Colaiste Mhuire, Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny

FRIENDSHIP WEEK @ COLAISTE MHUIRE JOHNSTOWN

Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown will run a Friendship Week from Monday 4th to Friday 8th of March 2013.  There will be a range of Whole School Activities, including a number of displays, lunchtime events and the introduction of a “Buddy System“.

The week will be co-ordinated by our resident Guidance Counsellor, Ms Valerie Dempsey, who will be happy to discuss the matter further with any interested parties.  Enquiries can be made through the school office on 056-8831135.  More to follow on the school website so watch this space.

The management, staff and students at Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown will actively participate in Safer Internet Day (S.I.D.) tomorrow – Tuesday, 5th February 2013.  This is an international initiative which is currently in it’s tenth year.  The theme of this year’s programme is “Connect With Respect“.

CONNECT WITH RESPECT – “PROMISE” Video (click to view)

Over the course of the day, teachers will play the Irish YouTube video titled “PROMISE” (click to view).  This has been developed especially for S.I.D. by the PDST Technology in Education.  Formerly known as the NCTE, they are responsible for Internet Safety in schools and filter out all unsuitable websites and social networking sites, such as Facebook.  They host a number of websites dedicated to the area of Internet Safety.  Most notably, www.webwise.ie for parents & teachers and www.watchyourspace.ie for young persons.

The Office for Internet Safety (O.I.S.) in the Dept. of Justice & Equality also endorse the work of the PDST.   The O.I.S. have their own website www.internetsafety.ie which is also a valuable site for parents, teachers and students.

During the day, Transition Year students who were recently involved in the Coláiste Mhuire Cyberbullying Initiative will talk to first & second year students about their research findings.  Information Leaflets have been prepared and will be distributed to the students. Tomorrow evening will see parents of our second year students attend a Parent-Teacher Meeting, where an area will be designated for further distribution and discussion of information in this area.

The aim of this initiative is to promote the “Connect With Respect” message and to get the by-standers who witness but fail to report unacceptable acts on-line, such as cyber-bullying.  The hope is to change the current culture of indifference from by-standers who may witness such acts but do little or nothing to flag this negative behaviour.  The younger this message can be learned, the better the chances of eliminating the current  culture.  Why not watch the Connect With Respect video aimed at the primary school sector.

Connect With Respect (Primary School video)

Should you require any further information, please feel free to contact the school office on 056-8831135 where a member of our Local Education Committee will be happy to address you.

The Management and Staff at Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown launched a Cyberbullying Awareness Initiative today (Friday, 14th December) at the Transition Year Enterprise Trade Show.  The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness of cyberbullying, to clearly define the actions that constitute cyberbullying, how to prevent it, detect it and deal with it.

The link below contains a copy of the leaflet that was discussed with the students & distributed to them to share with their family & friends.  There will be more to follow on-line in the coming days in relation to the initiative with more follow up to take place in the new year.  For any further information on this issue please don’t hesitate to contact the school office on 056-8831135 where a member of the  Cyberbullying Awareness committee will gladly discuss the features and benefits of this initiatives.

Cyberbullying Awareness Initiative Leaflet

Below are copies of the Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown DOODLE 4 GOOGLE Entries 2013.  The theme for this year’s competition is “MY INVENTION…”.  There were many very creative interpretations received and reviewed by co-ordinator Mr. Dunne & fellow judges Ms A-M Ryan and Ms Conroy.  This competition has grown in popularity and standard at Coláiste Mhuire over the four years since Doodle 4 Google commenced.  This made the job of the judges all the more difficult.  We would like to thank everyone who participated and encourage those who may not have been selected this year to try again next year.  We also know that a small number of students were reluctant to submit entries this year and would hope to see this reversed next year.

Canteen Vouchers have been sponsored by the school for the 6 students short-listed to enter for our school.  Canteen manager Ms. Pat Long has kindly sponsored a further prize of a €20 One-For-All voucher for an overall school winner.  The successful “doodles” are currently on display in the glass case on the stage area as you walk up to the canteen.  The overall winner will be selected before the Christmas holidays next Friday, 21st December.  I think you will agree that the judges have a difficult task to select an overall winner from this talented selection!

A New Way of Doing Something Old by Ailbhe Maddock (2nd year)

Flying Firey Shoes by Fiona Bergin (2nd year)

World’s Most Complex Inventions by Jack Dunphy (TY)

Tomb Raider Artefacts by Ross Kearney (TY)

Evolution by Rocel Flores (1st year)

Starship Google by James Wellwood (1st year)

An account on the Integration Centre presentation on the 22^nd November 2011

It was held in the Demo room and took place from 12.00 to 1.15.   They were 40 minutes late, but we still learned a lot and got a good bit of information.  The people that came were two women called Aoife O’Breffeny and Ally Walsh.  We got a lot of information from their presentation given on asylum seekers and refugees.

The classes who stayed for the talk were 2A, Transition Years and LCA. The second years are the class we gave the questionnaires to on asylum seekers and refugees.  The transition years were there because they are doing multiculturalism with Miss Birch.

Things we learned today?

