Dear Principal,

The Oireachtas Essay Competition / Aiste an Oireachtais, an initiative by Senator Rónán Mullen and which I launched three years ago, is now in its third year and I am delighted to tell you that the competition will be held again this year.

This Competition aims to encourage young people across the Island of Ireland to reflect on the importance of the democratic process and to consider their place in it.
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Who is this Competition for? 

As well as the Oireachtas Essay Competition / Aiste an Oireachtais being open for Senior Cycle (5th Year and 6th Year) and AS/A level students on the Island of Ireland, for the first time, we are inviting Transition Year students to submit essays to us and compete for a prize fund of €6,000. PTSB is the Principal Sponsor for the next three years, and we welcome back CJ Fallon as Associate Sponsor this year. We are looking for essays in English or Irish (max 1,000 words) on the theme Parliamentary Politics Liberates / An tSaoirse agus an Pholaitíocht Pharlaiminteach

This year's Competition takes its inspiration from the forthcoming 250th Anniversary of the birth of 'The Liberator', Daniel O'Connell, who devoted his legal and parliamentary careers to powerful, peaceful agitation in the cause of freedom and justice in Ireland and worldwide.

No surprise then that our chosen theme is 'Parliamentary Politics Liberates' for those writing in English. Is é 'An tSaoirse agus an Pholaitíocht Pharlaiminteach' an téama dóibh siúd atá ag scríobh i nGaeilge.

We are inviting students to register on our Competition website — www.oireachtasessay.ie / www.aisteanoireachtais.ie — by 8 November 2024.

As always, when students register we email them a code number with which they can upload their completed essays by 22 November 2024.

Why are we doing this?

Many people wonder about the quality of our politics and the future of democracy itself. We hope this Competition will again stimulate interest in the political process and help each student to find their role in our democratic system.

Who is organising the Competition?

Senator Rónán Mullen has devised the Competition with the support of a Competition Advisory Committee including academic and teaching professionals across the Island of Ireland, and with assistance from the Oireachtas Education Unit.

The closing date for submitting essays is 22 November 2024. The very best of luck to all participants. See attached Flyers.

I would simply ask principals and teachers to encourage Transition Year and Senior Cycle 5th & 6th Years to participate in this Oireachtas Essay Competition, as these young people are the future, who will be charged with upholding and strengthening our democracy.

Regards

Seán

After a busy return to school for both staff and students, it was finally time to present some of our summer weekly prize winners with their prize. A number of our students collected prizes on behalf of their parents (we will follow up with those who missed the announcement today). Well done to all and thank you for your support.

As I explained at the recent parent information evenings, all money raised through this fundraiser is ring fenced and will be used to pay for something for the students. In the coming months I will be looking for ideas from parents, students and staff of what to spend the money on. The best ideas will then go to a vote to decide what we will do.

Thank you to everyone who is supporting us - if you would like to play for as little as €2.50 then please click HERE to register and play.

Our Jackpot currently stands at €2800. Best of luck!

2E have been learning a new skill this week...the skill of annotating! The students have been working really hard while studying some WW1 poetry.

Students from our Political Education class welcomed Senator Fiona O’Loughlin yesterday. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet the first woman to be elected as a TD to our Dáil in the constituency of South Kildare. Fiona spoke about her work  as the Fianna Fáil Deputy Leader in the Seanad, Fianna Fáil Spokesperson for Education in the Seanad, Chairperson of the Oireachtas Women’s Caucus, Chairperson of the all party Dementia Group and Head of the Irish delegation to the Council of Europe. Fiona spoke about the importance of public service, the need for volunteerism and the empowerment of local Government and local Communities. We appreciate the time Fiona took to visit our class and share her experiences.

Our Sixth, Fifth Year RE and TY Community Care Classes were delighted to attend a talk on Community by local activist and former Deputy Principal Noel Clare. Noel spoke about the importance of caring for our communities whether they are at home, school, clubs or the wider area where we live, local, national or global. Noel gave many practical examples of how each of us can contribute and we look forward to implementing a variety of ideas. 

Huge thanks to the Irish Air Corps and Fiona of TYHub.ie for a wonderful week of work experience for three of our TY students, Tara McCormack, Darragh Keenan and Oisin Monks at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel. There were a dizzying array of activities and challenges throughout the week including abseiling, flight simulation (Oisin successfully landed his plane!) In addition to learning about a variety of career options in the Air Corp, the students had the opportunity to sit into planes normally reserved for the the President and the Taoiseach! A fantastic week was rounded off with a trip back to school on one of the Irish Air Corp helicopters. Our sincere thanks to the pilots for getting us back safely while enjoying this very exciting experience and to all the students and staff who waited after school to give us such a wonderful welcome! Thanks also to Brian Byrne of Kilcullen Diary and The Nationalist whose article you can access at kilcullenbridge.blogspot.com/2024/09/cpc-students-catch-helicopter-ride-back.html and photos at kilcullenbridge.blogspot.com/2024/09/what-week-for-cpc-students-with-air.html

The HSE Talking Health and Wellbeing Podcast has returned with a ‘Back to School’ theme, focussing on providing support to parents as young people return to school. We would appreciate you sharing the below podcast episodes with parents and school staff who may be interested in health and wellbeing.

Our recent episodes include ‘Back to School’, ‘Healthy Lunchboxes for Kids’, and ‘Screen Time for Young People’. These episodes provide useful tips and advice for parents and caregivers of young people on a variety of topics that families face and are available on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and on the HSE Health and Wellbeing YouTube Channel.

We were delighted to welcome our 6th Yr students and their parents and guardians into CPC on Tuesday evening for a very practical information session on how to support our Leaving Cert students as they begin their final year in CPC. Mr Leonard, our Principal, opened the evening and offered valuable advice on how to support our 6th years in the coming months as they prepare for their final exams. Ms Fennell discussed how students can best navigate the days and months ahead under the strands of Be Respectful, Be Ready and Be Involved. Our Career Guidance Counsellors provided great insights into the various options available to students in relation to college applications, PLC's, apprenticeships, CAO and much more. Both our Deputy Principals Ms Harney and Ms Reigh were also in attendance to offer support and advice throughout the evening. We wish our Leaving Cert students the very best with their studies in the year ahead.