This afternoon (thanks to the weather remaining dry – last year was cancelled due to snow) the 3rd Yrs had their Sports Afternoon. The Sports Dept organised a full round of challenges and activities, concluding with a fancy dress relay race. It was good fun for all – many thanks to Ms Doonan and all the Sports Prefects!

Garda Gary Brennan, Community Garda for the Cavan-Monaghan Division, spend today in our school. In the morning he did a workshop with the Transition Year classes, discussing every aspect of Road Safety with us. In the afternoon Garda Gary addressed all 3rd Year students on the subject of Alcohol and Safety. He told us about our rights and responsibilities in this area, and answered our many questions. It was interesting to hear about this subject from Garda’s point of view. We look forward to a return visit in the future for other students.

At the recent People of the Year awards, hosted by the Anglo Celt, 1st Yr student Lorna Tierney received the Award of Young Person of the Year. Lorna’s award profile can be accessed here

We close for the Easter Holidays after school finished on Friday March 30th, and class begins again at 9am on Monday April 16th. The picture used here was taken by Transition Year Multimedia students.

The Student Council have recently received more funds in aid of their much needed defibrillator. We would like to thank both Sonia Leonard of Ard Rialla-O’Donohue Irish Dancing School and the Leaving Certificate Class of 2011 for their generous donations to this cause. Their help is much appreciated.

Ms Dolan writes:
Congratulations to the TY Minicompany “You’re a Stair” on winning 1st Prize for Presentation at the TY Get up and go minicomany competition in Dublin today.
“Game-Gallery” for 2nd Prize for Innovation, and they have been selected to go forward to the National Finals in April.
Congratulations also to Aisling Bourke who was received the Personality Award.

Today was the Annual Charity Bake Sale organised by the Student Council. Thanks to all the students who baked for the event, and those who queued at lunchtime to support the event. You donated over 1000 Euro to the Student Council Charity fund, an amazing achievement.

Well done to athlete Clodagh O’Reilly (2nd Yr) who is our new All Ireland Champion. To quote the report in Athletics Ireland, she “cruised to victory”, beating a field of 80 runners from all over Ireland last weekend at St Mary’s College, Galway in the Aviva All Ireland Schools’ Cross Country Championships. Clodagh is pictured here during the race (picture from local paper the Anglo Celt) and later at the award ceremony.

Ms Dolan writes:
Congratulations to the TY Minicompanies who competed at the Athlone Regional Finals of the TY Get Up and Go competition.
Three companies, “Sholopy”, “Cattle Savers” and “Ní Tír gan Teanga”, now go forward to the National Finals in Naas on April 26th.
We also received 7 awards:
Innovation Award – 1st Prize to “Ní Tír gan Teanga” and 3rd prize to “Cattle Savers”
Marketing Award – £rd peize to “Making Memories” and 1st prize to “Shopoly”
Quality Award – 3rd prize to “Cattle Savers” and 2nd prize to “Shopoly”
Personality Award – Gráinne Donohue.

Good Luck now to our other companies competing in Dublin next week!

Aoife ag damhsa agus Savannah & na ceolteoirí ag seimn

Shannon ag damhsa le “Lady Gaga”

Ms Dolan writes:
Congratulations to all our 100 Young Entrepreneurs who competed in the Co Cavan Enterprise Board Awards yesterday, where 76 companies competed. We won 11 out of a total of 15 rewards! All of our students showed great confidence, initiative and creativity in their products, presentations and displays. The category winners go forward to the National finals in Croke Park in April.
The winning company were as follows:
Junior Category
Overall winner & Best Display – “Mrs Appledrops”
Innovation Award – “Senior Care Service”
Intermediate Category
Overall Winner – “Flair”
Innovation Award & 3rd prize – “Cuddly Bandit”
2nd prize – “Happy Days”
Best Display – “Button and Clip”
Senior Category
Overall winner – “Shopoly”
Innovation Award – “Easy Peasy Placements”
3rd prize – “Ni Tir gan Teanga”

Ciara Deering (TY) reports:
Five students (Ciara Deering, Megan Brady, Aishling Brouke, Lauren Freehill and Orlagh Daly) from our school where invited to take part in the National Conference of the European Youth Parliament in Dublin on the 2th – 4th of March 2012 after taking part at the regional finals in Monaghan of EYP.
We travelled to Dublin on Friday and arrived at the Abraham House Hostel where we were staying for the weekend. The Conference venue was St. Michael’s College Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4. We were each assigned to a committee before we arrived. They ranged from ITRE industry, technology and research about the post Fukushima World, SEDE security and defense about the defense budgets, hard and soft power, crisis and threats; to DROI on human rights about stereotypes, protecting heritage and community’s like the gypsies; and IMCO internal market and consumer protection about the Facebook generation!
We stayed in the hostel in rooms with our committees. Each committee discussed their topic on the Saturday and debated them all at a conference on Sunday. There was lots of fun activities over the weekend, games to get to know one another and also a disco and karaoke on the Saturday night.
We all have a wonderful time and a brilliant experience of debating and public speaking, expressing our opinions, seeing thing from others point of view, and just getting to know other people there. It is something we will always remember from the people, the energy, and debating and overall fun of EYP.

In recognition of our school’s promotion of European Studies, we have received an ESP award…

Seo Seachtain na Gailge. Beidh ceolchoirm sa Hall don 1ú agus an 2ú bliain Deardaoin seo chugainn.

As the Mock exams end, Mid Term break begins for all second level students in Ireland. School opens again on Monday, Feb 20th.

Ms Blessington’s 1st Yr English class held their Book Club Coffee Morning today. Here they are picture enjoying breakfast while discussing the book they have read together this term, A Girl Called Blue by Marita Conlon McKenna.

Emma Brady (incoming Deputy Head Prefect) writes:
Recently the Student Council have been raising much needed funds for purchasing a defibrillator. We have now almost reached our target amount of €2500. School-based Automated External Defibrillators provide a high survival rate for both student athletes and others who suffer Sudden Cardiac Arrest on school grounds.
The Student Council have worked hard over the past two years in securing these crucial funds. They have hosted two non-uniform days in which students were asked to donate €2 in aid of the defibrillator. The student council have also held a Christmas Card competition where the winning cards from each category were printed and sold. In the coming months, we will be holding a cake sale and hopefully this will be our final fundraising event in our quest to raise our las €200! We are also very grateful to Easons of Cavan, Glanbia and the Loreto Class of 1991 for their genorous donations towards this cause.

Pictured here wearing her medal is Michaela (St Ita), who is the Meath championship boxing Gold Medal winner 2012. Michaela is through to the Leinster championships which will take place in the coming weeks, and we all wish her well.

Best Wishes to our Camogie team in the All Ireland Quarter Final match in Ballyconnell this afternoon. Match report to follow.

This is the season for the Concern Debates, Concern’s flagship school activity. This week our team of Emer, Lisa, Raja and Yvette went to Moyne Community School with their coach Ms McGlade and a small group of suporters. The topic being debated was that “Africa’s growing population is preventing its development”. The chief judge was full of praise for the level of debating from both teams, and declared the winners (by a very narrow margin) to be the Moyne CS team – James, Maria, Stephen and Brian. Best wishes to moyne as they progress to the next rounds of the competition.
Both teams are pictured here, waiting for the Chief Judge to return with the result:

Congratulations to “Pé Scéal É” – Niamh Goeghegan, Rachael Birt, Lauren Sexton, Danielle Brady, Áine McDermott, Bronagh Sweeney, Emma Brady and EimearConnolly – who made it through to the next round of Siamsa Gael Linn, one of 32 groups from all over Ireland to get through. The next stage of the competition takes place on Feb 24th. Good Luck!

Sinéad Greene writes:
Peter O’Hanlon and his drama students from the Cavan Institute came to give the two Transition Year classes a drama workshop. We played different games, like keeping the ball off the ground, zip zap bling and 86421 which needed communication and eye contact. We then got into groups and acted out snapshot scenes of fairytales and films like Titanic, The Three Little Pigs, Shrek and Jack and the Beanstalk. We all enjoyed talking to the students on what they thought of the drama course in the Cavan Institute. Peter O’Hanlon also talked about a drama workshop he will be holding over the Easter and many people were interested. We really enjoyed the workshop and would like to participate in workshops like this again.

