Newsletter #7 December 2024

Our School Ethos

Retirement of Mr. David Deeney

Mr. David Deeney, our RE teacher, is sadly retiring this year after 35 years of teaching, 10 of which included teaching in America. Over the years, David led groups of many students to orphanages in Romania, working in conjunction with the North West Romanian Appeal. Some of the Romanian children have since travelled back to Ireland and continue to have strong friendships with our former students.

The very talented Mr. Deeney always enjoyed entertaining the senior citizens at the annual Back in the Day event and singing in school musicals. A TY student describes Mr. Deeney as “an incredible storyteller. He taught through the art of storytelling which at the time was strange, but little did I know, in the future whilst doing my exams it was such stories that helped me through my exams.”

In the words of Matthew 5: 16 “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Thank you, Mr. Deeney for shining your light so brightly for all in our school and wider communities and for sharing your gifts of faith, wisdom and compassion which have enriched the lives of many. Wishing you every blessing for a happy and healthy retirement.

St. Vincent de Paul Christmas Hamper Appeal

Many thanks to everyone in our school community that brought in non-perishable items over the past two weeks. These items were collected by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul last Friday and will be distributed before Christmas to help local families in need.

"Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself"

During the season of Advent, staff and students were given the opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. On 5th December, 8 local priests gathered in our school chapel to offer the sacrament of healing. Many in our school community accepted the invitation for forgiveness. Thank you to the priests and to the Papal Cross students who assisted on the day. Pictured are some of the priests receiving refreshments in our canteen.

Senior Citizens Party 2024

The annual Scoil Mhuire Senior Citizens Party, Back in the Day, took place on Thursday, 12 December in the Inishowen Gateway Hotel. This event was entirely fundraised for by Scoil Mhuire students. Their aim was to give the senior citizens of our community a heart-warming day out. It is an event like no other with guests from all the nursing units in Inishowen in attendance, as well as lots of local faces. The senior citizens were fully entertained by our talented students, past pupils, Scoil Mhuire staff and a local band. Ms. Annette McGonagle is the driving force behind this wonderful event that helps to build interactions between the youth and elderly in our community. It was an unforgettable day out for all.

Spórt ar Scoil

U14.5 Boys Gaelic Football

Hard luck to our U14.5 Boys Gaelic Football team who lost the Ulster Final against Moville CC last week. It is a brilliant achievement to reach an Ulster Final and unfortunately our boys came up against a very strong Moville team. This group of young players has a bright future ahead of them and they can be very proud of their efforts all year. Beidh lá eile ag an bPaorach. Our thanks to Mr. Thompson for accompanying the team.

Senior Boys Soccer

Congratulations to our Senior Boys soccer team who beat Breifne College last week 4-0. There were goals on the day from Brendan Roe, Shane McLaughlin, Joe Lavery and Terence Doherty. The boys are now through to the Ulster quarter final against Carndonagh Community School. The game will be played in the new year and we wish the team and their manager Mr. Carr the very best of luck.

1st Year Boys Soccer

Congratulations our 1st Year Boys Football team who booked their place in the Donegal League Final with an emphatic 5-0 victory against St. Columba’s College. Four brilliant goals from Danny Friel 1B and an outstanding strike from Dylan Narmontas 1A secured their spot in the Donegal League Final. The goal scorers will grab the headlines but they were well backed by strong performances all over the pitch. James Bradley 1D and James Cullen 1B impressed at the back with Harry McDaid 1B and Michael Bradley 1D also instrumental in midfield. The boys now await their opponents in the final which will be played after the Christmas break. Well done to all involved and to Mr. McCauley for accompanying the team.

More Success for Kevin Jordan

Congratulations to our past pupil Kevin Jordan who completed his Leaving Certificate in 2022. Kevin is now studying Science in Sports & Exercise with Physical Education at Atlantic Technological University (ATU) and was selected to represent Ireland in the College University Football League (CUFL) in France. The announcement follows a competitive trial process held last month in Dublin where the Finn Harps player was successful in earning his spot in the squad of 18 players.

Scholarship for Sadhbh McGrath

Congratulations to our past pupil Sadhbh McGrath who completed her Leaving Certificate in 2023. Sadhbh is now studying Communication Studies at Dublin City University (DCU). Sadhbh was one of four young athletes from Donegal who received sport scholarships at an event last week.

Irish Science Teachers' Association Quiz

A huge congratulations to our senior students Kayla McColgan 6B, Kayla McEleney 6A and David Wilson 6C who competed in the final of the ISTA Senior Science Quiz in Trinity College Dublin on Saturday 30 November. It is an incredible achievement to have progressed to the national final of this highly prestigious competition and we couldn't be prouder of you. Many thanks to Ms. Boyle who prepared the students for the quiz and who accompanied them to Dublin.

