Dear Parents/Guardians,
Welcome to the Easter edition of the Ardscoil
na Mara Newsletter. As always, it is a very
busy time of year for our 3rd and 6th year
students who have recently completed their
Pre exams, with many now preparing for their
Oral and Practical exams over the Easter
break. We wish them the very best with their
preparations and for their final weeks
leading up to the State exams.
Academic tracking is underway for all other
year groups and meetings are ongoing with
students to discuss their targets. One of the
highlights of this term has been our school’s
production of ‘Oz’ which demonstrated the
hard work, dedication and talent amongst both
students and staff in our school community.
This edition encapsulates a flavour of the many
activities that have taken place within the
community of Ardscoil na Mara in recent
months. Our extracurricular calendar has been
very busy with students participating in a wide
range of clubs, sports competitions, quizzes
and trips, both home and abroad. We are very
proud of all the students within our school
and it is their engagement and participation in
school life that enables the school
community to develop and grow.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity
to thank you for your continued support and
to wish you and your families a very happy
Easter.
Pádraig Cawley, Aoife Denton,
Brendan Cahill, Sharon Power.
ARDSCOIL NA MARA
EASTER NEWSLETTER
UPCOMING EVENTS
Friday, April 14 - Easter Holidays
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Monday, April 28 - School Reopens
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Monday, May 5 - Bank Holiday
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Tuesday, May 27 - Summer Exams
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Friday, May 30 - Summer Holidays
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Summerhill, Tramore, Co. Waterford
http://www.ardscoilnamara.ie T:051 395 124
WELCOME!
April 2025
SCHOOL LOTTO
JANUARY JOURNAL
We were delighted to have Artist Annie Hogg working with groups of 4th and 5th Year
Art students as part of the Blast Artist in residence programme. Such a fantastic
opportunity for our students.
MATHS WEEK OLYMPIAD
We are extremely proud to have two students place in the Top Three in Ireland;
Kyrylo Baikulo (1st Year) and Eoin Campbell (2nd Year) in the Maths Week
Olympiad competition.
BLAST ARTIST IN RESIDENCE PROGRAMME.
TY ENTERPRISE PROJECTS
TYs took part in their in-school Enterprise Final in January. The mini businesses were
really impressive. Well done to all involved and thanks to their business teachers for
all the work put into the event.
Congratulations to Arlo, Sam, Ben and Donncha who won the Student Enterprise
County Championship with their product Sea Salt Hair Spray! Well done to all teams that made it
to the County Championship and to their teachers for the hard work they’ve put in.
JANUARY JOURNAL
Our Art students had their fabulous work
displayed in the Coastguard Station for the
month of January.
6th Year students gained valuable
insights on drug awareness with
Garda Laura during RE class.
Well done to the first 4th year
group in Ardscoil Na Mara
who completed the TY
refereeing course with good
engagement, learnings and
positivity throughout. Thanks
to all the students along with
Mr Cleary
POLAND SKI TRIP
A group of TY and 5 Years travelled to Poland to hit the slopes in what was a very
enjoyable trip for both students and staff!
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS
Congratulations to our 6th year Maths team, who placed 3rd in this years Team Maths
competition, hosted by the IMTA. Congratulations to the team consisting of Euan
Wheatley, Emma Corkery, Leon Murphy and Amy Kelly.
Our Edmund Rice Ambassadors had an informative talk at the
Edmund Rice International offices in Geneva, learning about their work at the United Nations.
Our poet-in-residence, David McLoughlin, has had three writing workshops with our 5th
Years. They’ve read, and written, gorgeous poems in our beautiful school library. Thanks to
Poetry Ireland and Waterford Council Arts Office for their support of this project.
FEBRUARY NEWS
Our Active Travel Campaign continues apace. So far, the school has recorded a 40%
decrease in the number of students travelling by car, significantly helping to reduce
carbon emissions in the local area. Well done to all involved!
We were delighted to display the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Poster exhibition last
week. Students and teachers alike were moved by the posters and information presented.
A strong reminder of the need for peace.
Our annual chat and
meet with the 6th years,
organised by the Student
Council, took place
where all third and TY
students were able to get
valuable insight about
the options Ardscoil
offers at Senior Cycle .
‘WELL’ WEEK
Our annual Week of English Language and Literature took place in March with a number of
fantastic initiatives taking place across the week. These included the First Year Spelling Bee,
Daily Conundrums, Poetry Writing and World Book Day.
Congratulations to the overall Spelling Bee winner Aoife Devlin from 1B and the other
class winners; Míchael O’Cuilleanain 1A, Cliodhna Corley 1C, Ryan Allen 1D, Billy Flynn 1E,
Matthew Doran 1F, Rory O’Connor 1G and Darragh Collins 1H.
We are so proud of our TY
students Caitlin Lowry and Trudie
Heffernan, who recently qualified
for the regional final of Junk
Kouture in the Helix Dublin.
