This Friday, Maryfield is hosting its inaugural Table Tennis Takeover Day! The emphasis will be on inclusion, participation and fun!

Another September, and once again

Four sixth year students – Holly Clarke, Ciara Gill, Grainne Murray, Rebecca Maguire along with Ms. Seery volunteered looking after the sick and elderly pilgrims.

Due to all their hard work and efforts, many pilgrims had a very memorable and meaningful experience at Lourdes. The Maryfield girls along with their peers “The Blueshirts” and all the other helpers involved in the pilgrimage worked above and beyond their duties, taking on extra duties due to flight delays etc.

The Maryfield girls were mainly involved in the duties of ward support and refectory. They were full of enthusiasm for every task they were involved in.  They showed great kindness and compassion to those in their care, and work well as the Lourdes Maryfield Team, within the great big team that is the Dublin Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes. On one evening the girls were stewarding at the Torch Light Procession which is a very beautiful act of prayer. They also sang in the Folk Group at Lourdes during the many liturgies and ceremonies that take place during the pilgrimage.

They also attended the medal ceremony, where Ms. Seery was awarded the silver medal for completing five years of service to the pilgrimage. Many volunteers are awarded each year by the Archbishop of Dublin for their various lengths of service to the pilgrimage.

On their last night in Lourdes, the Maryfield Team headed to the Grotto to light their special large pilgrim candle for all the intentions of the Maryfield Community and for anyone who asked for us to remember them in our prayers. The girls also lit four candles for last year’s volunteers and wished them every success in their new endeavours.

Lourdes is an amazing sacred place. We ask for the guidance of Our Lady and the courage of St. Bernadette to bless us all in this coming academic year ahead. May we take this opportunity to thank all those who supported us and help us to fundraise. We remembered you all in our prayers at the Grotto. This was a life-changing opportunity for our girls, one that they will remember forever.

Irish secondary schools have been invited to take part in a Walk to School competition as part of European Mobility Week, which takes place from 16^th to 22^nd September.

Dublin City Council is partnering with An Taisce’s Green-Schools Travel Programme to encourage as many students, parents and staff to walk to school any day during European Mobility Week.

They are inviting schools across Dublin City to, where possible, walk some of part of their way to school if they can during this week, and to submit entries to their EMW Walk to School competition. Participating schools will be in with a chance to win a €200 voucher for PE gear or an opportunity to take part in a promotional video!

More information can be found here.

Do you walk to school or will you walk during European Mobility Week? How does it make you feel? What do you see on your journey? Who do you meet along the way? Do your friends join you on your walk or is it a solo adventure?

Secondary school students are invited to create a poster focused on the positive aspects of walking to school. This isn’t just a normal poster, we want you to get creative! Posters should display the most fun fact or that highlight the benefits of walking to school in the most imaginative way.

Green Schools have a number of Fun Facts on Walking that can be used as inspiration for your poster!

The school with the best poster will win!

Why participate?

• Exploring your local area through this activity will help students develop a better understanding of their surrounding environment.
• To provide an insight of student experiences on the way to school
• Participating in this competition is the perfect way to gear up for the Green-Schools National Walk to School Week 2023 where schools all over Ireland will be celebrating walking to school with Green-Schools during National Walk to School Week from October 2nd to 6th.

How to Enter

To take part in the competition send in your school’s worksheets and / or posters by Friday 29th September.

Send a photo of each entry from your school to sustainablemobility@dublincity.ie

Our pupils will soon do a survey about their level of physical activity.

We are delighted to be introducing a new school meals service with Food Village for 2023-2024.

Food Village will visit the school on Friday 8^th September to ‘onboard’ all students and students are required to bring their mobile device with them to school that day. Full service will then commence on Wednesday 13^th September.

In advance we request that all students have the Food Village app downloaded and their account registered prior to the onboarding day on the 8^th of September.   Please use this link to view specific information relating to our school, the unique registration code and to view the menu.

https://foodvillage.ie/mrfc/

We are delighted today to launch our new school app.

Through the app we will keep our whole school community updated on school events, activities and students’ achievements throughout the year and events section will remind parents of important dates in the school calendar.

We continue to use VS Ware for all attendance information, school reporting and VS Ware Mail as our main method of communication with parents.

We hope that you find the app a useful way to stay connected to the school community this year.

The validation code has been sent through VS Ware Mail & text and student email.  

App Installation_Guide

Return to School Message for Parents and Students – this is a pdf letter

Return to School 2023-2024 – Message to Parents and Students

Best of luck to all our junior and leaving certificate candidates who begin their journey today. We know you will do us very proud! In fide stabiles!

An samhradh buailte linn agus bliain iontach eile don Ghaeilge i gColáiste Pháirc Mhuire

Ghlac daltaí (thart ar 140 dalta )agus múinteoirí ó Choláiste Pháirc Mhuire páirt i nGaeilge 24 arís i mbliana ar an 15ú Samhain 2022 . Is dúshlán é Gaeilge 24 chun daltaí scoile a spreagadh chun labhairt as Gaeilge amháin ar feadh 24 uair an chloig. Tá an dúshlán á eagrú ag Conradh na Gaeilge agus deis iontach ba ea í do na daltaí a gcuid Gaeilge a feabhsú agus a chur chun cinn sa scoil. Bhí bricfeasta Gaelach againn ar maidin chun fuinneamh a thabhairt dúinn don lá fada lán le Gaeilge agus don dúshlán a bhí romhainn. Bhí an ceaintín dubh le daoine agus an Ghaeilge á labhairt ag gach duine le chéile. Ghlacamar páirt i dTráth na gCeist Beo ar Zoom. Bhí na mílte ar fud na tíre ag glacadh páirte chomh maith. Bhí céilí mór ar siúl san iarnóin agus bhain chuile dhuine spórt agus spraoi as! B’iontach an rud é teanga álainn na Gaeilge a chloisteáil ar fud na scoile ar feadh an lae.  Bronnadh teastas orthu siúd a ghlac páirt san fheachtas tábhachtach seo. Comhghairdeas leo go léir. Mar a deir an seanfhocal “Beatha teanga í a labhairt”.

1 An samhradh buailte linn agus bliain iontach eile don Ghaeilge i gColáiste Pháirc Mhuire[47]

The Parent Association of Maryfield College would like to share with you news of their activities throughout the school year, please read our newsletter for all the updates.

PA Newsletter May 2023

6th Year Prefects enjoyed a sweet treat at tea break today in thanks for their student leadership and contribution to school spirit this year.

Well done but ultimately, hard luck to the 6th year pupils who took the teachers on in a game of rounders today. They played well but were no match for their older but wiser adversaries.

It’s a time honoured tradition and the teachers are currently undefeated after nearly 80 years.

Congratulations to our TY Class of 2023 and Ms Ryan, Ms Clancy, Ms Cooney, Ms O’Toole, Ms O’Mahoney and Ms McLoughlin for a wonderful end of year celebration. Thank you to all parents who attended the presentation this afternoon.

Maryfield College Choir had an amazing night at the Bord Gais Theatre as part of Sing A Song of Docklands. Thanks to Dublin City Council, Creative Ireland and Sing Ireland for the unforgettable experience! Well done to all the girls, they sang beautifully.

Students from the Enterprise Club were out harvesting some salad at lunchtime to take home to eat. We have lots of organic rocket, spinach, lettuce and mixed oriental leaves growing nicely in our polytunnel.

