Newsletter
Summer 2000
Multimedia Projector - Millennium Garden - Mercy College Choir Brussels Trip February 2000 - "Cop On" - Transition Year Work Experience - Mercy College / Coolock-Artane Credit Union - C'mon Everybody – Review – Choir - SES Study Seminar - Hockey Notes – Adlerian Psychologist - Reminder - REPORT ON WORLD BOOK DAY – BASKETBALL - STUDENT COUNCIL - SCHOOL UNIFORM
Multimedia Projector
Last
year's raffle, raised a sum of over £2000. This was put towards the cost of a multimedia projector. The projector allows the teacher's screen to
be projected up to 40 inches across during computer classes. This makes it much easier for students to
follow the steps in the programmes.
The
projector can also be linked up to a video recorder and the class can watch
videos on the "big screen".
Millennium Garden
After
much deliberation our school has finally decided on its Millennium
Project. We have agreed to install a
water feature in our courtyard. This
will consist of a millstone resting on a bed of stones with water bubbling from
the centre of the stone.
The
inspiration for this comes from the fact that in 1998 a millstone was dug up in
the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Tonlegee Road. The church is the Coolock Parish Church for the Church of Ireland
community. We feel that there is a
particular harmony in linking ourselves to this community at the beginning of
the New Millennium. The symbolism of
the water and the bread produced by the mill wheel should not be lost.
The
basic materials for this project, mill wheel, pump, reservoir and reservoir lid
will be purchased at an approximate cost of £500. It will also be necessary to prepare the site and a certain
amount of brickwork will be required. The courtyard will then be made available to Sixth Years as a tranquil
area with seating and shrubbery. So as
to involve all students and staff in the project it is proposed that each
person should bring along a potato-sized stone which will form part of the bed
of stones on which the mill wheel will rest. The time for moving out some of
the existing plants from our courtyard is fast approaching and we hope to make
a start on our landscaping plans in the coming weeks. If you would be prepared to help with the Millennium Garden
Project through work or sponsorship, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact any one of the following
teachers: Ms. Paula Downes, Ms. Phyllis
Keogh, or Ms. Margaret Quinn.
Mercy College Choir - Brussels Trip February 2000
The
Choir members have returned and recovered from their very successful trip to
Brussels. We had an action-packed visit
which included: sightseeing, climbing up the Belfry in Bruges, climbing up the
steep mount at Waterloo, visiting a chocolate factory, bowling, and of course,
singing. The highlight was singing at
Mass on Sunday evening in the oldest (medieval) church in Brussels (St.
Nicholas'). We were heartily welcomed
by the congregation and invited back 'every Sunday'. The girls received many compliments on their excellent behaviour
abroad and proved to be great ambassadors for Mercy College and for
Ireland. Many thanks to parents Yvonne O'Brien
and Marie Colgan who accompanied us on the trip.
Ms.
Hogan and Ms. Daltún
Cop On
Transition
Year students visited Mountjoy Jail to see at first hand the "rewards of
crime". The visit consisted of a lecture
and a tour around the main jail and was both educational and thought-provoking.
Ms.
Moran.
Transition Year Work Experience
Mercy
College would like to take this opportunity to thank the many business and
local organisations in the area for their continuous support. Without their help our Work Experience
Programme could not be so successful. Transition Year students enjoy a total of four weeks in the real world
of work, gaining experience in a variety of work-settings: schools, veterinary
practices, shops, offices, factories, garages and crèches.
Ms.
Moran and Ms. Rooney
Mercy College / Coolock-Artane Credit Union
Coolock-Artane
Credit Union, in association with Mercy College, is in the process of
establishing a Mini Credit Union in the school, to open in September 2000. The office will be run by a committee of
nine present Transition Year students, and membership will be open to all
students and staff in the school. The
main aims of the project are: extending the benefits of credit union membership
to students, introducing students to the concept of saving, allowing students
an opportunity to experience areas such as cash handling, data processing,
decision-making and teamwork.
Interviews
for Committee members were held in the school in February and the Board of
Directors of Coolock-Artane Credit Union and the school appointed the following
to the school committee:
Vivienne
Bonney Lorraine
Fedigan
Helen
Cahill Anne-Marie Lyons
Tracy
Conway Karen O'Connor
Laura
Cumiskey Veronica Ryan
Christine
Talbot
Congratulations
to the above students and sincere thanks to the large number of Transition Year
students who applied for the committee.
