23 June 2023
State Examinations 2023
We congratulate our 3rd year students on the completion of their examinations last Monday, 19 June.
The majority of our 6th year students have now finished their assessments. Tuesday, 27 June will mark the end for all other students. We wish all exam students a pleasant, safe, and restful summer.
Summer Opening Hours and Reports
The school will be fully closed between the 10th and 24th of July. Outside of these times, the school will be open between 9.00. and 13.00.
Summer reports will be available to view online next Monday, 26 June from 13.00.
Naomi Howlin (2nd Year) supports Rory Best Fundraiser
Rory Best (former Ireland rugby player) is fundraising to build a therapeutic centre to provide short breaks for children and their families undergoing treatment for cancer. This effort will see him walk 330 kilometres from the Aviva Stadium in Dublin to Cong in Co. Mayo. He is hoping to raise €2m to contribute towards this vital work. Naomi joined Rory and other famous faces on the first day of the trek. As always, Naomi displayed great tenacity by completing the first 5 kilometres with the others and we hope it goes well for Rory.
Head Girls, 2023/24
We are pleased to appoint Josie Mullen and Mary Roe to the position of Head Girls for 2023/24. We wish them well for the coming year.
Diverse Voices – Stories from Ukraine
An important job of the Inclusion Committee is to give everyone a voice. Sometimes we might unintentionally overlook the voices of those from a minority group and miss a valuable chance to learn more about our wonderfully diverse school community. In this new regular feature, we hope to share the interesting stories of students from diverse backgrounds. This week we learn about the stories of our students from Ukraine where the war is still ongoing.
Sophia Unychenko
My name is Sophia Unychenko. I am 15 years old. I was born in Donbass, Ukraine. All my life, I was running away from the war. The war in Donbass started in Spring 2014 when I was 5 years old. In the hope that it would end, we stayed in the city. Bombing then started in Donbass. While hiding, we lived in the basement for a week and then we left town. Then, I moved to the capital Kiev and lived there for 7 years. Later we moved to another city by the Black Sea called Odessa.
After two years of quiet life, we faced war again. We left the country with the situation around us changing every day. We were moving between countries and cities while watching the news every morning. We wrote letters to our relatives to see if everything was okay. Eventually, we ended up in Ireland, and we were welcomed warmly to the country. On March 26, 2022, we were put up in a hotel for refugees from Ukraine where we still live. I am grateful for the help and support Ireland gave us.
Valeria Bondarenko
My name is Valeria. I am 15 years old. I was born on December 20 in the city of Kharkov. On February 24, a full-scale war began in Ukraine. In the first days, when there was shelling, we tried to go to the basement. After 3-4 days we decided to go to the Western part of Ukraine. It was a hard road. We used to be able to get there in 1-2 days, but because of the war we were travelling for 3-4 days. There were a lot of roadblocks. We spent nights in cars and on benches. Our car even broke down on the way. And when we were just about to leave Kharkov, a warehouse exploded right next to us.
When we got to the Western part of Ukraine, we decided to go abroad. We drove while not knowing what lay ahead of us. Our first destination was Germany. My Dad, Mom, Grandma and dog were riding in the car. In a separate car, my older brother travelled with his wife and dog. They suggested that we go to Spain. Since my parents don’t speak English, they decided to follow their eldest son. Eventually, we worked up the courage to go to Ireland. My brother currently lives in Madrid, Spain. When I came here, we didn’t speak English. Everything seemed foreign and strange. But I am very grateful to Ireland for accepting us. Now my family and I are trying to learn the language. We are learning about Irish culture and life. Thank you very much.
Darina Mushtaieva
My name is Darina. I am 15 years old. I was born in Ukraine in the capital Kiev. I lived in the town of Bucha until the full-scale war began on 24 February 24, 2022. I woke up to bombs exploding as Russia started shelling the whole of Ukraine. From February 24, my city was occupied and from February 25, Bucha was fully occupied. That same day we left in the evening with my family in 3 cars. We went to the Western part of Ukraine. We lived there for 3 months, during which we lived without work in a room for 8 people.
After that, they stopped selling medicines necessary for the treatment of my grandmother in Ukraine so we had to go to Poland. We spent two weeks there and then came to France by car. Then we took the ferry to Ireland. We were very welcome and were given help finding temporary housing. When we first arrived in Ireland, we had a very low level of English but we are gaining new experiences every day. At first, we lived together in one room in a hotel for refugees and since then we were moved to a house. I am grateful to Ireland for the help it has given to us.
