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Newsletter - 2 February 2009 :
Connaught Colleges Football Success
On Jan 30th the Community School made up for several near misses by defeating St.Attracta's of Tubbercurry on a 2-11 to 0-4 scoreline in the Connaught Juvenile "B" championship final. The match was staged in Kilmore and Carrick overturned an earlier league defeat by the same opponents to overpower the Sligo side. Valuable lessons were learned from that setback, and weaknesses identified in the Tubbercurry defence were to be exploited relentlessly. Such was our dominance that the winning margin could have been greater. Carrick led by 2-3 to 3pts at the break and controlled the 2nd half to such an extent that the losers only registered a solitary point in that time. Scoring heroes for the victors were Michael McManus with 2-1 and Joseph O'Rourke (0-4).
Congrats to team coach, Seamus Mallon and to his entire squad on their great achievement.
Junior Girls Football:
The junior Girls qualified as winners from their group and are in action in the Connaught Senior C competition on Wednesday February 4. Preparations have gone very well and it is hoped that this very talented group of players will do enough to see off the challenge of Oranmore.
Senior & Cadette Girls Basketball:
Both teams reached the North West semi-finals which were held in Mercy College, Sligo on 5 December. Killybegs were the opponents in both matches. We were victorious at senior but roles were reversed at cadette level, despite a great performance from Michelle Guckian.
The N-W finals took place in Sligo in December 10 and our opponents were St. Nathys, a side we’d defeated twice at the League stage. A very poor start proved our undoing and we spent the rest of the match playing “catch-up” after the opening quarter deficit of 10 points. The lead was whittled back slowly and we’d edged ahead by the narrowest of margins going into the last 30 seconds only to see 2 successful free throws give Nathys the most slender of victories after a pulsating contest.
Our runner-up finish qualified us for the All-Ireland play-offs in Limerick on Jan 17th.Flu had disrupted our preparation, and lack of fitness told in the end as we failed to progress. Aishling McDermott, Elanor Glancy, Fiona Tiernan and Alison McKeon all played their hearts out but to no avail. Congrats to very worthy winners St.Mary’s, Naas.
Connaught Colleges Cross-Country:
2 of our athletes were among the prize-winners in the provincial cross-country championships held in Galway last weekend. Cathal McElgunn ran a brilliant race to finish second in the Minors race. Daire Farrell went one better by winning the Junior boys race. By virtue of these exceptional performances both progress through to the All-Ireland finals where they stand every chance of further honours.
BT YOUNG SCIENTIST 09:
Five projects represented the Community School in the BT Young Scientist Exhibition held in January at the RDS Dublin. All provoked interesting comments but failed to win any awards in a competition where standards are sky-rocketing.
Social and Behavioural Sciences
WHY LEFT HANDED PEOPLE ARE MORE INTELLIGENT THAN RIGHT HANDED
Stephen Carty, Brendan Feely, Kieran Greene
TELEPATHY: A STUDY by James Dolan
IS YAWNING REALLY CONTAGIOUS? by Louise Sweeney, Aine Stenson
THE BREAKFAST CLUB CONTINUED by Nathan Feeney
Biology and Ecology Sciences
ARTIFICIAL OR ORGANIC? by David O’Dowd, Gary Egan, Paul McNulty
KEY Programme:
The next stage of the Key Residential course takes place from Feb 4 – 6 in Lisnaskea’s Share Centre. 12 of our 2 yrs will undertake enterprise activities and outdoor pursuits.
LET Programme:
10 students visited Gortatole for residential 2 of this years programme. They took part in caving, archery, rock climbing, laser quest and enterprise activities. The next residential visit takes place in mid-March.
L.C.V.P. Work experience:
All 4 yr students taking LCVP completed a week-long work experience during mid-December. Employer feedback was very positive and we wish to thank all the employers who so generously facilitated those students.
