St. Angela's School, Ursuline Convent Waterford
Call (051) 876 510

Clubs & Societies

Chess Club, Computer Club, Book Club, Film Club, St. Vincent de Paul, Choir, Ukelele Club, Trad Group. Hockey, Basketball, Orienteering, Junk Couture, Build a Bank Challenge, Tuck Shop, and Media.

Lunchtime Computer Club

A  lunchtime computer club is run for those students who are interested in technology and programming. This club is an official registered coding Dojo, part of the global CoderDojo network.

Students are constantly creating projects throughout the year, working with platforms such as, Scratch, which teaches core programming concepts, and App Inventor, used to create apps for android.

The Computer Club is also an excellent platform from which to enter competitions, one such contest we are proud to have participated in is the annual National Scratch Competition, click here for more information on that.

Our aim here at St.Angela’s Computer Club is to encourage students’ interests in technology and digital design and to provide a positive and well-equipped technological learning environment.

Radio Ursuline

Radio Ursuline was established by Eddie O’Keeffe in 1975. Eddie taught

Geography and Economics in St. Angela’s from 1974 to 2006.

To this day students still enjoy broadcasting their own programmes on Radio Ursuline.

Click here to see the RTÉ Archive video about Radio Ursuline in 1988!

1988 and ‘Jo Maxi’ is in Waterford to see students of the Ursuline Convent research, prepare and broadcast their own programme on the school radio. While planning the first radio show of the new school year the production team focus on getting the new first year students involved in school activities and making them feel welcome in their new surroundings. Two first year students, Joanne O’Neill and Michelle Mullane, talk about their initial experiences upon starting secondary school and the trials and tribulations of being a first year. They even make a special request on air for some of the students.

‘Jo Maxi’ first aired on Monday, 10 October, 1988 on RTÉ Network 2 and ran until 1994.

The Chess Club was formed in April 2003, and meets during the week at lunchtime. It is open to all students interested in learning and playing chess: from 1st to 6th year, from beginners to advanced players. It is very popular and we are always looking for new members.  

If you do not know how to play chess, you are of course still welcome to join and learn how, there are always teachers and students present willing to help you learn. 

While we do enter competitions, the main emphasis is on enjoying yourself, socialising and meeting new friends. 

We often hold knockout competitions and enter the ‘Secondary Checkmate’ National Chess Championship. Last year we reached the second round and hope to do better this year. 

The tuck shop is run by a group of Transition Year students. This offers a service to the students in both selling food, and stationary. It gives the students the opportunity to learn about running a business and gaining skills such as responsibility, communications and learning how to treat customers.

The Book Club is open to students from all year groups. We meet once a month in to chat about our latest read. The books are chosen by the co-ordinator but input is encouraged from the members. We try to read books from different genres and time periods to give everyone a chance to expand their literary tastes. If you haven’t managed to read this month’s choice, don’t worry; come along and tell us what else you’ve been reading instead. Book Club is a time to chat about the books we love and those we couldn’t make it through!

New members are always welcome.

There are usually several debate teams in St. Angela’s in any school year. We have competed and won not only in English language debating, but also in European languages.

JUNIOR LEVEL

At junior level there are often informal debates within classes. The aim here is usually to teach the fundamentals of good debating technique. Particular emphasis is placed on clear content and a strong presence in front of the group. A secondary aim of debating at this level is to show the importance of conviction, clarity and research in the students’ writing.

SENIOR LEVEL

At senior level most debating is at competition level. School teams from St. Angela’s have an enviable record in most of the competitions we regularly enter. There is a long tradition of success in the Concern Debate, Youth Leadership Debates, the Mental Health Debate, and the Environment Debate, amongst others. Transition Year students are able to choose to participate in a Debating module and to compete in inter-school debating.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

St Angela’s also has a tradition of participating in public speaking events. This is an important skill to develop as it increases confidence, fluency of language and communication skills. Opportunities in public speaking range from presenting projects or research in class to taking part in national competitions. These have included the Poetry Aloud competition and the Soroptimist Ireland’s Public Speaking competition, which they have been successful in at National level.

Foróige strives to enable young people to take an active role in their own development and the development of their communities through numerous citizen programmes.

Thank you to Douglas McGee Architects for their generosity to the school community. They have kindly provided us with safety tea and coffee pots for our Foróige well-being breakfasts. These will be very useful in January when we have a series of breakfasts planned, each with a well-being theme.

The Saint Vincent de Paul conference at St. Angela’s is a vibrant and active presence in the school community. We organise breakfast mornings to help first years settle in. We also campaign and spread awareness about issues that we, as students and young women, feel passionate about. We also do many befriending projects such as tea mornings with the Ursuline Sisters. It is so rewarding to know that you are having a positive impact on people’s lives and it opens your eyes to the problems that people face right here in Waterford.

It is a fantastic group to join if you would like to give back to the community or if you are interested in social issues. Not only that, but it is a wonderful opportunity to make friends and gain more responsibility within the school as the events are supported by teachers but led by pupils.