We have two guidance counsellors
Ms Diver
Mr O'Toole
Both Ms Diver and Mr O'Toole advise our students on career options, well-being, mental health and provide supports to students.
Mr O'Toole and Ms Diver are part of our Student Support Team. Any student who would like to contact either of them regarding supports can do so through their school email.
Please click here to see our Whole School Guidance Plan
Metanoia & Mindfulness 365 (September 2022)
Are you Confused? Self-conscious?, Sad?, Angry?, Grieving?, Stuck?, or simply just Lost as a result of missing out on two vital years of your life since March 2020? Don’t worry you’re not alone. Many of us both young and old are experiencing self-doubt and uncertainty since the Covid-19 pandemic. There seems to be an increase in the amount of people experiencing grief, loss, sickness, economic uncertainty and feelings of isolation. Wearing the facemask, for example, has created a new anxiety where so many feel they have lost their voice, experience doubt, have high anxiety and uncertainty about the future, and of course now that they’re no longer mandatory, whether we should continue to wear them even though the majority don't anymore. This is a confusing time for us all.
Each and everyone of us in the Loreto community have experienced grief and lost somebody, whether that be family members, neighbours, teachers, friends, pets or somebody in our community since the world went into lockdown 2 years ago. Most people have also experienced loss at some stage, perhaps this was a lost opportunity to go on a school trip or a family holiday. But nobody is talking about the everyday moments you missed out on, such as; meeting new friends in school or meeting up with friends outside of school at the weekend, moving from classroom to classroom during the day, owning and taking responsibility for a locker, laughing, dancing, hugging, sharing a pen, playing sports, Etc. and these feelings of loss can lead to emotions like anger, sadness, confusion and frustration. It is important for you to know that these feelings are valid and you are not alone. This is where Metanoia & Mindfulness 365 comes in to help you understand them.
Metanoia comes from ancient Greek meaning ‘change of mind and change of heart’ in a positive way. Many people use the word to inspire them with the renewed belief that God is there guiding and supporting each of us on the journey of life. This post-pandemic support group will make use of scripture, mindfulness and meditation, and we will focus on the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit to help us deal with the grief, loss and trauma suffered both during and as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic. We can strive to be reflective, supportive and encouraging to each other, while learning new coping skills that can be used and applied to our lives 365 days per year.
All members of each faith, worldview and none are welcome to come and join this support group as Metanoia is a message of hope and that is you don’t need to be alone. We will use the elements of The Holy Spirit such as; love, joy, peace, patience, generosity and kindness to find our inner strength while we meet and learn from each other as we talk about our feelings of grief and loss.
Mindfulness Course for Students & Parents
Mindfulness exercises and techniques are a good way of dealing with stress and anxiety - feelings we can all experience in our daily life.
Click on the sessions below to engage with each one. Session 4,5, and 6 will be added shortly.
Session 1 Mindfulness Awareness
Session 2 Mindfulness Practice
Session 3 Mindfulness - Dealing with thoughts
Session 4 Mindfulness - Stress & Resilience
Session 5 Mindfulness - Mental & Emotional Well-being
Session 6 Mindfulness - Communication & Compassion
If you have any questions or need additional support, do not hesitate to contact Mr O'Toole via the school email and we can explore options including phone support, google meet, or a combination of supports.
Guidance-related learning websites
Revise.ie has launched free classes for Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate. For further information please visit: https://www.revise.ie/free-online-classes/
www.Qualifax.ie education, training and career information
www.Careersportal.ie education, training and career information, REACH+ programme
www.CAO.ie The CAO have opened a dedicated page with FAQ to support applicants http://www.cao.ie/index.php?page=faqcovid19 and also offer an email service for any query
Access collegehttps://accesscollege.ie (DARE and HEAR applications)
Student Universal Support Ireland [SUSI] grant applications www.susi.ie
NCGEwww.ncge.ie
Individual colleges and Higher Education Institutions are providing applicants with online support and advice including helplines and 1:1 support. See websites for more information.
