The Annette Halpin Award is for young musicians, composers, singers, producers living in South Dublin County Council’s Administrative Area.

The award is funded by South Dublin County Council and the Halpin Family. It was established to celebrate the legacy of Annette Halpin, a singer / songwriter from Tallaght widely known for her role in community activism and community development who passed away in 2009.

Brief Criteria

• You must be between 12 and 25 years of age to apply.
• You can apply for a maximum of €1000.
• You must be living in South Dublin County Council’s Administrative area

You can apply for this award to cover the costs of the following (you may apply to cover more than one of these):

-       Music lessons

-       Instruments

-       Masterclasses

-       Music equipment

-       Rehearsal costs

-       Recording costs

Applications are made via the link below:

https://submit.link/1E2

Closing date is Friday 14th of April

The award is administered by the Arts Office, South Dublin County Council.

Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

As part of our guidance programme for Transition and 5th Year students, the Guidance Department and the Parents’ Council are planning on holding a Careers Expo on Wednesday 26th April 2023 from 6.30-9pm. 

The purpose of this event is to allow our students the opportunity to meet and talk to people from a number of different professions in order to assist them with their career research. We are asking for the assistance of parents to help facilitate this event. Participation in this event would involve discussing your career with a number of individual students during the evening. Further details will be provided to parents who volunteer to take part.

In particular we are seeking parents who work in the following careers areas to take part in the event; Business/Marketing/Human Resource Management/Accounting, Engineering, Computing & Technology, Social Work, Food Science/Nutrition/Dietetics, Health Sciences(Pharmacy, Speech & Language Therapy, Dentist etc), Hair & Beauty. Early Childhood Care & Education, Secondary School Teaching.       

If you are interested in being involved in our careers evening on 26th April 2023  or in being included in a database for possible future career events in Our Lady’s School, please reply, by email, to <28>parentscouncil@olschool.ie providing your name, telephone number, email address and career area.

Many thanks for your support and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.

Fionnuala Bannan & Lesley Porter(OLS Guidance Department)Claire Byrne (OLS Parents Council)

Congratulations to the OLS Swimming team who won gold medals in both the freestyle and medley relays at Irish Schools Swimming Gala at the weekend. They swam 2 fantastic races to fight off stiff competition from all 4 provinces. The team was made up of Laura Potts P2, Ruby Marley B3, Eva Walshe TY2 and Zoe Browne TY4. Laura also had success in the individual events, winning silver in both the 100m and 400m freestyle events.

Best of luck to Ruby Marley, Zoe Browne, Eva Walshe and Laura Potts who are swimming for OLS, representing Leinster in the Medley and Freestyle relays, in the Irish Schools' Gala tomorrow.

We welcomed back all our TY’s after the long weekend to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day! This week had a variety of activities all of which the TYs, as always, fully immersed themselves in!

BOI Planning and Saving 

During Pastoral Care on Tuesday, all the TYs tuned into a webinar hosted by Bank of Ireland on the topic of Planning and Saving.  We were given great tips such as the 50/30/20 rule which involves spending 50% of your income on your needs, 30% on your wants, and saving 20% of the income.

We also went through a pay slip and all possible taxes that can be deducted from your gross pay. We learned what the minimum wage is for under 18 year olds and now have access to a handy budget planner posted on the TY Google classroom. 

We would really encourage anyone who does not have a bank account to sign up to the School bank. By signing up you will have an account created in your name and a debit card sent to your address, all for free! If you have any questions please talk to one of the TY bank team who are always happy to help. 

Active*Consent

On Tuesday every TY class attended an Active*Consent workshop led by 5 of their trained teachers. Active*Consent grew out of an existing collaboration between Psychology and Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Galway which had the initial aim of changing student experiences and college responses around sexual consent.The Active*Consent Workshops aim is to promote a positive approach to sexual health and to equip young people with the tools to recognise and communicate about sexual consent. 

Development Days 

This Thursday the TYs completed their 4th development day of the year with each class going to all the various locations whether it be by bus, foot, or car they all got there in time to enjoy their wonderful days in or out of the school. Two students will tell us about how they got on.

Lucy Holland TY2 - For our development day, TY2 did a first aid course. We spent the day learning all about the importance of first aid and how to use it in different situations. We started the morning off with learning about CPR and practised by giving a mannequin CPR. We also learnt how to use an AED. After break, we moved on to how to help people who had a stroke, heart attack, etc. for the rest of the day we were taught about different illnesses and how to treat them and also how to treat someone who was bleeding. Overall I found this course very beneficial and am glad to know the information learnt on this development day. It was really enjoyable and everyone loved learning the skills we picked up today. We had a great day as a class! 

