Coláiste Bríde Christmas 2021
As we head towards the Christmas holidays it is important to reflect on the year so far. There is no doubt that we have overcome many challenges since September. In true Coláiste Bríde spirit we have managed to go one step beyond. Our students, staff and the wider school community have galvanized their efforts to ensure that Teaching and Learning is the core focus while always supporting student wellbeing in our school. I understand that many families have been dealing with the impact of Covid and illness in your households. This, we know, is difficult and presents many challenges. Some families have been bereaved. Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers during this very difficult time. In my role as Principal I have a bird’s eye view on all of the activities, supports, extra-curricular, class projects, fundraising events, student led initiatives that take place in CB daily. It makes me feel so proud when I look at the big picture. We are truly part of something very special in Coláiste Bríde. Our students are the reason we work so hard. They inspire, motivate and encourage us to be the very best we can be. It is my privilege to welcome your daughters through our doors each day. I hope that your families have a safe and peaceful Christmas. Taking time out to reconnect, restore and relax. Please God 2022 will bring it a new sense of hope for us all. We look forward to welcoming you all back on Jan 6th. Christmas Blessings
Ms. Ronan, Acting Principal
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ACTIVE SCHOOL FLAG The ASF class have been working hard analysing the whole school questionnaire and have designed this poster to share a summary of their findings with the whole school community. They are now in the process of developing an Action Plan to respond to these findings. They have presented their plan to Ms. Ronan and will also present to the Board of Management after Christmas. They will then begin the new year with lots of plans to help keep CB moving!
Our busy little crafters have enjoyed coming to Craft Club after school on Thursdays for the past month. Many students are learning to crochet (it’s harder than it looks!) and many have been very clever in creating festive decorations which I'm sure they will hang on their trees at home. Looking forward to more crafternoons in the New Year! Well done to everyone who has come along so far.
Ms. Maher
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ABBI E
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AWARD
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Congratulations to Abbie Kessie for receiving one of the Feargal Quinn National Awards in recognition of the amazing results she achieved for her Leaving Cert Applied exams. They are awarded at the LCANA National Conference each year in November. The SEC choose the candidates based on the credits received by the students over the two years of the course.
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Feargal Quinn sponsored the awards and his family continue to do so. He was a great advocate of the LCA programme. Abbie is Coláiste Bríde’s first student to have received the award! Abbie received the award as she attained 190/190 credits in the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme 2020/2021.
We at Coláiste Bríde are extremely proud of Abbie for attaining this amazing award. Huge congratulations to Abbie, her family and her teachers.
VISIT TO WOODFIRE & WINGS Rang Tomás and Rang Ceola visited Woodfire & Wings on Friday the 26th of November for an interesting and practical afternoon with proprietor Ian. The students got an insight into the start and growth of this fast-paced business, they were given a demonstration on how to make a pizza and finally were able to make their very own pizza with some wonderful toppings. Sincere thanks to Ian and the staff of Woodfire & Wings for an insightful and enjoyable afternoon with plenty of delicious pizza eaten.
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My name is Lydia Rogers, and I am a transition year student. At the encouragement of my music teacher I took part in the NOISE music programme. It was one of the most enjoyable times I've ever had in TY, I met so many new people and got the chance to perform live. I attended sessions on the Thursday and Friday over midterm. These took place in North Clondalkin Library. We talked with mentors, many of whom were local musicians and rappers, we learnt about DJing and music production. We worked on our own songs and could record them in the studio there. I got the chance to take part in a group that would be performing in Child Talks. I was very excited to take part along with Tylor D, a musician in our school. We had a songwriting session, where the mentors helped us write a song on the theme of Hope. On the 19th of November, we performed in the RDS as the closing act to an inspirational Child Talks. This was my first time singing in public and I enjoyed it so much. I have always loved music, though I would have never had the self-confidence to put myself out there. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to grow in confidence and have a great time making music. All the mentors were so friendly and encouraging and I would love to continue taking part in NOISE in the future.
