S A N C T A M A R I A C O L L E G E , B A L L Y R O A N , D U B L I N 1 6 .

H t t p : / / w w w . s a n c t a m a r i a c o l l e g e . c o m

E m a i l i n f o @ s a n c t a m a r i a c o l l e g e . c o m

Sancta Maria News

Volume 11, Issue 2 Winter 2012

Díospóireachtaí Gael Linn

The Senior and Junior Irish debating teams took part in the first round of the Gael Linn Debate on

Thursday the 22nd of November in Mount Sackville, Chapeliziod. The senior team comprised of Me-

gan Kelly (Captain), Lungile Buthelezi and Rebecca Healy. The motion of the debate was “TDs and

Senators should be allowed wear their own choice of clothes in the Oireachtas." The team from

Sancta Maria College were for the motion. The junior

team comprised of Emma Basquel (Captain), Realtín

Walsh and Ellen Regan. The motion of the debate was

“Pop culture is a bad culture” The team from Sancta

Maria College were against the motion. Both teams

won and are through to the next round which will take

place in January 2013.

Beannachtaí

Na Féile

oraibh go

léir agus

Ath-bhliain

faoi mhaise!

Happy

Christmas.

Chemistry Our Chemistry class went to a very interesting seminar on water and the world of engineering in developing

countries in the civic offices on Wood Quay. This was an event happening during science week. The first

speaker was given by a man who studied engineering and then went on to helping countries in the third world

with Goal. He talked about bringing water to villages to save the women and children hours of carrying water

every day. He talked about water testing and showing villagers how to install basic toilets. He talked about

his experiences in different countries and how he got into this type of work.

A second speaker talked about water supplies in Dublin, covering everything

from the proposed Shannon scheme to building barriers in Dublin bay to

prevent flooding because of the increased frequency of significant high tides.

They were very encouraging and made sure we got answers to all the ques-

tions we had. Our class really enjoyed and learnt from the experience.

Ciara Haughton

Kenya 2013 In June 2013 ten students from Sancta Maria along with four teachers will be visiting the

African country of Kenya. The first sancta Maria Kenya project took place in 2004 and this

will be the sixth group from the college to take part in the project. Funds raised over the last

ten years have contributed to the building of a drug rehabilitation centre and a vocational

training centre for young women. The ten students who will take part in this year’s trip were

chosen just before October midterm after a very extensive selection process and they are

Carly Meredith, Michelle Mahon, Katie Murphy and Doina Tofan from Fifth Year, Aisling

Buggle, Shauna Dempsey, Aoife Keogh, Ciara O Brien, Sarah Page and Lauren Reardon

from Fourth Year.

The girls had their first major fundraiser on the weekend of November 17th and 18th

with the Church gate collection in Ballyroan. The girls spoke at the four masses on the Sat-

urday evening and Sunday morning and hosted a coffee

morning in the Parish community centre. The weekend

was a huge success and €4,200 was raised, this funding

will make a huge difference to the success of the pro-

ject and we would like to express our gratitude to Fr.

Brendan and the parishioners of Ballyroan. The stu-

dents will spend ten days in Kenya and further fund-

raising will be taking place over the coming months.

Green School Committee News There was a table quiz on Friday, December 7th in our school hall for

all First and Second Year students and we are pleased to announce

we raised €350. This will help the Committee to purchase energy

efficient lights and to reduce our ‘carbon footprint’. Thank you all

students and teachers for your help and cooperation. We could not

have achieved our objective without your participation. Well done

everybody.

In February, the Green School Assessor will be inspecting the school

to ensure that we are maintaining the standards we set ourselves in

relation to a litter-free school and of course the use of recycled paper.

She will also be looking at our attitude and practice towards energy

conservation. So try to remember to turn off that light in unoccupied

rooms and to switch off the computer at the end of the day. Every

little gesture helps. G.S.C. 2012

Badminton

Our six badminton teams are all busy participating in the inter-schools league matches.

Well done to our U.16A team who had two great wins over Wesley College and against last

years All Ireland finalists High School. Team members are Christine O’Neill, Aoife Lan-

gan, Hazel Herbst and Jennifer Breen. Congratulations also to our U16B team who over-

came St. Columcilles 6-0. Team members: – Sherry Wong, Janet Tsang, Marla Castillo and

Ciara Stack. Our U16c Team also defeated High School on a score of 5-1. Team:- Karen

Jones, Rachel Manning, Shivangy Tohani and Alannah Campbell. A special mention is due

to Karen who was playing her first ever match for the college. Good luck to the U14

teams who are about to start their league games shortly.

Build A Bank The AIB Build A Bank Programme started in our school on the 14th of November 2012.

The 4th year students that were chosen this year are Laura Byrnes, Kate McLoughlin, Iso-

belle Lahert, Carla Byrne, Jennifer Crofts and myself Sinead Scully. (The Oompa

Loompas;D)

The Build A Bank Programme allows all students in the school to set up bank accounts in a

completely non-stressful way and save small amounts of money each week. Students receive

an ATM card so the money saved can be taken out of their account whenever they need or

want it.

The Build A Bank Programme is also a nationwide competi-

tion with regional and national competitions happening

throughout the year! The more accounts opened, the better

chance we have of getting further in the competition!:D

Each year each school that competes makes up their very own

theme for their school bank based on the term “ The Wackier

The Better!”

Our theme this year is Willy Wonka And The Chocolate

Bank! Our open day was a huge success and goodies, sweets

and golden tickets were given out to each student who took an

application form.

The Oompa Loompa team are making lots of progress at the

minute and have lots of surprises, raffles, parties and other

tricks up our sleeves for the coming year!