Richella Tiernan (TY) writes:
Yesterday the two TY classes Europa and Hibernia took part in a Music workshop with musical director Sue Donohoe and her six students from Cavan Institute. We took part in many activities and voice techniques with the students and each game had a different music skill. For example we had to list artist and bands according to the letters in the alphabet and if we couldn’t think of one we had to sit out till there was a winner; there was a rhythm game where we had to clap out the different notes and we also learnt a song in the Gahanna language. It was a brilliant day and we all really enjoyed the workshop, getting an insight into the different aspects of music they are studying in college, and we would love for them to come back.

Fiona Millar (Europa) writes:
This week we have been celebrating Mary Ward week. Mary Ward founded the Sisters of Loreto in 1609. At the age of 15 she felt the calling to religious life. She entered a monastery of Poor Clares at Saint-Omer in northern France, then in Spanish Flanders as a lay sister in 1606 and the following year she founded a new monastery of the Order for English women. This week we have had different prayers being read out throughout the week. Mary Ward believed that women were equal in intellect and should be educated accordingly. Today the order she inspired is all around the world. This week we the TY class will be holding a carnival for the first years to help raise money for a Loreto school in Rumbek, South Sudan.

Eleanor Brady (TY) writes:
The official opening of the Honey Money Bank was held on Tuesday, the 24th of January. The bank team had an interview with Northern Sound a couple of days prior, advertising and promoting the bank. Aisling Doonan, the Cavan ladies GAA football team captain came to our school to cut the ribbon, and officially open the bank – and she also brought the All Ireland Cup! There were sweets available for all students and raffle tickets for a small hamper raffle given out to all students who lodged money. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and it was a great opening for our school bank.

Alice Breslin and Amy Delaney (TY) write:
Today eleven TY students took part in an Oral Health workshop. In this course we were taught all the essentail details of Oral Hygiene. We were also given notes and tips on how to present our learnings. We learned useful tips on how to clean your teeth and we got to practice on fake teeth. We learned how to help prevent plaque build up and tooth decay. We were also giving models of a human mouth and a tooth brush to practise teaching. On the 10th of February we will have our first class teaching 1st years about the importance of dental hygiene and showing them how to look after their teeth. Overall it was a very enjoyable course to do.

Pictured below is Shannon learning to use the models to teach.

Megan Brady (TY) writes:
On Monday the 23rd of January, five TY students travelled with Ms. Gaffney to Bergen-op-Zoom in the Netherlands. As they arrived at the train station in Bergen-op-Zoom, they met their hosts and were whisked away to their homes for the week. They spent the week living as a student in Bergen-op-Zoom going to school and visiting many different tourist attractions. On Tuesday they got to know the students from other countries including Spain, Norway and Estonia. On the Wednesday they took a day trip to Belgium where they visited a concentration camp and saw the horrors of WW2, after they went into the city of Antwerp where they went shopping. On Thursday they spent the day as a normal Dutch students would going to school with their hosts. On Friday they went to Amsterdam where they went on a trip down the canal and visited the famous Anne Franks’ annexe. Overall the trip was an amazing experience and the five girls truly enjoyed the trip, doing and seeing so many brilliant things in one week. They flew home on Saturday afternoon exhausted with great memories for the rest of their lives!
Pictured here with Mrs Gaffney are Aoife, Emma, Megan, Holly and Aimée.

Congratulations to Sr Patricia Murray, who used to teach in our school. Sr Pat was recently included in the Top Ten people for 2011 by the monthly Catholic news magazine “Inside the Vatican“. Sr Pat was praised for her work on behalf of the Loreto Order on the “Solidarity with South Sudan” campaign. South Sudan is one of the world’s poorest countries, as well as being the newest country. Our sister school, Loreto Rumbek, is in South Sudan.

Eimear Kelly, Ciara Deering and Laura Young write:
We are three TY students in Loreto College, Cavan. We entered the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in October of this school year and we were very fortunate to be chosen to present our project in the RDS in Dublin from the 11th to the 14th of January 2012. There were a total of over 1700 applicants entered and only 550 were invited to the RDS. Our project was based on the topic of mental health. We decided to make a teaching pack which would educate students about the topic of mental health. We wanted to make it easier for secondary school teachers to discuss and promote positive mental health in their classroom as we hope to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.
We travelled to the RDS on Wednesday morning to set up our stall before our first round of judging. There were three rounds of judging in total which took place on Wednesday and Thursday. The judging was very informal and we just had to talk about our project while standing at our stall. The public were invited into the RDS on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It became very busy and we had great interest in our stall. We were even interviewed for the radio! There were lots of famous faces among the crowds of people including Brian O’Driscoll, Ryan Tubridy and Michael D. Higgins.
After 5.30pm we were free to leave the RDS and attend the evening entertainment which included karaoke, a table quiz and the opening and closing ceremony. This gave us a great chance to meet some of the students from around the country. We really enjoyed meeting new people and also looking at the projects they carried out. It was astonishing to see the different ideas that students had. We also really enjoyed looking at the different company’s stands and completing the different games and quizzes.
After the closing ceremony we discovered that we received a Highly Recommended rosette. We were very happy with this. Overall, we had a great time at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition and it was an experience that we will never forget. We would like to thank Ms. Rogan, our science teacher, and Ms. McGarvey, our principal, for all their help and support over the last few months.

Congratulations to our school’s representatives in the 2012 BT Young Scientist competition – Ciara, Eimear and Laura – on the Highly Commended Award they achieved today for the project “Your Central Wealth is Your Mental Health”. The three girls are pictured here at their stand during the exhibition. The project will be on display in school.

Pictured here with their teacher Ms McGlade are all students who were recently awarded their Speech and Drama medals and certificates. The exams took place on December 1st when 47 students were examined by Mr David Meredith, Chairman of the Irish Board of Speech and Drama. All students achieved a very high standard, and 12 students were awarded Gold Medals for Excellence.

Eimear Kelly (TY Europa) writes:
Eimear Kelly, Ciara Deering and Laura Young will be participating in the BT Young Scientist Exhibition in the RDS, Dublin this week from January 11th until January 14th. Our project is based on mental health. We are creating a mental health teaching pack to improve and develop mental health education. This teaching pack offers a fun and enjoyable way to increase students’ knowledge of mental health and also to encourage classroom discussions on this topic. We hope that it will be included in the SPHE syllabus in Loreto College in the future.

The school closes this evening for the Christmas Holidays. All students return to school on Monday January 9th 2012.

Ms Doonan (PE Dept) writes:
We want to say a big congratulations to the U16 Camogie team who won the Junior D Ulster Camogie final yesterday. The game was played at Sherry Fields in Armagh against St Benedict’s from Randelstown in Belfast and the full time score was Loreto 4-3 and St Benedict 0-2.
From the first whistle the game was played at a fast and furious level and the nerves were showing in the first half as Loreto were very unlucky with numerous goal chances that went wide. Ciara Shalvey soon put an end to this scoring two goals in quick concession which Edel McDermot supported with a point. Michelle O’Rourke’s long range free sealed the lead before the half time whistle.
At half time Loreto were looking strong and St. Benedict had yet to score. However St. Benedict showed their determination in the second half and weren’t going to give up easily. A long time elapsed before either team got a score while a ferocious battle ensued for possession. After a lot of frustrating missed chances, Megan Denning ended the dry spell with two swift goals bringing the score to 4 goals and 2 points for Loreto. Edel McDermot soon followed with another point the final one of the game for Loreto. It wasn’t until the dying minutes of the game that St. Benedict got two token points.
It was an all round team performance that won the game for Loreto with every player fulfilling her role expertly. Michelle O’Rourke and Roisin O’ Rourke dominated midfield taking it in turns to push ahead to attack and drop back to defend. Ciara Shalvey and Megan Denning were the two top scorers and made the Randelstown defence’s job very difficult with their agility and movement on and off the ball. Amanda Collins was a strong force in the half forward line and played a big part is setting up many attacking plays. Laura Mc Kiernan was player of the game for Loreto stopping everything from getting past the Loreto half back line whilst also attacking up the wings and setting up scores for the forwards to finish off. Captain Emma Duffy was the constant and reliable presence on the half back line that lead the way for the rest of the Loreto backs. Nothing was getting past full back Aideen Coyle as time and time again she cleared the ball when under pressure particularly in the last minutes of the game.
Thi fantastic win will go down in history as it has been the first time that Loreto Cavan have won an Ulster Camogie final since 1977. We are very proud of everyone on the panel and the hard work and dedication at training every Wednesday at lunchtime has paid off. A special thanks must be given to coaches Claire Fitzpatrick, Edel Sexton and Lorraine O’Rourke who played a big part in leading the girls to victory.
(Photograph to follow).

