Coláiste Bhaile Chláir are delighted to offer parents a presentation on Understanding the Emotional Well Being of Teenagers by Dr Fergus Heffernan renowned Clinical Psychologist with a Masters in Family Therapy and PhD in Neuro Psychology.
Dr Heffernan’s workshop is practical and offers much resources to parents of adolescents and young children. Research shows that 1 in 4 second level students in Ireland now present with self-harm and high anxiety disorders, and this is now beginning to manifest in the primary school setting. The recent WHO report on suicide tell us that we now have the third highest rate of suicide in Europe. This presentation outlines how we can develop resilience in our children.
This presentation is particularly suited to people who play a key role in supporting the emotional well-being of teenagers, and young children, and also looks at how people can look after themselves in these challenging roles.
Dr Heffernan employs a wonderfully honest, heartfelt, practical and often times humorous approach to the subject of Mental Health and Family Issues. He provides his listeners with plenty of material for ongoing reflection.
Mind & Body Week 19th–23rd October
Theme: Lifestyle choices and effects on mental & physical health
Activities include:
- Project on Healthy Eating via Home Economics
- Gratitude Journal
- Laughter Yoga Day
- Zumba
- Non Uniform Day Friday 23rd October and money to be given to a nominated charity
- Workshop with Dr Fergus Heffernan
- Brain Gym Activities After Lunch Each Day
- Design a Poster Competition for motivational hallway
- Project on what helps our mental health
- Music at lunchtime chosen by students and staff
- Fitness & Nutrition Talk
- Various tastings and demonstrations in the hall and Home Economics room throughout the week!
ETBI Annual Conference
by Sarah McHale, 2nd year
The ETBI Annual Conference took place in the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa Galway, Lough Atalia Road, Galway on 23rd and 24th of September 2015. It is a significant highlight event in the education and training sector in Ireland, and the two-day programme was attended by over 300 delegates and guests.
On Day 2 (Thursday 24th September), the Conference showcased the school of the future, the Digital Classroom. Coláiste Bhaile Chláir were given the opportunity to tell our story. We were represented by our four IT ambassadors, they are Niamh McCullagh, Daragh Jordan, Sarah McHale & Vitska Mulroy.
L–R: Ms Dabbagh, Mr Callan, Niamh McCullagh, Vitska Mulroy, Sarah McHale, Darragh Jordan.
In the weeks before the conference, we (as the schools IT Ambassadors) worked on a presentation, we each choose a topic of interest and prepared a five minute segment. We met often during lunch times to prepare and practice.
On the day of the conference we travelled to the Radisson, where we were greeted with a delicious breakfast (which consisted of cookies and muffins!). When we had eaten our fill we looked around at the stalls and met lots a people from different companies. Eventually it was time for us to present. Mr Mongey explained what the layout of events were going to be whilst we were on stage then we took our seats on stage and our segment started. We learnt lots about what goes on backstage in our school while we listened to Mr Mongey, Ms Dabbagh and Mr Callan. The ambassadors presented last.
Niamh spoke first about the use of OneNote Class Notebooks, Daragh spoke about Office Mix being used as a learning tool, I spoke about the new OneNote learning journals and how they make it so much easier to track and reflect on your learning and homework and Vitska finished with different examples of digital tools. Our presentation was also live steamed on the Internet so other people could watch us also. When we were finished we had lunch and dessert. Before we left we looked around the stalls again and met some people from universities and some companies showcasing their products.
Lots of people were congratulating us on our presentation and told us we spoke very well. When the presentation was over we met Pat Gilmore, President of ETB Ireland. Overall it was an amazing experience to be given the opportunity to represent the school and be the only students speaking at the conference. Unfortunately, we had to travel back to school eventually! It was a brilliant experience for all of us and we learnt lots about technology and how it can be used in the classroom.
Maths visit to NUIG
by Shauna Flaherty and Grace Cooley
On the 25th of September, thirty students were picked to go to the NUIG for a day of Maths on campus. We left the school at 11am on a bus and arrived at NUIG at 11:25. It didn’t start until 12 so we looked around the Zoology museum in Block C until then.
At twelve we were welcomed to a man called Dr James Ward who introduced us to the building and told us what we would be doing and where we would be going for the day.
At 12:10 a man named Cathal Seoighe came to talk to us about what mathematicians do. He told us what he did. He went to South America and worked on vaccinations for different diseases and he also worked on the human genome.
At 12:25 we were split in to three groups of ten and each group went to a different room for fifteen minutes to see a different professor, we met Prof M Tuite, Dr S Park and Dr H Yang, they explained and showed to us the types of maths they do.
At 1:10 we all met in the main hall again and a man named Dr Jerome Sheahan met us and talked to us about being an apprentice mathematician and his work with probability and statistics. Ten minutes later a man named Dr Michael Mc Gettrick from Cork talked to use about careers in maths for graduates and degrees in maths. He told us all the Careers you can have with maths such as Accountancy and finance careers, Banking careers, Actuarial careers, Statistician careers, Academia and research careers and teaching careers.
He also gave us coke, crisps, a folder with a copy, a pen and a leaflet with the careers you could have and about the NUIG and what goes on there.
At 1:40 to finish out the day all had to write one thing we enjoyed about the day and one thing we would change. Overall it was a good day and every student enjoyed and benefited from it. It was hugely interesting to see what there is to offer in Galway if you have a love of Maths.
St Anthony’s & Claddagh Credit Union Schools Quiz
Coláiste Bhaile Chláir entered a team in the St Anthony’s & Claddagh Credit Union Schools Quiz for the first time this year, which took place recently in the Clybaun Hotel in Knocknacarra. The team members were Aidan Owens, Charlie Nolan, Meg Regan and Emily Sheeran (all third year) and they performed really well. After a closely fought contest, they ended up winning the quiz by a margin of two points, ahead of Holy Rosary College from Mountbellew. Well done!
