April 2025
TRANSITION YEAR
EASTER NEWSLETTER
Ardscoil na Mara, Tramore
We
had
a
hugely
successful
enterprise
final
in
Dungarvan,
coming away with the top two
prizes of the competition. ‘Tramore
Sea Salt Hair Spray’ created by Ben
Phelan, Arlo Barron, Sam Ahern and
Donnacha Flannery won the top
prize and will travel to the National
final after Easter. Gavin Downey
won second prize with his business
‘Tramore Sea Glass and Shells Art’.
Well done to our other three
businesses that made it to the final-
Paddy Walsh with ‘Ocean Pulse’,
Scott Murray with ‘Sunny South East
Calendars’ and Frances McCann,
Riona Gavin, Ruby Power O' Brien,
and Ellie Gillane with their business
‘Gnome Sweet Gnome’.
Not all businesses got to travel to
the county final but many deserve
huge credit for their hard work this
year. The business teachers held a
ceremony to acknowledge some of
the other excellent businesses and
to commend the students involved.
ENTERPRISE AWARDS
Getting Creative -
Junk Kouture & Artifice Festival
We are very proud of Caitlin Lowry and Trudie Heffernan who
qualified for the regional final of the Junk Kouture competition
which was held in the Helix in Dublin. Their costume was created
from old school books and was showcased by Caitlin on stage in
front of a huge crowd. Well done girls.
Ms Driver and 4A worked very hard on pieces
that were submitted to Lismore Castle for the
Artifice Festival under the concept of
‘Cabinet of Curiosity’. We were thrilled to
find out that Caoimhe O Byrne and Eve
Burton won the Waterford City and County
Council Arts Office Purchase prize with their
piece ‘The Octopus’.
The history department organised a trip
to Croke Park. Students got a tour of the
stadium where the guides spoke about
the history of the stadium, along with
current information in relation to the
GAA. They visited to the museum and
also got to take the Sky Tour around the
roof of the stadium where they could see
all around Dublin.
Croke Park
History Trip
Drumming Workshop
Students got to experience a drumming workshop in March. It was perfect for
students who are very into music, along with students who have never played an
instrument. Students were getting competitive by the end of the workshop with their
new beats.
The robotics workshop focused on building and programming LEGO robots,
challenging students to think critically, collaborate, and, most importantly, get
creative with their solutions. As they experimented with different commands, fine-
tuned their robot’s movements, and tackled obstacles, the realisation set in—coding
isn’t just technical; it’s an art. One group even designed an innovative way for their
robot to navigate a tricky course, proving that problem-solving with code is as
creative as painting a picture or composing music.
Robotics & Coding Workshop
Our school was selected as a pilot
school for developing a Cyber
Security
programme.
Students
learned how to defend a hospital
and solve a murder using digital
forensics. It gave our students an
opportunity to look at IT from a
different perspective and possibly
from a career point of view.
We
had
three
students
participating in mini med in
Waterford hospital this year.
Apart from that, students
had
the
opportunity
to
virtually attend mind med in
dentistry,
pharmacy
and
physiotherapy.
FUTURE CAREERS
Students
completed
the
‘Looking into Law’ course run by
the Bar of Ireland this term.
Students were shown the route
to becoming a barrister, looked
at the variety of careers in law
and delved into criminal and
civil law, finishing up with law
and social media.
The School Bank team had their
training from Bank of Ireland. They
will be in action in the last term.
This year’s team is:
Bank Manager – Rachel Weldon
Marketing Manager – Ruby Fanning
Operations & Audit Specialist –
Harry Grant
Digital Advisors – Isobel Browne &
Conor Walsh
Future Leaders have completed
day 1 of their GAA coaching
course. Hopefully some of the
students will use their new found
skill over the summer and help out
younger kids in their clubs and
maybe see if they have a future
career working with chidlren.
Seachtain na Gaeilge
Throughout
Seachtain
na
Gaeilge, Transition Years were
very active. Firstly the school was
looking beautifully Irish for the
week as they decorated the
school for Seachtain na Gaeilge.
