Another busy week at OLS! 

On Wednesday Miraj Ranpura from the Amazon Web Services Dublin office came to give a presentation to the 1st year students about the Amazon Get IT programme and competition. AWS GetIT is a fully-funded education program and competition that works with students in schools—across 13 countries and 14 languages in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Australia—to inspire the next generation, especially girls, to consider a future in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The programme helps schools bring tech role models to their classrooms and gives them a curriculum designed to help students build foundational skills, learn about cloud technology, and design app ideas to solve problems in their communities. The students gave Miraj a great welcome to OLS. They enjoyed hearing about working in the world of technology and about the AWS Get IT programme. Thanks to Miraj for visiting and sharing his expertise with the students. Any first year students who are interested in joining the programme which runs on Thursdays from 3.30pm to 4.15pm in room 32 should complete the form shared with them in their first year google classroom. This extracurricular activity will start on Thursday 11 January.

TY’s have had an action packed few days in Carlingford. They immersed themselves wholeheartedly into the various activities available to them. As soon as we landed a group of students headed to the harbour to build their very own life raft, they didn’t quite make it to Co. Down before capsizing, however they embraced the challenge and enjoyed the splash around. An amazing start to the trip.

Over the course of the few days student’s completed high intensity laser combat in the forest, perfecting the Bear Grylls survivor skills, they spent time wall climbing, axe throwing, and a trip to the Skypark where they channelled their inner spiderwoman Ziplining and climbing up the high ropes! 

In the evenings they enjoyed the Carlingford challenge and an evening campfire. They toasted their s’mores and had a sing song all together. The outdoors proved tiring and all have slept well! Students will make the most of the last day and will bid farewell to Carlingford at approx 5pm. We should arrive back to OLS at 6:30/7pm approximately. 

We would kindly ask that you park in the staff car park beside reception. Alternatively you can park near the Le Chéile Trust building. Please avoid parking just inside the gate outside St. Joseph’s Hall as this is where the three buses will pull in and allow students disembark safely. 

It was a very successful Study Skills Week! Students recapped what they had learned in their Study Skills seminars in September. All students received their study planners to help them get organised for their November exams.

Congratulations to L3 for running a fantastic bake sale for focus Ireland, they raised €500!!

Our TY students have been enjoying a fun bonding experience in Carlingford this week. 

Please see attached two fliers from ISPCC regarding their upcoming free webinar series 'With great power comes great responsibility’. These webinars aim to tackle one overall arching skill that will help parents/carers and their young person to be safe online. This two-part series will focus on online safety and critical thinking. 

Congratulations to our senior camogie team who won their opening game of the season against St Wolstans. Well done to all involved!

Our U19 basketball side continued their good start to the season on Tuesday with a win over St Colmcilles. Well done girls!

A busy week for our hockey teams with the Senior 1 side opening their league campaign against Skerries Community College on Monday. The girls fought hard and came away with a point. Our Minor 3 team had back to back games on Tuesday and Wednesday. They lost narrowly to Templecarrig on Tuesday in Our Lady's and then drew with Newbridge College on Wednesday. Well done girls, keep training hard!

This weekend's sporting fixtures are as follows:

AWAY AT NEWPARK COMPREHENSIVE

Junior 1 -v- Newpark at 10am

HOME AT OUR LADY'S SCHOOL

Junior 2 -v- Muckross Park at 9am

Junior 3 -v Muckross Park at 10am

Minor 4 -v- Loreto Foxrock at 11am

Have a great sporting weekend!

Please see the attached note from the Dept. of Education. The purpose of this note is to provide parents with some useful information regarding the changes made to the Junior Cycle Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting since the implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle.

Many thanks.

The next OLS Parents Book club will meet on Monday 23rd October at 7.30  pm in the Two Sisters pub in Terenure, the book is The Glorious Guinness Girls, by Emily Hourican.

We are looking forward to seeing our 6th Years & parents/guardians this afternoon for the parent-teacher meeting. Schedules were given out on Friday. Parents can also see schedules on the PTOrganiser platform through which they booked. Any adjustments have been communicated to students.

Many thanks.

The Parents' Council have secured a stall at the much coveted St. Michaelmas Christmas Market in Trinity College this Friday, 1st December. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Parents' Council to raise some funds that, as always, are reinvested into making the school environment ever better for the students. However, the Council need your help! The PC are looking to sell quality baked and festive goods at the stall but will need the school community to rally behind this cause.

On behalf of the Council we are asking everyone to roll up their sleeves, don their aprons and get baking. Huge footfall is expected at the stall so we will need a great volume of goods to sell. So, let's come together and bake OLS an even better place for all our students! If you could donate quality baked goods for this event please drop off to the school by 4 p.m. sharp this coming Thursday, November 30th.

The Parents' Council would also welcome any volunteers to help on the stall this Friday in Trinity College. If willing to lend a hand, please email parentscouncil@olschool.ie

Please see the flyer attached for details. 

TY Update and What’s on Next Week!

Welcome back to another busy week of TY! Make sure to keep an eye on the TY Google Classroom for any updates and reminders you may have missed during the week, and be extra-prepared for the exciting week ahead!