Well done to Ines Jauny of 2K, who came second in the 100m and third in the long jump at the East Leinster athletics championships. She will represent Maryfield at the Leinster championships on the 17th of May.

The 5th year Japanese class has been making cranes with origami to wish world peace. This is going to be sent to Hiroshima as behalf of Irish secondary school Japanese students. Well done for the beautiful work!

Our One Good School Peer Educators graduated today! They taught our pupils about mental health and wellbeing. Well done to Emily and Sabrina!

4K are National finalists in the YSI Now competition, and their published book has just arrived in time! Well done, girls and Ms McLoughlin!

4K are National finalists in the @YSInow competition, and their published book has just arrived in time! #inclusion #diversity Well done, girls and Ms McLoughlin! pic.twitter.com/Ap1hp3YNSt

— MaryfieldCollegeDublin (@MaryfieldDublin) April 28, 2023

Posing in Portomarin! The Camino tour started their journey today, the first 25km walk starts tomorrow!

Despite the rain, the Parents Association and students from Maryfield College were out in force celebrating World Earth Day by hosting its annual Spring Clean of the school’s grounds. It was a busy morning weeding, pruning, cutting back brambles, clearing moss, litter picking and planting new plants. A big thank you to all the parents, especially the students who volunteered, the school caretaker Alan Redmond and principal Dr O’Rourke.  A big shout out to Dublin City Council who provided us with bags, gloves and litter pickers and Tully Nurseries in Ballyboughal who supplied us with some planting. 

The Maryfield Book Club enjoyed a visit from KPMG volunteers today. Students took part in a cover design competition and enjoyed discussing the book ‘Be Wild Little One’ by Olivia Hope. Students are loving taking part in the Junior Juries programme for the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Awards.

Today was also the final day of the Couch to 5K programme. Congratulations to all the girls who have worked hard to improve their fitness and wellbeing. Keep up the good work!

Today is Rainbow Friday! Our One Good School team invited Ollie Bell, a guest speaker from Shout Out, an LGBT+ charity. We sold rainbow pins to raise money for Shout Out also. A Find the Flag scavenger hunt completed the activities.

A massive congratulations and thank you to everyone on the One Good School team for all your hard work and achievements this week. You’ve really lifted the mood and made a positive difference.

Today is “Anti-Bullying Thursday”, Day 4 of Wellbeing Week. Our pupils were delivered a presentation about our school’s policy about bullying. A quiz competition completed the events.

It’s day 3 of Wellbeing Week and because the theme is “Give”, we had a bake sale at lunchtime. No money was involved though; our currency is kindness! We gave out cakes and treats in exchange for positive messages written on paper love hearts! 

Maryfield’s top runners were out bright and early this morning for the Maryfield Mile, part of our Wellbeing Week programme.

Our whole school did a Drop Everything and Move activity as part of Be Active Tuesday, an integral part of Wellbeing Week.

A Just Dance event was also part of the fun and games for Be Active Tuesday.

A lot of fun was had by everyone!

We were visited today by a representative of Jigsaw, the youth mental health organisation. Emeir talked to our pupils about Jigsaw and mental health in general. The girls then listed what they’re grateful for on our gratitude noticeboard.

Click here to learn all about this special day.

Students learn by doing hands-on activities. Worth 20% of LC geography exam.

Tree planting by green schools committee  during tree week in March.

First year winners of green schools committee photo competition ‘wildlife in our school’.

Our girls were consistent throughout the tournament, reaching the semi-final.

The Japanese embassy organised the film screen of “Suzume” in the Lighthouse cinema and invited a teacher and 3 students who study Japanese for the event.

Two of the transition year students reached the final of the relove fashion competition on Thursday in Ballymum.

Here are some pictures of the two students Sarah Elders and Isabelle Graham with their outfit that they made from recycled jeans.

The final had 22 finalist out of 200 entries from all schools all over Ireland.

5K on retreat this week in the Ruah Retreat Centre in Drumcondra. All fifth years are participating in class retreats this week. It is a day of discussion, reflection and prayer. Fifth years will be encouraged to think about the theme “I’m ok, You’re ok and that’s ok”.

Our second year CPSE class 2R created a beautiful welcome wall that celebrates our school’s diversity and makes all students feel valued and included. We recognise the importance of providing a supportive environment for our EAL students, and we are dedicated to ensuring that all students feel empowered to succeed at Maryfield College.

Our 5th year Japanese students went to our neighbour school, Mount Temple to see a Japanese Hockey team. They learned Irish culture, language and sports together and spoke a lot in Japanese. They also made it to Drumming workshop in UCD with them. Had a great day!

The Trad Group performed well yesterday in Ard Scoil Rís! They had invited us down for a céilí. Thank you for hosting us @ArdscoilRis_D9 🎶 pic.twitter.com/Fzni0dJvov

— MaryfieldCollegeDublin (@MaryfieldDublin) March 15, 2023

LE CHEILE SCHOOLS TRUST STUDENT SYMPOSIUM

“LIVING OUR CATHOLIC FAITH”

On Monday 13^th March, ten students along with Ms.Seery took part in the very first Le Cheile Faith Symposium. This was a wonderful gathering of Le Cheile schools from all over the country.

The symposium was held at Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo. the students took part in various workshops including the following:

• The story of Knock (Museum)
• The “Mosaic” story (Basilica)
• Faith sharing
• Recovery from addiction through faith, with members of the Cenacolo Community.
• Positivity of music in prayer
• Meditation

The students had the opportunity to reflect on prayer and faith in their own lives, and on how they live out the Le Cheile values within their own school communities.

The afternoon began with a special celebration of Mass in the Parish church, where various representatives from the schools took part in the liturgy, and everyone joined in the wonderful music.

There were some presentations from schools about the work of their “Ember” teams. This is a peer lead faith leadership group within the schools which aims to help school communities to live out our Catholic Faith.

The students really enjoyed the opportunity to link with students from so many different schools throughout the country, who are all part of the Le Cheile family. It was particularly lovely to meet up with the teachers and students from our sister/school – Cross and Passion, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare.

At the closing session, there was an invitation from the Knock Youth Ministry for students to participate in some summer volunteering at Knock Shrine (16–18-year-olds). Please see the noticeboard outside Room 27 for further information or speak to Ms. Seery

Maryfield can be very proud of the students who went to Knock this year. They were terrific ambassadors for their school. They completed a very long day from early morning to late in the evening, and entered very enthusiastically into the whole event. Well done girls!

We look for to this event being the first of many gatherings that will take place in the years to come.

After attending the Regional and National sessions of European Youth Parliament Ireland, I was selected to attend an international session in Tromsø, Norway. The session had 300 participants from all over Europe, and over 9 days we came together in committees and created resolutions to tackle problems facing Europe currently. The resolutions we wrote will be sent to policy makers across Europe and hopefully influence positive change.

Our u14 badminton team contested the Leinster badminton championships last week, finishing credibly in 4th position. Well done to Janani, Alice, Taniya and Olivia.

We’re delighted to announce that Jigsaw is offering a Friendship webinar for parents. It’s on Tuesday, the 14th of March at 7.30.

#EmbraceEquity– the theme of international Women’s Day 2023. /Strike a pose.

First years during Ms O’Sullivan’s SPHE class living the dream and incorporating some physical activity into their day. Students came up with six exercises and then rolled the dice! #embraceequity #internationalwomensday

Lynchs-Maryfield_College_School-A5-LR

Lynch’s website- Maryfield section

Last Wednesday March 1st, the TY students took part in the EMMANUEL Concerts at the Helix. This is an initiative between schools and the Dublin Diocese. It was great to take part again in this wonderful event after  the Pandemic, and it was so inspiring and uplifting to see and hear so many young people singing. The concerts promote wonderful music that can be used in our schools for Liturgy.

