Mayfield

LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMME

The Aware Life Skills Programme (LSP) has been developed by Dr. Chris Williams. Dr. Williams is a Professor of Psychiatry and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at the University of Glasgow and is a recognised expert in the area

CBT focuses on thinking and behaviour. When a person is dealing with very stressful issues or beginning to develop symptoms of depression they are more vulnerable to filtering out positive experiences and focusing on unhelpful thoughts. This negative bias informs a person’s behaviour and can start to influence their decision making process at school, at home, or in relationships

The principles of CBT illustrate interesting examples of common ‘ways we think’ and explores if ‘how we are thinking’ is helpful or not and if there is sufficient evidence to support our thoughts. It questions if we have, over time, mistaken our ‘thoughts’ for fact. This approach challenges habitual behaviour influenced by negative thoughts. The CBT approach can help us to make small, practical changes in areas of our life that we find difficult. Taking these small actions can improve our mood and also reduce some of the symptoms associated with depression, stress or anxiety.

There is excellent evidence that CBT works for the treatment of anxiety and mild to moderate depression and many previous participants of AWARE’s Life Skills course have found it to be hugely beneficial to them.

The Life Skills Programme is not individual therapy: it is a group programme which allows participants to learn some of the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and apply them to their own life.

Some of our students with Dee Lynch, from Aware

Dee Lynch presenting to the group

Some of the ideas behind the Lifeskills Programme

As part of the Simon Community’s “Christmas Jumper Day” many of our students came in to school wearing their brightest and best Christmas Jumpers.

All students who wore their jumpers donated €1 to Cork Simon Community.  Those who didn’t have their jumper on the day were able to enter the Christmas spirit by donating what they could. All of those who contributed were entered in a draw for a selection box – and there was also a prize for the best dressed Student!

The event created a great atmosphere, with the added bonus that the money raised is going to such a good cause.

Well done to all our students who raised €233.60

Natasha Cronin presenting Kerry Mac Mahon of Cork Simon with our cheque

Kerry Mac Mahon with Natasha Cronin, Ms. O’Sullivan and Mr. Kieran Golden

Some of our students who got their Jumpers on

First years enjoying the event!

Keith Kelleher, our best dressed Christmas Jumper wearer

Commenting on the development Principal of Mayfield Community School Kieran Golden said “This is a truly fantastic opportunity for students interested in playing rugby to develop their skills whilst giving more experienced players the opportunity of showcasing their ability to coaches from Munster Rugby. Numbers at training have been increasing every week and it is hoped that we will be ready to field our first team in competitive action in an under 15 rugby blitz before Christmas.”

Mayfield Community School which has had huge success on the soccer and GAA world down the years is hosting the training sessions on its purpose built sports complex and is not the first Cork school to try its hand at different sporting codes in recent years.

In concluding remarks Mr. Golden said “Sport is vital to a healthy balance in life, and students who participate in sport can typically do better academically. Our students are sports crazy and have always showed this with their successes on the sporting field throughout the year. We are naturally delighted to now be partnering with Munster to ensure that young people in the Mayfield and surrounding areas can mix playing rugby with their studies in a local school setting”

Pictured: Alan O’Keeffe and James Morrissey

This year’s scholarship winners are Fionn Power, Marina Birioukova, Alicia O’Neill and Derek Morrissey.

Speaking ahead of the awards, principal Mr. Kieran Golden said “we are delighted to be in a unique position to be able to offer these scholarships to our incoming students again this year. Mayfield Community School has a culture of encouraging our students to maximise their academic potential and the awarding of the Maytrust Scholarship recognises the hard work and commitment they give to their studies. Previous students to have benefited from this scholarship have progressed onto a variety of colleges such as UCC and CIT so it proves that the sky is the limit for anybody who puts the work in” he concluded.

Newly appointed deputy principal, Ms. Karen Casey said “we are very proud of our 2015 Maytrust Scholarship recipients and I  would encourage any current sixth class primary school  student who is enrolled in Mayfield Community School next year  to apply for the Maytrust Scholarship in 2016.

Pictured, from Left to Right:

Deputy principal Ms Karen Casey, Marina Birioukova, Fionn Power, Alicia O’Neill, Derek Morrissey and principal Mr Kieran Golden

I first attended the Gradam awards 10 years ago and was simply blown away by what was happening.  Here we were, gathered as a community, celebrating the best of what our Students had to offer.

Students received recognition for their work in a number ofareas.

Of course, no night like this is complete without a few speeches!

• Mr. Kieran Golden, our new Principal, spoke about the values of our school.  How we focus on three things:
  • Student learning – everyone should learn something every day
  • Student Achievement – we celebrate what our students do well, both inside and outside of school
  • Student Well-being – we look after each other
• Ms. Deirdre Creedon spoke about how students can go onto achieve great things, and how it is so good to be able to look back on our achievements and be able to say ‘I did a good job’
• Mr. Paul O’Leary (the Chair of our Board of Management) spoke again about the values of our school, and how it is a place that parents can trust their children to be safe, and to thrive.

This has been my 10th time attending Gradam.  I’m still blown away by it, and delighted that we get this chance every year to celebrate the best of what our students have to offer.