My new song In time for Christmas is now available on Spotify. In Time for Christmas is a very different style of music for me, but after just 24hrs on Spotify it gained over 1,000 streams which I was so grateful for and shocked to see! This song was produced by David Walsh in Pure Music Studios, but also has well established artist Eurelle doing backing vocals. As of now I have over 80k streams in total on my Spotify which is incredible for a 16-year-old independent artist like myself. I am truly grateful for everyone that has listened, shared or streamed on any platforms. My songs are also available on Instagram and Tiktok. If you would like to follow me, My Instagram is @taylor_d_music_ and my tiktok is @taylordofficialmusic
If you would like to hear In Time for Christmas or any of my songs, they are available on all streaming platforms under Taylor D.
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CB CELEBRATION OF LANGUAGE
We were so delighted to mark CB Celebration of Languages last month on November 22 organised by the Modern Language & Multicultural Departments with huge input from our student leaders and prefects. This was an amazing day to celebrate all the things we enjoy about learning languages at school and speaking other languages in our homes with our family and friends. First of all, we had beautiful posters designed by our 1st Years for the Poster Competition showing why they love language learning. Many students dressed up in costumes to showcase the language they learn or the culture they belong to. It was wonderful to see such beautiful colour and diversity in the outfits worn by our students and the 3rd Years even organised a fashion show just to make sure everyone noticed!! We had a Language Hub set up in the GPA where students got to say "hello" and write a few words in the language they speak so we could document and keep track of all the languages spoken here. There were cross-curricular activities with the Home Economics classes cooking food from different cuisines and even Bridie dressed up as a French waiter to serve tea & croissants in the staffroom! Ms Walsh and a number of Transition Year students took part in online workshops about interpreting in the EU, opportunities with the Erasmus study abroad programme and they even did a lesson in Japanese online! We know this day was enjoyed by all our school community and we look forward to celebrating languages again next year!!
Coláiste Bríde Parents Council We are always happy to welcome new members to the Parents Council. It's a great way to play an active role in the school and to meet other parents.
We're Recruiting!!
Come join the team
Make your Voice Heard!!
If you are interested in signing up please email info@colaistebride.com
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QUENTIN Quentin, our Community Dog, has settled in beautifully at Coláiste Bríde. We have had four reviews since his arrival in October and the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind are extremely happy with how well he is getting on. This term Quentin has worked with approximately 45 students per week in both one to one sessions and with small groups of students. Our students in Coláiste Bríde are really enjoying working with him and we are seeing the benefits of having a dog in our school. During his working week Quentin must have rest periods. We are always watching to ensure that he is cared for and we follow the ethical guidelines as laid out by IGDB. I am certain that most students working with Quentin would already say he is a very special dog with a very unique and gentle personality. Some of his biggest fans are concerned he won't remember them when he returns in January. I can assure you he will, as he loves coming to work in Coláiste Bríde each day. Quentin wishes you all a very Happy Christmas!
Our School Vision for 2022 - 2025 Following a review of the needs of the school, Our School Vision was developed to act as a roadmap to address those needs over the coming three years. As always, we will achieve our goals together as a school community with students, staff and parents working together.
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As always we had a jam packed College Awareness Week for 2021. All students participated in a CAW activity as part of #CAW2021, ranging from scavenger hunts to Art & Craft activities on Colleges & Universities, even a CAW Quiz and a talk on starting your own business. We had speakers from the Trinity Access Programme speaking about alternative routes to college, staff from Amazon who spoke of their career paths and roles with the company, past pupils, journalist & author Emma Mc Menamy, nurse Daria Dobrynska, student Meghan Mc Gill and music & artist manager Lia Leghio, all who shared their college and career pathways with our students. Students also enjoyed a performance by VJ Jaxson on the day. The Guidance team would really like to thank all the staff of Coláiste Bríde for their support. We would also like to thank the Career Prefects, Faith, Demi, Hannah and Milania. We encourage parents to continue the conversations at home as the students reflect on the week and on their future hopes and dreams.
