May 2005
tel 848 0014
848 0888
848 0290
fax 848 0163
email info@mercycoolock.ie
As the end of this academic year approaches it is wonderful to reflect on the many activities that have taken place this year in Mercy College . We have hosted visitors from Australia and Sweden , the Garda Band, RTE, the Evening Herald and Form and Fusion, to name but a few. Our students and staff have raised funds for COPE, St. Michael's House, The Tsunami Relief Fund, Chernobyl and many other charities. The girls have participated in concerts, plays and a range of sporting events, and visited places as diverse as Andorra and Newgrange.
All of these activities have taken place in tandem with their academic studies. We are very proud of the high standards our students attain. Last years Leaving Certificate students gained the points for Medicine, Law, Primary Teaching, Accounting and Finance, Communications and a range of other 3rd level and PLC courses. We look forward to the results of the 2005 class with high expectations.
Of course, points and League Tables alone cannot reflect the all-round education that every girl entering Mercy College receives. Through the high level of care and commitment of all our staff each girl gets an opportunity to blossom and fulfil her potential. I thank the staff on your behalf and on behalf of the Board of Management. I would also like to thank the Parents Association for all their help.
Finally, I would like to wish the 6th year and 3rd year students the best of luck in their forthcoming exams and a happy and enjoyable summer to parents and staff.
Patricia Dwyer
HOME SCHOOL - COMMUNITY NEWS
Parents and members of the community joined together to facilitate many activities
for our students. Many thanks to those who give so much work on a voluntary
basis.
We have two "Rainbow groups" which have been set up to help students bereaved
by separation or death. Our annual "Transfer Programme" for the incoming 1st year
students and their parents have also taken place.
ALDERIAN COUNSELLING / WORKSHOPS
Alderian Counselling for families is ongoing. A parent / community support group
continues to run every Wednesday evening between. This is facilitated by Vincent Byrne who works with parents to help them develop their parenting skills and acquire a deeper understanding of young people's behaviour. Several very enjoyable workshops took place in the Parents' room during three weekends. Visitors included Dr. Lillian Beaty, a prominent Alderian. Topics included lectures in Alderian theory, looking at children and bereavement issues, parenting skills and adolescence.
Events are planned for Autumn.
If interested please contact Maria Somers or Evelyn Conneelly at 8480888.
COURSES
The HSCL Co-ordinator organised a Health and Beauty course for parents and a
course in Pilates for parents and teachers. Both were very enjoyable. The Art course is ongoing and is still very popular with parents, it runs every Thursday morning between 10 and 12.30. Northside Counselling Centre is facilitating an Ageing with confidence programme for grandparents and members of the community.
On March 16th all the 5th year students went to the annual Open Day at U.C.D. So, the 5th years were certainly out and about a lot before and after the Easter in search of information concerning opportunities available to them in Higher Education. They made full use of the day to explore the vast array of courses on offer. They had a beautiful sunny day to experience the Belfield Campus.
Sixth Year Biology students enjoyed a day out at
Newbridge Demense, Donabate. The field trip forms part of the Leaving Certificate Ecology course. An enjoyable day was spent peering at centipedes, counting plants and listening to the birds singing! The trip to the coffee shop and the playground was also a big hit!
Ms. Moran
Once again we have reached the end of another
school year and one which has kept us all very busy. During the year we held a number of fund raising events which included two fun table quizzes which were held in October and December in the Sheaf O'Wheat. Mark Grainger donated 1000 eurosto the school. Our annual Easter raffle raised 1800 euros.
All monies raised will be used by the school to purchase equipment that will benefit the students.
Some of our members were also involved in drawing up school policies, one being the Critical Incident Policy which is near completion. We are always looking for new members and a new committee will be formed in the new school year and all parents are invited to become involved.
Catherine Sadlier (Secretary Parents Association)
Sixth years presented knitwear and stationary to Mrs Trish O'Brien, ChernobylChildren's Appeal. It is hoped that the school will "adopt" an Orphanage in Russia . News to follow in September. Many thanks to our 1st and 2nd year students who donated pens, pencils and copies.
