Reporter: Katie Brogan
Equestrian Team
Congratulations to our Equestrian Team who competed in the Inter-schools Competition Sunday the 14th of December in Mullingar. Tommy Killian, Aine Murray, Katie Shaw and Daniel Whyte all competed in the 80s, 90’s and 1 meter class. Daniel had an excellent round and finished in first place with Aine placed 4th.
Boys Football
Well done to our First Year Boys who had a great day out in Dunganney, Meath CoE on Tuesday 16th December they played against Moyne, Boyne CS and St. Ciaran’s Kells. Thanks to our TY Future Leaders, Mr. Shane Kenny and Mr. Larkin for training the team.
TY
Well done to our TY students who collected toys and gifts during the month of December, all were donated to St. Vincent de Paul in time to be given to families in need for the Christmas period.
Carol Service
Our traditional Carol Service in collaboration with St. Matthew’s Primary School put us all in the mood for Christmas, last week. A combination of our favourite modern and traditional carols created a joyful spirit in the run up to Christmas. Truly beautiful singing punctuated with spiritual readings brought Christmas alive for us all once again. Thank you to Ms. Malone for all her hard work and dedication to the choir and to our music students to performed beautifully on the night.
Bláthú Narnia Christmas Dinner
Our special classes celebrated Christmas dinner with their teachers and classmates this week. The students prepared and cooked dinner for their teachers and everyone sat down together to celebrate Christmas. It was a lovely occasion for us all. We would like to thank our students in the special classes for all their hard work getting ready for the Christmas dinner and our SNA’s, Helena Molihan, Helena Brady, Claire, Deirdre and Shane for supporting the students on the day. The meal was delicious, with all the trimmings and beautiful desserts, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
First Year Autism Friendly Christmas Party
Our first year Art class celebrated the last school day of 2019, by having an Autism friendly Christmas party with their classmates from Bláthú, one of our special inclusive classes. Christmas can be a difficult time for people who live with sensory processing difficulties. Loud Christmas music, Christmas tree lights and noisy parties can cause great distress. Our Bláthú students take Art as a mainstream subject and so it provided the perfect opportunity to have an Autism friendly Christmas party. Soft music was played on low volume, and students played a round robin of traditional board games, giving them the chance to get to know each other and practice their social skills. There were also Kahoots on the IPads with lots of prizes and treats. Our Narnia students who are senior students helped out also. Well done to everyone involved for putting inclusion on the map once again at Mercy Secondary School Ballymahon.
Christmas Greetings
We would like to wish all our students and staff a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year, as we look forward to the new experiences, challenges and celebrations 2020 will bring for us all at Mercy Secondary School Ballymahon.