This week was a great week for the TY’s and they most definitely packed as much in as possible before heading off on their two weeks of work experience.

Last week was an exciting one, in particular Friday when all the TY Classes headed off to their various development days. One TY student will tell us about their informative day!

On Friday 20th TY5 went on the church retreat as part of their development day. On this retreat we visited four different churches including St Teresa's church, St Mary's Pro Cathedral, St Saviours church and Adam and Eves. We learnt about the architecture and history of the churches and at the end received a cross blessed from Medjugorje. During the day we split at lunch and got to explore town on our own for an hour. We visited two churches before lunch and two after. It was a very enjoyable day as I learnt so much and discovered new churches I didn't know existed!

What the TY’s got up to in class this week!

In terms of their various different classes it is certain that the TY’s have been busier than ever this week with different fun and exciting things happening. We will now hear from a few TY’s on what they got up to this week!

This week, the ASF/sports leadership class have been busy preparing for whole school events that will be held in the next couple of weeks. We have been trying many different ‘Just Dance’ routines that the rest of the school will be able to try during wellbeing week. Also, we have been updating the active flag walkway as the weeks have been going on, adding new challenges and puzzles to different stages of the walk to make it a more active and fun learning experience. The Design team has been leaving other updates and information about upcoming events on the active flag notice board. We moved all the information onto a moveable notice board which will be left around the school in busier spots to ensure students are notified about upcoming events ! 

Junk Kouture is a very creative and exciting subject to pick. The class has to make a dramatic outfit out of recycled materials to enter lots of competitions. There are many prizes to win too! The girls have created beautiful and bold dresses and even though you have to put lots of work in, they are dedicated. Personally I am really enjoying the subject and I can't wait to continue with our outfit!!! 

This week Ms.McAleers class completed their English media presentations. From hydrating mascara to Crystal candles the variety of new products was outstanding and the girls certainly showed their excellent creative skills! This was great practice for them as they got to exercise their presenting and public speaking skills and most definitely improved their confidence! We can’t wait to see what products the other classes come up with! 

Clubs and Activities this week 

On Wednesday 25th, some students took part in the barista course during and after school. Trainers from DublinBarista School came in and we got to learn about all the different equipment and how to use it correctly. It was so fun and we all got to make our own drink with a bit of help from the instructors! I would definitely recommend anyone who is thinking of taking this course to sign up for the advanced one in March before all the spaces fill up. It is safe to say that we have a few budding barista’s in the year!  

TY is all about trying new things and exploring career options. The school bank has been recently set up and they meet on Thursdays at lunch for ten minutes. This is what one of the students said about their progress so far!

This week we found out that students are now able to create a bank of Ireland account to save and manage their money. If they sign up they will be able to receive a bank card in the coming days within registering. There are posters around the school regarding this if you need any information or talk to any of the members of the school bank if you have any questions! Don't forget to sign up for this wonderful opportunity!

Toastmasters is back with a new group of TY’s ready and waiting to exercise their public speaking skills! On Thursday evening, 16 of the TY’s headed over to Terenure College for their first week of toastmasters. They learned about the importance of having good communication skills and how the meetings will be very much student led with people elected to the roles of responsibility of President and Secretary. Everyone had to speak for 30 seconds, introducing the person sitting next to them. Well done to all the TY’s involved and we look forward to hearing more about their Toastmasters experience in the weeks to come!

It was lovely to see the TY’s showcasing their house spirit on Thursday for the inter house soccer tournament. It’s fair to say the competition was tense as each House soccer team was cheered on by the highly enthusiastic supporters who were decked out in their house colours. We can’t wait to see the participation at the next house event!

Sign Ups

As we always say TY is all about experiencing new things but it is also about giving back to your community when you can. One way that is most definitely very rewarding is Tech4U. A google form will be posted in the classroom where students can sign up any older person that they know to participate in this very worthwhile course. However, please ensure that you have asked the older person for permission to share their name, email and phone number with Ms. Phelan. Without sufficient participants Tech4U will not be able to take place so please spread the word to anyone who would be interested in improving their technological skills whether it’s a grandparent, a grandparent's friends or an older neighbour. A reminder that Tech4U is a free service which will be run by the TYs  under guidance of teachers  and is certain to be very rewarding for both our students and the older people who get involved.