Pictured here are some of First Year class St Joshua with tutor Ms Brady enjoying their first Annual Christmas Quiz.

On Dec 16th the school will have the Christmas Carol Service organised by the RE Dept, and the Annual Quiz organized by Ms McGlade and her team from Transition Year. Pictured here is our indoor crib waiting for the arrival of the Baby Jesus.

Here you can listen to Mrs Hughes and our Chamber Choir’s recording of The Angels’ Carol.
The Angel’s Carol

Ms McGarvey writes:
Congratulations to Rachel Birt (St Gearóid) and Ciara Deering (TY Europa) who have been identified as high achievers in Maths and Science in the 2011 Junior Certificate examination. They have been invited by the Irish EU Science Olympiad (Ir EUSO) to participate in the National Olympiad to select six students to represent Ireland at the European Union Science Olympliad (EUSO) in Vilnius, Lithuania 22nd-29th april 2012. The National Olumpiad wil be held on Saturday January 28th in Dublin City University. Congratulatiosn also to Rachel’s and Ciara’s teachers, and best wishes to both girls as they processd to the Olympiad.

Mrs Conaty’s Home Economics students had a workshop with local craftswoman Anke Morgenroth of Bear Essentials last week. There was great interest and excitement all day as Anke showed the students the basic skills and procedures she uses, and then each student set about mading a bear of her own design.
Pictured here are some 2nd Year students and their new friends!

Louisa Briody, Megan Conaty, Natalia Kozlowska, Anne Connolly, 5th year LCVP students write:
As part of our Link Modules Programme, our 5th Year LCVP class will be taking charge of the annual Christmas Hamper collection in our school on behalf of the Cavan Lions Club. For our course we must undertake an activity to write about for our Summary Report and the Christmas Hamper Collection is perfect! As well as that, everyone in the class wants to experience volunteering and charity work firsthand too as most of us have never done it before. To prepare for the activity we will be organising ourselves into groups, each group with a different task assigned to them. The boxes will be outside the Principal’s office as usual, each one with a sign saying which box applies to which year. There will also be a list of items above the boxes that are suitable to be put into the boxes. This year there will also be a prize given to the year group that brings in the most items for their box! All donations would be greatly appreciated!
Poster: Natasha Bravender (St Giovanna).

Ms McGlade writes:
The Advent Wreath Services took place on Thursday December 8th in honour of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. The services were organised and led by teachers from our Religious Education Department. The theme of the services was the concept of ‘waiting’ and ‘preparation’. Students were introduced to Advent from the First Sunday of the Feast and therefore were able to participate fully in the services. The ‘Empty Crib’ and ‘Advent wreath’ were both at the core of the services.
Here is our Advent Wreath:

Holly McGovern (TY Europa) writes:
The new student bank, Honey Money, has swarmed into Loreto College in Cavan. The bank offers students a chance to create an account so that they can start saving some money of their own. Once the students account is opened, they have the opportunity lodge any savings into their account by visiting the Honey Money bank. You can lodge anything from €1 to €100. Also mini-companies can start up their own accounts! The bank is completely safe, secure and confidential. If you have any queries about the bank or would like to open an account, why not drop in and see us? The bank is opened every Tuesday at 1:45 pm in the LCVP room (beside Ms Mc Glades room.)
So why don’t you start ‘Banking Like Bees’?

Past Pupil Brenda Drumm (class of ’86, St Cathal) has spearheaded the recent fundraiser called TwitterChristmasSingle, starting it all with a single tweet two weeks ago. All proceeds will be for the Neonatal Unit in Holles St hospital in Dublin. A version of Wintersong, it is the world’s first ever crowdsourced single, which will hopefully become a Christmas No. 1, and it is being released today, available as a download. See the RTE News report here.

Dec

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Today was our annual Student Council non uniform day for charity, the theme was Pink. This year we will support St Christopher’s Hospice in Cavan, and our sister Loreto school in Rumbek, South Sudan.

Ciara Deering, Loreto World challenge group writes:
On the 8th of October our group met in Butlersbridge to get on a mini bus to bring us Down for the weekend. We arrived with rucksacks on our backs, big boots on our feet and warmly rapped up. To get started we had to pick a place to pitch our five tents and after more than an hour of decision-making we set up tent in a semi-circle. After getting confused and frustrated we managed to erected five normal looking tents.
We sat down to lunch and then started on our day’s hike. A long hike to the top of the mountain was broken up by small lessons by our guide on leadership, communication, jobs, how to purify water and so on. We got a view of the seaside town of Newcastle from the top and could even see across the Irish sea to England.
Back at camp we started the task of cooking dinner. Pasta and bean feast resulted in very burnt pots and a gruel like substance however we were all very hungry and ate the majority of it. Our guide gave us a break down of the day and we drank hot chocolate, soap and ate marshmallows. Lights bobbed around the our camp site as we got really for bed.
We snuggled down to sleep in our sleeping bags. The wind howled around outside and shook our tents. The rain tapped on our roofs. In the morning we were up early to porridge with nutella and hot chocolate.
Another walk in the other direction followed. We took short cuts much to the annoyance of our guide. We ate lunch on the top of another mountain and were taught what to go if we have an accident and headed back to pack and clean up.
Tired and looking forward to Sunday dinner at home we climbed back onto the bus and headed back to Cavan, after a very different however enjoyable weekend.

Get your entries in for the TY Photographic competition, on the theme of positive mental health – entries by December 9th to Ms Rogan please.

Megan Brady (TY) writes:
On Friday the 18th of November nine TY students and four 5th years headed off at 3 o clocks to Monoghan for a weekend to the European Youth Parliament Connaught-Ulster session. When they got off the bus they went into MacCartans College to register and then were brought into the bizarre world of EYP. The team building exercises were mad (like the mad hatter theme that ran throughout the weekend!), from chanting to rock paper scissors – the games were endless. Finally at 11 o clock they went back to the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel. On Saturday they were faced with the difficult task of going through their committee’s topic and coming up with a resolution and Saturday night after working hard they got to dance the night away at a ‘mad hatter’ themed disco. Sunday brought about the real challenge of debating against the other committees and things got heated with attack remarks and speeches being made against each committee left, right and centre. Overall the whole weekend was hard work but a great success.

Sarah Duggan, Emma Brady and Laura O’Conor write:
Hannah McDermott and Jean Lynch(5th Yr), Blainid Carney, Tessa Morgenroth and Sarah Duggan (6th Yr) represented the Student Council at a Seminar for Student Councils in Loreto Post-Primary Schools on Wednesday, 9th November in the Gresham Hotel in Dublin.
The Students were accompanied by Mrs. Cassidy, the Student Council Liason Teacher, and benefited greatly from their experience. They were delighted to have the opportunity to share their Student Council experiences, ideas and opinions with fellow Loreto Students from all over the country.
Upon their return, they enlightened their fellow Student Council members on the valuable ideas and information learned from the seminar. They look forward to implementing these ideas in the near future. A wonderful day was enjoyed by all and the Student Council look forward to attending the seminar again next year.

Congratulations to our Under 14 football team who again won the Tom Dowd tournament, the trophy is pictured here.

3rd Year Science students were “third time lucky” in sending their environmentally friendly hot air balloon into the atmosphere for the final day of Science Week. The first two attempts were total failures (it was very windy and damp), and Ms Amond had to climb the fence to save one of them. We got the third balloon to fly by being patient and allowing the hot air to take effect slowly. The balloon drifted away on the wind in a northerly direction – perhaps you spotted it?

