All the news from Drumshanbo VS

European tour
A very special meeting with our MEP, Maria Walsh and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, was organsied for the group. It was such a pleasure to meet these two formidable MEPs and learn from them as part of our European Parliament Ambassador School Programme, especially as we celebrate 50 years membership of the EU. Our 5th Year student, Érin McCauley, presented the MEPs with gifts from Drumshanbo.

We would like to sincerely thank Róisín Abbott and Alison Mooney, ladies with ties to Roscommon and Leitrim, who are two wonderful Irish ambassadors in their own right, working in the European Parliament in Brussels.

After the European Parliament visit, the group went on a sightseeing tour of the city centre of Brussels. It was then onto Leuven for dinner.

The second day of the tour saw the group travel to Cologne, Germany. The students and teachers went to Aqualand for a few hours of water slides and fun. After the waterpark they visited Cologne Cathedral. This UNESCO site is host to the Shrine of the Three Kings.

The third day saw the students and teachers visit and explore Efteling Theme Park in Kaatsheuval, the Netherlands. The group returned for their final European dinner to Leuven.

The final day of the Border Hopping Tour saw the group head north to Ghent. This is a beautiful medieval city in Belgium. The students and staff had a very enjoyable and informative boat tour hearing about the history of Gent. The group got to enjoy one final shopping expedition in the magnificent city before their departure to the airport in Brussels.

A special word of thanks to Miss Conefrey, Mrs Cullen, Mr Guihen, Mr Smith and Miss Traynor and to the wonderful students who made the trip even more enjoyable.

ETB Day
The first week of March marked the 10 year anniversary of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board. The staff of Drumshanbo Vocational School had a staff tea party, on the 3rd March, to mark this momentous occasion.

Volleyball Under 20 - Ruairi Grier
We would like to congratulate to our Leaving Cert Student, Ruairi Grier (pictured below right) who had been chosen for the Volleyball Under 20 14-man panel, representing Ireland in the St. Patrick's Challenge with Northern Ireland. What an amazing achievement Ruairi! Maith thú! Ar fheabhas ar fad. Wishing you and the Ireland team the very best of luck. Go n-éirí an t-ádh libh go léir.

Hannah McPartland’s Entrance Exhibition Award
We would like to congratulate our former student Hannah McPartland, Leaving Cert class of 2022, on her Entrance Exhibition Award presented to her at a ceremony held in Trinity College last week.
This award, for new students at Trinity College, is based on results obtained in the Leaving Certificate examinations. Best wishes to Hannah from all at Drumshanbo Vocational School. Iontach ar fad.

Hannah McPartland.

Young Enterprise County Finals
On the 7th March, students and teachers from Drumshanbo Vocational School travelled to the Bush Hotel for the annual Young Enterprise County Finals. We had entries in all categories - Junior, Intermediate and Senior.

The hard work completed by the fantastic students over the last 5 months from the initial brainstorming of ideas, to making, marketing and selling their products/services was incredible.

It was no surprise that our school produced lots of winners on the day and we couldn’t have been more prouder of them all.

The winners were as follows:

Junior Winners –‘Grasper’- Alex O’Looney, Amy Keaveney and Freya Whitney
(1st Year)

Junior Winner of ‘My Entrepreneurial Journey’ - Alexandra O’Looney (1st Year)

Intermediate Runners Up – ‘RoRo & Co.’ - Róisín Grier and Róisín McCauley
(3rd Year)

Innovation Award – ‘YO Cards’ - Yurii Nadilnyi and Oleh Yurchencko (Transition Year)

Senior Winners – ‘Pocket Socks’ - Aoife McGovern, Clodagh Daly, Rosie McGreevy and Ruth McLoughlin (Transition Year)

Educator Award - Miss Feeney and Miss Traynor

The Junior and Senior winners from Drumshanbo Vocational School go through to represent Leitrim in the National Finals in Croke Park, on 5th May.

Congratulations to all the County Finalists and Winners, we are so proud of all your efforts. The next generation of Entrepreneurs.

We would like to extend a sincere thanks to Cáit Cullen for all the help given to Ms Traynor and Ms Fenney and to Sheena Cannon and Brian Dolan from Leitrim LEO for their continued support of our students.

World Maths Day
On the 9th March, the students and staff of DVS enjoyed some fun and interactive maths as part of World Maths Day 2023, in the Junior maths classes. The students got to see the subject in a different light competing with each other, as well as working as part of a team, in order to solve the tricky maths equations and games that were presented to them.
We would like to thank Ms Reynolds and the maths teachers for organising this exciting event.

St. Patrick’s NS visit
We had the pleasure in welcoming the 5th Class students from St Patrick’s N.S. in Drumshanbo, who joined our Transition Years in celebrating Engineers Week (4th – 10th March)
The students had great fun making metal keyrings. They showed their great patience filing and smoothing the edges and then drilling the holes. Nevertheless, the most enjoyable factor of the whole process was personalising their own keyrings to their taste. The students of St. Patrick’s N.S also got to see our 3D printer at work.
Thank you to Mr Mulvey, Mr Guihen, Ms Traynor, Ms McLoughlin and the 5th Class teachers for facilitating the visit. A special thank you to the Transition Year students who helped out with the 5th class visit. Maith sibh go léir!

Young Social Innovators
Part of the Transition Year Programme this year involves Young Social Innovators. YSI empowers young people to re-imagine the world as one that is more caring, equal and fair, coming together to bring their ideas to life.
In the run up to the Speak Out Tour in Sligo, our YSI students hosted a week of events, one of which seen the corridors and classrooms of Drumshanbo Vocational School glowing in the colour purple, as the groups hosted a ‘Wear Purple’ Day in support of Women’s Aid.

Thomas McKeon and Clodagh Daly
We, at Drumshanbo Vocational School, would like to congratulate and state how very proud we are of Thomas McKeon and Clodagh Daly who got distinctions in higher level Irish in the Junior Cert. They were presented an award in NUI Galway for their achievement.
All of your hard work really paid off. Congratulations to you both. Maith sibh.

Variety Concert
Drumshanbo Vocational School hosted their Variety Concert on Wednesday, 15th March.

This concert was an extension concert from one that was hosted in December, however with the harsh weather conditions in December an evening concert could not take place.

The school was filled with smiles and excitement as the students began rehearsing again for their big performances.

The theme of the Variety Concert was ‘Culture’ and the students did not fail to showcase the immense cultures that are present within the school and the talent they have.

We would like to thank Mr Shannon and all the teachers and students who helped bring this amazing performance to life. Without your dedication this concert would not have been such a success.

Thank you to Liam Cunningham and Batty Gibbons for your amazing assistance in the event, we are very grateful for all your help on the night.

We would also like to thank the following for their generosity towards the raffle that took place on the night:
Gala in Drumshanbo
The Shed Distillery in Drumshanbo
Jinny’s Tearooms at Acres in Drumshanbo
Centra in Drumshanbo
Electric Bike Trails Ltd in Leitrim Village
The Leitrim Inn & Blueway Lodge in Leitrim Village
Rinn Neimhe Beauty Salon Leitrim
Yvonne Traynor
La Belle Fleur Florist & Gift Shop in Drumshanbo
Top Oil Leitrim Village McCormack’s Mace in Leitrim Village.