Manor House School

Members of the Student Council had their annual end-of-year picnic on 14 May 2018.  Along with Ms Doherty, they wish to thank students, staff and parents for all their support in Student Council projects and are already looking forward to the next academic year.  

Manor House is celebrating International Women's Day by acknowledging, through poster displays, music, competitions, visual and oral presentations organised by the Student Council, the impact that powerful women have had in many areas such as politics, sports and the the arts.   Purple ribbons were worn, it being one of the colours associated with International Women's Day. Yellow is the other one. Students were asked to research inspiring women and enter a written autobiography of that person into a competition. Transition year  students attended a screening of 'Hidden Figues',  the inspiring story of a team of female African- American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the US space programme. We want our students to recognise what  they are capable of achieving. The values guiding International Women's Day are  Justice,  Dignity,  Hope,  Equality,  Collaboration,  Tenacity,  Respect, Appreciation,  Empathy and Forgiveness. 

(The following interview was carried out by two students from the Student Council who will be representing Manor House students at the Le Chéile conference in February. Thanks to Ms Doherty for organising the interview.)

Sister Brendan is a sister in the Poor Servants of the Mother of God congregation, living at St. Mary's Convent in Raheny. She first joined the congregation at the age of twenty, and at the end of this month will have been 72 years in the order. She studied at UCD and taught French for many years in Manor House School. Her desire to join the congregation arose after a local nun, Sister Mary Lewis, gave her a book about the work of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God and in reading this book she learned of their work in the areas of nursing, helping others and teaching. She felt a connection with the works and beliefs of the order. She wasn't originally interested in teaching as she felt that she would be closer to God helping the less fortunate, but that view changed as time went on. While a novice, she did a spiritual year in England and taught in two schools before taking her final vows. Since joining the congregation's schools, she has seen many girls develop into young women and live full lives and she keeps these students in her heart and prayers. She has also seen many girls enter the order and become nuns. She believes that what makes Manor House distinctive, is that each student develops as a whole person, spiritually, physically, academically and socially. Students are taught to respect and show kindness for one another. In Manor House, all girls are seen as equals and everyone is given an opportunity to fulfill their potential. ‘The beauty of the congregation is that we are not limited to the classroom’, said Sister Brendan. ‘In the future, I would like to see the mission continue to help young people and the less fortunate and to spread the message of God. When asked about the future of Catholic schools, Sister Brendan said, ‘we will have to fight for the future of Catholic schools’, but she fervently believes that their work ethic is unmatched and this work ethic will secure them a future.

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The Christmas Hat and Jumper Day raised €1180 for The Capuchin Day Centre on 11 December 2017. Organised by the Student Council with Ms Doherty,  this day has  now become an annual event. The funds raised this year will be presented to the centre along with the hampers created by Manor House students, under the guidance of the Religion teachers. The Capuchin Day Centre looks after hundreds of homeless people in Dublin every day and the centre will benefit hugely from our donation. Well done to you all!

Members of the Manor House Student Council were welcomed by the St Al's Student Council in Carrigtwohill, Cork on 23 November. St Al's is one of our 'sister schools' because of its connection with the SMGs. Ms Doherty and Ms Donnelly accompanied the girls on the visit.

Great fun  was had by all at the Manor House Fancy Dress Day. The Student Council judges of the Fancy Dress Competition found it very difficult to choose the winners. The criteria for selection  were  Creativity,  Effort,  Originality and Presentation.  The winners are:

• 6th year: 'Beach Group' (Ewa  Gryzbowska,  Jill McGuirk,  Sonya O'Connor,  Katie Nolan, Lena Quinn and Grace Carrie)
• 5th year: 'Jelly Bean'  (Sheila  Roche)  and  'Pumpkin'  (Siofra  Kelly)
• TY: 'Unicorn'   (Aoife  Bullock)
• 3rd year: 'Doom'  (Sophie  Hijazi)
• 2nd  year:  '60's  Chick'  (Ellie  Doran)
• 1st  year:  'Owl'  (Aisling  Hughes)  and  'Stranger Things'  (Danielle Evans, Caitriona O'Connor, Tegan  Foran, Emily Jones and  Aoife McGovern)

Congratulations to the winners and well done to everybody who got involved. People made a huge effort with make-up and costumes.  Happy Halloween from Ms Doherty and the Student Council!

