December 2009 Newsletter

The first College e-newsletter, which made its appearance last October, was well-received and it is hoped that this new format will continue to be attractive to readers. Despite the poor weather and some sickness amongst the pupil body, much has been achieved since then.  The Senior Play, exam week, rugby cup matches, the Carol Service and finally the Christmas Entertainment have added variation and excitement to the final weeks of term. Your attention is drawn to the important events next term listed on the right hand side of the newsletter.

All that is left is to wish everyone a happy and restful Christmas with, hopefully, a prosperous New Year to come.

The Acharnians, Senior Play

This year’s Senior Play, The Acharnians by Aristophanes, was performed to full houses on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th November.  It is a challenge to portray a play first produced 2,500 years ago to a modern audience and one as varied as that filling the Big Schoolroom in St. Columba’s College. That this was achieved is a tremendous tribute to the cast and directors involved. The themes of war, peace, intimidation and corruption are timeless and the direct engagement by the actors with the audience rendered the play even more relevant. In particular, the production featured an outstanding central performance by Poppy Vernon. A detailed review of the play by Amelia Shirley may be read here, and click here for an Animoto video.

Christmas Events

The Christmas season has been well and truly on us in the lead-up to the end of term. On Sunday night in Chapel we had our annual Carol Service for visitors and senior pupils, followed by mince pies and mulled wine in the BSR, and yesterday afternoon our own internal Carol Service, which featured regular carols as well as Christmas readings from the Bible and literature.

On top of all this singing, the chapel choir have been busy spreading the festive cheer by singing for charity at the Christmas tree in Grafton Street and Bank of Ireland College Green, as well as two local nursing homes. On Saturday night last, Mr Coldrick organised the annual Christmas Fun Run around the College. Finally, last night we signed off with the traditional pantomime. A bizarre effort called About Two Boys (pictured), it featured many staff and pupils making fools of themselves in a story of German paratroopers, incompetent Headmasters and live moustache-shaving.

Finally, on Tuesday 7th December, the whole school wrote short pieces in English class (mostly anonymously) on the theme of 'Christmas Past', and a selection of these is being posted here on the English blog on the days leading up to Christmas - vivid recollections of one of the most important days in young boys' and girls' lives.

St Columba's News on Twitter

Parents and other visitors to our website's Latest News page in the few weeks may have noticed what we think is a very useful development: under the main news items is a 'Twitter stream' which gives current up-to-date information. This includes sports fixtures (and then quick reporting of the results), changes of routine and reminders of coming events. As well as seeing these 'tweets' on the Latest News page, you can also follow 'sccdublin' on Twitter if you're a member, or sign up to the service here . The English and Science Departments also have Twitter pages.

We feel that this development, along with this e-newsletter and our constantly-evolving website, gives our parents, friends and other visitors a top-class information service.

Sports round-up

The Junior and Senior rugby teams were both knocked out of their cup competitions but they have the league and plate competitions to look forward to next term. The Junior A girls’ hockey team have won all their pool matches, while the Senior XI play their first cup match against Loreto Dalkey on the first Saturday of next term. The boys’ hockey leagues are progressing with all sides about mid-table.

Two senior girls' teams and a cadette team will play in the semi-finals of their South Dublin Basketball League. Fencing and archery are two sports which are also proving popular: both College championships were held just before the end of term, the winners being Georg von Stotzingen (fencing), and Paul Coleman (archery).

Academic Awards

A senior school scholarship is awarded after the examinations in the Michaelmas Term each year.  This scholarship is open to all pupils in Form V, although present scholars and exhibitioners are not eligible. On the basis of their excellent progress this term and on their recent examination results, the award is shared by Mimi von Blomberg and Florian Lenhart (both pictured)

Reflecting the excellent overall Leaving Certificate results achieved in June (an average of 445 across all candidates), and their own points in particular, Rebecca Feeney-Barry, James Crampton and Allen Crampton were awarded entrance exhibitions to Trinity College, Dublin. Rebecca was also awarded a medal from the Institute of Physics in Ireland for the highest level of achievement in the whole country in the Leaving Certificate Physics examination 2009. She will receive this medal in January at the Tyndall Lectures.

The Todd Scholarships, which are given by the College for the best results in the Leaving Certificate, went to Rebecca Feeney-Barry (senior, the top award), and Max Guennewig (junior); both achieving a perfect 600 points in their exams. Shane Lavin won the Modern Languages award.

Parents' Association

On 23rd October, a new Parents’ Association was elected for the coming academic year 2009-2010.  The following were elected to the committee:  Susan Glennon, Margaret Carroll (Secretary), Anita Clarke, Rosie Johnson, Ada Seth-Smith, Pamela FitzGerald, Graham Wood, Christopher Hone, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Katie Bisgood, Philippa McCormack and Scarlett Tice (Chairperson).

