Events: Rosary Post Primary & Further Education
Click on the links below for photos of some of our events
Kells School Visit (2012)
Some LCA students from Eureka Secondary School, Kells came to visit Transition Years.
The students from Kells have been learning sign language as part of their LCA course, and they practised their skills, and learned some new signs, while visiting St. Mary's.
We brought them on a tour of the school, including our TY Enterprise "Smiley Way" shop, and told them about our experiences so far in TY. We chatted about our schools, how they are similar and how they're different, and also told them about Deaf culture.
We have linked up on social networking sites and hope to go on a return visit to Kells soon.
Green Schools Recycling (2012)
The Green Schools Committee is working hard on getting us to recycle stuff.
Meeting Evelyn Glennie - better than Jedward! (2011)
This morning, Fri 8th Dec, some girls from St. Mary's went to the National Concert Hall to watch Evelyn Glennie rehearse for her performance tonight with the National Symphony Orchestra.
At the break, Evelyn met the girls backstage!
Reactions from the girls:
"We would like to say a big, huge Thank you for letting us watch you!"
"You have such an amazing talent and you're just BRILLIANT!"
"One day, could you please, please come to our class and teach us to play the drums because we love to play the drums!"
"That was the best day EVER!"
"I never met a famous person before, except for Jedward, but this was better".
"I would like to say Thank You for your great performance. It was very enjoyable to listen to the music".
"I hope that I could come to watch you play again soon"
The girl's accounts of the full day are below
We went to the National Concert hall to see Evelyn Glennie in a rehearsal with an orchestra. She's the best solo percussionist I ever saw. She played the xylophone and a variety of other instruments. She was very good. It was my first time seeing an orchestra and I loved every bit of it. During break in a rehearsal my class mates and I met her and talked to her. I told her it was my first time ever to go and see an orchestra and I told her she was very good. She explained that when she was sitting on the floor she was playing the music quietly and it got louder and louder because it was like a mischievous elf coming into the 21st century. When we got back to school we wrote thank you notes to Eveyln Glennie and also to the woman who let us watch her play. I'd love to go and see her again. She is such an inspiration and a lovely woman. I had the best day ever! Aimee
On Friday, December the 9th, my class and I went to the National Concert Hall to see a deaf percussionist, Evelyn Glennie. She is a world famous solo percussionist. My class was really excited to see what she was like. We went up to the balcony and looked down at her and the orchestra in rehearsal. Evelyn started playing. The orchestra was playing with her. Evelyn Glennie's music is just so good! She kept moving with the music as if she was really interested in the music. She was playing in her bare feet like she always does. She told us later it makes her feel more comfortable. She played lots of different musical instruments. I thought she was amazing. She is so different from other percussionists. We met her backstage and I talked to her, she was so nice and kind. I really admire her. Shauna
At the rehearsal, Evelyn came on to the stage by herself; she sat down and played a strange instrument. She is a brilliant musician even though she's deaf! The rehearsal started but the sound was barely audible. Slowly it became louder and louder. Evelyn was playing by herself but it sounded like the full orchestra was playing. When Evelyn started to play the xylophone, she was moving her whole body as she played the music. She moved her hands back and forth really fast. Then she went over to the drums and it was so loud! She was using her body again and she was also moving her hands. Her hair was going all over the place! She was using in her bare feet to feel the vibrations of the music. There was a conductor, Evelyn watched him carefully to know when to play. She seemed to be enjoying playing the music and we enjoyed it. When Ms McNally asked Evelyn about one piece of music, Evelyn said that it felt like mischievous elves were coming out into the twenty first century! It was a very special occasion and I would love to come to go to another concert to see Evelyn Glennie playing again! Alexis
Evelyn Glennie's performance was brilliant. The music was fantastic. I like the way she played the snare drum in her bare feet to help her feel the vibrations in her body. She compared the music she played at the beginning to a mischievous elf. She sat on the floor at the beginning. The music was quiet but then it became louder and louder. It sounded really good. She is a virtuoso performer. Her hair flies around while she's playing the xylophone and the drums. Evelyn was in rehearsal with a conductor and orchestra. We met her backstage during a break in the rehearsal and it was so nice. I was really pleased to meet her. She is a gentle person and a great percussionist. We were lucky enough to get photographs with her. Patricia
The girls in second year in my school went to see Evelyn Glennie in, " Clash of the Titans" at the National Concert Hall on the 9th of December last. When we arrived in the Auditorium our teachers told us where to sit. The RTE National Symphony Orchestra started playing. Evelyn Glennie played the percussion instruments. The music was loud but I really enjoyed it. The orchestra and Evelyn played a variety of music including, Brahms Symphony No.1. After the concert, we met Evelyn. She told us that she became deaf when she was twelve years old. We chatted to her and she answered our questions. I was glad to go to the concert with my friends and teachers and was happy to meet Evelyn Glennie.
Visit to Botanic Gardens (2011)
Helen, Nicola, Amylee, Laura and myself went to Botanic Gardens. Andy drove the bus to the gardens. We went to the gardens on the 24th October, 2011. The weather was horrible, because it was raining all day.
