A heroes welcome back to his alma mater for Mikey Breen, along with senior player Donagh Maher, U20 player Ronan Tucker and Tipperary GAA development officer Paudie Malone. Lovely to have the Liam McCarthy and the James Nowlan cups in the school for the afternoon! Students were delighted to get the opportunity to meet with their hero’s and have their picture taken with the All Ireland trophies. Mikey Breen and Donagh Maher addressed the students about the importance of working hard to achieve your dreams and that nothing is impossible with a positive attitude and support from friends, family and school. 

Well done and huge thanks to Mr. Gleeson and Ms. Minogue for organising the visit!

Click on the following link for pictures from today: Tipperary Team Visit 2019

Our TY class recently went on a trip to the Sarsfield Barracks and it was certainly a worthwhile experience. We learned much about the Irish Armed Forces and how they operate, such as their equipment and armaments, chain of operations, and their recruitment process.

We were given the opportunity to interact with a MOWAG, an amphibious armoured vehicle, the artillery cannons, different types of explosive devices and had a hands on experience with many of the arms operated by their forces. We got to wear much of the equipment such as the bomb defusal suits and the standard backpacks and helmets.

Auditions for this year’s musical will take place on Friday 27th September at 1:45 in Room 12 (the old music room). There will be a sign up sheet on the Musical Notice Board next to the new dining area beside Ms. Murphy’s office. These auditions are only for students who want a lead role in singing, dancing or acting. Everyone is welcome to be part of the chorus. There will be a sign up sheet for this at a later date. Look forward to seeing you all there. 

Welcome to all our new 1st Year students to St. Anne’s. We hope you have a happy and memorable journey through your years with us in our new extending building. Wishing you every success on your journey.

 Class 1A  Class 1BClass 1C

Wednesday the 15^th of May marked the student’s awards in St. Anne’s. Awards were presented in a variety of categories for both academic and sporting achievements. The awards also highlight the contributions students make to school life in St. Anne’s for eq. Student Council, Mentor Programme and school spirit.

In a two hour ceremony, which was opened by piper Jordan Cleary (4^th Year) leading in students and staff who had represented their clubs and county at National and International stage. The ceremony highlighted all the achievements of students who have brought back silverware in their sports but also represented the school at BT Young Scientist, School Digital Champion, County Enterprise awards and Junk Kouture.

Other awards presented included debating for European Model Council, Speech and Drama, music, metalwork and maths. An award was also presented to Óisin McKeogh in recognition of his success in the Fresh Film festival this year. Missionvale has an important place in the school’s heart. Mr. Brendan O’Brien has worked very hard with students over the years, bringing four students to South Africa to work in the township. Mr. O Brien presented Ms. Walsh with a portrait of Nelson Mandela to the school as a token of appreciation of  all the support given over the years.

Sports are an integral part of life in St. Anne’s and a huge part of our award ceremony is the recognition of this contribution by our students to sports in the school. Awards presented to players in all sports played in the school highlighting their success and achievements throughout this academic year. Sports Star of the year was award to Rachael, Lynda and Susan Daly for their achievements in badminton and camogie. All three have represented their school, club, county and interprovincial in camogie as well as their school and club in badminton. The girls have also represented the school in other sports including rugby, athletics and soccer. The three girls are great ambassadors for sport and we wish them every success in their future sporting careers.

Team of the year was awarded to the Junior girls rugby team who finished runners up at the All Ireland schools 7’s competition.

Student of the Year was presented to Emily Walsh, leaving certificate student, by Ms. Aideen Walsh. Emily, being one of 9 students to be nominated for this prestigious award, portrays all the attributes which a student of St. Anne’s represents. Her academic excellence, dedication to sport and overall demeanour in school made her a very apt recipient. We wish her the very best in her future endeavours.

Thank you to Ms. Ailis Minogue her all her hard work in organising such a successful event.

For more pictures go to the gallery or click on the following link: Student Awards

Transition Year students at St. Anne’s Community College Killaloe have contributed to and taken part in a number of very worthwhile national initiatives in recent weeks. Through the Young Social Innovators project the students decided to prioritize suicide prevention and to give practical expression to their concerns for the wellbeing of themselves and others by participating in the Cycle Against Suicide and the Pieta House Darkness Into Light walk.

While initially the focus of their work was broad and examined issues such as obesity, addiction and youth wellbeing, it was the issue of suicide that the students felt needed an appropriate but powerful expression of their concern for those struggling with their mental wellbeing. And so on Monday April 29^th last a representative group of 7 students and 2 teachers led the Cycle Against Suicide into Killaloe from Nenagh where a larger group of their fellow students, gathered at the Lakeside Hotel, to welcome the cyclists across the Shannon and wished them well on their forward journey to Tulla and Castletroy. This was a fitting follow up to the attendance by 15 students at the recent Cycle Against Suicide Conference at the 3 Arena in Dublin and the school’s designation as an Ambassador School in 2018 for the Cycle Against Suicide event.

Throughout recent weeks the students discussed the role of a caring school and decided to give further expression to their desire to do their bit for suicide prevention and so a sizeable group of them decided to become involved with the local Darkness Into Light event. In co-operation with the local DIL committee and the Killaloe Ballina Family Resource Centre, the students helped on the morning of May 11^th, with setting up the lighting of the route and helping with the stewarding and tidy up afterwards. However, it is through their participation in the walk itself that they showed solidarity to the school and local communities as well as contributing to the work of Pieta House. The DIL event has taken place in the twin Shannonside towns of Killaloe and Ballina for the last 5 years and has become an annual event for the students of St. Anne’s Community College.

