The German Department has recently been very busy. An exchange to Hamminkeln, Germany, has been planned and will take place in April. Several 2^nd-year students will travel with their teacher, Ann Tully, and are getting excited.

Three pupils from Transition Year, Kate O’Rourke, Kate Rowe and Carol Healy, won a scholarship to Germany for the summer. They were invited to an interview held in the Goethe Institute, Dublin, based on their excellent Junior Cert results.

A German film, “Wintertochter”, has been shown in the George Bernard Shaw Theatre in February. Many students went to watch it and enjoyed the film.

At the recent County Carlow Enterprise awards three St. Leo’s students took the much coveted first prize with their “Wise Owl Discount Card”.  This card which gives holders significant discount also promotes shopping locally in order to sustain local jobs , local entrepreneurs and local businesses. 

The team of Niamh Fahy, Ella McHugh and Cliona O’Grady will represent Carlow at the National Student Enterprise awards in Croke Park on Wednesday 17th April - Best of luck girls!

Five students at St. Leo´s College recently received the pleasant news that they are eligible to receive a valuable scholarship to Germany this summer.

Carol Healy, Kate O’Rourke, Trisha Sloyan, Peggy Miller and Kate Rowe have been selected by the Goethe Institute based on the exceptional results (highest marks in Ireland) in the Junior Cert 2012.

They will attend an interview at Goethe Institute in Dublin on the 11^thMarch.

Congratulations to the St. Leo’s College team who recently scooped the UCD Women Graduates public speaking competition.  The team made up of Victoria Byrne, Clodagh Brophy and Caroline Halpin were the only team from outside the Dublin region and so to win was a great achievement.  An added bonus on the night was the fact that team member Caroline Halpin was also awarded Best Speaker on the night.

Great praise also to their mentors Alison Doyle and Sean O’Flaherty who have worked hard preparing the girls for such events.

St. Leo’s College are currently holding a fitness challenge for all 1^st and 2^nd year students which will run over six weeks.  All students are encouraged to participate in as much physical activity as possible and to record the information in their school journal. At the end of the six weeks, all classes will be retested and the class with the most improvement will win a prize. We have also entered the classes in a national competition. We would hope that all students receive as much encouragement at home as possible.

Congratulations to the three students who have qualified in the final of the Home Baking Games Competition.  Organised by Easy Food Magazine this competition is a national baking competition for secondary school students.  Each of the finalists submitted unique and original recipes and were picked because their entry was based on a homemade recipe, it had a unique flair of creativity or it was just too delicious not to include! 

• • Chloe Gaffney from 2A submitted a recipe for Chocolate Brownies with iPad Apps.
  • Nicole O’Hara from 4D created an Aladdin’s Cake Cake and
  • Valishia Monks 4D produced a Raspberry Cream Meringue with white chocolate

Best of luck to all three entries!

HOW TO VOTE?

To support the girls please ensure you VOTE NOW by any one of three methods:

1. Visit www.homecookbakinggames.com and click on the VOTE button beside the recipe you would like to vote for. Enter your email address and click ‘confirm vote’.
2. Email your vote to votebakinggames@easyfood.ie , clearly indicating the recipe you would like to cast a vote for.
3. Write your vote on a postcard and post it to us at VOTE BAKING GAMES, Zahra Media Group, 1^st Floor, Zoe House, Church Road, Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

Voting is open to everyone but restricted to one vote per entry per person so get voting!

The CAO process is explained in great detail on the CAO website. Please follow the directions below to view an informative slide presentation.

1. Got to www.cao.ie
2. Click on “Enter Site”.
3. Go to the left side of the page and just under “Other Information”, click on “Downloads”.
4. Go to the centre of the page and download “Mapping Your Future” Slideshow Presentation.

The cost of the online application at this stage is €25.  If you apply after February 1^st the cost of making an online application is €50.  In early May, the CAO system re-opens and you can continually keep changing your course and college choices any way you wish, at no cost, up until July 1^st at 5:15 p.m. At this time your choices are now finally fixed for good.

It is highly recommended that students fill out both the Honours Degree (Level 8) list, as well as the Ordinary  Degree (Level 7) and Certificate (Level 6) lists. If a student is successful in a Level 6 or Level 7 course it is possible to transfer up to a Level 8 course by just doing one or two years of additional study.

There are well over 2,000 different courses within the CAO system, so it should not be difficult for everyone to choose ten options between Level 6 – Level 8 courses.

A “CAO App” is now available on itunes and google play for those with iphones and android smartphones.

Congratulations to the St. Leo’s College entry in the All Island Schools Talent Search competition. The group called Threads of Gold qualified through the South Leinster Finals and performed in the Red Cow Hotel on Sunday 20th January. The group made up of Ailbhe Kehoe, Bronwyn Hogan, Isabelle Matuschka (5th Year) and Ella Nagy (2nd Year), perform as a trad group and we wish them every success in the next round.

The All Ireland Schools Talent search is a national competition organised by ISPCC/Childline as a fundraising event to help maintain its services and make supports available 24 hours a day every day of the year to all children and teenagers in Ireland.

We are committed to constantly evaluating and enhancing the Transition Year programme in St. Leo’s College.  We would be extremely grateful if you could complete the following short survey regarding this year’s Transition Year programme.

Please click on the attached link to complete the survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/6P9TGPX