St. Mary's College - Student Council

About 8 years ago it was decided to set up a Student Council in St. Mary's College. A steering committee was chosen by the students and this group, along with two teachers, worked for almost a year drawing up a constitution. A number of questionnaires were undertaken to find out the students' opinions about representation and the issues which they felt students should have an imput into. Finally, the constitution went to the Staff and Board of Management for ratification and the following September the Council began work. There were representatives from 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th years on the Council. The Head Girl and Deputy Head Girl were also members. Members of the Council undertook to liaise with 1st and 2nd years. We were able to avail of the training which was organised by Brother Columba for the de la Salle schools.

One of the early items on the agenda was changing the school uniform. Again, there was extensive consultation among the students, and parents, staff and Board of Management members were also involved and a new uniform was adopted. In recent years the Council has been consulted on the Code of Behaviour and on the drawing up of a School Policy in relation to bullying. Also, 1st and 2nd years are now represented. Having a Students' Council is very worthwhile. It gives the students a voice in matters which affect them and is a valuable exercise in democracy.

Student Council 2009-2010

Head Girl/Chairperson	Aoife Rice
Deputy Head Girl/Vice Chairperson	Cliodhna Mc Sweeney
6th Year Representatives
PRO	Nadine Hennessy
PRO	Sadhbh Higgins
Secretary	Sinead Keohane
PRO	Alison Prendergast
Treasurer	Sarah Redmond
5th Year Representatives
	Sinead Cullen :Sinead Cullen:Lauren O'Grady
Secretary	Cara Gill
PRO	Lana McDonald
4th Year Representatives
	Amy Dowling : Molly Redmond:
Treasurer	Evie Sammon
3rd Year Representatives
	Emma Keevans : Clara Laming :Laura Sheehan
2nd Year Representatives	Sydney Harper : Cheyenne Russell

The Student Council attended a training session in St. Mary's recently. This was to give them an opportunity to get to know each other and to learn about how to run their council effectively. At present the Council are awaiting applications for forthcoming rag days. Once these have been received, the Student Council will be able to allocate rag days to their chosen charities. The photos below show students from the Council hard at work deciding on what differences thay would like to make to St. Mary's in the coming year.

Student Council Training Day 2009

Since September, the Student Council has been meeting fortnightly to discuss various issues. They have introduced a 'Student Travelcard' which allows pupils to avail of discounts in travel and retail stores nationwide.

Another successful Christmas week, full of festivities, was organised in December. Events included the 'Decorate a room competition', a rag day and the annual candy cane deliveries. The winners of the 'Decorate a room' were 6J in the Senior category and 2S in the junior category. Both classes will be treated to a Pizza lunch. Over €1,900 was raised as a result of the week's activities and all proceeds went to St. Vincent de Paul.

The Student Council received numerous Rag day applications this year and the six chosed charities are 1 to 1, Irish Guide Dogs Association, Autistic/Special needs Unit, Cancer Research, Amnesty International and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

An emergency Rag Day was held on January 22nd for victims of the Haiti earthquake. Over €2,900 was raised and the Student Council would like to thank all those who contributed to this worthy cause. The money was donated to the charity called 'our brothers and sisters' which specialises in dealing with the children of the tragedy.

Over the past weeks the Council have been busy organising the Annual Talent Show. Acts from the three secondary schools competed for a first prize of €200. A mixture of bands, singing, dance and gymnastics entertained all on the night of the Final. Tension was high when the results were announced by Mr. John Ford, chairperson of the judges.

The results were, in Third place Maria, 'the Boys' from Pipers Hill with their dance routine were in 2nd place and the winner, singing her own composition was Amy O' Kelly (6th year) from St. Mary's. All proceeds from the night go to Nás na Ríogh Housing Association.