Well done to our u16A badminton team who played in the Leinster div 1 badminton championships. They played very well and came second. The team consisted of Michelle Shocan, Mishalini Gopi, Jose Rayna and Cheryl Nakka.

Dear Le Chéile Community,

Our first Lenten Space for Grace takes place today at 13:20 online, the entire Le Chéile community are invited to join us for 20 minutes of prayer and reflection. Please circulate with more members of the community as you feel fit.

We will have in total three Space for Grace online reflections, today, March 15th & March 29th all at 13:20. This is in collaboration with other Trusts and Organisations – CEIST, Spiritan Trust, Loreto Trust, Dublin Diocese & Marino Institute.

We acknowledge that schools & workplaces are busy places therefore we will be recording the reflection and will place it on our website later today so that it can be viewed at another time for those that want it.

Please see attached the advertising poster and below the zoom link for all three Space for Graces

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81491929432<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fus02web.zoom.us%2Fj%2F81491929432&data=05%7C01%7C%7Cec739d2ac52240cf9f3908db1a396374%7Caf5d9931d1e44a28a9fd75359ef98ab4%7C0%7C0%7C638132606111529708%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9UQeUQv%2B3hZoBPEmGrdaAwhAs0w77PMX%2FTX9XCQdSJg%3D&reserved=0>

We hope you can make time for your own faith journey this Lent and join us.

Warm wishes,

Claire Kilroy
Ethos Leadership Officer,
Le Chéile Schools Trust CLG.

The TY Japanese class went to a local Japanese restaurant today to try a bento box to finish off the module. They all enjoyed it very much. Well done to Ms Mika McLoughlin.

The 6^th Year Music students enjoyed their trip to the National Concert Hall this Tuesday to see the National Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. They loved experiencing their Set Work live!

Here is a video from the 6th year's trip to the National Concert Hall. pic.twitter.com/bqZOi7FwjH

— MaryfieldCollegeDublin (@MaryfieldDublin) March 1, 2023

Information to follow.

Here’s a video of the Maryfield ski trip, compiled by Ms Cooney: https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/696e59af-320d-40ae-ba8b-d5cad08d71f0

This week, two of our fifth years are delivering classes to their peers about mental health and wellbeing. It is part of Jigsaw’s One Good School programme. Well done, Sabrina and Emily!

Commiserations but still well done to the u14 badminton team who were narrowly edged out in their Dublin final today against St Mary’s, Naas. Our girls fought bravely but succumbed to a 4-2 loss. Our team of Olivia, Taniya, Alice, Janani and Inès did us proud!

Our 4th and 5th years went skiing in Andorra over the midterm. A great time was had by all!

“Thank you to a wonderful group of 6th years who were a pleasure to bring to Edinburgh and the Highlands last week and we all had a great time”- Ms Carroll.

It’s Safer Internet Day 2023! Our pupils are hard at work, designing presentations and posters to help their peers stay safe online. Here are some posters produced by our first years. The theme for today is promoting respectful, inclusive online communication. #SID2023

On Thursday February 2^nd, the Fifth Year Politics & Society students of Maryfield College visited the Houses of the Oireachtas at Leinster House. We were greeted by the Parliamentary Education Officer, Conor Reale, who informed us about the role of the Dail and Seanad, before we met with Social Democrat TD Cian O’ Callaghan. Deputy O’ Callaghan discussed issues such as how the role of a TD is changing, his work in the Dail committee on Housing and why young people should get involved in politics. He then took part in a very engaging question and answer session where he listened and responded to every question that we asked of him.

We then watched the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, give a joint address to both houses of the Oireachtas. This was a unique opportunity for us to witness as she is only the second women outside of Ireland to be given this honour. After the President’s address we were then escorted to a room upstairs were we had the privilege to take part in a question and answer session for over twenty minutes with President Metsola and Deputy Leader of Seanad Eireann, Senator Regina Doherty. During this meeting we discussed a wide range of topics such as the difficulties female politicians face, increasing the power of the European Parliament, how the rule of law is under threat, and future challenges facing the European Parliament.

President Metsola took a great interest in our lives as young people in Ireland and asked us what changes we would like to see in our education system and in the society that we are growing up in. She stressed the need for a pragmatic approach to issues but also encouraged us to push for the change that we want to see in the world and she has inspired many of us to follow in her footsteps as future political leaders.

Fifth Year Politics & Society students meeting with the President of the European Parliament

A group of 5th years is currently engaging in Jigsaw’s One Good School Peer Education programme training. These volunteers will deliver workshops to teach the junior cycle pupils about mental health and wellbeing.

You can follow what our religion department is getting up to on: @REmaryfield

All first years took part in class retreats this week in the parish centre in St. Vincent De Paul Church, Marino.

The RE department would like to thank the first year students who participated so well together each day.

“We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson

Scout’s experience of retreat

“The Theme of the retreat was Self- esteem. Self-esteem is believing in yourself and loving yourself the way God loves you. I enjoyed all of the games that we played because now I know the people in my class a bit better. I found it difficult to meditate at first but when I got into the flow of it I found it relaxing. I had a really fun day.”

Our U19 team reigned supreme in the U19 Dublin final with an emphatic win over Castleknock Community School. The pitch was frozen over at the start of the match but that did not put off our girls. Captain Ava Lambe of sixth year lifted yet another trophy, in what has proven to be a very prolific colleges camogie career. We will now represent Dublin in the All Ireland championships. Well done everyone!

It has been a triumphant return to badminton for Maryfield. Our U16A badminton team has been crowned Dublin and Region champions after a home and away victory over St Mary’s, Naas. The quarter, consisting of Michelle Shocan, Mishalini Gopi, Rayna Jose and Cheryl Nakka, will now represent Dublin as they contest the Leinster championships in March. Well done, girls!

As part of Maryfield’s Whole-School Wellbeing strategy, we will introduce a couch to 5K running programme, beginning on Monday, 23^rd of January. Each pupil is welcome to participate, regardless of fitness levels.

We will meet after school up to three times a week and the aim is for participants to be able to eventually run for 5km without stopping. It starts off with a manageable combination of walking and jogging and progresses towards running only. The plan doesn’t just include running- there will be some general cardio and strength training to help build up muscle and stamina. If you are interested, please sign up on the sports noticeboard. You must also obtain a parental permission form, available on the window ledge across from the sports noticeboard.

Please find attached a PAR Q questionnaire (Physical Activity Readiness ) for anyone interested in participating. If you answer yes to any of the questions, please consult with your doctor before you begin the programme. If any of symptoms occur while participating, you must cease immediately and seek medical help.

We will use a Couch to 5K app (C25k) to keep track of progress. You can complete parts of the programme in your own time. 

The programme will take place on school grounds. Pupils are to wear their own sports gear so their PE tracksuits will still be available for PE classes. Please note, your clothes and footwear may get muddy on occasions.

Our U19 team had a resounding victory over Portmarnock C.S. in their semi-final with a scoreline of 6-9 to 1-1. They will play their final on Friday in Trinity College Sports Ground, Santry at 10.15. Well done, girls!

Well done to our U16A and 14 badminton teams who played St Mary’s, Naas today. The U16s won 4-2 and the u14s lost 4-2.

