Religion

Confey College, Leixlip.

Religion

Teachers: Mrs E. Brangan, Mr T. McDonald, Ms Grainne O Connor and Ms Rose Power.

School Chaplain: Mrs L. Barry

As part of their CSPE project the students of 3A2 and 3A4 organised a Christmas Hamper Campaign for the Leixlip St. Vincent De Paul Society.
Yvonne McGivern, president of the Leixlip Conference, came in and spoke to the classes about the work of the local society. Over the course of two weeks the students launched an awareness campaign by creating and displaying posters, making presentations to other classes, and during the designated SVP week, collecting non-perishable goods in the assembly area. The response was outstanding and a total of 32 hampers were made and donated. These hampers were delivered to families in the local area to make their Christmas brighter. We would like to thank all the students, their parents and teachers for their generosity. It was a great experience for a great cause and we really appreciate the huge support.

3A2 and 3A4

Lourdes 2010

A day of charity with Confey Community College

Friday, 17th of December was an extra busy day for the students of Confey College. Not alone were 32 hampers presented to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, but Ms. Gahan’s Choir sang their hearts out at the opening of the Ryevale Nursing Christmas Party! A great time was had by all with the students singing a combination of traditional and contemporary Christmas carols accompanied by Melissa Murphy, 6a1, on Guitar. Some sprightly folk even got up and danced! Later that evening the Choir spread even more Christmas cheer in the Manor Mills Shopping Centre in Maynooth to fundraise for Rebuild for Bosnia. 610 Euro was raised during this event. Congratulations and well done to all the students involved.

Confey College Choir at Christmas singing in the Manor Mills Shopping center in Maynooth, Kildare.

The images shown relate to the recently held Hospice Coffee Morning as organised by the Transition Year students. St Brigid's Hospice , Newbridge County Kildare will benefit from the 360 euro which was raised. Congratulations to all those students that participated.

Enable Ireland

Following an informative workshop on disability and the issues surrounding disability in Ireland today, TY students took part in a fundraiser in the local area. To date a 1000 euro's has been raised which goes towards a very ambitious project underway in the past six months to build a Children’s Therapy Centre in Kildare. This centre will provide facilities, support and therapy for children with physical disabilities which will greatly improve their quality of life and opportunities for inclusion for the child.

Gaisce - The President's Award.

On Saturday 8/11/08 Ms. Barry, Ms. O’Connor and Ms. L Duffy took part in a full days training seminar and became officially recognised Presidents Awards Leaders (PAL's).

This award was first introduced in the UK in 1956 as The Duke of Edinburgh Award. The programme now reaches young people in 127 countries. In Ireland it is known as Gaisce - The Presidents Award and is the only National Challenge Award from the President of Ireland to young people to “Go Discover”. Awards are presented to young people who agree and complete a personal challenge with the support of a Presidents Award Leader (PAL) in four activities: Community Involvement, Personal Skill, Physical Recreation and an Adventure Journey. It is based on the key principles of being open to all young people regardless of gender, culture, religion or ability and involves voluntary participation within the community. It is about Achieving not winning i.e. it is non competitive and a personal challenge which involves consistency and stamina and above all is a programme of personal and social development and is widely recognised by companies and industries.

The programme has been running in the school under the guidance of Ms. D’Arcy and numbers participating this year are high. Students are currently working on many of their personal challenges from learning guitar, self-defense, golf, kenpo karate to taking up a new language, canoeing, tennis and swimming. Also many students are volunteering an hour a week with local community organizations. These include St. Vincent de Paul, Maynooth, Irish Water Safety lifeguarding at St. Raphael’s, Esker Celtic F.C, Ryevale Nursing Home, North Star Swimming Club and Leixlip Arch Club.

Students keep a record of their participation which is agreed in advance and signed on a weekly basis by the leader of the organisation they are volunteering with or their coach or the teacher of their new skill. The majority of students have already completed the adventure journey section which is organised by Ms. O’Byrne. This involves a 25km hike over two days which was incorporated into the Achill trip. All reported a great sense of achievement and a memorable and enjoyable experience.