Ms. Reynolds gave the opening address to the whole school on Monday, 11th November for Arts Week 2013. Ms. Reynolds also introduced Alan Gibbons, author and the keynote speaker for Arts Week 2013.
Ms. Reynolds gave the opening address to the whole school on Monday, 11th November for Arts Week 2013. Ms. Reynolds also introduced Alan Gibbons, author and the keynote speaker for Arts Week 2013. This is the speech in its entirety.
"Good morning everyone and welcome to the opening of Arts Week 2013. We have an exciting and broad ranging arts week planned for you. You'll be in the fortunate position to meet with a selection of artists: from writers, to rap artists, to poets and dramatists and to visit our national museums that celebrate Art, History and Classics.
Why have an arts week? Is it celebrated nationally, like Maths week and Science Week just passed? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Hopefully soon, our government will recognise the value of Art in society but in the mean time we are in the privileged position of holding our own Arts Week because here at Stratford College we value the Arts and the benefits it brings to our students.
What is the value of Art in our society? Sophocles provided a rather coherent response, 'Whoever neglects the arts when he is young has lost the past and is dead to the future.' Not only does Art bring beauty into our world but it can transport us to a different time and place and provide us with a mutual understanding of people from different cultures, backgrounds and languages. I hope this week will encourage your self-expression and enrich your awareness of current Irish and international artists.
This morning I am delighted to welcome our key note speaker, the multiple award winning teenage writer, Alan Gibbons, to Stratford College. Most notably he's won the Blue Peter Award and he has been short-listed for the Book Trust Teenage Prize and the Carnegie Medal. Last May in the National Library of Ireland, I had the pleasure of listening to Alan speak very engagingly about literacy in education. I immediately thought he would be a wonderful addition to our Arts Week and I was thrilled when he accepted our invitation.
As a part of his work on literacy Alan is a very strong advocate for retaining the local library in Britain. In 2011, he launched a new initiative calling for a National Libraries Day to celebrate reading for pleasure and to reinstate the centrality of the local library in our communities.
Please give a warm welcome to Alan Gibbons for this writer, poet and educationalist who has flown in from England to be with us this morning."
In the run up to the state exams, Stratford's Wellbeing Team draws your attention to the suite of resources on gov.ie under the heading of Wellbeing support for Exam Students, Parents and School Staff.
As is tradition at this time of year, the annual rounders game took place between our outgoing 6th Years and Teachers. Despite great efforts by our 6th years and some fabulous play, Teachers came out victorious. Fair play to all who played in this game.
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Congratulations to our prize winners at our end of year assembly. Awards including attendance, student of the year and the Principal's Junior & Senior student award for this academic year.
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