Cycling, walking, talking and remembering loved ones are practical and effective ways of creating awareness of suicide prevention and for the students of St. Anne’s a meaningful way to spread the message that it is okay not to feel okay and that it is okay to talk about it and that the power of hope is crucial to building resilience and strength.

Well done to our staff and our students who took part in Darkness Into Light Killaloe Ballina in the early hours this morning to raise much needed funds for Pieta House, Preventing Suicide and Self Harm, a service we are very grateful for, for our students.
This amazing annual event took off at 4.15am spreading the message of hope, support and community. Even through the darkest of times we must have hope, that little chink of light in the dark. 
Imagine, we have had two major nationwide events within a couple of weeks of each other, highlighting the very same message.
To our students, please remember, we are all in this life together, let’s help to build each other up, not tear each other down, and please remind all the adults in your life to do the same, because sometimes we forget too 😉 😍
#DIL2019 #ittakesavillage #bethechange #thatshowthelightgetsin#itsokaynottobeokay #askforhelp

St. Caimin’s, Shannon, St. Joseph’s, Tulla and St. Anne’s, Killaloe came together with 10 teams to play chess at St. Anne’s, Killaloe on Tuesday 9^th April. Transition Years Students welcomed the teams and kept the scores. Pawel Luber ensured the tournament ran smoothly with all chess matches played under his watchful eye. There were some very close contests between players with the tension building towards a great final contest. St. Caimin’s won the Junior competition and St. Joseph’s won the Senior Competition. Well done to all who participated. Ms. McDonnell, Ms. O’Sullivan and Ms. Corbett supervised the event and thank you to all teachers for giving their time to run such an enjoyable event.  

Tara is a leaving cert student here in St. Anne’s and is also a very talented dancer and musician. She works extremely hard to balance her academics and commitment to her extracurricular activities. She has now qualified for the World Irish Dancing Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, which take place over the Easter holidays.

She dances with the prestigious Flynn O’ Kane Academy of Dance based in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. Tara trains three times a week, and more frequently coming up to major competitions. Needless to say, she is working tirelessly towards this massive week coming up while simultaneously balancing it with her studies.

It also has to be mentioned that she is a member of Cailini Lua, an up-and-coming all girl trad band. All members of which are St. Anne’s pupils (Katie and Laura Donaghue, and Lydia Hayes) and these girls have a bright  future ahead of them. We wish Tara the very best of luck in America in two weeks time. 

Best of Luck Tara, the school and wider community are very proud of your achievement. 

Missionvale Reflection 2019 – Devlin Staunton

In March 2018, myself and four other students, were chosen through an interview process to go to the Missionvale Care Centre in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. In September we began our fundraising, receiving many amazing donations through bake sales, quiz nights, a GoFundMe page, bag packing and even kind anonymous donations. We fundraised throughout the year until February, when we began the long journey to Port Elizabeth.

   On arrival it was hard to believe we would be going somewhere where families lived in shacks, or tiny compact houses with little to no food or water, sick and dying. We were staying in the built up part of Port Elizabeth, brimming with restaurants and shops along a beautiful beach, a perfect tourist hub. The first day we went to the Care Centre, as we drove through all this I began to think the centre was going to be a few hours’ drive away, but as we continued the drive I realised I was very wrong. Not even ten minutes down the road I began to see the change. 30 minutes later we were driving through the Township where shacks, broken down houses and sheds, and rubbish spread as far as the eye could see.

   It was a shocking sight, but not near as surprising as the welcome we got when getting off the bus at the Care Centre. The workers in the Care Centre and any locals around were thrilled to see us including Sr. Ethel. As we got a tour around the centre and met the different people, their happiness and positivity was incredible. They would sing and dance and make jokes and this positivity shone bright throughout the whole week.

   During the week we were tasked with many different things. We would be working in groups in the different sectors of the Care Centre. Whether it was gardening or giving out food, organising clothes or helping to teach the children, every section I worked in is so memorable. I will never forget certain things, like when I was in the Nutrition Centre giving out food and parcels with soap and just seeing the food supply start to get lower and lower. There was a risk that the food would run out but no-one ever lost positivity or was angry or rude. Of course the workers did everything in their power to make sure everyone got something to eat and it was wonderful to see. Another thing I did that will forever stay with me, was when we went out into the Township. It was so heartbreaking to see all the run down homes and rubbish everywhere. Adults and children were wandering around in their bare feet and tattered clothes among dogs, goats and cattle. Families of 10, 11, and 12 are living in tiny compounds the size of a small room. The sick have given up and don’t want to take the medicine although it will help them get better. But again, happiness prevails. They welcomed us into their homes with open arms and smiling faces. We travelled throughout the community with a band of incredible women who not only cared for the people of Missionvale medically but also connected with them on a personal level. They would not only visit them for a quick check up but they would talk to them and make sure they were doing ok. They were truly amazing women.

   The main thing I will 100% never forget is the children. Every morning as they were going to school, if they saw us they would run over and jump into our arms. They had so much energy and were so happy to see us and more importantly were so happy to go to school. It was so heartwarming to see them learning with such enthusiasm although it was early and a lot of them travelled far to get to the Care Centre’s school. We helped them learn and would play with them on their areas and after school teaching them not only with books but with sports also. They were so eager to learn about everything including us as people.

  When we left Missionvale it was so upsetting. The workers thanked us for our help and we thanked them for helping us learn about the completely different world they live in. We said goodbye to the children who seemed heartbroken and of course to Sr. Ethel who is and will forever be a truly inspirational, remarkable woman. She is so strong in so many different ways and is, in my opinion as well as many others, a walking saint. It was an unbelievable, unforgettable trip, a life changing journey, and I will never forget it.