Welcome to our Newsletter
Parenting Teens: A Road-Map for Well-Being
A reminder that a talk for parents hosted by Evan Costigan of Brainbox will take place at the school on Thursday, March 9th 2023
Being a teenager coincides with the increased influence of peers and social media, the pressure of exams and a range of other issues. Young people need our guidance now more than ever to better cope with the stress of their online and offline worlds.
Brainbox aims to help parents and guardians support their children by providing a road-map for wellbeing informed by the latest evidence-based research. Among the topics covered are: how to deal with uncertainty, communication skills, exam wellbeing, and strategies for building emotional resilience.
Topics
- Communication: talking to teenagers.
- Building emotional resilience in teens.
- Establishing a healthy routine for school.
- Study and revision strategies.
- A game plan for exam wellbeing.
- Q & A.
Practicalities
Delivery: In person (St. Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary School Killester).
Date: Thursday 9th March 2023.
Time: 7pm – 8:15pm.
Junior Cycle Professional Development for Teachers
The school will be closed for students on Monday, February 27th to facilitate teacher training by the Department of Education. we apologise for any inconvenience caused by this closure.
Parents Association
Thanks to all the parents who attended a meeting on Tuesday night by Zoom. The Parent Association is the structure through which parents/guardians in a school can work together for the best possible education for their children.
If you would like to learn more or get involved in the parents association at St. Mary's, please email parentsassociation@hfk.ie.
Poetry Aloud
The English Department wish to congratulate Brónagh Murphy in 2nd year who reached the Semi-finals in the Poetry Aloud Competition which is sponsored by the National Library. We wish her well in future Poetry Competitions.
Jigsaw - Parents platform
St. Mary's is part of the Jigsaw One good School mental health initiative promoting a school wide partnership approach to supporting our young people's mental health. You can set up you own personal platform where you will have access to courses, resources and support.
Here are some quick steps to support you to sign up to the One Good School LearnUpon Portal so that you can access courses, webinar sign-ups and other resources.
To create a One Good School Jigsaw account use this link
https://onegoodschool.learnupon.com and click SIGN UP NOW.
1. If you already have an account on another Jigsaw portal you can simply sign in at
https://onegoodschool.learnupon.com using your
email and pre-existing password.
2. If you can’t remember your password, please click on FORGOT PASSWORD on the sign in page and an email will be sent to reset it.
3. Enjoy your One Good school content!
Robotics
The School competed well in VEX Robotics Competition, reaching the semi-finals in Tullamore. Team members: Aoibheann O’Connor, Kiara Mc Hugh, Kaitlyn Dunne, Ema Rowlands and Naia Lopez, represented the school, and showed off their Engineering and problem solving skills with great enthusiasm and motivation. We narrowly missed out on a place in the final! Better luck next year girls!
SciFest - Save The Date!
Sci-fest (a science exhibition for second years) will take place on the 16th of March. Parents and some primary schools are invited to attend this event.
SciFest’s main object is: To promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education through the provision of a forum for students at local/regional/national level to present and display their scientific investigations. SciFest was set up to encourage an interest in, and love of, the STEM subjects. It is designed to be as inclusive and accessible as possible. St. Mary's has been involved in SciFest since 2015 and it is one of highlights of our school calendar.
Emmanuel
Emmanuel will take place on Thursday 2nd March at 7:30 in DCU. Students have been rehearsing Mondays and Tuesday after school. Emmanuel is a Secondary School Liturgical Music Programme and 60 Schools from the Dublin Diocese will be participating over four nights at The Helix. This is a wonderful experience for our students and we have a very rich tradition of liturgical music and we have participated in the Emmanuel concert since 2011.
Aspire 2 - Studyclix
Aspire 2 has funded a subscription to Studyclix for all fifth and sixth year students. Studyclix is Ireland's largest study and teaching website. Students can print or view state exams, mock exams or sample questions and then reveal the marking scheme so they can see what they don't yet know. There are banks of teacher and examiner-created revision materials. There are tutorial videos, flashcards, topic notes and sample answers so students can see how to improve their results. There are quiz questions that are aligned to the kinds of questions you could be asked in the exams and are a great way to check your revision of a topic.
To avail of the offer create or login to your own personal account on Studyclix and enter the code 56MARYS to be upgraded at no charge.
If you have any questions or queries about your account or how to use the code then watch this video or contact Studyclix's support team at info@studyclix.ie who will be able to help.
Building works
Our deep energy retrofit is nearing completion. We thank the entire school community for all their support and cooperation as the works progressed. The school is now a warmer, healthier and more comfortable place to learn.
Careers’ Corner by Ms Ruane
HEAR and DARE deadlines are fast approaching for Sixth Year applicants. It is crucial that students and their families do not miss the deadlines for the online elements and ensure their posted documents reach the CAO in plenty of time. Please retain proof of postage also as it may be needed for any appeals.
Students must ensure that they post all documentation required for their specific applications. Please see www.accesscollege.ie and www.cao.ie in relation to both HEAR and DARE.
Updates re DARE and HEAR are regularly posted on Teams for the students also.
The SUSI Grant scheme has not yet opened for the 2023 cohort. Students will be advised when it does.
We are looking forward to bringing a number of our Sixth Year students on a trip to TU Dublin’s Grangegorman campus at the start of March. TU Dublin offer courses at Level 6, 7 & 8 via the CAO application system. All students applying for the CAO are reminded that they can pick ten Level 8 choices plus another ten choices (combining Level 6 & & courses). Students who start in TU Dublin with a Level 6 or 7 course can continue on to complete a Level 8 Degree if they are passing their university exams.
DCU will be delivering a presentation to Fifth and Sixth Years in early March also.
Coláiste Dhúlaigh will be hosting an Open Day on Thursday March 2nd from 12pm to 7pm. Details on this event are provided on Teams for Sixth Years. Additional information can be found at www.cdcfe.ie
It is strongly advised that any student who is applying to Coláiste Dhúlaigh would ensure that they attend the Open Day after school on Thursday March 2nd.
Green School
Our Green School team are busy raising awareness of how our actions impact our environment. The theme of Green school’s week this year is ‘Water-vital for life globally’ and art students are designing posters to highlight this theme. Also Water butts are being installed in the school garden to collect rainwater. There are lots of other activities being planned.
An 8 week ‘Classy Classroom- clean and green classroom’ competition launches on 28th February with a class pizza party for the winning classroom. There will be prizes also for the most improved classroom groups. Correct recycling is very important but reducing or using alternatives to plastic is always promoted by our Green Team. They encourage students to use reusable water bottles and lunch boxes and they ask parents/guardians to help with this aim. They believe that together we can make a change.
Endometriosis Awareness
Past Pupil Rebecca Powderly was in school this week to talk to our senior students about Endometriosis. We very much appreciated Rebecca giving of her time to share her experience .
Introduction to French
Pupils from our Lady of Consolation School began a four week introduction to French class this week. well done to all the girls who attended and thanks to the French Department for leading this great initiative.