This afternoon there was a wonderful atmosphere in the school as we celebrated our international cultures, organised by the EAL department for Friendship Week. Students from four continents filled our Concert Hall with a fantastic display of song, dance, words, images, products, customs, costumes and symbols of their countries. The parents, students and teachers who attended were treated to a short concert followed by an international buffet. The group of student who staged the event are pictured here with Mrs Farrell and Ms McEvoy.

Megan Brady (TY) writes:
Today the Transition Year students held a Cheerios breakfast morning for the 1st Years students in the junior canteen to raise money for the ISPCC Childline. The tables of the canteen were set out with boxes of Cheerios, bowls, spoons and milk ready for the arrival of the first years. The TYs decorated the canteen with bright red Childline balloons and wore bright red Childline t-shirts. An air of excitement was in the canteen as 140 first years arrived and sat down to tuck into a big bowl of Cheerios. Overall the morning was a success with both the 1st and TYs enjoying themselves while fundraising for a good cause. thank you to Mr McKiernan of Lakeland Dairies who sponsored the milk for us.
Here are some pictures from Ms Amond and Mrs Gaffney, and a video from Aoife O’Reilly (TY) – click the link to view the video:



Loreto College Cavan ISPCC Childline ‘Cheerios’ breakfast morning

Ciara Dinneny (TY Europa) writes:
This week our science class are taking part in solving a fictional murder at Delahasey House. All the students are forensic scientist and using a number of tests we have to find out who killed James Murphy. It could be his gardener Jim Peel, Mrs Doyle, his son Sean Murphy, his daughter Rebecca Murphy or his handyman Paul Mahan. It has been great fun and after many forensic laboratory tests we all think we know who did it, and are just waiting for confirmation from our teacher Ms Rogan.
Here are pictures of the “crime scene” and us CSIs at work…

Today in Ms Amond’s 3rd Yr Science class we investigated the chemistry of clouds for National Science Week. We found we needed water vapour and condensation particles, and when we reduced the pressure suddenly clouds appeared.

Síomha Surlis writes:
Last Friday the 11th of November, 26 students went with Ms Doonan and Mrs Mary McKeever of Breifne Swim Club to the National Aquatic Centre for the annual Loreto Swim Gala. We started our warm up at 10.30 and the competition started at 11.00. We swam freestyle, backcrawl, breaststroke, butterfly and relays. Our school came second over all, and we were all delighted on the route home
(Picture to follow later in the week when we all bring in our medals to show them off!)

The week beginning November 14th is Friendship Week in our school, and Science Week across the country. There will be many and varied activities for students to watch and listen out for and reports will follow at the end of the week.

Aisling Bourke (TY Hibernia) writes:
On Thursday the 10th of November, the Transition year students, along with the visiting Dutch students, went on a fascinating and enjoyable trip to see the Book Of Kells in Dublin. In the heart of Dublin city, we walked through the cobbled streets of Trinity College. Inside the magnificent Old library building, lay the ancient manuscript, The Book Of Kells. After, going through the interesting, ‘turning darkness into light’ exhibition, we proceeded into the treasury, where The Book Of Kells and other old manuscripts are on view. The Book of Kells was decorated with lavish designs and patterns, that looked impossibly complicated to draw! the manuscript contains the four gospels, beautifully handwritten in Latin. Then we enthusiastically, proceeded upstairs to the amazing Long Room which is over 65 meters in length and contains 200,000 of the Library’s oldest books in its oak bookcases. This was a brilliant trip that I thoroughly enjoyed!

Ciara Sheridan (TY Hibernia) writes:
On Wednesday the 9th of November both the Loreto girls and the Dutch exchange students took part in some traditional Irish baking as they attempted to create soda bread and apple crumble. The rush began in the kitchen as the students started making the soda bread. Most of the Dutch students never did Home Economics before so this was all new to them. As the flour was sieved and mixture poured into tins anticipation rose through the kitchen waiting to see how the finished product turned out. Whilst waiting on the bread to bake we started on the apple crumble. After several apples where chopped and crumble made the apple crumble was ready for the oven. Excitement was in the air as wash up was quickly taken care of and rushing back to the oven the students removed the piping hot crumble and bread. After being sliced and buttered the bread was ready to eat and you could smell the fresh bread from down the hall. Everything went very successfully and nothing was burnt as the two groups of students showed great teamwork and communication.

Aimée Maguire (TY) writes:
Today the Transition Year students along with our visitng Dutch exchange students from T’Rijks school travelled to Rosnowlagh beach in Donegal to Turf ‘n Surf. Our plan was to try and catch some waves although that didnt quite work out for all of us. On arrival we were given wetsuits and split into two groups. While one group went surfing the other group took part in games on the beach. It was great fun but most of us had trouble staying on the surfboard!! Unfortunately we could not go ‘Blo-Karting’ because of the lack of wind but we made the most of our day out and then we headed for Bundoran. After wrapping up warmly we headed for well earned hot chocolate and cookies. Yum. We then strolled around window shopping and looked in the arcades. Plenty of photos were taken and everyone seemed to enjoy the day. We arrived home with a few bruises and tired heads!

The Student Council Rap’n Maths competition got underway last week. On Monday 3rd Yrs faced off against 2nd Yrs and 6th Yrs battled it out with 5th Yrs. On Friday the 1st Yrs held their competition. The TYs (who were on Work Experience last week) will challenge each other next Wednesday.
There was great creativity shown by all teams, and the judges (Ms McGlade, Mrs Buckley, Ms Walsh, Ms Doonan and the Senior Prefects – thank you all!) have found it tough to choose winners to date. The songs sampled everyone from The Rubber Bandits, M&M, Rhianna to MC Hammer, and each class really worked their Maths in there, with good old X and Y featuring strongly in many entries.
We will publish all the winners and their videos after the TYs have their showdown – meantime here are some pictures of the action last week:

Yvonne Brady writes:
On Tuesday the 4th of October our TY class got to complete a PAL- Public Access to Law – course. It lasted for the whole day. For the first 3 classes we were introduced to Mary. She is a barrister, and we spoke with her about the world of law work and how to solve cases e.g. a murder. She went around the class asking us what they we are doing for work experience. After that she spoke briefly about what is involved with the courts, and what she does in her job. I found this interesting. We watched a DVD about how to solve a murder case and they were real life events that happened…
We watched a DVD about how to solve a murder case. They were real life events that happened but presented with actors, it was like CSI. Afterwards we were introduced to another barrister Peter. He spoke about the different courts and we watched 2 DVDs about serial killers Ted Bundy and ‘Jack the Ripper’, they were interesting. At the end of the day we carried out a court case. Peter acted as the Judge and I was Judge Peter’s helper (the most important job). This was really fun. I enjoyed the PAL course it was very interesting.

Report and pictures by Rebecca Packenham & Zuzanna Voskarova.
Rebecca:
On Wednesday the 12th of October our class went to the zoo on an ecology trip. When we first went to the zoo we got to look around for 45 mins while the other class were being inducted. When we were the the monkeys were being fed, it was really cool and there were tiny baby monkeys. When they heard the keeper calling them they ran across a small bridge, It was really cute. Then we had to go and get inducted and went out to the Phoenix Park to study grassland. We did different experiments and it was really good.
Then we went back into the zoo and got to look around. We went around the whole zoo in the space of an hour – we ran most of it to get to see all we wanted to see! The lion was not out so we were disapointed about that but we got to see the tiger and the snow leopard which is very rare to see. When we went back around to the monkeys they were shouting very loudly. We also saw the wolf and I got a close up picture of him eating.
It was a really good day and I would love to go back again so see it again because it was really enjoyable.
Zuzanna:
When we arrived at the zoo we had an hour before the workshop to go see all the animals. We took loads of pictures. Then we had the ecology workshop with our instructor. We were studying the green land habitat in the Phoenix Park. We used equipment such as the quadrat, the pooter, the beating tray to see what plants and animals there are. It was very interesting. We had to record all our information and take pictures of everything we did. When the workshop was over we got another hour in the zoo. Everyone was really tired afterwards. Then before we went home we stopped by Blanchardstown, everyone was really excited to do some shopping. The trip was fun and very interesting. I really enjoyed it.