Manor House school library was officially re-opened on Monday 9 October by esteemed Irish crime writer, Alex Barclay, a former pupil.  Both she and Jackie Lynam, also a past pupil, of Dublin City libraries, spoke eloquently of the importance of books and libraries in their lives.   Music at the event was provided by some of our current 2nd and 5th year students. We are very grateful to another past pupil, Jacq Murphy, who is the Easons Young Adult Fiction buyer. Easons made a very generous donation of books to our library. Those in attendance at the event were representatives of the Board of Management and the Parents' Association, members of the Student Council and the Book Club, recipients of Manor House Literary Awards and those involved in achieving the Wellread Award in 2016, as well as Mrs Honor Clynes, Mrs Irene Rintoul and Mrs Gretta Cox, former Manor House librarians.  Several teachers, present and past, also came along to wish us well. We hope that all of our students enjoy the library in our school during their time here.

The Student Council from our sister school, St Aloysius, Cork visited Manor House on Monday 8 May.  They were welcomed by The Student Council and Ms Fields' 5th year Religion class.  The students in each of the schools  shared what they had done this year with regard to school policies, students' wellbeing and fundraising. Discussions were organised around issues of concern for young people in today's society and the feedback given to the entire group  was interesting and thought provoking.   The girls from Cork enjoyed their visit to  our 1st year Scifest and we're delighted to be able to avail of Henna tattoos which were on offer as  part of the Inter-Culture Festival.  The day ended with entertainment from the Manor House  SMILE choir. The two Student Councils hope to be able to work together on a project in the next academic year. Thanks again to Ms Doherty who made sure that everything ran smoothly.

• The Student Council has organised an Inter-Culture Festival from 3 to 9 May. We want to celebrate and learn about all the different nationalities and cultures that are in our school community. 
• The launch of the festival takes place on the Sports Day,  3 May where all the countries represented in our school will be showcased. 
• The music in the PE Hall at lunchtime on Thursday, 4 May will have an international flavour with DJ Biggane spinning the discs. All are welcome.
• Language classes will take place in the Library on Friday 5 May and Monday 8 May from 1.20 pm. Come along and learn some new phrases.
• Get your Henna tattoos from our expert Henna artist on 8 and 9 May
• Taste foods from all over the world in the cafeteria during the festival.  John, our resident chef, will be cooking up some tasty dishes.
• Enjoy the exhibition which will be on in the PE Hall on Tuesday 9 May.
• There will be lots happening, so have fun, learn something new and get involved!

Congratulations to all the 1st years who participated in the 1st year  'Poetry Aloud' Competition on Friday 10 February.  This is an annual event organised by the Student Council with Ms Doherty for the youngest members of our school community. The standard this year was excellent and the judges were particularly impressed by the number of students who composed and presented their own poems. Prizes were awarded in a variety of categories.

Best Group:  Ava Rooney, Ella Williams   
Best International Translation: Jessica Cooney
Best Dramatic Presentation: Goodness Igbinosun
Best Use of Media in presentation: Gaebriele Ynso
Highly Commended, own composition: Emma Coulter,   Jasmine Sanni
3rd Prize, own composition: Lucy Woods
2nd Prize, own composition: Emily Payne 
1st Prize, own composition: Sarah Synnott
3rd Prize for recitation:  Emma Dee
3rd Prize for recitation:  Alex Jackson
2nd Prize for recitation:  Ella Connolly
1st prize  for recitation:  Patricia Bleikss- Shevel

Well done to everyone involved and thank you to Mr Beirne and Ms O'Neill who acted as judges, along with members of the Council. Also thank you to 1st year Year Head, Ms Fields who was on hand to present the certificates and awards which were so well deserved by all. Finally, huge thanks to the TY SMILE Committee choir who performed three songs based on the theme of the event 'Love, Relationships and Spring'.They gave a wonderful performance and the Student Council were delighted with their involvement.

• Our full constitution may be found here.
• Reports on Student Council activities may be found here.
• CLICK HERE to see your representatives for 2016-17.

From 3  to 6 May, 2016 students and teachers had the opportunity of

• listening to and learning new languages,
• dancing to music from different countries,
• joining in the mini-Olympics fun on Sports day and 
• tasting international cuisine in the cafeteria.

