O Fiaich College students get Wellread Award
STUDENTS from Ó Fiaich College were presented with their Wellread Award in City West Hotel and Convention Centre recently. Accompanied by their teachers Ms. Everitt and Ms. Rennick, they joined students from twenty other schools from around country at this prestigious award ceremony hosted by the Profession Development Service for Teachers.
The ceremony began with an exhibition of all the Wellread portfolios from successful schools this year- during which Ó Fiaich College received a lot of attention and positive feedback from the awarding body and other schools alike. Following the exhibition, there was an opening address and a reading of a selection of the winning poems by students who were successful in the PDST’s annual Write A Poem Competition. Ó Fiaich College students and teachers alike were astounded by the talented young poets’ work. After the poetry awards were bestowed, it was time for the Wellread Schools to receive their awards. Ó Fiaich College students were delighted to receive this award.
Ó Fiaich College succeeded in their cam- paign for this award through a number of initiatives centred on the promotion of reading. The Wellread national award aims at fostering and nurturing a reading culture in schools and bringing about an overall improvement in students’ literacy skills in a fun and engaging way.
Among the activities which took place in O’Fiaich last year were a teacher swap box for books, themed displays in tge newly refurbished library, a Book in the Bag campaign, a visit to Dunalk library, parents swap box at parent teacher meetings, a week devoted to reading in school, staff Buns n’Books morning, constant updates of the library collection, a Christmas tree of books, World Book Day celebration, students made and hung little libraries and a reading challenge with a local primary school. This year, they aim to build on theuir success by continuing to promote reading throughout they school community. The school has already enjoyed another delivery of updated titles in the library, a visit from award winning Irish author Kevin Mc Dermott and an interview on Dundalk FM to share their success and inspire others.