Catholic Schools Week in St Benildus College
Catholic Schools Week
As part of Catholic Schools Week, St Benildus College Dublin have had a number of activities and events to remind us of our theme, Alive in Christ. This is an important opportunity for us to reflect on our faith and engage our students in meaningful activities that bring the theme to life.
A speaker from the Donal Walsh #LiveLife Foundation came into the college to speak to our TY students to promote Donal’s #LiveLife message. Donal inspired many as he promoted living with positivity while battling terminal cancer. The message to TYs was to live every day and to promote thinking positively.
In class, our 2nd and 3rd year RE classes sent letters to residents of Marley Nursing Home. The boys are fostering connections across generations showcasing their Lasallian core principles. This has been a very enjoyable experience for them. In our Senior cycle classes, 5th and 6th years wrote "shout outs" to their teachers to thank them for their work and care. Both activities were great opportunities to reflect and think positively.
Also in our RE classes, students participated in the MEL Ireland Lasallian Competition. The title of this year’s competition is: Bridges of Compassion: Connecting Communities of Justice. This encourages students to think about ways communities build bridges and connect despite issues. Attached is a photo of a piece created by a group of three 2nd year students, showing the connection between Ireland and Ukraine. Amazing work boys!
Run for Life Charity Presentation
On Tuesday January 28th, we celebrated our Run For Life success from last term, when we raised over €58,000. A number of our chosen charities visited to talk to our junior students about their charity's work and the impact their donation will have. Thank you very much to all the charities who presented, which were the Irish Guide Dogs, DSPCA, Epilepsy Ireland, St Vincent de Paul, Living Well with Dementia, Ronald Mc Donald House Ireland, Ballinteer Men's Shed, and Irish Association for Autism. We also supported approximately 40 other charities that are chosen by students and connected to the school.
Badminton Success
Congratulations to the U16 Badminton team who are dominating this year! After a successful league campaign, they won the Dublin A final and now will progress on to the Leinster Finals. This team consists of Seán Larkin, David Campbell, Sean Bai, Cormac Sullivan, Bo Yang Hu and Jagan Sreejith Kochuparambil. We are all very proud of you!
Mock Examinations
The first two weeks in February are Mock Examination Weeks in St Benildus. To remind our students of how supported and thought of they are, each student was given a prayer slip and a new pen. This was greatly appreciated by the students. A candle was also lit in the exam to remind students of this community care. We hope all students did their best and take the exam results as direction to improve for their state exams.
Incoming First Year Assessments
On Saturday January 25th, St Benildus welcomed its new crop of first year students – the Class of 2031! On this morning, students sat entrance activities and got a chance to talk to the classmates that they will enjoy life in St Benildus with. Thank you to the Transition Year mentors who gave up their Saturday morning to introduce these young men to life in the school. We look forward to welcoming the incoming first years back when they visit to try out their subject options in Term 3.
TY French Walking Tour
Yesterday the TY French classes enjoyed a walking tour in French in Dublin city centre. Their 'guide extraordinaire' was Alan McMahon former student of St Benildus and founder of the company Dublin à Pied. As part of this tour, students walked around Dublin city centre, in areas of touristic interest such as Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral, along the Liffey and into the Grafton Quarter. Students also got an opportunity to ask and answer questions in French, and were rewarded with a pain au chocolate when correct! We would highly recommend this tour to other schools!
Get Going, Get Rowing
Well done to our TY Active School Flag committee who took part in a rowing programme with Rowing Ireland and received a coaching certificate after coaching 1st year students as part of the Get Going Get Rowing programme. The students created rowing programmes for first years to practice rowing and develop techniques in fun ways. It was great to have the support of Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Sports Partnership to help lead it.
TY Ski Trip
TY students had a whale of a time on their ski trip in Andalo, Italy before the Midterm break. This week-long trip gave students an amazing opportunity to learn how to ski and develop their skills, while bonding with their year group and teachers. This is a big undertaking for the teachers, and we appreciate all the organisation that went on to make this trip possible. We hope all students enjoyed the trip, which often is a highlight of TY.
Extra Curricular Quiz Night
On Thursday February 13th, the annual Extra Curricular fundraiser took place in The Goat Grill, Goatstown. This is a highly competitive event, with teachers, parents and the odd student trying to prove themselves as the smartest of them all! This event helps to support all our extracurricular activities and teams and we really appreciate all the support from our community towards this event. Thank you also to the coaches and activity leaders who run the event.
We are looking forward to:
· Seachtain na Gaeilge
· St Patrick’s Day
· Healthy Eating Week
· Le Chéile Day
· TY Subject Choice Presentations
· TY Mountain Biking
