The 5th year Art class enjoyed a wonderful Ceramics Workshop with artist and HFSS past pupil Eleanor Swan. We are very grateful to Eleanor for sharing her skills, knowledge, and creativity. The students created beautiful ceramic plaques during the workshop, well done to all.

Our creative 5th year Art students have been collaborating with the talented Gráinne Bath-Enright. Gráinne is an artist and HFSS past pupil. She is working with the student as part of NAPD Creative Engagement initiative.   

Grainne delivered a series of mural design workshops to create a sketchbook and a design for a wall mural in the school corridor beside the new courtyard. The class reflected on the meaning of Cill Dara 'church of the oak', St. Brigid, growth, unity, biodiversity and our natural environment. The aim or theme of the mural is to ‘bring the outside in’ by creating a sense of calm and mindfulness in the space.  

Painting of the final mural is now well underway. The design incorporates local flowers, birds and trees in a soft green colour palette with accents of pinks and navy blues.   

The symbolism in the mural is as follows: 

Birds - the students 

Fern & flowers - natural wildlife  

Clover - very good for bees and therefore great for biodiversity 

Blue lines - River Liffey 

Oak leaves - 'Chill Dara- - Church of the Oak 

Our main building stairwells received a vibrant makeover during the midterm break. Themed stair decals were placed on each step of the four stairwells with designs ranging from wellbeing motivational quotes to sean focails to classic book titles. Over 88 steps were decorated with each one providing warmth and colour and greatly enhancing the positive atmosphere in the hallways. 

2S CSPE class visited Leinster House today at the invitation of Sean Ó Fearghaíl, T. D. and Ceann Comhairle. The class enjoyed a tour of the Dáil and Seanad. They also had the opportunity to meet Sean Ó Fearghaíl and Mary Lou McDonald who both took time to speak to them personally. An enjoyable trip for 2S. Thanks to all. 

Holy Family Secondary School were delighted to present a generous donation of over €400 and an abundance of items collected to Clare-Louise, a representative from Teach Tearmainn giving a workshop to 5th year students for their reflection day.

Teach Tearmainn are a local organisation that provide free and confidential support services to women and children who are or have experienced Domestic Violence and Abuse.

Before Christmas HFY students, coordinated by Ms. Lynch, led a drive to collect a wide variety useful items to support the domestic abuse victims that avail of support from Teach Tearmainn. Also before Christmas, a number of TY WorldWise Global Schools students held a bake sale to raise money for Teach Tearmainn, amassing over €223. Our principal, Ms. Allen is matching that great effort with a donation of €200 on behalf of the school. 

Well done to all involved and those who donated to support such a worthy cause.

Well done to Ava Rock from second year who represented the Holy Family Secondary School in the Leinster Schools swimming Championships in the National Aquatic Centre on Sunday.

A selection of photographs taken by our Photography Club this January. Photos are also on display on the Photography Board in school for students to enjoy.

On Monday the 23rd of January Holy Family Secondary School Senior Gaelic Footballers continued their march through knockout stages of the Leinster Championship. With a final score of 5-11 to 1-5 over opponents Gallan Community School we now progress to the semi-final.  

Sporting new socks and shorts (not pictured) sourced by Ali Kaye in 6th year the team reflected their unified aesthetic with an emphatic team victory. Clinical scores in the first half from Muireann O'Loughlin, Grace Mountaine and Tara Christie created a strong platform for the team to build upon and ultimately control the game.  

Athletic transition play and a relentless work rate from Erin Healy, Aisling Irhue and Emma Shannon, amongst others, allowed the team to control the middle. Admirable defending from all defender kept Gallan to a minimum of scores, with particular merit for Enya O'Brien blocking the opposition on five separate occasions as they attempted to come back into the game. A typically assured performance from Sorsha Filgate between the sticks rounded off a commendable display from all players.

The semi-final will be away to St. Kevin's of Dunlavin with the date and time of the fixture to be finalised in the coming days.

Well done to all involved.

Congratulations & best of luck to Leah (2nd year) and Paulina (6th year) who entered the Relove Fashion competition. The students were challenged to make an outfit by recycling & upcycling materials. They also completed research on sustainability in the textile industry and created a story board detailing their inspiration, sketches, fabric samples, stitch samples and photos of the process.