GETTING TO KNOW THE DSPCA Via a Zoom call with the DSPCA we learned about the importance of caring for our pets and other animals. Every year 2,500 animals go through the shelter. He spoke of the importance of adopting dogs from shelters rather than breeding establishments. Barry spoke to us about the different types of animal cruelty such as ignorance, neglect and deliberate cruelty. The DSPCA needs €3 million a year to keep the organisation running and to offer a safe space for the animals to go. They go by the five R’s: Rescue, Rehabilitate, Release, Reunite and Rehome. We can all help in different ways by fund raising, volunteering, being the voice for the animals and leading by example. The DSPCA often take work experience students also.
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U16 v Malahide CS Our 1st game in the finals was against a Malahide side who we had previously knocked out of the cup. Both teams were familiar with each other which resulted in a tight low scoring game. A slow start saw Malahide take an early lead. Our girls started to get going in the second quarter and finished the half in front. Some fantastic defence and scores from Aoife Robertson made sure CB had a chance of winning it. A tense 2nd half saw us hit foul trouble which allowed Malahide to regain the lead. It went all the way to the last few seconds of the game to see CB agonisingly lose out by 1 point in a score line of 40-41.
U19 v Loreto Foxrock The 2nd final saw our U19s up against a physically strong Loreto Foxrock side. Like the previous game, this one was tense and tight throughout. Some good opening scoring saw CB put up a great fight against Foxrock. However, we ended the quarter down by 2 points. Great defence down low by Abbie O’Keeffe and Aoibhin Dunne saw that lead removed and CB went in front. Great scores from Katie Flannagan and a strong impact off the bench by Aoife Robertson allowed the girls to hit their stride. However, some interesting calls by referees meant Foxrock stuck with us. The last quarter saw frustrations get the better of the girls and Foxrock took the lead. Despite our best efforts we could not see this one through. A tough loss by 4 points in a score of 39-43. Heads up though as both teams are still through to the AllIreland last 16 which will take place in the new year. A huge thanks to all our fantastic supporters who roared on our girls right until the final buzzer!!
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1st Year Homework Club Our 1st Year Homework Club runs every Monday, Tuesday & Thursday for one hour after school. We would encourage any of our 1st year students who may be finding any aspect of homework, studying, organisation etc. in any way difficult, to come and join us. An after school snack is provided from the canteen and our Learning Leader students are also nearby to lend a helping hand to the juniors. We also have teachers from a wide range of subjects to help any students who need it. It is a caring and friendly learning environment and a lovely chance to make some new friends too! We had a great second term and look forward to seeing some new faces join us after Christmas. If your daughter is in 1st year and you think she would benefit from joining Homework Club, have her come have a chat with me or email aroche@colaistebride.com
Ms Roche
We are very excited to share with you our recently launched brand new website! We have worked very hard to ensure our new site is not only a modern, colourful representation of our beautiful school but also far more user friendly. We are continuing to populate the site with all the information you may need and in the new year will be launching a BRAND NEW APP alongside the new website. More details to come in January!!
www.colaistebride.com
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SCHOOL REOPENS THURSDAY JANUARY 6 2022
NIGHT STUDY TERM 2 STARTS MONDAY JAN. 10
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2nd YR PTM ONLINE TUES JAN 18 REGISTER JAN 6 (Email with details to follow)
Each year our Christmas card is designed by one of our students. In light of the year we've just had, the theme for this years card was Hope. The winning design came from Abigail Cybulska, her beautiful painting perfectly representing Hope at Christmas time. The inside card was designed by Oluwatomi Alabi, showing off our newest (and definitely most popular!) member of staff, Quentin, our community dog.
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MOCK PAYMENTS DUE BY JANUARY 28 2022
Rainbows Bereavement Programme starting Jan. 2022. Details on website soon!!