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Students’ Council, 2009/2010
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1st
Year |
Eithne
Nolan |
Hayley Miller |
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2nd
Year |
Chloe
Carroll |
Vacancy |
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3rd
Year |
Lisa
Sommers |
Megan Smith |
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4th
Year |
Louise
Mahon |
Cliona Ryan |
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5th
Year |
Jane
O' Faherty |
Ellie Doyle |
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6th
Year |
Rachel
Creane |
Julie-Anne Murphy |
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Head
Girl |
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Sarah Wade |
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Deputy
Head Girl |
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Katie Flynn |
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Students' Council Meeting – 11 September 2009
This was
the first of this year’s students' council meetings. An
introduction was made about what students' council is all
about and the jobs of chairperson, secretary, treasurer and
public relations officer were assigned. It was decided that
the council should meet at 13.40 every second Friday, and
the peaceful surroundings of the prayer room were the
preferred venue.
Last
year, the topic of healthy eating came up in the student’s
council but no action was taken to do anything about the
lack of healthy food available in the school. This year, we
have decided to make a big effort with healthy eating and
research is in progress at the moment to get fresh fruit
available for sale in the school at lunch time. Katie, Ellie
and Hayley are visiting supermarkets this week to find out
about getting healthy snacks. Hopefully by the next meeting
on the 25th of September we will have good news
on this topic.
Julie-Anne brought up the topic of study on behalf of her
class mates who are concerned about the new, shorter study
of two hours and 40 minutes. Study was shortened as a result
of both budget cuts and requests from parents to reduce the
cost of study. To reduce the cost, teachers have to get paid
less to supervise and 20 minutes has to be taken off the
time. Teachers feel that the new study will work very well,
as students will be home earlier and so, will have time to
do more study at home and take part in sports that take
place in the evenings.
There is
a suggestions box in the foyer, outside the meeting room
door. Students can place any suggestions that they may have
in this box and they will be collected and considered at
student’s council meetings. If you are placing a suggestion,
please put your name on the sheet with your suggestion. The
next meeting is on Friday the 25th of September,
so if you have any suggestions or problems either tell the
representatives from you year or use the suggestions box.
Thank you.
Students
Council Meeting – 9 October 2009
This was
the second of this year's Students Council meetings, as last
weeks meeting had to be rescheduled due to other events
taking place at lunch.
Julie-Anne opened the meeting by recapping on some of the
last meeting's topics. The officers of the council have been
offered some training from the parent’s council on how to
perform their duties and we will be taking this offer. There
has also been an invitation from the school development
council for two members of the student’s council to attend
each meeting, and Katie and Sarah have volunteered to go to
the first of these meetings.
The topic
of the availability of fresh fruit for sale in school has
made some good progress. Katie, Hayley and Ellie each
visited different shops or supermarkets (Karoo, Super Valu
and Tesco) to find out if they would be interested in
supplying the school with fruit. The results were positive
and this week the three girls, along with Megan, are going
to find the best quote for apples, oranges and bananas. We
hope to be able to start selling these fruits at break time
each day as soon as possible.
Ellie
brought up the topic of the heating in school. She asked if
it would be possible for students to wear their school coats
in class when the weather is cold. Mr O’ Shea said that the
heating has been turned on in the mornings and will be
turned on at other times of the day depending on the
weather, so wearing coats in class should not be necessary.
If anyone feels the need for more heating, please notify a
member of the student’s council and they will tell either Mr
O’ Shea or Martin.
Lisa
asked whether it would be possible to wear Canterbury’s with
the school tracksuit, as many girls already have them and
there is no point in putting extra expense on parents to buy
another tracksuit if these can be worn. Lisa and Sarah plan
to meet with Ms. O’ Keeffe to discuss this topic further and
report back to the student’s council at the next meeting.
The issue
of supervised study will be kept under ongoing review by Mr.
O' Shea and Ms. Oliver in light of representations from
students.
The
student’s council would like to thank anyone who placed
suggestions in the suggestions box last week, and we would
encourage people to continue doing so. Please put your name
on the page with your suggestions so that we can contact you
about your suggestion.
The next meeting
will take place on Friday,16 October at 13.40 in the prayer
room.
Students’ Council Meeting-16 October 2009
This was the
third of this years students' council meetings.
There was little progress made in relation to the fruit
project as contacting the managers of the stores was a
problem. Hayley did receive a quotation, however it was for
too much fruit and so a smaller order is going to be quoted.
Jane has volunteered to visit Lidl this week. There was talk
of buying a fridge with the Students’ Council funds to store
the fruit in, and this will be followed up next week.
Jane asked on behalf of her friends, whether it would be
possible for girls who wear school trousers to wear ordinary
socks, as they are not visible anyway. Sarah talked to Ms.
