VOL. 3 • SPRING 2022
COLÁISTE BRÍDE Official Newsletter of Coláiste Bríde
A word from our Acting Principal... We have made it to the midterm and I think it is safe to say that everyone is looking forward to a well-deserved break. We have risen to the challenge and have made great progress in teaching and learning since Christmas. Our 3rd and 6th Years have taken the mock exams in their stride. They help students identify areas that may require some additional time and effort in the coming months. Staying on track, coming to school when well enough to do so and having a good study plan will ensure each student reaches their full potential. Our Leaving Certificate Applied classes have also just completed their Task Interviews. Each examiner spoke so highly of our students. Motivation, hard work and grit are what will get us to the finish line. Our students have been involved in so many wonderful activities despite restrictions still in place. From work experience with Bank of America to planting a forest, details are all inside! Our LCVP students participated in one week of work experience and were fantastic school ambassadors that returned with glowing references. We continue to work closely with Trinity Access as a College for Every Student School. We strongly recommend that your daughter puts her name forward for the many amazing opportunities that are presented to her. The upcoming campus tour to Trinity College for all 2nd Years is always a huge success as it gets students thinking about college from an early age. Our Student Council and Student Mentors recently received Leadership Training from Trinity. This was a fantastic day where the girls looked at their female role models and the skills they require to lead. They are now busy planning for our annual Wellbeing Week in March. A new initiative in CB is our Community Mentoring Programme. We were astonished with the interest and now have 220 students being mentored by 50 volunteers. The possibilities of this concept can genuinely have a huge positive impact on student outcomes. There are so many extra-curricular opportunities available to our students, it’s a great way for students to connect with new groups. See our website for the timetable. We are very proud of the outstanding commitment of our basketball teams at all levels in our school, they continue to achieve wonderful success and represent CB so well on the court. Sign up to join them!
In this issue: Ceist Ceiliúradh Inaugural Celebrations Stepping Stones Forest St. Brigid's Day
Herstory.ie celebrates Yulia Petruk
6th Year News TY News
Many thanks to all parents/guardians that engaged with us online for Parent Teacher Meetings and Senior Options Evenings. It is so important that we remain connected and I hope you have found the online space a useful one.
Mini Company 2022
Sending good wishes that each family remains safe and well throughout the midterm break. We look forward to welcoming students back bright and early on Monday 28th of February.
General Reminders & Housekeeping!
Ms Ronan, Acting Principal
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Ceist Ceiliúradh Inaugural Celebration - Feb 1st 2022 Our day started by raising our flag and lighting our Ceist candle
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COLÁISTE BRÍDE
On February 1st we marked the inaugural Ceist Ceiliúradh celebration. Just a few highlights of how we marked the day...
Display Board Our students created a display board packed full of creativity using wordles, mindmaps, artwork and poetry
ell Brigid's W k
an too Ms. O'Gorm students a group of ell Brigid's W t S it is v o t in Village in Clondalk
Off! e c n a ar D ked in 3rd Ye r o w s r
yea ps to All 3rd u o r g utor their t ance d a e t crea ue of l a v e Th ance. m r ! o f r pe gether o t g n i work
Leade rship Gathe ring Our Se nior
Leade enjoye rship Team daw ell des hour o erved f dow n time at the to ref fabulo lect us Lea d e r s hip gathe ring
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Stepping Stones Forest We are delighted to announce the birth of our Stepping Stones Forest. Sponsored by Microsoft and in conjunction with Clondalkin Tidy Towns, our TY students are planting 800 trees to establish our Stepping Stones Forest. Once completed, the area will be an amphitheater shaped outdoor classroom with the forest as the back drop. We also had some amazing artists from Fatcap transform what was a drab storage container into a colourful, vibrant addition to our forest. With the message #Keep Growing front and centre, it epitomises our hopes for our students during their time here and our newly planted forest!
