Kira Allman Castel, class of 2023, was presented with a Scholars Award by Professor Dáire Keogh, President of DCU,  at a ceremony in the Helix theatre on 29th November.  Awards are made to a small group of students who have achieved outstanding results in the Leaving Certificate.   The school was  presented with a plaque to mark the occasion.  Kira is studying for a BSc in Nursing (General) in the faculty of Science and Health.  Congratulations to Kira and her family, who were also in attendance.

2A CSPE class tour of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Yesterday afternoon, 2A enjoyed a guided tour of Dáil Éireann and the Seanad Chambers. The students watched the Taoiseach and TDs in the Dáil Chamber during Leaders questions before moving on to see Portraits of previous Taoisigh and paying a visit to the Seanad Chambers. The tour also included a history of the buildings and the intriguing story of the Duchess of Leinster, Emily Fitzgerald. 2A viewed the impressive collage of all the female members of the Seanad centring on Tras Honan, the first and only woman to serve as Seanad Cathaoirleach. The tour wound up with a viewing of an original copy of the 1916 Proclamation and the portraits of the founders of the Dáil.

Before commencing their visit to the Dáil, 2A had a whistle stop tour of the adjacent National Museum of Ireland where they saw a Bronze Age Dugout canoe, cist graves and the Clonycavan bog body. The class also viewed iconic national treasures such as the Ardagh Chalice, Tara Brooch, Cross of Cong and The Bell of Saint Patrick and its shrine.

Special thanks to Ms Daly, Ms NiGhoill and Ms Burke for accompanying the class, especially after school.

Well done to the 14 students who participated in the first model UN conference to be hosted by Newpark Comprehensive School last weekend.  The students represented Ghana and Panama in various committees and among the topics debated were child labour in sub- Sahara Africa, underage substance abuse, waste management in manufacturing countries, the Taliban' s reign in Afghanistan, gang violence in central America and the role of AI in crating economic policy.  Well done to Lauren Grant of TY on being voted best delegate in the Health and Youth committee. 

Congratulations to Aoibhe Smyth was was invited to speak at the 2023 UNCRC Child Summit, representing Jigsaw.

Aoibhe spoke about what must be included for young people’s mental health in the youth strategy, which is being implemented by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth over the next 4 years. Aoibhe will speak to some of our junior students over the coming months. 

Well done, Aoibhe. 

The Soroptimist Public Speaking Competition took place on Saturday. Ariana Ceraldi and Ruth Dolan both spoke on People and Human Rights. Lauren Grant spoke on Partnership and Empowerment of Women. Well done, girls and thank you to Ms Conlon for preparing the students and for attending the event.

Congratulations to all involved in last week’s debates and public speaking competitions.

In round two of the Leinster debates in TCD, Rachel Casey and Phoenix Hickson Pitt came first in their room while Olivia Hogan and Sophia Altieri performed well in their room.

In the UCD Junior debates, Rachel Morrissey and Kate O’Callaghan and Ella Wang and Anna Feeney came second in their respective rooms while Orlaith Benham and Louise Gallogly spoke very well in a highly competitive room in what was their first debate.

 In the Soroptimist public speaking competition in the Mansion House on Saturday, the three speakers performed very well (Arianna Ceraldi, Lauren Grant and Ruth Dolan) with Lauren progressing to the next round to be held in Mullingar in January.

Many thanks to Ms Conlon, Ms Day and Mr Joyce who have worked with the students and attended the competitions.  Thank you also to the parents who attended.