It's Spring!! Put a pep back in your step.

It's amazing how easy it is to become negative. We arrive in school in good humour and we meet someone who starts to moan and we find ourselves joining in, our good humour is gone. It was recently said that feelings only control us for six seconds - after that we can control them! So we can choose to shake off negative feelings like sadness, anger, bad humour. So lets look at ways to be happy! Develop the happiness habit. When things are going wrong, stop and think of three things in your life that make you happy.

The greeting the dog gives you when you get home from school. Mam making your favourite dinner. Unexpected snow

days. Do a RAK! Random Act of Kindness. Nothing really makes us happier than doing a kind deed for others. Help a friend in

maths. Stand back and hold the door for another person. Sit and have a chat with someone on their own. Take a digital detox. So much social media is bad. Put away the phone or tablet and talk to someone. A real friend not a

virtual one. Have a positive purpose each day. Instead of thinking "Why do I have to go to school?" Change it to "School will help me to

get my exams, a good job and a great life!" Exercise, it's the anti-anxiety vaccine. Simplify your life: Do regular clear outs, get rid of clutter in your home, school bag and in your mind. Set one or two simple

goals and congratulate yourself when you achieve them. Have a healthy diet. "You are what you eat!" - if you eat junk you feel junk. High sugar and fat diets are directly related to

depression. Keep sweets as treats. No more than three times a week. Sleep for seven hours. Good sleep is about routine, go to sleep at the same time each night as much as possible. Get up

when the alarm goes off. It's hard but over- sleeping creates slugginess. Laugh! It's good for you. YouTube "funniest puppies and cute puppy compilations 2016" just to get you started. Spend time with happy people. It's infectious. ☺

Volume 22 Issue 3

Spring 2017

Leaving Certificate Applied Clothes Collection

A s part our 5th year Leaving Certificate Applied Enterprise Task we are organising and running a clothes collection. All money raised

will be donated to the sports fund and will improve equipment for all the students of Coláiste Mhuire. The collection date is Friday 14th April and all items as listed below can be dropped into the school. We are extreme-ly thankful to those who have contributed to date and thank you for your continued support. We accept:

• Men’s Clothing • Women’s Clothing • Children’s Clothing • Household Textiles i.e. Curtains, Towels

Soft Toys • Shoes • Handbags • Belts Laptops Mobile Phones

C ongratulations to our U14 Bad-minton team of Gearóid Phelan,

John Doheny, Billy Garrett and Pádraig O’Grady who were very un-lucky not to win the All Ireland Fi-nal.

U14 Badminton All Ireland Runners up

Spring 2017

Still to come…. The year isn’t over yet! We will be having our Driving Academy in May, the Lollipop Day fundraiser is to come, and the KAS personal safety programme will also feature. There is still time to get cracking on those e-portfolios for the interviews in May. Teachers are still coming up with nov-el and interesting programmes for class. We will finish the year on a high with the special Transition Year Oscars and awards to wrap up a busy year at the end of May.

S ubject Choice - TY Transition Year students are in

the process of picking the subjects they will study for their Leaving Cert. Selecting the right subjects for the Leaving Cert, and the level at which to take them, is a critical task. The wrong choice here can have unintend-ed consequences in two years’ time, when students find paths into college are blocked by not having the right subjects required for entry into their chosen course. A decision to drop all science subjects or foreign languages will have major implications on the range of careers open to you later on. Be sure to choose subject you enjoy and are good at, talk to parents, teach-ers and your Guidance Counsellor be-fore making your final decisions. All TY students attended a talk by Ms Dempsey about the process of choos-ing subjects for Leaving Cert and the presentation given was sent to the MYTY account of all students, feel free to get in touch with Ms Dempsey with any further questions

I n January Transition Year students along with Ms. Dempsey and Ms.

Maher enjoyed a great day at the Stu-dent Leaders Congress in the UL Are-na hosted by Cycle Against Suicide to raise awareness of the importance of good mental health among teenagers. The day was action packed with lots of speakers, who told positive stories about how they looked after their men-tal health and how they coped with stress in their lives. The message of

the Congress for the day was “It’s ok not to feel ok, and it’s absolutely ok to ask for help”. The day was high energy and very inspiring. The students came away with lots of great ideas that they will now use when completing their project work on the theme #ShareTheJourney to help spread the message of the Congress throughout the school.

