OGS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK
This week in CCM we were talking about the importance of mental health and raising awareness as part of Jigsaw's One Good School initiative. Each day students completed an online course, 'Let's Talk, Sure Why Not?', on mental health and the importance of talking about it. In addition, students were given the opportunity during the week to take a short break from their books and go outside to get some steps in for the CCM Steps Challenge.
Very well done to the OGS student representatives, James O'Donnell, Brann Morrissey, Chloe McEvoy and Aoife Treanor who helped to facilitate certain activities throughout the week. They were busy all week visiting classes and making announcements on Mental Health. On Tuesday, Chloe McEvoy gave the morning announcement and talked about Pieta House's Darkness into Light event. Every student in the school received a sticker for their journal with the Jigsaw QR code giving them direct access to the information and help provided by Jigsaw, including the option to talk online with a clinician. The QR code is also on display in various places around the school.
On Wednesday, we were delighted to welcome Tommy and James from Trifactor Fitness to present to senior students on the importance of minding their mental health. They shared some personal experiences and coping mechanisms that the students found very helpful. Brann Morrissey gave the morning announcement and talked about Mental Health Ireland's '5 Steps to Wellbeing' initiative. Every student in the school received a bookmark with the five keywords associated with wellbeing which are Connect; Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give.
'Thank Crunchie it's Friday' was Friday's theme thanks to Centra in Rathnew who sponsored a crunchie bar for every member of the school community to celebrate the end of the CCM Mental Health Awareness Week. Thank you to all the students who submitted posters on the theme of 'What do you do to keep positive?' They are now on display in the canteen area. Well done to the winners of the poster competition, Julia Grzesko, Caitlin Power and Noah Lorenz who were presented with Wicklow Town vouchers by Principal, Mr Donoghue.
Mental Health Awareness Week was a resounding success! Thank you sincerely to Ms Ann Chambers and the OGS committee for leading the initiative. It created a lovely, positive atmosphere in the school and opened up conversation about the importance of good mental health.
#Jigsaw #OneGoodSchool #PowersCentraRathnew #WicklowDIL #MentalHealthIreland #Trifactorfitness
CYCLE AGAINST SUICIDE 🚴🚴🚴
The Canteen was abuzz all day onThursday, 9 March, with the sound of pedals. Well done to the TY students who took their turn on the stationary bikes for 'Cycle Against Suicide' as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. They clocked up an impressive mileage of over 600km - the equivalent distance of cycling from CCM to Westport and back or Mizen Head to Malin Head. Thank you to Gary from Match Fit Fitness who lent us some bikes and dropped them up to us.
The aim of Cycle Against Suicide is to raise awareness among our CCM school community that it's ok not to feel ok and it's absolutely ok to ask for help. Asking for help is a sign of strength. Be brave, reach out and speak out.
#cycleagainstsuicide#ogs#jigsaw#matchfitfitness
THE BIG BUSK
As part of The Big Busk in aid of Focus Ireland which took place on Friday, 10 March, CCM hosted a busking session in the canteen at lunchtime. The aim of The Big Busk was to provide some entertainment through song, music and dance, with the hope of raising some funds for Focus Ireland. The event was a huge success and well done to all who participated and donated to this worthy cause.
'TEEN SPEAK' DRAMA WORKSHOP
'Teen Speak' drama playwright, Colette Forde, visited the library on Monday, 6 March, to perform her solo play 'Innit' for a number of First and Second year classes. As well as being a playwright, Colette is also a trained psychological counsellor and for her school visits, she combines these two strands to present a play that explores issues around teenage mental health and well-being. After performing the play, Colette then discussed its content and themes with the students. There was some excellent discussion and feedback from the students who were obviously very engaged with the play and the themes it explored.
TY ANIMATION TRIP
On Wednesday, 8 March, the TY animation class travelled to the ODEON in Dublin for the Fresh Young Irish Filmmakers Award. At the event, three groups from CCM were showcased; 'Stick Fight', 'Karting' and 'Football Frenzy'. Well done to all who participated. A great day was enjoyed by all!
ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE FIELD TRIP
Fifth year French students took a trip into the Alliance Française (French language and cultural centre) on Kildare Street on Thursday, 9 March. The day started with a Kahoot! Quiz in the library on La Francophonie which was won by Saoirse McInerney who was awarded an Alliance Française mug! Students were given time then to peruse the library and explore the many resources available to all including, books, DVDs, magazines and comics which the French are big fans of!
Following this, students got to soak up the atmosphere in the onsite restaurant Chez Max which was bustling with French language speakers and learners of all ages. While most opted for ‘le poulet’, some went for the traditional French dish- Le Croque Monsieur !