Nicotine Pouches - a Warning for Parents and Students

We wish to advise parents/guardians that it has been brought to our attention by the Donegal Youth Council that they are very concerned by the increasing number of students who are using nicotine pouches, otherwise known as SNUS. These white tobacco pouches are placed between the lip and gum so that the drug is absorbed into the bloodstream. These products have an enormous amount of nicotine in them, making them highly addictive. Quitting this habit has the same unpleasant side effects as when you stop smoking, including headaches and nausea.

Further information about SNUS can be found at https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/41134/1/snus-use-in-english-professional-football.pdf

Donegal Engineering Association

Scoil Mhuire wishes to offer our sincere thanks to the Donegal Engineering Association who donated a welding kit to our school recently. This device will be a great asset to our school and our students for many years to come and will hopefully inspire a future generation of welders.

LCA PTSB

Our Leaving Certificate Applied students enjoyed a very informative talk from the staff of the Buncrana branch of PTSB. They discussed setting up accounts, different types of loans, how to save and how to borrow money. A big thank you to Branch Manager Triona McLaughlin and her colleague Trish for delivering an excellent presentation and for the goodie bags they provided.

Panto 2024

Computer Science Week 2024

We recently celebrated Computer Science Week 2024 at Scoil Mhuire. Our 1st Year students created posters using the themes of 'Predicting Future Computing Technologies, 'Using Creativity', and 'Research and Technical Skills'. Their posters displayed their vision of future advancements in technology. Our Junior Cycle coders participated in a coding competition, demonstrating their logical thinking, computational skills and creativity with games that featured demon snowmen, pesky rats and aliens. Our TY coding and robotics students also participated in a gaming competition, showing expert gaming skills such as strategic thinking and problem solving skills. Well done to all who participated in Computer Science Week 2024 and congratulations to all of the winners. Our thanks to the teachers of computer science and information technology who organised this brilliant week of activities at Scoil Mhuire.

Cli-Mates and Green Schools

Scoil Mhuire's Cli-Mates have been up and running since 2017 and have undertaken many successful projects during that time, including One Good Idea, Young Environmentalists and winning the Greta Award. They now intend to encompass all things green with an even bigger and better team who will endeavour to transform the school into a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly place to be. Many hands make light work and this fantastic group of students are going to leave a lasting and worthwhile impact on our school. The new team of staff includes:

Ms. Dowds - Coordinator

Ms. A. Doherty

Ms. Gralton

Ms. Burns

Ms. Alton

SNA Sharon McGonagle

Climate Ambassador

Congratulations to Aylah O'Donovan 6A who has become a Climate Ambassador with An Taisce. An Taisce is the national trust for Ireland and works to protect and celebrate Ireland's natural and built environment for present and future generations. Aylah will travel to Dublin for training in the new year and follows in the footsteps of Ms. Dowds and other former students who have also become climate ambassadors. We wish Aylah the best of luck in her new role as a Climate Ambassador.

Scoil Mhuire Soccer Girls on Tour

Our Girls Soccer teams had a brilliant day out in the Aviva Stadium supporting the Ireland Women's National team recently. It was a pity about the result on the night for our national team, but we have no doubt that some of these girls will wear the green jersey in the future. Our sincere thanks to Ms. McKinney and Mr. Carr for accompanying the students on this trip to Dublin.

Agricultural Science

As part of Careers Week 2024, our 6th Year and LCA2 Ag Science students recently visited Doherty's Potatoes for a farm walk and talk during which they learned about potato production. Both groups have just finished learning about potatoes in class and could see the theory in practice on their visit. They students learned about seed selection, seedbed preparation, disease prevention, variety selection, grading, storing and packing. The whole process from farm to fork. This is an invaluable resource to have so close to our school and we wish to say a huge thank you to Charlie, Michael and all the Doherty family, including their staff, for passing on some valuable knowledge. Our thanks to Ms. McKinney for accompanying the students.

Trade Fair 2024

Our annual Trade Fair is one of the highlights of the school calendar and this year did not disappoint. We wish to congratulate all of the students who took part in the Scoil Mhuire Trade Fair 2024. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to demonstrate their creativity and entrepreneurial skills.

The winners of the Junior and Intermediate categories will now progress to the regional final of the national Student Enterprise Competition. The winners and runners up of the three categories in TY - Business, Innovation and Social Enterprise - will progress to regional final of the national Student Enterprise Competition and also to the regional final of the NFTE competition.

The plaques for the winners were kindly sponsored by the Business Department of ATU Letterkenny. Our thanks to Paul McCusker from the Business Department of ATU and Pádraig McDonagh from the Science Department of ATU who were our judges on the day.

Disabled Person's Parking Bay

We wish to remind everyone in our school community that we have a disabled person's parking bay at the main entrance to our school. This parking space can only be used by people who have a blue badge parking card and we will ask drivers to move their car if they do not have one.

Admissions 2025/2026

Further details about enrolment for 2025/2026 can be found here

Policy

We are currently reviewing our uniform, mobile phone and anti-bullying policies. We are engaging currently with students to access their voice on these important matters which impact them on a daily basis. We will also engage with parents/guardians early in 2025 to ensure you are fully part of the consultation process.

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