At lunchtimes, there were non-European language lessons and  'dance to the beat' with DJ Mr. Biggane. The Inter-Culture Exhibition took place in the Gym on the final day. 

The Student Council organised an Inter - Culture week here in Manor House to acknowledge and celebrate all the different nationalities  in our school. We learned so much from the 21 nationalities that took part and shared their languages, traditions and culture with us. The week culminated in an Exhibition Day when the Gym was a riot of colour with costumes from many countries including Nigeria, India, Austria and Thailand.  The array of appetising foods from Russia, Moldova, Jordan and Romania among others, the Henna from Bangladesh and  the native Aboriginal face painting from our Australian friends all contributed to create a wonderful international spectacle. Thank you so much to all who were involved.

The Student Council organised this collection on 9, 10 and 11 May in aid of 'Team Dee'. Student Council representatives collected donated bags at the main student entrance before school, at lunchtime and at the end if the school day. 

The following items were accepted:

• men's, ladies' and children's clothing
• paired shoes  (tied together or with an elastic band around them)
• handbags, ties, belts, hats and soft toys
• mobile phones, tablets and digital cameras 

The following items were NOT accepted:

• duvets, bedding, household linen
• pillows and cushions
• soiled or wet clothing
• mutilated textile material

The textile and phone collection for 'Team Dee' raised €455.45.  Thank you so much to everyone who supported this venture.

The Student Council held a 'Picnic in the Park' on Tuesday 17 May to 'close off' and reflect on the many activities of a busy and productive year.  Ms Doherty commented: "We hope that some of the projects undertaken this year will have a positive influence on our school community.  Thank you to everyone for all your support in our various activities. Our end-of-year report will be posted soon." 

The Student Council is delighted to see the Book Bank being used. They request donations of books in good condition. 

Please leave books into the Book Bank outside the Old Hall. Thanks to the donors.

The Student Council is organising a second Textile and Phone Collection, during the week beginning 3 October 2016,  to raise funds for 'Team Dee'.  This is following on from the successful first collection organised in school in May 2016. Leave in your textiles, old phones, tablets and digital cameras at the Student Entrance at the following times:

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (3, 4 and 6 October): 8am to 8.45am, 1pm to 1.30pm and 3.40pm to 4pm
• Wednesday (5 October): 8am to 8.40am and 1.35pm to 2pm
• Friday (7 October): 8am to 8.40am

We accept the following:

• Men’s, ladies’ and children’s clothes 
• Paired shoes tied together   
• Handbags, ties, belts, hats and soft toys

Please put the following items in a separate bag:  

• Mobile phones
• Tablets
• Digital cameras

We do NOT accept duvets, bedding, linen, pillows/cushions, soiled/wet clothing, corporate clothing or mutilated textile material        

We would appreciate your contribution to this fund raising event.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the Student Council Textile and Phone collection.    We raised €264  for 'TeamDee' and we are grateful to all who supported our efforts.

Have you  got  what it takes  to represent  your  Year  Group?
Check out the Student Council Constitution in the front of your journal, page 22 and here, on the website.See the many events and activities the Student Council have been involved in when you look at the End-of-Year Report for 2015-2016 (See below). Much work has been done and there’s lots more to do….

• Are you prepared to give up your time at lunchtimes, once every two weeks?
• Are you prepared to speak at assemblies to your year group?
• Will you make yourself known to your year group so that they know who to approach if they wish to raise issues at student council meetings?
• Will you ensure that you know what is going on in school, so you can encourage your peers to get involved?
• Have you got the desire to make your school a happy place for everyone?

If you can answer 'YES' to these questions then please put yourselves forward for election to the student Council 2016-2017. Nomination forms are on the window sill opposite the Old Hall and must be returned to Ms Doherty’s office by Thursday 15 September. Once the forms are returned the names of those who put themselves forward will be posted on the Student Council noticeboard, outside Ms Doherty’s office. Pay close attention to those names and vote for the students who you know will work for you. The voting will take place in assemblies and it will be a secret ballot. (**1st years please note that your reps will be voted for in CSPE classes.) If you have any questions, please ask Ms Doherty or speak to last year’s reps.