There has been one meeting to discuss the aims for the forthcoming year.  It was agreed that a second-hand uniform shop be set up for certain clothing in good condition, for example, blazers, jackets and sports tracksuits.  The Parents’ Association is also in the process of refurbishing the prefabricated building used as a cricket pavilion on the junior cricket pitch, which will be suitable for teas and changing. Suggestions on how the association can best serve the school are very welcome and may be passed on to Mrs. Scarlett Tice.

The Art Department blog

The latest to join the College blogosphere is the Art Department. There are regular updates showing lots of examples of pupils’ artistic talents in art, pottery and photography. Reviews of exhibitions by present and former pupils (see comments below on Emily Archer in Old Columban News) are included and other interesting facts from the art world, collated by art teacher Ms Derarca Cullen.

Pictured, right, from the site, Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi's painting for 2D-studies.

Careers and University Applications

This is a very busy time of the year for the Guidance & Counselling department. This year we have twenty-seven applicants to UK universities through UCAS, which represents roughly half of the Sixth Form. In many cases, offers have already been received from universities such as Liverpool, Manchester, Lancaster and Royal Holloway. Two pupils were interviewed for Cambridge; Chris Faerber is applying for Medicine and Olga Kolobkova for Economics. Pupils have completed their UCAS applications and now turn their attention to Irish universities and the Central Applications Office process.

On Tuesday, 1st December Mr. Jones hosted a CAO seminar for pupils and parents which aimed to provide the necessary information for the successful completion of their application. In Form V, every pupil has recently been assigned an academic tutor, who will guide him/her through the next two years of academic work. Their tutors will also work closely with them when they make their course and university choices in Form VI. The pupils of Transition Year have also been meeting the Guidance Counsellor this term. As part of their programme, every pupil partakes in a ‘Careers Module’ where they explore what it means to have a career and what factors influence the kind of career a person achieves. 

Old Columban News

This has been a very busy year for the Old Columban Society, the body which brings together 2,600 former pupils. Founded in 1909, it had a very successful Centenary Dinner in Dun Laoghaire on the evening of Friday 6th November, with 150 members and their guests enjoying the occasion. The next day a group came up to the College for a look-around, some having not visited for decades. There have also been several group reunions; over the last few years these have become very popular, with OCs meeting in Dublin after 10, 20 or more years. The most recent such party was in late November for those who left here in 1999.

Finally, mention of two more recent Old Columbans who have been making their name in two different arenas: Ian McKinley, who left in 2008, has been playing for the full Leinster rugby side in the Magners' League, and Emily Archer, who left in 2005, has just opened her first solo exhibition at the MTSL in South William Street, Dublin.

And finally....

Hamish Law and John Clarke won through to the national semi-final of the annual Poetry Aloud competition ... We saw a 'dramatic recital' of J.M.Synge's The Aran Islands in the BSR one Saturday night ... Ross Canning has been selected for the Leinster under-18 Golf Development Squad ... Mr Jameson has cast next term's Junior Play, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole ... The English and Science Blogs were short-listed in the 'Best Blog' category of the Golden Spider Awards, Ireland's premier web prizes ... The V form Library quiz team came third in the annual Alexandra College event ... Mr Peter McCarthy gave us his 'Hymns of Praise' personal selection at Evensong ... The Transition Year went to the current production of Stones in his Pockets (pictured) at the Civic Theatre, Tallaght ... A traditional music group from Alexandra College visited recently, with our own Justine Heffernan showing off her dancing skills ... Mr Evan Jameson featured at the Mill Theatre in Dundrum, acting in John B. Keane's Many Young Men of Twenty ... There have been Wednesday morning music recitals in Chapel by the Junior Choir, Lingfan Gao, Fred Mann, Emma Moore, Poppy Vernon, Kezia Wright, Kyung-Min Kim and others ... The Annual Geography Lecture was a fine talk and slide show by OC Dr Neil Stronach (former director of Fota Wildlife Park in Cork) on his time as a conservator in Tanzania ... Mr Ronan Swift performed at Bewley's Cafe Theatre as he puts together his second album ... Again, we sent many shoeboxes away on Operation Christmas Child, organised by the Chaplain ... At the end of term the third issue of 'Second Bell' magazine appeared.

Last of all: if you open this email before early Thursday morning, the English Department would be grateful for your vote in the annual Edublog Awards (SCC English won the Best Group title in 2008). It takes five seconds - click here, then against 'SCC English', and then 'Vote'. Thank you!