheny

Kitchen in the Castle Cookery SchoolAll fifth year students studying Home Economics this year, got the opportunityto visit ‘Kitchen in the Castle Cookery School’ in Howth. There they had theopportunity to take part in a hands on cookery course on ‘Choux Pastry’. Thiswas very beneficial as it covered one of the Leaving Certificate assignments fortheir Leaving Certificate next year. The students learnt a lot under the guidanceof two professional chefs.

Ms. Doheny and Ms. Aird

Chicken andmushroom Gougèreand chocolateprofiteroles made bystudents at cookeryschool.

Left to right:Amy Bates, AmyCorcoran and Chef atthe ‘Kitchen in theCastle’ cookeryschool.

Left to right:Niamh O’Rourke,Nicole Hyland andLauren Tuite at the‘Kitchen in theCastle’ cookeryschool.

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MATHS DEPARTMENTProject Maths inAction

In the winter months, manysixth year students took tothe grounds of St. Mary’s tocarry out fieldwork activitiesbased on elements of‘Project Maths’. Studentsused clinometers to measureangles of elevation. Usingtrigonometric ratios (andremembering to add ontheir height to thecalculated height of thebuilding, as the students’reference point was theireye level above theground!), students wereable to calculate the heightof the green flag pole andthe height of the gym wall.

MathematicalOlympiad

Well done to Megan Stamp, atransition year student, whowas invited to attend anumber of Maths enrichmentclasses in U.C.D. aspreparation for a chance tobe chosen to representIreland at the InternationalMathematical Olympiad. Thisis a prestigious internationalmathematics competitionwhich will take place inArgentina in July. Megan didvery well and enjoyed theexperience. The classescovered a range of topicssuch as arithmeticprogressions, prime numbersand proofs, game theory and

probability, algebraicfactorisation, the‘pigeonhole’ principle as wellas how to maximise afunction.

Sixth Years carrying outmeasurements

Megan Stamp from class 4.38

First year students who were involved in the D.C.U.Maths quiz competition

Fifth Year students celebrating Maths WorldDay

Allanah Beatty – St. Mary’s winner of theI.M.T.A. competition

Maths Department Links with D.C.U.

Some sixth year students attended Maths workshops before Easter inD.C.U., which focused on engaging students in problem-solving skills. Thestudents found it worthwhile and it is hoped that the skills learnt will betransferred, when answering the Maths exam papers in June.St. Mary’s had two teams competing in the first year D.C.U. Maths quizwhich took place in the sports hall in D.C.U. from 2-4pm on Wednesday the25th April. There was at least one representative from each first year classin St. Mary’s. Karen Pajarillo (class Munster), Priya Alipo-On (classConnacht), Seth Banaga (class Connacht) and Orla Hardiman (class Ulster)represented one team. On the other team, class Oriel was represented byAlison Kennedy and Roja Roy while class Leinster was ably represented byAmy Boylan and Hannah Lawler. Congratulations to both teams whoachieved very high scores in the competition.

Maths World DayMaths World Day was celebrated in theschool on the 7th March 2012. Tocelebrate this day, first year studentshad the opportunity to log onto onlinemathematical sites in the Computer Cluband to take part in the IT postercompetition. Well done to Sona Shijifrom class Munster who won the overallprize!

Some fifth year students attended atalk in D.C.U. with Ms. Murphy whichwas enjoyed by all. The speakersoutlined the importance of Maths tostudents and how Maths is so relevant toeveryday life.

First Year IMTACompetitionCongratulations to all first year studentswho participated in the first year Mathscompetition organised by the IrishMaths Teachers Association (IMTA).Allanah Beatty was the overall winner inSt.Mary’s. Allanah represented theschool brilliantly at the final of the IMTAcompetition, which was held on Fridaythe 27th April at Castleknock College.

John Hooper MedalStatistics CompetitionCongratulations to the five groups offifth year students who submittedentries to the John Hooper medalcompetition on the 4th May. Eachgroup designed a statistical poster on atopic of interest. For example, onegroup’s poster was based on a‘Facebook’ survey carried out by thegroup. Another group’s posterendeavoured to obtain statistical dataon whether students who study HomeEconomics are healthier than studentswho don’t! All groups were wished wellin the competition.

Monthly Maths ChallengeAll junior students were encouraged totake part in the May Maths challengeonline competition which was organisedby the national project Mathsdevelopment team and EngineersIreland. Best of luck with your entriesgirls!

Ms. M. O’Donnell

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TRANSITION YEARBiologyIn our Biology module this year we havelooked into a few interesting aspects ofthe Leaving Certificate Biology course.At first we went over the basics, e.g. thecell and how to use a microscope etc.We learnt about the skeleton and thebones and we made a skeleton out ofPlay-Dough. We then had a class aboutthe workings of the heart and all thevalves. The highlight of all the classeswas the dissection of the lamb’s heart. Ifound this very interesting.We have recently starting learningabout the body’s senses. Overall I haveenjoyed the whole module.Leah O’Donnell

TY Food Module

We went to the ‘Edible exhibition’ inTrinity College in February with Ms.O’Keeffe. We were brought around theexhibition and we looked at differentbooks and also looked at rotting foodunder the microscope. We learnt how allthe different parts of a pig can be usedto make things. At the end we wentthrough the ‘gas bag’, which was like abouncy castle stomach digestive system.It was an enjoyable exhibition and Iliked it a lot.Aileen Keane