Building on our successful sporting achievements from last year we have had a very good start this September. Our first year Camogie team entered the Cavan Schools Blitz day on Friday the 23rd of September. This was the team’s first outing and they did very well on the day losing one game and winning three. Our U16 Camogie team are also in winning form with their first victory on Wednesday the 28th of September against Baileborough at the 3G field Breifne Park. This was round one of the U16 Junior  D Ulster Competition and the final score was 2-3 to 0-1. Player of the game was Emma Duffy. Round two was on Friday the 7th of October. This was an away game against Breifne College which ended in another victory for Loreto with the final score at 6-3 to 2-0. Player of the game was Amanda Collins. The team have yet to meet Ballyjamesduff but are already looking good to qualify for the Ulster semi-final. We’ll keep you posted!!
A first for Loreto is the entry of our U16 Soccer team to the Cavan/Monaghan School Girls Soccer tournament. This is the first time we have entered a soccer competition and we have gotten off to a good start beating Baileborough in the first round with a triumphant score of 8-2. Player of the game was Karen Delaney. The U16s are training hard and are looking forward to their next game against St. Louis of Monaghan.  
Our school fixtures are just getting started and we have a very busy few months coming up. The Camogie Ulster Championship and Soccer league will continue, the cross country team will have their first meet at the Cavan Schools Cross Country in Killenkere on Wednesday the 26th of October, the swim team will travel to the NAC on the 11th of November for the annual Loreto Schools Swimming Gala and the U14 and U16 Gaelic Football championship will begin this month with the U16 team due to play Holy Trinity from Tyrone next week. Hopefully we will have lots of good news to report from these competitions.

All Maths classes are busy preparing their entries for the Maths Rap competition which runs through next week, organised by the Student Council as this years charity fundraiser. As you can see from the poster below, the entry fee is a very appropriate “50c” per student. Watch this space, we will post the winners as they are announced…

October 10th -17th is World Mental Health and Well-being week. Each day we have a “thought for the day” read out by a member of the Student Council over the school intercom. Third year groups have made posters for the school. Here is one of the the posters from St Hannahs class (Orla, Áine, Annija, Courtney and Rachael), which we prepared in Pastoral Care class with Ms Rogan:

Quadblogging is a project in which four schools from around the world focus on each others blogs in turn, and leave helpful comments for the student bloggers in each school. Loreto College Cavan is in Quad 61 along with these three schools:
Jane Adams Middle School, the class of Mr Daniel Martinez, Illinois USA;
Marshall Middle School, the English class of Ms LaPrade Virginia, USA;
Eastwood Academy, the class of Mr Mark Pearl Southend, UK.
This week the focus is on Jane Adams Middle School, then it is to be our turn…

The Student Council meets with Mrs Cassidy for a working lunch in the community room every Wednesday at 1pm. The newly elected Council representatives from 2nd, 3rd, TY, 5th and 6th years are pictured here with Mrs Cassidy and our Head Prefects Sarah and Tessa.1st year representatives will be elected to join the Council after mid-term break.

Ciara Deering (TY Europa) reviews Ger Carey’s show Psycho Spaghetti:
“I recently attended this show and to be honest it was the best stand-up comedy routine I have ever seen. I have watched adult stand-up comedy on TV but it is not all revenant to teenagers. However Psycho Spaghetti was just prefect for 15 to 18 year olds. We got every joke and it is so hard to stop yourself from having tears rolling down your checks with laughter.
This hilarious one-man show attempts to answer the age-old question. Just what is going on inside the teenage brain? It is a comic journey inside the teenage brain. It makes it hard for us not to laugh at ourselves.
He starts with the typical day at school for any teenager, the lads racing to the back of the class, daydreaming students, and teachers scouring the corridors for students not wearing the correct uniform.
His acting and facial expressions is bound to have you in fits of laugher in the first 10 seconds. He has an amazing ability to switch characters in a matter of milliseconds. From the angry teacher to the sarcastic students and back again. He transports you back to you own school, to that day that all the events he vividly details happened to you.
He covers every topic from swats to dating to hormone pixies with big injections. He captures you from the start and it ends with a huge moan from the audience who would all happily sit there for the whole day listening to him.
You leave the room in a bubble of happiness and laughter, all worry evaporated from your head. I think it helps you grow a positive attitude to life and to look at our problems in a more realistic view. I would recommend it to every teenager out there. You are missing out on one of the best stand-up comedy shows that was ever made. It is absolutely hilarious.”
Ger Carey is pictured below with the Transition Year students who attanded the show. (Picture by Laura Young, TY Hibernia).

Aloighse Gumley (TY Hibernia) writes:

On the 29th of September our TY’s went to Dublin to the Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin Contemporary and Chester Beatty Library. These shared with us a variety of different styles of art. In the Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Street, Francis Bacon’s work is immensly popular. He is an International importance. From the instillation of his studio to his unfinished paintings. The famous two long oval shaped stain glass windows by Harry Clarke Window tell a love story. The colours and details in this piece of art is exhilarating. ‘Waterloo Bridge’ by Monet is worth €48 million! Then we adventured through Iveagh Gardens were there was another piece of art work only placed there this year (2011). Dublin Contemporary was full of art pieces that would send shivers up your back! They were so odd and confusing yet meaningful. ‘The Squid’ by David Zinc was a fascinating piece of clay which was fired then glazed. My favourite piece was ‘The Cradle’ by the Chinese artist Wang Du as we got to explore the huge cradle (pictured above) and bounce around and have pillow fights in it. Another one of my favourites was ‘The Green Coffin’ by Thomas Hirschioren as it was so hard to piece together yet so affective towards everyone. Last but not least we went to the Chester Beatty Library which was full of a great collection of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts assembled by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968).

We wish good luck to the Cavan Ladies GAA Football team who play in the All Ireland Final in Croke Park tomorrow. Special good wishes to all our Past Pupils on the time. Lots of students from our school will be there to support you all!
Details can be found at the LGFA website.

TY (Europa & Hibernia) students write:
As part of our TY Digital Multimedia course, both classes came together to have a workshop on “Introduction to Computer Programming with Scratch”. Ms Amond invited a guest teacher, Stephen Howell from Tallaght IT. We learned about the history of computer programming, how important it is, and then we were shown how to use the Scratch programme. We also saw how Kinect and Scratch can be used together, and we all hope to try this again later in the year. We will continue to use Scratch during the year, and delelop our creative skills. This was a fun way to be introduced to the world of computer programming.

First Year Senior Prefects write:
On first hearing of becoming a Senior Prefect for the incoming first year students the excitement kicks in. It brings you back through the years to when you were the new kids in school. The excitement of the Non- Uniform day, Friendship week, the Induction trip to Tanagh Outdoor Education Centre, the Christmas Quiz and your first disco. The list of firsts you experience is endless.
Ten students from fifth year succeeded in receiving the very important role of being prefects for 2011 incoming first year students. The ten 5th year students were: Ciara Brady, Emily Mc Kiernan, Maisie Doyle, Eimear Brady, Sinead Kelly, Nicola Madden, Carly Dowd, Amanda Collins, Daneagh Walsh and Josephine Fitzpatrick. The first year classes included St. Jacob, St. Jane, St. Jarlath, St. Joshua and St. Julianna. Two prefects were assigned to each class and began their duties in February 2011 and continued until February 2012.
The first day we came back after the summer holidays we spent part of the day preparing for the arrival of the first year students on Tuesday 30th August 2011. Some of the jobs we had during the Induction were
• bringing the new students up from the bus stop to the Concert Hall for Assembly
• meeting our class group
• bringing the students to the Junior Mall for lunch
• bringing students to timetabled class and collecting them at the end of each class to bring them to their next class.
Students gathered in the Concert Hall and were welcomed to the school by the Principal, Deputy Principal and Head of Year. Students were introduced to their Class Tutors and to their Senior Prefects. Each student was given a colour coded badge which indicated their class groups. Each prefect also wore the same colour badge as their class group so the students could recognise their prefect. An Induction booklet was given to every student on their first day which gave information about their timetable, their teachers, their subjects and an outline of the school building. On the tour of the school which we planned and organised one class prefect walked at the front and the other class prefect walked at the end of the line of students explaining the workings of the school.
On their second day of the Induction Programme it was clear the students were more relaxed. Again the students started their day with an assembly and then the girls went to several more of their classes and got to meet some of their new teachers. After lunch they were given the chance to relax and partake in a fun quiz that allowed them to mix with girls from different classes. The questions were composed by the first year Senior Prefects and the quiz was a great success. The quiz signified the end of the two day Induction Programme however the girls got the opportunity to go on a day trip to Tanagh Outdoor Adventure Centre. This helped them to get to know each other better and make new friends. Overall the Induction was a very positive experience for the Senior Prefects and it was undoubtedly responsible for the easy transition made by the first year students into the life of Loreto College, Cavan.
First Years are pictured below with their tutors and prefects in the Concert Hall at the Table Quiz which took place at the end of their Induction Days.