O’ Keefe during the week about the possibility of wearing
Canterbury trousers as part of the tracksuit. Ms. O’ Keefe
made the valid point that if she says yes to this then she
will have to say yes to other tracksuits as well. A meeting
has been arranged next week for both Sarah and Jane with Ms.
O’ Keefe.
Louise asked whether it is really necessary for the
stairs outside the LCVP room to be a ‘one way’ stairs.
Louise will talk to Mr. Gannon about this during the week.
There has been an invitation from Comhairle na nÓg for
four members of the Students’ Council to attend a
development meeting on 28 November. At this meeting, young
people will get the opportunity to voice their concerns for
both the development of their county and country. Katie,
Rachel, Clíona and Louise were all interested.
Three suggestions were left in the suggestions box this
week, however none of them contained the name of the sender,
and so could not be considered. The Students’ Council urge
students to please put a name and class on their suggestions
so that progress can be made and suggestions taken
seriously.
The next meeting will take place on Friday, 23 October in
the prayer room. If you have any problems or concerns,
please notify a member of the Students’ Council.
Students’ Council Meeting - 23 October 2009
Today was
our last meeting of this half term.
The
meeting opened with a photo shoot of the council and this
picture will be displayed in the Students’ Council section
of the website.
On the
topic of fresh fruit, it was decided to try out a few
suppliers before making a definite decision. The services of
some of the staff was also volunteered to help with the
transportation of the fruit. Fresh fruit will be on sale at
break from Monday,9 November.
Sarah and
Lisa had a meeting with Ms. O’Keefe during the week to
discuss the issues of being allowed wear Canterbury trousers
as part of the tracksuit and for girls who wear trousers to
be allowed wear normal socks. Mrs. O’Keefe made the fair
point that a lot of time and effort has gone into getting a
proper school tracksuit and that if small changes like these
are made, then over time the tracksuit will become less and
less uniform.
Sarah and
Katie reported back from the School Development and planning
meeting they attended during the week. The said that the
topic of inclusion for students with learning difficulties
will be discussed until Christmas. This means making sure
that students with learning difficulties will be respected,
included and well catered for. After Christmas, Green
Schools and Student Empowerment will come up. The next
meeting is on Friday,6 November.
The
Council are trying to get headed paper made for them. This
paper should be different from the usual school paper, with
more colours and be more youthful. Louise is going to get in
contact with an impressions company to see if they have any
ideas.
The next
meeting of the Council was set for Wednesday,4 November at
13:40 in the Prayer Room.
Students’ Council Meeting - 4 November 2009
Today was
the first meeting of the new half-term.
Julie-Anne opened the meeting and signed the minutes of our
last meeting.
This was
the last meeting before the selling of fresh fruit begins so
the finishing touches had to be made. Everyone agreed that
we should start by buying very small amounts of fruit and if
it proves popular then more can be bought the next week.
Sarah and Julie-Anne agreed to buy 10 apples, bananas and
oranges for next week. The fruit will be sold in the foyer
every break at cost price, as this not intended to be a
profit making project. A rota was decided on so that the
same girls won’t have to sell the fruit all the time. This
project will be advertised by posters, the screens,
announcements on the intercom and by word of mouth.
Louise
reported back to the meeting that she had emailed Lee in
‘Impression Print’ in relation to the headed paper for the
council. She said that she had not got any reply yet, but
hopes to have more information for the next meeting.
Over the
summer, two new screens were put inn the school; one in the
foyer and one outside the concert hall. Mr. O’ Shea said
that the students Council have permission to use these
screens and they should come in very useful in our fresh
fruit project. Jane is going to be trained so that she will
be able to put things on the screens for the council.
Katie
said that it is too late to apply to go to the Comhairle na
nÓg meeting but Ellie suggested that she contact them as in
Ellie’s old school they made a late entry last year. Katie
said she will try this.
The next
meeting was set for Wednesday, 11November, at 13:40 in the
Prayer Room.
Students’ Council Meeting - 11 November 2009
Today was the second of this half term's meetings.
To begin with, the Students’ Council have been invited to
write an article for the school magazine the TY’s are
producing, describing the work that they do in the school.
Louise agreed to write this article.
Julie-Anne and Sarah had the bad news that they had been
unable to sell fresh fruit this week as they did not have
any change to give potential customers so it would have been
very difficult. We hope to be up and selling for next Monday
and Super Valu will be asked to deliver the fruit on a
weekly basis. Hayley also printed up posters to advertise
the project.
