Manor House School

The Student council have been very busy this year organising various events and representing student views to Staff and Management on various issues.  We wish to thank all students and staff who have helped and supported us in our endeavours.

SEPTEMBER:   
*The Student Council for this academic year was formed and the Committee created. 
*Work began in earnest for Breast Cancer Awareness Day /Pink Day   The role of the Student Council was to organise a ‘Monster Pink’ Bake sale to help raise funds.  The response from all students was hugely positive.
*It was decided to create a Student Council Whatsapp group and this has proved very successful.

OCTOBER:
*’Pink Day’ on 4 October was a huge success. Over €3000  was raised.
*Organised the official launch of the school library, 9 October.
*Student Council representatives attended the Comhairle na nOg conference, 27 October.
*Organised Fancy Dress Day.

NOVEMBER:
*Visit to our sister school, St Aloysius in Cork, 23 November, where  students from both schools attended a Leadership Training course.  This visit has forged a stronger link between the two school and we hope to build on that link in the future creating opportunities where the two schools can work together.

DECEMBER:
*Xmas Hat and Jumper Day, 11 December, which raised funds for the Capuchin Day Centre - €1,180.
*Representatives from the Student Council were nominated for the Health Promoting Schools committee
*Student Council Group email set up, recognising the  importance of communication among all reps.
*Chose Link persons from the Student Council to act as spokespersons for the various groups in the school so that students in these other groups could access Council support efficiently, if required.

JANUARY:
*Representatives attended Le Chéile Conference which was a gathering of student representatives from all Le Cheile schools where they discussed issues concerning young people and reminded themselves of the le Cheile ethos which is essentially respecting the unique dignity of every individual.
*Representatives attended the Student Leaders Congress long with SMILE Committee.
*Organised Green Group survey with Green Group.

FEBRUARY:
*Organised a Whole school assembly in the Gym along with the SMILE Committee for ‘Schools Go Orange Day’.  Created class ‘positive chains' to emphasise SMILE Committee’s message. Organised whole school disco to celebrate the positive message of the day ‘Empower Your Voice’
*Helped organise a competition and promoted awareness around internet safety on Internet Safety Day, 6 February.

MARCH:
*International Women’s day, 8 March.  Put up notices, created awareness, organised essay competition to promote this day.
*Inter-Culture festival  from 20 to 23 March, a wonderful success, once again.

APRIL:

MAY:   
*Whole School Forum, 8 May. A gathering of students who wished to see how the Council works, who may be interested in getting involved, who would like the opportunity to review the work of the Council and who wish to suggest ideas and initiatives for the next academic year.
*Annual end-of-year celebratory picnic, 14 May to acknowledge the work done by the student representatives.

Many policies and issues were discussed over the course of the year e.g. choice of wearing trousers as part of the uniform, working clocks in all classrooms, upkeep of the bathrooms, wearing tracksuits on PE days, heating, digital policy, among others.  Some of these issues are ongoing and the students particularly wish to continue campaigning for choice of uniform trousers to be offered to all students.  The students input was invited when a second deputy principal was being employed and students were also delighted to be asked for their input on the interior upkeep of the building and for their opinion on the use of digital media in the school.  The attendance of Ms Dunwoody at Council meetings was welcomed. 

GOING FORWARD:
As we head into the next academic year the Council believes that it would be beneficial if certain events and activities organised by the council, were placed in the school calendar at the beginning of the year. These events are: Fancy Dress Day, Xmas Hat and Jumper Day, International Women's Day, Schools Go Orange Day and the Inter-Culture Festival. The Council feels that working with other groups in the school and the presentation of reports from Link persons with regard to other groups in the school proved very successful and they will continue this practice. 
We wish everyone success in their exams as we come to the end of the year, especially the 3rd and 6th years.  we hope that we have represented you well and thank you all, once again for your support. 
 

SEPTEMBER: 

• The Student Council was elected by the end of September 2015.