Reminders

To finish just a couple of reminders. It is vital that everyone ensures they have their work experience forms in as we all will be on work experience next week and the week after. Full payment  for the Barcelona Trip in April 2023 is due by the 1st of February. Unfortunately if the payment is not made your place on the trip cannot be guaranteed. In addition the deposit for the Ski Trip to Bormio, Italy in 2024 is also due and deposit must be paid to secure your place on this trip. Also as you know over the next 2 weeks our TY’s will be on work experience. Once again they must ensure to fill out their reflection forms at the end of each day of work experience in order to get the credits for completing it.

We hope that everyone thoroughly enjoys their two weeks of work experience and has a lovely relaxing February mid term! We look forward to seeing all our TY’s back in action after the midterm for the exciting lead up to Easter!

Saibh TY3 and Maria TY1

Contributed to by Emma Kelly TY3, Lija Attard TY5, Eabha Garry TY3, Aoibhinn Butler TY5 

Junior Camogie

A massive congratulations to our Junior Camogie team for their fantastic win in the B Championship final. The girls overcame tough opposition in St Wolstans to win by a scoreline of 6-10 to 3-8. Thank you to all of our supporters for pushing the girls through.The girls will now go on to the All Ireland Quarter final against Naomh Cormac of Offaly.

Cross Country

Well done to our cross country team who competed at the West Leinster Schools Finals yesterday. The girls performed excellently in tough conditions with over 100 competitors in some races. A special congratulations to our individual medal winners Elizabeth Farrelly and Roisin Hanley Byrne and our silver medal winning Junior girls team of Roisin Hanley Byrne, Leah Tisdall, Niamh Ryan and Alecia Maughan who have now qualified for the Leinster finals in two weeks. 

Bake Sale 

A huge thank you to everyone for supporting the bake sale run by our Digital Champions. We raised just under €500 which will go towards equipment and activities being run during Cyber Week. 

Senior Camogie

Commiserations to our Senior Camogie team who lost their All Ireland quarter final to Coláiste na hAbhann of Kilkenny. The girls gave 100% and couldn’t have done any more. We are very proud of them. A particular thank you to our 6th years for their commitment during exam season, and also throughout their time in OLS. They have paved the way for more to follow in the future.

Catholics Schools Week

Thanks to all our readers on the Le Cheile council who took time out to read on each day of Catholics School Week 2023. Also to all the students and teachers who participated during classes and not forgetting everyone's grandparents who have a special place in all the students hearts on this special week, Catholic School Week 2023.

3rd & 4th Year students who have paid for the supporters' bus to the Junior Camogie Final today in Santry should wear their tracksuits and school coats to school, in addition to warm layers underneath, hats, gloves, scarves, etc.!

Please note that the bus is full and no more payments can be accepted.

The bus will leave school at 11.00am approx. and it is hoped to be back in school for afternoon classes. Students need to ensure that they have a packed lunch in school as they may miss the canteen service.

Barista Course

The TY’s learned how to brew coffee on their barista course today. They created amazing designs! 

Junior Hockey 

Continuing on with their winning streak. Well done to the Junior A Hockey team for beating Killians 5-9 on Tuesday!

Active School Flag

TY Active School Flag group ran focus groups with First to Sixth Year students today. They received great feedback about what motivates students to get active.

Please see attached information regarding a webinar on this topic.

Many thanks.

This week was most definitely a fun filled five days for the TY’s and one that was packed with a variety of things!

