Transition Year Students visit Kolkata

On Thursday 22nd March 3 students from Transition Year headed off with The Hope Foundation’s Schools Immersion Programme to Kolkata India for a 7-day trip to work with the children of the streets and slums in the city. The girls, Avril White, Chloe Dempsey and Louise Carroll along with Mrs. Siobhan Tobin and her sister Mrs. Fiona Downey had raised the funds for the trip outside of school time for the Hope Foundation. They joined many other schools in Dublin airport and headed off.

The trip was an amazing experience for all concerned. The emotional impact of both the poverty and the deprivation was immense. Kolkata, a city the size of Dublin, is home to over 17 million people, many of whom live in a state of dire poverty on a scale we here in Ireland cannot comprehend.

The School Immersion programme is hugely successful due in no small part to the amazing generosity of so many people. These young teenagers are the adults of tomorrow and involvement in this programme creates compassionate, kind, caring and considerate global citizens. This is the 3rd year Scoil Ruáin has participated in the programme. The girls and their parents, the accompanying adult leaders and all in The Hope Foundation thank everyone who contributes to their fundraising in any way. All support given was greatly appreciated.

Transition Year Students visit Lourdes

On April 1st (Easter Sunday) Katelyn Reilly and myself (Maria Hayes) travelled to Lourdes with Group 203 with The Irish Pilgrimage Trust and we returned home on April 7th.

As part of our Transition Year Programme, Katelyn and myself wanted to do something totally out of our comfort zones. This was most certainly a brilliant opportunity for us to go and help some children in need and also to make lifelong friends. I can easily say that we have achieved both of those things.

The week in Lourdes could only be described as magical, there is something about the place, atmosphere and people there that make it a special place. The masses were long but were not drawn out because there was so many songs to keep everyone entertained. Everything was done for the guests. For example, one priest wore a green, white and orange Mohawk wig all week long, even during masses. It was people like this that made the week feel magical as you got to see the child come out in everyone.

I can go on and on about my experience in Lourdes but I can still not explain the feeling there. It must be experienced in person for one to truly understand the magic in Lourdes.

Written by Maria Hayes (Transition Year)

Middletown Centre for Autism Workshops in Scoil Ruáin

The Management of Scoil Ruain invited Middletown Centre for Autism, Armagh, to come to Killenaule to provide training in Autism studies to both Professionals and Parents over a 5- week period. We felt very privileged, as the course facilitators were extremely passionate about their chosen fields.  The courses were heavily subscribed to and were indeed a great success. People attended from around the county and from neighbouring counties also.  Middletown have been involved in delivering courses in Northern Ireland for the past 10 years. The facilitators have been working with families and schools to promote a greater understanding and awareness of the challenges that children and adolescents face and what supports can be put in place to create Autism Friendly Schools.