Ethos Statement

In fulfilling its mission the school nurtures and affirms the uniqueness and full development of each individual.  It promotes the
personal and emotional development of students, staff and management in a caring and respectful environment.  The
school ethos respects the dignity of each person by listening to their views and encouraging them to question and search
for meaning.Mindful of our role in the education of young people the school endeavours to provide a learning and teaching
environment that encourages students to give due importance to their studies and promotes educational excellence.  Day
to day classroom workis enhanced by field studies, projects and scheduled professional direction on study methods and
examination techniques. The ethos seeks also to awaken spirituality in all members of the school community. It strives to
establish the school as a witness to the reign of God and the gospel values and will nurture the Christian faith through RE
classes, annual retreats and through providing opportunities for spiritual engagement (prayer services, prayer opportunities)
while at the same time demonstrating a spirit of tolerance of the religious beliefs of others, facilitating them in whatever way
possible in the practices of their own faiths. In living the ethos the school will raise awareness, develop a concern and support
for the vulnerable and disadvantaged in society.It will promote an awareness of justice and equality and establish a positive
attitude towards the social inclusion of minority groups in a multi-cultural society. It will attempt to develop a community which
facilitates the development of a spirit of service and care in which parents, guardians, educators and young people work
together for the good of the school, the community and the environment. Heywood Community School recognises the
importance of cultural and extra curricular activities for all.  This incorporates respect for ournational language, our heritage,
our sporting, artistic and musical interests, and our sense of national community and school pride.   A cultural and extra
curricular programme is offered, and all students are encouraged to participate.

LITERACY & NUMERACY SURVEY

First year students, please click on the link here to complete the students survey on numeracy, as directed by your teacher.

The results of this survey will be used to develop a new numeracy plan for the school. Thank you.

YOUNG SCIENTIST PARENT SURVEY

Parents please click on the link here to complete the online survey about PE for one of our Young Scientist participants this year. Thank you.

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Leaving Certificate Class 2013

School Events 2015-2016

Winners of Laois Heritage History Project

The competition was organised by Laois Education Centre and was open to all schools in Laois and Offaly. It was held in Laois Education Centre in Portlaoise on the 3rd of December. The winning entry was entitled The Heywood Estate and comprised of a 3D model of Heywood House, a timeline and photographs of Heywood House and gardens, a PowerPoint presentation and a collage of the Heywood gardens.

The students involved were Chieu Phelan, Jessica Barrett, Jessicca Donegan, Sarah Mc Mahon, Florianna Mezzapelle, Orla Joyce, Roisín Hyland, Shona Phelan, Dean Gorman and Luke Dowdall.

Teacher; Ms. Elizabeth Kinahan

School Events 2014 -2015

ART

U-16 Boys and Cadet Girls win Midlands Basketball Final November 2014

Credit Union of Ireland Art Competition success for Heywood Community School

Ballyraggett Credit Union Winners:Katie Delaney 3rd place (14-17yrs) , Sean Delaney 1st place (Special 14-17 yrs), Sheila Kenny (2nd place 14-17yrs), Fiona Byrne 3rd place (11 - 13yrs)

Heywood Student wins award at French Debate

Debating in English is tough enough but when you have to make arguments, examples, rebuttals and refuting through another language it takes on a greater challenge. But rising to the challenge were the French debating team of Heywood Community School in a debating competition run by the Alliance Francaise in Dublin. The team under the direction of teacher Ms Olive Guest spoke eloquently and convincingly but did not win on the night. However student Jessie Connell from Durrow did win the Best Speaker Award on the night. She was presented with this award by Pat Cox (former President of the European Parliament) in the National Library on 29^th April. The level of debate and the eloquence and fluency of the participants were commented on by the French Ambassador Ms Emmanuelle d’Achon who was present on the night also.

Pictured are the Heywood Community School French Debating Team, from left teacher Ms Olive Guest, Annie Walsh, French Ambassador Ms Emmanuelle d’Achon, Jessie Connell (Best Speaker), Jennifer Brereton and Kate Bell.