There was a Pop up Gaeltacht in
school where TY’s attended and
played
games
through
Irish.
During the Irish treasure hunt,
TY’s searched the school for
different
Irish
questions
and
worked as a team to answer all
the questions correctly to win
prizes.
There is a new Irish section in our library
and students got to sample it out. They
organised and hosted an Irish quiz for
younger classes. Most importantly they
organised a céilí for 1st and 2nd year
students where there was great craic
agus ceol.
They finished the week with a trip to the
cinema in Dungarvan to see the Oscar
nominated film Kneecap.
What fantastic work both our YSI groups-
Project Penny and Youth For Elderly- have
completed throughout the year. From their
nursing home visits weekly and daily visits to
Meals on Wheels to the money raised through
their fundraising we have been fantastic.
The students travelled to the Newpark Hotel in
Co. Kilkenny on the 26th of March for their
SpeakOut. This is where many schools from
Munster gathered to display their action
projects and had 2 minutes to showcase their
work and effort all year in front of a panel of
judges. Both our groups did a fantastic job and
made our school proud.
Making a difference
Well done to our students who were involved in
the Young Environmentalist Awards this term.
Following on from interviews online, we had two
groups through to the finals of the Young
Environmentalist Awards in Dublin.
Group 1: Bin there done that: Jeffrey Duffy, Oisín
Lodge, Aaron Power, Paddy Walsh, Éanna Mulvihill
and Tadhg O’ Donoghue
Group 2: Active Travel Joe Dunphy, Kate Moodley
and Michelle Goulding, along with a number of
5th Year students from last year’s TY.
Young Environmental Awards
EU-CONEXUS PRIZE WINNERS
Valerie De Los Reyes, Julie de Santi, Aimee
Power and Robyn Jacob participated in the 5th
edition of The EU-CONEXUS School Contest
“Think Smart, Create Green”. They won second
place which was a fabulous achievement. .
They had to create a sustainable plan for our
local community consisting of a 1 minute tik tok
style video, slides and a doc.
FOREST CLASSROOM
The TYs have been working hard creating our
new forest classroom which students are now
enjoying.
We
got
funding
from
the
Department of Education for this project
which enabled us to get the support from an
ecologist who has a vast knowledge on
forest management. We also got generous
funding from the parent's committee which
helped us to buy equipment and benches for
the classroom.
Sustainability
We were delighted to welcome
Judith from the Shona Project to
work with our students. She focused
on
driving
the
message
that
kindness, resilience and a positive
mindset can allow teens to raise
their self-esteem and confidence,
enabling them to fulfil their wildest
dreams.
SHONA PROJECT
Students are still building up their hours
for the upcoming Gaisce trip. Many
students are seen around the town in a
volunteer capacity and really adding to
the community. A number of students are
involved in many school initiatives such as
the breakfast club, library, sports teams
etc.
VOLUNTEERING
Thank you to 4B who helped
Mr. Keane with the running of
the Spelling Bee with 1st Years.
SPELLING BEE
There was huge excitement in the group as we
crossed the Irish Sea for our trip to Manchester. The
evening destination was bowling followed by dinner
in the Hard Rock Cafe. The next day, saw the group
go to Old Trafford in the morning. They completed a
skill session where some of our students can now say
that they scored in Old Trafford. They visited the
museum, along with a tour of the stadium. They also
visited the Imperial War museum where they saw a
fighter plane and helicopter. On to the Trafford
centre, where some students visited the aquarium,
while others were in their element shopping. We then
had a fabulous day in Alton Towers where some
students conquered their fears and went on roller
coasters. For those not into the wild rides, there was
plenty on offer in the beautiful setting beside the old
ruins, with some oversized teddies making their way
back to the bus. They completed the last day at the
Science and Industry museum, followed by a visit to
Cheshire Oaks. The trip was great fun and new
friendships were formed. We had some lovely
compliments from the places that we went to about
the manners and behaviour of the group. It certainly
was a memorable trip for all.
Manchester School Tour