The u19 camogie team beat Hartstown CS in their quarter-final by a scoreline of 7-14 to 0-0. They will face either St Dominic’s, Cabra or Portmarnock CS in their semi-final. Well done everyone!

Transition Year Musical – High School Musical

Tickets now on Sale

Tickets for 24^th January

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/high-school-musical-tickets-505927822737?utm_campaign=post_publish&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_content=shortLinkNewEmail

Tickets for 25^th January

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/high-school-the-musical-tickets-505978614657?utm_campaign=post_publish&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eventbrite&utm_content=shortLinkNewEmail

TY Musical 2023 High School Musical Promotional Flyer[7]

Ministers Foley and Ryan welcome progress on Schools Decarbonisation Pathfinder Programme

https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/86414-ministers-foley-and-ryan-welcome-progress-on-schools-decarbonisation-pathfinder-programme/

The Prefects and Ms Farrelly wish to thank all Staff, Students and Parents for their generosity during the Prefects 2nd fundraiser .A very generous €1046.30 was raised for Sonas, which will be used to provide refuge for Women and Children in distress.

It is a longstanding tradition that sixth year students sing carols for the first year students here in Maryfield. This afternoon the sixth years encouraged the first years to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and the need for peace in our world. We sang carols together and listened to readings.

There was a special visitor and we also sang some Christmas favourites. Thank you to all the sixth years who planned and participated in our carol service. A special mention to the stars of the show and to Mary-Kate for her impeccable compere skills.

Thanks to Ms Seery, Ms McCarron and Ms Cooney for their help in preparation of our carol service.

Happy Christmas Everyone

Ways to help young people who are struggling with their mental health

by Naomi Lungu, Jay Muteba, Juliet Murphy and Zoe Lenehan

One Good School

Ms Ryan has captured some beautiful views of Maryfield this Frosty Friday!

The Music Department and Parents Association held a Christmas Musical Evening last Monday night. Thank you to all the students who took part! You are magic!

TY pupils Complete the CPR 4 Schools programme

TY students took part in a “Book Folding” craft workshop as part of Transition Year RE. The workshop took place in the Margaret Alyward Faith Centre in Glasnevin.

On 1^st December the sixth years gathered in the assembly hall for a day of reflection led by our special guest Gerry Keegan. Gerry shared aspects of his own faith journey and encouraged the sixth years to take time to reflect on their own lives and experience. Gerry sang songs and shared his story through examining the lyrics. There were plenty of games and interactive music general knowledge quizzes, correct answers were rewarded with enthusiastic cheers.

It was a powerful experience to be witnessed. Thank you everybody for your respectful participation and sense of  fun throughout the day.

A special word of thanks to our personal Adele act! 😉 Hope you enjoyed the pizza lunch.

The RE Department

Video

It’s that time of the year again and to mark the start of the Christmas Season at Maryfield College, the Parents Association have sponsored the Christmas tree in the school’s courtyard. Thanks to our committee members who helped decorate the tree which looks great alongside the five new benches that the association purchased last month for the school.

Here’s some photos of the 4th yrs. with the gnomes they made in a craft workshop run by Ms Mahoney and Ms McLoughlin. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to all our 2022 Junior Certificate candidates who received their results today! Our girls performed extremely well and made the school very proud.

1st Year Elections 

On the 25th of October the First Year elections took place 

1. The assigned student council members met at the assembly hall after break time. 

      2. They were assigned temporary roles for the election and were explained how to carry out these roles. 

      3. Four assigned members of the Student Council went to collect the first group of First Years and  brought them to the assembly hall where the elections took place. 

       4. After all the groups of First Years voted, all the members were taught how to count votes. 

       5. The elections went really well, and the First Years Student Council members were elected: Lily   Moran from 1R and Abigail Aju from 1L. 

Here is a photo of the prefects not wearing Halloween costumes!

The TY Japanese Class enjoyed a visit to Senbazuru Japanese Restaurant in Fairview with their teacher Ms O Loughlin yesterday.  They all enjoyed their Bento Lunch and using their newly learned Japanese greetings.

Here’s some pics from the Taekwondo National Championships in Limerick last Saturday. Ai Lin got a bronze🥉for 1st Dan patterns and gold🥇in the black belt 1-3 Dan U18 -61kg sparring. Winners will be selected into the National Team and the girl that got silver for sparring is the reigning World Cup Champion! Congratulations, Ai Lin!

Congratulations to Fiona Joby 1L who bought the winning raffle ticket at the Halloween Sale on Thursday 27th of October. Enjoy your prize 😊

Our first years enjoyed a Halloween extravaganza in the pe hall today! Spooktacular!

Fifth years Holly and Rebecca ran a best fancy dress competition with Ms McCarron’s 1st year classes 1L and 1K. Winners were Alisha Alim and Anna Binoy.

5th Year Students enjoyed a morning of teamwork and problem solving at Go Quest in Carrickmines on Friday 14th October. They challenged themselves with a mixture of  mental, physical and skill based ‘quests’ to gather as many points as they could for their team. Enjoy the photos from the day!

Mr Smith, parent Patricia Mulligan and pupils, Sarah O’Rourke and Kayleighann Burgess attended the One Good School Assembly in Croke Park on October 19th. It was an event to celebrate the good work that has been done so far by the participating schools.

The event was organised by Jigsaw, who provide help for young people from the ages of 12 to 25.

Former Irish President, Mary McAleese, was a guest speaker, she spoke about the influence one good adult can have on a student.

https://twitter.com/JigsawYMH/status/1582672319192834048?s=20&t=8uYGmzh6RS3BQPlw0qepMw

Ai Lin Sun (4th year) flew the Irish flag high at the VIII ITF Taekwondo World Cup in Koper, Slovenia. She earned two bronze medals – for individual and team sparring.🥋 A massive congratulations, Ai Lin, on this huge achievement!

Here's Ai Lin in action at the World Cup in Slovenia… she's wearing the blue of Maryfield! pic.twitter.com/9rQnP0mcyb

— MaryfieldCollegeDublin (@MaryfieldDublin) October 19, 2022

CLANG is Jigsaw’s campaign to help us all learn about and look after our own mental health and wellbeing. From Monday, 10 to Friday, 14 October, we’re asking you to join us in doing five simple actions proven to help with your mental health and wellbeing.

1. Connect
2. Keep Learning
3. Be active
4. Take notice
5. Give back in support of Jigsaw

Ways to connect

• Connect over lunch, featuring special treats brought in by the students or free pizza.
• Digital detox day, where students and staff don’t use their phones for a whole school day. There’s nothing like removing devices from your day to promote connecting with those around you.
• A screening. Use a room with a projector in and screen a film or game. A love of sport and film can bring people together like nothing else!

Ways to keep learning

• Presentation in school, college, or the student union by one of the organisers, explaining the Five a Day for Mental Health and its benefits.
• Webinar or completion of online course. See what courses we have available on jigsaw.ie
• Learn a new skill. Research a skill such as knot tying, cooking a particular meal, origami, etc. Then teach this new skill to each other!

Ways to be active

• Organised run, walk, or hike. Does exactly what it says on the tin. Pick a nice location locally or further afield and go for a run, walk or hike there.
• Interschool or intercollege sports game. What about students versus teachers or lecturers or a match against another school/college/society?
• Board game evening. So why not organise an evening where people can bring in their favourites?

