Invitation from Curriculum Development Unit, Dept of Education.
On 18th Sept. Mr. Tyrrell and Mrs Fidgeon travelled to the Marino
Institute of Education, Dublin, to talk to principals and co-ordinators
whose schools had just been approved for the J.C.S.P. Programme,
on setting up the Programme in their schools. The invitation to
speak came from the National Co- coordinators of the Junior Certificate
School Programme Miss Bernadette Kiely and Miss Aideen Cassidy.
Writers in Schools
Mr. Arthur Flynn, well known author, visited the school on 22nd
October, from 11.00a.m. to 12.25p.m. to meet the boys who voted
his book "Luke's Heroes" the book that they liked best.
It was one of the books on the reading list for the very successful
Reading Challenge which was held earlier in the year. Students and
teachers had a very informative and enjoyable time with Mr. Flynn.
He answered their questions on how he started writing, the length
of time it took him to write a book and the editing and publishing
process etc. They are looking forward to reading his other books
in the series and have asked him to visit them again.
Essay Competition on Mr. Flynn's visit.
Following Mr. Flynn's visit the classes were given an opportunity
to write about the visit and what they gained from the experience
of listening to him and asking him questions. The prize for each
class is a voucher for the video shop for ten euro. The Classes
which took part in this competition were are 3Ash, 3 Rowan,2 Elm,
1 Oak. Congratulations to the winners: 3 Ash, Christopher Doyle,
3 Rowan Martin Lee, 2 Elm, James Glynn and 1 Oak, Gerard Kavanagh.
Visit to Forest
On 17th Oct. National Tree Day, Miss Vidal and Miss Morgan took
a group of students to
The Devil's Glen in Ashford where they met the Head Forrester Mr.
Howell, at the Visitors' car park. Mr. Howell and his collegue Mr.
Pat Horn took the students on a gudked tour of an area of the forest.
They showed the students samples of seedlings and wood cuttings
and encouraged them to identify trees on their walk. After lunch
they viewed the Sculpture in Woodland. They saw Mr. Lee, a Korean
artist completing and assembling an amazing timber sculpture. They
visited the waterfall and they collected information and rubbings
for their Christmas "Nature Project". Our thanks to Coillte
for facilitating the visit.
Christmas "Nature" Project
All classes on the J.C.S.P. Programme, 3 Ash, 3 Rowan, 2 Elm, 1
Oak and Sycamore started work on the chosen topic for this year's
project "Nature". First years visited the Zoo on 18th
Oct. to gather information on the animals. Each student will research
the origin, habitat, feeding costs, care of and animal rights of
their selected animal. Teachers and students be involved in Cross
Curricular activities in all their subjects on the theme of "Nature"
for the next four weeks e.g. cost of feeding the animal in Maths
class, habitat in English class etc. Thanks to all the teachers
who are planning work for the students. There will be an exhibition
and a celebration to their work on 6th Dec at 2 o'clock. As part
of their Information Technology classes the students will design
and print invitations to their parents to come and celebrate with
us.
Christmas Sale and Christmas "Nature" Project Celebrations.
A Christmas Sale will be held in the Sports Hall from 10.00a.m
- 2.00p.m. on Friday 6th Dec. The work done on the Christmas "Nature"
Project by Classes 3 Ash, 3 Rowan, 2 Elm, 1Oak and Sycamore will
be on display there. At 2.00 p.m. until 3.20p.m.parents of these
classes are invited to celebrate their children's work on the project.
There will be a cup of tea and mince pies for the adults, "goodie
bags" for all the students and lollies etc. for the little
ones. Miss Kennedy's music class will have a Christmas Musical Presentation
for us. The Christmas Sale will feature knits From "Shuttle
Knit", homemade cakes, holly wreaths, Christmas logs, toys,
books etc. Do come along and support us, see what we are doing and
pick up a bargain! Everyone welcome.
Parents see Video
A meeting was held on 27th Nov. with parents and students to view
our school's part in the video "Between the Lines" which
was made in the school with the First and Second Year J.C.S.P. students
last March. We discussed the new Reading Challenge and parents volunteered
to help to cover the new books. Thank you to all who offered their
services, your help and interest is very much appreciated by the
teachers. The next reading Challenge will begin at the end of January
and run for five weeks. Each student will be challenged to read
a book a week for five weeks. Students Reading age will be tested
before and after the Reading Challenge. This forms part of the national
research into Literacy Initiatives, which the school is conducting
on behalf of the Curriculum Development Unit of the Department of
Education. The big prize will again be a Playstation 2.and there
will be a prize for everyone. The students taking part will get
the opportunity of reading Mr. Flynn's latest book " Luke in
Alcatraz", just published. The classes taking part will be
2 Elm, 1 Oak and Sycamore.
Teachers' prize.
