Christmas Doors
Our prefect team, along with Ms. Miley and Ms. Smith, came up with the idea of having a door decorating competition for Christmas. All tutor classes have been responsible for decorating their classroom door. There have been some fabulous creations made with the whole school getting involved and has really brought the Christmas spirit into CCA.
First Year Christmas Service
The First Year Christmas service took place on Friday, 4th December in the GP Area. Our first year class captains and a number of peer mentors attended the event while the rest of the year group were linked in over teams along with their tutors. There were some Christmas themed readings from students, Year Head Mr Kenny, Vice Principal Ms Coleman and a number of peer mentors. A big thank you to Ms. Leydon for organising this special event.
Green schools committee
Last Friday, our Green Schools' Committee had an opportunity to take part in a wonderful workshop with Irish Times correspondent, Sylvia Thompson. The students were guided through the process of writing a news article on the subject of environmental issues. Well done to those involved in this cross-curricular event which blended writing skills with environmental awareness.
First year enterprise:
One of our first year mini companies has proven very successful over the last number of weeks selling sweet boxes for the toy show under the name of The Sugar Shack. From the start of their entrepreneurial journey, Cian O'Brien, Rosie Davis and Oisin Reynolds made the decision to donate some of their profits to the Gavin Glynn Foundation. Last week they had the great honour of handing over €200. They have now chosen another foundation to donate part of their future profits to. This is a fantastic gesture from a wonderful group of students.
Enterprise Talk
Alan McGovern, the CEO of izest digital marketing company visited our fifth and sixth year business students. He spoke to the students about what the concepts his business is built around. He also spoke about the challenges he has faced in the business world, particularly this year. He discussed his leadership style and the process he uses when recruiting employees. A big thank you to Alan for giving up his time to talk to the students about what we think is an invaluable insight into the business and entrepreneurial world.
Student Council Christmas Jumper
The Student Council held their annual Christmas jumper non-uniform day on Thursday 10th of December. Students and staff of CCA were asked to join in the festive spirit by dusting off their finest Christmas jumpers to raise money for Wicklow Hospice and St. Catherine's support group in Kilcoole. There was an overall winner from each year group and the staff. The Student Council wish to thank everyone for their generous contributions and wish everyone a very merry and peaceful Christmas.
All Ireland Final
Everyone in CCA tuned into the Junior Ladies All Ireland Football Final last Saturday between Wicklow and Fermanagh. Our own Ms. Miley played a huge part in it. It was a great game but unfortunately it didn't go their way. We would all like to congratulate Ms. Miley and her team for the great achievement this year of being in an All Ireland Final and for being fantastic role models to all the students here.
GRMA Day
Friday marked Go Raibh Maith Agat Day, the day on which the nation has been asked to recognise all those who have worked to keep Irish schools safe and functioning since they re-opened. This includes students, teachers, parents, SNAs and all other school staff that make each day possible. In order to celebrate this national event, we extended tutorial on Friday morning to watch a video that the Department of Education commissioned to thank everyone in the school community for working together this year to make school a safe learning environment during this challenging time.
Every Friday, all students write down three things they are grateful for and put it on their gratitude three. This week it was focused on writing down three school related things they are grateful for, which could include people in the school community that they know have gone to huge lengths to make the school a safe place to be this year. Members of the Student Council also distributed tokens of gratitude to all staff members during the day. Thank you to all the members of our school community who have worked together and made it possible for the school to open and keep functioning throughout all the uncertainty over the past term.
Transition Year News
Cancer Awareness Talk
Liz McEvoy, community nurse with the Marie Keating Foundation led two talks last Friday for all Transition Year students. They were follow up talks to the talk she did with our students in October, entitled "Your Health Your Choice". The talks covered a broad list of topics such as cancer types, statistics, how to reduce your risk of cancer by the choices we make, smoking, alcohol and the importance of a healthy diet. Liz also gave an insight into the work of the Marie Keating Foundation.
Since the talk, some of the TY students decided to run a fundraiser. For €1, students were invited to guess the number of sweets that were in a jar. The person who was the closest to the right number won a prize. All proceeds went to the Marie Keating Foundation.
Workshop
On Thursday, all Transition Year students were involved in a floral decorating workshop. Each class spent an hour learning about flower arrangements and making their own personal centrepiece that they were then able to take home with them to place on the table for Christmas Day. A big thank you to Brigid Gallagher for facilitating the workshop for us.
Silent Disco
Transition Year has been a very different year to normal, with many of the usual trips and workshops not going ahead. Our Transition Year students have been fantastic and have already raised money for numerous charities as well as taking part in any opportunity that has been given to them. As a Christmas treat, they got to enjoy a Silent Disco last Friday in the PE Hall where lots of fun was had.
Merry Christmas
On behalf of everyone in Coláiste Chraobh Abhann we would like to wish all our students the very best of luck with the Christmas Exams. We would also like to wish all the members of our school community a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Photos
3rd Year Student of the Month - Sinead Fernandez, Eva Doyle, Elisha Perse, Cayden Elliott who were 3rd year students of the month.
Remembrance Tree - Alex Adderly O'Brien, Aisling Kearns, Jack Vickers, Ella Holt and Ryan Curran of Transition Year who organised a remembrance tree for all staff and students to remember loved ones this Christmas.
1st Year Enterprise - Cian O'Brien, Rosie Davis and Oisin Reynolds donating part of their profits from their mini company to the Gavin Glynn Foundation.