CBS Secondary Seachtain na Gaeilge and Well-being Week

Seachtain na Gaeilge i Meánscoil na mBráithre Chríostaí

Tosaíonn Seachtain na Gaeilge ar an 1ú Márta gach bliain agus leanann an fhéile idirnáisiúnta ar aghaidh go dtí Lá Fhéile Pádraig ar an 17ú Márta. Déantar iarracht gach bliain chun teanga agus cultúr na hÉireann a cheiliúradh. Is iomaí gníomhachtaí atá ar siúl inár scoil i mbliana chun páirt a ghlacadh san fhéile. D’eagraigh Roinn na Gaeilge inár scoil cluichí Biongó, Tráth na gCeist, comórtas póstaer agus rang íoga as Gaeilge. Bhain na daltaí an-taitneamh as na gníomhachtaí go léir. Mar a deir an seanfhocal, ‘Beatha teanga í a labhairt’.

Seachtain na Gaeilge starts on the 1st of March every year and it continues until St.Patrick’s Day on the 17th March. An effort is made each year to celebrate the language and culture of Ireland. Many activities have taken place in our school this year to take part in the festival. Roinn na Gaeilge in our school organised Bingo, a quiz as Gaeilge, a poster competition and a yoga class as Gaeilge. The students really enjoyed all of the activities. As the proverb says, ‘It’s a lively language to speak it’.

Picture One: See iad na buaiteoirí ón gcomórtas póstaer le linn Seachtain na Gaeilge! Comhghairdeas a bhuachaillí! 

Picture Two: Chun Seachtain na Gaeilge, is iomaí gníomhachtaí atá eagraithe ag Roinn na Gaeilge inár scoil chun ár dteanga agus ár gcultúr a chur chun cinn! 

Picture Three: Daltaí sa 2ú Bliain ag baint triail as Yoga as Gaeilge mar chuid de Sheachtain na Gaeilge.

Picture Four: Snapshot of the talks and workshops, given as part of Well-being Week

Picture Five: a snapshot of pictures from the TY/1st year hike up the Galtees 

Picture Six: the phenomenal response to the Ukraine Appeal, where six car loads of supplies made their way from the school to the Ukrainian/Polish border, and where, during Well-being Week €1,426 was raised from a parent collection, a staff coffee morning and a student non uniform day.

Wellbeing Week in the CBS

Two weeks ago, from the 7h to 11th March was a very important week in the calendar of CBS Secondary School, Mitchelstown: Wellbeing Week. Wellbeing Week is a five day all inclusive, whole school endeavour, that has been occurring in the school for a few years now. The overall aim of the week is to promote wellbeing for the whole school community: staff, students, and parents. With a wide and varied array of events held over the course of the week, all six Wellbeing Indicators were catered to. Monday saw a TY and 1st Yr hike up the Galtees, that also included seven staff members, which very much adhered to the indicators of being active, connected, and resilient. When you couple this with active leadership and helpfulness from the TY guides, you can see responsibility and respect also at the core of the event. Monday also saw a variety of treats, (healthy and not so healthy!) left for the staff by principal Mary Hannon.

Tuesday then focused on motivation and the Wellbeing Indicators: awareness, connectivity, resilience, and responsibility. In this instance we had two esteemed speakers: Ray Langan with his workshop “Rayse the Game” for the 2nd and 3rd Years, while John Lonergan gave a fascinating talk to the 5th and 6th Years. Tuesday night saw John Lonergan also give a talk to the parents of the CBS students. Both events were particularly well received with John’s harshly real and extremely engaging oratory style notable. The idea of motivational talks and workshops also influenced Thursday’s activities, with Johnny Holland giving a practical and relevant workshop on nutrition and health, thus focusing on the indicators of being active, resilience and responsible. This vein was also maintained with the exceptionally well organised and well attended Apprenticeships Evening that took place in the Firgrove on Thursday night, an event that saw collaboration between all three schools in the Mitchelstown area.

However, in the CBS there is a belief that wellbeing for one is wellbeing for all, and with the current war affecting millions in Ukraine, there was a notable sense of altruism over the week. During that time parents, staff and students all donated generously to the Ukraine Appeal. There was a collection at the parents’ talk on Tuesday night, a staff coffee morning on Wednesday and a non-uniform day for students on Friday 5th . Collectively, a fantastic €1,426 was collected for the Irish Red Cross to aid those in need during this humanitarian crisis. When you couple this with the six carloads of physical donations that were given the week before, once cannot but be moved by the sense of humanity and care in the school.

With Wellbeing Week over for another year, the school wishes to note the success of the events; it really was a week that brought the whole school together. On this note special thanks needs to be given to the two organising teachers, Ms Sinead Ryan and Ms Carmel Ryan, who were instrumental in making the week the success that it was.