Creative Writing Competition:
We have a writing competition in conjunction with the school library each year. The competition is to encourage 1 yrs to familiarise themselves with the library and to realise its enormous value as a learning aid. There were some excellent entries in both the Poetry and Story categories. The event was organised by Mrs. Pauline McElhone who commented on the very high standards attained by all the entrants. The awards were as follows:
Poetry:
Cathal McElgunn
Paul McGoldrick
Shannon Keane, Joanna Lehner
Story:
Caroline Kelly
Eimear Lowe
Kate Matthews, Ciaran Wilson Blain
Streamed Radio:
As the Transitition year Radio Station goes from strength to strength you can listen out for the lunchtime streaming of our school-based station from the beginning of March.
Transition Year:
TYO continues to be a great success, with students (and staff) benefiting greatly from the stimulating and varied programme of activities. Students in particular have commented most favourably on the different approach to teaching traditional subjects plus the challenge of the new – like architecture and media studies. Work experience has also been most beneficial and students have a better sense of career avenues and opportunities.2TY3 is the name of the radio station which will be streamed on the internet in the near future and the work involved has proved a huge hit with the group. Forthcoming events include a visit to the Gaeltacht, driving lessons and producing a yearbook so there is lots more work ahead and we will keep you informed of our progress in this area.
Link up with French School:
The “link up” with our contact school in France is going from strength to strength. So far, all our 2nd year French students are in contact with a French counterpart, and on Tues 10th Dominique Wanin, our French colleague, is visiting our school to meet the students. We are also in the process of setting up a Webcam, whereby our students will be able to link up live with their French friends in Collège Alain Fournier. This school is in the village of Alban, 75 km from Toulouse in the southwest of France.
French Theatre:
This is the 10th year of French theatre in our school and on Thursday next the Drama Company “French Theatre for Schools” will perform a play for all 4th yr and TY students of French, with some of our students getting the opportunity to participate. This year’s play is called “Le Cabaret”
Adult Education:
As a Community school we provide opportunities in continuing education for our local community. We have an active programme and offer a broad of courses. Courses offered during the Spring term comprise: Flower Arranging and Computing on Monday nights; Life-Drawing and Spanish on Wednesdays, and Horticulture, Cookery and Parenting are yet to be confirmed.
If you are interested in any of the above classes, or have an idea for a new course (either one you would like to teach or attend) please contact Ann Therese Grant, Adult education Officer, at 071 9620880.
Gaisce News:
Approximately 30 L.Cert students will be receiving their Bronze Medals on March 2. The Ceremony will take place in the school with a guest speaker. A past pupil hopes to receive her Gold Medal at the end of March. Forty 4 yr students are currently carrying out their Gaisce Challenges. They will be going to Lough Allen Adventure Centre over 2 week-ends in May. This will allow them complete their venture section. First Aid will also be starting up in school as part of their challenge.
Forthcoming Events:
Feb 5: Junior Cert Mock exams
Feb 6: Leaving Cert Mocks begin
Feb 11: Whole School Evaluation Report – classes will finish at 3.15. There will be supervised study and buses will depart as normal but parents can arrange for students to be collected at 3.15
March 4: Open Day (9.30– 3.30), Open Night (7– 10 pm)
March 6: Staff In-service (Morning), 4 yr Parent – Teacher Meeting (1.30 – 4 pm), Enrolment 7 -10 pm
Newsletter – 1 October 2008 :
Welcome to the first of our newsletters for the new academic year. We try to fill you in on a term by term basis on the many and varied activities taking place in our school. The highlight of our term so far was the hugely successful and unforgettable Presidential visit. Our steering committee did a brilliant job in coordinating the day’s events. President McAleese officially unveiled a commemorative plaque to Eugene McGreevy, who died so tragically and heroically while driving one of our school buses just over a year ago. She was very impressed with the various students projects which were on display. She also spoke in a most inspiring way to the packed school attendance, and was presented with a specially commissioned painting of Eugene. We wish to thank everybody concerned with the smooth running of the event, especially our impeccably behaved students.