The student council have decided to set up a "Buddy System" to be implemented for the incoming 1st year students in September. The programme involves a first year student being paired with either a fourth, fifth or sixth year student for the year. The aim of the programme is to eradicate bullying and to help the students settle into the school and become familiar with their surroundings. The senior students will also advise the 1st year and support them throughout the year. This programme will commence during the month of September. The senior students will meet regularly with the 1st year students ( atleast once a week) for the first month. It is hoped that the meetings will "break the ice" and pupils will get to know each other and feel less isolated.
Anne Madden
Ten very lucky 5th year students were invited by D.C.U. to take part in the annual Student Shadowing Day. This year it took place on Tuesday 15th March. Students had the chance of shadowing an undergraduate student for a day. They were paired with a student pursuing a course that they had an interest in. They were given an opportunity to experience first hand, lectures, seminars, the library, computer labs or any other activity the students
assigned to them were willing to share with them.
Another nine students from 5th year took part in a " Discover D.C.U. Programme" after the Easter break. They equally entered into the life of the University and found it a lot of fun. They made new friends and gained a lot of information. They discovered a favourite food of D.C.U. students-a hot chicken roll from Spar! To mark the completion of the programme, their parents and the students themselves were invited back to D.C.U. for a reception.
Twenty 5th year maths students were hosted by D.C.U. access service to attend a public lecture in the R.D.S. on the subject "Maths is All Around". The presentation was challenging and serious. It investigated how maths plays and important role in our lives and helps researchers to understand the world around us.
Deirdre Teeling (Guidance Counsellor)
NEW HEAD GIRL
LISA McLoughlin
DEPUTY HEAD GIRL
JANE HOWARD
WITH 6TH YEAR
PREFECTS.
On Thursday 12th May the music department put on their concert "Mercy Melodies" in front of a pact audience. The concert involved students from all years performing solos and groups.
The concert opened with the 1st year choir performing Where is Love, God help the Outcasts and Consider yourself ending with Ode to Joy on the recorder. The 2nd year music class performed three songs with solos from Aisling Kiernan, Rachel Mc Knight and Ciara Gill. The 3rd years performed a combination of choir songs and soloists, and recorder pieces. The 5th and 6th year groups performed solo and duets from Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Chess. Two students (Sarah Quinn and Maria O'Reilly) performed on Piano and Alison Harrington performed Romanza on guitar.
Not to be outdone by the brilliant performance of the students, Ms. Mc Evaddyplayed the fiddle and I played the trumpet. Overall, we would like to thank all the students, staff and Michael our caretaker who made the set and arranged the PA System.
Ms R Doherty
As part of the Junior Certificate Schools Programme (JCSP) a number of literacy initiatives have taken
place this year:
The ever popular "Paired Reading" programme took play with 1st years. Once again we thank the members of the local community who gave their time and help so willingly.
Second year students read a million words as they took part in the "Who wants to be a Word Millionaire" challenge. Well done girls.
Mercy College is very happy to be involved with a programme run by "Poetry Ireland" and writer Maeve Inglesby is currently our Writer in Residence". She is working with a first year group doing some creative writing and drama.
New volunteers from the community are always welcome. If you have some free time on your hands, please contact Paula Moran at 8480888.
Paula Moran (JCSP Co-ordinator)
The school was asked to host 2 Swedish Principals and a representative from the Swedish Dept. of Education. They wanted to look at our education system and theywere very interested in the concept of single sex schools. In Sweden , the majority of schools are of mixed sex. Another area of interest was school uniforms. In Sweden , students are allowed to wear anything they want!! Now, before all our students head off to Sweden to be educated, the Swedish educational authorities are considering
the introduction of the "dreaded" uniform!!!
The drama society has been host to a lot of activity this year.
Students from First, Second and Third year committed themselves to Wednesday evenings in the Drama room where they enjoyed taking part in games, role playing and improvisations. Many new friendships were made.
In December, they had a chance to see A Christmas Carol performed in a city theatre. This inspired them to adapt the well known poem Twas the Night BeforeChristmas for stage and the school had the pleasure of seeing their talents in action.