Yvonne Brady and Emily Brady (TY) write:
As part of our introduction to TY, the two classes Europa and Hibernia went to Tanagh Outdoor Adventure Centre with Ms Doonan. We met the centre staff and started with a talk on safety. Then we divided into five groups, to allow us to get to know all the others in our year.
Our first activity was to go to the forest. We participated in various games and finally went bog-hopping. Everyone worked well together and got to know each other better.
After this we had some well needed lunch! We them split into two groups, one went canoeing and the other went to the “slippery slope”. Everyone enjoyed the afternoon activites, and we got to swim in the river.
As you can see in the picture the day was enjoyed by us all and the whole group participated well. It gave us the opportunity to make new friends for the coming year.

Ms Donagh’s very last task on her last day as Principal was to hand over the keys of the school to our new Principal, Ms Angela McGarvey. Ms McGarvey is native of Cavan, a past pupil of the school, and the former Principal in Loreto, Mullingar. In a recent interview in the Anglo Celt newspaper, Ms McGarvey said “I loved it when I was here and I’m delighted to be back as Principal in my Alma Mater”.
Best wishes to Ms Donagh in her retirement, and to Ms McGarvey in leading the school!

All the State Examinations have now finished, the school community is on summer break.
School will open again at the end of August – students will be notified by post, on our website, and here on our news blog.
Enjoy the summer!

In the community room today, the 2010/11 Student Council made a presentation to Ms Margaret Donagh, our Principal, to mark the occasion of her retirement from Loreto College Cavan. Kate McNally, Head Prefect, thanked Ms Donagh for all she had done for the students, reminded Ms Donagh that they had started in Loreto together on the same day six years ago, and wished her a long and happy retirement. Ms Donagh spoke of how happy she has been on Loreto Cavan, how sorry she will be to leave and thanked the students for the beautiful presentation.

Pictured here with Ms Margaret Donagh are the Head Prefects 2011/12 Tessa Morganroth and Sarah Duggan, and the Head Prefects 2010/11 Kate McNally and Lucy McCarron.

Pictured here with Ms Margaret Donagh and the Head Prefects are Mrs Cassidy (Student Council Coordinator) and members of the Student Council – Anne Marie, Áine, Aisling, Aoife, Audrey, and Maria.

Lauren Freehill and Aislinn Tierney (TY Monnet) write:
On Thursday of exchange week the Dutch students and Loreto TYs headed off to Dublin for the day! The bus was filled with friendly banter and our very own lively class of Monnet provided the “ceol agus craic” factor for our guests. We arrived at Trinity College Dublin and after grabbing a bite to eat we started off on our short walk to board “The Viking Splash Tour Express!”. The trip was most enjoyable for both Loreto and RSG ‘t Rijks students, as we saw parts of Dublin we never knew even existed.
And after our Viking antics and a trip to the Guinness Hopstore, a day of shopping, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, and general irish craic on the streets took its course!
Overall it was a highly enjoyable, unforgettable, eventful and emotional day for us – agus chun na firinne a ra ní dheanfaimid dearmaid go deo an lá!

Louisa Briody (TY Monnet) writes:
It was a mild Sunday evening when myself and my family made our way to the Farnham Hotel in Cavan. I felt very nervous yet excited as I was collecting my Dutch student visitor who would be spending the week with me in Ireland. I arrived at the hotel and chatted with some of the other girls who were there, we could barely contain our excitement for their arrival. After about twenty minutes they started piling into the room. It was quite surreal to see all our Dutch friends again after a very long six month wait. I met Jacco and introduced him to my family. We then went off to get some food, as they were all starving after their long day of travel! After eating some chips and sausages, we arranged what we would do that night and then left for home. I let him get settled in and then we left for Maria’s house where she was having a get together. We had a very good night and it was great chatting to all the Dutch again and finding out what they’d been up to the past six months.
The next morning, we arrived in school and met everyone else in the locker area. We headed for the demo room where Ms. Gaffney made a welcoming speech and outlined the activities that we would be undertaking during the week. The group was divided in two, Monnets and Schumans. My class, Monnet, were having a Home Ec demonstration first with Mrs. Farrell. The Dutch liked the kitchen and were surprised that we had cooking classes in our school, as they don’t have that in their school, RSG’t Rijks in The Netherlands. We watched Mrs. Farrell make Irish soda bread, she explained what she was doing as she went along and also asked some of the Dutch students about their food in Holland. When the bread was in the oven, she started preparing the leek and potato soup. The Dutch said they had never tasted the soup before. We all sat around different tables to taste some foods. We shared smoked salmon and some different Irish cheeses, like nettle cheese. The Dutch really enjoyed all this food, especially the soup and the cheese. After eating we made the boys clean up! They were wondering why we “didn’t have machines to do this.”
After the Home Ec lesson we had PE. For the PE lesson we had a coach called Patricia come in to teach the Dutch students the skills of Gaelic football and hurling. They picked up the football quite quickly and had no problem hitting the sloitar with the hurl. The football was very enjoyable and we played some games after to practice the skills learned.
After lunch the two groups Monnet and Schuman had an Irish class together in the music room. Ms. Smith and Mrs. Hughes both taught the Dutch some phrases in Irish, and then we did some Irish singing. The Dutch found the Irish phrases hard to remember, but they really enjoyed the songs. The Irish students then performed “Lady Gaeilge” for the guests, a compilation of Lady Gaga songs that we have been learning all year as Gaeilge. When all was done some Dutch and Irish students got up and played guitar and piano together. The class was really enjoyable.

Finally, the last activity of the day was a Chinese lesson. Our Chinese teacher Ying came in with her colleague to teach us the art of Chinese paper cutting. They showed us what to do and handed out instructions to help us. Everyone’s turned out good and the lesson was very fun and enjoyable.
Day One was over and everyone left for home, looking forward to the week ahead!
(photographs by Louise Briody).

Last night the students from our Comenius partner school, ‘t Rijks, in the Netherlands arrived in Cavan to stay with host families from Transition Year. A very busy week of activities is planned inside and outside our school this week for all Transition Year students and their visitors.

Pictured above are TY Schuman class preparing to teach SpikeBall to the visiting students.

The Second Year students held a farewell presentation today to mark the departure of Mrs Maria Finn, their former Head of Year. The students, their Senior Prefects, Class Tutors, Principal Ms Donagh and Deputy Principal Mrs Ó’Mordha all gathered to welcome Mrs Finn, and on behalf of all the students in the year, the class prefects presented her with a small token of their appreciation.
Pictured here are Mrs Finn, Ms Donagh and student representatives Amanda, Claire and Fiona.

Amanda Brady, Home Economics Dept. writes:
Ms. Máire Dufficy from An Bord Bia visited today give a presentation and cookery demonstration to all 5th year Home Economics students. The students were initially presented with an overview of the food pyramid, the importance of healthy eating and exercise and specifically for the Leaving Certificate course an overview of the Quality Assurance Scheme, locally produced goods and Added Value Foods. And then it was on to the demonstration. Penne Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Sizzling Bacon, Pork Stir-Fry and Thai Chilli Mince were among some of the culinary delights cooked for the students. Thankfully all students got a chance for tasting!

