News May 11th 2007
Photo Competition Winner
Congratulations to Edmund Burke, 3rd yr., who was the
winner of our inaugural school Digital Photography Competition. Edmund’s photographs
were of an exceptionally high quality depicting various scenes on Lough Derg. The winner
received his prize of a Fuji digital camera from Sheila and Brendan Hoary, Picture This,
Portumna on Tuesday afternoon last.
Cycle For Computers!
As outlined last week our major fundraising project for this year, a 10
mile sponsored cycle, will take place next week. Due to a number of other events
unavoidably scheduled for Thursday we have decided to move the cycle to Friday (May 18th).
A large number of students now have sponsorship cards and we are hoping
for a generous response from parents and the wider community to help with this venture.
Remember, if we are successful with this we will return after the summer to a second
computer room with the most up to date hardware and software.
We would be most appreciative of help from parents on Friday afternoon
next with the supervision of this event, safety being our number one priority. If you are
in a position to help out with marshalling during the cycle, please contact the school for
more details.
For all those intending to take part we would ask you to make sure that
your bike is in good working order, paying particular attention to the brakes! A helmet is
absolutely essential for all participants and yes, a hurling helmet is a perfect
alternative to a cycling helmet!!
More detailed arrangements for the event will be outlined next week.
Trocaire 2007
Bishop John Kirby, Chairman of Trocaire, will be visiting Portumna
Community School next week to personally acknowledge the incredible fundraising that has
now passed the €6,000 mark, which is an all time record for the school! The final
count will take place on Tuesday in preparation for handing over the cheque, so all cards
and money or donations to be given in on Monday please.
Trip to Lourdes
Congratulations to Mairead Felle who will be travelling to Lourdes as a
helper with the Clonfert Diocesan Group this coming August. She will be joining
representative students from the other second level schools in the diocese.
Fr. Abe.
Youth Cafe on the Move!
Monday, 14th May, 2007 will be a day of celebration for
all who have been involved in the drive for a Youth Café here in Portumna. At approx.
9.30 a.m. the Youth Café building, generously sponsored by Gerard McCarthy of Dryform
Ltd., will make its way from the Bridge Road with a Garda escort, to its new home on the
VEC grounds (old Vocational school).
If you are unable to witness this long awaited moment, don’t fret,
all will be captured by camera crew! Many thanks to everyone who have supported the
project to date. Without support this would still be a dream! All support is greatly
appreciated to get the Café up and running.
Experiments Session
The Leaving Cert. Physics class visited the ‘Life and Physical
Science Department’ at G.M.I.T. during the week. They got the opportunity to carry
out a variety of experiments from their syllabus.
M. Nagle
Locker Keys
Locker Keys will be taken back from Tuesday, 15th May,
starting with the Leaving Certs.
Your Locker must be cleaned out and in good condition to get back the
deposit. Classes will be informed later when their keys will be collected.
5th Yr. L.C.V.P.: All students are required to submit the
following:
1. Summary Report and Action Plan to be saved on Server and handed to
your teacher on/before
Monday, 21st May, 2007.
2. ‘My Own Place’ handwritten by 21st May and
given to your teacher.
Change of Traffic Flow on St. Brigid’s Road
Following consultations between local Gardaí and the schools a new
system of traffic management started on April 23rd. Again, we would ask
that all vehicles, when dropping off or collecting students, approach the schools
from the Ballinasloe end and exit at the Bank of Ireland / Ladies’ Day junction.
Dipping Your Toes
An introductory workshop to establish a Youth Theatre in Portumna this
autumn will take place on Saturday, 19th May in the Town Hal, Portumna.
The Workshop for 6th class, 1st year and 2nd
year students, is at 2.00pm – 3.30pm, and the workshop for 3rd years,
T.Y., 5th and 6th years is at 3.30pm – 5.00pm.
FEE is €3. Facilitator: Pete Molyneaux.
