Mikey Heffernan, a teacher at Nenagh College, has been nominated for goal of the year on TG4.
Mikey is also a former Tipperary ETB student and has won All Ireland hurling medals at Vocational Schools level,Minor, U.21, Intermediate and Senior, bringing great honour to his school, club and county .
I would ask you to encourage your staff and students to vote for Mikey’s goal by following the link below.
http://old.tg4.ie/hurling-h.html
On Wednesday 14 October, Simon Tierney (of Newstalk and Communications Officer with OCD Ireland) spoke to the Amber Flag team on the topic of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Mental Well-being. As part of his tour of Ireland Simon hopes to create a national dialogue which is open and reflective. Students listened attentively and asked exploring questions in the demonstration room. The quality of focus and questions highlighted the groups interest in mental health and their openness in discussing matters relating to mental health.
Afterwards Simon planted a tree at the front of Nenagh College as a memento of his visit and as a more permanent reminder of the condition that causes so much disruption in the lives of those afflicted by it. We are very grateful to Simon for sharing his own experiences of OCD with us in his efforts to ensure that mental well-being is a topic for open discussion, especially in Nenagh College. Plant a tree for OCD aims to raise awareness of the mental health illness. Simons message is simple – ‘I found myself in the abyss and I came out again, I got better, and now I lead a normal, healthy life’ all this came about as a result of the help of talk therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy, Simon was able to learn how to deal with the illness. OCD affects 1-2% of the population and this tree represents solidity, stability, shelter and growth. OCD Ireland offers information and support.
Simon was invited to launch Nenagh Colleges Amber Flag, which we are very proud to have received as a result of our efforts in creating events, workshops, discussions and talks for our students throughout last year. Students got involved in the cycle against suicide event, the lunch time social club, the darkness into light walk in Killaloe, a 6 week fitness challenge, dramas on mental health, friendship events, anti-bullying awareness activities, leadership programmes, publications, community projects and much more. The team got to work early in the year, which culminated in Alan Quinlan presenting Ms O Keeffe and a representative group with the Amber Flag in Cork . The Amber flag is about promoting positive mental health, about developing strategies for dealing with the stresses of life. The main message of the day is to become aware of oneself, to be grateful for all that we have, to eat healthy, to drink more water, to get daily exercise, to talk, to connect, to relax and get involved in meditation and mindfulness. The College has an information notice board where it promotes websites like aware.ie, spunout, reachout.com and the all important one headspace – which has the meditation app which Bressie promotes in his school talks. Regardless how you feel right now, it too will pass.
Ms O Keeffe would like to acknowledge and thank Mr Kennedy, Ms Melley and all the staff for their support with positive mental health, she would like to welcome all new members including the support of two new teachers – Ms Quigley and Ms Murphy to our Amber Flag team 2015-2016.
On Friday the 6th of November Ms. Howard and Ms. Egan’s English class took their Junior Certificate class to a workshop and production of “Romeo and Juliet” by the Gaiety School of Acting in Nenagh Arts Centre. The students were very impressed by the outstanding production and found it very useful for their revision for their Junior Certificate exam.
Congratulations to our girls’ first year team who participated in a FAI soccer blitz on Thursday, 12th of November. The girls won a game, drew a game and lost to the winners Cahir. A superb performance was given by each team member. We look forward to some friendly challenge matches with Cahir in the coming weeks on grass and Presentation, Thurles, after Christmas. Soccer training is scheduled for next Tuesday (lunch-time) on the outdoor pitch for second and third years. Trainers: Miss Leonie Beirne, Mr Paddy Kelly.
Congratulations to Ms. Egan’s first year English class (1A), who raised €102.10 in this year’s MS Readathon, which took place during the month of October. This was a fantastic achievement. Well done to all involved!
NENAGH COLLEGE UNVEILS NEW SPORTS FACILITIES.
On Thursday night next, November 26th, Nenagh College is hosting an open evening for all local GAA clubs.
With this season just completed clubs are turning their attention to preparation for next year.
Nenagh College has excellent gym facilities fully equipped to meet individual and team strength and conditioning needs. Padraig Shrahan, staff member at Nenagh College, is a fully qualified personal trainer who will be available to advise on issues such as nutrition to aid individual players development in preparation for the new season.
All-Ireland winning coach, Liam Sheedy, will be taking coaching sessions on the night using the recently completed hurling wall. With dimensions 28m x 5.5m it is a magnificent facility for local clubs to use.
Nenagh College is proud of its long tradition of service to the community, while this latest development will further enhance the already strong bonds between the school and the community it has served for over 80 years
The work of Pieta House is key in the promotion of Positive Mental Health and prevention of Suicide in Ireland. Our local Pieta House is based in Mungret, Limerick and offers free counselling services for families and people who require the immediate help
Pictured above are Sarah Slattery, Ms. Catherine O’Keeffe & Grace Gleeson.
Top row, left to right
Mr Byrne (Kildangan), Daniel McInerney (Nenagh), Conor Shanahan (Portroe), Joshua John Delaney (Buirgeas), Jamie Kennedy(Nenagh Eire Og), Shane Gleeson (Kildangan), Seth Shayamewoko (Nenagh Eire Og), Jamie Cottrell (Nenagh Eire Og), Ben West (Nenagh Eire Og), David Haverty (Toomevara), Mr Heffernan (Nenagh Eire Og)
Bottom row, left to right
Conor Craven (Silvermines), David Corcoran (Toomevara), Conor Clarke (Toomevara), Aidan Dillion (Nenagh Eire Og), Rory Grace (Kilruane), Sean Crowe (Nenagh Eire Og), Mikey Ryan (Moneygall)
Pictured are Nenagh College Principal, Damien Kennedy and Micheal O Connor, Principal Colaiste Pobal Ros Cre and delegates with Ms. Therese Healy, Consul General and Mr. Yongbin Xia, UCC Confucius centre.
Nenagh College Principal, Damien Kennedy and Micheal O Connor, Principal Colaiste Pobal Ros Cre recently joined ETB and Community & Comprehensive Principals from Galway and Cork on a delegation to Shanghai University as part of the partnership with UCC Confucius Centre and Irish schools to promote the study of Chinese language culture in Irish schools.
The Principals were accompanied by Mr. Yongbin.Xia, Director of the Confucius centre in UCC. The delegates visited Shanghai University where they met with Irish students from UCC who are currently studying there. They also visited LuWan Senior High School in Shanghai which is home to 35,000 students ranging in age from nine to eighteen years old.
Ms. Therese Healy, Consul General at the Consulate General of Ireland hosted a reception for the delegation where she outlined in great detail the benefits of the exchange programme for the Irish economy. She emphasised the expansive opportunities available to young Irish people in Shanghai and the level of support available to Irish students and graduates when they arrive in Shanghai.
Eight students from Nenagh College participated in the Summer Programme at Shanghai University in 2015. The Confucius Centre has extended an invitation to students to participate in their Easter Programme in 2016 which will coincide this year with the Shanghai St. Patrick’s Day festivities.
All Transition Year students in Nenagh College currently study a Chinese language module while Chinese Cultural Studies has been introduced this year for first year students also.
The work is being carried out by Hackett Construction, Toomevara and when completed will provide the school with a state of the art hurling wall (28 metres x 5.5 metres). High spec. floodlights will compliment this making it an attractive proposition for local clubs and organisations for use outside of school hours. Further development of the outdoor sports facilities at the school are currently at planning stage.
The work is due to be completed by November 2nd.