Gráinne Power and AnnMarie Connolly (TY Schuman) write:
Six students from Transition Year in Loreto reached the National finals
in the AIB Build a Bank Challenge. The team included Grainne Power, AnnMarie Connolly, Vanessa Dolan, Yvette Schutten, Aoife Quinn and Lucy Smith. The finals were held in the R.D.S today. The team left Loreto at 7:30 am and got to the RDS at 10:00am where we were treated to tea and scones. We then set up our displays and were interviewed by the judges. The team was relaxed and, given all our work and preparation, the interviews with the
judges went very well. The awards were given out during dinner (which
consisted of a lovely three course meal). We met the RTE presenter Aiden Power who then presented us with a certificate. Following the presentation of certificates, the individual team awards were nnounced. We received the ‘Best Newcomer of the Year’ award. Our prize included a 500 euro voucher for our school and an Apple iTouch for each team member. All in all it was a fantastic Day!
(picture to follow)

Lenka Moidlova writes:
On the 15th of April 2011 St. Hilary’s class had a guest speaker come to the class as part of their CSPE Action Project. A Community Guard from An Garda Siochana to talk about the law surrounding drugs. The guard was able to inform the class about the power which guards have in relation to drugs and the constitution in Ireland. The talk was very helpful and informative and all pupils in the class really enjoyed it, especially as the talk was given by a female guard.
Pictured here are St Hilary’s class with the Community Guard.

School is closed for Easter Holidays from 3.45 pm Friday April 15th. It will be open again for all classes on Tuesday May 2nd, after the May Bank Holiday.

Picture of a quiet Concert Hall passage taken by TY Multimedia students.

Ms McDonnell and Ms Doonan (PE Dept) write:
As a school we have had a very successful year in sport with numerous individual and team victories. As well as the many individual winners we had this year, our team sporting honours this year include Best Overall School at the Loreto Swim Gala, Third Overall School at the Loreto Sports Day, 1st Year Basketball League winners and u14 Gaelic Football winners of the Tom Dowd Memorial Tournament for the second year running.
In recognition of these achievements we organised a trip to the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. Accompanying us were the Loreto Swim Team, Athletics Team, 1st Year Basketball Team and the u14 Gaelic Football Team.

We are very proud of all the girls who participated in all sporting events throughout the year and we look forward to their continued success in the future. We thank everyone for their continued support and cooperation throughout this year.

Drive Zone has come to Loreto College Cavan for the first time ever. It has come here to teach the TYs how to drive correctly using simulators. Drive Zone is suitable for beginners or nervous drivers. You dont need to have a provisional licence to use the Drive Zone simulators. User are given great feedback from the computer, and this helps to rectify bad habits. A fellow student who had experienced it for her self today said “it was brilliant, I had great fun and it helped me a lot”.

Posted by Allána Carmichael and Edel Quinn (TY Monnet).

Anne Marie Connolly and Gemma Cullen (TY Monnet) write:

Transition year art students with the help of their teacher Ms. Molloy got the opportunity to compete in the Milk It! Awards. The Milk It! Awards is an awareness programme involving the creativity and might of students to communicate with fellow teens. Students are given important health and nutritional information and asked to plan an innovative advertising and marketing campaign targeting teens. The students plan and design a campaign to encourage people their own age to take more calcium.

As part of our TY Comenius programme, many projects had to be undertaken. For the programme’s first destination – the five schools visiting Ireland – we had explored various issues at a local level. These issues included Religion, Music, Limerick, Sport and the Green Flag. Following this we took the next step by looking at issues that we are proud and ashamed of in our country. We – the class of Monnet- decided to base our project on the Green image of Ireland whilst highlighting the other side to this perfect image. Whilst we were busy working tirelessly on this topic, the other Transition year class – Schuman – were carrying out research on the topic they had chosen, the Troubles. Both classes presented their findings in the form of a movie. As requested by the hosting Spanish school, we prepared a song and dance to perform during assembly. (It was thoroughly enjoyed by all the students.)

With all our preparation completed, five of us made our way to Sant Cugat in Spain with Mrs Gaffney, which became our home for the week. Each student stayed with a host family in various neighbourhoods surrounding the school, Agora. With beautiful weather and a bulging schedule the week was thoroughly enjoyed by all, as you can see in a picture here taken with some of the other project students. What a success!!!!

Posted by Sarah Olwill and Orlaith McGovern (TY Monnet).

Rachel Lawlor, Éadaoin O’Reilly & Niamh Fitzsimons write:
Loreto College Cavan competed in the Cavan School’s Sports Day today, 12th April 2011. Every school in Cavan participated in all track and field events. Loreto College Cavan won the over-all girl’s school for the second year running. There was a high standard of athletic ability in all events. Our congratulations to Virginia Vocational School who won the over-all boys school. There was a good turn out from each school for the competition at the Shercock Athletic Grounds.

Two of our students are participating in an exchange with students from Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The German students spend three weeks in April with us, including one week at our school. During this time they have had trips to Gaelic Football, Dublin City, the Aran Islands and Bundoran as well as experiencing life in Cavan with all it has to offer. The exchange is hugely beneficial to all involved. The Irish students will travel in July 2011 to experience all that Germany has to offer.
Pictured here at the front of the school are exchange students Sarah and Aislinn from Loreto, and Simona and Gloria from Baden-Württemberg.

Posted by Aislinn Cantwell (5th Year).

Eadaoin O’Reilly, Sports Prefect writes…
Loreto Cavan came third (out of 15 Loreto schools!) at the National Loreto Sports Day at the Morton Stadium Santry yesterday. 35 representatives (pictured here) travelled with Mc McDonnell and Ms Doonan. We competed in every event and everybody did brilliantly. Our congratulations to Loreto Kilkenny who came first overall and Loreto St Stephens Green who second!

On the 4th of April five students from Transition Year travelled with European Studies teacher Mrs Gaffney to represent the school, and Ireland, in our Comenius Project. The visit was hosted by Agora, a Spanish school in the small town of Saint Cugat near Barcelona.
AnnMarie Connolly, Kate McDonald, Sarah Olwill, Gráinne Power and Yvette Schutten spent the week attending Spanish school, visiting Barcelona and embracing Spanish culture with open arms. We stayed with Spanish families and got the chance to see Spanish lifestyle first hand in the houses where we spent the week. We also got the chance to see all the famous landmarks in Barcelona – and as a bonus went to the beach to lap up the Spanish sun!!!
The five students are pictured here at Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia cathedral, and with one of the street artists on La Rambla.

Posted by Gráinne Power and Aislinn Tierney (TY Monnet).

Both TY classes, Monnet and Schuman, went on work experience this week to a wide range of places in Cavan. Students worked at jobs they thought they would be interested in for the future. Work placements included places from crèches to radio stations. Each student enjoyed their time doing their work experience and some even found out what paths they would like to go down for their career later in life!

Posted by Orlaith McGovern and Sarah Olwill (TY Monnet).

Eadaoin O’Reilly, Sports Prefect writes:
Our First Year Basketball team is pictured in action today in a very closely contested game against Coláiste Oiriall, Monaghan. The final score was Loreto College 34, Colaiste Oiriall 21. Niamh O’Shea was captain. Charlie-Anne Mulligan-Lynch excelled in defence. ‘Player of the Match’ and top scorer was Éadaoin Kellegher.

Posted by Vanessa Dolan and Niamh Shields (TY Monnet):
Nine Mini-Companies from TY took part in the Cavan County Enterprise Awards on March 2nd. It was a very successful day for all participants, which was rewarding after all their hard work throughout the year. Two Companies came out on top with Go Green achieving 2nd place and Crush It! coming 3rd in the Senior Category. The judges were extremely impressed by the high standard of all companies representing Loreto. The awards were presented by Dragons Den‘s Sean Gallagher, pictured below with our winning teams.

Dragon Sean Gallagher pictured above with TY Entrepreneurs Ashling Plunkett, Caroline McCabe, Orla Daly, Erin Sexton and Maria McIntyre, and below with Edel Quinn, Vanessa Dolan, Annemarie Connolly and Gráinne Power.

