Scoil Ursula has been nominated for a national award in the Annual Cornmarket Cumann na mBunscol Awards. The school submitted an account of its GAA promotional activities over recent years and was nominated in the Promotion of Gaelic Games and Culture Category. The school will be up against  Cumann na mBunscol Ath Cliath and Loreto, Crumlin Rd, Dublin for first prize. The award winners will be announced at a ceremony in the Oriel Hotel in Cork on Friday March 11th. Well done to 5th & 6th classes for their contributions and to Ms Munnelly who co-ordinated the project which you can view below:

It was with an open door and big smiles that Scoil Ursula’s Student Council officially welcomed Bishop Christopher Jones and An Taoiseach Enda Kenny, along with many other dignitaries and invited guests our school on Monday the 7th of October 2013. There were a lot of important people in the school that day to witness the official opening and blessing of our two room extension including, Canon Tom Hever, Board of Management Members including the Chairperson Marian Moore, Mayor of Sligo, Marcella Mc Garry, Senators Marc Mc Sharry, Michael Comiskey, Imelda Henry and Susan O’Keeffe. There were also TD’s and Councillors there including Minister John Perry, Tony Mc Loughlin, Michael Colreavy, Matt Lyons, David Cawley and Rosaleen O’Grady. There were members of the Parents Association, former Principals and Deputy Principal of Scoil Ursula, Principals and a President of neighbouring schools and colleges and of course the whole staff and pupils of the school.

It was all of these very important people that the whole of the Scoil Ursula Family welcomed with open arms on Monday. Flowers festooned the steps to the school and the children’s work was displayed in the Hall for all to see and admire.

The school Principal, Mr. Gallagher, welcomed everyone to the Hall for the auspicious occasion and thanked all of the staff, parents and pupils for their hard work and dedication in helping to bring about the extension. Thanks was also expressed to the Department of Education and Skills for funding the project, Rhatigan and Co.  for their work as project planners and managers and to Castlelough Corporation Construction Company. 

Mr. Gallagher spoke of the many changes that have taken place in education over the past number of years including the many initiatives, curriculum changes and other progressive improvements in primary education. While acknowledging all of these as positives he also urged An Taoiseach to use his influence to prevent a rise in class sizes in primary education and the loss of one or more teachers in Scoil Ursula along with a loss of services for children with special educational needs. The principal spoke highly of his predecessors, past staff and indeed the founders of the Ursuline order and committed, in St. Angela’s words to:

He then invited the Mayor of Sligo to speak to the crowd. Marcella Mc Garry spoke of the high regard that Scoil Ursula is held by the people of Sligo and its achievements in sport, academics, culture and community project. Scoil Ursula, she said, had a reputation for excellence in education locally and that the extension to the school was to be welcomed in helping to place this education in modern classrooms.

In his address Bishop Jones praised the work of the Ursuline Order in founding Scoil Ursula and the staff and principals, both Sisters and lay people, down through the years that kept up the Ursuline ethos of holistic child centred education that always aimed for excellence. He also reminded all those present that while the building the school is in is important, it is the people inside that make a school what it is. Bishop Christy also spoke of how much school life has changed since he was young and of his delight to see happiness being at the centre of what takes place in school nowadays.

The Chairperson of the Board of Management also spoke welcoming and thanking all for their presence. While extolling the virtues of an Ursuline school committed to linking with the community and the wider world and the excellence in education that it provides, Mrs. Moore also compared the new modern extension to the older buildings of the school. These, she said, addressing the Taoiseach, are falling into disrepair and need proper maintenance with the finances to go along with it. She asked that

In his speech to the assembled crowd An Taoiseach thanked the school for the invitation and spoke of his pleasure being invited to perform the opening of the extension to the school. Mr. Kenny revealed how his own mother had been taught in an Ursuline School. The then echoed the views of the Mayor, speaking of the excellent work being done in the school and the long list of awards and achievement we have won and the projects we have taken part in, including our fifth Green Flag, Golden Pen Awards, singing with the National Children’s Choir, Cumann na mBunscoil trophies, the Golden Spider Award and many Cathaoirleach’s Awards too.

