Loreto Secondary School | 21st Nov 2025

School Musical – Footloose:

The launch of our school musical Footloose, presented in collaboration with St Peter’s College, took place on Monday. We are delighted to announce that the production will run at the Opera House from Tuesday, 9 December to Thursday, 11 December.

Tickets are now available directly from the Opera House. We encourage you to book early to avoid disappointment.

Le Cheile:

Yesterday participants were putting finishing touches to their Christmas decorations and Christmas pots.

Next week is our last week where we will celebrate the amazing connections made between the younger and older generations of our community.

We will have another programme starting in the New Year, please get in contact if you would like to join us or know of anyone that would like to take part.

Career Fair 2025:

A massive thank you to all of the participants that volunteered to take part in our Career Fair in the CBS. There was a huge turnout and great feedback from the students. More pictures available on our socials in the coming days.

Well done to Ruby McManus in TY on winning our raffle prize of 6 driving lessons with Gwen Cloney Driving School which was kindly sponsored by our Parents’ Council. Thank you to Gwen for discounting the lessons as part of the prize.

Youth Night 2025/ Orienteering Min Ryan Park:

The Department of Education and Youth invites you to share information about Oíche na hÓige / Youth Night 2025, taking place this Friday, 21 November.

We would be grateful if you will let staff and parents know about this nationwide initiative from the department in the hope they will support their local youth event and visit it on Friday evening to enjoy some fun activities. Local event listings are available on the website gov.ie/youthnight. To help with this, there is some text that can be shared via whatsapp, via email at the end of this email. Posters to share are attached.

What is Oíche na hÓige?

Oíche na hÓige is a new pilot initiative delivered in partnership with education and training boards, the National Youth Council of Ireland, and the youth work sector. Its aim is to highlight the wide range of youth work happening locally for young people aged roughly 10 to 24.

On Oíche na hÓige, over 350 youth clubs and services nationwide will open their doors to celebrate their young people, youth workers and volunteers, and to showcase the value of youth work to the wider community. Every school community is invited to join in the evening of fun and celebration including school staff, parents/guardians.

About Youth Work

Youth work includes social, creative, cultural and well-being activities, civic engagement, volunteering, scouting and guiding, climate action projects, mentoring, and outreach. These services—led by volunteers and professional youth workers—give young people safe spaces to socialise, learn new skills and develop confidence and leadership.

Whatsapp:

This Friday, 21 November, over 300 youth clubs nationwide are opening their doors to invite you and your families and friends to celebrate young people and youth workers. We encourage everyone to check what’s on in your local area and come along and enjoy a night of fun.

Find events happening in your community: gov.ie/youthnight

Parents note:

Dear parents and guardians,

The attached poster about Oíche na hÓige/Youth Night 2025 includes a QR code where you can find details of events happening across the country this Friday 21 November.

Oíche na hÓige will see hundreds of youth clubs and services open their doors to celebrate their members, and their youth workers and volunteers, and to build awareness of youth work in your community. The Department of Education and Youth encourages everyone to find out what’s happening in their area and join in.

More information is also available on gov.ie/youthnight

1st Year Geography

Ms. Johns’ Geography classes 1.1 and 1.2 have produced outstanding work, demonstrating exceptional understanding and enthusiasm for the subject. We are all impressed by the hard work and dedication each student showed while completing this homework task, which required them to apply their knowledge of plate tectonics in a thoughtful and detailed way. Their efforts reflect not only strong subject comprehension but also a commitment to high-quality learning.

Inclusion Committee Update:

By Róisín Boland O’ Brien

The Inclusion Committee’s theme this year for Stand-Up Week was “the history of the LGBTQ+ movement”. The week ran from the 3^rd to the 7^th of November. Pictured are just some of our fabulous bakers and sellers who contributed to the cause. We wish to thank all of you for your hard work and support.

Members of the Inclusion Committee also made posters to reflect this year’s theme, and pride flags were proudly displayed around the school. 1^st years were given a lesson on the theme in their Wellbeing class which involved an engaging PowerPoint, video and quiz including the history of LGBTQ+, famous people who are part of the community and what can be done to resolve ongoing issues in the LGBTQ+ community together. We were also delighted to hear from TJ O’Brien,1^st year in “Diverse Voices” on his experience as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

We finished off our week with music and face-painting in the GP area on Friday morning.

A bake-off called “Spill the Tea” was held which raised a fabulous €150 for Belong To. Well done to everyone who supported Stand Up Week especially Kayla Peters and Sophie Stafford in 2^nd year who are pictured with Ms. Jordan receiving their well-earned prizes from the bake-off.

Again, we wish to thank everyone who participated in Stand-up Week and raised €150 for the charity Belong To.

In other fantastic news, we wish to congratulate Róisín Boland O Brien and Caoimhe Collins who entered their poem and image into the creative competition run by the Immigration Council of Ireland for their ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ initiative, which ran on a national scale with over 80 entries from 30 schools competing against them. Róisín Boland O Brien and Caoimhe Collins came 2^nd in the competition with their poem titled “Path of Life”. Róisín wrote the poem and Caoimhe created the image and helped with editing. Here is their work:

PATH OF LIFE

Born to life equal or are we?

From Kings and Queens to you and me

And everyone in between,

We each have a story to be told

And ideas to be sold.

A country to be run or a country to run from

We hold strong until dawn.

Whether we worship a god or we worship no god

None of us should be called odd.

Black or white

We all have a right.

From bodies to brains,

No one deserves the pains

That social media rains

No one should fail

Because they are female or male

Whatever you identify as

No one should be shy of being yourself

Each has their own opinion

No one should be the dominion.

Whoever you love

No one should be above

Each has a unique skill

Oh what a thrill

To find out we are different

Our speech is not our reach

But each uniquity is our reach

Adult to child we each deserve a chance to build

While this is just a couple

The list of diversity is double

Soccer

Well done to our Minor team who defeated Temple Carrig Greystones 4-0 in the Leinster Cup last week. Some fantastic performances all over the pitch. Amy Hatchell found the back of the net twice with great assists from Charlotte Stafford and team captain Brooke Clancy. Mia Wright showed great skill and composure in her 1st half goal and Shona Larkin also scored from a well struck shot from outside the box.

Well done to all. Our Minor team now progress to the next round in the Leinster Cup.

Camogie

Well done to the Loreto girls that were part of the Glynn/Barntown Minor Camogie team who won the Premier County Final at the weekend

First Year Football Blitz

A festival of Ladies’ Football on Tuesday in Loreto Wexford with our First-Year students taking part in an in-house blitz. There was some superb football on show with over 50 students taking part. It’s great to see so many girls out kicking Ladies’ Football.

Well done to everyone involved!