Transition Year Surfing

On Tuesday the 11th of September, we all went surfing in Tramore. Everyone was excited when we got on the two buses at 9 a.m. with Ms. Pickering, Ms. Rochford, Ms. Troy and Ms. Curran. A lot of us hadn’t been surfing before and we couldn’t wait to try it out. When we arrived in Tramore we went to the surf school where we were split into two groups. My group got to go surfing first. The instructor gave us a safety brief and handed us our wetsuits. He then gave each pair two boards to carry down to the beach. When we got to the beach, he gave us a demonstration on the sand before letting us in the water. The water was absolutely freezing at first and the waves were so strong they were knocking us backwards. It was extremely difficult to stand up on the board but it was hilarious to watch everyone try. The board moved a lot faster in the water than most of us anticipated so there was lots of falling and splashing. Some of the girls were experts though and avoided swallowing half the water. It was such an adrenaline rush when you got a big wave but it was nearly more fun having a laugh with the girls about how terrible we all were. We were extremely sad when our time surfing finished. After a serious struggle out of the wetsuits and lunch, we got to go on the beach walk with Glenn and he told us all about the beach wildlife and brought us up on the sand dunes. It was a great opportunity to chat with all the girls and really interesting to learn about the beach and the history with pirates. The day had gone in a flash and soon we were all on the bus heading home again. It was a great day and a good way to get our mind off the next day when we would be getting our Junior Certificate results!!!!

Written by Alanah Donnelly, Transition year

Transition year students walking in the dunes as part of their day of surfing in Tramore	2
All kitted out and ready to go!	They got a great day for it. Good waves and plenty of sunshine!

Ard Scoil na nDéise Hosts Camogie Blitz for Local Secondary Schools

On Wednesday the 3rd of October, our school hosted a camogie blitz for First, Second and Third Year students from schools across Waterford. The blitz took place in Dungarvan GAA grounds and an enjoyable day was had by all. As Transition years, we helped out in the running of events during the day and we were all assigned different jobs in order to create a fun atmosphere for the players participating. We all walked down to the pitch and got ready for the day ahead. We entered two teams which both had great success throughout the day, with one winning the blitz outright! The participating schools were: Árd scoil na Mara Tramore, St Declans Kilmacthomas, Pobail Scoil Youghal, WaterPark, An Rinn and Árd Scoil na nDéise. With all teams ready to go, we began at 11 a.m. Árd scoil 2 were narrowly defeated in their four matches and put up great battles against very hard oppositions. Árd scoil 1 were also very good and managed to win two out of their three matches losing to a strong Youghal team. This left them in a semi-final against Waterpark. They played a great match and despite being tired, they put in a huge effort and came out on top, now reaching the final against St Declan’s Kilmacthomas 1 who beat Tramore 1 in the other semi-final. The final was a brilliant game of camogie to watch and was very close between the two evenly matched teams however, in the end a strong Árd Scoil side won by 1:3 to 1 point. A great day was had by all and everyone enjoyed the experience.

Written by Míde Delaney & Ella O’Neill

Tired but victorious. Well done to all involved in the camogie blitz

There was great rejoicing when one of the Ard Scoil teams won the blitz outright

Swimming Success for the Ard Scoil

Congratulations to the eight students who travelled to the University of Limerick to represent Ard Scoil Na nDéise at the Munster Senior Schools swimming championships recently.

Heather O’Reilly, Elia Tutty, Crea Frisby, Emma Hickey, Sarah Nyhan, Ella Harrington, Hannah McCarthy and Aoife Kiely all had great swims in what was a very competitive and strong field in all categories.

Aoife Kiely won bronze in the 100m butterfly and was the only student from the Dungarvan schools to come home with a medal.

A great day was had by all. Well done to the girls and to all those involved in preparing them for the day.

Ard Scoil na nDesie & Carriglea Art Collaboration – Recycling Bottle Top Project

As part of the Transition Year programme in Ard Scoil na nDeise students take on board the challenge of collaborating with Carriglea Service Users by teaching them new art skills. The Carriglea  Service Users visit the Ard Scoil’s art room for a double class every week where they paint, design, colour and learn plenty of new arts and crafts skills with the Ard Scoil Transition Year Students  and art teacher Ms. Foley. Students get the opportunity to talk and have some fun with them along with helping to make their day more enjoyable by doing arts and crafts.

