1. Mindfulness and Growth Mindset

2. Parent Council

3. Subject Choice

4. Health Promotion School

Mindfulness is a practice.

It involves learning to direct our attention

to our experience as it happens moment by moment

with open-minded acceptance.

It’s a way of enhancing well-being

Rather than worrying about what has happened or might happen,

mindfulness trains us to respond skilfully to whatever is happening right now, be that good or bad.

Reduce stress, anxiety,

Can help reduce reactive and bad behaviour,

Improve sleep, self-esteem and resilience

Brings about greater calmness, relaxation,

Increases ability to manage behaviour and emotions,

Create self-awareness and empathy.

In terms of learning….

It can help young people pay greater attention,

Be more focused,

Think in more innovative ways,

Improve working memory,

Enhance planning, problem solving, and reasoning skills.

The studies also show that adolescents who are mindful, either through their character or through learning, tend to experience greater well-being, and that being more mindful tends to accompany more positive emotion, greater popularity and having more friends, and less negative emotion and anxiety.

Home practice

https://mindfulnessinschools.org/

.b course

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElVUqv0v1EE

The parents of students of a recognised school may establish and maintain from among their number, a parents’ association for that school and membership of that association shall be open to all parents of students of that school.

Education Act,1998, 26 (1)

We are looking for a group of interested parents to set up the Stepaside Educate Together Secondary School’s Parent Council.

The parent association is the structure through which the parents/guardians in a school can work together for the best possible education for their children.

All parents/guardians of children in the school are members of the association with a number of parents being elected to a committee.

The parent association works with the principal, staff and the board of management to build effective partnership between home and school.

Educational research on the involvement of parents in schools shows that children achieve better outcomes when parents and teachers work together.

SCHOLARSHIP TO GAELTACHT

In Timetable

2 x Physical Education

Social Personal & Health Education

Ethical Education

Assembly & Mindfulness

Extra- Curricular

Art Club

Soccer/ Gaelic

Cross country

Leadership roles

Student Council

Drama Club

Language Club

POINTS TO CONSIDER WHEN CHOOSING SUBJECTS FOR JUNIOR CYCLE

• What are my best subjects?

• Why am I good at these subjects?

• Which types of subjects do I enjoy and why?

• How do I learn best?

• Which subjects can I take up from scratch for the Leaving Cert ?

DO’S OF MAKING SUBJECT CHOICE!• Do Ask Plenty of Questions

• Do Discuss Subject Choice with

Parents/Guardians

Older Sisters/Brothers

Teachers

DON’TS OF MAKING SUBJECT CHOICE!

•Don’t Make Decisions Based on a Teacher

•Don’t Select Similar Subjects as a Friend

•Don’t Base Choice on Family Tradition?

JUNIOR CERTIFICATE SUBJECTS

Non JC Exam Subjects

History

Geography

Ethical Ed

CSPE

SPHE

Options

JC Exam Subjects

Maths

Irish

English

Science

Modern Foreign

Language (MFL)

THIRD LEVEL ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

In order to satisfy all possible 3rd level matriculation requirements, students MUST

take Science and a 3rd language*

(*unless exempt due to SLD)

•French

•Spanish

•Or Both

French or Spanish

You cannot take up a new language in 5th

year*

Taking a language keeps options open for College Entry

Warning about NUI Exemptions from foreign language/Irish

See http://www.nui.ie/college/entry-requirements.asp

LC Curricular Languages:

Irish, English, Ancient Greek, Arabic, French, German, Hebrew Studies, Italian, Japanese, Spanish and Russian.

Non-Curricular EU Languages & Conditions: (One only may be taken)

Be from a member state of the European Union

Speak the language in which they opt to be examined in as a mother tongue,

Have followed a programme of study leading to the Leaving Certificate

Be taking Leaving Certificate English

Latvian, Lithuanian, Romanian, Modern Greek, Finnish, Polish, Estonian, Slovakian, Swedish, Czech, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, Croatian, Slovenian

• Home Economics

• Business Studies

• Art

• Music

• Technology

• Technical Graphics

• Classical Studies

• Chinese

• Check out the NCCA website for information on subjects www.ncca.ie.

You CAN take up the following subjects for the Leaving Cert from scratch in 5th Year WITHOUT having studied them at Junior Cycle:

Home Economics (Social and Scientific)

LC Business

Economics

Accounting*

Music*

Art*

Classics

Applied Maths

Design & Communication Graphics*

Engineering*

Technology*

FIRST YEAR SUBJECT CHOICE FORMTO BE RETURNED TO COLIN BEFOREDEADLINE FRIDAY 18TH FEBRUARY

Schools for Health in Ireland

The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC, 2006) survey has shown that poor eating habits are a feature of many children’s lifestyles.

The survey highlighted: • up to 17% of students were skipping breakfast and/or dinner

• 14% of children reported never having breakfast during weekdays

• poor fluid intake (which lessens concentration levels and makes learning more difficult)

• 19% ate fruit more than once a day

• 18% reported eating vegetables more than once a day

Research has shown that the foods eaten at breakfast and lunchtime can affect behaviour in the classroom, especially during the afternoon (foods high in fats and sugars may cause over-activity and lead to difficult classroom management).

Key nutrition messages are:

• restrict faddy eating and dieting

• eat three main meals daily using the Food Pyramid as a guide

• eat breakfast daily

• get into the habit of eating healthy snacks in school and before homework/study

lead an active lifestyle: with a minimum of 60 minutes per day of moderate activity

increase intake of fruit and vegetables

reduce intake of sweet and savoury snacks

restrict intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks

reduce portion size

Lunchboxes

Eating spaces

SPHE

Home Economics

Cross/extra curricular

Healthy Eating Guidelines into school policy

Links with parents and communities on Healthy Eating

e.g. Healthy Eating Theme