Sixth Year Geography Trip
Sixth Year Geography students from the Ursuline headed off to Co Clare on Thursday, 5 September for an overnight trip to complete their Field Study component, worth 20% of their Leaving Cert result. It was a geographer’s delight with the Poulnabrone Dolmen, Ailwee Caves, the Cliffs of Moher, the unique Burren landscape and the coastal defences in Lahinch all on the sightseeing agenda. At Bishop’s Quarter Beach they collected the data required to complete their Leaving Cert project and carefully analysed the features of coastal deposition. It was a very memorable trip with students thoroughly enjoying the learning experience offered by the great outdoors. Thanks to Ms Callinan, Ms O’Sullivan and Ms Hearne who organised the jam-packed itinerary.
West Side Story
The Ursuline School Musical production team were in overdrive this week on the hunt for stars to thread the boards in this October’s hotly anticipated staging of West Side Story. The twentieth century re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, set against the backdrop of rival New York gangs in the city’s 1950’s melting pot of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, has remained hugely popular. The fabulous score, that includes classic musical theatre numbers such as Somewhere, America and Maria, will be full of action, energy, drama, tenderness and sadness. So keep dates free for the third week in October and join the cast and crew of the Ursuline for a trip back in time to be entranced once more by tragic love story of Tony and Maria.
Ursuline Open Evening
Any Sixth or Fifth class pupils and their parents who are interested in seeing what the Ursuline has to offer are welcome to join the staff and students on Monday, September 23 from 5 pm–7 pm for the annual Open Evening. Prospective students can find out more about subject choices, visit specialist classrooms and see the abundance of extra-curricular activities that happen in the school throughout the academic year. More importantly they can meet current Ursulines, from across all years, who will be more than happy to show them around and tell them what secondary school is like for them.
Transition Year
The Ursuline Transition Years had a busy first week back. On Wednesday the RSA Road Safety truck set down in the school carpark for the day. All four TY classes got to experience the impact of road traffic accidents using virtual reality. They learned about mistakes that are common to many road users. Reckless driver behaviour was discussed and how it can cause life altering injury and in worst cases fatality. It was an eye-opening workshop for young people who are either learning to drive or plan to as soon as they turn 17. The hope is that what they learned in the RSA Road Safety truck will resonate with them when they are behind the wheel in the future.
David Collins returned to deliver his Fundamentals Workshop to two of the TY classes. They learned about the elements that contribute to exemplary teamwork and how they might replicate these in the year ahead in the many group work situations that TY offers. They really enjoyed the collaborative, fun games and the insights that David offered on effective communication, goal setting and attaining a successful end result in real life scenarios. The next two TY classes will have their opportunity to participate in the Fundamentals in the coming weeks.
On Friday, 6 September the TYs were introduced to the importance of strategic planning with the facilitators from Develop Me. The classes discussed the best ways to complete a group challenge before engaging in an experiential game ‘The Search for the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine’. They tried to implement some of the effective strategies they had touched on beforehand in order to plan and carry out the task in the most efficient, successful way. In the reflection at the end of the lesson they examined the pitfalls, the less effective tactics and the best approaches they used to help them complete the end goal. The students got some understanding of the importance of the planning stage when faced with a new or difficult assignment.
Sixth Year Art Trip
The Ursuline Leaving Cert Art students had a cultural excursion to Kilkenny on Tuesday, 3 September. The first stop of the day was the Butler Gallery where they received a guided tour of the current exhibition, Deep Time Dip, by contemporary artist Liane Lang. Here they also met the archival photographer and members of the curatorial team who spoke to them about the logistics of displaying and housing artwork. After lunch the students and their teachers, Ms Spillane and Ms Delahunt, got to see how art and bespoke pieces are created in the Irish Design and Craft Centre. They were introduced to several working artists and craftspeople who discussed their work and the inspiration for their unique creations. Again this day trip is an essential part of the Leaving Cert Art syllabus and students benefit greatly from visiting art galleries and speaking to working artists.
An Tobar Nua Retreats
The Sixth Years from the Ursuline had their last retreat of secondary school on Wednesday, 4 September. Thanks to the team from An Tobar Nua who got them thinking and talking about life’s meaning, challenges they face and their own sense of spirituality. It was a reflective day peppered with lots of fun activities. The Fifth Years were also on retreat the following day on Thursday. It was an opportunity for this new year group, comprising of former TY’s, former Third Years and new students who have joined the school for Senior Cycle to get to know one another better.
Hockey Interpros
Ursuline and Munster U16 hockey players Katya Shorten, Gabrielle Morrissey, Sarah Spain and Emma McDonald got their Interprovincial campaign off on the right foot with a 1-0 win against Leinster South on Sunday, 8 September. Best of luck to them as they continue to tog out for their province in the coming weeks.
LGFA
The Ursuline Junior footballers have played their first games of the year already. They travelled to Cashel for some competitive football in preparation for the Munster A season ahead. Ava Geoghegan, Anna Carr and Doireann Lynch were impressive in their positions for the Ursuline Juniors. Sophie Nolan and Zara Cosgrove captained one team while Katie Stafford and Keeva Nolan captained the other team. It will be a challenging season ahead, with the school moving into the top division following on from their successes last year, winning the Munster B Final in Junior Football and getting to the All-Ireland B Final against St Ronan’s College, Armagh.