Ways to take notice 

• Guided meditation There are lots of great guided meditation resources online. Have a look on YouTube and see if anything would suit your group.
• Nature walk around the school or college grounds. Are you near a nice park or located out in the countryside? Why not find a nice spot and go for a relaxing walk as a group?
• Litter pick up around the local area. There are few things more relaxing than taking a stroll and cleaning up your local area.

Ways to give back in support of Jigsaw

• Bake sale. Get a few talented bakers together, make some cakes and treats, and sell them. There’s nothing like a home baked brownie to put a smile on someone’s face.
• Non uniform day/costume day. Let everyone express themselves through their own choice of clothing in exchange for a modest donation. A classic!
• Sponsored run, walk, or hike. Keep things simple, pick a challenging location for a run, walk or hike and get sponsored by friends and family.
• Charity night out, gig or concert. Pick a venue, pick a form of entertainment to offer, and charge for tickets. Maybe throw in a raffle and there you have it!

CLANG with Jigsaw: Team challenge

The TYs travelled to Russborough House in Wicklow last Thursday where they participated in Archery, Zip-lining, High Ropes, Bushcraft and Rock Climbing. They then canoed across the Liffey Reservoir to their campsite, and braved the elements as they camped outside. A great time was had by all, where they learned to work as a team and bond with their year group! Many thanks to their teachers Mr. Dempsey, Mr. Devlin, Ms. Keating and Ms. Cooney for travelling with them!

On Thursday 29^th September we gathered as a community to celebrate the Opening of School Year Mass in St. Vincent De Paul Church, Marino.  Fr. Tom Noone celebrated our Mass with us and blessed our school community for the coming year.  We reflected on the values of our school and the symbolism of the Sunflower. We were encouraged to be like the sunflower.  “Be like the sunflower that follows every movement of the sun and keep your eyes always towards our God”. We formally welcomed all the first year students and new members of our Maryfield Community. There were presentations to our newly appointed sixth year prefects and the four students who represented Maryfield on the Dublin Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Thank you to all who participated so wonderfully in the Liturgy.

It’s National Walk to School Week! Maryfield chose Wednesday 21st as their day.

Here is a few images from the 4^th Year Physics Design Investigation, building tall, stable towers.

Here are some of Ms Mahoney’s second year art pupils with their pinch pot clay creatures. Well done to everyone concerned.

The Griffith Avenue Mile returns this year. This is a family event and you can run or walk. If you are interested in participating, please contact Mr Smith.

The class of 2022 received their Leaving Cert. results today. They did extremely well and have made the school very proud. Well done to all our candidates and subject teachers.

Leter from NPCPP – LC Helpline 2022[21]

This afternoon we celebrated the end of the current Transition Year by bringing the TY students together with their Year Head Ms McAuley, TY Co-ordinator Ms Ryan and their Form Tutors Ms Cooney, Ms Mahoney and Ms O’Toole and the Principal and Deputy Principal also to look back on all of the wonderful achievements of the year group and to celebrate their collective and individual successes.  We were also very pleased to have with us a representative from Young Social Innovators YSI to present the students with their pins for participation and the winning class 4L with their award for their #whowearsthetrousers campaign.

This afternoon students shared their experience of their participation in European Youth Parliament, An Gaisce, & Relove Fashion Project,  and Ms McAuley and Ms Ryan praised the students for their participation in all TY activities and opportunities with a particular focus on how this years group of TY’s reached out to their local community and those in need of help the most through the Christmas Care Package Initiative and charity fundraisers for Breast Cancer Ireland.  During the afternoon we enjoyed watching montages of both video and photo that reminded the students of all of their achievements and time spent together this year forging new friendships, learning new skills and participating in new experiences. Students all received their individual Transition Year completion certificates and a range of other subject and workshop certs also.

Please take a look through some photos and videos from this afternoons presentation.

We wish all our TY students a lovely Summer and look forward to welcoming them back to school at the end of August as 5^th Years.

Ms Carroll

Attached are some photos of the 5th Year LCVP/Business/Accounting trip to Tayto Park with Ms Darcy, Mr Devlin, Ms Reardon and Ms Bermingham.

Prefects enjoy lunch together, as a thank you for all their hard work. Despite COVID restrictions , such as staggered breaks  hampering their interaction with the junior classes, they still managed to  arrange  quizzes , pancake day for all the juniors,  picnic lunches,  and  3 whole school dress up  fundraisers, raising a staggering €7500. Congratulations, farewell and thank you .

Fourth years reflected on what the word ‘Faith’ meant in the context of their own lives and experiences. They created pieces of art, poetry and music that connected with their understanding of faith.

Congratulations on all your hard work everybody, it was a pleasure to see you working on your pieces and then sharing them with your classmates. A special shout out to our two rappers and their performance of ‘appreciation of life’.

On the 17th of May, the Music Department and Parents Association hosted a Musical Evening for the 1st and 2nd Year Parents. It was a fabulous evening with music from the Junior Choir, Full Choir, 6th Year Chamber Choir, Trad Group and 3rd Year Ai Lin Sun

Congratulations to the Transition Year students that raised a fantastic €422 in aid of St. Francis Hospice from their Spring Memorial Walk. Many thanks to everyone that supported us and donated to this worthy cause.

We are so delighted to announce that Maryfield has been awarded a Diplomatic Passport from Worldwise Global Schools.  This is an award to commend our commitment to Global Justice Education and our work in this area.  It has been challenging to continue our work this year due to Covid restrictions but we continued to prioritize Global Justice in our lessons and were excited to be able to run actions days for International Women’s Day and Anti-Racism Day.  We also ran a very successful Intercultural Week this week!  We look forward to more exciting projects to come!  Thanks to Worldwise and our Education Office Lizzy Noone for her constant support!

The sixth years went for a hike in Howth…

5^th Year Politics & Society students enjoyed a wonderful trip to the Dáil on Friday and had the opportunity to meet Aodhan Ó’Riordain TD and Richard Bruton TD and discuss some of their concerns.

Trip to Knock – 12th May

Fifth years had an early call on Thursday 12^th May. They headed west to Knock, Co. Mayo to take part in the #Livelife reflection day in memory of Donal Walsh.

Donal Walsh is the Kerry teenager who touched so many lives when he came to prominence through his writings and subsequent appearance on Brendan O’Connor’s ‘The Saturday Night Show’. Donal fundraised tirelessly while battling cancer. His family set up the foundation to promote his #Livelife message.

During the reflection day students listened to guest speakers Lisa Fallon, Annette Kelly and Paul Galvin. The speakers talked about the value of practice, positive thinking and pushing towards fulfilling their dreams.

Later, we gathered for mass in Basilica to celebrate and reflect on what Donal’s #Livelife message meant in the context of our own lives. Donal’s parents spoke during the mass keeping Donal’s message alive. We all found it a very thought-provoking experience.

Thank you to all the fifth years who represented our school so respectfully during our day in Knock.

RE Department

Hard luck to our u19A team who lost their final against Our Lady’s, Terenure. Their team was made up exclusively of club players whereas we only had one, so we were a little short changed…

Well done and thank you to our two sixth year players, Grace Gilroy and Claire Canning, who have served us so well over over the years. They’ve won 10 basketball medals between them (and last year there were no matches).

10/5/’22

The Maryfield first year A team won the premier league basketball final against St Louis, Rathmines by a score of 10-7. Captain Marissa Cox lifted the coveted trophy while Isabelle Lyons was awarded the Most Valuable Player hoodie. Well done to student coach, Olivia Ross and thank you for all your hard work. Congratulations, girls!