To begin with, on Tuesday, two of our TY Reps travelled to Google Headquarters to participate in the annual SID (Safer Internet Day) ambassador training for the country wide committee of Webwise. Within Webwise, the girls are part of a Youth Panel consisting of 30 members from all over Ireland. Here’s what the girls had to say about the day:

“This day was most definitely the highlight of our participation on the Youth Panel so far this year. Our job was to train the SID Ambassadors and make them feel welcome and included in everything that the day had to offer. We ran workshops and led a group of 9 others from all over Ireland. It was a fabulous day and one that we most definitely learned a lot from but also one where we got to share our knowledge regarding topics such as cyberbullying and awareness regarding online safety. It was also lovely to see around Google as well! 

On Thursday all of the TYs students attended a careers talk led by Ms. Porter and Ms. Bannan (The guidance counsellors) in the lecture theatre. This meeting broadly discussed the results of the My Future Choice Aptitude tests the TYs completed in November and Leaving Cert Subject Choice 2023. We were shown two websites, Careers Portal and Qualifax, that both have very useful information on all Leaving Cert subjects and the requirements of every CAO course. We highly recommend that all students check out these websites and the other information that has been posted on their Careers Google classroom regarding subject choice. 

In addition, each TY student will have the opportunity to meet with a career guidance counsellor to discuss their subject choice for the Leaving Cert. These meetings will be arranged over the coming weeks. Ms. Bannan will be meeting with students in TY 4 & TY 5. Ms. Porter will be meeting with students in TY1, TY2 & TY3. Please note that the deadline for submitting Leaving Cert subject Choice on VSware is the 15th of March 2023.

15 Students finished their 13 weeks of Toastmasters on Thursday evening. Well done to Rachel Davis, Ingrid Marron, and Ciara O’Loughran for representing Our Lady’s in the showcase with their excellent, well written speeches on the following topics:  Movies, Luck, and “The Sound of Music”. Here’s what one student had to say about their experience:

“I really enjoyed Toastmasters. I have developed many skills like my communication and public speaking. I am also now more excited and confident about preparing speeches in the future. As Secretary, I had the opportunity to liaise with other students and to organise the agenda for half of the term. I would really recommend Toastmasters to others because it was a very encouraging environment and it gave me the opportunity to work in a group and get to know new people.” 

As you can see Toastmasters is a great opportunity to get more comfortable with public speaking and practice speech writing. We would highly encourage students to sign up for the second block of this wonderful course. Make sure to complete the form on google classroom asap as the deadline is today!

The Active School Flag class has been planning lots of events for wellbeing week which is coming up in March. These events include Monday Groovers which will be during lunch in the sports hall, the Walkway Challenge, and the Colour Run which will take place halfway through the week. We look forward to taking part in all of these activities and seeing the Active flag class in action!

The Junk Kouture class has been working very diligently over the last few weeks in order to ensure their designs are ready for the 2023 Junk Kouture competition. They have been staying after school and working through lunchtimes to ensure that their creations will be completed by the competition’s deadline next Friday the 27th. We are all so excited to see these creative designs representing Our Lady’s on the catwalk and have no doubt that the judges will be blown away by our Junk Kouture class’s creativity.

Next week will be the TY’s last week in school before they head off on their two weeks of work experience and then go straight into the February midterm. Next Wednesday after school the Dublin Barista School will be hosting the Beginners Barista Course for all the students who have paid. We look forward to seeing all the cups of coffee that are created and the aroma that will waft through the corridors! 

Finally just a couple of reminders. It is vital that everyone fills in their work experience form for week 3 as soon as possible as credits will be deducted if they are not handed in on time. As well as this google forms have gone up regarding sign up for the Great TY Bake Off and sign language. We are hoping to get Tech4U up and running very soon but in order to do so we need as many volunteers as possible, feel free to bring any older person to help them improve their technological skills!

Thanks for reading and we hope everyone has a lovely last week before work experience!

Saibh Gormley and Maria Hennelly

Contributed to by Rachel Davis and Saoirse Larkin

Commiserations to our valiant Senior Camogie who fell just short in the B Championship Final. It was a very physical game between two very good teams. Ultimately it was not our day.