C'mon Everybody
Mercy
College has raised in excess of £2,500 for people in need. This year there will be a "mega"
fund-raising event held on Friday 5th May. This usually takes the form of a sports day. We thank you for your support in the past and hope that we will
be able to raise more funds for deserving causes. Anybody who wants to come along and support the event is very
welcome.
Review
Leaving
Certificate students attended the National Concert Hall on March 7th to hear a
live performance of two Leaving Certificate Music set works. The works performed were J. S. Bach's Cantata
and Gerald Barry's piano quartet. The
concert was well presented with narration by Rhona Clarke. The audience was invited to sing at the end
of Bach's Cantata, which helped to involve the students with the concert. It was an enjoyable show and well worth
attending.
Choir
The
Choir sang on March 6th at the Parish Mission. They sang beautifully and represented the school very well.
the
last two years have been a bit quiet but the present First and Second year
teams are blazing a new success story. Both teams finished first in their league and qualified for the Leinster
Semi Finals with hopefully the finals to come. The hard work and dedication of the players is
SES Study Seminar
The
Student Enrichment Service (SES) was held on February 24th for Fifth
Years. It was £8 per person, but it was
well worth it.
Some
of the topics covered were:
1:
Time management
2:
Note taking
3:
Goal setting
4:
Study methods
5:
SES study methods
*
They showed us their method of studying. We know now that studying can be made easy if we adopt the correct
approach.
*
They showed us how to space out our timetable and when to take breaks.
* We
were able to communicate well with the speakers and they didn't act in a
superior way to us, so we were able to relax.
Altogether,
we found the suggestions given very helpful and easy to use. We would recommend the SES study programme
to anyone who might find it difficult to study.
Yvonne
Carolan, Linda Donohoe. Laura Griffin, Janine Heffernan, Deirdre Whelan and
Laura Creaner.
Hockey Notes
We
are reaching the end of a very enjoyable hockey season, and whereas we have not
been as successful as we had hoped, our teams have "Done us
proud". The Senior and Minor teams
took part in the Leinster leagues. Here
are the results:
Senior Team's Results
Mercy
College 0 Wesley College 1
Mercy
College 0 Loreto Mullingar 2
Mercy
College 2 Mt. Anville 1
Mercy
College 5 Teresians 0
Mercy
College 3 St. Raphael's 0
Mercy
College 7 The High School 0
Loreto
Mullingar went forward to the finals.
Minor Team's Results
Mercy
College 1 Muckross Park 0
Mercy
College 1 Wesley College 1
Mercy
College 1 Our Lady's Terenure 1
Mercy
College 0 Loreto Bray 3
Mercy
College 0 Mt. Anville 1
The
Senior, Minor, and Beginners teams took part in the Northside League. Mount Temple were the only school to beat
our Seniors, and they went through to the final.
The
Minor team were unfortunate to be beaten by St. Wolstan's, by a very narrow
margin. Again it was the only match
they lost. The Beginners were
"pipped at the post" for the final by Mt. Sackville, who were only
one point ahead.
Better
luck next season girls!
We
hope to run a mixed grade 7-a-side school tournament before the end of the
school year. We would like to see as
many girls as possible taking part, even those not on a team before now.
Adlerian Psychologist
A
parent support group has been running over 10 weeks in the Parents' Room. The group facilitator is Mr. Vincent Byrne,
an Adlerian Psychologist. He works with
parents with a view to helping them to develop their parenting skills and to
acquire a deeper understanding of young people's behaviour. This has been a very successful venture,
with parents and young people reporting that they have both enjoyed and
benefited from the group sessions. It
is hoped to offer this service again next year.
The
Coolock Harmonstown Artane (C.H.A.) forum will hold its A.G.M. in St. Brendan's
Boys' National School hall on Tuesday, May 16th at 8 p.m. All residents of the area are encouraged to
attend to hear a report on the present committee's work and to offer comments,
ideas and suggestions. There are
exciting developments in the pipeline which need your support. You may indeed be interested in going
forward to serve on the incoming committee. Representatives from Northside Partnership, Dublin Corporation and other
statutory and voluntary bodies will attend, as well as School Principals,
Home-School-Community Liaison Co-ordinators and local clergy.
Reminder
Don't
forget that Phyllis Keogh, the Home-School-Community Liaison Co-ordinator, will
be delighted to meet with any parent on request, either in school or in their own
home. If a parent has any concerns
about a child's education or behaviour, she/he should not hesitate to phone the
school to make arrangements to meet with the Co-ordinator.