Class 4R Japanese Culture and Language Trip to Senbazuru Fairview to have a traditional Japanese Bento Box Lunch.  Thanks to our PPLI Japanese Teacher  Ms O Loughlin.

Out 3rd year students enjoyed a wonderful trip to Tayto Park last week. It was so nice to have some fun in the sun together as a year group with our tutors and year head!

Huge congratulations to the u19A basketball team who beat St Mary’s, Killester today to book a place in the final!

As part of the Green Schools module, the students in 4R organised a litter pick of the local area surrounding the school. We collected three large bags of litter:  including face masks, sandwich wrappers, plastic bottles, crisp packets and socks!  Many members of the community thanked us for helping to keep our area clean. Well done to all involved!

The East Leinsters took place on the 28th of April and the 3rd of May this year. Notable achievements were:

Ines Jauny, second in the minor 100m and long jump

Abbie Lowry: 5th in the senior 100m final

Lily Gaskin: 5th in the junior 100m final

First year relay team, finalists

Second year relay team, 3rd in heat

Massive congratulations to Cara Grange, Laura Marmion and Elaine Murphy-Transition Year students who were chosen to represent Ireland at the national finals of European Youth Parliament in Cork.  They are pictured with past pupil-Gabriele Rimkute (EYP) who helped to organize the event.

The Politics & Society Dept. welcomed some past pupils to come to talk to the 5^th year students about their university studies and how their learning in the subject inspired them to continue their studies in the area.  It was lovely to have you back girls!  Best of luck with your studies.

Click on the link to see a short video of the bake sale that 4K and 4L organised to raise money for Breast Cancer Ireland. The total came to €714.09. In loving memory of Ellen Gormley, past pupil and past staff member, who passed away recently. Rest in peace.

Here is a video from 4K and 4R's Bake Sale to raise money for Breast Cancer Ireland. The total came to €714.09 pic.twitter.com/fjN0MOKvz4

— MaryfieldCollegeDublin (@MaryfieldDublin) April 27, 2022

The RE Department organised some pilgrimage days in Glendalough for our second and third year students. Students took time out of their secular lives to enter into the sacred and connect with their spirituality in the beautiful surrounds of Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. They learned about the legends and stories of St. Kevin and the life of a monk.

The choir and music students had a great day out at the @IIMusicSong today in Balbriggan, here we all are standing in the world’s largest guitar 🎸🎶🎤🎼

TEEN SYNOD 2022

On Wednesday 6^th April 2022, five students from Maryfield College (Emily Burke 5thYear, Aoife Quinlan and Aisling Fallon 2^nd year, also Michelle Matthew and Amelia Solinska 1^st year) took part in a TEEN SYNOD GATHERING in the Margaret Aylward Centre, Glasnevin. This event was organised and hosted by St. Mary’s Holy Faith Secondary School and the arish of Our Lady of Dolours, Glasnevin.

Pope Francis wants the Church to be a “Church that listens,” and therefore it is vital that the views and responses of our young people are included in this listening process. The aim of the Worldwide Synod is a process to gather the experiences of Church and Faith from those who are actively involved as well as those who may have become detached from the Church.

The students discussed various things with other students such as – “What is the Church?,” and what has been their experiences of Church or Faith, especially with regard to their own school, community or parish. All students present at the Teen Synod represented the voices of young people who attend a Faith Based Secondary school.

The event was extremely engaging and informative, and all the submissions gathered will now be added to the submissions of the Dublin Diocese, and then will be sent as part of the National Submission to Rome ahead of the Pope’s World Synod in 2023!

In relation to Local Synods- Pope Francis has encouraged openness and freedom to speak using the term “Parrhesia,” which means speaking from the heart in charity. There was a great opportunity for all the students to participate and specially to listen to their peers.

Well done to all our girls involved on the day – they did a fantastic job! May God bless all involved in this process of shaping the Irish Church, within the Universal Church of the future.

(Patricia Seery- Maryfield College)

Here are some photos from Ms Keating’s 2nd year science trip to the Botanic Gardens on Monday.  The girls got to see the Viking House, the organic veg and fruit gardens, the glasshouses with their tropical habitats!

This week is intercultural week.

On Monday, the girls participated in a Bollywood Dancing workshop. (1) MaryfieldCollegeDublin on Twitter: “A great time was had at the Bollywood Dancing today. https://t.co/s1symhxCpn” / Twitter

On Tuesday, the Wadaiko Experience drummed up a storm. (1) MaryfieldCollegeDublin on Twitter: “Waking up the neighbours in style. https://t.co/zPbwMH5HZl” / Twitter

On Wednesday, we sampled some delicious ethnic food. Also, the Enterprise Club created a display of countries represented by students in Maryfield College on our Intercultural Signposts to celebrate diversity and inclusion.

Thursday was Intercultural Day.

Our U19 team contested the U19 shield final against Colaiste Iosagain. Our girls put in a brave and skilful performance and were unfortunate to lose.

Well done and thank you to our four sixth years for all your dedication and achievement. Grace, Claire, Jane and Megan.

Congratulations to Elaine Murphy and Cara Grange-Transition Year students who participated in the Dublin Regional Session for the European Youth Parliament @EYP_Ireland in UCD from 25-27^th March.  The event was organized by Gabriele Rimkute-a past pupil of Maryfield.  Massive Congratulations to all three!

Massive congratulations to Olivia Shibu in 3^rd year came 1st in the Senior Singing Competition for Hindi Music and 2nd overall for Singing and Dance.

Massive congratulations to Ai Lin Sun in 3^rd year who came 1st in the TU Dublin Conservatory u18 Piano Repertoire Competition.

• Staff can find out more about Jigsaw and reflect on their important role in promoting and supporting youth mental health. ​
• It will help them to identify practical strategies that they can use to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people in their role.​
•  After completing this course, they will have the opportunity to sign up for a follow up support webinar. 
• They will need to create a LearnUpon account and can complete the course in their own time.​
•  

Congratulations to Ai Lin Sun 3^rd year who won a gold and a bronze medal in the Irish Taekwon-Do National Championships last week.

Check out this artwork by Aoife Peelo Smyth of 2S. You will learn lots about One Good School from it.

The prefects organised a rounders match for the second years today (15/3/’22). A great time was had by all!

The Maryfield College Parents Association are delighted to announce that their Annual Spring Clean event in association with An Taisce Spring Clean will be taking place again this year on Saturday 2^nd April.

All parents, guardians and students are being invited to give up as much time as they possibly can between 09.30 and 1 pm to help with gardening, weeding , painting and a general ‘Spring Clean’ of the school grounds.

If you cannot help out on the day you may be in a position to donate or loan gardening tools, paint or paint brushes, you can also sponsor plants for the grounds.  The day is always rounded off with refreshments.

The Parents Association have attached a flyer to this email with all the details of the event and how you can register to participate.

We are delighted that this event can take place again this year and hope to have a good turn out of volunteers on the 2^nd of April.

Relove Fashion Champion!

Elaine Murphy of 4L won ‘ Best casual outfit’ at the Relove fashion grand final 2022 today.  The project was based on making a sustainable, wearable outfit. Her outfit displayed great creativity and skill. Well done to all students who entered the competition.

Today in our school we are trying to raise awareness to end violence against women. When you entered our school this morning you were met with over 1,000 stars. These beautiful stars were individually hand woven by Class 4L, and other members of the school community.

The project “ONE MILLION STARS” began in Australia in 2012, when Samoan artist Maryann Talia Pau began weaving the eight-pointed stars as a response to the murder of Gillian Meagher, an Irish woman living in Australia.

