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Our School Ethos

Catholic Schools Week 2025 - Alive in Christ!

“Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” – Pope Francis, Christus Vivit, Section 1.

1st Years

Well done to the winners and runners up of the 1st Year Scavenger Hunt where they found images of famous people who are Catholic placed around the school.

2nd Years

3rd Years

Our 3rd year students shared ways we can be in Alive in Christ and be Pilgrims of Hope. Their acts of kindness included helping others, assisting their granny with the local shopping and making their parents cups of tea. A cup of tea has been at the heart of Catherine McAuley’s Mercy ethos.

TY Students

Some of our TY students represented our school at the Catholic Schools Week Mass in St. Mary’s Oratory. TY students also participated with distribution of a prayer and treat to the 3rd and 6th year students before their Mock Exams.

Staff

Many thanks to the staff who engaged in the daily quiz on google forms. Some of the anagrams tested your memory of the Bible stories. Congratulations to the winners.

Senior Students

Well done to the students who read morning prayers and reflections on our intercom. Our 5th and 6th Year students also explored ways we can be Pilgrims of Hope in 2025 and engaged in a pilgrimage walk on the shore front during RE class.

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Pope John Paul II and Papal Cross Award Ceremony

Congratulations to our students who received their Pope John Paul II and Papal Cross awards at a ceremony in St. Eugene's Cathedral, Derry. Caoimhe Lafferty 6C spoke at the ceremony stating that the students were involved in a range of activities in their parishes. Many read at mass, participated in the Parish Novena and Corpus Christi procession, and led the Stations of the Cross during Lent. Our Papal Cross students Caoimhe Lafferty and Kayla McColgan 6B led morning prayers in our school chapel. All the students went on pilgrimage to Knock.

Our social activities included volunteering in a charity shop, tidy towns and collecting for St. Vincent de Paul. The work and commitment the students have shown have not only been beneficial to themselves but to their homes, school, parishes and wider community.

A special word of thanks to the local priests, parish leaders Máire Gormley and Helen Grant. Also a huge thank you to Ms. O'Connor for the incredible work she has done coordinating the John Paul II and Papal Cross awards. We wish 8 of the students well as they continue working towards their Papal Cross awards.

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Ceiliúradh CEIST 2025

The theme of this year’s Ceiliúradh CEIST day is “Home, School and Parish - Working Together”. Scoil Mhuire Buncrana embraced this theme through many activities. Students made St. Brigid’s Crosses in RE class. Hannah McLoughlin, a 5th Year student, assisted the Junior students in the making of the crosses, while some TY students assisted in the making of the crosses at the local Nursing Unit. Students delivered the St. Brigid’s Crosses to our local Parish Church, St. Mary’s Oratory for parishioners to have the crosses blessed.

TY students organised a collection for a local charity shop collecting unwanted gifts, clothes and toys to help those in need in our community. The CEIST prayer was read by students, the CEIST Flag was raised proudly and the CEIST candle shun brightly in our foyer

Ceiliúradh CEIST is a day to celebrate bringing alive the CEIST Values underpinned by the Mercy ethos in Scoil Mhuire Buncrana.

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Mock Exams 2025

Our mock exams are now well under way. We ask your son/daughter to read their timetable carefully and to organise books/notes to take with them for study periods before and after their exams. Remember, it's a marathon and not a sprint. Students will be sitting full papers as opposed to the shorter assessments during house exams. For example, Irish Paper 1 is 1hr 30mins long and Irish Paper 2 is 3 hours long! So make sure to stay hydrated, eat well, get enough sleep and exercise to keep your head straight. As always, if you have any concerns or feel that you need support, please let us know and we'll do everything that we can.

The Mock Exams for 3rd, 6^th year and LCA 2 students are running this year as follows:

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A link to the 6th Year and LCA 2 exam timetable can be found here.

A link to the 3rd Year exam timetable can be found here.

Signing Out During Exams

Students wishing to sign-out between their exam sessions must have a permission slip signed by a parent/guardian. These permission slips will be issued to students closer to the exams. In the event that a student wishes to sign-out but has not returned their permission slip, then the normal attendance and appointments procedures will apply and a student will need to be collected in person by a parent or guardian. These procedures are in place out of a duty of care for the safety and wellbeing of our students.

After-School Supervised Study

After-school supervised study runs every day in the Study Room from 16:00-18:00. The cost is €2 per session and this is paid to the supervising teacher. Supervised study offers students a fantastic opportunity to complete homework and study without distractions. Students who regularly attend supervised study report that they are less stressed at school, and say that they are able to stay on top of their work and have more free time at home. There is no need to register, simply turn up at the Study Room.

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Deadlines for Projects, Practicals and Coursework

In the table below you will find links to information on the deadlines for Junior and Leaving Certificate students in relation to projects, coursework and practicals. Should you require any additional information, please contact the subject teacher.

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Leaving Certificate Oral Exams

The oral examinations for all language subjects will take place during the Easter holidays from Saturday 12th April to Thursday 17th April. It is essential that students are available on these dates and no exceptions will be made. If you are unable to attend for medical reasons, an application must be made to the State Examinations Commission who will seek documentation. Every student will be allocated a day and time and this is not flexible.

If any student intends to complete a Leaving Certificate exam in the subjects listed below, they must inform Ms. O' Brien.

Buncrana Pantomine

Some of our wonderful and talented students are currently taking part in the Buncrana Pantomine Aladdin. Well done to this talented bunch.

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Cairde Pinn

Tá cairde pinn nua ag ár ndaltaí sa chéad bhliain agus iad ag scríobh anois go rialta chuig a gcairde pinn i bPobalscoil Bhaile an Róba. Bíonn siad ag fanacht go crua ar na litreacha ó Chontae Mhaigh Eo. Ár mbuíochas lena múinteoir Gaeilge, an tUasal Toland, as an obair iontach atá ar siúl aige leis an ngrúpa seo.