Transition Year European Studies students are hosting visitors this week from our four Comenius project partner schools in Norway, Estonia, Spain and Holland.
Details of the visit can be found at the project website.

School closes for mid-term Break on Friday February 18th and opens again on Monday February 28th.

Photograph – TY Monnet Multimedia class.

The two Transition Year classes, Monnet and Schuman, attended the brilliant “Psycho Spaghetti Two” in the Newgrange Hotel in Navan, with our two English teachers Ms Murtagh and Ms Buckley. Performed by Ger Carey, it is a brilliant comedy written specifically for young people around the ages of fifteen to eighteen. The hilarious one man show attempts to answer the question just what is going on inside the teenage brain? The show aims to get teenagers to laugh at themselves and to view themselves as part of a bigger picture. This show is particulary suitable for Transition Year students, Leaving Cert Applied, YouthReach and even grown-ups. There were many other Transition Year groups in the audience, and we’re not joking when we say that not a moment passed where there wasn’t an outburst of laughter from the students. It was very enjoyable. We had also attended Psycho Spagetti One at the beginning of the year so we were afraid it wouldn’t beat the first one – but it lived up to our expectations 100%.

Posted by Maria McIntyre and Louisa Briody (TY Monnet)

Bank It! is a school bank run by a group of six TY students weekly in Loreto College. On the 7th of February we had our official opening in LCVP room at lunch time. Catherina McKiernan our local famous athlete, and past pupil, came to officially open the bank for us, and is pictured here cutting the ribbon. The event was great with free gifts and food for the large crowd turned up for this successful event.

AnnMarie Connolly, TY (Monnet).

Lucy McCarron, Deputy Head Prefect writes…
Our Student Council held the annual Bake Sale this week to raise money for our neighbours St Christopher’s Hospice. It was a huge success again this year, thanks to the huge efforts of the Student Council.
We started planning weeks beforehand, putting up posters and enlisting the help of classmates to bake. The response from the students was overwhelming as they all got baking over the weekend.
On the day of the Bake Sale the Student Council got busy organising the venue and laying out the food. Both students and staff came to purchase the tasty treats at lunch time, and the whole event ran smoothly.
An impressive sum of €977 was raised on the day thanks to the generosity of staff and students and the hard work of the Student Council. This donation will be greatly appreciated by St Christopher’s Hospice.

Congratulations to Leona Maguire, pictured here in the Irish Independent on arriving home with twin sister Lisa and the rest of the team, after winning the Portuguese Amateur Open Golf Championship. Leona was named January Sportswoman of the Month by the Irish Times.

Head Prefect Kate McNally writes:
January 24th-28th marks out annual Friendship Week. In preparation, the Friendship Committee organised many activities for the week. These include a play from a visiting drama group, Friendship themed Pastoral Care lessons, and encouraging all classes to write their own Friendship slogan.
We organised for a spiritual reflection to be read over the intercom each morning. Members of our Student Council volunteered to broadcast a Friendship poem each day, and we allocated time for a song on the theme of Friendship to be played each evening.
The main aim of Friendship Week is to promote Friendship and encourage students to consider the importance of Friendship. Overall the week was a success and we feel all our aims were achieved.
Kate McNally (Head Prefect, 6th Year).

As part of our Friendship Week programme, Joe and Thomas from Blue Rose theatre company spent the Monday with us, presenting “Stand and Speak”, a drama and discussion on the theme of bullying to First, Second (pictured here) and Fifth years students.

This week is dedicated to our foundress Mary Ward, who lived from 1585 to 1645. She is recognised as one of the most original and interesting women of the seventeenth century. She struggled, in spite of fierce opposition, to further the position of women in society through education. In order to do this, Mary Ward founded a new international religious community, the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of which our school has been a member since we began in 1930.
As part of the celebration of Mary Ward week, our RE classes have been making posters on the theme of Justice for display throughout the school.

Sisters Mobeena (2nd yr) and Nafeesa (1st yr) Naz have progressed to the National Finals of the Doodle4Google competition. Their entries are pictured below. Winners are chosen by online voting, which may be accessed at http://www.google.ie/doodle4google/index….

Best wishes to our students who have progressed to the Regional Finals of the Doodle for Google competition – Louise Dunne and Eliza Johnson (5th yr), Mobeena Naz (2nd Yr) and Nafeesa Naz (1st yr).

Welcome back to the Second Term of this school year.

The Baby Jesus and his family pictured here in the Christmas Crib in the school courtyard.

School closes for the Christmas Holidays today.
Class resumes on Monday,  January 10th 2010.

Our Head Prefects, Kate and Lucy, and some members of our Student Council are pictured here with Mr Killian McGuinness. The Student Council commissioned this painting to mark the occasion of his retirement from Loreto.

TY students studying English enjoyed a morning at a very active drama workshop in the Music Room with local stage and screen actor Diarmuid Murtagh.
We started with vocal exercises and body warm ups. We enjoyed different forms of drama, individual and group work. It was really fun and we thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from this experience.

Niamh Shields (TY Monnet)

Our students donated gifts of food for hampers which we donated to the Lions Club Christmas Appeal. The hampers were organised and overseen by the 5th Year LCVP class and their teacher Ms Dolan. They are pictured here as they handed over the hampers to John from the Lions Club. Thank you to all students who donated to help their local community.

Our Student Council has created a selection of Christmas Cards using student art work, and the proceeds of their sale goes to charity. This collage shows some of the card images.

Congratulations to Ciara Maguire (St Iarla) whose card design, pictured here, was chosen as winner of the Christmas Card competition of the Society of Missionary Children, and printed as their card for for 2010.

Second year PC classes competed in a Uni-hockey league over first term. All games were played in a great atmosphere of fierce but friendly rivalry, and good fun was had by all participants. Runner-up class was St Hermione, and winning class was St Hannah -  pictured here with their tutor Ms Rogan. All seconds years are looking forward to the “real” final – St Hannah V the PC teachers!

Loreto College Cavan recently celebrated the 80th anniversary of its foundation. Management, staff, students and friends joined Loreto sisters past and present in the college for a celebration of those 80 years. Bishop Leo O’Reilly celebrated Mass in the convent, and after a Blessing of the Graves all guests shared a wonderful afternoon of music, drama and reminiscence together.

The recent bad weather left our courtyard very quiet and looking like a Christmas card!

A group of nine Transition Year and Fifth Year students will travel to Galway this weekend for the regional stage of the European Youth Parliament. It is at this regional conference for Ulster and Connaught that students will be selected to represent their area at the national final. At the national stage delegates are chosen to represent Ireland at European level. During the regional conference in Galway, participants, with their committees, must concede a resolution to the problem they were presented with at the start of the weekend.  We wish all the girls the best of luck and hopefully one of them may be chosen to progress onto the next stage of the prestigious competition.

Yvette S (TY Schuman)

From the 17^th-22^nd October, a group of 28 TY students travelled to the Netherlands, as part of an exchange programme with a Dutch school. We spent two days at school with the Dutch students taking part in various activities such as dancing and PE, we also went on a day trips to Amsterdam and to Rotterdam. When we arrived at first we were all a bit nervous and shy around the Dutch students, but when the five days were up and we were all gathered outside the bus with our suitcases packed, ready to go, there was many tear-stained faces as we all said our goodbyes to our new friends. We all really enjoyed the trip and can’t wait until May when they all come back over here to Cavan!

Aoife Q (TY Schuman)

As part of our Transition Year some of the students in our class when on an exchange trip to Holland. The students who stayed in Ireland had an activity-based week. One of the days we went horse-riding.  We split into two groups – one went riding while the other group did stable management. It was great fun and we all learned something new and had fun at the same time!!!

Laura K (TY Schuman)

Our entry for the Léargas short video competition to celebrate the 2010 Eurpoean Day of Language. Our theme and title was “Tír gan Teanga, Tír gan Anam”.

TY Schumam Multimedia Module

TírGanTeanga

This week was Science Week 2010 nationwide and the theme was “Our Place in Space”. The 2nd year physics students took part in an Egganut Challenge, and First Years entered the Space Quiz webquest.

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