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Adamstown Community College
Art Attack!!
On the 16th of October the 6th year art students went on a walking tour of public art in the local area with Miss Kavanagh and Miss Donovan.
They visited Lucan library to look at a stained glass piece by Katherine Lambe, two bronze sculpture pieces in St Finians Park by artist Louise Walshe and several painted electrical boxes in the Adamstown area which were completed as part of #Dublin Canvas initiative.
The students were given worksheets to complete and also sketched each piece of public art. This tour enabled our art students to familiarise themselves with public art in their local area, and also its accessibility and relationship within the community. Each student then created their own piece of art in school, which was influenced by the work they saw. A great experience for everyone!
Green schools: Adamstown Community College continues to reduce our environmental footprint. Our green school committee is now aiming to reduce water consumption and continue to reduce the amount of plastic our community produces.
All members of our school community now have reusable water bottles to help with this campaign.
These bottles are funded from our school contribution, another example of how our students invest in their futures.
Colaiste Phadraig
English: The students of 1 Yeats were recently given a project to find out as much as they could about the great Irish poet after whom they are named - W.B Yeats of course. The students went to great effort to research our famous national poet. The students then got to present their information to their English teacher Ms. O' Brien and their classmates and some very creative methods were used such as short movies, slideshows and short talks about their favourite Yeats' poem. Conor Griffin showed pictures of a visit he made with his family to Yeats' grave in Sligo while Sam Deegan wrote his information onto a manuscript that he made himself. Sam's creative and artistic piece was selected as the winning entry so well done to him. All of the students should be proud of the huge effort they put into their projects. Not only did they learn about Yeats' life but also some important events in Irish history such as the establishment of the Abbey Theatre. Hopefully this will lead to a greater interest in Irish literature for the students.
Transition Year: Our TY students enjoyed an adrenaline-fuelled day at Kylemore Karting recently. Despite the numerous COVID-19 restrictions and regulations in place (one way systems, frequent hand sanitising, Perspex screens, social distancing) the students had an amazing day of competitive racing aided by the extra security of the usual racing face coverings and sanitised helmets and suits.
The challenging Track 1 has an acute mix of banked corners, challenging gradients, chicanes and hairpins that certainly demands intense concentration. Our fearless students took to the tight and twisty tracks like experienced Formula 1 drivers, speeding down the fast downhill section before expertly applying the brakes at the hairpin and accelerating away from the corner away into the distance along the 70m back straight. Some of the more excitable drivers of course left the braking to the last second, causing them to slam into the tyre barriers with their dignity somewhat left strewn on the track behind them! Ryan Joe Bayly and Conor Aaron Henson posted the fastest lap times to claim the bragging rights on the day.
Awards: At the end of every month in Colaiste Phadraig the class tutors select a student of the month from their tutor group. The student is chosen after close consultation with the class teachers. These awards are not academic awards and every student has the same chance to be nominated, regardless of ability. The class tutors take into account the student's behaviour and effort in class throughout the course of the month. Generally, the award goes to a student that is well mannered, hard-working, positive, co-operative and attentive. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the canteen is unfortunately closed so this year Lunchbag, the company the school is now using to supply lunches to students and staff, have kindly agreed to sponsor all of the class tutor winners with a 5 euro voucher for their lunches and these have proved very popular with the students.
From this set of monthly winners, the main award, the Mark O' Neill student of the Month, is then selected based on recommendations from Year Heads and management. This award goes to a student that has gone that little bit extra throughout the month in all areas of school life. Parents are always thrilled when their son tells them the good news and shows them the beautiful framed certificate they each winner receives. It invariably takes pride of place on the mantelpiece and is always a good talking point when relatives and friends visit (while complying with the latest public health guidelines of course!).
Colaiste Phadraig has a strong tradition of positive reinforcement and awards, which traditionally culminates in the Awards Night in the school hall in May, perhaps the most eagerly anticipated school social event of the year where parents, family, friends, students, teachers, staff and management (as well as special guests) get together to publically celebrate the fantastic achievements of our students throughout the year. The cancellation of the Awards Night back in May was a huge loss to the school so fingers crossed we can hold the ceremony in May 2021 to once again reward and congratulate the huge number of personal and group achievements of our student population.
1st yr news: The 1st yr Immunisation Programme was delivered by the HSE School Immunisation team in the City West Convention Centre over the past few weeks. This programme is part of a national strategy to protect children from infectious diseases through vaccination. The Schools Immunisation Programme offered the HPV vaccine for boys which helps protect the students against a virus that can cause certain types of cancer, a tetanus, low dose whooping cough booster vaccine as well as a booster dose of the MenACWY non live vaccine which protects against a number of serious infections.
Vaccinations are part of school life even though the students can be somewhat nervous and hesitant on the day. The feedback in general was quite positive and despite a small number experiencing minor and temporary side effects such as dizziness and minor headaches, these are a small price to pay for immunisation against so many diseases.
St Joseph's College Lucan
Presentation Day 21st November is celebrated in the school every year. This year due to Covid restrictions we could not celebrate Mass in the church. All students remained in their classes and linked together through Zoom. We had a lovely ceremony, led by Ms. Fitzgerald and Fr Tom Kennedy. A girl from each year group read a Prayer of the Faithful and Aoife Gorman sang a beautiful rendition of 'Who will light the lantern?' Our Head Girl Aine O'Brien and Deputy Head Girl, Laura Sharkey spoke about the history of Nano Nagle and what it means to walk in the footsteps of Nano today in 2020. During the ceremony, a lantern, symbolic of Nano Nagle, was lit in every classroom. Undoubtedly, we here in St Joseph's College as a school community continue to live out the values and good works of the Presentation sisters.
Megan and Jennifer hold a symbolic Lamp on Presentation Day
This week our students are completing their Term Exams . We wish them all the very best and hope all of their hard work pays off!
Our Parents' Association are holding a Monster Raffle draw on the 17th of December. There are wonderful prizes including vouchers, afternoon tea and meal-out vouchers, make up and other great prizes! All of the funds raised will be spent on student projects, such as the Rosie Garden in the school, work on the yard to allow students to have outdoor activities and outdoor table tennis. Our Parents' Association have worked very hard to make this a great success. It may be the only event that our Parents' Association can hold this year, so all support would be very much appreciated. Details of the Raffle and prizes can be found on our Website.
Last week was Stand up Week , to raise awareness about homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, with 73% of LGBTI+ students feeling unsafe in school. We wanted to send out a clear message that our school is a safe place for All students. To Mark the week, we had a non-uniform day on Friday and asked each year group to wear a different colour of the rainbow flag. All students and teachers got involved, wearing one colour or all of them! The result was our whole school was awash with colour, showing our support to all the members of the LGBTI+ community in our school!
Mr Smyth, wearing his 'Rainbow' shirt, with some of his 'Red for the day' 1st year students
Our Student Council have been very active this term. Recently they have been doing a wonderful job promoting social distancing in the school classrooms, corridors and yard. Well done!
Student Council members promoting social distancing on the corridors
School website https://stjosephslucan.com
Follow us on Twitter: @STJosephs3
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