TY Student - TY1 completed a tour of several churches around Dublin in what was an opportunity to reflect and find a sense of peace. Led by our brilliant tour guide Anita, we visited four different churches including St. Teresa’s Church on Clarendon Street and Adam and Eve’s Church on Merchant’s Quay. We learned about the history and architectural style of each church. I really enjoyed the Church retreat as it was a great opportunity to relax and ‘be in the moment’ in the peaceful and quiet environments of the Churches. We even got the chance to do some mindfulness! Overall, the church tour was a great reminder of the importance of finding a sense of peace and of reflection in a world of distractions like social media. Every student was able to take something away from the retreat and enjoyed it! 

Áine Ryan - TY3 began an exciting day at Dublin Zoo with a Conservational Module. During this talk, we learned about a number of factors that affect animals in the wild such as deforestation, poachers, pollution, and climate change. We also learned how the zoo tries to actively protect wildlife. We then had lunch and later explored the zoo in the great weather which we all enjoyed!

Barcelona Trip

On Wednesday evening all the TY students attending the upcoming Barcelona Trip attended a google meet with their parents regarding their itinerary and needs for the trip. The PowerPoint that was used during the call is available on your daughter’s Barcelona google classroom so all the information is at hand if needed. As well as this there was a meeting on Friday at lunch to discuss the final details. We hope that everyone is looking forward to this fabulous trip and once again ensure to be prepared. It is probably a good idea to start gathering all the relevant documentation!

As we always say TY is never short of things to sign up for! This week on google classroom the girls were given the opportunity to sign up for a hockey coaching course! The Fundamentals of Coaching Hockey (FOCH) course is designed to provide an understanding of the basics of coaching hockey. Participants will learn how to prepare sessions, how to break down and coach key hockey techniques, and how to develop those techniques into skills through conditioned games. Just a reminder that anyone doing this course must also be signed up for the safeguarding training, the link to this is also on google classroom! The safeguarding course is being offered at a reduced cost and is a great qualification to have. 

All Dolled Up

We are extremely proud of our TY students, Louisa Rath, Alex Quirke, and Ella Dixon who progressed to the national finalists round in the annual Junk Kouture competition! We are encouraging as many TYs as possible to come out to the 3Arena on the 4th of May to show their support and cheer them on! There was a google form for expression of interest posted on google classroom so make sure to fill that out if you want to go. We can’t wait to see their fabulous design walking the runway and we think we have some future fashion designers in the making! The Payment link is now also available on easypayments.

As we reach the end of March, TY night is fast approaching…

All students will be working hard over the next few weeks to ensure the night is a success and a fitting representation of all the TY’s amazing achievements and the year’s events. Please remind your daughter to keep updating her e-portfolio which should be a clear and engaging record of all she has accomplished and participated in this year. 

An important reminder to fill in the two feedback forms for Active Consent and TY core subjects and modules that have been posted on the TY Google classroom. 

Once again have a lovely weekend and we will see you all next week for the last week before the Easter Holidays!

Saibh Gormley and Maria Hennelly

Contributed to by Lucy Holland and Áine Ryan

The Charity Committee will be selling daffodils all day on Friday for 3 euro.

If you would like to purchase one to support the Irish Cancer Society, please have 3 euro with you tomorrow. 

The Cyber Skills Cyber Security Academy will take place online in June this year. 

The 5 day FREE Cyber Security Academy is open to all 4th and 5th Year students aged 16 years or above and is suitable for beginner and advanced students. 

• When: Monday 12th – Friday 16th June 2023
• Time: 11am – 3pm

·         Where: Online

·         Topics covered: Encryption, Ethical Hacking, Linux commands, Capture-the-Flag challenge

Students that complete the course are awarded a digital badge.

Who is delivering the course?

The Cyber Security Academy and Cyber Futures is an initiative of Cyber Skills and Cyber Ireland. It will be delivered by lecturers from the Cyber Skills project with lab support from research students at Cyber Skills partner institutes, Munster Technological University, University of Limerick, and Technological University Dublin.

To register your interest: www.cyberfutures.ie/cyberacademy/

Congratulations to Grace Millington, 6th Year, on coming 3rd in the Entry Exit & IBM Skills Build Challenge 2023!

We are delighted to share that Aoife Fennell M2 has been selected for the Under 15 Republic of Ireland Schools soccer team and will be playing an international tournament in the green jersey in Glasgow in a few weeks. This is an amazing achievement and we wish Aoife the very best!

Well done to our U14 Gaelic Football Team who had a fantastic time playing in an inter-schools blitz today in Stepaside.

Remember to buy your musical tickets for next week at lunchtime in the GPA before they are sold out!!

Well done to the TY Active Flag class who presented to the staff about the active walkway at their staff meeting after school today!

This year's TY Musical class is proud to present the beloved musical, ‘Fame’!

'Fame' will take place next Tuesday 28th - Thursday 30th March.

The tickets cost €10 for students and €15 for adults and are on sale from Monday in the GPA during lunch. 

Paying by card is preferred, but if paying by cash please make sure that you have the exact amount needed. 

All remaining tickets will be sold Tuesday and Friday and will be sold on a first come, first served basis! 

As an added bonus, those lucky enough to attend will be entitled to a homework pass for the day following the show they attend!