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Lucan Community College
Sad passing of a beloved teacher, colleague and friend David Byrne (1962-2019)
It is with deep sadness that we lost our dear friend, colleague, year head and teacher David Byrne on September 12th after a brief illness. David began his teaching career in Dundrum College where he worked for 10 years before taking the opportunity to work for the European Schools in Brussels. He remained with the European Schools for a further 10 years where he embraced his love of history, geography and travel. In 2009, David joined the teaching staff of Lucan Community College where he would become one of the most highly and affectionately regarded members of our staff. An invigorating presence, David took up the pastoral role of year head as well as teacher of economics, history and geography. David’s passion for teaching was built on his deep knowledge of the world, acquired through his love of both history and geography. He was also a truly committed year head for all in his care. David was a devoted sportsperson, as a player of both rugby and soccer, as well as a coach of both junior and senior rugby teams in the college. David was also instrumental in organising various charity fundraising events for Irish and global charities here in the college through our ‘jersey day’ events.
David was a true gentleman, scholar and humanitarian. He will be sorely missed by every member of our school community.
Ar dheis Dé do raibh a anam dilis.
Other school news from Lucan CC:
Debs Ball 2019: Our annual Debs ball was held for our 2019 graduates last Friday in the Red Cow Moran Hotel. The students had an amazing night to mark their achievements over the six years as students of the college. A huge thank you to our Parents Association who organized the entire event.
Subject Inspection in Engineering: Our amazing Engineering department have just completed a Department of Education subject inspection. The initial feedback was extremely positive and complimentary of the high quality teaching on offer for our students in the department. Well done to the teachers involved.
Amnesty Ambassadors of Conscience 2019:
We were delighted to host Amnesty Ireland’s national event this week celebrating their Ambassadors of Conscience. The RTE cameras were present to see our Lucan CC students receive awards for their role in the Climate Action campaign. We continue to be very proud of our students for their proactivity in raising awareness on climate change and their campaign to make a difference.
Adamstown Community College
Art Trip: The Art Department had their first Gallery Trip this year! 5th year Art students visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) on Thurs 12th September. The day started at the Freud Project; Life Above Everything; Lucian Freud and Jack B.Yeats. This landmark exhibition examines the interconnections between renowned British artist Lucian Freud and one of the most important figures in Irish art Jack B. Yeats. The students were given a guided tour of the work before the gallery opened its doors to the general public. The afternoon was spent looking at the work of contemporary Irish Artist Janet Mullarney. The day was a huge success, thoroughly enjoyed by all. We are certain the trip will provide inspiration to our very talented 5th year Art students.
The Cara Aires are a group of 5th and 6th year students who are mental health ambassadors in the school. They have gotten off to a great start this year as they met last week to decide on different activities to promote mental health such as working with teachers for the new first year wellbeing course and running restorative practice sessions to help junior students form valuable relationships with their peers. Additionally, the Cara Aires have already started to work on planning the annual Saint Vincent De Paul clothing drive as well as the Orange Day for Cycle Against Suicide and Wellbeing Week.
Open Evening: Adamstown Community College will be holding their annual open evening on Wednesday the 9th of October from 3.30-6.30. This gives an opportunity for students who are currently in 5th class, who may want to attend Adamstown in September 2021, to visit the school. This is a great opportunity for both parents and students to meet the management and teaching staff and to see everything the school has to offer. Management will be visiting the local primary school in the next number of weeks with more information.
Coláiste Phádraig
Open Night 2019: A reminder that our Open Night will be held on Thursday 3rd Oct this year in the school from 7-9pm.
AGM: A final reminder that the Parents’ AGM takes place in the school on Tuesday 24th September at 8pm.
Music Club: Our Music Club has recommenced this year with both old and new faces, spanning across all year groups, meeting up this week for the opening session of the year. Last year’s great success for the Club was reflected in the fact that 8 new members joined up already, including 6
1st yrs, so the club really is going from the strength to strength under the expert guidance of Ms. Cooney. The young musicians meet up once a week every Thursday and is always open for new members. Each member is already working on a project that they will present in a few weeks’ time. The students picked their own music related topic and the club certainly caters for an eclectic range of music styles with projects being undertaken in areas such as musicals, instruments, festivals, Indian music and various other singers and bands. It promises to be another exciting and successful year for the school’s fastest growing Club with many interesting ventures lined up including further performance and song writing workshops with Music Generation. Whether students like singing, playing an instrument, or just have a general interest in music; each week is varied with something to suit everyone.
