WORLD BOOK DAY! March 4^th 2021

Hi everybody! We have a few Drop Everything and Listen events and resources to celebrate World Book Day this week.

Drop Everything and Listen Event 1 

Who? All First and Second Years

When? Friday 5th @ 10.30 – 11.00

What/Where? There is a live event entitled; BOOKS AND THE REAL WORLD. The event will go live on the World Book Day Youtube channel @ 10.30am and will last approximately 30 minutes. Students can watch independently.

Here is the link to the event: World Book Day 2021: SHARE A STORY LIVE: Books And the Real World – YouTube

Drop Everything and Listen Event 2

Who? All TY students

When? Friday 5th @11.30 -12.30

What/Where? Zoom Event hosted by Ennis Book Club Festival – ‘Louise O’Neill in Conversation with Sarah Moore Fitzgerald’. Louise will talk about her latest, award-winning novel After the Silence and do one or two readings from the book. Louise will also talk about her own favourite writers, her writing process and her advice for young writers.  Audience members will be invited to participate in an interactive Q&A. Students will be accompanied online by two teachers. The link to the event will be posted by the TY Coordinator closer to the time.

World Book Day – Free Books & Tokens!  

World Book Day has a series of books that are completely FREE with a World Book Day Token. The tokens can also be used to get €1.50 off any full price book or audio-book. This year we have a digital book token (click here) that can be used from Thursday 18 February – Sunday 28 March 2021. In 2021 participating booksellers will honour the tokens beyond the 28 March while stocks last. Check out the full list of available books and a special Irish title here: World Book Day Ireland – World Book Day

The main aim of World Book Day is to encourage children and young people to explore the pleasure of books and reading. This may sound like a very simple idea, but unfortunately, many children do not have access to books in their homes. With this token up to 15 million children in Ireland and the UK have an opportunity to have a book of their own.

Feel free to download it and share it with your families and friends so we can all enjoy a good read (and maybe some much needed peace and quiet at home!)

World Book Day Resources

Lastly, there is an abundance of resources, videos, podcasts etc. available here: World Book Day Secondary Resources that you might like to use this week and I have attached the full Secondary Resource Pack too. (There’s also a Primary School Pack attached that has lots of content/videos/activities for younger kids that might help to entertain some smaller people at home!)

Happy World Book Day to you all!

INTERNET SAFETY DAY 2021

#BeKindOnline Webinar Series

As part of Safer Internet Day 2021, the Irish Safer Internet Centre will host a series of free online safety webinars for parents and educators.

All webinars are free to attend simply register via the links below. 

Empowering Healthy Online Behaviour in Teenagers

When: Tuesday, 9th February: 7.30pm-8.15pm 

Guest Speaker: Dr Nicola Fox Hamilton, cyberpsychology researcher, member of the Cyberpsychology Research Group at the University of Wolverhampton and lectures in Cyberpsychology and Psychology in IADT, Dun Laoghaire.

Audience: This webinar is for parents/guardians of teenagers.

For more information click on the link below:

Empowering Healthy Online Behaviour in Teenagers

Empowering Healthy Online Behaviour in Younger Children

When: Wednesday, 10th February 7.30pm-8.15pm

Guest Speaker: Mark Smyth, Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Audience: This webinar is for parents/guardians of younger children.

Click on the link below for more information:

Empowering Healthy Online Behaviour in Younger Children

CAO Information 2021

Please find attached a copy of the information in relation to the CAO for this year from our Guidance Team, Ms. Karen Starr and Ms. Claire McCormack. Any questions please don’t hesitate to contact them by email given at the end of the presentation.

TY Christmas Newsletter 2020

Mr. O’ Brien’s YSI Class have been working hard on their project on ‘ Improving Our School Environment ‘ which focuses on the built environment and the people of the school community. They are looking at 8 different areas of school life which can make St. Anne’s a better and happier place for all.

1. Goalposts: The TY students erected 4 goalposts so that the students can play football at break and lunch.

2. Benches: The students are making benches in Project work Class so that there are more places to sit outside.

3. Tree planting: The students will be planting trees in the New Year to improve the school grounds for everyone and developing a green area at the side of the school for others to enjoy.

