February 2019

Composers in the Classroom

Pictured above are the Fifth Year Music class on a recent visit to the Concert Hall, Dublin.

Throughout this school year, four fifth year students have been participating in ‘Composers in The Classroom’, an initiative run by Chamber Choir Ireland. These students are Hazel Murray, Stacey McCormack Reith, Alana O Malley and Roddie McGuinness (CBS). Within this programme, the students have each composed a musical piece to be performed by a SATB Chamber Choir. On Wednesday last the four students and sixteen of their ever-supportive music classmates travelled to the National Concert Hall where they recorded and produced their own pieces with eight members of the National Chamber Choir. On Friday, March 1st, the students are invited to a gala performance of their pieces in the Concert Hall, with all participating schools. Congratulations on this massive achievement to all four students who have worked so hard on their compositions all year. Thanks to Ms. Coleman who accompanied the students.

‘Composers in the Classroom’ L-R: Alana O Malley, Hazel Murray, Roddie McGuinness (CBS) and Stacey McCormack Reith.

Tourism Trip

Pictured above are the Tourism classes enjoying their Trip to Dublin last week.

Pictured above are L-R: Ciara Roddy, Elaine O’Grady and Emma Brandon on the recent Tourism Trip to Butlers Chocolate Factory.

On Tuesday February 12th the transition year Tourism classes accompanied by their teachers Mrs. O’Brien and Ms. Riordan went to Dublin on a tourism trip. First stop St. Stephens Green where the girls soaked up the atmosphere of the city. Next stop was Butlers Chocolate factory where the girls watched the chocolate movie and learned all about the origins of chocolate and the history of Butlers Chocolates. Then the girls visited the interactive chocolate museum with plenty of complimentary chocolate tastings to savour throughout! Next the girls savoured the aroma from the chocolate gallery and enjoyed a fascinating vista of the entire Butlers Chocolates factory and enjoyed an up-close chocolate demonstration from one of the chocolatiers and learned the interesting techniques of how individual chocolates are made. Finally, the highlight of the tour, the girls unleashed their competitive chocolate spirits and decorated their own chocolate heart with lashings of liquid chocolate and chocolate flakes! Next on the trip was extreme fun at Jump Zone in Santry. Here the girls enjoyed all that the indoor trampoline park could offer from free jumping to foam pit and dodgeball. Before heading back to Roscommon the obligatory stop for shopping at Liffey Valley was made. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the day and would like to thank Mrs. O’Brien, Ms. Riordan for organising this trip and accompanying them on the day. Thanks also to Ms. Hurley for accompanying the girls on the trip.

Pictured above are Anna Shanagher and Hannah Farnon enjoying Jump Zone last week.

Junior and Senior Rugby

Pictured above are the Senior Rugby team. Back Row: L-R: Rachel O’Grady, Samantha Dobrenko, Sophie Coen, Chloe McDonnell, Nessa Madden, Maria Eduardo, Siobhan Rimmer, Ciara Doorly and Éabha Dolan. Front Row: L-R: Hannah Farnon, Emma Brandon, Jade McCormack, Niamh Kelly, Sinéad Keenan, Elaine O’Grady and Anna May Keegan.

The Convent of Mercy junior and senior rugby teams played matches last week against teams from Athlone Community College. Well done to the junior team who were successful on the day and despite contesting strongly in their match the senior team just came short.
Great effort was put in by both teams today under difficult weather conditions. The girls next matches will be against Westport at a home venue. Thanks to Mr. Coll for all his help with the teams.

Votes needed for our Junk Kouture entries

Catch of the Day

Butterfly Baby

Royaltea

Cersei Cannister

Flying Dreams

Mind Games

Angel Rose

Just Wingin` it

Following on from the fantastic news that two groups from the school have made it through to the Western Regional Finals of Junk Kouture 2019 we are appealing for your help to get another design through.
There is as lifeline vote that opened Monday 11th at 10am and the winner of this vote in each regional area will be put through to their relevant regional final. Our final is the Western Regional Final.
In order to have your say and help us in the lifeline vote voters must firstly register on app.junkkouture.com
The public can vote for their favourites every day and can earn extra votes by sharing on Facebook and following @boijunkkouture and @bankofireland on Instagram.
There is a magic word to be found each day (Monday-Thursday) on Junk Kouture’s Instagram stories and this can be used on your voting dashboard. Then on super Friday use all the votes you gained and give them to your favourite design. All the designs are displayed in this post so please vote for every group from today and your favourite on Friday.
Please, please help us to get another design through to the next stage and please encourage all your family members and friends on social media to vote for us too.