Since January, they have been working on Willy Russell's Our Day Out. The performance was shown on the 18th May in front of a packed audience of family members, friends, students and staff.
Congratulations and well done girls.
Congratulations to Carolyn Conlon (2nd year) who was a major prize winner in theSutton Park School "Young Artist Competition 2005". Well done to the following students who were highly commended for their beautiful work:
Emma Molloy, Elizabeth Singireja, Laura Mangan, Niamh Jennings,
Rachel Kiernan, Jemma Kirby, Aisling Keenan, Emma Curry,
Diana Volovei, Jessica O'Reilly, Stacy Brady, Nicola Gorman,
Carol Molloy, Maria Bride, Tara Moran, Stacy Bollard, Uyen Nguyen,
Ciara Cummisky, Sinead Keogh, Jamie Doyle, Elaine Conway.
STUDENT PROFILE
Name
Claire Moreau
Leaving Cert 2001
Current Position
Final year Nutrition and Dietetics
D.I.T Kevin Street / Trinity College Dublin
STUDENT PROFILE
Name
Deirdre Byrne
Leaving Cert 1997
Current Position
Chartered Accountant
Shiels Keane Accountants
Fifth year LCVP students organised a table quiz for 1st year students. This quiz is part of the LCVP portfolio work. The LCVP students completed all the organising, planning and publicity. The quiz took place in the hall on Tuesday 26th April. The day of the quiz went very well with all of the 1st years enjoying themselves. Many students won spot prizes.
The winning team of Aoife Brennan, Katie Rogers, Sarah Kenny, Ayesha Lynch and Danielle Rowan won prizes of art equipment. Who knows we could be seeing future contestants of "Who wants to be a Millionaire"!!
Recently, eight 5th year students attended a Spanish Quiz in St. Conleths, Ballsbridge. We were asked a variety of questions, some were on Spanish general knowledge, and for all you footie fans, the odd few football questions were also asked. Both teams did very well but didn't claim the winning spot. But you know what they say¼. "it's not the winning that counts, it's the taking part!" . Mind you there were a lot of distractions on the night from the Spanish speaking population and it definitely was a fun experience, Tenemos muchas ganas de hacerlo otra vez el ano que viene.
Hasta Pronto
Lisa Mc Loughlin and Anne Madden
During National Tree week, two trees were kindly donated by Mr Downey. Father of Leanne 5th year and Ashleigh 1st year. Thanks a million for your generosity and the trees should give many years of pleasure.
A group of Transition Year students from Mercy College and Channel Collegeparticipated in a sponsored soccer match to raise funds to buy a new set of football jerseys for the students of Sr. Michael's House
NEWS FLASH!!!
THREE GAELIC
PLAYERS PICKED FOR
THE UNDER 14 DUBLIN
DEVELOPMENT SQUAD
The U14 Gaelic team began training after Christmas. The team consists of girls from 1st and 2nd year. Many of the players play.
for their local Clubs such as Parnell's and St. Monica's. The girls first match was against St. Colmcille's in Knocklyan and although they were beaten, they gave them a run for their money.
Three of the girls, Sinead Cumiskey, Lisa Cassidy and Siobhan Kelly are now in the U14 Dublin Development Squad. The team has come on leaps and bounds throughout the year and we are hoping for greater things next year.
Ms. R. Doherty
KAVANAGH GETS A KICK
OUT OF HER WORLD TITLE
NAME LINDSAY KAVANAGH
AGE 16
SPORT KICKBOXING
"World Championship medals are such a rarity in this country that you would think you could readily rattle off the names of those who have acclaimed such an honour. But how many people can honestly name the kick boxer who at the age of 13, claimed a silver medal in the World Championship? Very few, you suspect. However receiving very little fanfare does not at all rankle with Lindsay, the sportswoman in question.
With her modest manner, Lindsay actually revels in the anonymity."
"kickboxing may not seem the stereotypical girls' sport and six years ago, Lindsay was just a normal ten- year -old - she attended dancing lessons and did the ordinary things that her peers did."
