St Louis High School website

St. Louis High School
2013
C H R I S T M A S N EWS L E T T E R
“For this day is born to you a saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David”
Luke 2:11
Dear Parents/Guardians and Students,
This Christmas Newsletter will give you a flavour of the variety of activities during the
first term of our Centenary year. The full newsletter can be accessed on our website,
www.stlouishighschool.ie.
In his homily at our Centenary Mass, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin reminded the school
community that our faith instils in us an understanding that when God created human
beings he created us as a family. Both our motto - Ut Sint Unum (that we may be one)
and our membership of the Le Chéile Schools Trust embody this spirit which calls on us
to recognise our interdependence and diversity and also to take responsibility for others, especially those who are less fortunate.
I am very grateful to all members of the school community, students, parents, staff
and members of the Board of Management who have embodied this spirit, by contributing so much to the life of the school and the myriad of undertakings this term. While
the core business of school is teaching and learning and the academic achievement of
our students is of paramount importance, so too is their holistic development. This
newsletter bears testament to the importance we place on such development and on
the rich traditions of music, sport, debating, drama, social awareness, inclusivity and
high academic standards, we have inherited from the Sisters of St Louis over the past
hundred years.
I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter and I look forward to welcoming back all our
students on Monday 6thJanuary to what will be another action packed term and the
remainder of our Centenary celebrations.
I wish all members of the St. Louis family a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a Happy
New Year.
M A R Y M O R G A N, P RI N C IP A L
Nollaig Shona agus
Athbhliain faoi mhaise.
CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
On September 13th 2013 we launched our St. Louis High
School Centenary Celebrations with the raising of our
beautiful Centenary Flag. Invited guests, the first year students and the Student Representative Council gathered together outside for a lovely ceremony to
mark the occasion. The rain just about held off as
Fr. David Brough blessed the flag and the forthcoming year of events. Readings and thoughts were
beautifully presented by Sr. Eithne Woulfe (Former
Principal), Ms Mary Newman (SLHS teacher),
Frances Martin (Head Girl), Ms Clíona McDonough
(acting Deputy Principal) and Ms Mary Morgan
(Principal). The flag was raised by Frances Martin
(Head Girl), Hannah Osuntola (Deputy Head Girl), Sr
Eithne Woulfe and Ms Maura Mooney (Chairperson
of SLHS Board of Management). Our wonderful traditional musicians, Ms Jean Moran, Mr Eunan
O’Boyle and Laura Murphy (5th Yr) concluded the
ceremony with appropriately uplifting and joyous
music. The guests retired to the staff room where
they viewed the wonderful and informative St. Louis
High School Centenary DVD which was produced by
some of our 5th Year students: Neysa Healy, Aising
Grennan and Kate Hegarty under the guidance of Ms
Mary Newman.
Shortly after this ceremony the whole school, students
and staff alike, went on a school walk around the roads
of Rathmines to highlight our centenary celebrations.
To mark the occasion, the Parents’ Council provided
everybody with a lovely t-shirt on which the centenary
logo was emblazoned. On return to the school, all students were provided with a welcome ice cream. A fun activity was held for all on the basketball courts where 655
girls participated in a well co-ordinated Zumba event, organised by the PE Dept. It was a very special day in the
school calendar and in the ‘Céad Bliain ag fás’ of St. Louis
High School. It was a day thoroughly enjoyed by all.
St Louis High School Centenary Mass
October 5th 2013
On Friday, October 5th last the extended school
community joined together for our Centenary
Mass in the Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge
of Sinners, Rathmines. The Mass was celebrated
by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and we were
delighted with his well-chosen words for this
very special St. Louis occasion. Sincere thanks to
the RE and Music Departments for all their preparation and co-ordination of the Mass and for
the help and guidance provided by Mr Frank
Brown (Parish Worker). The First Years, Senior
Choir and SLHS Instrumental group led the wonderful music throughout the Mass and readings
and prayers were beautifully read by students
and guests alike. Two of our students, Laura
Murphy and Lauren Cunningham were specially
commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of the
Eucharist during the ceremony. The strong symbolism evident throughout the ceremony enhanced this special occasion in a very meaningful
way.
A gathering of guests was held in the school hall
after the Mass. Our team of excellent TY hostesses provided welcome refreshments. The SLHS
Timeline was unveiled – providing a visual documentation of the history of St. Louis High School
alongside significant national and international
events of the past 100 years. Sincere thanks to
Ms Ann Taylor, Ms Evelyn Madigan (former staff
members) and Ms Siobhán McCanny for all their
work in preparing this wonderful timeline and
record of St Louis High School’s ‘Céad Bliain ag
Fás’.
