All 1st Years took part in a varied and exciting Induction Programme last week. 

We had the opportunity to try out new sports while abiding by the Covid 19 regulations.  The fun sports team building games organised by Ms. Crinion helped us to get to know our class better. We created simple gymnastics routines using jumps and rolls.  It was great fun performing these to music. We developed new skills in badminton, basketball, gaelic, soccer and tennis with the guidance of Ms Crinion and Meagan.  We learnt the importance of inclusion and working as a team.

We really enjoyed Yoga and felt really calm while participating in the various poses.  Mindfulness reminded us of how we don’t need to keep checking our phones all the time and we learnt how to relax.

In Digital Citizenship, Ms. Fusciardi taught us some tips and tricks on how to use our Ipads more effectively.  We watched a programme called ‘the Social Dilemma’ and saw the damaging effects of social media behind the scenes.

Mr. Fitzgerald explained how long the Loreto community has existed, the history of Teresa Ball and Mary Ward and how all Loreto schools used to teach through French.  We learnt about the history of Loreto St. Stephen’s Green and about the devastating impact of the fire in the school in 1986 and how the whole school community came together to rebuild the school. 

The study skills webinar organised by Mr. O’Mahony and facilitated by our Tutors was very beneficial.  We were shown the different ways to study and how we can use mind maps and flash cards more in our study time. 

Ms. McTaggart organised an Anti Bullying workshop for us and explained the different types of Bullying and the importance of talking to someone and getting help.  We learnt about the importance of being an Upstander and not a Bystander and we read and discussed the school’s anti bullying pledge.

Ms. Madden did a reading test with us, which we completed at our own pace. Then we watched an interview with author Dave Rudden who told us how he became an author.  He was very funny.  We had time to talk about the books we are reading at the moment and we did some word searches and quizzes.

All in all we enjoyed an action packed week but most of all we all got a chance to get to know the school and each other even better.  A big thank you to Ms Kelly for putting the programme together, to all our teachers for running each of the workshops and to Iníon Uí Áinle for looking after us all week.