Ethos
Fr. John O'Gara
Fr. John O'Gara joined our ethos team two years ago. Fr. John is a Marist priest who has worked in schools in both as a teacher and as Chaplain. He has spent 11 years working in schools in New Zealand and came to us after 18 years in parishes and schools in Hull and Sheffield, England. Fr. John will be working with both CUS and Chanel College, Coolock.
We look forward to working with Fr. John in the future and wish him well in CUS.
Grandparent's Day
The Junior School hosted a Grandparent's Day for the Grandparents of Preschool to First Class children on 6th May and for 2nd to 6th Classes on 13th May. We were delighted with number of grandparents who could attend. The event started with a short Prayer Service in the Oratory led by Fr. Daly. Following this, the Ember Team escorted parents and grandparents to the classrooms where the children were eagerly waiting to show their work, art and projects and their teachers had the opportunity to meet the visitors. After this everybody went to the canteen for refreshments and the children sang for their grandparents.
Both of these days were wonderful occasions and we were delighted to welcome such special family members of the children to our school.
The Ember Programme
Ember is a faith leadership programme for secondary schools coordinated by the Archdiocese of Dublin. The purpose of the programme is to equip a group of senior students with the leadership skills to support them as mentors, role-models and faith leaders to junior students.
A team of eight 5th Year CUS students participated in the 2014 - 15 programme along with teams from six other Dublin schools. They attended a three day training programme in Ovoca Manor, Wicklow in September 2014.
Ember Team 2015 - 16
Back row L-R: Jack Scully, Conor Balfe, Aaron Ralph, Cathal O'Mahoney, Mark Dent
Front row L-R: Callum Gillespie, Sam Kelly, Tom Gubbins
During the year, in addition to working with the 1st Years in the secondary school, the Ember Team worked as Faith Friends with the 1st Communion and Confirmation classes in the Junior School helping them to prepare for the sacraments. They attended the Service of Light, Service of Commitment, First Penance, First Communion and Confirmation services.
A bond was formed between the younger children and the Ember Team and the children greatly looked forward to the older boys coming to their classes each week. As 6th Class move into the Senior School in September they will have eight friendly and familiar faces among the Seniors.
The new Ember Team has been selected for 2017 - 18 and will undertake the training programme from 6th - 8th June to be ready to begin working with 2nd and 6th Class in September.
First Communions
Our First Communions took place on 13th May this year. We had a class of 16 boys who, under the care of their teacher, Ms Sophie Moorhead, were extremely well prepared for this important and special occasion. The ceremony was held in University Church with Fr. Daly as celebrant. The boys looked very smart in their school blazers and each boy had a role in the ceremony. The church was full as each boy's family and many extended family members attended The Peter Chanel Choir sang for the occasion and added a special element to the service. The Ember Team Faith Friends were present and accompanied the boys in the Offertory Procession. Afterwards everyone enjoyed refreshments back in the school before moving on to their own family celebrations. Congratulations to each of the boys and we hope you had a wonderful day.