Following lunch, students attended a workshop on French idiomatic expressions. This was a very enjoyable and engaging experience. Students began by introducing themselves in French. They then had to try figure out the meaning of French idioms and, once learned, compete in a guessing game where they had to act out the expressions. Students responded really positively and, no doubt, these will come in very useful in their written expression in the future. Well done to Alex Earls on winning the final Kahoot! on these expressions.
It was a lovely experience and a fantastic opportunity for students to use the French that they have been learning in school, to see it as a living language and also see how the Alliance can be accessed by them as French language learners in the future.
FIRST YEAR BOYS' GAA
CCM are through to the County Final of the First Year Boys A competition after a hard-fought win over Scoil Chonglais, Baltinglass on Tuesday afternoon, 7 March. CCM started well and led by 2 points both kicked by Harry Buttler after ten minutes. Baltinglass kicked the next 1-4 to lead by 5 points halfway through the first half. CCM reacted with great play and scored 3-3 without response with Sean O'Brien, AJ Heywood and Thomas Kehoe getting the well-worked goals. CCM was in the lead at halftime by 5 points, 3-5 to 1-6.
The second half started well for CCM and added another super goal with an excellent team move. Some great defending by Ollie Quinn, PJ lane, Rhys Behan and Jack Duffy meant CCM were still leading by 5 with ten minutes to go. School Chonglais kicked 3 points in a row to leave it a two-point game with time almost up. CCM held on and will now contest the final in the next couple of weeks. Well done to all players on the day with particular mention to Sean O'Brien who was outstanding from start to finish. Final score CCM 4-7 Baltinglass 1-14.
SECOND YEAR GIRLS' BASKETBALL
We were delighted to get the news that our Second year team has made the SE Ireland playoffs again this year. Despite three key players being out on Wednesday, 8 March, our girls put up an epic fight against Enniscorthy Vocational College from Wexford. The girls came out fighting, seeing some absolutely brilliant shots from Evana Jestin in the first quarter. The second quarter saw the scoreline draw even closer with some incredible defence from Sophie Ferguson and Abbie Mai Delaney.
Coming into the second half, there was a real hunger from the girls to claw out a win and we got very unlucky with some key shots. Kayla-Anne Hill and Hannah Brabazon were key to turning their offence over and over again, keeping the scoreline 16 to CCM and 24 to Enniscorthy.
The final quarter was tight and there was serious tension in the air. However, it was clear CCM really wanted it more and they kept making shot after shot. With 30 seconds left to go, CCM was down by just one and Enniscorthy hadn't made a single shot in the quarter, so they called a tactical timeout. A lucky shot came off from one of their players with just eighteen seconds to go and they took the game.
We are so proud of their fierce defence and calm offence. Team was: Aoife Treanor (her first match with such a smart performance), Hanna Wynne (who took down all the rebounds), Michaela Hunarova (who fought for every ball), Faye Kane (always backed up every one of her teammates' shots on the court), Molly Higgins (whose defence was consistently excellent), Abbie Mae Delaney (the calmest and most reliable player on the court), Hannah Brabazon (who used her height to shut them down over and over), Sophie Ferguson (who playedaggressively and fairly, not picking up one foul this match), Evan Jestin (our scoring machine), Kayla Anne Hill (the smallest but best at snatching the ball away from the other side).
ULTIMATE FRISBEE
On Thursday, 9 March, CCM competed in their first-ever schools' cup for Ultimate Frisbee. Two teams of lads set out for Dublin to play against schools from across the country. CCM 1 (red) started the tournament well with one win and one loss, dropping into the middle bracket for the day. Losing the first of these to John Scottis meant they were battling it out for 13th. Two strong matches, with much-improved defence and better swinging of the disc, saw them taking Hartstown 8-4 and Le Chéile 6-5. We're delighted with their 13th place finish!
CCM 2 (blue) started off in a very strong pool, playing St Fintan's (overall 1st place for the day) and Gonzaga (11th for the day.) After these two losses, they entered the 17-24 bracket hungry for a win. Facing off against St Laurence College, our lads came out strong, stringing together pass after pass and coming down with everything in the air. This saw them win 11-2. Next up were a strong Beneavin de la Salle and this was a tight match. Their side went up 4 and then CCM came out firing and pulled it back to 6-all with some calm offence and great deep defence. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be as Beneavin pulled down a final one in the endzone to take the game. In the final match, CCM took another St Laurence team, bringing home 19th place.
SECOND YEAR RUGBY
CCM-21: Presentation Bray-35
CCM Second year students travelled to Presentation Bray on Wednesday, 8 March, and put in a great team performance against their more experienced opponents. In a very close-fought game, Pres pulled away in the last five minutes with two well-taken tries. Strong performances from Toby Keating, Shane O'Reilly and Jack O'Leary had CCM leading 21-17 early in the second half but lapses in defence allowed Pres to get ahead and take control of the game. Despite the loss, it was a very positive performance and a big step forward for the group.