May 2010

Nature once again interfered with the plans for the beginning of this, already quite short, Trinity Term. Volcanic ash, originating in Iceland, spread southwards delaying the arrival of almost one hundred and thirty pupils. Five members of staff were also stranded for various lengths of time.  

Nature has paid us back, however, in giving us a couple of weeks of very decent weather during which many cricket and tennis matches have been played.  Plenty of action indoors too, as preparations for state examinations, plays and the Summer Concert continued at full steam.   

Next Saturday are the St Columba's Day celebrations, with the annual Chapel service, the prizegiving ceremony in the Sports Hall (the guest of honour is Old Columban Professor David Dickson of TCD), and the lunch in the BSR and Chapel Square. We then have our June Exodus, before the Leaving and Junior Certificates. Our final newsletter of the year will be sent out in late June, with details of the many events which take place in the final weeks of term.

Pupil Achievements

Several individual pupils have had fine achievements recently:

Chris Doherty, Hamish Law and Kezia Wright were awarded Pennefather Exhibitions after their fine performances in the recent III form Scholarship Exams.

Patrick McGonagle (V form) won the Irish Times/Young Social Innovators Essay Prize for 2010, and received his award at a reception at Croke Park. Read more on the Irish Times site here.

Robbie Hollis (V form) joins Patrick in representing Ireland at the European Youth Parliament next year, having qualified from the National Selection Conference just after the end of last term. Read more here.

Siobhan Brady (II form) sang 'The Red Salmon', a song composed by Mrs Malone-Brady, in the Science Gallery at TCD as part of Ireland's celebration of European Biodiversity Day, organised by Coastwatch.

Samuel Clarke (I form) won a Special Merit award in the national Texaco Children's art competition for his painting 'Wild Donegal Strand' (pictured, and click here).

Ross Canning (IV form) has been selected for the Ireland under-16 hockey side to play in the European Championships in Barcelona in the summer.

Dalton Tice (V form) has been selected for the Leinster under-19 rugby squad, one of only three Leinster A school players to gain this recognition.

Olivia Plunket (V form) was equal 3rd, and Michael Kemp (IV form) was Highly Commended, in the national poetry competition organised by Teaching English magazine; their poems will be published in the next issue.

Molly Buckingham (II form) won the under-14 Singing Cup at the Newpark Prizewinners' Concert at the National Concert Hall; she was joined on the night by prizewinners Antonia Esses (I form), Lingfan Gao (IV form) and Siobhan Brady (II form).

Language Plays

Part entertainment, part language-learning, the annual Language Plays hold a special slot in the drama calendar of the school. The younger pupils get a chance on stage while trying out their language skills, practising to communicate effectively in a structured setting. The plays this year were in Spanish, French, Irish, Russian and German. The Russian and German plays involved some native speakers but in the others there was a considerable amount of learning to be done.

Well-known fairy tales are a favourite and convenient vehicle as they tend to be transcultural; everyone knows the tale of Cendrillon (Cinderella), the French play this year. The other plays were Mi Amigo Fred (Spanish), An clócín dearg (Irish), Kolobok (Russian) and Dorn Roeschen (German). Pictured is the handsome prince reviving the sleeping beauty....in German. More pictures here.

South Africa hockey trip

Four matches were played by the girls on tour, with two won and two lost (a total of 12 goals for and 6 against). The last match of the tour was against our strongest opposition and played at midday in 32 degrees heat which meant that after 40 minutes of play the team were exhausted and conceded three goals in the last 20 minutes! Caroline Mueller-Methling was awarded MVP (we wish her luck in her current Leinster under-18 selection process), Kate Boyd Crotty was the top goal scorer and Opeline Kellett was the most improved player.  A fantastic trip was had by the pupils, and particular thanks go to the staff, Ms Sarah-Jane Lawson, Ms Kate Smith and Mrs Gedingka Fair.  More photos can be seen here.

Summer Music Concert

On the lovely summer evening of Saturday 22nd May, many parents, visitors and friends took the opportunity to come and be entertained by the college choirs and soloists in this year's Summer Concert. The sheer range of musical offerings was a tribute to the versatility of all involved (see the programme by clicking here  and some photographs by clicking here).

Guest soloists Anna Brady and Ben Russell (Old Columban) established their usual easy rapport with the audience, confirming again their undisputed talents. Future talent was also in evidence, the pupil soloists displaying a great deal of assurance and confidence on the stage. To cap it off, we were able to send €600 from the raffle to aid reconstruction in Haiti.

