Health and Well-Being
The first week in October marked our tenth annual Health and Well-Being week we all became more aware of our physical and mental with lots of activities going on around the school providing opportunities to both students and staff to focus on well-being.
Each morning began with ten minutes of dance and positive affirmations were read over the intercom throughout the day. Our excellent Amber Flag committee handed out uplifting messages to everyone and organised a ‘regret board’ to help us to overcome any feelings of regret that we might be harbouring. There were other activities such as The Daily Mile, a lunchtime disco organised by Young SVP, Health and Fitness workshops for transition year students, guest speakers, mindfulness workshops, guest sports coaches, and much more!
The highlight of the week was whole school dance activity in the school gym on Friday afternoon, where each year group lined up in the gym wearing a different colour of the rainbow to engage in some energetic Zumba dancing, wonderfully choreographed by Adriana. This was a fantastic way to end the week, leaving everyone physically and mentally re-charged.
 1st year students who enjoyed a quiz organised by the 6th year prefects on Friday 19th October |
 Zumba dancing in the colours of the rainbow! |
Transition Year Students
TY students enjoyed a wonderful day on Friday 11th October when they attended the SHINE International Day of the Girl Conference in WIT arena, organised by the Shona Project, Beat 102/103 and Waterford Area Partnership. They came away feeling inspired and empowered by speakers Razan Ibraheem, Niamh Fitzpatrick and Sarah Doyle and were delighted to be entertained by emerging pop star Soulé. Well done also to our own students Amanda Goma, Esdras Malonga and Jerely Pembele who performed an uplifting rendition of ‘Wings’ at the event as part of the Mount Sion choir.
This lucky group of students also got to explore their career options as they attended the University of Limerick open day the following Friday!
Rotary Youth Leadership Development Competition
We were very proud of our Fifth Year students who took part in the school heat of the Rotary Youth Leadership Development interviews last week. These girls were nominated for the competition in recognition of the leadership qualities displayed through their involvement in extra-curricular activities. Congratulations and best of luck to Grace Malone, who was selected from this group of excellent contestants to represent the school in the city final of this competition.
Poetry Aloud Success
Congratulations to Eve Daly, Charlie Fitzgerald, Beckie Furlong, Elena Cuturic and Holly Furlong, who successfully came through the regional heats of the Poetry Ireland ‘Poetry Aloud’ competition in Kilkenny last week. These junior students, who were judged on their recitations of two poems, have now qualified for the semi-finals of the competition, which will be held in the National Library in Dublin in November.
Sports News
Well done to the U19 basketball team who very narrowly defeated the Mercy by just two points in a nail-biting game on Monday 21st October. Hard luck to the U16 team who, despite their valiant efforts were defeated by their opponents.
We were also delighted to hear the news that our past pupil, Beth Carton, won her second All-Star award and we extend a hearty congratulations to her.
The Shona Project
We were especially excited to welcome Tammy Darcy, CEO of The Shona Project, and Freya Darcy, Shona Ambassador to our school to launch ‘The Survival Handbook for Girls’ during our well-being week. 28,000 copies of this book, which has everything you need to know about nailing secondary school will be distributed to first year girls all over Ireland and our first years were the first in the country to get their hands on a copy