Toastmasters

Toastmasters is back! This is a course which helps gain confidence in public speaking. The course is approximately 13 weeks long, which makes it a perfect Gaisce Personal Skill! It is every Thursday evening at Terenure College from 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm. Our Lady’s and Terenure College have selected 16 students in each school to participate in this fantastic opportunity for the term and they started their first lesson last night!

TY Development Days

Today marked the first of the TY Development Days for this year - everyone all around Dublin had a fantastic day filled with lots of laughter and fun!

TY 1 completed their Certified First Aid Course. This is a very valuable course as it improves students’ self-esteem, teamwork and communication skills, and prepares them for unpredictable situations and responding to others’ injuries with methods such as CPR. They were treated to an engaging, hands-on set of workshops from experienced first aid instructor, Tom, in Lourdes Hall.

TY 2 worked on their independence skills as they made their way into town to meet their spiritual guide, Anita Phelan, for ‘A Pilgrim Path’ retreat held in Dublin City Centre. Participants did a ‘pilgrimage’ visiting the main churches on both sides of the Liffey, learning about the historical, political, social and spiritual significance of the parish church communities. The retreat also included time for reflection, and TY2 got to enjoy lunch while sitting at the Garden of Remembrance, leaving them with lots to reflect upon and explore! 

TY 3 met Ms. Finnegan outside The Little Museum of Dublin where they learned about the history of Dublin City. They then listened to a 1916 walking tour with their earphones before having a tour of Dublin Castle, including the State Apartments. They finished the day by having a tour of the exquisite Irish Emigration Museum (EPIC).  

TY 4 took part in a Self Defence Course in St Joseph’s Hall, where they learned how to defend themselves without having to do any complicated manoeuvres. A great opportunity for the girls!

Finally, last and DEFINITELY not least (no bias here), TY 5 headed to Dublin Zoo where they met their Guide for the day, Ms. Durkin. They started the morning with a very educational conservation module before all students took a tour of the Zoo and had the chance to interact with all of the wonderful wildlife and animals on offer there.  

Camogie Jerseys

We were all delighted to receive a brand new set of camogie jerseys this week, which were presented to our Sports Captain, Jenny Power, Junior Camogie Captain, Rebecca Bowden as well as Mr. Cantwell. The jerseys were very generously sponsored by Faughs GAA, and gifted to us by the Chairperson of Faughs Camogie, Ger Nagle and Dave O’Shea. Míle buíochas, a chairde.

Irish Defence Forces

On Tuesday, Sergeant Lawlor was very kind to take time out to talk to all of the TY students during Pastoral Care. He informed us about the lack of women in the Irish Defence Forces and their important role in the Army. He spoke passionately about his career and educated us on the various career paths one could take within the Defence sector. Sergeant Lawlor also encouraged us to apply for the TY work experience programme that takes place within the coming months. If you wish to apply for this programme, please see the form on the TY Google Classroom and fill it out as soon as possible. 

Butler’s Chocolate Factory

On Wednesday the TY enterprise class went on a trip to Butler's Chocolate Factory. They got the chance to see an insight into the history of Butler's Chocolate and how the products were all made and packaged. Students also got the chance to get creative by decorating chocolate elephants with white chocolate! In the end, everyone who went had a fantastic time and enjoyed the experience at Butler’s Chocolate Factory - they plan to bring some of their newly developed business skills into their enterprise work, best of luck to them all!

TY Reminders

Uniform

A gentle reminder to all students to ensure that we are all in our full school uniform each day, except during Musical and Sports Leadership class on Mondays for Sports and Recreation - and for any TY Development Days. This means also that there will be no mixing of the school uniform, such as wearing leggings with your school tracksuit. Spot checks will be made over the coming days, with marks to be given out to those disobeying the rules.

Carlingford Permission & Medical Form

The Permission and Medical Form for Carlingford has gone out on VSware and must be filled in before the end of today. Make sure to remind your parents!

6th Year Parent Teacher Meetings Helpers

To all who applied to be a helper at the sixth year parent teacher meetings next Tuesday, please check your emails for an acceptance notification. For those who received it, please confirm your availability by responding to Ms. Phelan.

Coming up…

School Closed

A reminder that there will be no school this Monday 2nd October for all students. Enjoy a well-deserved break!

Senior Camogie Match

Our Senior Camogie team have their very first match against St Wolstans this Tuesday. All details are on the Google Classroom, please be sure to let Mr Cantwell know if you cannot attend, or if your name isn’t on the panel.

Carlingford!!!

Only five more sleeps until the most anticipated event of 2023! No, not Christmas, but the one and only Carlingford!!! Please make sure all forms are filled out on the school app by the end of today or you will not be allowed to travel. The bus will leave at 7 am sharp on Wednesday, 4th October. You must be on time or risk the bus leaving without you - that’s it for this week, folks!

Thanks for reading. 

Written by Kate Smyth, Freya Lilly Eggen and Ciara Brereton, TY 5

Contributed to by Caoimhe Curran, TY 5