Portmarnock Community School was selected to participate in PISA 2015.(Programme for International Student Assessment). PISA tests student’s abilities in Science, Maths & Literacy across Europe and internationally.
41 students were selected from PCS to take part in this year’s test. External examiners from PISA arrived in school on Monday and both examiners were very impressed and commented on the maturity and excellent participation of all of the students who took part. Well done to all concerned and thanks to Ms McNamee and Ms Dolan for their time.

Report by Conor Ryan.

Our Action Project involved the 2K CSPE class visiting the Dail. We found it very beneficial and it was a successful outing. It occurred on the 15^th of January 2015.

We arrived at the Dail just before 11am and we were met by a representative of our Local TD Alan Farrell who was unable to meet us in person. We were brought to the Dail chamber and watched a debate take place between Brendan Howlin and Mary Lou McDonald over the registration of a bill.

We were ushered around the Dail by Pat and he told us the history of the Dail and interesting facts about the building and people who once owned and worked in the building. As he talked to us a bell went off and he explained that this meant a vote was happening and all TDs had six minutes to enter the chamber. Pat told us many interesting things including the First Dail meeting took place in 1919, that women were allowed to vote in 1918 and that Leinster House itself was built in 1745 making it 270 years old.

We were brought to the Seanad and learned that it is also known as the Upper House. In all there are 60 Senators. The Cathaoirleach is the man in charge of the Seanad. We discovered there were two ways to vote; one was to vote by pressing a button and the other was to enter into two different rooms whether you were in favour or against a bill.

We left the Dail at 12:15pm and in all it was an informative and fun day.

‘Capturing a Moment in Time’ is the theme of our Writing week which takes place in PCS from Monday 2 March to Friday 6 March. There will be student writing on display; student readings of their favourite novels; reflective journal writing and all students will participate in a ‘Drop and Read’ period every day.  See the photos in our Flicker feed of student writing on display on our Literacy Board. Thanks to all of the teachers in our Literacy Group.

Welcome home to all of our Transition Years who were representing their school and community and working so  hard in the Eastern Cape while we were enjoying our break. Welcome home to Ms Norris, Ms Woods and Mr Fitzgerald and all of the volunteers who by all accounts have done us proud. We look forward to hearing all about this very worthwhile project over the following weeks. Check out the blog above for details.

A huge congratulations to Lara McEvoy, Eoin Keating, Aaron Cullen and Craig Giles who represented PCS and North Dublin at the Leinster Championships in Santry on Wednesday 11th February. All athletes competed well and should be very proud of there achievements. The competition was fierce and the standard of the athletics was impressive. Best of luck to Craig Giles who’s stunning forth place performance sees him progressing onto the All Ireland Schools’ Cross Country Championships in Clane on the 7th of March.

On Thursday, students from our animation and media course took part in a peer teaching programme. The students involved were introduced to a new digital animation programme. For the entire day, they got the opportunity to explore this with the help of their teacher Ms Tynan and online tutorials. These students will now engage in peer teaching this new software to other class members. The students involved were very enthuasiastic and felt that the experience was really beneficial.

Check out Mr Murphy’s Numeracy display in the Assembly Hall which consists of photos of examples of Numeracy in everyday life in and around the school and village. Well done to all of the students involved.

Safer Internet Day is an EU wide initiative to promote a safer internet for all users, especially young people. It is promoted in Ireland by the PDST Technology in Education and Webwise, and will be celebrated in Ireland on Tuesday 10th February 2015.

At PCS we are continuing to give clear and consistent messages about the value and dangers of online activities. Educate yourselves and encourage your sons and daughters to empower themselves through knowledge of what to do if they come across bullying or inappropriate material.  We recommend Webwise as a very practical resource for parents and guardians who are concerned about their sons or daughter’s safety online. They have advice on AskFM, bullying online, inappropriate images, easy to follow videos on how to take screenshots and facts about all of the most popular apps and social networks.

Watch Your Space is a site specifically aimed at teenagers.  Safer Internet Day has a downloadable Family E-Safety Kit.

Ms Bunnett writes:

Bright and early this morning 2G set off for a leisurely stroll down to Portmarnock beach. We were focusing on coastal erosion and deposition which we have been learning about in lessons. We had beautiful conditions, the sun was shining, the wind was light and the temperature was up from the previous mornings! We carried out a number of investigations into wave frequency, wind strength and long shore drift- all in all a successful and fun morning.

Congratulations and well done to the members of the Young Social Innovators project “Global Citizens Mapping the Future”.  On Tuesday the 3^rd of February three representatives from the team; Anbu Sundar, Grace Mathew and Oliver Juchnevicius presented their project to a panel of judges at a Young Social Innovators Dragons Den sponsored by Vodafone. The team were awarded with €1000 in funding for their project and an invitation to an events management and marketing Social Innovation Camp in the Vodafone Headquarters in Dublin. Thanks to Ms Cronin and Mr Fitzgerald for coordinating the project.