Junk Kouture 2019

Caribbean Chic

Last Thursday night we received the great news that two of our Junk Kouture groups had made it through to the Western Regional Finals of Junk Kouture 2019. The two groups through are ‘Can’t even think straight’, Erin Beirne, Aislinn Kilmartin and Sarah O’Mara and ‘Caribbean Chic’, Katie Hennessey, Samantha Dobrenko and Danielle Saunderson. Well done to these two groups who have put in a huge amount of work and have totally earned their places in the competition. The Western Regional Final will take place in The Royal Theatre, Castlebar on the 7th of March. Congratulations and well done on a superb achievement.

Can’t even think straight

Pictured above are Transition Year students Ella Fitzmaurice and Ailbhe O’Rourke who were awarded first place in the School Enterprise Awards 2019.

Pictured above are L-R: Laura Lane, Emma Mannion and Éabha Dolan who were awarded second place in the School Enterprise Awards 2019.

Pictured above are Dania Dail and Erin Beirne who were awarded “Best Social Conscious Business”at the School Enterprise Awards 2019.

Enterprise Awards 2019

On Friday, February 1st our Transition Year students competed in the school Student Enterprise Awards final. There were businesses competing against each other to make it through to the Student Enterprise Awards County Final which will take place next month. The Student Enterprise Awards is an exciting and rewarding programme that gives second level students in Roscommon the chance to test their entrepreneurial skills by setting up and running their own business, while still at school. Organised by the Local Enterprise Office, the programme is run in second level schools all over the county and caters for students from first year right up to leaving certificate. The Student Enterprise Awards bring a taste of real life business into the classroom. Students are exposed to all the realities of entrepreneurship beginning with finding a business idea, researching the market, producing, promoting and selling the product or service, maintaining financial records and writing a business report. The projects were of a very high standard this year and the judges had a very difficult task in choosing the top three projects. This year’s winners are Ella Fitzmaurice and Ailbhe O’Rourke with their business “Pebble Pics”. Second place was awarded to, Emma Mannion, Laura Lane and Éabha Dolan for their business “All Scrubbed Up”. Third place winners were “Crew Neck Sports Tops”, the business idea of Ellen O’Beirne, Orla Irwin, Niamh Raftery and Shauna Regan. Fourth place was awarded to “Beanie Bois Christmas Cards”, the business idea of Maeve Farrell and Sarah O’Mara and the business idea of Dania Dail and Erin Beirne were awarded “Best Social Conscious Business”. The top four projects will now go forward to represent the school in the Student Enterprise Awards County Final. Congratulations to all the participants, who have gained much valuable experience in the area of enterprise and best of luck to the three groups as they advance to the next round of this competition. Thanks also to Ms. Connolly, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. O’Reilly (Enterprise Teachers) and Frank Beirne (Caretaker).

Pictured above are L-R: Ellen O’Beirne, Niamh Raftery, Shauna Regan and Orla Irwin who were awarded third place in the School Enterprise Awards 2019.

Pictured above are TY students Sarah O’Mara and Maeve Farrell who were awarded fourth place in the School Enterprise Awards 2019.

LCVP Visit in from Tidy Towns

On Thursday the 7th of February the 5th year LCVP students received a talk from Cllr. Kathleen Shanagher on the role of Tidy Towns in Roscommon. She discussed the history of Tidy Towns, the projects that they have carried out over the last few years and the success of a gold medal for Roscommon in the competition. She also reminded us of the challenges they face from dog fouling, illegal dumping and lack of volunteers and encouraged students to become more involved in their area. She was impressed on our plastic bottle recycle policy in our school and our water refill stations for the students to fill their bottles. Sincere thanks to Kathleen for her informative talk and creating awareness of the great work that Tidy Towns do in Roscommon.

Learning how to drive

Pictured is Transition Year student Laura Casey enjoying her driving lesson at the school last week. Thanks to Mr. Cunningham for organising and co-ordinating this activity.

Science Club

Pictured are members of the Convent of Mercy Science Club on a recent visit to Sligo where they attended a Tyndall 2 lecture on Physics. Thanks to Mr. Harlow (Science Teacher) for organising the trip.