This week, there was a lot of suggestions in our
suggestions box, and this was very good news. Some of the
suggestions included; allowing the students to read the
books that were in the old library, putting heating on all
day in some of the class rooms, planting new trees to
replace the ones that were knocked down and putting solar
panels in the school. Jane suggested that we post these on
the Students’ Council notice board, and stick the responses
beside them. Hayley has agreed to write these responses. We
are delighted at the response to our announcements about the
suggestions box and we hope that this level of enthusiasm
will continue. We would also like to begin making use of the
Students’ Council notice board.
On the topic of headed paper, Louise reported that
‘Impression Print’ had not replied to either of her emails,
and that she would ring them before the next meeting to find
out if they are interested in helping out. It still needs to
be decided what to write on the paper, so suggestions will
be made at the next meeting.
Ellie suggested that the portable library come to the
school, as the books in Tír na nÓg are not accessible to
students. Ellie said that in her old school, a library bus
came that was willing to lend books to students.
Ellie and Clíona will both be attending the Comhairle na
nÓg meeting tomorrow, so they will be able to fill us in on
the events at the next meeting.
The next meeting was set for Wednesday,18 November at
13:40 in the Prayer Room.
Students Council Meeting - 18 November 2009
Today was
our third meeting of this half term.
Julie-Anne opened the meeting and signed the minutes of last
weeks meeting.
Mr.
O’Shea gave responses to the suggestions that were received
at the last meeting. Trees will be planted to replace the
ones that were knocked down. This will take place in March
2010 to coincide with National Tree Week. It is not foreseen
that solar panels will be installed in the short term
future, as the future on the building is still uncertain. He
said that the screens in the foyer and outside the concert
hall are widely viewed by students, becoming very popular
amongst the teachers to display news on, and came at a very
moderate cost.
Many
students notice problems around the school, to do with the
building. Problems such as missing toilet seats, door
handles and bins should all be reported to either Mr O’ Shea
or Martin. If any extra heating is required, this should
also be reported. A new water conservation plan is planned
for the summer of 2010, as schools are going to be metered
for water usage. This means that push taps will be installed
in the bathrooms instead of turning taps, less water will be
in the toilets for flushing, and a thermostat will be placed
in the sinks so that the water temperature can be monitored.
Rachel
asked on behalf of her peers, why students that skip TY and
go straight into fifth year are not eligible to become
Meitheal Leaders. This is because the National Meitheal
Alliance states that students must have completed four years
in secondary school before becoming a Meitheal Leader.
Clíona
and Ellie both attended the Comhairle na nÓg meeting during
the week. They reported that the topics of racism, street
violence and leisure area’s for teenagers were discussed.
They also said that they brought up the point that we are
still waiting for our new school.
The
selling fresh fruit has still not commenced, but we do hope
to begin in the near future. Under health and safety
grounds, anybody who does not have a valid license cannot
prepare food to sell. This means that we can not chop up any
fruit. Julie-Anne said that she will talk to Glenda from
Taste Restaurant to see if they would be interested in
preparing fruit like pineapple and melon.
Louise is
trying to organise getting headed paper for the Students’
Council and during the week she hopes to contact Impression
Print and give them the details that we want displayed on
the paper.
If you
have any concerns, please notify a member of the Students’
Council, or place a signed suggestion in the suggestions box
in the foyer. The next meeting will take place on
Wednesday,25 November at 13:40 in the Prayer Room.
Students’ Council Meeting - 25 November 2009
Today was
our fourth meeting of this half term.
Julie-Anne opened the meeting and
signed the minutes of last week's meeting.
Hayley and Eithne told us that many
of the first years requested that jellies and microwave
popcorn be put in the vending machines. Though there is a
large selection of chocolate bars in the vending machines,
there are no jellies. Popcorn is thought of as a healthy
snack and most people prefer microwave popcorn that the
prepacked variety. We will ask Mr O’ Shea about this at our
next meeting.
During the week, Julie-Anne got in
contact with Glenda from taste restaurant in relation to the
fresh fruit project. Glenda said that she would be happy to
prepare fresh fruit for us, but she will have to talk to Mr.
O’ Shea before she begins. We hope that this will take place
during the week.
The junior cert students are
concerned by the fact that they have to wear their uniforms
for the Junior Cert exams. They feel that this adds stress
to an already stressful situation and that they would
concentrate better in their own clothes. We will ask Mr O’
Shea about this at our next meeting.
Sarah reported all the missing
toilet seats ad door handles to Mr. O’ Shea during the week
so that they can be fixed. If you notice any other
maintenance issues with the building, please don’t hesitate
to notify Sarah, Martin or Mr. O’ Shea.
The Students’ Council have received
an invitation from the Parents’ Council to have a lunch with
them in the run up to Christmas. Sarah is going to contact a
member of the Parents’ Council during the week so that we
can set a date for their generous invitation.
Louise reported that she was
talking to Lee from ‘Impression Print’ during the week. She
told him the details that we want printed on the headed
paper. Ellie drew up a crest and slogan, and Louise is going
to email it to Lee during the week.