An Taoiseach went on to respond to the Chairperson’s speech with the hope that soon there would be some more flexibility in future budgets for school building and maintenance projects like the one outlined by Mrs. Moore for Scoil Ursula. He also noted that there was €13 billion to be spent on capital projects nationally between now and 2015 and that had to be split up between various departments. He also stated that both he and the Department of Education would work with school management to improve the buildings. He asked the Chairperson to keep in contact so that they could plot the progress together.

After this the school choir sang beautifully for all to hear. There followed an address by Bishop Jones asking God’s Blessing on the school and in particular on the extension. Children came to read Prayers of the Faithful asking God to bless the work of the school, their teachers and parents. Prayers were also said for national and world leaders and for the sick and the poor.

Following this the assembled guests were led out to the new extension where An Taoiseach officially opened it and Bishop Christy prayed for God’s Blessing on it. They were joined there by the pupils from Ms. Cogan and Ms. Mitchell’s who have their classes in the new rooms. Both An Taoiseach and the Bishop were presented with gifts and cards by the children.

It was a wonderful day for our school and we are so happy to share it with the whole school community. Thanks are due to so many people for their help and support throughout the project and in the lead up to the official opening. So to one and all we say Thanks!

We hope that this will be a stepping stone to further upgrades, improvements and successes for the school and the boys and girls of Scoil Ursula.

There was some local and national media coverage of the opening including (Click the links below)

• Ocean FM: An Taoiseach to Visit Sligo Today (including an interview with the Principal Mr. Gallagher)
  
• Sligo Today: Taoiseach for Sligo Visit Today
  
• Irish Independent: Enda Back to School After Lesson from Voters
• Sligo Champion (see below)
  
  

The school was visited recently by a delegation from the Fr. Flanagan League Society in the USA. They came to honour one of last year's 6th Class pupils, Fatima Jamshaid, who helped design the Society's new crest. Fatima, now a student in the Ursuline College, took part in a competition to design a crest in keeping with the mission of Fr. Edward, Flanagan, a Roscommon born priest who went to Summerhill College. Her design and two others were combined to form the final prototype, which will be used by the society in all its literature and promotional work into the future. Fatima was presented with memorabilia associated with Fr. Flanagan and Boystown by the President of the society, Steve Wolf, a former resident of Boystown, Nebraska. A big thank you to 6th Class teacher, Mrs Siobhán Calleary, who organised the competition in the school!

Scoil Ursula was presented with its 5th Green Flag for work on Biodiversity at an awards ceremony on the 28th of May in the Breaffy House hotel in Castlebar. Our Green Schools Co-ordinator, Mrs Smyth, along with our Deputy Principal, Mrs Corcoran and  committee members, Tara  and Kevin represented the school at the event. Congratulations again to all involved in achieving this prestigious honour for the school.

Six children competed in the Comhrá Gailge competitions in Riverstown on Saturday June 1st. The Under 9 competitoes were Saoirse Nic Lochlainn, Amy Ni Shearraigh and Ella Ni Dhonnabháin. The Under 11 competitors were Dáire Ó Coirc, Róisín Nic Lochlainn and Ryan Ó Laoire. 
All Under 9 competitors were successful and are through to the Connacht Fleadh in Carrick-on-Shannon on July 6th. 

Congratulations to everyone that took part and a special Well Done and best of luck to those going on to the Connacht Fleadh!

Congratulations to our prizewinners in this year's Golden Pen Awards. In the Poetry section Ellen Gilmartin took first prize with her poem 'Dark Night'. Joy Feehily came second with 'Poor Little Snowdrop' while Fatima Jamshaid's 'The Dark' claimed third spot. Special merit awards went to  Nicole Gunning, Rachel Davitt and Donal Keaveney. Well done to all our budding poets. In the Short Story section, Fatima Jamshaid came second, followed by Andrea Flynn in 3rd place. Ronan Connolly and Dara Courell received Special Merit awards. Well done to everybody who took part. We will publish the prize-winning entries on the website in the near future.

Well done to our March Students of the Month and Hand-Writers of the Month and to Aoife who brings home the Trophy for the month.

Congratulations to Juan who won the Scoil Ursula Spelling Bee Final today. Well done to all the finalists who performed so well during the competition. We wish Juan all the best in the Sligo final in Scoil Ursula on Wednesday February 20th at 12:00.