REPORT ON WORLD BOOK DAY
On Friday
19th March the students from Mercy College were exposed to poetry and the world
of books for the day because it was World Book Day. The day was organised by Ms. Boyle and the Second Year students
from Room 12. At the beginning of the
day, students and teachers received stickers with the slogans, "Celebrate
Libraries" and "Celebrate Books". These stickers were worn by all the staff and students
alike. A book fair, lasting the whole
day, was held in the school hall. In
turn, each Year group was called to the hall where books of every category were
on sale. Students had time to peruse
and buy the books of their choice.
Throughout
the day both students and teachers gave poetry recitals and readings of
favourite extracts from stories and novels. Several of these pieces were read out during classes over the
intercom. Classes were spiced up and
laced with a rendering of poems and extracts. Poems from Roger McGough, Seamus Heaney, W. B. Yeats, Boland, Hilaire
Belloc and works by several more authors were read out by students and
teachers.
Due
to the organisation of Ms. Boyle and the students from Room 12, and also the
co-operation of all the students and teachers, the day went smoothly. The day itself was a huge success and was
greatly enjoyed by all. It had much of
interest for everyone. I feel it has
opened our minds to the world of literature.
Máire Barry (6th Year)
BASKETBALL
Our
First and Second Year basketball teams have both had excellent seasons. Both teams won Leinster Titles, our First
Years beating Dominican, Cabra 32-18, and our Juniors beating Mount Temple
42-26.
The
girls then moved into the All-Ireland play-offs. The Juniors played in Gort, where they won their group but lost
their semi-final in a close encounter against Galway. The team had a great weekend of basketball and won the Bronze
Medal in the All-Ireland series.
The
following weekend our First Years pitted their wits against teams from Kerry,
Donegal and Tipperary. This time with
home advantage we were successful in our semi final with a thrilling win over
Killybegs 36-34. The team now go on to
the All Ireland Final in the National Basketball Arena on Thursday, 4th May.
First Year Team:
Anne
Marie Butler, (Captain), Laura Richardson, Denise Donoghue, Sarah Quinn, Orla
Desmond, Sinéad Keogh, Aoife Keogh, Sarah Lee, Emma Curry, Michelle Regan and
Lisa McDonnell.
Junior Team:
Mandy
Hunt (Captain), Sarah O'Connor, Amy Moore, Lise Moore, Hazel Troy, Fiona
McNamee, Michelle Murray, Ciara Lee, Laura Richardson, Sarah Lee, Anne Marie
Butler, Niamh Tansey and Paula Kelleher.
Special
thanks to the following girls for their work at the tournament:
Clare
Moreau, Lisa Clancy, Helen Cahill, Nora Cashe, Tara Knepper, Lucia Harrison and
Jennifer Wall.
STUDENT COUNCIL
The introduction
of the Student Council has been a great success over the last few months. Our achievements so far have made an
extremely positive impact on the school and students alike.
The
results of the litter campaign have shown a noticeable improvement in combating
litter around the school. Each day two
students worked on a certain area within the school grounds and gathered a huge
volume of litter with the aid of the litter pincers provided. We look forward to maintaining and enjoying
a clean environment.
The
Student Council has also worked for the introduction of a drinks machine in the
school hall. It arrived on Tuesday,
11th April. It has a wide variety of
delicious drinks, each costing 30p.
The
Student Council lobbied for a change of uniform to commemorate the New
Millennium. So far the gabardine has
been replaced by a navy reversible fleece, and the PE uniform has been changed
to a navy wrap-around skirt for September 2000. A navy tracksuit may also be bought.
The
Student Council is also eager to stamp out smoking on the premises. Thanks to Mrs. Mooney, work has begun on
putting in place a new sophisticated smoke detection system called "Air
Sampling". We look forward to
working in Mercy College as a smoke-free zone.
All
the members of the Student Council have enjoyed the time they have spent
working on the Council. Their sense of
responsibility for the school has grown, as has their pride in Mercy College.
Christine
Byrne, Head Girl
Kellie
Dunne, Deputy Head Girl
SCHOOL UNIFORM
Having
consulted parents, pupils, the Board of Management and teachers, the decisions
on changes of uniform for next September are as follows:
New
Jacket available in McAloons @ £40.
New
tracksuit available from the school at £35.
Present
students may purchase the new jacket and new tracksuit if they wish. No other decisions regarding uniform changes
have been made at this point.
Many
thanks to all who contributed to the consultation process.
Mrs.
Mooney (Principal)
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