However, this year the Transition Years wanted to make a difference in our school community, along with helping the Carriglea art service users. An idea sprung to mind about using recycled material from the school to make an art piece. By working together as a school community on this project, each class recycled and collected bottle tops instead of dumping them. All the bottle tops in various colours were collected by the school over a one month period. The Transition Year students were able to use them as material to make a large mural/collage with a sea theme with the Carriglea students. We were absolutely delighted with the support and enthusiasm we got from the Ard Scoil students in being able to recycle and collect the bottle tops. This project not only benefitted the environment by recycling bottle tops and reducing waste in our school, the Carriglea art students really enjoyed the project as so many colours and fun was involved as well as having to concentrate while working on the piece.

This project pushed the boundaries for the Ard Scoil students in terms of having to adapt to the needs of the Carriglea Service Users. The experience of working with them was very empowering, motivational and something that the Ard Scoil students will never forget! It was fair to say that everyone was always in great form after working with the students as it is very inspiring and a great experience. We made great new friends and always had a good laugh during each class. Students found the module very eye opening to see how skilled in art the Service Users were and how hardworking they were in their willingness to complete various pieces and projects. We learned a lot from them. By using all the recycled bottle tops, the finished product turned out to be truly spectacular and we could not have thanked the Carriglea Service Users enough for helping us bring it together!

Written by Elia Tutty

A work in progress. It took a lot of hard work to gather the bottle tops and create the finished product.	The finished art pieces are so impressive. Well done to all involved in creating them.
One of the finished pieces. Well done to all involved.

Ard Scoil na nDéise School Tour to Spain

Over the Halloween midterm, twenty three students and three teachers from Ard Scoil na nDéise had the privilege of going on a school tour to the south of Spain. The trip lasted five days, and we had plenty to do! On Saturday, October 27^th, we departed from Dublin airport and spent the day travelling to Torremolinos, where we stayed. On Sunday, we went to Seville. We spent the day at a theme park and we all had so much fun. On Monday, we went to the city of Granada. We got a tour of the beautiful palace and the old town. Here, we learned a lot about the history of the city. On Tuesday, we travelled back to Seville. Here, we had time to go shopping for a few hours. We then got a guided tour of the city which was very interesting. The city is full of amazing monuments and buildings. On our last day, we went to Malaga. We had a great time going around the shops. Then we visited the Picasso art gallery and had our last lunch together before heading back home. We flew back to Cork that night, after having a wonderful trip. While this was an educational experience, we all had a great time together and we have some amazing memories we will never forget. We would like to thank our teachers, Ms. O’Shea, Ms. Foley and especially Ms. O Sullivan, who organised this brilliant trip.

Written by Nancy Hodnett and Shari Harty

Everyone had a great day at the theme park!	Seeing the sights and enjoying the sunshine!!
Of course there was a cultural element to the trip!	Sampling local cuisine is a must!

Ard Scoil na nDéise Student Receives Award from Trinity College Dublin

The Board of Management and staff of Ard Scoil na nDéise would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to Clodagh Curran on her recent award from Trinity College Dublin. Clodagh sat the Leaving Certificate in June 2018 and is now studying Maths and English at Trinity College Dublin. Having obtained in excess of six hundred points, Clodagh was already recognised at our school awards night in October for her outstanding Leaving Certificate results. On Wednesday, 21^st November, Clodagh was again given recognition for her Leaving Certificate results at The Award of the 2018 Entrance Exhibitions at Trinity College Dublin. It was a wonderful occasion and was richly deserved recognition for all of Clodagh’s hard work. It must be said that Clodagh applied herself with great diligence not alone during Sixth Year but throughout her time in Ard Scoil na nDéise. In addition to her academic success, we must also acknowledge Clodagh’s exceptional contribution to sport in the Ard Scoil. She was always a great team player and a motivator of her team mates both on and off the pitch. We are so proud of her achievements and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for Clodagh!

Clodagh Curran pictured with her parents Pat and Margaret Curran and Principal Ms. Jennifer O’Keeffe at the Entrance Exhibitions at Trintiy College Dublin

Clodagh Curran pictured with her parents Pat and Margaret Curran at the presentation of her Award at Trinity College Dublin

Twenty First Annual Awards Night at Ard Scoil na nDéise

Ard Scoil na nDéise celebrated their twenty First Annual Awards Night on Friday, 12^th October. It was a wonderful occasion which brought together a large cross-section of the Ard Scoil community to celebrate all that is good about our school and our students.

Our guest of honour on the night was Ms. Tracey Kennedy, Chairperson of Cork County Board and Deputy Principal of Carrigaline Community School. Tracey gave an inspirational address on the night in which she commended our students on their achievements and highlighted the importance of contributing in a positive way to our communities and to society in general. She spoke about how her own involvement in sports administration has pushed her outside of her comfort zone and encouraged our students to push themselves to try new things and to move outside of their own personal comfort zones. Throughout her address it was evident that Tracey believes in empowering women to take active roles in society and to aspire to leadership positions. She was an exceptionally positive role model for all present on the night and we are delighted that she joined us for our awards night.