Thanks so much to everyone who has worked so hard to get this project completed, especially Microsoft for their sponsorship, Clondalkin Tidy Towns and Ms Lanigan and her TY's for all the grafting!! We can't wait to see it grow!! COLÁISTE BRÍDE
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St Brigids Day Celebrations
Festival Celebrations
Visiting St Brigid's Well, Clondalkin
Holy Wells are very common in Ireland with approximately 3,000 present throughout the country. Holy Wells were a place of pilgrimage and many Holy Wells were curative in nature. Worship at Holy Wells was twofold; private devotion for intercession and the more organised pattern days that involved ‘doing the rounds’ Many Holy Wells were located near rag trees. A rag tree is a tree (often a hawthorn tree) that many people attached ribbons or other personal objects to for curative reasons and private intersessions. St Brigid's Well in Clondalkin has a rag tree in close proximity to the well. Here one of our First Year students, Katie Wiliams, tells us about her visit to the well and rag tree, with members of the Multicultural Club and Rang Bríde, on 1st February, St Brigid's Day this year, as part of the inaugural Ceiliúradh CEIST Day.
My Trip to St.Brigid's Well
On February 1st, Saint Brigid’s Day, my tutor group (Rang Bríde) and I visited Saint Brigid’s well on the Boot Road, Clondalkin. We walked down from the school with our tutor, Ms.O’Gorman, and one of our three mentors, Sarah. Saint Brigid’s well is enclosed with a small fence and has beautiful shrines and prayers to her all around the well. We all had a sheet of paper with a Mass reading and a prayer on it to Saint Brigid. There is a small sign of the well’s history which I read out to the class. It also had the fascinating story of Saint Brigid’s life on the sign too. Saint Brigid was born in Louth, and was named after the Pagan goddess, Brid, the god of fire. It is said that the house saint Brigid was born in, burst into flames after she, as a new-born baby, left it. She was brought up well educated and they also said that as a child she was very saint-like. We had a look around the well which has a beautiful grass part and flowers are planted here regularly. It is said that years ago, babies that had passed without being baptised were buried by the well. The exact location is unknown but people believe it could be the part of the well area. We had a look at the rag tree beside the well and there are many ribbons hanging on the tree. People hang these ribbons for private intentions. After a little while we decided to head back to school as it started to rain. Our trip to Saint Brigid’s well was very special and we were so privileged we got to go. Rang Bríde visiting St. Brigid's Well, Clondalkin on St.Brigid's Day.
COLÁISTE BRÍDE
By Katie Williams, 1st Year, Rang Bríde.
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HERSTORY SHINES A LIGHT ON STUDENT POWER AND IRISH GODDESSES FOR BRIGID’S DAY #Herstory #StudentVoices #Brigit2022 To celebrate Brigid’s Day 2022, the Herstory Light Show took place on Monday 31st January and Tuesday 1st February, illuminating iconic landmarks in Dublin and Kildare including Trinity College Dublin, The GPO, Kildare Cathedral, Kilkea Castle and more. This timely event followed Herstory’s successful campaign to make Brigid’s Day Ireland’s new public holiday from 2023, in celebration of our Celtic Goddess, Matron Saint, and Imbolc, the ancient festival of Spring. Herstory and the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union presented STUDENT POWER, a spectacular #Herstory Light Show to amplify #StudentVoices and spotlight the causes close to their hearts: climate action, girl’s education, mental health, racism, migrants rights, preserving indigenous cultures and more. Never before in history have young people risen up together on this scale across the world. Power to students as they lead the light! Our very own Yuliya Petruk was nominated for her outstanding work as a student activist and an impression of Yuliya lit up the gates of Trinity College! What an achievement! Comhghairdeas Yulia!
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The Sixth Years have been busy taking part in the Mock Exams over the past couple of weeks. Well done to each student on their commitment to their subjects. The Mock Exams are an invaluable learning experience and I urge the students to reflect on them and seek help where needed – Maths Club, the Learning Hub, Night Study and FREE Saturday Morning Study are some of the fantastic resources available in the school.
On our return, we will continue to roll out supports to the year group in their final few months in Coláiste Bríde. This may involve a phone call home from Amy Byrne in the School Completion Programme who will work with a number of students encouraging attendance and participation in the lead up to the Leaving Cert. Other supports may involve a Check & Connect with students who are finding particular subjects challenging to see what options are available and what is needed so that success can be experienced. As always, thank you for the communication you have made with us so far this year and please continue to contact us if you think there is an issue we need to be aware of so that we can discuss the best supports needed for your daughter. This can be a stressful year and I hope that the news of the exams has at least brought clarity. I look forward to working with the Sixth Years during our upcoming Wellbeing Week and being by their side for the final leg of their school journey. I have no doubt they will be looking forward to some rest over the Midterm Break and I wish the students a lovely break.
