Category: IRELAND, GREAT BRITAIN & MALTA

On Saturday, 21 st May 2016, the District Executive Mission Council for the District of Ireland, Great Britain, and Malta held its first meeting at the Provincialate in Oxford (GB).

Present at this meeting were Mr. Thomas O’Neill and Mr. Brain Haplin from the Mission Council of the Sector of Ireland; Mr. Michael Worthington and Mrs. Emma Biggins from the Formation for Mission Council of the Sector of GB; and Mrs. Mariella Vella from the Lasallian Educational Council from the Sector of Malta. Brother Laurence Hughes (Brother Visitor) and Mr. Joseph Gilson (Director of Formation for Mission) facilitated the meeting.

The Council was set up to support, promote, and strengthen the network of Lasallian educators and institutions in Ireland, Great Britain, and Malta, and to move the Lasallian Mission into the future with creative fidelity to its founding story.

The Council’s agenda for the meeting included reports on the status, developments, and plans for the Lasallian Educational Mission, and of Formation for Mission from the respective Sectors. The Council used these reports to pinpoint common threads and differences among Sectors. The group worked on the identification of areas for growth and resources to be utilised across the District. This exercise enabled the group to work on developing a District Formation Policy and listing upcoming District networking and formation projects.

In his closing remarks Br. Laurence thanked the council members for their hard work and dedication. He reminded the Council that their focus is the empowerment and animation of the Lasallian Family in the District in order to continue to be a sign of faith for society, education, and the Church.

Over a hundred students from eight De La Salle Schools in Ireland contributed to this religious art exhibition which was hosted in the Pastoral Centre, Castletown, Co Laois on 19 April.

The brainchild of Mr Tom O’Neill of De La Salle College Waterford, the exhibition took the form of a competition, under the title, WHO IS ST JOHN BAPTIST DE LA SALLE?

Entries were received from individual students, from groups and from schools and the choice of medium was left to the competitors themselves. The range of media included hand-written tracts, computer-generated wallcharts, poster-size sketches, cartoons, power-point materials, wood, clay, and even digital exhibits.

Among individual artists were Ashraf Ali from Waterford with his unique ‘app’ and Donnacha Hughes from Dundalk with his musical composition.  All participants received medals and certificates from the Auxiliary Visitor, Br Damien Kellegher. St Gerald’s, Castlebar was declared the overall winner.

Mr O’Neill, who chairs the De La Salle Mission in Ireland, hopes to conduct similar competitions in the years ahead.

 

Brother Finbarr Murphy

Athletes from four of the region’s schools for pupils with Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD) came together today for an afternoon of sporting competition at De La Salle Academy in Croxteth.

Organised by the Liverpool Schools Sports Partnership (LSSP), pupils from Elleray Park, Princes Primary, Redbridge and Stanley Special School competed against each other in Polybat and Table Cricket which are table tennis and cricket but specially adapted to meet the needs of the participants.

Sports Leaders from De La Salle Academy help organise the event as well as acting as referees and were always on hand to provide support to the athletes who competed in both singles and doubles matches.

LSSP’s Jess McNally explained why events for SLD pupils are essential to ensure all schoolchildren are given the same opportunity to represent their school, saying: “It is imperative we give children from SLD schools the chance to compete against each other – sport is for everybody.

“These events mean all children in Merseyside get to take part and enjoy the thrill of competition.We adapt sports like cricket and table tennis to ensure their needs are met and the feedback we get is always positive.”

www.educatemagazine.com

This year the Lasallian Animation team in DLS Dundalk were delighted to be joined by six 3rd year students who visited 2nd year classes and presented on “What it means to be Lasallian”. All of these boys received this presentation last year from one of the Lasallian Animation teams.

They volunteered to give the presentation themselves this year. This was Peer Mentoring at its best, boosting the self-confidence of our young leaders. They completed a series of very successful presentations with junior students.

Edel Nolan – Dundalk

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Ten of our  5^th year students  recently received their John Paul II Awards in the Basilica in Knock.  The Awards were presented by Archbishop Michael Neary. Our students were complimented on the work they did in their parish and in their helping those in need in our community.

Congratulations to Luke Ward, Cian Tighe, Enda Mulchrone, Matthew Flynn, Ciaran Goldrick, Barry Walsh, Mark Balaski, Thierry Baba, Hugh Gaffney and Ciaran Hanlon.

Niamh Loftus – Castelbar

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