Hope Foundation trip to India by Newport students

On January 25, Transition Year students Jack Creagh, Ronan Fitzpatrick, Eva Skehan, Erin Burke, Ava Jones, Aoibhinn McNamara, Emily Sweeney O’Halloran, Emily O’Brian, Cliodhna Lenihan and Flora Koves accompanied by their teacher Ms Michelle Flannery, travelled to Kolkata, India with the Hope Foundation Immersion Programme to experience a cultural and educational tour. Throughout the year the students each raised €2,500 by means of various events such as table quizzes, bake sales, concerts, online donations, selling Hope chocolate bars, bag packing and car boot sales. In total over €25,000 was raised for the Hope Foundation.

During the six days they spent in Kolkata they had the opportunity to visit multiple Hope projects such as the residential homes, schools, creches, afterschool programs, the Hope hospital, the Hope lifeskills cafe and as well as other services which the Hope Foundation provide vital funding. When visiting the projects our students got to meet the wonderful students and staff. They played games, sang songs and danced and even picked up some Bengali along the way. The Hope Foundation's primary objective is to protect children who live on the streets and in the slums of Kolkata. They saw the amazing work Hope does to provide education to the street-connected and slum children. They also saw the vital role Hope plays in providing healthcare and education to all street and slum connected communities.

In addition to visiting the Hope projects the students also had the opportunity to experience some of the Indian culture. They even had a cultural exchange with a local school in Kolkata where they shared some of the traditional Irish songs and dances and in return were taught some traditional Bengali folk songs and dances. They visited historical sites around Kolkata such as the Mother House, The Victoria Monument, Jian and Hindu temples and in the evenings were treated to aspects of the culture such as learning traditional Bengali dances, dressing in traditional Indian dress, henna mehndis and trying some traditional foods.

Fifth Year Spanish Trip

In the early hours of the morning of February 7, Fifth Year Spanish students and their two Spanish teachers, Ms Caffrey and Mr O’Dea embarked on a four-day linguistic and cultural trip to the Catalonian capital and one of the most exciting and architecturally interesting European cities, Barcelona.

The Spanish leg of the trip began with a four-hour guided tour of the city, including the Olympic Stadium, Montjuic hill and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral. The group enjoyed further cultural and historic sites such as Montserrat, Parc Guell and the science museum. Part of the magic of a city break of this kind is the chance to relax and soak up the atmosphere on one of Barcelona’s great beaches and some of the students dived right in.

The students got to put their language skills into practice by ordering food in drink and shopping in Spanish. The students also mastered hopping on and off the Metro and thoroughly enjoyed chatting to the locals and even got to play a game of soccer in the local ‘barrio’. Barcelona, you never cease to impress and many of the students are hoping to return there in the future, so taken were they by the wonder of this incredible city! Viva Barcelona!