The next Students’ Council meeting
will take place on Friday the 9th of December at
13:40 in the Prayer Room.
Students Council Meeting - 9 December 2009
Today was our last meeting before Christmas.
Julie-Anne opened the meeting by signing the minutes of
our last meeting.
At our last meeting, it was suggested that jellies and
microwave popcorn be on sale in the vending machines. This
matter is going to be discussed with Ms. Oliver as she is
the teacher in charge of the vending machines.
Junior Cert students asked whether it would be possible
to wear their own clothes during their exams as this would
make them more comfortable. Mr O’ Shea said that a few years
ago they had tried this and it didn’t work. The main reasons
for this were that students were wearing clothes
inappropriate for state examinations. Many students also
found that their was a lot of pressure on them to choose an
outfit socially acceptable amongst their peers.
During the week, the Students’ Council received a letter
from the Loreto Education Centre about the projects we plan
to carry out during the year. All the Loreto Student
Councils in Ireland have been asked to do this so that we
can all share ideas. Louise faxed them and told them about
the Fresh Fruit project.
In relation to the fresh fruit project, many people are
wondering why it is still not underway. A lot of effort is
still going in to it and we do hope to be up and running in
the near future. Glenda in Taste is happy to prepare and
deliver the fruit and students are going to sell it. A few
things still have to be finalised before we begin selling
however.
Louise emailed Impression Print the drawing of the crest
we want on our headed paper. She rang Lee as well and is
expecting an email from him in the coming week.
The Students’ council are delighted to accept the
invitation form the Parents’ Council to have lunch with them
on Tuesday,15 December. At this, they will get a chance to
have discussions about what projects we are planning, etc.
The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday,13 January.
We would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy
Christmas and New Year.
Students’ Council Meeting - 13 January 2010
This was our first meeting of the New Year. Julie-Anne
opened the meeting and signed the minutes of our last
meeting.
The ISSU (Irish Second-Level Students’ Union) sent the
Students’ Council a brochure giving details about a discount
card that students’ can avail of. The ISSU is a non-profit
organisation that does their best to promote the rights of
secondary school students in Ireland. They try to ensure
that the voice of students is heard on every part of the
country. The brochure gives a list of shops that the
discount card can be used in and also an application form to
apply for the card. More information is available at
www.studentcard.ie or from any member of the Students’
Council.
Louise received a sample of the headed paper that we are
trying to organise over the Christmas break. The paper is
colourful and youthful. During the week Louise will email
Impression Print and give them some details that will
individualise the paper so that it is specific to Loreto
Wexford.
The fresh fruit project is still not complete. Julie-Anne
is awaiting a reply from Taste restaurant to see if they
wish to go ahead with preparing the fruit for us.
Before the Christmas holidays, the Students’ Council had
the privilege of having lunch with the Parents’ Council.
This was a very enjoyable occasion as we got to share ideas
and talk about our work so far. All members of the Students’
Council would like to sincerely thank the Parents’ Council
for organising this for
us.
The next meeting will take place on Wednesday the 27th
of January at 13:40 in the prayer room.
Students’ Council Meeting – 27 January 2010
Today was
the last meeting before the February mid term break, as the
sixth and third years will have their mock exams. Julie-Anne
opened the meeting by signing the minutes of the last
meeting.
Louise said
that she had received a receipt from the Loreto Education
Centre acknowledging that they had received our list of
projects for the year. These shall be published in the
magazine they bring out every year along with the projects
of Loreto schools all over the country. This is a good way
of giving schools ideas of what they can do for their own
school.
The Irish
Second Level Students Union (ISSU) has issued the school
with one free discount card. This is going to be raffled
amongst members of first year in the coming week and the
lucky winner will receive the discount card.
As all the
members of the Students’ Council are so involved with the
goings on in our own school, we never get to step back and
see what the Students’ Councils in our neighbouring schools
do. It was suggested by Mr. O' Shea that we arrange a
meeting with the St Peter's College Students’ Council to
discuss this. Sarah said that she will contact Shane Gubbins,
the head boy of St. Peters, to arrange this.
In the run
up to Christmas, Glenda of Taste restaurant was too busy to
prepare fresh fruit for our school. Now that the Christmas
season is well over, she hopes to be able to prepare it for
us, Julie-Anne and Clíona are going to talk to her in the
coming week and finalise the details of this long awaited
project.
Everybody in
the Students’ Council is absolutely delighted at the success
of the Haiti Earthquake collection, in which we raised
€3360.30. We would sincerely like to thank everybody who
contributed so generously.
Our next
meeting will take place on Wednesday the 24th of
February at 13:40 in the Prayer Room.
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