Congratulations to Mrs. Rita Vidal and Miss Emer Mc Donald who
were awarded a prize for research and the purchase of Maths equipment.
Their prize of $600 was awarded by the Curriculum Development Unit
of the Dept. of Education. They submitted new ideas for making Maths
concepts more easily accessible for students who have difficulties
with the subject. They will carry out research for the Curriculum
Development over the next year, on how these ideas impact on their
students' learning. Congratulations and well done.
Postcards.
The postcards designed by Dean Franey and Keith Doyle have been
printed and are now in all 185 schools on the J.C.S.P. Programme.
These postcards are sent home to parents by the teachers, to celebrate
the good work of the students. Mugs with the winning design on them
have been ordered for the Trophy cabinet and for use in the staff
room. Congratulation to the boys and to their Art teacher Miss Deirdre
Morgan. Mrs. Fidgeon is using the beautiful designs as screen savers
on the computers in the Learning Support and Information Technology
Room.
Dept. of Education Evaluation of Junior Certificate Schools Programme.
On 21st and 22nd Nov. Mr. Seamus Kelly, Dept. Education conducted
a full two day evaluation of how the Junior certificate School Programme
is working in our school He had already paid a preliminary visit
for a half-day on 15th Nov. to meet the Principal, Mr. Thomas Tyrrell
and the Co - coordinators Mrs. Marie Fidgeon and Mrs Sheila Sherlock
to make plans for the Evaluation. The purpose of the Evaluation
was to look at the teaching, learning and organisation of the Programme
in our school. The outcome will be a School Report which will be
fed into a National Report. The evaluation was done by questionnaires,
meeting teachers and students and looking at the written documentation
held by the school.
Questionnaires were filled out by subject teachers, Learning Support
teacher, Resource teachers, Guidance Counsellor and the Co-ordinators.
He sat in on different classes over the two days. He chose the classes
to give a broad spectrum of Literacy, Numeracy, Art, Woodwork and
Personal and Social Development. Mr. Kelly viewed our documentation
on profiling, timetabling, agendas and outcomes of meetings, Newsletters,
Curriculum documentation, School Completion Data, School Review
of the J.C.S.P., Web site and photographs of events. He interviewed
a group of students about the Programme to get their views on how
it is working for them to help them with their Junior Cert. He appeared
impressed by our school's Programme and commented on the warm relationship
between students and staff and our friendly staff room.
Outing to Baltinglass Outdoor Education Centre.
The first outing of the new school year was "The Winners'
List" Outing, which had been postponed from earlier in the
year because of Foot and Mouth disease. It took place on Thursday
20th September 2001. Classes 2Ash, 2 Rowan and B3S went on a multi
activity day to Baltinglass Outdoor Education Centre. They took
part in a range of outdoor activities including Canoeing, Archery,
Rock climbing, Absailing and Orientating. To get full benefit from
the day, an early start was planned for students and teachers, Mrs.
Sherlock, Mrs. Fidgeon, Mr. Young and Mr. Lawler. The bus left the
school at 8:30 am and returned at 5.30p.m. it was a beautiful sunny
day and everyone enjoyed the trip.
Christmas Celebrations
This was the third year of our "Christmas Project Celebrations",
which continue to go from strength to strength. Parents, grandparents,
aunties, uncles and relatives were invited to the Christmas Celebrations
for the students doing the Junior Certificate Schools Programme
on Friday 7th Dec at 1.30p.m.
The work done by the students and teachers was on display in Rooms
6 and 15. It was a wonderful display of the talents and creativity
of the students. There were Christmas songs by Miss P. Kennedy and
her music class, mince pies made in the kitchen by Mrs. Mc. Donald's
class and tea, coffee and soft drinks served in Room 15 by the Senior
and Junior students. The students of classes B3S, C2L, C2E, 2Ash,
2Rowan and 1Elm had been invitations for their families. Each student
was presented with a "goodie bag". Thank you to Mrs. Liz
Reynolds who went shopping for the "goodies" with Mrs.
