Loreto Beaufort is a tight knit, family-like community where everyone is welcomed and accepted.
Every year Beaufort strives for academic excellence. Each student is challenged to their full potential with the constant guidance and support from the staff who are always willing to help. There is an excellent support system in place to assist students in all areas, academic and personal, including peer buddies, senior prefects, form teachers, the school chaplain and all the staff.
The school offers endless opportunities, both inside and outside of the classroom. Girls can explore all kinds of extra-curricular activities during their time, from being involved in the busy sporting department, debating in many languages, art and music- including our incredible school choir. The time spent doing these activities will be fondly remembered as some of the best times spent in Beaufort! Through the main school sports; Hockey, Basketball and Camogie, team spirit and companionship are learnt that stand to us not only on the sporting field, but in all walks of life. True friends are made while talents are realised.
The positive atmosphere and friendly spirit are palpable from walking in the door! School spirit is at the core of our school environment and the little acts of kindness regularly shown by all are what make our school so pleasant. Many weeks of the year are designated to promoting various campaigns and students work together to raise awareness in our school community on issues regarding social justice, anti-bullying and promoting positive mental health within our school. This can be seen in our recent achievement of the Amber Flag awarded to us for our campaign to combat the stigma attached to mental health.
Loreto Rumbek is our sister school in South Sudan. Our sisters in Rumbek live in an entirely different world to us, yet we are united by the Loreto bond. Over the past few years we have fundraised to build a boarding school for the girls, so they do not have to commute to school. The only way to ensure they receive the education they deserve is to have the girls as full boarders. Recently we have embarked on a new project to build a primary school in Rumbek because at the moment students are having class under the Lulu trees, which is not a sustainable classroom environment. To fundraise for this, in early October, the whole school community took part in a sponsored hike, The Trek for Rumbek, which raised over €5,000 for this project. In Beaufort this cause is very close to our hearts and we are constantly updated on progress by Sr. Kathleen and Sr. Anne from Southern Sudan. We feel the link between ourselves and our sister school Loreto Rumbek is stronger than ever as their improved future is coming close to becoming a reality.
We, as the Head Girl and Deputy Head Girls are the representatives for the student body in the school. We, along with the senior prefects and sports captains were elected by our year group and staff at the end of fifth year. We regularly liaise with the school management regarding the general running of the school from the students’ perspective. The student council acts as a link between the students and management and we make up the chairperson and secretaries of the council. It is our duty to act as role models and leaders for the student body.
We have great expectations for the coming year and as Nelson Mandela once said, “education is the most powerful tool you can use to change the world”