Junior Certificate 2013

Heywood students who did exceptionally well in the Junior Certificate: From left: Diarmuid McGowan (Ballyroan) who got 8As and 3Bs, Jack O’Hara (Abbeyleix) who got 9As and 2Bs and Ella Barrett (Abbeyleix) who got 10As and 1B in the Junior Cert. The entire group did very well and these three were among the top performers. Well done to all

November 2013

Heywood Community School Choir perform in Leinster High Achievers Award Concert

It was a proud moment for Heywood Community School Choir as they performed in the High Achiever Awards Leinster Concert in Mullingar on Sunday November 10^th.  The Choir had got there due to their outstanding performance in the Leinster Exams of the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Some 42,000 individual acts had entered the competitions this year and from that 16 acts were selected for the High Achievers Concert. Heywood had achieved an impressive score of 92 and a distinction in the competition and examination in Dublin. This meant they were a Silver Standard Choir of notable achievement. Then they were called to a further audition for High Achievers in the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin and from this were selected to appear in the Mullingar event. Following their performance they were awarded medals to record their achievement. The choir performed the Chattanooga Choo Choo song written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon and popularised of course by the great Glen Miller. This arrangement was by Peter Scmutte and piano accompaniment was by Catherine Hyland with the choir directed and conducted by their inspirational conductor Geraldine Ryan.

Heywood Choirs perform well in Kilkenny Music Festival

The Senior Choir at Heywood Community School are not long on the road but they are going from strength to strength. They recently competed in the Kilkenny Music Festival and got second place in the Ann P. Smithwick Cup for Senior Choirs. The choir performed Chattanooga Choo Choo with great aplomb.

In his adjudication, Dr. Albert Bradshaw said the choir’s performance had panache and that they had sung with enthusiasm and communicated well with their audience.

The choir were conducted by the school’s Deputy Principal Ms Geraldine Ryan and were accompanied by Mr. Martin O’Reilly.

Also the Heywood Community School Junior Choir competed in the Club House Hotel Shield at Kilkenny Music Festival for Post-Primary Unison Choirs under 14 years and  scored an impressive 87 out of 100 also achieving second place.

They were conducted by Ms Lynn Brophy, and entered their first competition since forming in January during the Kilkenny Music Festival.   Despite tough competition they were absolutely thrilled to come home with second prize with their performance of Peter Jenkyns’ The Tiger. In his feedback to the choir, adjudicator, Dr Albert H. Bradshaw commented on the choirs “sweet sound with lovely awareness of dynamics”.  He also drew attention to their crisp diction “words were clear and phrasing well-articulated”.   Dr Bradshaw awarded the choir a score of 87 out of 100, just one mark away from the first place winners.

Choir Members:

2^nd Years: Grainne Ni Chinneide, Eva Wullich, Niamh Clancy, Ava Lalor, Julianne Dunphy, Cliona Power, Caoimhe McCartney, Sheila Kenny, Kathryn Shiel

1^st years: Darragh Watters, David Vesey, David McEvoy, David Bell, Eoghan Murphy, Anna Napolitano, Lisa McWey, Emilie McWey, Emily Mulhall, Dearbhla Kelly, Eimear Malone, Niamh Simms, Rachel Fitzpatrick, Katlyn O’Dea, Orla Kelly, Joanne Mulhall, Eve Hegarty, Sarah Jacob, Nicole Guinan, Caoimhe Earls, Kate Campion

Conductor: Ms Lynn Brophy

Junior Choir

Senior Choir

Success at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition 2014

Two of the three projects qualifying this year from County Laois were from Heywood Community School! Ella Barrett was very successful with her entry entitled "An analysis of the effectiveness of using iPad applications in the teaching of Mathematics" picking up two awards. We are also very proud of our two first year students Caoimhe O Keefe and Ruth Bergin who won the hearts of the crowd at the exhibition.

Pictured (above) at the BT Young Scientist exhibition 2014 are Fiona O Donoghue, Micheál Martin (leader of Fianna Fáil) and Ella Barrett.

One of our Young Scientist projects from last year entitled  "The importance of protecting Irish Wetlands".