• They are 5000 asylum seekers living in the country
• They are more male asylum seekers than women
• The numbers have gone down from 12,000 in the last 5 years
• The most common nationalities are the Congo, Nigeria, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan
• Only 1% get refugee status
• They could have to wait 8 years to get there case fully investigated
• They are entitled to free legal aid and have their own solicitor
• For people that are living so long in the country they are allowed to stay on humanitarian
• There is no allowance in cultural taste in foods
• I thought the case studies are interesting like whether they are allowed to stay and given refugee status, deported or stay on humanitarian

What I took responsibility for on the talk:

I took responsibility for typing up the report Emma gave me and I typed up a form of a thank you letter and I made an official confirmation call to Aoife O’Breffeny, the guest speaker that came to give the presentation.

Congratulations To All Involved in the Coláiste Mhuire Transition Year production of ALL SHOOK UP.  The students  put on a number of shows last week, culminating in two Sold Out night shows on Thursday 12th & Friday 13th May (2011). 

Cast of ALL SHOOK UP! @ Coláiste Mhuire Johnstown (2011)

The finale took place on Friday night May 13th . . . and despite the onimous date the performance was the most successful show to date.  The Transition year class took to the stage in front of a packed hall and their “Elvis themed” musical about mixed-up love had the audience spell-bound,  with all age-groups singing and clapping along with well-known tunes.  The hilarious story literally had people laughing until they cried.  “That gave me a real lift” reported one parent.  ”There is hope for this country yet when you see that enthusiasm and enjoyment” stated another member of the audience.

Below you will find a link to some photos located in the Coláiste Mhuire Photo Gallery.  We hope you enjoy viewing them as much as the cast & crew did taking them! 

All Shook Up!

Transition Year at Coláiste Mhuire is drawing to a close but ends with a flourish, culminating in the much anticipated musical presentation of “Footloose”, which played to packed houses at the school auditorium last week.

Footloose follows the story of a rebellious teen called Ren (played by Tom Phelan), who moves to a small, backward U.S. town where the local Reverend (played by James Kenny) and council have banned teenagers from listening  or dancing to popular music. 

The story unfolds of Ren’s efforts to fit in, get around the ban, by organising a Prom.  In the process, he makes both friends and enemies, and of course there is a romantic interest, involving the Reverend’s daughter Ariel (played by Niamh Tynan). 

The musical had the audience spellbound, with the talented students excelling at singing, dancing and acting.  Congratulations to all concerned for an unforgettable show!

More pictures can be viewed in the Transition Year 2010 Album by clicking on the Photo Gallery link.

The Transition Year Musical is due to take place next week: Tuesday 11th – Friday 14th May inclusive.  This year’s muscial is an adaptation of the 1980′s movie “FOOTLOOSE”, whch starred actor Kevin Bacon. 

In recent years, a stage production of the movie has sold out shows on both sides of the Atlantic with audiences flocking to both Broadway (New York) and the West End (London) in their thousands to see the show.

The Coláiste Mhuire production will see Galmoy’s Tom Phelan take the lead role, strongly supported by a very talented cast.  Preparation has been going well and the students have been very busy for the past few weeks, between rehearsals and preparing the props.  Much credit must also go to Miss Conroy, Miss O’Sullivan and Miss Kilkenny for the amount of time and effort they are putting into this production.

The staff and students at Coláiste Mhuire wish them all well next week, or as they say in the trade “Break A Leg!” 

Details of performances are as follows:

Tuesday 11th, Wednesday 12th and Thursday 13th will have Matinees for local schools.

Thursday 13th’s evening performance is for family and friends of the cast and is by Invitation Only

Friday 14th’s evening performance is for the General Public.

Coláiste Mhuire had its own representative in the European Parliament in Strasbourg recently when Transition Year student Michael Vaughan took his seat in the chamber to take part in EUROSCOLA – the European Youth Parliament. Michael’s trip was courtesy of  The Graduate Online Youth Quiz, an on-line educational Quiz for  primary and post primary students throughout Ireland.
The aim of the Quiz is to increase student’s civic, social and political awareness in an innovative, fun and engaging manner. The Quiz encourages students to develop an understanding of how various public institutions work, how they interact with young people and how they impact upon their everyday lives, as well as developing their Internet and computer skills. Michael was encouraged to take part in the competition by European Studies teacher, Ms Michelle Harrahill, who explains the importance of the programme:
“The European Union has a significant effect on all our lives.  I believe that young people in particular need information on how the European Union and its institutions will affect their future.”

It was to reach out to these young people that the European Parliament launched the EUROSCOLA programme, which brings together secondary school students from
 all over the European Union. They are invited to spend a day in Strasbourg discussing together the effects that European integration will have on their future.
Coming from different cultures and countries, and speaking a variety of languages, the students divide into multilingual working parties of about 100 members. Each working party chooses a spokesperson to present the conclusions of its discussions to all 500 participants at the end of the afternoon. The participants then vote on these conclusions.
By using their languages to communicate with other participants, students come to see foreign languages not as a barrier but rather as a way of understanding the problems, opinions and expectations of young people from other European countries.
At the end of the day, each participant received a certificate of attendance signed by the President of the European Parliament.