SCHOOL MUSICAL—
LES MISÉRABLES school edition
St. Louis High School in association with St
Mary’s College presented Les Misérables –
school edition on 16th-18th October last in
the school’s concert hall. Les Misérables
was chosen because it represented the era
and country in which the St. Louis Order
was founded. This was a wonderful production with fantastic singers, orchestral players, sets, costumes etc. Such songs as On
my own, I dreamed a dream, Bring him
home, Castle on a cloud, Stars, Empty
Chairs and Empty Tables etc. resonated
with so many and there were well-deserved
standing ovations every night. Sincere
thanks to Ms Níamh O’Connell, Ms Clíona
McDonough, Ms Grace Donnelly, Ms Brenda Stenson, Ms Mary McLaughlin and Ms
Sarah Byrne for all their work in relation to
the production and also to Mr Ray Ryan
(MD), Ms Julie Donnelly (Choreographer)
and Mr Bernard Lynch (Producer).
St. Louis High School
Global Awareness Week
‘SÚIL EILE’
As part of the centenary celebrations we decided
to dedicate a week to global awareness. From 25th 29th November last our first ‘Súil Eile’ week was
held. Issues such as gender inequality, global armament and landmines, HIV/Aids, Fairtrade, global
wealth distribution, the importance of water, Irish
aid and volunteering were presented to the students. We welcomed speakers from Plan Ireland,
Trócaire, Pax Christi, Progressio and 3rd level students from the Dept. of Human Rights and Citizenship, St. Patrick’s College, Drumcondra and our TY
students travelled into the Irish Aid Volunteering
centre on O’Connell Street. Quizzes with Fairtrade
prizes were held to stimulate discussion and
awareness amongst students and staff alike. On
the Wednesday we had our St. Louis High School
water day. Students were taught about water in
various subjects eg. the Maths Dept. provided
water-based puzzles, the Science Dept. focussed on
the properties of H20, Home Economics focussed
on the importance of water in food preparation, in
Music there was a focus on how
St. Louis High School Centenary Concert
On December 12th last, St. Louis High School held a Centenary Concert in the Church of Mary Immaculate, Refuge of Sinners, Rathmines. This was a wonderful occasion of celebratory and joyous music
making. A past pupil & friends of St. Louis High School choir and orchestra was especially formed for
the occasion to perform Vivaldi’s Gloria and some beautiful Christmas music. Rehearsals commenced
for the choir last September and it grew steadily in numbers over the weeks. It was fantastic to involve
so many past pupils in the concert and they all really enjoyed the experience. Marian Richardson (past
pupil) was our compère for the evening and she seamlessly linked all the items on the programme –
from the past-pupil & friends choir and orchestra to our angelic first years and our wonderful senior
choir. A post-concert reception was held back in the school’s concert hall, which was looking resplendent decked with Christmas wreaths, candle arrangements and the beautiful St. Louis Christmas
tree. It was a lovely opportunity for past pupils to catch up with some of their past teachers and
friends.
It was a fantastic evening for the whole school community past and present. St. Louis High School’s
céad bliain ag fás le chéile was truly celebrated in style. Thank you to all who made this evening such
as success.
water has in-
spired music composition eg. Water Music by Handel, La Mer- Debussy etc., in English there was a
focus on poetry with the theme of water eg. Titanic
by Derek Mahon and The Lake Isle of Inisfree –
Yeats. Vocabulary associated with water was addressed in various languages and the importance of
water in our culture was highlighted in Irish. Some
of our 2nd Year students took on the difficult challenge of living for a day on 10 Litres of water and
we were made very aware of the concept of virtual
water. We hope that this week will continue to be
part of St Louis High School’s tradition of events.
We all must remember to look beyond ourselves,
taking responsibility as global citizens and remembering that involving oneself locally in issues such
as the above can make a difference both at home
and abroad.
SRC Report
The President’s Award – Gaisce
This centenary year has given the SRC an opportunity
to be involved with many different school events.
Along with our responsibility of creating the best display boards for the school to enjoy, weekly checks of
the first years’ classrooms and the ever-looming variety show performance, we've been busy since the word
go at the end of last year!
One of our first exciting experiences together was an
historic moment for the school. The raising of the
centenary flag, where our head girl Frances Martin and
vice Hannah Osuntola took the reins and hoisted up
the flag for the new first years and invited guests.