During the TY Food Science module thestudents also learnt about healthyeating, food diaries, supermarketpsychology, food additives, eatingdisorders and food labelling. Thestudents also learnt how taste testingcan be used in market research. Theyblind tasted chocolate mousse - a veryenjoyable class!Ms. O. O’Keeffe

TY Fashion ShowTY language students put on their owncreative fashion show in March of thisyear for first year students. The girlsstrutted down the catwalk to the beatof their favourite songs, showcasingtheir individual styles. Through themedium of their chosen language(French, Spanish or German), the TYstudents revealed their favourite fashiontrends!Ms. S. McManus

French Film

On February 28th, Transition Yearstudents of French visited the Irish FilmInstitute to see the French/Belgianmovie, “Panique au village”, (A towncalled Panic). This whacky animated filmtells the story of three plastic toys –Cowboy, Indian and Horse and theirsurreal adventures to the centre of theearth and a parallel underwateruniverse. On s’est très bien amusé!

TY Film Festival

For the annual Transition Yearproduction this year, our TY studentsdecided to try something a littledifferent! They decided that this yearthey would host the very first St. Mary’sFilm Festival! All Transition Year studentswere given the opportunity to create,write, shoot, edit and star in their veryown short films using the latesttechnology. There were eleven groups intotal, each producing its own film withthe help of a company called, ‘CreateSchool’. The Transition Year studentsproved to be creative and imaginativewhen putting their films together andthey really enjoyed the experience. Inorder to show case their creations, it wasdecided that St. Mary’s would host anOscar themed Film Festival in St. Mary’sChoir Hall! The night was a hugesuccess. TY students had the chance towalk the red carpet, mingle with fellowmovie stars and dress head to toe inHollywood Chic! Each group presentedits film to the audience by giving a shortintroduction to explain what theinspiration behind its film was. Aftereach introduction, the film was screenedand each met with a really positivereaction from the audience. It was clearto see that everyone was bowled over athow imaginative, creative and talentedour TY students are. When all the filmshad been shown, we had an Oscar styleaward ceremony and students wereawarded their very own mini Oscar formany different categories. Theatmosphere on the night was electric,everyone had a great time and our TYstudents got a great sense ofachievement when they saw their filmsup on the big screen!

Ms. G. Hayes, Ms. C. Murtagh, Ms. R. McCormack T.Y. Co-ordinators

TY Work Experience

As part of TY we had the chance to dosome work experience for two weeks.We had been preparing for workexperience since the end of thesummer. We were free to choosewhere we wanted to work and then itwas up to us to apply for the jobs. Wehad to choose two places of work,one for each week. It was greatbecause it gave us a taste of what realwork is like. I did my work experience in ahairdressers for the first week and forthe second week I worked in a beautysalon. My first week was brilliant. Ilearned so much about hairdressingand the people I was working withwere really nice. It was a greatexperience for me. The second weekwas just as interesting. I lovedwatching how manicures and gel nailsare done. The person I was workingwith even did my own nails for me. Itwas great and it really made me thinkabout my future career and what Iwant to do when I am older. I realisedthat I would like to work in this areawhen I leave school.Work experience was my favouritepart of TY and I would adviseeveryone to give TY a go so they canexperience new and different thingslike work experience.Leanne Gavin

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ST. MARY’S PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

St. Mary’s Parents’ Association is a veryactive group within the school. TheAssociation takes part in a wide varietyof very enjoyable activities throughoutthe year:

• Consultation on the formation ofschool policies

• Participating in the Whole SchoolEvaluation

• Support and recognition of theexcellent work being done in theschool by both the staff andpupils

• Hosting the reception ongraduation night

• Running the second hand bookand uniform sale

• Attending the open night• Assisting with the school fun-day• Running a Christmas raffle• Running a monthly draw

In the past two years we have beenvery fortunate to have doubled ournumbers and we now haverepresentatives from each year, fromfirst to sixth year. We meetapproximately every six weeks todiscuss and plan the wide variety ofevents that take place during theschool year. It also gives us, theparents, the opportunity to meet, chatand share with each other the wealthof experience and knowledge thatparents have in relation to the schoolcurriculum, study, exams, the teenageyears and so much more.

Such is the partnership that existsbetween the school and the parents’association committee that we playeda very important role in meeting withthe Whole School Evaluation Boardearlier this year. The committee wascommended for their relationshipbetween management, staff and thestudent body. We would like toexpress our congratulations to thewhole school community on theexemplary report received.

On the 8th of March 2012 theCommittee, Mrs. Lennon, Ms. Murphy,Ms. Devaney, Ms. Hughes and theStudent Council, met with localpoliticians to discuss our concernsregarding recent cuts to education andissues such as school books, GuidanceCounsellors and Teacher-Pupil ratios.We are looking forward to a responseto these concerns.

St. Mary’s Parents’ AssociationCommittee is an open and relaxedgroup of parents which is delighted to welcome new members, to sharetheir ideas and experience and tosupport our daughters’ school.Please contact us atparents.stmarys@gmail.com and joinour team.

Left to right: Pascal Donoghue, Fine Gael, Mary Fitzpatrick, Fianna Fail, Aisling Ahern,Chairperson of the Student Council, Mrs. Lennon, Principal, Meaghan Rose-nel, StudentCouncil and Anne Dermody, Chairperson of the Parents’ Association

Parents Anne Kelly and Lisa Looney at the St. Mary’s Open Night