February 2010

The start of the Hilary Term was delayed by two days due to the snowy and icy conditions in the Dublin area. This term is traditionally the shortest and also one of the most intense: preparation for cup fixtures, the Junior Play, special subject prizes and the 'mock' examinations all happening in quick succession.

As usual you will find below a résumé of some of the main activities and events over the weeks up to the half-term break which started on Friday 12th February at 1.00pm, after the parent-teacher meeting.

Junior Play

Last weekend featured the 2010 Junior Play, Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Directed by Mr Evan Jameson (who also put on last year's 'faster, shorter, louder' version of Romeo and Juliet), it featured an excellent central performance by Patrick Tice (pictured, right) as the teenager obsessed with spots, Pandora (Kezia Wright) and the Norwegian leather industry. Among other actors were Jack Dunne and Emma Moore as Adrian's feuding parents, Robin Fitzpatrick and Niamh Faulkner as the next-door neighbours, and Josh Kenny as Adrian's friend Nigel.

Click here for an Animoto video of production photos taken by Mr Peter Watts, and also an album, and click here for a review by Opeline Kellett from Transition Year.

Sports round-up

The Hilary Term is always busy as it coincides with the culmination of cup and league competitions in all sports. In girls' basketball all four teams reached the semi-final stages of their respective competitions with the Cadette 'A' girls progressing to the final.  Here they produced a stellar performance to beat their old rivals Loreto Dalkey, 51-37. This win ensured promotion to the top section in this league next season, and an invitation to captain Shannen Keogan (pictured) and Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi to train with the under-17 development squad of the premier local club, Meteors.

The girls have also had some notable successes on the hockey pitch with strong performances in the cup competitions, especially the senior and junior teams whose League semi-finals will be played later in February. The seniors in particular have been scoring a lot of goals, especially from Philippa Peters, Caroline Mueller-Methling, captain Anna Traill, Kate Boyd Crotty and Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi (who also plays for the juniors).

News on Twitter

Since we started our Twitter stream on November 25th 2009, there have been over 230 'tweets' of information, which feed through to the Latest News page of the College website, just below the four news boxes (they can also be seen here on the Twitter site itself). This innovation enables us to give information very quickly to parents and other visitors, including changes of routine, times of College events and sports fixtures (and then the results of these matches). During the weather-delayed start of this term, it also gave 'real-time' updates on the situation.

The Twitter section is also an excellent way to follow the sheer variety of life at the College. You can join Twitter itself easily in a few seconds here under 'Sign Up Now'.

Careers and Guidance

The attention of the Sixth Form this term turned to CAO and applications to Irish universities. Just over half of the form apply to Irish universities. The pupils in Fifth Form will receive their Centigrade questionnaires which provides essential course and career information in the pupils' highest interest areas; they also received a very informative workshop by Ms Gina Rhatigan from Interview Techniques Ltd. on career and interview skills.

Future careers were also the focus of the Transition Year careers' convention where visiting speakers were quizzed on their chosen careers and the paths they took to achieve them. Among the speakers were Mr Brian Marshall (Smurfit Kappa), Mr Paddy Feehan (Fire services), Ms Darragh Hennessy (Marketing in RTE), and Mr Peter Jackson (Teaching). Fourth Form will shortly be finalising their subject choices for next year after consultation with their parents.  

Click here for our Careers' Department.

Special Subject Prizes

Most of the special subject prizes are held during this term and next.  These are designed as an opportunity for pupils to stretch themselves in a particular subject area, complementing their current studies and often researching outside the curriculum.  The subject prize is normally only given for an outstanding piece of work and the prize is awarded on St Columba's Day.

So far this term there have been the English prizes (Fiona Boyd, senior; Hamish Law, junior), the Christopher Cosgrave Memorial prizes for French (Rebecca Kuelby and Victor Wachs, senior; Hamish Law, junior), the Classical Studies prizes (Kate Haslett, senior; Jay Kim, junior), the Rev B.W.N. Walsh Irish prizes (Miriam Poulton, senior; Siobhan Brady, junior), the Applied Mathematics prize (Olga Kolobkova) and the Spanish prizes (Victor Wachs, senior; Jay Kim, junior).

Trip to London

Over the January Exodus a group of thirty-three pupils and five members of staff went on a Biology/History trip to London, taking in some of the marvellous sights and museums that that city has to offer. Staying in a very convenient location in Kensington, with some of the major museums on their doorstep, meant that maximum use could be made of their relatively short time. The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Imperial War Museum, the Tower of London, the British Museum and the National Gallery were all on the itinerary.  

Most of the tours were accompanied by a guide which allowed for questions and fuller information. The evening entertainment included the musical Wicked and a trip to the cinema.  The important social activity of shopping in a major world city was not neglected, with Covent Garden and Sloane Square being the destinations. Congratulations to Mr. Jones and Mrs. Haslett on organising such a successful trip. More photographs of the trip may be seen by clicking on the picture above, and a fuller report here.

Old Columban news

Featured in this edition is OC Benjamin Russell, who left the College in 2007. He is a pupil of Sylvia O'Regan, who also teaches singing here at SCC, and is studying at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Last month he came fifth in the final of the prestigious Veronica Dunne International singing competition at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, and at 21 was the youngest of the finalists, who came from all over the world. He also won the Dame Joan Sutherland Prize for most promising young singer. Click here for a full report on the competition, and here for the Irish Times review. We're delighted that he will be singing at our Summer Concert in the BSR on Saturday 22nd May. 

Ben writes: "The Veronica Dunne International Singing competition was an amazing experience and one that will stick in my mind, I'm sure, for years to come. It was a fantastic chance to see how I compared to people from abroad and to get as far as I did was a great feat considering the talent and range of singers competing. I was the youngest competitor and it was very encouraging to have been selected by a jury containing prominent and important names in the singing world, such as Sergei Leiferkus and Ileana Cotrubas. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire event but for me, the crowning moment was standing on the stage of the National Concert Hall, backed by the National Symphony Orchestra, singing to a sold-out auditorium. An incredible experience. (You should try it some time.)"

And finally...

Many thanks to the Parents' Association for their generosity in funding the purchase of a cricket bowling machine ... The Chapel Collection fund sent €1600 to Christian Aid for its work in Haiti, following the recent earthquake there ... other collections have included Barretstown ... A group of senior art pupils went to the 'Picturing New York' exhibition at IMMA in Kilmainham ... V and IV historians went to The Plough and the Stars at the Mill Theatre in Dundrum ... and VI and V music pupils spent a day at the Coleman Irish Music Centre in Sligo ... The Chaplain has started classes for those considering Confirmation in May ... In the House Debating final, Stackallan beat Iona, with Patrick McGonagle the best speaker, on the motion 'This House believes that abortion should be legalised in Ireland ... Festival Choir practices have started at 8am each morning in preparation for next term's Summer Concert ... The annual 'Columban' magazine was distributed at the start of term - another excellent edition from Mr Brett ... Our Librarian Mr McConville has started a series in the Library highlighting books recommended by individual members of staff, starting with Mr Peter Jackson (display pictured) and Mr Peter McCarthy ... John Clarke won the annual I form Public Speaking Competition ... Fred Mann, Poppy Kirwan Browne, Siobhan Brady and Lingfan Gao performed in the first Wednesday morning music recital this term in Chapel.