YOUR attendance means YOU are interested in creating YOUR YOUTH THEATRE.
This project is organised by Portumna Arts Group Call 087 2931055 for any
information.
Mental Health Portumna
Portumna's Branch of Mental Health Ireland would like to thank the TY
students, Mr. Michael Molamphy, Mr. James Coughlan and Fr. Abe Kennedy for their help and
co-operation in the "SOUND OUT" project. The voices are now on disc and it is
hoped to continue the project into next year and have a launch of the disc during the
school year to follow.
Your imagination and creativity worked well and we hope you enjoyed the
process also.
Post-Leaving Cert & Adult Morning Courses Sept. 2007
FETAC – Level 5 Certification:
Childcare Community Care / Health Care
(Care Assistant / Classroom Assistant)
Office Admin. with Legal Studies.
Information & Enrolment Evening on Wed., 16th May
‘07 at 8 p.m. in Portumna C.S.
Congratulations
Congrats to Kayleigh O’Brien and Lisa Callanan (First Years) who
entered the Portumna Community Games last Friday and are now through to the next round in
Galway - Kayleigh : 100m sprint and Lisa : Shot putt. Best of luck girls!
Rachael Darcy
Congrats also to Roisin Gordon (5th Yr.) who’s design
won the Logo Competition for Portumna Community Childcare Group’s new Childcare
facility called ‘Acorn to Oak’. Watch out for Roisin’s logo on completion
of the building.
T.Y. Retreat
Last Wednesday (9th) the Transition Year students travelled
to the Celtic Furrow, Ballintubber in Co. Mayo for our retreat. We left the school at 8 am
and when we arrived we were given humorous role-plays about the different masks that we
wear. After lunch we visited the Abbey and watched a video on the history of the church
and surrounding area. This was followed by a meaningful reflection during which we all lit
a candle, prayed and received a Hazelnut - this was the old Irish symbol for
‘Wisdom’.
Many thanks to Fr. Abe for organising the wonderful day out and Ms.
Cunniffe accompanying us.
TY Student
Dates for your Diary: (12th – 18th
May)
Mon. 14th : T.Y. Local Historical Trip (9.30 – 1.25). LCA 1 & 2
– Day trip.
Tues. 15th : 2nd Year Hurling Vs Gort C.S. @ 12 noon in Gort.
Wed. 16th : PLC Enrolment and Information Evening @ 8 pm.
Thurs. 17th : 1st & 2nd year Camogie Blitz in NUIG
at 10 am. Bus leaving at 8.50 am.
Thurs. 17th : Connaught Schools Athletics in Dangan, Galway.
Fri. 18th : Sponsored Cycle (1st yrs, 2nd yrs. &
some TYs / 5th yrs.).
Fri. 18th : Leaving Cert. Mass at 8.30 p.m.
School receives FETAC Quality Assurance
Award.
At a ceremony held in Dublin recently Mrs Kathleen Cahalan,
director of our PLC courses received the FETAC Quality Assurance Award on behalf of the
school. This award is given in recognition of the school's work in establishing procedures to quality assure their
programmes and agree these procedures with FETAC.
Cycle For Computers!
Details of our major fundraising project for this year were
announced this week to an enthusiastic response from all here in the school.
The goal is to raise enough money to set up a new computer room through a
sponsored cycle involving non-exam classes. Sponsorship cards were distributed today and
we are hoping for a generous response from parents and the wider community to help with
this venture.
In recent years with the establishment of a full school network, every
classroom and office in the school now has a broadband connection. This should allow us to
take full advantage of the ever-increasing opportunities that Information and
Communication Technology is continuing to offer.
We need to reach the stage here is school where any class teacher has
the option of bringing their class to a computer room with at least 24 high quality
computers. Presently we have one computer room, which is in use most of the time for our
regular computer classes. The second room will, as far as possible, be
"timetable" free to give teachers the option of using it for class.
