Tuesday 5th February is Safer Internet day. Take time this week to visit webwise and find tips on the safe use of the Internet. Tips are available for parents, students and teachers.

Well done to Eimear Heffernan, a Sixth Year student, who has won a free four day trip to Strasbourg on The Graduate online civic awareness competition. Eimear, accompanied by twenty four other students from around Ireland, will spend the full day at the European Parliament where she will take part in Euroscola which is a youth parliament and will involve them taking part in discussions on a number of preselected topics about the EU with students from other member states. Sponsored by the Southern & Eastern Regional Assembly, Eimear will also be taken to other places of educational interest while on the tour.

Over one hundred and fifty Music students from Presentation College visited the Omniplex Cinema in Carlow for a special showing of ‘Les Miserables’ on Wednesday 23^rd January. Organised by Music teacher, Ms. Lyons, and accompanied by other teachers, the students enjoyed the two and a half hour musical spectacular. Meanwhile, senior English students experienced an alternative version of Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ when ‘Boil In The Bag Productions’ performed in the school library and some Third Year students enjoyed a performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in Dublin’s Helix Theatre on Friday 18^th January. All in all, a busy week of cultural activity in Presentation College!

Leaving Certificate and Junior Certificate students continue their preparartions for their Mock Exams later this month. We wish them well as they revise. Timetables are available below.

All Transition Year students visited this year’s BT Young Scientist exhibition in the RDS, Dublin on Thursday, 10^th January. Accompanied by Science teachers Mr. Moran, Ms. Dunne and Ms. O’Connor, the students enjoyed almost 550 student-based projects and four exhibition halls filled with exciting and innovative science and technology based exhibits and entertainment.

Staff and students celebrated the end of the first term with a very seasonal and festive Carol Service on Friday, 21st December before heading off for the Christmas Holidays.

Transition Year students depart early Thursday morning for their annual Christmas trip to Dundrum on Ice, followed by the now much anticipated trip to Jedward and the Magic Lamp. Starring past-pupil David Doyle and current pupils from Spotlight Stage school in Carlow this promises to be a fun filled day at the end of a very busy term!

The Senior Boys Football team's South Leinster Colleges campaign came to an end when they were beaten in a highly competitive match by Colaiste Eoin, Hacketstown in Hacketstown on a scoreline of 3-7 to 2-4.

All Third Year students sat their Differential Aptitude Tests on Monday 17^th December. Designed to assist students in making a choice of career, the DATs test students in verbal, numerical and abstract reasoning, perception, speed and accuracy, mechanical reasoning, space relations, spelling and language usage. DATs, however, do not take into consideration all intelligences - interpersonal, intrapersonal, social, artistic, musical or kinaesthetic.

A special word of thanks to all the local businesses who helped with providing work placements for our Transition Year students. All forty eight students spent the week beginning Monday 10^th December out on work experience. This was a break from their school mini company ventures where students have been involved in varied entrepreneurial activities from baking gingerbreadmen and chocolate balls to customising guitar picks.