Coláiste Bríde

Coláiste Bríde is a secondary school located in Clondalkin, South Dublin, Ireland.

Coláiste Bríde was founded by the Presentation Sisters. It was established in 1955. ^[1] Coláiste Bríde is a Voluntary Catholic Secondary School for girls only, operating under the Trusteeship of CEIST (Catholic Education on Irish Schools). In 2005 the school received a great opportunity to have a new building that cost 10million euro. Built with the great help of head engineer Lawson Mealiffe, It has many facilities, including a canteen, gym, library, science labs, home ec kitchens, several IT labs, three state of the art equipped art rooms, a garden and lockers. The school also offers a night study option, where students in exam years can stay behind for supervised study.

In 2011 the school had a huge inspection from the government that lasted two weeks, and they received fantastic reviews. Each year the school creates a yearbook. It is a collection of activities and events that take place throughout the year, as well as pictures of each individual sixth year and each class in every year. It is made by the students in different years who make up the yearbook committee. They are run by a teacher elected each year. At the end of each year, each sixth year class makes and presents a symbol to their year, which represents their class when they leave the school. It is made by the students themselves, and put on display in the school after they leave.

In May 2011 TV presenter Lisa Cannon visited the school to give an inspirational speech to the sixth years and their parents. She told all who attended that evening that: 'This school is absolutely fantastic, I mean look at it! Beautiful.'

More recently the school hosted a number of prominent Irish personalities, including Niall Breslin (Bressie), Miriam O'Callaghan and the Former Governor of Mountjoy Prison, John Lonergan, who gave inspirational and motivational speeches to over 900 students.

Extra Curricular Activities

• Sports: Volleyball, Football, GAA, Camoige, Basketball, Badminton, Tennis, Table tennis
• Debating Clubs: Junior club is run by two senior students. The senior club is run by three members of staff.
• Music Lessons: Guitar, Violin, Piano
• Dance clubs: Hip hop dancing is taught by senior students and Irish dancing is taught by a member of staff.
• Language clubs: Irish speaking club and French speaking club
• Other clubs: Pair Reading, Photography Club, and Students workshops

Events

• Every year there is a Christmas Concert with acting, dancing, a Christmas debate and many other entertainment, including group performances by the teachers (singing, dancing, the Weakest Link) and music.
• W.O.W. (Walk On Wednesdays) is a current project by the schools Green Flag Committee to encourage students to walk to school to get another Green Flag. The student's journal is stamped upon arrival if they walked, and if a student receives 25 stamps then they will be rewarded. The school currently has 5 green flags thanks to the Green Flag Committee run by two teachers and several students including two perfects.
• Every year the school holds "DEAR" week, (Drop Everything And Read), which is an event to encourage reading for students. For an entire week, a specific time is scheduled for teachers to let the students read a book for that class. During this week, other events such as a pop up library and writing competitions are held, helped by the teachers and the prefects.
• Every second year there is a play played by students in Transition Year, that shows for 3 nights.
  • Grease (2009)
  • Fame (2010)
  • Hairspray (2015)
• The school also has a special week dedicated to mental health awareness. This week is called "Well Being Week" and has been extremely successful the past few years with activities such as dancing, yoga, tea parties and a concert at the end of the week with special guests, promoting mental health awareness.

References