General learning resources:
Scoilnethttps://www.scoilnet.ie/
Beyond the Classroom. The PDST Primary PE team will release new videos and activities each week for pupils to practice their fundamental movement skills at home. https://www.scoilnet.ie/go-to-post-primary/maths/PDSTdaily/https://www.scoilnet.ie/go-to-post-primary/maths/PDSTdaily/
Daily Maths. The PDST Maths team is uploading daily resource banks for Post-Primary students. A different maths topic is covered each day during the school closure period https://packs.eb.co.uk/sciencehttps://packs.eb.co.uk/science
Britannica LaunchPacks. Britannica has kindly offered FREE access to their Science and Humanities LaunchPacks. Access is available to all Scoilnet users during the school closure period.
World Book online. All students in the Republic of Ireland have open and free home access to World Book Online. World Book is a trusted encyclopedia containing thousands of informational articles with stunning illustrations, videos, interactive maps, research help, and activities. During the duration of school closures, World Book Online has kindly made available a collection of all their eBooks. There are about 700 proprietary World Book titles for ages 4-18 and over 2,500 Project Gutenberg titles.
State Examinationshttps://www.examinations.ie/
PDST Distance Learninghttps://www.pdst.ie/DistanceLearning
Home Tuitionhttps://www.education.ie/en/Parents/Services/Home-Tuition/covid-19-arrangements-for-continuation-of-home-tuition-by-distance-learning-for-the-duration-of-the-pandemic-emergency.pdf
Frequently Asked Questions re CAO
The CAO Change of Mind facility will operate as usual, opening on the 5th May at noon and closing on the 1st July at 17:15.
I will continue to send out up–to-date information to your daughter regarding careers, colleges, universities and PLC courses via their school email. As you can appreciate the landscape is changing constantly and it’s important for your daughter to keep up to speed with these changes.
Frequently asked questions relating to COVID-19 and the CAO.
I have made a late application and I need to submit supporting documents, what should I do?
Applicants who are required to supply documentation to support their application are asked to wait until the restrictions are lifted before posting such documents. Documents sent in recent days will be processed when the CAO office re-opens. Documents already in the postal system will be delivered to the office when the restrictions are lifted.
I sent my documents to you just before the government restrictions were announced - do I need to re-send them?
Documents sent in recent days will be processed when the CAO office re-opens. Documents already in the postal system will be delivered to the office when the restrictions are lifted.
When will Round One offers be issued now that the Leaving Certificate has been postponed?
Over the coming weeks, CAO will hold discussions with the State Examinations Commission about the expected revised timeline for the provision of Leaving Certificate examination results. Following on from this, CAO and HEIs will discuss the impact this change will have on the existing offers and acceptances schedule. We will be notifying applicants and other stakeholders as soon as a revised schedule has been agreed by CAO and HEIs.
Contacting CAO
If you have an urgent query or an account access issue please email CAO via the Correspondence Section of your CAO Account (or the Contact section of the website). Please remain patient and allow their remote access team sufficient time to deal with your request. Make sure to include as much information as possible to assist them in handling your query. There is no telephone service available at this time.
Postal correspondence should not be sent to the CAO office at this time. Applicants who are required to supply documentation to support their application are asked to wait until the restrictions are lifted before posting such documents. Documents sent in recent days will be processed when the CAO office re-opens. Documents already in the postal system will be delivered to the office when the restrictions are lifted.
Online late applications are still being accepted up to 1st May at 17:15. To make a late application to www.cao.ie click on `Apply`.
HPAT-Ireland results will not be released until the Leaving Certificate examinations are complete. We anticipate that results will be released around August, and will notify all affected candidates of the exact date once this is confirmed.https://hpat-ireland.acer.org/
Important websites for sixth year students www.cao.iewww.dare.iewww.hare.iewww.ucas.iewww.euincas.com
Supporting websites: www.careesireland.net, www.careersportal.iewww.qualifax.ie
Thursday 21st May 2020
Please click here to view a document with important information on the following topics for Leaving Cert Students and their parents:
Career_Guidance_Information_of_LC_students_and_Parents
- Calculated grades
- Transition form Post Primary to Third Level
- CAO
- Appeals process
- SUSI Grants
- Apprenticeships
- UCAS
- Applications to Europe/USA
- HPAT
- Applying for jobs
- Wellbeing