When you hear of the many things we must undertake
as members of the SRC, the one that stands out the
most is the first year disco. This was a major highlight
so far for all of us. Not only did we get to say that we
attended the disco for a second time, but we got to
know our first years even better. We enjoyed every
minute of it and think that they are a fantastic year
group.
Civvies days are a buzz for the entire school. These are
run for different charities chosen by us and that makes
it extra special. Our most recent civvies day was on the
11th of December and had a definite "Christmassy"
theme. We raised an incredible €1200 for the disaster
in the Philippines thanks to all the generous donations
made by the students of St Louis.
We have had a roaring schedule so far since our election onto the SRC and still have plenty more to come.
We hope that all of the students are getting on well
with the school year and are looking forward to the
variety show just as much as we are!
Congratulations
to
Mirela Conica who was
placed 3rd in the
Scratch Computer Programming
National
Final. Scratch is a software
programme
which allows students
to build computer
games and design animations using basic
computer
programming principles. Mirela's winning project is
available to view and
play on Scratch.ie.
Well done to the following 6th years who
were awarded their Silver Gaisce Medal at
the annual award ceremony in Trinity College Dublin on the 5th December: Katie
Barry, Caoimhe Bermingham, Laura Conway, Man Li Hu, Eimear Kelly, Frances Martin, Loren McNerney-Quigley, Shannon
Munusami, Ciara O'Mahony, Ina Pondoc,
Erica Russell and Emer Slattery. They have
all worked very hard over the last year
combining their studies with the award
requirements. This involved community
work, sport, improving on a personal skill
and of course the unforgettable trek in the
Wicklow Mountains last March!
We have a very large new group of bronze
and silver participants in Transition Year
and Fifth Year, and hopefully we will see
them receiving their medals in May and
November next year. Well done to Jasmin
Doyle 5th year and Bernadette Shannon
5th year who have just completed their
Gaisce Bronze award! Well done to everyone!
Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party
Well done to all our Transition Year and 5th Year bag packers who helped raise funds
for the Rathmines Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party. The party was held on 12th December in the Garda Club, South Circular Road, and the girls from St. Louis helped
throughout the evening serving food, organising spot prizes, dancing with the senior
revellers, and all in all added to a great evening for everyone involved. It was wonderful to watch as the young students mingled and helped with a ready smile.
This is now an established event in the St. Louis calendar, helping to forge connections with the local community and allowing our young students to show their generosity and kindness. A big thank you to all the teachers and students involved!
Rugby
Hockey
St. Louis High School Hockey club,
coached by Irish International Niamh
Small (St. Louis past pupil) meets every
Monday after school in the Guinness
Hockey Club grounds in Crumlin. This is
about a ten/fifteen minute bus ride
from the school, and the students travel by private bus to and from the club.
This year the number playing hockey
has nearly doubled, and with Niamh’s
expert coaching we hope to enter the
school leagues next year.
Friendly matches will be arranged in
the new year. Well done to everyone
and a big thank you to Ms Lawrence
for all her help.
Badminton Club
ST. LOUIS HIGH
SCHOOL
SPORT
Athletics Club
Our athletics club meets after
school every Wednesday and
Thursday and is coached by
Philip Halpin from Rathfarnham Athletic Club. Students
from 1st year to 5th year take
part, and the club has moved
from strength to strength under Philip’s expert guidance.
The students are training for
the schools cross country season in January/February and
of course the track and field
later in the year. New members are always welcome!
Last year, due to the success of our Irish
Women’s 7’s rugby team, Railway Union
Rugby Club approached a number of
schools in south Dublin with a view to
setting up schoolgirl rugby. The response
was resounding – and St. Louis High School
were runners up in the final rugby blitz last
year!
This year was an even better story – our
senior girls came first in a nail-biting final,
(winning all seven matches) and our junior
team was second overall! Aifric O’Leary
Deane was nominated player of the junior
tournament. Well done to our captain,
Stacey Flood (6th year) who has been selected for the U.19 Leinster Interprovincial
team. Kate Hegarty (playing for Railway) is
going from strength to strength, and has
been selected to take part in a coaching
course after Christmas. Well done everyone!
Rugby coaching will resume after Christmas
– more details to follow.
The badminton club meets every
Wednesday from 3.30 to 4.30pm in
the Swan Leisure Centre, which is just
a short walk from the school. Numbers
are up, and we are delighted to see so
many students from First year to 6th
year involved. Our coach, Sian William
has arranged a number of matches for
early in the new year, and we hope to
enter the school leagues next September.
Life Saving Club
The Life saving club meets BEFORE school on Thursday mornings – 7am to 8am!!