B y now all Leaving Cert students have

submitted their CAO applications, the CAO system now shuts down until May 5th; from then until 1st July students can change their list of choices. It’s vital that all applicants’ research any courses they might have an interest in; discussing op-tions with parents and people working in that career already can be of great benefit. When changing CAO choices it is most important that students list their choices based on what they would like to study rather than the points race.

T he online system for making an ap-plication for financial support for

further and higher level education is now available. This is the only method for Leaving Cert students to apply for The Student Grant if applying for Post Leav-ing Cert or 3rd level courses. It is im-portant that students and their parents carefully read all instructions and supply as much information as possible when completing the application. It is im-portant to complete this as early as possi-ble to allow for the applications to be pro-cessed.

Contacting the Guidance Counsellor If you have any queries you can contact Ms Dempsey, Guidance Counsellor by phone on 056 8831164 or by emailing cmjguidance@gmail.com

W here did the time go? It seems like yesterday that we were start-

ing out the year, looking forward to what new experiences it might bring, and now so much has happened that it’s hard to keep track. The Evolutions programme was a great success this year, and the selected TY students have completed their four days of training with Ossory Youth. They are now planning to bring the skills and knowledge they have acquired to benefit other students in the school. The St Vincent de Paul group have been very busy in recent weeks, and are busy getting ready for the Youth Day which takes place in Waterford later in April. This is a highlight of the SVP year, where school groups from all over the south east come together to showcase their projects and activities throughout the year. We are confident that we have some good work to show, and the group can be proud of the imagination and re-sourcefulness they have shown in bring-ing help to those who need it and raising awareness in the school.

W ell

maybe not a doctor, but

we do now have a crew of trained first aiders in TY, who have successfully completed the intensive six- week pro-gramme provided for us by the Order of Malta. Now in its second year, this valu-able training has become a feature of the programme – as well as knowing how to deal with everyday accidents such as cuts and sprains, who knows when the skills learned and practised could save a life! Many thanks to Heather and her tutors for sharing their expertise with the TY students. Incidentally, it was great to welcome back past pupil Máire Walsh as one of the tutors on the course. Stop Press! At the time of writing, the TYs are wing-ing their way back to Johnstown after an action-packed few days in the Polish city of Krakow. Initial reports are that it was a great success, and months of planning and organisation have paid off to make a memorable trip.

Leaving Certificate Applied Transition Year Times

Guidance

Cycle Against Suicide Student Leaders Congress

Doctor in the House!

CAO

SUSI – www.studentfinance.ie

Spring 2017

L CA Results Congrats to the 5th and 6th year Leaving Certificate Applied students who re-

ceived their results for session 1 and session 3 respectively. The award ceremony took place recently and was well supported by their parents. Well done to all stu-dents and their teachers who worked extremely hard to achieve impressive results.

T he LCA1 students are now over a third of the way through session 2 and are working hard on their new key

assignments and especially on their Vocational Preparation task and their Specialism tasks in Engineer-ing. They are also preparing for their Irish oral and final exam.

The LCA2 students are on the home stretch and have end of year projects to complete in Engineering or Hair & Beauty. They are also preparing for their English and Communications, and Spanish orals, their IT exam and for final exams which they will sit next June.

Enrolment for Leaving Certificate Applied 2017-2018

What is Leaving Cert Applied? The Leaving Certificate Applied or LCA is a two year programme aimed at students

who wish to follow a practical Leaving Certificate with a vocational focus.

The programme places emphasis on the preparation for the world of work and life-

long learning.

The programme sets out to recognise the talents of all students and to provide opportunities for developing personal responsibility, self-esteem and self-knowledge. The programme focuses on the talents of each student and helps students apply what they learn to the real world. Work experience is a significant component of the programme and students get to

sample a range of jobs and get first-hand experience of the world of work. The learn-

ing experiences are active and practical where students apply their knowledge, skills

and experience to real life situations in the school, in the workplace and in the wider

community.

The programme provides a wealth of opportunities which enhance the self-esteem

and confidence of students. There is less emphasis on final examinations as students

are continually assessed throughout the two years gaining credits as they progress

along.

Student work and skill development is assessed in diverse ways including written,

oral, interviews, project work and other forms of practical work.

Students get results issued by the Department of Education four times throughout

the two years giving them regular feedback on their success and achievement.