Ms Farrell 6th Yr Year Head
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Been a busy term as always for our TY students! See below for some of the highlights!! The Academy of Near Future STEM workshop for all TYs - took place in school with all TY classes the week of Feb 7th. Each class had a 2 hour workshop with Grace Darcy and Comfort, a former CB student. Always great to welcome back past pupils! LCVP work experience week block took place the week of the 17th Jan with over 65 5th year LCVP students completing their placement. Leadership project launch with Bridge 21 took place via zoom with all TYs on Thursday 3rd of Feb with Warren from TA21. Bridge 21 programme - 33 TYs were selected to return to Bridge which began Tuesday 15th Feb in Citywise Education. Stepping Stone forest - A group of 14 TYs finished off preparing the land for planting on Tuesday 1st Feb. On Thursday 17th Feb Stepping Stone Forest and Microsoft Ireland returned to our school to plant over 800 trees on our school grounds. See previous page for photos! 14 TYs took part in a week long virtual work experience placement with Bank of America from Monday the 14th February. Their bank HQ was in the Sacred Space and they linked in with BOA employers in London, Paris and New York during the week. See below for a students take on this amazing opportunity! Tenderfoot programme - 4 TY students took part in a 3 week drama programme with Tenderfoot in January TY Mini Company trade fair took place on Feb 1st in G5/G6. It was a very successful trade fair for all companies in Ms. Ward and Mr.Cuttles mini company classes (see below for more details!) Rowing on the Liffey with Rowing Ireland - Students from all 4 TY classes will return to the river Liffey to complete more rowing with Rowing Ireland on 21st and 22nd of March. Senior Options Night took place via TEAMS on Tuesday 1st Feb at 7pm. It was a huge success with over 250 parents logging on. TY DATS exams - all TYs completed their DATS exam in December to aid them with their 5th year subject choices. Work Experience Placement 2 for all TY students began on Wed 19th January. 4 TY students took part in the Trinity European Language and Cultural Festival with TA21.
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TYs held their annual Minicompany Trade Fair on Tuesday February 1st. It was a hugely successful event with many businesses completely selling out on the day. They sold sweets, homemade chocolates, scrunchies, handmade necklaces, beauty hampers, bracelets and much more. They were so grateful to all years who came along to support them but in particular the First Years who bought lots of products! The Minicompany classes will now present their Business and their Accounts at the Dragon's Den presentations on Monday February 28th. We wish them the best of luck! Ms. Ward & Mr. Cuttle
SALE SALE SALE
The Bank of America organised an virtual work experience program for 14 school going students in the transition year. It was conducted from 14th February 2022 to 18th February 2022 through Webex platform. Ms Ciara hosted the program, she was a wonderful instructor and guide. The students were instructed to wear formal attire. We were also given a work space and it gave us an absolute work atmosphere like the one in office. We were given the opportunity to know more about the functioning of the bank, the felicitation from different departments were quite an eye opener. It was made crystal clear about the elective subjects in the leaving cert that should be opted in-order to pursue a career in banking. An enlightening speech highlighting what exactly is EMEA its functionalites and diverse organisation was given. The orientation program also ensured global interaction between the participants. We also did many group activities including projects on issues like environmental conservation and its importance. Development of technological devices were another group activity. The senior also threw light on different types of cyber attacks by fraudulents. It was surprising to know that reputed companies like Nintendo and McDonald’s etc. had faced cyber attacks. Various cyber security measures were discussed in detail. The orientation program yielded an overall idea about banking and future learning. The session was resourceful as well as entertaining. I believe that this initiative was very successful and promising one. Rex Rose Shaiju
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Night Study Term 3 28/2 - 7/4 Sign up via VSware
1st Yr PTM Tuesday March 15 Online
Parental Drop in Clinic Every Thursday 2.15 - 3.15 No app needed!
Rainbows Bereavement Support Group for Students starting soon! Email dmcardle@colaistebride.com for more information
For more information on any of the above please see the News Section of our website
www.colaistebride.com
COLÁISTE BRÍDE
School Closures: Mon. 14/3 Thurs. 17/3 Fri. 18/3
Wellbeing Week 7 - 11 March
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