Today we celebrated our unique and annual HFSS Wellbeing initiative - ValenMINES Day - where we focused on the importance of SELF-CARE, emphasising the significance of looking after yourself as well as others. Students wore pink and red and 'love-bombed' the school lockers, circulating messages of positivity and warmth and reinforcing our self-care message school-wide. Two love-hearts murals were painted on the windows at the front of the school by two fifth year students, Katie Canning and Ashley Reid. Students then filled the love hearts with notes filled with all the things that they love. All students were entered into a free draw to win one of two 'Pamper Hampers' - one for the Junior students and one for the Senior students, with Lily O Connor from 1s winning the Junior hamper and Aoibhe O Shea from 4p winning the Senior hamper. Our Wellbeing Committee designed the new Wellbeing flag that proudly flies at the schools entrance. A lovely day and week's focus on self-care and positivity for everyone.  

Some of the students from our Book and Drama Clubs went to the cinema last Wednesday afternoon to see Mean Girls. We go on a few trips to the cinema throughout the year, ideally to watch film adaptions of our book club reads. And to eat popcorn. LOTS of popcorn! 

Anne-Marie Doran, the Athlete Mentor delivering the Lidl #SeriousSupport Programme visited our school on Tuesday the 30th of January to deliver her programme to the lucky 1M class group, supported ably by a number of our LGFA engaged athletes in Transition Year..

The Lidl #SeriousSupport programme is a new schools programme funded by Lidl and delivered in partnership with the LGFA and The Youth Sport Trust.

Anne-Marie is one of the Athlete Mentors, a team of elite LGFA Players who use the lessons learnt through sport to help young people reach their full potential. She is an All Ireland Winner 2011, 2 time Leinster Winner 2010 & 2011, and Players player of the year 2011, to name but a few of her achievements.

The programme consists of two workshops delivered during two visits to the school this year. Over the course of those sessions students explore the value of participating in sport and the role of healthy eating and physical activity in our overall wellbeing and life chances. Students will look at the values of Respect, Recognition, Responsibility and Trust and how as an elite athlete these have helped Anne-Marie to achieve success and be the best version of herself.

Anne-Marie will pay us a return visit following the Easter Break to assess the progress of the 1M and to share her message with the rest of the first year group.

Well done to all involved and for more information you can access the following link: https://www.lidl.ie/c/serious-support/s10020006

Our Catholic Schools Week began on Monday with a lovely reflection from Sr. Kate over the intercom. The ‘Thoughts for Each Day’ were also called out over the intercom every morning by some of our 1st and 6th year students. 

The daily themes for Catholic Schools Week were as follows:

o   Service in Our Community of Friends

o   Service in Our School Community

o   Service in Our Family Community

o   Service in Our Local Community

o   Service in Our Faith Community

Our first HFSS Wellbeing Week of 2024 was a tremendous success! We delved into the power of kindness, explored mental health awareness, and experienced the ripple effect of our actions. Our symbolic Paper Chain of Kindness beautifully illustrated the impact we can make, setting off positive chain reactions. 

On Friday, we celebrated with a vibrant Civvies Day, where students adorned themselves in wellness colours - pink, purple, blue, green and grey. This not only raised awareness but also raised 675 euro for Jigsaw, an Irish charity providing essential mental health support to young people aged 12-25. Another step on our journey toward a healthier, kinder community. 

We recently supported Kildare Disability Week by raising awareness among our school community about making Newbridge more accessible and inclusive and emphasising that not all disabilities are visible. We had a whole school tutor time focus on Newbridge Access Group, their work and aims. We also flew the County Kildare Access Network purple flag outside the school to increase knowledge and promote awareness. 

The HFSS Drama Club meet twice a month at lunchtimes and have a lot of fun! The students explore new worlds, become people from different times and places and learn about different perspectives and ways of thinking. Our improvisational activities and games can yield some very interesting and hilarious results! There are many theatrically talented students in the HFSS so watch this space for 2033 Oscar buzz - you saw them here first!