Australia reached over one million stars and now it is a global movement trying to create one billion stars throughout the world. The artist Maryann claims that “every time a person weaves a star, they are expressing their hopes, dreams and concerns.” She says, “that weaving stars helps us to feel less alone, and less overwhelmed by the enormity of violence and more confident to face the next step.”

The stars represent LIGHT, HOPE and SOLIDARITY against violence throughout the world.

The Project came to Ireland in 2019, and in connection with the AMBER WOMEN’s REFUGE in Kilkenny, the project hopes to raise awareness of domestic abuse by holding public star installations.

Today in Maryfield as part of INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’s DAY, Class 4L are proud to launch our public STAR Installation. We hope other individuals and communities will join this wonderful project.

SOME IMPORTANT POINTS:

• 1 in 3 women worldwide experience physical or sexual violence and everyday 137 women worldwide are killed by a partner or member of their own family.

• In Ireland, 1 in 4 women experience emotional, physical, sexual, or financial abuse from a partner or ex-partner.

• Since 1996- 244 women have been murdered in Ireland.

• The Pandemic has had an “unprecedented impact on victims of domestic abuse”. There was a 43% rise in the number of women contacting Women’s Aid.

• According to a report based on a nationally representative sample of 500 young people (age 18-25), the report found that 1 in 5 young women were abused with 51% of them under 18 when the abuse started.

• Violence against women is caused by gender inequality. This leads to further inequality as it prevents women from participating in society and achieving their full potential.

Here in Maryfield College, we all have a part to play in putting a stop to violence against women. Let the One Million Stars project inspire and encourage us to work together to end violence against women.

Thank You,

Class 4L

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 8^th March 2022

Ms Cooney and the school choir sang “A Woman’s Heart” for International Women’s Day. Click on the link to watch it.

A Woman’s Heart International Women’s Day.MOV

MsMcLoughlin with students Meabh and Anita from 4L on Ireland AM this morning promoting their YSI project #whowearsthetrousers

Our ty YSI pupils have made the news today! They’ve launched a campaign for more choice in the school uniform.

They also discussed it on Newstalk’s Lunchtime Live.

‘Cold… discriminatory’: Students campaign to end skirt-only uniform policies (irishtimes.com)

Thursday, March 3rd was World Book Day. Our pupils vowed to put their free book tokens to good use!

The 6th year prefects served up a  pancake picnic for the 3rd years on Pancake Tuesday. Delicious!

Well done to the first year A team who won 28-6 against Maynooth PP.

Here are some of the winners from the art competition held as part of Catholic Schools Week. The students were asked to draw or create their image of God.

SHOWCASE AND SHARE –

STUDENT ACTION FOR CHANGE

Patricia Seery / Maryfield College

On Tuesday February 1^st, Maryfield College attended an online gathering to connect with the wider Le Cheile community. This day was to celebrate St. Brigid’s day by showcasing and sharing all the amazing work that all the Le Cheile schools are involved in. the day was a celebration of many forms of student action that our schools are involved in.

Five Maryfield students were involved- Karoline Biju(6thYear), Amy Sheehy and Emma Kearney (5^th Year) and Sophia Malik and Sarah Elders (3^rd Year). There were over four hundred participants from seventy-five schools.  everyone gathered in prayer, in shared activities and shared ideas.

This meeting also provided an opportunity for the teachers involved to connect with other teaching colleagues in the Le Cheile community regarding Student Leadership and ethos in action. As part of the gathering, everyone was divided up into Breakout Rooms, where the students got to talk to each other, and were able to share and highlight the many great things that happen in their school community involving student leadership and action.

The students enjoyed the gathering and perhaps have brought some new ideas back to Maryfield.

Some student reflections:

REFELCTION ON LE CHÉILE’S ST BRIGID’S DAY CELEBRATION 

Since St Brigid’s day is officially a national holiday starting from next year, this year was the last year where schools would be open for St Brigid’s Day. To celebrate this joyous occasion, On the 1^st of February this year, Le Chéile organised a zoom meeting where all Le Chéile schools could gather to show their appreciation for St Brigid, and her core values evident in each Le Chéile school. I had the honour of participating in the celebration and I really enjoyed it. The day started with introductions given by the CEO of Le Chéile and then it moved onto the showcase and share where presentations were made by different schools to showcase the values of St Brigid evident in their schools. I thought all the presentations made by each school were well done. I especially enjoyed the song that was sung by one of the schools. The song was an original written by a student in the school and it showed the talent and creativity found in the Le Chéile schools. It made me reflect on how being a part of Le Chéile has allowed schools to harness their students’ abilities and give them an opportunity to reach their full potential. After the showcase and share, we were put into breakout rooms. This was my favourite part of the day because it allowed me to connect with students from other schools across the country and abroad! We had a chance to talk and present our schools to each other. There were about six other schools in my breakout room, and I really liked how small the breakout rooms were because we all had a chance to talk and converse. When it was my turn to talk, I had so many things I wanted to talk about, but I settled on talking about the One Million Stars project we started doing in school that aims to end violence against women. I wanted to talk about something that was important and something I was proud of doing in school. I also hoped that other schools would hear the idea and would be inspired to also start the project in their own schools. Not only was I able to represent Maryfield and present what we had to offer, I was also lucky enough to take from the experience, new ideas that can be brought into Maryfield such as the initiative to cycle to school or including learning about all the languages found in Maryfield into our intercultural club. I am so thankful to have been asked to be a part of this celebration and I enjoyed and learned a lot from this occasion.

Showcase and Share 2022

My experience in the showcase and share with Le Cheile was very special and moving. I thought it was incredible the way so many schools were connected and were able to spread the things and events that make their school special. I really enjoyed watching the videos that were presented during the meeting as I think they were very impactful as they showed you a visual of all the amazing things they do, whilst watching the videos it just put you in a great mood and made you want to do all those things too. During the zoom meeting I learned that our school and all the other schools celebrate similar events and have similar procedures, but we all do them in different ways. By attending the zoom meeting, it really opened my eyes to some of the ideas that other schools shared and made me want  to bring and spread those ideas in our own school. I think by attending the showcase and share, it really made me want to make a difference in our school and make our school have an even better atmosphere, including environment and do things that don’t just benefit us in Maryfield, but the wider local, national, and international community. Overall, I think the Le Cheile St. Brigid’s day Showcase and share made everyone feel touched and motivated to do amazing things in their schools and made everyone feel included in an experience that will change the way all the schools approach all these events, holidays, social issues, and problems in their schools. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to participate in such a wonderful and impactful event.

• Le Cheile Schools in Action:

https://youtu.be/RbvYRMY1RrM

• Le Cheile Keys Project:

https://youtu.be/t6eTnDtHkWs

• Le Cheile / Welcome to the Le Cheile Centre

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v+GueKPNL05Jl

Senior Cycle Options 2022-2023

Well done to the second year A team who marked their debut with a 10-6 win over St Dominic’s, Cabra.

Check out the posters our first years created to raise awareness about safety on the internet. Safer Internet Day is Tuesday, 8th of February.

#SID2022

Safer Internet Day 

Next Tuesday, February 8th, is Safer Internet Day. In preparation for this day, students will be learning about the importance of online safety, respectful communication on social media platforms and managing their wellbeing online, in Digital Media Literacy. 

This week, students are asked to create a digital poster promoting online safety and include their top tips for developing positive online habits to manage their wellbeing.  

