Compassion In Action Conference

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Children In Crossfire his

Holiness the Dali Lama visited Derry to attend the “Compassion In Action” conference on Sunday 10

th September. Chloe Mullan

presented the Dali Lama with one of her own pictures representing love and compassion.

Parents’ News www.stmaryslimavady.com

October 2017

School Events

Oct 27 Staff Development Day

Oct 30–3 Nov Holiday

Nov 13-17 Careers Week

Dec 3-5 School Show

Dec 11-15 Winter Examinations

Dec 21 Staff Development Day

Congratulations to Callum Brown who played for the Derry Minor team in the All Ireland Final, in Croke Park against Kerry on Sunday17

th September.

Unfortunately the day ended in defeat despite Callum’s instant impact in the second half.

Examination Results Congratulations to all our pupils who performed so well in recent public examinations. Results continue to improve year on year. Brogan Gurney achieved the best overall with 2A* and 7A at GCSE. 82% of our pupils left school with 5A*- C.

Chloe Mullan achieved best overall at A Level with 1A*, 1A and 1B. 100% of our pupils left school with 2 A levels. To all our students moving into a new phase of their education we offer them continued success.

Prize giving 2017

Our annual senior Prize giving ceremony took place on

Friday 22nd September. We were delighted to

welcome the Most Rev. Bishop Donal McKeown to the

ceremony. This event celebrates the achievements of

our pupils throughout the school.

Enrolment Day

On Saturday 14th October Primary 7 pupils who

hope to attend St Mary’s next year were invited for Enrolment Day. St Mary’s pupils talked to them about all the opportunities for pupils who attended the school.

Winter Examinations

Winter Examinations for all year groups will take place from 11th-15th December. Please ensure that your child attends to meaningful revision for these important examinations.

All-Ireland Minor Final

Blame it on the Boogie A busy fortnight of auditions took place in September for this year’s school show, ‘Blame it on the Boogie.’ A vast amount of pupils turned up to audition and the enthusiasm and interest of pupils from Year 8 –14 was amazing. The show promises to be bigger and better than ever and is filled with great songs from the 70’s for audiences to enjoy. Rehearsals are well underway and the school show buzz in St Mary’s is beginning again. The show will run from the 3

rd- 5

th December, with tickets going on sale very

soon. So, ladies and gentlemen, dust down those platforms, come catch some Saturday Night Fever and burn baby burn!

Year 10 Historians visit Limavady Workhouse as part of their Year 10 History course.

Year 13 pupils receive their Progress File Presenters on 28th September.

Cahal Mc Kinney, Henry Mullan, Ethan Moore, Jake O’Kane, Hollie Carton, Amy Mc Cafferty and Leanne Simpson.

Holocaust Survivor

On 23rd October Dr Martin Stern visited the school to talk to key stage 3, 4 and 5 Historians about life in two concentration camps, Terezin and Westerbork. Pupils from the RVLC also attended.

Gael Linn Quiz

Pupils from 10S and 10T attended a Tráth na gCeíst (Table Quiz) in the White Horse Hotel on Monday 9

th October. The quiz questions were

asked in Irish on various topics including Sport, Music, Ireland, Politics and General Knowledge. In the afternoon pupils enjoyed a Céilí. Congratulations to the pupils who achieved second place: Casey Ferris, Caitlin Cassidy, Sophie Duffy and Erin Murphy. Maith Sibh.

Bon Appétit!

Manu, a French chef came to St Mary’s on Tuesday, 12

th October where he and our French classes

made and ate lots of crêpes!!! We all had great fun ordering our crêpes and sauces in French!

Our whole school Mass to bless the new school year was celebrated

on 28th September by Fr James Devine.

Sports Corner

Girls’ gaelic is continuing strongly this year at under 16 level, and for the first time in a number of years we have an under 20 team. They got off to a blistering start against a Donegal based team at the start of October.

St Mary’s A Level English Literature students made their way to Coleraine’s Riverside Theatre to view a performance of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights on 11th October. This adaptation was innovatively performed and kept the audience enthralled throughout. St Mary’s pupils had the added bonus of meeting some of the cast. A highly enjoyable night which provided a fresh perspective on this classic work of literature.

London Theatre Trip 2017

16 pupils accompanied by Mrs McCann and Mrs Donnelly set off in the aftermath of Hurricane Ophelia to experience the spectacular sights and shows of London. On the first night we visited the Fortune Theatre to see an adaptation of Susan Hill’s Woman in Black. This was a spooky, atmospheric play which caused many of us to shriek and shiver in terror.

Up early on Day 2, we walked along the Southbank to board the London Eye and then on to the eagerly anticipated Shrek Adventure. In the afternoon we visited more iconic sights of London, snapping photos at every opportunity: Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street and Trafalgar Square. That evening the Royal National Theatre wowed us all with an absolutely brilliant production of School of Rock. Mrs McCann has friends in high places and contacted the star of the show who kindly agreed to meet us at the stage door afterwards - another photo opportunity with many of the St Mary’s gang a bit star struck!

Up even earlier on Day 3 (with an extra wakeup call needed for some) we went to Madame Tussauds, then had some retail therapy at the Brunswick Shopping Centre in Bloomsbury before saying a fond farewell to London. An impressive 35,000 steps each had taken us on our adventure.

Wuthering Heights at the Riverside Theatre

Soccer

St Mary’s 3 - 2 Dalriada

St Mary’s under 12 soccer team completed a comprehensive victory over Dalriada in their first soccer game of the league campaign at Megaw Park Ballymoney, even though the score line doesn’t show it. St Mary’s started the brighter of the two schools and found themselves 1-0 up early on thanks to a smart finish from Ciaran McCloskey. St Mary’s continued their dominance in the 1

st half but a string of poor finishes kept the score line

the same until half time. After the break St Mary’s started quicker and found themselves 3-0 up thanks to a sublime free kick by Ciaran McCloskey and a tap in from Darragh Deehan. Dalriada came into the game and scored two quick goals to make the final 5 minutes nervy for the St Mary’s defence. However, St Mary’s defence marshalled superbly by Oran McLaughlin, run out worthy winners in the end.

Career News

St Mary’s hosted a University Roadshow on the 4

th September in the assembly hall. Year 13 and 14

pupils attended a presentation and then gathered information about courses from various University stalls.

Year 8 Your School Your Business

Year 8 pupils enjoyed a half day Young Enterprise programme, participating in a variety of fun activities, looking at their skills and qualities and the different job roles within St Mary’s. The programme enabled them to build their confidence and learn by doing as they worked through fun and exciting challenges.

Year 9 attended the Explore Enterprise Programme

Year 10 attended Project Business

European Day of Languages

We celebrated European Day of languages with 8S who did an assembly showing the importance of learning a language and all its benefits. Bravo 8S!

Our Year 8 Pupils