Students who wish to do LCA must apply to do the course and must meet the criteria as set out by Coláiste Mhuire. Enrolling for the course is now taking place and those interested will need to have applied by 28th April 2017. Further information can be got by looking up www.pdst.ie/lca/aboutus or contacting the school.

Leaving Certificate Applied

B hí ár scoil ag ceiliúradh Seachtain na Gaeilge le deanaí agus bhí

gníomhaíochtaí éagsúla ar siúl timpeall na scoile chun níos mó úsáide a bhaint as ár dteanga náisiúnta. Ghlac na scoláirí páirt i dTóraíocht Taisce, Ceilí, Tráth na gCeist, Péinteáil Aghaidheanna, Frása an Lae agus Fograí trí Ghaeilge. Bhí Comórtas Ealáine bunaithe ar sheanfhocail againn freisin. Comhghairdeas do Sarah Norton, Shauna Donohue, Ciara Queally, Grace Gregan agus Jenny Breen a bhuaigh an comórtas seo. Míle buíochas do chach a thug cabhair duinn an Ghaeilge a cheiliúradh agus a chur chun chinn, go háirithe lucht no h-idirbhliana. Beannachtaí na Cásca do chach.

Seachtain na Gaeilge

Ms Kilkenny/Ms Hyland with their Social Ed class visiting Source Library Thurles.

Spring 2017

C ongratulations to our first year boys soccer panel on their ex-

cellent win away to Strokestown in the Leinster Champions’ League quarter-final clash.

This match was originally supposed to be a home game last Thursday for the Coláiste Mhuire boys but the adverse weather conditions in Johnstown meant that match was cancelled and this meant the venue switched to the Roscommon school’s own ground, as per FAI rules. Nonetheless, and despite playing into a strong breeze, the boys started the game very well. This is an understatement as about ten minutes in, Colaiste Mhuire took the lead - following a well-worked move down the left wing involving Dan Kirby, Dylan Foyle and Kieran Cleere, the ball was nicely played through to the onrushing midfielder Daniel Bowe, who finished with aplomb. Strokestown responded by hit-ting the post as they searched for an equaliser, but the away team’s defence just would not be breached, marshalled as it was by Evan Kenny Landers, Charlie Bren-nan, Billy Garrett and Dan Kirby, as well as assured net minder Josh Coady. The boys from Co. Kilkenny struck their killer blow soon after the restart. An-other good move resulted in Jim O’Connor getting his chance to score a second, and he duly obliged. The home team’s heads visibly dropped, and Coláiste Mhuire could well have added more goals before the final whistle. As well as the aforementioned players, other outstanding performers included Stephen Murphy and Cody Comerford, captain, whilst Harry Kennedy made an im-pact when sprung from the bench. This fantastic win made the long journey home a happy one, and panel and man-agement look forward to the Leinster semi-final v Confey College from Leixlip in Co. Kildare. Well done to all members of the squad on a great victory on the road!

T his year the Ladies Bas-ketball team have lead a

very successful campaign. Af-ter a slow start losing out to

Callan, the girls fought hard winning all their following matches beating Tullow, The Pobail Scoil and finally beating Castlecomer with a proud score line of 34- 20.

We then faced the long trip to Wex-ford where we took on Riverstown in the quarter finals where we lead from the start and had a comfortable win. Progressing on to the semi-finals against Waterpark we had another com-fortable win and made it through to the South Leinster Finals. Mercy Secondary School Waterford was the host for the finals where we met Ardscoil na Mara, a team from Tra-more. Our girls showed great determi-nation and fought hard but unfortunate-ly it was not meant to be, we were pipped by 3 points. Down but not out we could still qualify for the Playoffs to get into The All Irelands in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght. Howev-er, in order to get there we would face our biggest challenge, a two and a half hour trip to Glenamaddy, Co. Galway and three matches. After an early de-parture of 7:30am on Saturday 1st April and few stops along the way due to bumpy roads, we finally arrived in Gle-namaddy. Here we would meet our first opponents Macroom, Cork, who also took the long journey that morning. We

got off to a flying start with our Captain Eimear Fitzpatrick getting our first score. It wasn’t long before we were cruising and after the first quarter we were up 18-6 much to the dismay of the Cork coach. However things took a turn for the worse and in the second quarter Macroom came out all guns blazing and managed to claw their way back and get ahead 18 -25. After that