As always, the awards presented on the night acknowledged achievements across a broad spectrum of achievements, both curricular and co-curricular, placing emphasis on the holistic development of our students.

We were very proud to see an abundance of evidence of our students’ commitment to their academic work as well as to a range of extra-curricular activities. Looking at the scope and variety of awards presented on the night, it was clearly evident that there really is something for everyone here at the Ard Scoil. We are truly grateful to our dedicated and committed teachers who work so hard with the girls to help them develop their many talents.

We would also like to congratulate the girls for making the effort to move outside their comfort zones and to take up new challenges and try new things. We never know our limits until we are pushed and our students are clearly pushing themselves to be the best that they can be.

We had two beautiful musical performances on the evening. Our Traditional music ensemble provided a wonderful taste of Irish culture at the beginning of the night’s proceedings. We were also treated to a wonderful musical interlude from Sixth Year student Niamh Hayes who played a very powerful piece on the piano.

We wish to thank our generous sponsors Ballymount Accounting, Copymoore, Sip n Surf, Printmaster, David Walsh, Comeragh Oil, Sisters of Mercy, Parents’ Council, Tomas Walsh, Baumann Jewellers, Great Deal Flooring, Joe Coffey Blinds, Hygiene Excellence, Monica’s and Dreolín Glass. Events like Awards Night are so important in the school calendar but they simply would not be possible without financial support from the community.

Well done to all of our award recipients. We very much look forward to seeing what the future holds for you all!!

Recipients of public speaking awards Lowri Clancy Davies, Aoife Loome and Sinead O’Brien photographed with their teacher Evelyn Simons.	Recipients of the Irish Maths Teachers Association Junior Maths Awards Ruth Kearney, Martina Nowotny, Roisin Kiely photographed with maths teacher Fiona Troy.
Eve Keating, winner of the inaugural Art perpetual award, pictured with art teacher Ms. Mary Foley.	Recipients of our class awards. (Back row) Kellie Hallahan, Ellie Fennell, Eve Dwyer, Alanah Carey, Abi Power, Anna Hickey, Katelyn Horsom (Front row) Eve Keating, Ella Harrington, Anna Whelan, Orna O’Brien, Niamh Hayes, Clodagh Curran. Absent from photo: Sarah Lacey and Niamh Reddy.
Sports Star of the Year award winner, Lucy Holmes, pictured with (back row) Chairperson of the Board of Management Robert McCarthy, teacher and sports coach Sara Flavin, Deputy Principal Joanne Brosnan, Principal Jennifer O’Keeffe, Guest Speaker Tracey Kennedy, (front row) Ian Holmes, Tom Holmes, Lucy Holmes, Lola Holmes.	Orla Healy, recipient of the Margaret Radley Geography award photographed with (back row) Ms. Isabella Scully, Deputy Principal Joanne Brosnan, Principal Jennifer O’Keeffe, Guest speaker Tracey Kennedy (front row) Michael Healy, Orla Healy, Mary Healy.
Niamh Hayes, winner of the inaugural Music perpetual award, pictured with Deputy Principal Joanne Brosnan, Art Teacher Ciara Lucey, and Principal Jennifer O’Keeffe.	Aoife Loome, recipient of the CEIST award photographed with Fr. John Harris.
Winner of First Prize in the Eurofins essay competition, Dearbhaile ní hAllacháin photographed with former Transition year coordinator Tommy Collins.	Tara Fitzgerald, recipient of the Spirit of Transition Year award pictured with Tommy Collins, former Transition Year coordinator.
Congratulations to the Leaving Certificate students who obtained over 500 points in the Leaving Certificate. (Back row) Eileen Fitzgerald, Emma Gildea, Chairperson of the Board of Management Robert McCarthy, Kayla McCarey (front row) Saoirse Culloo, Clodagh Curran.	Recipients of athletics awards pictured with their teacher and trainer Sara Flavin. (Back row) Teacher and trainer Sara Flavin, Sinead O’Brien, Aoife Dee, Lucy Holmes, Elia Tutty, Kate Hickey, Sarah Slevin, Aoibh Murphy, Roisn Kiersey, Katie Donnelly, Aislinn O’Regan. (Front Row) Mary Bradfield, Emma Hickey, Aoife O’Brien, Mary Kate Prendergast, Sarah Lacey, Anna Hickey, Sarah Nyhan.