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Scoil Mhuire Cultural Exchange

A group of our 2nd and 3rd year students gathered at The Lake of Shadows to enjoy breakfast while sharing their cultural traditions. They discussed their typical morning meals and exchanged common phrases from their native languages. There were plenty of laughs as they practiced each other's languages, not only gaining new breakfast ideas, but also fostering a deeper appreciation for different cultures through both words and food. Our thanks to Ms. McDermott for coordinating this initiative.

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TY News

Our TYs are climbing the walls... literally! Something different on the cards for TY PE this week as students took on a wall climbing experience. After the initial nerves were overcome, students weren't long making their way to the top and even had some competition through races. A huge thank you to Damian, Stephen, Liam and all the staff at the Foyle Arena Derry for hosting us.

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Cooking Skills for Life

Our TY students are busy learning #skillsforlife in their cookery class. They have made chicken goujons and wedges, apple crumble, spaghetti bolognese, cookies and muffins. Many are putting these skills into practise at home and making these dishes for their families. Well done to all students and their teacher Ms. O'Sullivan.

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Shared Education for Positive Innovation Programme

This programme, which took place recently in Thornhill College Derry, involves ten of our TY students and is run by Cooperation Ireland. It aims to unite schools accross Northern Ireland and the border counties through shared learning experiences. Our TY students had a fantastic time and are thoroughly enjoying working with students from other schools.

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Scoil Mhuire Literacy Competition

Congratulation to class 1B who won our recent Literacy Competition for the most words read in First Year. They were awarded a pizza party to celebrate. Our thanks to Ms. McGuire for coordinating this competition.

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Scoil Mhuire Trad Group Workshop

The Scoil Mhuire Trad Group and music students had the honour of attending a workshop and recording session with Paddy Danagher in New Gate Arts & Culture Centre in Derry today. The students had a very enjoyable day. Our thanks to Ms. Byrne for organising the workshop and accompanying the students.

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Recycle for Cli-Mates and Green Schools

The Oasis team have begun a new recycling project as part of their efforts to support Scoil Mhuire's Cli-Mates and Green Schools. The Oasis team would like to help them continue with their projects for the upcoming year. They need to purchase tools that will help them to attach the upcycled items/decorations to various parts of our local area. We hope to assist them in acquiring their own supply of tools so that they no longer have to borrow tools from our caretakers. We have a new display in place adjacent to the Oasis class, outside Ms. McBride's office. The display shows the many improvements already made within our community, and hopefully together we can build on these projects.

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Helping Your Child with 1st Year Maths

For any parent/guardian interested in helping their 1st year child with maths, why not attend the 4 week Maths class which starts on Tuesday 25 February and will run for 4 weeks, from 7pm to 9pm. If interested, contact our Home School Community Liaison Ms. Martina McBride on (086) 0842923.

Internet Safety Talk

Parents and guardians are invited to attend an internet safety talk. This talk will take place during the school day on Thursday 13 February and will last for 1 hour. In order to book your place at this talk, please contact our Home School Community Liaison Ms. Martina McBride on (086) 0842923.

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Key Reminders for all Parents/Guardians

Personal Belongings

Scoil Mhuire is a big and busy school and it is not unusual for personal belongings to get mislaid. We ask that all items of uniform and school bags are clearly labelled and identifiable. We do not encourage students to bring non-school coats to school and they do so at their own risk. Scoil Mhuire does not take responsibility for missing bags as all students have been given the opportunity to avail of a locker in which they can keep their personal belongings safe and secure.

School Attendance

We encourage all of our students to attend school on time every day. When a student is going to be absent or late, parents/guardians must follow our school attendance and appointment procedures (available in Newsletter #1 on our website here).

We are currently running an Attendance League for 1st and 2nd years. The best classes were rewarded with a pizza party.

• 1B won the attendance league from Halloween to Christmas with a 12% improvement in attendance to the previous term.
• 2B had a 10% improvement during the same time.

Late in the Morning

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve school attendance, students who arrive late persistently will be required to complete a 1 hour late-comers detention on a Friday. Parents/guardians of the student will be notified of this. The academic school year is short and as the graphic above shows us, every minute counts! If however the student's lateness to school can be explained, please notify the Main Office of this.

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Parking and Road Safety

We ask everyone in our school community to be mindful of where they park, particularly around private dwellings, and to reduce their speed when in the vicinity of local schools. Only 20% of pedestrians will survive a collision with a vehicle travelling at 50kph, while 90% will survive one at 30kph.

Also, there is a parking space outside our main building which can only be used by people who have a blue badge parking card. We will not hesitate to ask drivers to move their car if they do not have one. Please think before you park. We are grateful for your ongoing cooperation in ensuring the safety of all students.

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 in the coming months to ensure you are fully part of the consultation process.

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Social Media

Keep up-to-date with the latest news from Scoil Mhuire on our social media accounts.

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Facebook

Instagram

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Upcoming Events and Deadlines

Friday 14 February	School closes for half-term break
Monday 24 February	School reopens after half-term break
Monday 24 February	Information evening for all 3rd Year and TY students going into 5th year on subject choices for September 2025 (Parents/Guardians attend)
Friday 28 February	3rd Year students must decide subject levels for Gaeilge, English and Maths
Monday 17 March	School closed for St. Patrick's Day Bank Holiday

If you have something that you would like featured in our school newsletter, please email micheal.clancy@scoilmhuirebuncrana.ie and we'll do our best to have it included in our next issue.

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