Fidgeon and made up the bags for the individual students. Thank
you to Mrs. Marian Reardon for the labels for the bags and to both
of them for their help and help and encouragement with the Celebrations.
There was music and games in the classrooms after the presentations.
Santa lollies were a favorite with the small brothers and sisters.
Mrs. Fidgeon and Mrs. Sherlock would like to say a very sincere
"Thank You" to all the teachers who worked so hard to
produce wonderful work with their students. Teachers whose classes
contributed work to the display were: Miss Deirdre Morgan's 2Ash
and 2Rowan - Batiks "Peace to All" and 1Elm, winter landscape
painting. Mrs. Rita Vidal's 2Ash and 2 Rowan Story: "Christmas
Shopping - in Euro"and 1Elm "Helping People at Christmas".
Mrs Fidgeon's Learning Support classes who used their computer skills
to write up their "Christmas Wishes". Mr. Jack Buckley's
2Ash "Rowan and C2E who did a wall chart in Irish of Christmas
words and customs. Mrs. Sherlock's Class made mince pies, Christmas
logs and Christmas sacks and stockings in Home Economics, in English
"The Story of Christmas as told by the main characters, in
Art the did window paintings of Christmas Santas, Snowmen etc. Mr.Young's
did wood carving of Christmas scenes with his 2nd year students
and project preparation and presentations from his 3rd Years. Miss
McNamara's C2E had a display of their project work. Miss Crossan's
C2E made Christmas cards with the greetings in French. Miss Ann
Clark's C2l made Christmas cards with the greeting in Irish. Miss
Catherine Doyle's C2E made a book on the Christmas theme and C2l
made a poster of a Christmas Tree with their dreams for the future
on it. Mr. Cassidy's classes made model helicopters, candleholders
and motorcars.
" Thank You" to all who worked so hard to make it a great
afternoon. A special thank you to, Miss Fiona McClafferty of the
Curriculum Development Unit of the Department of Education, who
visited us to take part in our celebrations and brought the good
news a grant of £3,000 for books for The Reading Challenge.
Thank you to all the parents and relatives, who came along, to enjoy
the festivities and to support and encourage the students and staff.
Creative Writing Competition
2 Ash and 2 Rowan took part in a Creative Writing competition on
the theme of "Christmas ". The Winners were William Burke,
Dean Franey, Graham Fitzgerald, Eamon O'Beirne, Mark Doyle, William
O'Connor, and Martin Lee. Highly commended: Jason Murphy and Dean
McCoy. The competition was organised by Mr. Stan O'Reilly and sponsored
by Supervalu. Thank you to one and all.
The Reading Challenge
The Reading Challenge ran from mid January to mid March and was
an outstanding success! We are so proud of all the students who
read their six books over the six weeks. We could hardly believe
it when we compared the results of the Reading test given in January
with the results of the test given at the beginning of March. The
results were way beyond what we expected.
We congratulate every student who took part and thank every parent,
who put such effort into encouraging their son to stick at it and
read a book a week. We appreciate the time and effort that you put
into it.
A film crew from Telegael came and made a video on the Reading
Challenge. There was great excitement in the school. It was marvelous
to have the results of the Reading Tests because we were able to
talk about the positive results of the Reading Challenge for improving
Reading Skills. They were very impressed by the enthusiasm, friendliness
and good manners of your sons. It was a very special day for all
involved in the Reading Challenge, well done.
We were joined by parents and friends on Friday 15th March 2.30p.m.
for the Playstation 2 Draw which was the big prize for those who
had read their six books and improved their reading skills. There
was a draw for a big Easter Egg for each class and a gift token
for Extra Vision for each student. There was a "goody bag"
everyone and Mr. Tyrrell gave a special prize of a voucher for burger
and chips for each boy.
Congratulation again and thanks a million for all your support.
The teachers involved were
Marie Fidgeon, Coordinator of Project and teacher for 2 Rowan, Mrs.
Rita Vidal and Mr. Stan O'Reilly 2Ash, Miss Marie Breen, 1 Elm,
Mrs. Sheila Sherlock, B3S. It was such a success that we are hoping
to make it an annual event.