The cost of such a project will be in the region of €15,000 and
currently there are no funds available from the Government for this. Obviously a huge
effort is required if we are to achieve this target. As an incentive for
participating student rewards will be given in the form of memory sticks and MP3 players
depending on the amount raised.
The cycle itself is 10 miles in total and will take place on Thursday,
17th May.
All students (and teachers!) taking part are reminded that a helmet is
essential and that your bike should be in good working order, paying particular attention
to the brakes.
We appeal therefore to everyone to get behind this most worthwhile
project which will be of benefit to all partners in the education process here in Portumna
Community School
Trocaire 24 Hr. Fast
If you are one of the small number of students who have not
returned their cards & sponsorship please give them to Fr. Abe on Tuesday.
Countdown to the Leaving & Junior Cert State Exams
- 19 school days left!
Locker Keys will be taken back from mid-May. Your Locker must be cleaned
out and in good condition to get back the deposit. Classes will be informed later when
their keys will be collected.
Swimming: Certs for the Irish Water Safety courses that took part
last July/Aug. have been left in Anne’s Office. If you took part in the above courses
please come and collect your cert.
Religion Trip
On Wednesday last a large group of 2nd years and a few 3rd
years travelled to Dublin to visit a Mosque and the Irish Jewish Synagogue and Museum. In
the Mosque we were given a talk by our tour guide. She gave us an insight into Islam and
some facts about the Mosque. A few of us even got to witness a Muslim Prayer Service which
was an unforgettable experience. Later on we went to the Jewish Synagogue and Museum. We
sat in the seats of the Synagogue that was built in the 1900s. Mr. Siev spoke to us on the
history of the Jewish Religion and answered many questions. We were taught some Hebrew and
then got to explore the Museum which held many interesting and historical items. Thanks to
Mrs. Ryan, Fr. Abe, Mrs. O’Brien and Ms. O’Flaherty for travelling with us.
Chloe Duane, 2nd yr.
1st Year Hurling
Well done to the First Year Hurlers who defeated St. Brigid’s,
Loughrea on Friday last with a superb display of hurling.
Final score Portumna C.S. 4-11 : St. Brigid’s 0-4.
Panel: M. Walsh, M. Briscoe, P. Killeen, J. McEvoy,
J. Whelan,P. Hodgins, P. Breheny (1-8), N. O’Meara (0-1), K.
Farragher (0-1),M. Starr (0-1), M. Lambe, C. Corcoran,
J. Blake (3-0), O. Royston,C. O’Meara, C. Casey, C. Treacy, S.
Moloney, N. Whelan, G. Fogarty, B. Fahy.
R. O Tuairisg.
New Parents Council
Alan Larkin (Chairman), Breda Cunningham, Thomas Callagy, Teresa
Coen, Tom Breheny, Deirdre Moloney, Eugene Duffy, Pauline Duffy, Colm Burns (Secretary),
Ana Maria Burke, James Dillon, Carmel Walsh, Derek Finnerty, Michele O'Toole, Timmy Walsh,
Maureen Curran (Assistant Secretary), Declan O'Meara, Josephine O'Meara, Martin
Quinn & Mary Conroy (Treasurer).
Their first meeting was held this week and the above officers were
elected.
Post-Leaving Cert & Adult Morning Courses
Sept. 2007 – May 2008:
FETAC – Level 5 Certification:
Childcare
Community Care / Health Care
(Care Assistant / Classroom Assistant)
Office Admin. with Legal Studies Information & Enrolment Evening
on Wed., 16th May ‘07 at 8 p.m.
in Portumna C.S.
Brochures, Application Forms & details available
from the school.
Registration Fee €20 and Applications must
be submitted by Friday, 25th May, ’07.
5th Yr. L.C.V.P.
All students are required to submit the following: 1. Summary Report and
Action Plan to be saved on Server and handed to your teacher on/before
Monday, 21st May, 2007.
2. ‘My Own Place’ handwritten by 21st May and given
to your teacher.