St. Conleth's College Senior School Parents’ …

1 Page 1 St. Conleth's College Senior School Parents Association Newsletter Updates on Information and Activities | May 2015 Welcome Dates for your Diary Student Successes / Debating Student Snippets Principal s Message Junior & Leaving Certificate Exams Second Hand Uniform Sale Golf Classic Third Year Language and Adventure trip to Donegal Sixth Year Awards / Prize-Giving Assembly / Other Year Awards Rugby Review / Update on Sporting Activities TY Raises Money for Nepal School Concert Photos 6th Year Graduation / School Captain s End of Year Speech Sixth Years at the Opera/Third Years Drama Sports Day Photos TY Musical and Graduation Evening TY 2014/2015 oh! what a year Parents Social Event @ RIYC Past Pupils Union 65th Anniversary / PPU Activities 40 years of Girls celebration PPU Inaugural Alumni London Dinner Healthy Eating Survey Join our Facebook Group Supporting our Young Peoples mental health Remembrances and Memories Adventures of a Puppy Walker You are the Parents Association!

2 And Contents Welcome Here comes the summer! Hello and welcome to our final edition of the St. Conleth s Senior School Parents Association (SSPA) Newsletter for this School year. Another year has passed us by but we do have the summer to look forward to. This year has been a very special one for St. Conleth s College , it being the 75th anniversary of the founding of the School , the 65th anniversary of the Past Pupils Union (PPU) and the 40th anniversary of Girls at the School . And there were a large number of celebrations to commemorate these and more. In our last newsletter we reported on the Anniversary Mass, Gala Dinner and Special School assembly (who could forget the ice-cream van!) . This time we have lots of photos and information on recent celebrations the very successful Parents Social held in the RIYC, the PPU anniversary dinner, the 40th years of Girls celebration and the inaugural PPU London dinner.

3 In addition in this newsletter you will find an abundance of student news prize-giving, graduation, exams, sports, academics, sports day, TY activities, and the other great things that are happening in our School , which make it such a special place. We are all part of the St. Conleth s family, a close-knit community that creates the warm, friendly and happy environment of the School . Although the Senior School Parents Association has only been in existence for 15 of those 75 years, parental involvement has always been of paramount importance, and it has been embraced and appreciated by the School who recognise our primary role in the students growth and development. Now through the Parents Association, we strive to be an important support and informational network both for parents and the School . We hope this newsletter goes some way to achieving this objective we hope you enjoy it!

4 Finally, we wish all the students the very best of luck with their exams. Have a great Summer everyone and see you all in the new academic year!. Paul Allen, Chairperson Senior School Parents' Association Page 2 Dates for your Diary Check out the School Calendar here: Summer Exams Final day of School & Second Hand Uniform Sale JC & LC Exams begin St. Conleth's Golf Leaving Cert Results Issue School Opens: 1st, 2nd & 3rd Years only TY, 5th & 6th Years only First full day of School for all classes Former 6th Years Debs Junior Cert Results Issue (estimated) The Write Stuff! The Irish Times conducted a national competition in preparation for the publication of a literary magazine dedicated to juvenile creative writing. Several Conlethians entered, and one, 5th Year Rian Boyle, had his story selected and it was published today. Rian explores the themes of mental illness and identity in 'Empty Mirrors', a psychological tour-de-force.

5 Well done to Rian whose story can be read here: Well done to the three teams from Mr Bolger's Business class who took part in the Bank of Ireland Bond Trader Challenge in the Aviva Stadium recently. The teams competed against schools from across Leinster. Congratulations to 5th Year Kevin Dolan who has been selected for the Leinster club U18s summer training programme Student Successes Many congratulations to 5th year David Pogatchnik (Pogie) on getting a place on the Ulster Rugby U18s. Quite an achievement for a 16 year old. Page 3 Senior Debating UCD L&H Senior Mace Grand Champions- 5th Year Daniel Gilligan and 6th Year Conor White (largest Senior Mace Debating Championship in Ireland) Member of the National Schools Debating team - Daniel Gilligan Debating Successes Junior Debating Inter- School : Juniors Leinster Junior Championship: Leinster Senior Championship Runners-up: 5th Years Daniel Gilligan and Philip O Hanrahan Semi-Finalist: Sean Pettitt Quarter-finalist: Arthur Etchingham-Coll In-house Debates 1st Year:: McCarthy Cup: Frank Knowles 2nd-3rd Years: O Connor Cup: Ois n Dowling Kinlen Cup for Senior Debating: Daniel Gilligan Bouchier-Hayes for Senior Debating: Daniel Gilligan and Conor White Gardner Cup for Senior Debating: Conor White and Daniel Barry Best Maiden Speaker.

