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Community college goes phone free in classroom

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The Killarney Community College have introduced new measures in order to reduce online bullying and general distraction within the classroom by asking their students to voluntarily hand up their phones to their teachers at the beginning of every class.

The initiative comes in the wake of new data published this week reporting worrying online trends faced by school goers.Cyber Safe Kids, an Irish online safety charity, carried out research for it's annual trends and usage report and were able to include secondary school data for the first time.98% of all 12-16 year olds now own a mobile phone with up to 40% of secondary school goers reporting being cyber bullied with girls overall being the most likely victims. Almost two thirds of teachers have reported dealing with online safety incidents. The survey also showed many students reported being unaware of how to best protect themselves online.Feedback from the student council has been overwhelmingly positive as students noted that notifications and the temptation to look at their phone are now a thing of the past thus maximising teaching and learning in their classes.Principal Stella Loughnane has already noted the positive impact it is having on the school."In recent years I've found myself dealing with more and more online issues that have spilled over to the classroom. Incidents of Cyber bullying are worrying and clearly on the rise. Every student has a right to feel safe in school and learn in a distraction free environment,” she said.“Our teaching staff have noted the ease to which our students have taken to handing up their phones and have noticed a greater focus and improved levels of concentration within the classroom. Students are still free to use their phones at lunch time but we are definitely seeing the benefits of less screen time for our students.”

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Kerry’s youth celebrated at the Lee Strand/Kerry Garda Youth Achievement Awards

This year’s overall winner of the Lee Strand Kerry Garda Youth Achievement is Ryan Griffin from Waterville who was nominated by Mairead O’Sullivan from Killorglin Family Resource Centre. Ryan Griffin […]

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This year’s overall winner of the Lee Strand Kerry Garda Youth Achievement is Ryan Griffin from Waterville who was nominated by Mairead O’Sullivan from Killorglin Family Resource Centre.

Ryan Griffin is a member of the Skellig Stars and was chosen to represent Kerry at the Special Olympics.
Ryan’s biggest hurdle is communication and he had to overcome this during his trip to Berlin for the big event.

Ryan has overcome his disabilities by focusing on all the great abilities he has. Ryan attends mainstream school in Coláiste na Sceilge where he is a very respected member of the School Community. He is a member of Kerry Stars and also Downs Syndrome Kerry.

Ryan has always had a keen interest in sport and even played with the local team in Waterville, but now Ryan thinks it’s too fast for him so he prefers to cheer them on from the side-lines.

Ryan has always been involved with the Community and they have never left him out. Ryan started out his athletics career with Skellig Stars and without them he would have gone to the Special Olympics and he has never forgotten when he came from.

Ryan and his family are very grateful to the local community in Waterville and the surrounding area for all the support they have given them over the years and especially now with the Special Olympics coming closer.

The whole community from Waterville to Mid-Kerry got behind Ryan, raising funds to help his family go to Berlin for 2 weeks. Ryan is now an inspiration to others to overcome difficulties and “go for gold”.

Ryan was the only representative from Kerry on this years Irish Special Olympics Team and in fact one of the Youngest Athletes on Team Ireland at only 16yrs of age, which was a great honour for him.
This in itself is a great achievement but it also shows his friends at Skellig Stars, Downs Syndrome Kerry and in the wider community that dreams do come true.

It took a lot of hard work and determination on Ryan’s behalf to make these dreams come true, not least the long journey he had to make from South Kerry to Dublin once a month since last January to train for the Special Olympics. He also trained weekly with the Skellig Stars.

At the 2023 Special Olympics in Berlin Ryan took part in the 100m run and the relay but his biggest achievement was winning the Silver Medal in the mini javelin. This showed others that overcoming difficulties can be possible and you can achieve your goals with hard work and determination, which Ryan has in abundance.

Local Merit Awards

Aliza Gul, Killarney
Joey McCarthy, Killarney
John O’Connor, Killarney
Nattagun Ryan, Killarney
Samuel Behal, Killarney
St Brendan’s Choir, Killarney

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Controversial finish to Cougar’s opening match of season

Basketball Ireland is to review the result Killarney Cougars opening match of the new Basketball season. The opening game of the season was  long and eventful The game was abandoned […]

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Basketball Ireland is to review the result Killarney Cougars opening match of the new Basketball season.

The opening game of the season was  long and eventful

The game was abandoned with 1.48 seconds remaining in the second quarter with the court unplayable due to condensation, however Portlaoise Panthers plea to change venue was allowed by the officials.

The game continued an hour later in Portlaoise College despite the Killarney protest with the long delay to proceedings and the game already abandoned in the St Mary’s venue.

Panthers held the advantage through the second quarter  whan the game was abandoned following a series of bad slips and falls on the wet floor with just under two minutes remaining,  

Darius Hopkins heavy slip and fall that finally saw the game stopped.

The remainder of the game in in the new venue was completed without any competitive edge.

Cougars finished with a series of injuries to Bill Wiseman, Alex Fleming and Oleh Drahanchuk with the game conditions and long delays a contributing factor but the homeside won the contest. 

A final decision on the outcome of the game is expected by Basketball Ireland following a review of events.

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