April 2025
French Debating
Today marked Loreto Balbriggan’s first ever French debate. The motion was ‘It is good being a secondary school student in Ireland’. Congratulations to Cerys, Emma, Hayley and Emer, who were crowned as winners. Both teams presented strong arguments and spoke fluently, with confidence and flair. Félicitations à toutes!
March 2025
Enterprise
It has been a very successful week for our Mini Company students who were representing our school at both the Fingal Enterprise Awards and the Foroige NFTE competitions.
6 Mini Companies competed @leofingalsep with 4 companies scooping top prizes. This is a fantastic achievement considering over 1300 companies participated in the enterprise program.
Junior Winners – Rachel & Isla’s Self-Care (Rachel Dore & Isla Tanner, 1st year)
Junior 2nd Place – Magical Leprechaun Keys (Aimee Singleton, 1st year)
Intermediate 2nd Place-Jewely Cooliez (Jennifer Anna Lanigan O’Keeffe, 3rd year)
Senior 2nd Place – Sprout & Leaf, Hanna Dziuzanska, TY).
2 TY Mini Companies also came out on top at the @foroige NFTE competition. Both Ocean Jewel and ReFab have qualified for the All Ireland Semi-finals of the competition.
We wish all the winners the best of luck in the next round of their competitions. Entrepreneurial spirit is most definitely alive and well in Loreto Balbriggan.
Debating
Loreto Balbriggan had the pleasure of hosting the annual inter-Loreto debate competition on Friday, March 14th. We welcomed Loreto debaters and their teachers and supporters from Fermoy, Kilkenny, Swords, Foxrock, Beaufort and St. Stephen’s Green.
We had two junior teams participate in the competition; Eleanor O’Connor and Megan Mulrennan, and Cressida Maclene and Jennifer Anna Lanigan O’Keefe, all 2nd Year students in the school. Both teams did a fantastic job in the junior semi-final, so much so that all four students progressed to the junior final of the competition, facing off against Loreto Fermoy and Loreto Beaufort. In the end only one team could be deemed champions and that team was Loreto Balbriggan A with Eleanor and Megan winning the highly coveted trophy! Cressida and Jennifer Anna were given special mention as runner-ups by the adjudicators of the competition, with all the judges commenting on Loreto Balbriggan’s high standard of debaters.
Our two teams were supported by a number of junior students who followed the competition throughout the day and were impressed by the arguments and engagement of all debaters. The supporters are eagerly awaiting next year’s competition so that they can hopefully hold on to the trophy for a little bit longer. The competition would also not have run as smoothly as it did without the help of several 5th year students. These students welcomed the Loreto schools to Balbriggan and acted as capable timekeepers and chairpersons during both the semi-final and final. A big thank you to our supporters and helpers!
Overall it was a great day with interesting speeches and points made. Well done to all Loreto debate teams!
Should single-sex schools be banned? This was the deciding motion in the preliminary round of the junior inter-Loreto debate competition. Our 2 teams of 2nd years worked hard to argue convincing points for the proposition after previously debating whether boxing should be banned and regretting the rise of fast fashion. Both teams have now made it through to next week’s final with special mention to Jennifer Lanigan-O’Keefe who was awarded joint best speaker! Well done and best of luck for next Friday.
Congratulations to Aoibhinn and Deborah in 3rd Year for progressing to the quarter finals of the UCD Junior Schools Debate competition on Wednesday night!They successfully debated the motion that political parties are preferable to independent politicians and had great support from friends in 1st, 2nd and 3rd year. Judges commended them on their arguments, presence, and engagement with the motion.
February 2025
Orchestra
Congratulations to the talented group of young musicians from Loreto Balbriggan who performed at the National Concert Hall on Saturday 8th February 2025. They are all members of the Julianstown Youth Orchestra and took part in the 29th Festival of Youth Orchestras held at the NCH.
January 2025
Debating
Well done to Grace Allen who took part in the Soroptimist Girls’ Public Speaking competition over the weekend. Grace gave excellent speech on the topic of Prosperity and Health, helping to inspire many young girls through her courage.
Four of our English debaters took part in the first round of the Senior Inter-Loreto debate competition via Zoom. For 3 of them, it was their very first time debating—but you’d never know it from how confidently they presented their arguments!
Motions included implementing a 4 day school week, holding parents accountable for their children’s actions, and the rise of social media influencers. The debaters had a great time preparing their speeches and engaging in some friendly competition with the other Loreto schools.
Well done to Aishah, Francesca, Eiman and Holly for taking part.
December 2024
Díospóireacht
Comhghairdeas leis na cailíní atá ag glacadh páirte i nDíospóireacht an Phiarsaigh agus a chríochnaigh an dara díospóireacht inné. Táimid ag súil go mór leis na torthaí tar éis na Nollag agus an chéad díospóireacht eile! Congratulations to the girls participating in Díospóireacht an Phiarsaigh and who finished their second debate today. We’re really looking forward to the results and next debate after Christmas!
November 2024
Public Speaking
Surviving the teenage years and hopes & fears for the future were the 2 topics spoken about in Loreto Foxrock on Tuesday for the annual inter-Loreto Public Speaking Competition. Lucia in 3rd Year and Bushra in 6th Year represented Balbriggan incredibly well, writing powerful speeches in only 45 minutes once they received their topic. They showed great poise and creativity, impressing the judging panel with their ideas. Loreto Beaufort gained the trophy in both categories but we look forward to attempting to win it back at the next competition.
Scifest
Congratulations to our SciFest Finalists, Emmalise O’Boyle and Cara Mullen who received the SciFest STEM award AND The SciFest Life Sciences Award for their project that investigated the effect of microplastics on plant root growth and nutrient uptake! This is an incredible achievement, and is a testament to the quality of their work! They are among the top 62 students out of 15,000 students who entered SciFest this year! Well done to all involved.