English Department book

The English Department has just published its second book, Outside the Frame: selected writings from the SCC English blog, 2008-2010. This is the successor to Going Places, which was published in 2008. Like that book, Outside the Frame features essays, poems, stories and book recommendations by over 100 pupils and staff from the last two years, all of which were originally published on www.sccenglish.ie. 165 pages long, it also features some fine art-work by pupils, including a front cover by Patrick Faulkner (pictured) and another photograph, by Jack Cherry, on the back. Some of the illustrations previously featured in the Art Department blog.

You can read more about the book on the English site here, can read a preview of the opening pages here, and can order copies from the Department by emailing scc.english@yahoo.ie.

Voices of Poetry

Our annual Voices of Poetry evening in the BSR was another excellent event. Compered and organised by Mr Ronan Swift, it featured poems read out by their authors in English, and many other poems in languages not familiar to all - Irish, Dutch, Chinese, Latin, Ancient Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Chinese, Ibo, Italian, Swahili and Russian.

You can read a full account of the event here, with links to many of the poems.

Leinster Senior Boys' cricket final

It has been ten years since the Senior boys' team appeared in the final of the Leinster Schools' Cup and the last time they won it was in 1976. The wait for success continues as, once again, they came up short in an enthralling match. Batting first, the College set a target for King's Hospital of 174 in 40 overs.  Robin Russell scored a fine innings of 85 and was given solid support by the brothers Tice, Patrick making 23 and Dalton 24. After pinning down King's Hospital successfully at the start of their innings, their big-hitting number five batsman cut loose, eventually giving his side victory by 4 wickets.  

The squad (click the picture for a larger view): Dalton Tice, Tom Crampton, James Bowlby, Harry Brooke, Philip Blackley, Robin Russell, Fred Mann (captain), Patrick Tice, Jasper Pickersgill, Jake Jacobson, Eochy O'Conor, Harry Bravery, Jack Cherry, Tom Gibbs, Neil Scott, James Glenn-Craigie.

Click on Sports Day and the Sports Dinner for reports on these events.

Confirmation Service

The Confirmation Service is traditionally held on Ascension Day in the Trinity Term.  The Most Reverend John Neill, Archbishop of Dublin, confirmed twenty-two candidates on Thursday 13th May this year.  The Chapel was full of family and friends on this occasion and were received in Whitehall for refreshments after the service.

Those confirmed were: Sally Beeby, Gemma and Sam Bewley, Archie and Harry Brooke, John and Samuel Clarke, Alison Crampton, Nicola Dalrymple, Brendan Dickerson, Louisa Gibbs, Iona Hamilton-Stubber, Lydia Johnson, Zara Lahme, David Lowsley, Tara McCormick, Rishi Manuel, Arthur Moffitt, Emma Moore, Daniel Roden, Mark Russell and Hannah Wentges.

Chapel Organ Appeal

The Old Columban Society has just launched, in its annual 'Bulletin' magazine, a fund in memory of the former Chaplain, the late Reverend Bertram Walsh. This aims to raise €50,000 to secure the future of the Chapel organ, which badly needs major repairs. It is of course open to all others, including parents of pupils and friends of the College, to contribute, and we hope many will do so.

'Bert' Walsh died in 2008. He taught in the College between 1960 and 1993, being Chaplain for 23 of those years. He was a much-loved pastoral carer, a distinguished scholar, and a fine Irish teacher. His family have kick-started the fund with a generous donation. The organ needs major work on it over some years (this can only take place in the summer, when the building is not being used).

All donations will be gratefully received. The secretary of the fund is our recently-retired Chaplain, Reverend Michael Heaney, who can be contacted at Montana, Scholarstown Road, Dublin 16, or by email at revmheaney@gmail.com.

And finally......

The Chapel Choir again sang Evensong at St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin ... the Parents' Association lunch in the Lower Argyle at the start of term was another very pleasant occasion ... the Shakespeare Society organised a visit to the Abbey Theatre production of Macbeth ... all V form went to Dancing at Lughnasa at the Mill Theatre, Dundrum ... both English and Science Departments had their Leaving Certificate revision podcasts featured in the Irish Times ... Chapel collections have included the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Archbishop's Fund for Training for the Ministry, the Church Missionary Society of Ireland, Barnardo's and United Planet ... in the House Football competition, Stackallan won the senior section and Gwynn the junior one ... Kezia Wright, Siobhan Brady and Lingfan Gao gave a particularly fine Wednesday morning recital in Chapel ... Alex Owens has been selected for a girls' hockey Leinster under-16 training group this summer ... of particular note in the recent prizes which have been awarded was Sophie Kyd-Rebenburg, who won the Mansergh Travel Award to help her go to the Lebanon next year, where she will work with handicapped children alongside the Order of Malta ... at the recent inaugural Transition Year Modern Languages evening in the BSR, Lingfan Gao won the French award, and Claire Conway the Spanish one ... A full school photograph was taken recently (we have one every second year).