OCTOBER:

• The first major event organised was the Fancy Dress day at Halloween which raised €998, which was divided between a charity for the homeless (where one of the 6th year students volunteers) and also the Syrian refugee Schools project (which Fr William, our chaplain, is involved in).
• The students discussed and brought to management requests regarding the school uniform – the option of wearing trousers and also being allowed to wear their tracksuit to school on the days that they have PE is an issue that was raised at meetings.
• 1st year students were asked for their feedback on the transition from primary into secondary school and they were very positive about the induction days which were organised at the beginning of the school year which helped ease them in to this busy environment.
• The council joined the Irish Second level Students Union (ISSU) which is the umbrella organisation for student councils in Ireland.

NOVEMBER:

• The Student Council had a leadership and team building workshop here in school with Young Social Innovators (YSI) and this was a very positive and productive day for all involved.
• Two representatives from the council, Donna Dragos and Aine Basem (5th year) attended the ISSU conference where many issues affecting students (academic and non – academic) were debated.
• The Council began processing student leapcards.

DECEMBER:

• All student leapcards were distributed
• The Student Book Bank was launched on 11th December.  This has proved very successful and students are regularly borrowing books, particularly on 'Drop Everything And Read' (DEAR) days! We  welcome donations of any books in good condition so we are and will continue to remind the school community to please keep this in mind when doing a sort out of books at home.
• Tracksuit Friday raised €720 for St Francis Hospice.
• The Council organised the annual 1st Year Poetry Recital on the theme of Christmas and it was enjoyed by all.

JANUARY:

• Two representatives attended the Le Chéile conference and had the opportunity to engage with students from other Le Chéile schools.
• The council along with the SMILE committee attended the CycleAgainstSuicide Leaders’ Congress in the RDS and joined with almost 5000 students from all over the country to promote a positive mental health message that "It is ok not to feel of and it is absolutely ok to ask for help".
• At a meeting it was suggested that a cafeteria survey be carried out so that we could promote healthy eating in our school. Also comments were made with regard to graffiti on toilet walls and students were asked to refrain from doing this in deference to all their peers who are using the toilets.

FEBRUARY/MARCH:  

• The main activity for students at this time was doing as much as possible to work on plans for the launch of the refurbished library

APRIL:

• Plans were put in place to organise our second Inter-Culture Week which was to happen in May. We want to embrace and celebrate all the many cultures in our Manor House community.

MAY:

• Inter-Culture week took place from 3 to 6 May 2016. It was a wonderful success and we hope to do it again next year.
• A Textile and Phone collection was organised between 9 and 11 May to raise funds for 'Team Dee' and we were delighted to raise €455.45.
• The launch of the newly revamped library took place on 18 May.  This included a visit by author and past pupil, Sarah Maria Griffin, as well as readings from a selection of novels and poetry from 2nd years and the announcement of our Junior Cycle winners in a Creative Writing Competition(organised around the theme of Books and Reading). It is hoped that the library will make a hugely positive difference to students and staff.  Books can be an escape, a wonder and a joy for many so we want this to be a space for all to enjoy. We look forward to the ‘big launch’ in September 2016.
• We wish 3rd and 6th years every success in their exams.

GOING  FORWARD:

• The Council intends to prioritise a strong link with the SMILE group which has been so active in the school in the past number of years. We wish to ensure that that this is a whole school movement rather than being specifically associated with Transition Year.
• Cafeteria facilities, menu and eating areas, will be considered by students to see if possible improvements could be made to promote healthy eating and to enhance the existing eating areas.
• Communication is always an issue in a big school such as ours, so we want to continue the practice of reporting back at assemblies, using a Student Council suggestion box and organising an end of year forum which all students can attend so that students know what is going on. The end of year forum did not happen this year due to time pressure. It was also noted by reps that these forums had been badly attended in the two previous years so there was a question mark over the necessity of having one….
• Next year the reps will meet class captains of their year group on a monthly basis to inform them of what is going on in the Council. 

(Report by Ellen  Munslow and Makayla O’Moore  - Chairpersons of the Student Council)

The Student Council for this academic year would like to thank everyone for their support in their activities during the year so far. This is your Council so we need to hear from you about what you would like to see happening in your school. We have heard from you about... Click here to read the full report (pdf).

Megan Brady (5th year),  Nessa  Lyons  (5th year)  and  Sophia  Hijazi  (2nd year)  attended the North Dublin City Comhairle na nOg  AGM  in Croke  Park on 18 November. All attendees were divided ... Click here to read full report from the Student Council (pdf).