We got a clip board, map and treasure hunt game to answer
questions. We had to follow the numbers on the map to find the answers about trees.
We found a HUGE NEST with bird's eggs.
We found loads of different trees
We found an oak tree. We found an ash tree. We found a horse chestnut tree.
We found a sycamore tree, and a banana tree.
We found a coconut tree.
We found a tree that has seeds that made face paint and lipstick. We found a coffee tree.
We found a pineapple tree.
We saw a plant that eats flies called a venus fly trap.
This plant has water in the flower and the ant drowns in the water and dies. v We found a lot of cacti. They had sharp spikes so that animals could not eat them. The sharp spikes protected the cactus.
We had a great day working as a team finding all the different trees and answers for the treasure hunt. We all had a fantastic lunch after all our hard work. Our tongues went green from the lovely lollipops.
Saying Our Farewell to Our Friend Aine (2011)
Aine has moved to Australia with her family and we will all miss her so much. She always made us laugh and she was amazing at art. She was in third year with Denise, Elma, Abie, Laura and Anna. To show Aine how much we are going to miss her we decided to have a surprise party for her. We made a DVD with everyone saying good bye and wishing Aine good luck in Australia and asking her to keep in touch with us through Facebook, Skype and emails. We collected photos from different people and made a video of her life with us in school.
We had everyone waiting in the hall and when Aine came back from lunch we jumped out and surprised her. There were loads of cakes, sweets and crisps.
We had a great laugh watching the DVD with everyone making silly mistakes and getting embarrassed. Everyone was in the film: students, teachers and even the principal Mrs. O'Connell. We collected money from the girls and gave Aine presents to remember us.
We all miss Aine very much and hope we will see each other some day.
Excellent Exam Result (2011)
This year's exam results were excellent: well done to all the students and their teachers.
In PLC, Fetac Level 5 a total of 32 modules were completed. Of these, 25 achieved Distinction (>80%), 7 achieved a Merit (>65%). At Level 5, these results compare very well with national standards for ALL students.
At Leaving Cert Applied, 4 students completed all their modules, and everybody achieved a Merit grade in their Leaving Cert Applied. All these students are now in Further Education.
8 students completed their Leaving Cert, sitting a total of 55 papers.
21 papers were at Higher Level, and at this level 91% of our students achieved a Grade C or higher. 24% achieved Grade B or higher.
34 papers were at Ordinary Level, and at this level 59% achieved a Grade C or higher, while 21% achieved Grade A or B.
Again, these results compare very well with national standards for ALL students.
At Junior Cert Level, 14 students completed a total of 95 subjects. 15 papers were at Higher Level, and 100% of these students achieved Grade C or higher, while 67% achieved Grade A or B. 70 papers were at Ordinary Level, and 78% of these students achieved Grade C or higher at this level, with 29% achieving Grade A or B. 10 papers were at Foundation Level, and at this level, 100% of students achieved Grade C or higher, while 90% achieved a Grade A or B.
We are very proud of these results, and the hard work over many years certainly paid off.
PLC Fetac Level 5 graduation took place this week (2011)
4 students completed a total of 32 modules, each achieving a full Level 5 certificate.
Of these, 25 modules achieved Distinction (>80%), 7 achieved a Merit (>65%).
In addition to these fantastic results, each of these students achieved a full CPR Certificate, which was also presented at the Graduation Ceremony.
At Level 5, these results compare very well with national standards for ALL students. This is due to the hard work of our students, and the fact that St. Mary's is the only PLC College in Ireland with fully trained and experienced Teachers of the Deaf.
We are very proud of you, Shauna, Aishiing, Claire and Kelly. Well done!
The Extern Examiner was very impressed with the standard of work...
"..I felt both humbled and enlightened by the work done there"
"I will definitely contact you again regarding re-visiting St. Mary's at some point, purely to see and learn more about it, such was the impact" "Computer-based work demonstrated how focussed students were, in an area they could excel"
Here are some Graduation Photos, and also some of the 3D work done during the course; the "models" were made by re-using old and scrap materials collected around the school.
Maths Day (2011)
A big Thank You to our Maths teachers for organising another very successful Maths Day in St. Mary's.
It included a "Mathematical Treasure Hunt", loads of games involving shapes, a "Can You Predict a Minute" competition, Maths Pictionary and lots more.
We invited some of the boys from St. Joseph's with their teachers. We all had lots of Mathsfun!
Halloween (2011)
The Art Department have been very busy painting Halloween pictures.
Witches, Ghosts and Ghoulies...come have a look!
Green Schools Action Day (2011)
We had a Green Schools Action Day on the day of our Halloween break.
This involved putting on high-visibility jackets and picking up litter (wearing gloves!) from the avenue. We were very surprised, and shocked at how much litter there was! We collected several black bags of litter and the teachers joined in and helped us too!
When we got back to the school, we all cleared out excess paperwork from our classrooms, the library and AV room. The teachers cleared out their presses and rooms too.
We filled a few green Bins with paper waste which will be recycled.