we fought a hard battle with Mikaela Ryan, Ciara Queally (1st Year) Eimear Fitzpatrick, Sarah Jacob and Sarah Nor-ton trying everything they could to win the match. We lost by yet another 3 points. Macroom went on to win that day but Johnstown were the only team to get close to beating the South West Champions. Our next match was against Gle-namaddy and we lost by, yes you have guessed it 3 points with our girls show-ing great skill and athleticism but luck was not on our side. Our final match was against Mohill, Co. Leitrim where energy levels were beginning to drop but the girls played bravely, losing by a few baskets. Basketball is a sport that only took off last year in our school and to pro-gress this far in one year we are very proud of our girls’ achievements. We

First Year Boys Soccer - Victory on the Road in Leinster

CMJ’s “Never Say Die” Attitude

Capt. Eimear Fitz Flying Start

Ladies Basketball 2017

Spring 2017

J ust a note to thank all the

participants of the night classes in Coláiste Mhuire this term, hope you all enjoyed them. The next set of night classes will be advertised in Coláiste Mhuire and the school website and various parish news-letters in the coming August/September – to start on the 3rd week in September . Thanks to all who attended again and looking forward to welcoming you to many more classes in the autumn term in our school.

O n Wednes-day 8th

March our debate team of Simon

Lanigan, Sarah Jane McCormack and Tori Brophy took on Abbey Community Sch. in the Carlow/Kilkenny ETB annual debating competition. They were propos-ing the motion that 'Enda Kenny should not invite Donald Trump to Ireland'. Af-ter a tempestuous affair they were nar-rowly defeated but can take a lot of posi-tives from this fantastic experience.

T he Leaving Cert music class went

to the National Con-cert Hall to hear Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra which is part of their exam course.

Survival Science

have a strong group of 16 girls with each one of them contributing in their own way to our success. They were a pleasure to take out and represented our school in a fashion that anyone would have been proud of. We hope that they all 16 come back next year and we will do it all again! We would like to thank all the teachers for their cooperation with students getting out of class to train and for matches. We are also very grateful to our Principal Mr. Killeen and Vice Principal Ms. Conroy for being very accommodat-ing with time out for matches and funding for various trips. Finally we would like to thank the parents and families for coming to matches and taking time out of your busy days. We would especially like to thank Joan Fitzpatrick who made it to every match and even made it to Galway following a night shift. Team in alphabetical order: Emily Bergin, Meghan Carroll, Katelyn Cleere , Alexandra Dunphy, Eimear Fitzpatrick, Grace Fogarty, Katie Garrett, Sarah Jacob, Jessica New-man, Sarah Norton, Ciara Queally, Mikaela Ryan, Sarah Stapleton, Amber Swarbrick, Kiara Walsh, Louise Wellwood.

O n February 17th students and teachers from Coláiste

Mhuire got the whole school com-munity glowing orange for mental health awareness as part of Cycle

Against Suicide’s first annual #SchoolsGoOrange day. Schools all over Ireland joined in to turn or-ange to spread the message of mental health awareness and promoting help-seeking behaviour. This is in keep-ing with the Cycle Against Suicide message that “It’s OK not to feel OK; and it’s absolutely OK to ask for help”. Music Trip

Debating

Upcoming Event

2nd April - 12th May - Leaving Cert Practicals.

Night Classes

Cycle Against Suicide #SchoolsGoOrange

1R Ms. Kilkenny's English class getting their new book. #openyourmind!!

Spring 2017

Flashback in time

Martin Gleeson, Robbie Dowling, Dermot Power, Ger Power, Paul Quinlan, Ger Henderson, Willie Cahill, J. J. Delaney, John O’Loughlin.

John Bergin, Emmett Kavanagh, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Raymond Moriarty, Kevin Power, Pdraig Bergin, Séan Minogue.

Paddy Broderick, Belinda Doyle, Olivia Donnelly, Finuala Gray, Catherine Anderson, Fiona Delaney, Brigid Wall, Sinéad Bergin, Diane Purcell, Marie Dowling, Mary Sheehan.

Cora Mackey, Deirdre Delaney, Triona Maher, Caroline Dooley, Kay Grace, Patricia Dalton, Thomasina Sharkey, Joey Lalor.

1999

1991