TYs went on a history trip to Croke Park. They
had a tour of the stadium, visited the museum
and went on the Skyline tour to see around
Dublin. The highlight for some was to lift Sam
Maguire and Liam McCarthy on the steps of the
Hogan Stand.
SPRING SPIRIT
Our amazing 6th Year Prefect Leadership Team took
part in a Sleep Out at school recently to raise
awareness for Helping Hands, a charity that helps
the homeless community in Waterford City. A massive
well done to all students and teachers involved!
SPRING SPIRIT
Our school community joined together for a whole school initiative to raise awareness about
the homelessness crisis in Ireland. They collected food and money in support of Helping
Hands Waterford. Well done to the Student Council, Ms Finucane, and all who took part.
We hosted the IMTA Pi MathsQuiz; a quiz for 3rd Year students. ASNM students Shay
O'Sullivan, Patrick Doyle, Zach Power and Brian Prout displayed exceptional knowledge of
mathematics and were victorious on the day.
We had a very warm welcome from
Butlerstown Primary School where our
students spoke to the current 5th and 6th
class students on their recent victories. They
gave an insight into school life, activities and
opportunities available at Ardscoil na Mara.
We were delighted to present last years
3rd year students with the Junior Cycle
Profile of Achievement Certificate today.
The cert captures student achievements
across all areas of learning, including in
the state certified final examinations.
LEARNING LEAPS
Some Student Council
members along with Ms
Finucane attended the annual
ERST conference held in Mount
Sion. Our four members
presented on Advocacy,
carefully prepared by Aine
Groves.
A huge well done to our TY Group Project
‘Penny’ who raised €1,828.80 for Meals on
Wheels Tramore!
Our music students travelled to the National Concert Hall to compete in the final of the Waltons
RTE Lyricfm music for schools competition. We placed 3rd in the post primary category. Huge
congratulations to Mr Daly and all the students involved on this wonderful achievement.
MARCH MOMENTS
The chess season has officially returned as
Ardscoil na Mara welcomed De La Salle to
the school to compete.
The 1st Years were busy making
some colourful fruit salads in Home
Economics. Some really creative
dishes.
Our environmental student leaders
attended a Waterford Council
student climate conference where they
presented their successful active travel
programmes, kindly supported by
Sanofi.
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Our two groups of Young Social Innovator
students travelled to the Newpark Hotel in
Kilkenny for the YSI SpeakOut. Our
students did a fantastic job speaking and
dancing and demonstrated the importance
of action projects this year!
Our new forest classroom is ready to
go. Already our forest classroom
booking sheet is nearly full! Excited
that our students will enjoy learning
experiences in a forest.
SPRING SPIRIT
Unlocking Creativity with Coding. Thanks to
Glow Group for a fantastic LEGO Robotics
Workshop with TYs.
After three years of hard work from staff
and students, Ardscoil Na Mara was
awarded its WellRead Award. Mr
Downey received the award at a
ceremony in Portlaoise.
The first of our classes enjoying
outdoor learning in our forest
classroom. Inspiring some fantastic
nature themed poems in English.
TYs got a fantastic talk from The Shona
Project.
‘OZ’
Some photos from the fantastic production ‘Oz’ which was adapted from Dan Zolidis’
short play by Emma Flavin, Elaine O’Brien, Daniel Andrews and Sophie Reynolds, and
ran for two nights. A massive congratulations to everyone involved in the production.
‘OZ’
‘Oz’ was a hilarious and heart-wrenching exploration of grief and perseverance on the
road to acceptance. This production includes some of the great music from both ‘The
Wizard of Oz’ and ‘Wicked’, as well as a few additional numbers that tell the story of
these unforgettable characters.
‘OZ’ - BEHIND THE SCENES
There was a huge effort put in behind the scenes of the production. Well done to
everyone involved in the set design, music production, lighting, make-up, sound
production and promotion of this fantastic show
Directors - Daniel Andrews, Sophie Reynolds and Elaine O’Brien
Producer - Paul Downey
Stage Manager - Rachel Murphy
Musical Direction - Micheál Daly
SPORTING ARDSCOIL
Our senior team came out on top in the Post Primary Senior A Hurling
Final. A great match against a strong St Augustines team. Huge congrats
to all the team and coaches, Mr Cleary and Mr Hatton.
Our Under 14 Hurlers have been busy competing in the Rice, Westcourt,
and Brother Anslem Competitions.
SPORTING ARDSCOIL
Hard luck to our junior girls football team who were beaten in UL by
a very strong team. You did the school proud all year. Well done!
Well done to the Minor ladies Gaelic football team on a great win against
Blackwater, Lismore.
Massive congratulations to our Junior Camogie team on their triumphant victory
over Pallaskenry in the Munster final! A brilliant achievement, well done to all
players and teachers involved!
RUGBY
We had a busy day of rugby in Clonmel Rugby Club in January, playing against
Clonmel Highschool. There were wins for both our Under 14 and Under 15 teams.
Well done to the Under 15 rugby team who won against St.
Declans in the Cleary Cup. It was a very physical game but the
lads held their own. Well done to all involved.