"It did not take Lindsay long to make an impact on the international scene and by the age of 13 she won a silver medal in the World Championships in Rhodes, inGreece ."
"Since then the 16-year-old's improvement curve has rise. Last weekend she was crowned national junior 55kg champion for the third consecutive year - performance which has again qualified her for the World Championships which will be held in October."
"Being a Transition Year student has enabled Lindsay to channel all her energies into the sport this year¼¼and the extra free time has given her the opportunity to coach young children at the sport."
"Kickboxing is not an Olympic sport. Efforts are being made by both the National and International governing bodies to introduce the sport. And seeing as female kick boxers do not tend to reach their peak till their late twenties¼¼¼there is every possibility that she could fulfil her ultimate ambition of representing her country at the Olympics."
(Extract from the Evening Herald)
Yet again the school year comes to a close with the annual sports matchbetween teachers and 6th year students. This year soccer was again chosen by the 6th years. As can be seen from the photograph the teachers were kitted out in a very flattering horizontal stripe ensemble lent to us by Ms. O'Leary,
Next year I want a vertical stripe!! The match itself was very competitive and in the first few minutes Ms. Whelehan gave the 6th years a very dubious penalty, which was missed !!! After that most of the game took place in the midfield section with the teachers missing lots of opportunities. Mr Hooper spent most of the match relaxing in goal, he had to stand up for about 10 minutes of the match.
There were 4 red cards and many yellow cards. As usual, I was sent off for giving back cheek to the referee (I think it was the remark that the referee needed glasses really sealed my fate). Towards the end of the match the students got desperate and there were at least 35 students on the pitch and they still couldn't score!! At the end of full time, it was still 0-0 and a penalty shoot out was on the cards. Mr Swann played brilliantly in goals and saved 2 potential goals (the rest went wide). Emma Currie played a blinder in goals and saved some shots, one hit the post and finally Mr Swann (our hero) scored a goal. The final result 1-0 to the teachers, this maintaining our three year record. Finally, the staff would like to wish all our exam classes the best of luck in their exams and their future careers.
Ms. Downes
MAIN SPORTS BASKETBALL - HOCKEY
PUPILS 400
PAST IRISH REPRESENTATIVES:
Basketball: Emma Brady, Jessica Collins, Anne-Marie Butler, Sharyn Kelly, Vanessa Burke, Emma Reilly, Nicki O'Brien, Rachel Kelly, Vivienne Shaw, Tara Fitzsimons, Pamela Grogan
BADMINTON: Elaine Kiely
CURRENT STARS:
Basketball Sinead Cummiskey, Lisa Cassidy, Siobhain Kelly (all on U14 Dublin Development Squad)
Athletics Rachel Jones
Kickboxing Lindsay Kavanagh
Tae-Kwon-Do Jenny Hurley
"At a time when the fun element of sport is being lost to serious competition, it's heartening to find a school in which a love for sport is instilled and fostered in students."
"Sport is not only organised for students attending the school; activities have also been set up for young children and past pupils."
"In 2002, a basketball academy was set up to cater for 6 -year -olds to 13- year -olds. It now attracts 65 girls and boys each week.
And past pupil teams in both hockey and basketball have been in operation for some time."
"When Professional Coach Mark Ingle was drafted into the school in 1989 immediate basketball success followed."
"Three national titles¼¼¼The U16 pilfered the C title in 1990.¼.
promoted to B class and won again next year. In 1992 the senior basketball teamlanded the All Ireland title."
"A series of new coaches have recently come on board - most notably Catherine Smith and Rosie Doherty, badminton and GAA respectively."
"One of the constants have been Irene Whelehan, who has been head of PE Since 1970.¼¼hockey teams have qualified for the latter stages of the Leinster League on many occasions."
"Sports at which some of the students excel are far from what you would expect. Tae Kwon Do and kickboxing¼¼¼¼.
Jenny Hurley's most recent success for Ireland includes winning a ten nations tournament in Paris ."
"Another one to watch is Rachel Jones, who next week hopes to claim double gold (100m hurdles and 100m) at the junior Leinster School Track and Field event."
(Extract from the Evening Herald)
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