Transition Year
We are most encouraged with the progress of the Transition Year Option. Students have expressed very positive feedback on the variety and usefulness of the new courses offered. The Staff are also delighted with and encouraged by the cooperation and enthusiasm shown by the students. The Media Studies Module of the TYO is proving to be very popular. The new studio which is almost fully complete, but already operational, has cost over €10,000 to install. Students already have had the opportunity to use the studio to record short programmes and use the editing package. On Wednesday 15 of October they took part in a media studies workshop with Mike Finnerty (Commentator with TV3 and Setanta Sports). As well as getting an insight into print, radio and TV, students got hands on experience covering a Junior Girls football game. Students were involved in camera work, radio work or newspaper reporting. It was an invaluable experience and most importantly students behaved very well on the day.
JCSP
Last May Bernadette Kiely from JCSP visited the school. She was so impressed by the nature of inclusion in the school that it was the subject of a special feature in their national publication. Well done to all teachers involved in the programme.
NUIG OPEN DAY
53 Leaving Cert students accompanied by Mrs O’Conghaile and Ms Duffy
spent a very enjoyable and informative day at University College Galway. New developments at NUIG include the dropping of the 3 language requirement for entry to Engineering and Science. New courses of interest include Engineering Innovation and Arts - Environment and Society/Youth and Family Studies at St. Angela’s College Sligo.
KEY and Let Programs
Ten 1 years are taking part in the LET program and a dozen 2 yrs are participating in the KEY program this year. These programs aim to promote co-operation between cross-border communities and involve schools on either side of the border. The programs incorporate enterprise training and outdoor activities. Mr. Bambrick accompanied the Let group, and Mrs. Beirne accompanied the KEY students. There are a number of further residentials planned for this year.
SCHOOL CONTINENTAL TOUR
Krakow in Poland is the destination for 40 students and half a dozen teachers during the Halloween break. This is our first time to take in Eastern Europe on these trips and the group will get to see 3 World Heritage sites on the 4-day trip. Krakow is regarded as one of Europe’s cultural gems and is a comparatively short distance from Auschwitz where the group will see the remains of one of the Nazi’s Extermination camps from World War 2
MUSIC
3rd and 4th year music students are going to see the musical Les Miserables in Claremorris on Wednesday, October 22 .1st, 2nd, 3rd and transition year music students are going to the National Concert Hall on Monday, November 10 to hear the National Symphony Orchestra in concert.
Ladies Football
It has been a good start for ladies football in the School. Our juniors recorded three wins from three games played whilst the Senior team has won one from two. Our first year girls came second in a local blitz which took place in Kilbride. The under fourteen girls are in action just prior to the break, and it is hoped they will continue the winning streak.
Engineering Competition
Congrats to Cathal O’Dowd on winning Area 4 Higher Level Engineering Competition for his Leaving Cert Project. He represents this region at the National Competition to be held in Mullingar at the end of November.
Gaisce
5 yrs are involved in the Mentoring Program as part of their bronze Medal Presentation and it’s hoped to have the prize-giving Ceremony in the school before Christmas.Forty 4 years have already enrolled for this years challenge PARENT – TEACHER MEETINGS
There will be 2 P-T meetings after the mid-term break, both for Exam classes. The Leaving Cert meeting takes place on Nov 19 from 4.15 to 6.45. On November 25 there will be staff in-service in the morning and the Junior Cert PT meeting will then be held from 1.30 – 4. Meetings have already been held with parents of both First Years and TYO and these were very well attended. We must again ask that parents do not drive into the school grounds as this is simply too congested to be safe!
The very wet weather in September and the start of October has led to the postponement of many sporting fixtures so we have little to report on our teams progress. We will keep you informed as the various competitions unfold. You will all be aware of the recent Budget cutbacks on Education. These will have a drastic effect on our school in terms of loss of grants, loss of teachers, and the potential dropping of subject options in addition to larger class size. We would urge you to write to your local Fianna Fail TD ,or indeed the Minister himself to voice your concerns about this Government enforced deterioration in your children’s education.
Finally, our sincerest sympathies go out to Noreen Clancy and Ann Gill on their recent family bereavements. May they rest in peace.