Loreto Secondary School

Loreto Becomes a Champion School of Sanctuary – report by Ms. M. Jordan

On Thursday the 18^th of May, the Inclusion Committee welcomed six Schools of Sanctuary monitors to our school. The purpose of the visit was to determine if Loreto, Wexford would achieve champion Schools of Sanctuary status and we are delighted to report that we did! We are the first school in Wexford town to achieve this national recognition as a place of safety and inclusion for all, especially for migrants and refugees.

Monitoring Day began with a beautiful welcome ceremony. Monitors, members of the Parents’ Council, prefects, Students’ Council, student Inclusion Committee members and their parents gathered with staff to share all the work being done in our school to promote inclusion. All those gathered had signed the Schools of Sanctuary pledge to signal their commitment.

We opened with a flag procession of 15 flags representing some of the cultures in our school. Úna Walsh of ‘Late Late Show’ fame accompanied the procession on the harp. Mr. Mc Ginnity gave the opening address where he focused on how Loreto has fulfilled the three School of Sanctuary pillars of ‘Learn, Action, Share’ by being true to our own mission statement; ‘truth, freedom, justice, sincerity and joy – as relevant today in Loreto, Wexford as for Mary Ward in 1609’.

There followed a series of presentations. Malavika Manoj and Sreelakshmy Bino spoke about their videos for ‘Think Languages’ week and Multicultural Week as well as the calendar of the religious festivals of world religions that they created for the John Paul Awards. Yosra El Hussein provided an insightful overview of Hijab Day which she organised as part of Multicultural Week. The Ember Team was represented by Yvette McDonnell, Scarlett Ramsey and Mary Roe. Ms. Johns and Emma Daly spoke eloquently about their work on the Min Ryan Park Walk initiative while Emma also shared information on the lunchtime Board Games Club. Aoife Byrne spoke about the ‘Diverse Voices’ section of our school newsletter and the Multicultural Fashion Show & Stands. Former Head Girl Mindulee Seneviratne sent her best wishes all the way from Australia and encouraged all students, especially those from minority groups, to take on leadership roles as she did. Lilli Mai Harrison recited her poem ‘Beauty in Difference’ accompanied by Úna and the meaningful words really captured the reflective mood of the room. Our flag bearers wrapped up proceedings with a procession from the hall to rapturous applause.

Monitors, parents, and teachers gathered in the GP Area to sample cakes from around the world. Ms. Martin and her students baked traditional cakes from Italy, Ukraine, India and England while Yosra El Hussein baked for Syria. Ms. Johns’ famous Guinness cake represented Ireland. Glenda also provided tea, coffee and sandwiches.

Following these delicious refreshments, the monitors were ready to begin their focus groups. The Student Care Co-ordination Team, the Inclusion Committee students and teachers and Ms. Pheasey representing the Board of Management were all invited to share their experiences of inclusion in Loreto and our commitment to Schools of Sanctuary.

A tour of the school completed the day. Monitors were invited to our welcome board in the GPA created by Ms. Johns and her wonderful team of volunteers. Posters from Multicultural Week were also viewed along with our Schools of Sanctuary board which displays photos from multicultural celebrations since 2018 and the stories of some of our students who came to us as refugees. The tour concluded in the library where monitors were shown our collection of books from diverse cultures and languages and our ‘Cultures of Loreto Wexford’ board where students have pinned their home country. Finally, the group took their seats for Sophia Unychenko’s presentation of her photographs taken in Ukraine and Wexford and to listen to Haya & Hanin Al Kasem’s account of their journey from war torn Syria to Ireland.

The monitors retired to confer and shortly afterwards Tiffy Allen, National Coordinator of Schools of Sanctuary Ireland announced that we had secured champion status!

We would like to thank our monitors namely Tiffy Allen, Rob Cousins (teacher at Champion School Kilrane NS), Ezana Weldetensae (Sanctuary Ambassador), Noma Mpofu (Sanctuary Ambassador and Sanctuary student), Lorraine O’ Gorman, director of Wexford Education Centre and Diarmuid Doolan from the Wexford Local Development Education Team. Their support and attention all day resulted in a hugely enjoyable day for our Inclusion Committee members.

We will be delighted to attend a national ceremony next year to officially receive our champion status along with other schools from around the country. We look forward to continuing our commitment to learn, act and share to improve life for those in need of sanctuary.

Green School Committee – report by Ms. A. Culleton

Climate Action Festival 2023 was a great success. It ran from May 2^nd – 5^th.

On Tuesday the TYs were visited by Seal Rescue Ireland, who gave a fascinating talk on the work that they do, and how we can help protect seals.
Wednesday was a WOW Day – Walk on Wednesdays. Ms. Culleton and the Green-Schools Committee met students who walked/got the bus/carpooled or completed a park and stride to school, and they were given a voucher. They then exchanged this voucher for a chocolate bar at lunch time.
On Thursday, students had the opportunity to play a recycling game in the GP area, with even more prizes to be won. Participants were given a piece of rubbish/recycling that may be and had to guess which bin it belonged to. If they managed to throw it in the correct bin, they won a prize.
Friday was an incredibly exciting event, with the Green Schools Thrift Shop at lunch time. Ms. Culleton and members of the Green-Schools Committee sold some amazing clothes to students. Thank you to everyone who donated items of clothing and reduced the consumption of fast fashion within our school community. This event raised €180, which will be donated to Seal Rescue Ireland. A huge thank you to Yvette McDonnell for organising the event.
Throughout the week, a quiz question was asked over the intercom every morning. Congratulations to Kate O’Gorman 1.4, who won €20 voucher for the most correct answers.
CSPE classes entered a poster competition, and the Green Schools Committee are delighted to announce that the winners are Zara Hickey and Mei Lin, both from 1.3, who each win a €10 voucher. Congratulations!
Grace O’Sullivan MEP was due to visit the school on May 4th, however she was called to meet with the Environment, Public Health & Food Safety Committee in Brussels. She did however create a video for the students of Loreto, which can be found at the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GgKOq51kNQLZZUXRGZX6tH9SAn3AklA1/view?usp=sharing
Climate Action Festival also saw the grand reveal of the Green-Schools Committee art installation, known as ‘Trees of The Future’. The concept was created by Sarah-Kate Ennis, who was assisted by members of the Green-Schools Committee. The vision for this piece of art is described below:

Over the past few months, the Green Schools Committee, along with the help of our wonderful student body, collected hundreds of plastic bottles! Our fantastic Transition Year Students Eco bricked several of these bottles, which we see throughout this structure. Some of you may look to this as an eyesore, or some of you may truly understand this somewhat ugly piece and its significance!

As human beings we look at our planet and admire its beauty, without fully realising that we in ourselves hold the power to single handily destroy it. We have been gifted this gorgeous planet, yet we cannot see that the living gift that we have been given is dying and we are the ones to suffocate it with all of this waste plastic.

The bold, striking piece that stands before you is a representational piece. A representation of the sheer amount of single use plastic we as a school and as humans use. Although it could be said that without these bottles we wouldn’t have this fantastic structure, it can also be said that without these plastic bottles we could live on a healthy, thriving planet.

If each and every single person in this school had a reusable plastic bottle, then each and every single one of you would be contributing largely to the well-being of our planet.

And, if each and every single one of you had a reusable bottle.. we wouldn’t have this eyesore in the GP area. The eyesore we call “Trees of the Future.”

To conclude this academic year, the committee celebrated all of their hard work by having a pizza party! Ms. Culleton would like to thank each member of the Green Schools Committee for their dedication and commitment over the last year, in particular Tara-Lee Doyle and Sarah-Kate Ennis, who captained the committee this year.