4. Canteen: The students are surveying the student body to find out what kind of food services they would like.

5. Outdoor Games: The students hope to develop a games area so that students can play Connect 4, Jenga and Chess outside as well as inside.

6. Zen area: The students are collaborating with others to develop the area near the Chaplain’s Office and Memorial Garden to make it more inviting for others.

7. Flags and Fundraising: There are a group of 5 TY students who raise our National Flag, our Green Flag and Amber Flag each morning and on March 15th will celebrate our school flags and fundraise for Missionvale.

8. Leadership: It is hoped to run a leadership module for TY students in the New Year.

This is an ambitious program and the students have made some good first steps in achieving it. They have gained the support of many to enable them to achieve their plans and are grateful for this assistance. If you think you can help even in some small way to enable the students to bring their plans to fruition they will gladly welcome it.

Three films made by our students have been chosen by Fresh Film Festival to feature in their Annual Showcase.  Introduced by Oscar and Emmy nominated Lenny Abrahamson, this programme will feature a selection of short films with top tips from young filmmakers, leaders and teachers.

The films are;

•  Ali’s Story –  directed by Alisina Hussaini, Jack Grace, Cathal O’Donnell and Kian Donnelly. This is a short but powerful documentary charting Alisina’s experience of moving to Ireland from Afghanistan. This film focuses on the way sport has helped Alisina to make friends, learn English and develop his confidence.
•  The Last Generation – TY2 Film Class directed by Maeve O’Brien. This factual piece was a runner up for the RTÉ Factual Award for Best Documentary. Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s Friday’s for Future Campaign, these TYs wanted to actively join the fight against climate change by showing the impact it has on their futures.
• Midsummer Beauty – Oisín Mc Keogh (Leaving Cert class 2020) – This film won second prize in Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards his beautiful film examines one young girl’s struggle with a crush on her best friend.

Click on the film to watch it or see each video below. 

Film-making has been an integral part of school life in St. Anne’s for many years now, with TYs part-taking in Film-making and Film Studies each year and the success of our Film Club. St. Anne’s has a long-standing connection to the Fresh Film Festival with a significant number of our students’ films making their way to the finals over the last eight years. ​

We were thrilled when the festival contacted us a few weeks ago about their annual showcase with the Irish Film Institute. Every year the festival screens a selection of winning films at the IFI and this year they have selected three films made by our students. We were immensely flattered by this news, considering that the festival will programme just ten films from the 1400 submitted in 2020.

They have chosen two ​films made by our Transition Year groups in 2019. A third film (which also won second prize in Ireland’s Young Filmmaker of the Year Awards) made by one of our Leaving Certificate students will also feature in this selection.

As well as these films, Oisín (who has gone on to study film at third level), has recorded a segment in which he shares insights into his creative process with his peers. I have also recorded a segment encouraging other teachers to consider engaging in film-making with their students.

The Fresh Film Showcase will be introduced by Oscar and Emmy winning director, Lenny Abrahamson (Room, Garage, Normal People) and will be available to screen in early December. We are hoping to include this as part of a (virtual) TY Film Festival that TY classes will be running across the month of December here in St. Anne’s.

We are so very proud of our talented and hard-working students. Their creativity is truly inspiring as they bravely tackle under-represented topics and tell stories that need to be told in fresh and unique ways.

Ali’s Story

The last generation

 
Midsummer Beauty

On Monday 16th November, all of us here at St. Anne’s held a commemoration ceremony for the 100th anniversary of the Scariff Martyrs. These were a group of volunteers belonging to the Fourth Battalion, East Clare Brigade, who were shot and killed, on the bridge between our two towns, by British crown forces.

TY1 held a wreath laying ceremony at the base of our National flag in the morning and unveiled artwork that they created to mark this occasion. This was recorded and played in our classrooms along with a video presentation about the event, which was created by former staff member, Johnny McGrath, in what we have termed D.E.A.L (Drop Everything And Listen) class.

This is a great opportunity for the school community to take part in living history and mark the centenary of a moment in time from our past.

Huge thank you to Ms. McNamara and the history department for all their hard work.

At 11pm Monday night the Scariff Martyrs 100 commemorative committee will live stream their own wreath laying ceremony on their Facebook page.