Despite the dark mornings we have had a great turnout each week - we probably
have the largest number of first years ever – well done for staying the pace! Some
of the senior life-savers are working towards their Pool Lifeguard Award and some
are also hoping to qualify as Water-Safety Instructors later in the year!
Well done everyone - see you all in January.
The Pope John Paul II Award
St. Louis High School’s
Centenary
History Projects
BT YOUNG SCIENTIST
EXHIBITION 2014
This year celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Young Scientist Competition. Two of the six projects submitted
were accepted from 2,000 Irish Secondary Schools’ entries . The first Project is by Sarah Casey and Saibhe Brock
in Fifth year. They are investigating the
rate of biodegradable bio-plastics in
Irish soil. The second entry is a project
investigating the language used in
maths text books. This is being conducted by Mathilde Lyons and Isabel
Browne in Third year. Best of luck to all
involved in the new year.
The Centenary History Project began in
June this year when a number of Fifth
year students went on a tour of Cathal
Brugha Barracks to get a sense of what
Rathmines was like a 100 years ago.
Research began on key figures and social conditions from the revolutionary
era 1900-1922. Transition year students joined in at this point. Most of
the research was carried out over the
summer and included studying of primary sources, secondary sources and
interviews. Emer Slattery interviewed
a grandniece of Joseph Plunkett and
Mary Jane Wallblom Smyth interviewed Father Richard Sheehy, then
Parish Priest of Rathmines, and grandnephew of Hannah Sheehy Skeffington.
In September, Sarah Casey and Daisy
Hickey attended the commemoration
of the Church St. Disaster in Glasnevin
cemetery. Editing of the research began in October and thanks to Miriam
Sadlier, excellent visuals were added to
the facts. So far, four projects have
been completed and are on display in
school outside Room 15. These are Joseph Plunkett by Emer Slattery, Hannah
Sheehy Skeffington by Mary Jane
Wallblom Smyth, Tenement Life by
Sarah Casey and Rathmines in 1913 by
Iseult Deane. Other projects are nearing completion we hope.
Sharon Muldoon
The Pope John Paul II Award was created
to commemorate the late Pope who was
committed to young people and who had
such belief and confidence in them. These
awards are the chance to take part in the
life of your local community and society
and also become more aware of the
teaching and the role of the Catholic
Church in the world.
By participating in this award we learned
to understand that religion and faith are
not just for learning, nor are they a list of
rules, but that they are for living. Participants earn their awards by taking part in
activities through parish involvement,
social awareness and the preparation of a
presentation. Congratulations to Serena
Hill, Kelly Leahy, Eimear Keogh, Dervla
McCormack, Marisa Fusco, Lisa Branagan,
Laura Murphy, Elena Mangul who recently received their awards.
Marisa Fusco (5th Yr)
SLHS Debating Team
The school debating team is made up of a
number of senior students from Transition
Year, 5th Year and 6th Year. We participate in
Concern’s School Debating Competition which
runs until the end of January and we hope to
progress to the next stage. We are also hoping to participate in another competition in
2014.
Motions range over a variety of subjects including ones we might not necessarily agree
with! For instance, recently we had to argue
that ‘aid to the developing world was a luxury
Ireland could not afford’. This was difficult for
us as we believe in helping people and giving
charity where needed. However, despite our
personal opinions, we successfully argued the
motion on the night and won the debate!
The team is open to new members joining
every new academic year and we could not
recommend joining enough. It is excellent for
developing research and communication
skills, along with building up one’s confidence.
THE 1913 LOCKOUT TAPESTRY
St. Louis High School was privileged to
be chosen to take part in the 1913
Lockout Tapestry project. This tapestry is an outstanding example of a
community art project drawing together people from all different backgrounds who have created a living reminder of the sacrifices ordinary working people endured to achieve decent
working conditions and living standards for all.
The legacy of the lockout lives with us
today – well done to the following
students who have literally stitched
their way into history!
Leah O’Doherty, Sarah Conway, Hannah O’Connor, Gemma Nolan, Grace
Halton, Caoimhe Kenny, Aoife Darcy,
Kyrielle Bigornia, Laura Walsh, Fiorella
Barchetta, Rahaf Khalef, Janelle Dalupang,, Celina Bonne, Michaela
Roche, Elena Mangul, Iseult Deane,
Loredana Mihaica, Heather O’Brien,
Aoife Giltrap, Carolina Bancila, Shelly
Calvin, Kamila Tyszkiewicz.