Make a Book Exhibition
On16th April the 1st and 2nd piled into a bus with Mrs. Sherlock,
Mrs. Fidgeon and Mr. Jody Kelly and headed for the 4th "Make
a Book Exhibition" in Dublin Castle, to view our eleven books
which had been produced by classes 2 Ash, 2 Rowan 1 Elm and B3S
and their teachers. A beautiful book of "Illustrated Poems
was made by 2 Rowan greatly inspired by their Art teacher Miss Deirdre
Morgan. Martin Young, B3S made a very realistic model of a volcano
and an illustrated book to go with it, helped by his teacher Mrs.
Sherlock. Mr. Stan O'Reilly helped the students in 2 Ash and 2 Rowan
to make books on "Rathnew's Sporting History, The Leinster
Clubs' Champion Cup - The Road to Victory" and "A History
of Rathnew Village from Pagan Times to the Present Day - the Village,
Generations in Social Cultural and Sporting History." In Room
15 the students used their computer skills to get information from
the Internet and produce books on cars and pop stars helped by Mrs.
Fidgeon. The trip included a stop over for refuelling in McDonald's
of Stillorgan and a great time was had by all.
Design a Post Card Winners.
The Curriculum Development Unit of the Dept. of education, Which
helps to fund all these activities, ran a "Design a Post Card"
Competition for all 185 schools who offer the Junior Certificate
School Programme to their students. Abbey Community had two winners,
Dean Franey 2 Ash and Keith Doyle 2 Rowan. As part of their prize
their winning designs were printed on mugs. Their designs are presently
being made in postcards which will be made available to all the
schools. The purpose of the postcards is for teachers to send home
good news about how well the students on the J.C.S.P. Programme
are doing.
Presentation of Student Profiles, Certificates and Prizes.
Parents, relatives, friends and teachers of classes C2L, C2E, B3S
2 Ash, 2 Rowan and 1 Elm, gathered in the Hall to celebrate with
and congratulate the students on their success. The presentations
took place on Friday 24th May. Third year students who have completed
the programme were presented with beautiful Profiles containing
a record of their Achievements, over the past three years, in each
of their subjects and a Reference from the school. In addition trophies
were presented to students who had impressed their teachers by their
hard work and good attitude.
Profiles were awarded to:
C2E: Mark Browne, Nicky Buck, Alan Byrne, Jessica Conlon,
David Copeland, Dean Corkish, Samantha Doyle, Carol Duffy, Jonathan
Jameson, Stephanie Kavanagh, Bernice Kennedy,
Nicola McGee, Dario Marini, Lee McCabe, Barry McNabb, Paul Merrigan,
Richard Murphy, Stephanie Newsome, Paul Norton, Katherine Olohan,
Sarah Jane Sheppard, and Paul Sillery.
B3S: Martina Walsh and Robert Lett and Anthony Nugent.
C2L: Alan Carton, Philip Clare, Tony Conyard, David Dickenson,
Matthew Dickenson, John Doyle, Keith Doyle, Philip Gill, Terence
Grant, Mark Kelly, Ilja Nitikin, William Pedoe, Jason Stafford,
Ronan Terry and Sean Toher.
Trophies were awarded to C2L: 1. Philip Gill. 2.David Dickenson.
3. John Doyle. Alan Carton, Action Project Award.
C2E: 1. Alan Byrne. 2.Paul Merrigan. 3. Paul Norton. Stephanie
Kavanagh, Music Award and Nicky Buck, Action Project Award.
2 Ash: William Burke. 2. Sean Redmond. 3. Chris Doyle.
2 Rowan: Ronan McVeigh. 2. William O'Connor. 3. Christopher
Gregory.
1 Elm: 1. David Redmond. 2. Dean Mulvihill. 3.John Johnson
and Robert Jameson.
B3S; Tina Walsh. Robert Lett. Martin Young and Kathleen Moorehouse.
All of Class C2L were given awards for the welcome, help and support
they had given to their new classmate Ilja Nitikin from Lativa.
Well done lads and Ilja.
A big "Thank You" Miss Fiona Richardson,Regional Coordinator
for the Curriculum Development Unit who came to Summer Celebrations
and is always supportive and encouraging of our students and teachers.
Last but not least a monster "Thank You" to the team
of teachers of the Junior Certificate Schools Programme for their
constant support, interest in their students and encouragement to
them and to me. (Mrs. Fidgeon). Thank you for attending Profiling
Meetings, filling in progress reports, student statement sheets
and work on the various projects throughout the year.
Wishing you all an enjoyable and safe Summer break.
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