1st yr news: Our 1st yrs have been adjusting to life in secondary school over the past few weeks and so far they have made a very good impression on the entire staff. Everyone has been commenting on their good manners, cheerfulness and enthusiasm so long may this continue! Numerous initiatives have been put in place by the school to ensure their smooth transition to their new surroundings and so far things seem to be going very smoothly for the vast majority anyway. Included in this is a new “Subject Taster” which involves all 1st yrs trying out all six subject options available to them until mid-term. The subjects involved are: Metalwork, Woodwork, French, German, Technical Graphics and Art. The students will then choose the two subjects that appeal to them the most. This allows them to make informed decisions based on their aptitudes and interests. We wish them all the best over the coming weeks and months. The group also attended an ePortfolio training seminar in the school last week. All subjects in the new Junior Cycle Curriculum now allow for students to create online ePortfolios as part of their CBAs (Classroom Based Assessments). The students can now create and upload PowerPoint presentations, audio and visual files, projects, assignments and many other types and examples of their own work completed in class or at home. The personalised ePortfolios are designed to demonstrate the student’s achievement of learning outcomes over the three years of the Junior Cycle. Using digital technology to access, manage and store information and content is one of the key skills of the Junior Cycle and all subject teachers are now responsible for helping and encouraging the students in this area. Other key skills such as stimulating creativity using digital technology, being responsible, safe and ethical when online, working with others, managing your own learning as well as communicating with others are all utilised at some stage of the student while designing ePortfolios, so the enormous educational and personal benefits to the students will hopefully be seen and felt over the three years of the Junior Cycle Programme.
Table Tennis: Congratulations to 3rd yr Navneet Sriram who recently won a prestigious u16 Loop Tournament in Raheny. Navneet also played in the Senior Competition and performed very well to reach the semi-final stage against vastly experienced and successful senior players. He is definitely a young star in the sport and has a very bright future ahead of him.
English: Well done to 6th yr Cian Egan-Tormey who won a Highly Commended Award in the PDST English Poetry National Competition. Cian wrote a poem with a strong political message entitled “Imaginary Lines”, which deals with the senselessness and futility of countries fighting each other when really we all share one planet. Robert Frost wrote that “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words”. Cian feels very strongly about the issues in his poem so it was great that he was able to find the words to express how he truly feels about such a universal and timeless issue. He will now travel to an Award Ceremony in the Citywest Hotel in November to receive his award.
Supervised Evening Study: 2nd /5th yrs after school sessions Tues. to Thurs for two hours each day. 3rd /6th yrs will do two hours of study five days a week. Hopefully those in attendance will see the fruits of their labour in the coming years.
St Joseph’s College Lucan
Cllr Vicki Casserly (Mayor of SDCC) visited our 3rd years on Wednesday to talk about life in politics and as a Mayor. We would like to thank Cllr Casserly for her visit, which was a wonderfully educational and engaging experience for our students.
6th year Geography students went to Kippure Estate, Co. Wicklow, on Tuesday to carry out their Geographical Investigation for their Leaving Certificate, accompanied by their teachers Mr O'Connor and Mr Walsh. The girls completed a field study which constitutes 20% of their final Leaving Certificate mark. The beautiful weather, fabulous scenery, autumn colours and the sound of the moving water all added to the day!
6th year students carrying out their Geographical Investigation
On Tuesday, our 4th year students attended the opening day of The National Ploughing Championships in Co. Carlow. The weather stayed fine and a super day was had by all!
4th year students enjoying the Ploughing Championships
On Wednesday, our 5th year Art students enjoyed their Sculpture Drawing Art Trip to O’Connell Street, followed by a visit to the ‘Sculpture in Context’ exhibition in the Botanic Gardens.
Congratulations to 5th year Mia O’Rahilly Egan who won the Malta Invitational Junior Girls Table Tennis Team Event in Malta last week. We are very proud of you Mia!
We were delighted to see past pupils Cadhla & Sadbh O'Reilly on the front cover of last Friday's Irish Independent and making a big impact on the Irish catwalks! The young ladies were helping to launch the Arnotts autumn-winter 2019 season collection. Cadhla & Sadbh completed the Leaving Cert in June 2019 and have started their first year of college. Well-done ladies!!!
Our Parents’ Association would like to thank everybody who supported our recent fundraising clothing collection. Your support is greatly appreciated.
This year’s Parents’ Association AGM will be on Wednesday 2nd October at 8pm. All parents are encouraged to attend.
School website https://stjosephslucan.com
Follow us on Twitter: @STJosephs3
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