We are delighted to announce an exciting new programme being
launched here in the school on the 6th January 2014 ("St. Louis
Centenary Operation Transformation"), which is available to all
students and staff. It's a great opportunity to partake in a 4 week
Exercise & Nutrition Programme which will focus on 5 key areas;
Improving Fitness Levels, Eliminating Bad Habits, Losing Weight,
Eating Healthier and Setting Yourself Personal Goals & Challenges
Leaving Certificate 2013 Success
Congratulations to Anna Szucs, Celia Chari and Edie Davis who
as a result of their superb Leaving Certificate 2013 results, recently received Entrance Exhibition Awards to Trinity College
Dublin. Anna is currently studying Medicine, Celia Science, and
Edie English. To receive these awards, students must secure in
excess of 565 points in the Leaving Certificate. We wish Anna,
Celia, Edie and all the class of 2013 every success in their studies
and future careers.
Message from SLHS Parents’ Council
We have had a tremendous year so
far, enjoying the centenary celebrations. The Parents' Council (PC) has
already undertaken some pretty successful fundraising events for the
school; the raffle at the musical and
of course the fantastic Christmas
fair, which had a vintage theme this
year. Between these two we have
raised over seven thousand euro for
improving school facilities for all our
girls. We couldn't do it without your
help and we want to say a massive
thank you to all parents for your
time, donations, prizes and help.
Massive gratitude also to the students for bringing in all the goodies
for the fair and in particular to those
senior girls who gave up their precious Saturday and Sunday to put in
the graft needed...selling tickets,
pins, wreaths and cupcakes. It was
an education in selling for sure, and
everyone remarked how well the
cafe and the hall looked.
The PC has a parent representing
each school year and we can be contacted through email:
stlouisparentcouncil@gmail.com
We also have a post box in the
school foyer and welcome all ideas,
suggestions and comments on how
we can continue to work in partnership with the teachers and students to continually improve our
daughters' school experience. We
look forward to seeing you at the
Centenary Ball!
Patricia Scully, Mary Giblin, Ken Lannigan, Pom Boyd, Ide Tynan, Patricia
Talbot, Martin Walsh and Sandy Hazel.
Transition Year Christmas 2013
Once again our TY Programme got off to a flying start with Induction Day on
September 3rd. All the girls have been extremely busy all term and have embraced every opportunity with great willingness.
As always, our TY students like to get involved with charity work and large
sums were raised on flag days for Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Enable
Ireland and Irish Autism. This generosity of spirit was also evident during the
Social Placement in November, when we heard back wonderful reports about
how hard they worked and how pleasant and courteous their behaviour was.
In the business world, the girls are honing their entrepreneurial and marketing skills with their involvement in Student Enterprise and AIB Build a
Bank. We are especially impressed with the launch of the Lego Bank, with the
very professional input of the team. I’m hoping that they’re in with a real
chance of winning this year and I know that the girls themselves are willing to
put everything they have into this competition. Combining the worlds of
business and social conscience, we also have a new committee from TY to run
the school’s Rotary Club.
The Law Course took place early in the term and was very stimulating. We
have had some interesting talks also, especially from the Samaritans who
gave us a really thought provoking afternoon.
Healthy and fun leisure activities were catered for by the school musical, the
wonderful Les Misérables, and also by the Pitch n’ Putt module in the PE class.
A new and really worthwhile addition to our programme has been the
Glasnevin Cemetery TY Project. It involves two visits to the Cemetery for
every class. On the first visit, the girls are given a lesson on how to be a tour
guide, and the skills are then demonstrated by a short tour of some of the
more famous graves. Then the girls are each assigned someone well known
who is buried in Glasnevin, and over a couple of weeks they prepare a presentation which they deliver on the return visit. The official tour guide decides
on a winner who will go back in the spring to take part in an inter-schools
event. In all my years as TY Coordinator, I have never come across a better
project, as it tests so many skills and demands a high standard. So far, both 4L
and 4O have completed the project and 4U are eagerly looking forward to
their turn.
The final big event of the first term was the Ice Skating trip to Dundrum on
Ice. There was a large turnout and everyone had a lovely time, ably minded
and led by Mr. O’Meara and Ms. O’Connor.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone involved in TY a very happy
Christmas — the girls and their families, the subject teachers who make the
programme so interesting and varied, the Class teachers Ms. O’Connor, Ms.
Dooley and Mr. Kilduff, Yearhead Ms. Capper and both Ms. McDonagh and
Ms. Morgan who are extremely supportive of the programme. Thank you
especially to the girls for being so pleasant and positive since August. Their
“pleases” and “thank yous” are spontaneous and that means a lot. I look
forward to working with you all again in 2014.
M Newman (TY Co-ordinator)