6 Oscar McAuley Some of the Junior Debating team members Daniel Gilligan and Philip O Hanrahan 3rd Year (3) Ois n Dowling to the Quarter-finals. 3rd Year Conor Power to the semi-final. 3rd years Harry Mansfield and Simon Pettitt to the Grand Final (and also were Castleknock Community College National Junior Mace). Ois n, Conor, Simon and Harry also advanced to the National Finals of the Matheson Junior Mace. 2nd Years Tomas Clancy and Dylan Browne had success as a team, with Tomas advancing as an individual to the Grand Final. 1st Year Frank Knowles through to knock-out rounds Page 4 First Year Castle Competition Winner Joseph Caruana with his impressive creation Classics Classical Association of Ireland Teachers' Annual Speech Competition Saul Burgess: second in Junior Classics Eavan O Riada: second in Senior Latin Philip O Hanrahan: second in Senior Classics Ides of March Classics Table Quiz Three Conlethian teams entered, with one finishing a good placed 6th out of 30.

7 Student Snippets Conlethians Eye Eclipse Ms. N Aonghusa leads School down to Herbert Park for a rare scientific experience. Once again the teachers beat our sixth years pretty soundly and retained the coveted "Goblet of Fire" cup in the hard fought soccer match in Irishtown earlier this month. They have certainly not been shy of using their bragging rights to the maximum, proudly displaying the cup at every opportunity it took pride of place at the Sixth year graduation ceremony. The Goblet of Fire Page 5 Principal s Message It is hard to believe that we are coming to the end of another School year and bidding farewell to another 6th Year class. The School year began in such a whirlwind fashion with our 75th Anniversary Assembly on the 4th of September. It was one of the most memorable days that I can remember during my time in the School . The sun shone brightly and ice cream cones were enjoyed by all at the end of the day.

8 Indeed one Spanish student who started that day wondered if we had an Ice Cream Van everyday! The 2014/15 School Year has had many highlights. The Gala Dinner took place in early October. Past Pupils, parents, present pupils and teachers celebrated reaching this wonderful milestone. We also celebrated 40 years of girls in St Conleth's this year culminating in a special celebration night in the School in April this year. Appropriately this year we announced that girls would be joining us full time starting with The Junior School in September 2015 and the Senior School in September of the following year. So many things occur during the year it is hard to mention them all. There have been many highlights. I must mention the gallant efforts of our Senior Rugby team, they gave us all a day out in Donnybrook. All the talks, workshops, debates, competitions, plays, concerts, awards, visitors, charity collections, scholarships, publications, receptions, lunches, dinners, will mention no name but thank all that took part and make our School such a wonderful place to work and learn.

9 This year we lost a wonderful member of our St Conleth's family. In February our dear friend, colleague and much loved teacher Francoise Brotelande passed away. Francoise taught in St Conleth's for over 30 years. She was a most passionate and committed teacher who loved her School and her pupils. She epitomised all that is great about the School and her legacy will long live on through all the pupils she taught over the years and her contribution to School life. At this time of the year Francoise was always a huge support to those pupils who were anxious about the Leaving and Junior Cert exams. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family. Finally I would like to wish our exam classes all the best in their exams. The rest of you can pack up the buckets and spades and we will see you all refreshed and enthusiastic in September. D nal D laing We wish all the exam students in 3rd year and 6th year the very best of luck in their exams next month.

10 Leaving Certificate Timetable Junior Certificate Timetable Summer Exam Timetables: These are available for 1st, 2nd and 5th Years Junior & Leaving Certificate Exams Page 6 Second Hand Uniform Sale: Friday 29th May The committee is organising a sale of second hand uniforms and sports clothing / boots on Friday 29th May, which is the last day of term This event will be jointly held by the parents associations of both the junior and Senior School and will begin at 8:30am and run until about 9:30am. Parents are asked to donate any unwanted, good quality School clothing to the School in the week before the sale or alternatively bring them along on the day. The intention of the sale is three-fold: (1) provide a facility for re-cycling School clothing, (2) assist parents who are looking to purchase second hand clothing and (3) raise funds for the local St Vincent de Paul. The Senior School will be organising a jersey day on the Friday in order to assist the sale.