This competition is open to all students in the school. Digital posters should be submitted to Mr Smith via teams by Monday 7th February. The winning poster will be announced on Tuesday the 8th and displayed on the school’s website and twitter account.  

If you have any questions regarding this competition, feel free to ask Mr Smith, Ms Clancy or Mr Dempsey.  

Good Luck!

Student Council Update Newsletter

This year’s current Student Council members are a determined and dedicated group of Maryfield students. Over the past number of months the Student Council have had weekly meetings discussing topics such as organising competitions,, events and coming up with new ways to resolve any issues that arises in school. Since forming in October, this year’s Student Council have accomplished several achievements so far:  

At the start of the year, we carried out our weekly toilet checks to each year group’s toilets as well as wire checks to ensure a safer and cleaner school.  

We had a meeting with Ms. Ryan who spoke to us about CAO booklets for the future and current senior cycle students. We also discussed the school’s digital learning strategy with Ms. McCoy. 

We have informed students about the ISSU survey on Covid in schools. We have discussed issues that year groups have brought up including eating arrangements. We have had several meetings with Ms. O’Rourke about issues that have arisen in school. One of the major policies we have discussed has been the new uniform policy of the introduction of trousers. As a group we have discussed potential designs and ideas for the new trousers.  

We organised our 12 Days of Christmas competition in December in collaboration with the music department. The competition was a huge success, each year got involved with answering the festive questions. We would like to say a massive thank you to all the students who got involved in our competition.  

Most recently, we have begun the process of organising ISIC cards for Maryfield students, which will begin this week. If you would like an application form make sure to come and collect it from us before the due date.  

If you any issues or concerns please make sure to inform your student council representative.  

Sincerely,  

The Maryfield College Student Council 2021-2022.  

You can follow our brand new Twitter account to keep up to date with everything that is happening in Maryfield College.

Find us @MaryfieldDublin

As part of our approach to whole-school wellbeing, we have launched the Drop Everything and Exercise initiative.

What is it?

• It is the use of physical activity breaks during lessons.
• Pupils and teachers stop what they are doing and engage in a little bit of exercise.
• New exercises are tried out every week.

Why?

• These physical activity breaks allow you to clear your mind, get some fresh air and energise yourself.
• They will increase your focus in a fun and healthy way.
• 

We are very proud to say we are enrolled in Jigsaw’s One Good School initiative.

Jigsaw is the national center for youth mental health in Ireland.

The One Good School Initiative involves a whole school approach, aimed at supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people and those around them.

OGS will involve:

• A wide range of activities, based on the school’s needs. These include face-to-face classes, events and online learning options.
• Topics include managing exam stress, anxiety in the classroom, how to get help and self care.
• Young people are the experts in what affects them. Therefore, pupils will have the opportunity to lead, support and promote mental health in Maryfield.

What’s next?

• Right now, we are establishing a One Good School team, made up of school management, teachers, pupils and parents. Their job is to roll out the programme in the school.
• Team members will receive training from Jigsaw. Between now and the summer, they will complete 5 team tasks. One would be to assess the needs of the school in order to plan for September.
• Pupils and parents will start with an online course.

For more information, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7xd1Q-jVyU

The week before Christmas, the Transition Year students made chocolate yule logs. Thank you to Ms McAuley and Ms Gordon for organising this for us. We all had great fun and it definitely got us in the festive spirit!

Áine Bolger & Róisín Kelly

This year the Transition year students took part in the Care Pack initiative during November and December. The aim is to spread joy and goodwill towards senior citizens who are residents in a care facility in Ireland. Many of these residents, have had limited visits from family and friends during this time, so when we heard of the opportunity to get involved and make a difference, we couldn’t wait!

55 students from our year volunteered to participate in the project. On completion of our application, we received a list of residents currently residing in local nursing homes within the Drumcondra and Glasnevin area. We wanted to support the residents by wrapping them in a blanket of kindness andwhile they may have to isolate away safely during the pandemic, they most certainly are in our thoughts. We sent letters, cards, gifts, handcrafted items, and treats. All parcels were individually wrapped, packed, and posted. Each package is a unique representation of how we are keeping our senior citizens in our thoughts and prayers over the festive season.

Many thanks to Ms. McAuley for supporting us on this project and well done to all Ty students on thewhat has been a great success– great team work!

Ava Cleary, Megan Savage, Sarah Preston & Louise Hennessey

Students learning how to use chopsticks! Many thanks to their teacher Ms Mika O’Loughlin who takes TY classes for Japanese every Tuesday afternoon as part of the TY Programme.

Today 17^th Dec we had our 2^nd Perfect Fundraiser.  The money raised today was all for Women’s Aid. Staff and Students came to school in Christmas Jumpers, Santa Hats, Tinsel Scarves and Christmas Fancy Dress.

A big thanks to the Prefects and Ms Farrelly for all the festive fun that they brought to the school today and to all staff and students for getting involved and raising money for a worthy cause.

November is a time for remembering and praying for our loved ones who have gone before us and whose loss we feel. It is a time when we are particularly conscious of those in within our school community in Maryfield College who are grieving and all those families who have lost loved ones in the past year. More than most years, this November will be especially poignant as we remember all those who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many thanks to the RE Department who have created this beautiful display to help us remember our loved one who have gone before us.

Our 6^th Year Students who are have been taking Japanese since TY and who will complete the Leaving Cert Japanese Exam visited the Edo in Colour Exhibition yesterday 2^nd November at Chester Beatty Library.  Their teacher  Ms Mika O’ Loughlin organised the trip and by all accounts the students thoroughly enjoyed their afternoon of Japanese culture including their Bento Lunch!

Elle Cooper, Charlotte Velasco, Sophia Rafferty, Cherie Salo, Maja Rycerz, and Daniele Uzpoleviciute

Massive congratulations to Christine Cooke in 5R for getting her drawing published in the current edition of Paper Lanterns, The Teen and young adult’s literary journal. It is a fantastic piece of work and a much deserved achievement. Well done Christine.

2nd Year Students participating in TeamWorks Team Building Workshop on 23rd September, a great opportunity to get to know each other again at the start of the school year and take on challenges that used the mind and body’ A big thanks to Ms McLoughlin and the 2nd Year Form Tutors, Ms Seery, Ms Townshend, Ms Gordon and Ms Keating for organising the day’s activities’

As part of the Green School’s module, our teacher Ms. Gormley brought our class out on a litter pick of the area around our school for a class. We wore high-vis jackets, and we had litter pickers, gloves, and plastic bags. We picked up a lot of litter in the area around our school, including masks, plastic bottles, pizza boxes, and even tweezers and a make-up brush. We found it surprising and disappointing that although there are public bins, people are still littering. Many members of the public thanked us for keeping our area clean.

Dearbhla Parker, Sara Zenelaj, Nadine Rafferty

Our 3rd and 6th year students had great days out to the National Concert Hall to see their Course Set Works performed by the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. Many thanks to Ms. Byrne, Ms. Flynn, Ms. Cooney and Ms. Clancy who accompanied them on their outing.

The Maryfield u16 team narrowly missed out on winning the div A Dublin colleges camogie championship. They lost by 2 points against St Joseph’s, Lucan.

They also travelled to Wexford to play Colaiste Bride in the all ireland semi final.

Congratulations to the three teams who contested the basketball finals on the 16th of January. The u16 and 19 A teams were victorious against St Mary’s, Killester and Our Lady’s, Drogheda respectively. The u19B team fought bravely but succumbed to a strong St Mary’s, Baldoyle team