The Open night for Sixth Class students will be on Tuesday 27th November. Parents and students are welcome from 6.50 pm and tours of the school will begin at 7.00 pm. The Principal will address parents at 7.45 pm and this will cover all the relevant topics about enrolling in school.
You can enrol that evening or further enrolment will take place on Saturday 1st December from 9.30 to 11.30 am To enrol you will need to provide a copy of the student's birth certificate and proof of their PPSN number.
CSPE visit to Sera Husky Centre
Visit to Sera Husky Centre
As part of our CSPE Junior Cert action project my class Fionn 3 decided to go visit the Sera Husky animal and rescue centre in Lisselton Co. Kerry. They are a non-profit small organisation that is dedicated to rescuing and helping huskies and wolf type breeds that are in need.
This sanctuary helps a range of other animals such as ferrets, goats, reptiles and kittens. The kittens need to be syringe fed and require a lot of care as they are not able to fend for themselves. They also foster care donkeys from the Donkey Sanctuary in Liscrrol Co. Cork. They take great care for the donkeys. They feed them, clean them and trim their hooves when needed.
There are approximately ninety animals at the centre. We were told by Maurice that sometimes people’s lives circumstances can change and even people with the best intention in the world found themselves having to surrender their pets. All cases are treated equally, individually and no judgements are passed. We learned people don’t realise that there is a lot of work involved in looking after huskies especially when they grow really big. As people no longer feel they can look after the animal, they are surrendered to the sanctuary or abandoned.
We really enjoyed our visit and some of us plan to go back to volunteer to walk the dogs.
Holocaust Survivor Tomi Reichental speaks to large crowd
Over 350 people attended an event with Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental in Colaiste Ide agus Iosef, Abbeyfeale last Thursday. Senior students as well as teachers and parents, listened intently to the octogenarian speak for 75 minutes before answering questions from the audience.
Tomi had began his visit by unveiling a poster highlighting the diversity of nationalities of students in the school.This poster had been produced by the student led Justice and rights group in the school "The Justice League". Ceannaire of C.I.I, Caoimhe, welcomed Tomi to the school. Then Fidelia, a member of Justice League, spoke about the need for compassion and kindness towards all people, regardless of differences.
Tomi spoke for over an hour regarding his experience during the Holocaust. A Slovakian native, he was transported with his family to Bergen Belsen concentration camp in Germany when he was nine years old. The audience were captivated by Tomi’s account of the hardships he and his family endured at the hands of the SS Guards. In all, thirty five members of Tomi’s family perished during the Holocaust. Tomi survived and was liberated from Bergen Belsen in 1945.
Afterwards, Tomi took questions from the audience. One student, Kevin, posed a question regarding our world currently and the possibility of something as devastating as the Holocaust ever happening again. While Keith then questioned Tomi about his return to Bergen Belsen and how it affected him. Finally, Cillian asked if he had developed friendships amidst the hardship he endured during the Holocaust.
Students, teachers and parents alike were so grateful to witness a first hand account of the atrocities of the Holocaust. We are all aware of how privileged we were to have a survivor in our midst, considering many of those who survived are no longer with us.
Tomi signed some books and was happy to stand for photographs after he spoke. Several students approached him to thank him for his time, mentioning that they had really enjoyed it.
The newly formed Justice League, organised a series of events for "World Day for Cultural Diversity" in the school. There was a classroom based quiz based on music from around the world. There was also a lunchtime event which gave students a chance to sample foods from different countries that make up our school community. Finally, there was also a student led concert in the music room that was open to all the students in the school. In all well over half the school community (students and staff) took part in at least one of the events.