Sinead Scully

Transition Year News 6 TY students are running a branch of Allied Irish Bank in the school every Wednesday at

lunch time. It is part a nationwide competition “Build a Bank”. The students involved are

Jennifer Crofts, Isabelle Lahert, Kate mcLoughlin, Sinead Scully. Carla Byrne and Laura

Byrnes.

All TY students will be participating in a “Drive Safe Workshop” in the weeks ahead.

A Table Quiz was held with Colaiste Eanna in Ballyboden St.Enda’s clubhouse on Tues 27th

November. Buíochas mór to Bally

boden St. Endas G.A.A. club who

provided the venue free of charge

and who couldn’t have been more

helpful in any way.

The reports were excellent for the

TY students who completed their

first week of work experience re-

cently.

All Ty students will be part of “TY

Radio” on Dublin South FM over

the course of the year. More details

later.

Cara Programme Recipe ingredients

70 plus 1st years

70 plus 5th years

350 plus cup cakes

12 Prefects

Butter icing

On Thursday 15th November the 1st and 5th year students once again got together for their

monthly Cara event. The theme of this event was cupcake decorating.

The 5th year students spent their Wednesday evening baking to ensure we had enough cup-

cakes for everyone.

Sancta Bia was the venue for all this culinary expertise and the results were fabulous. All

students had an opportunity to release their creativity and decorate in any theme they chose

Congratulations to all the students who were involved and a big thank you to the students

and parents who baked all the cakes. Add to this mix hot chocolate and cold drinks and a

fun time was had by all.

The next planned Cara event will have a distinctly Christmas theme and will be held just

before the Christmas break.

Method

Mix all students together for two hours until we have over 100

excellently decorated cup-cakes.

An Triail Ar an 13ú lá Mí na Samhna chuaigh na ranganna

gaeilge ón 6ú bhliain agus ón idirbhliain go dtí

Coláiste Belvedere chun an dráma “An Triail” a

fheiceáil. Bhí an dráma iontach ar fad agus bhí

ionadh orainn an méid sin greann a fheiceáil ar

an ardán. Bhaineamar an-taithneamh as an lá

ach níos tábhtachtaí ná sin thug an drama an-léargas dúinn ar

ghníomhaíochtaí stáitse agus mar sin. Níl dabht ar bith ach gur

chabhraigh sé lenár dtuiscint ar an drama. Buíochas mór ag dul

go Ms. Mitchell, Iníon Ní Phuirséill agus Mr. Mac Gabhann.

2nd Year Students raise €235 for Bóthar. The second year classes in Mr. Flood’s C.S.P.E. Have been busy

raising money for Bóthar with book and cake sales held by 2A3 and

2A4. We will provide money to send a pure-bred goat to a

struggling family in an underdeveloped country. Difficult though it

might be to believe receiving a goat as

a present will be like one of us

winning the Lottery. We would like to

thank everybody who made our

fundraiser such a success.

E. Mc Cann, L. Walsh.

Maths Week 2012 at SMC

A very successful and eventful Maths week was held in SMC from 15th – 19th October. A number of

events were ongoing during the week. The first and second years kicked it off by creating some post-

ers to promote the week with the list of events being placed around the school. The Maths Treasure

Hunt was enjoyed over the five days where various Teachers brought their students out of class to

try and decipher twenty five questions which were located on notice boards throughout the school.

The students really enjoyed working together to get the answers. The junior winners of this event

were : Aisha Benali, Aisha Benchabir , Gillian Doyle, Elenor Hallahan. The senior winners of this

event were Lauren Manning, Ciara Hackett, Neisha Durnin . A Maths Critical Thinking Challenge was set for junior students where they received a sheet of

varied multiple choice questions. There was a high level of interest and the following girls received a

box of quality street for their efforts; Sara Oliva Blanco in first year, Aisha Benali in second year,

Ahlam Jamaa in third year. Special mention went to five other first years that also got an excellent

ten out of ten. These were Hannah Wende-Doyle, Ciara Liu, Marta Echevarria, Andrea Sanchez and

Taylor Brennan (All from 1a1). There was an interesting In-

vestigation in association with the Chemistry department quan-

tifying how much sugar that we are consuming per day. The

results were eye opening and the students who attended got a

great insight into our actual consumption habits and how we

could improve them. Puzzles for Mammies and Daddies were

distributed to all students by first years. Many students brought

them home to their parents and came back the following day

requesting the solutions. The staff, in their busy schedules, also

took time out to have a think about some Mathematical prob-

lems. Thanks to all the staff and students who got involved and

made it a fun week for all.

Irish Dancing.

Well done to all our students who were competing in Irish Dancing Leinster Championships last week-

end in the National Basketball Arena. The students are members of Scoil Rince Bastable Warren and

were successful in many categories – they came home laden with many gold silver and bronze medals.

Senior students included Colleen and Gráinne Murphy, Shanyn Devoy, Kate Mc Loughlin and Han-

nah Mc Carthy. Junior students included Jodie Lamb, Erica Hamm, Fiona Banville, Sadhbh Medlar.

Well done to all and good luck in the All Ireland Finals.

Sancta Maria Debating Club

Don’t moan and slate it -

Lets debate it!!!

Meeting Every Wednesday Room 27 at 1.00pm

Junior Gaelic Football Match - Round 3 – 15/11/12 vs St Colmcilles

Round 3 of the Junior Football league was a very exciting affair held in Ballyboden on Thursday

15th of November. Sancta Maria College (SMC) had a stronger panel than previous matches but

still were to badly miss Transition year stars Jessica Sommerville, Shauna Dempsey, Grainne Mur-

phy, Christine O’Neill and Danielle Davis. It turned out to be an opportunity for many of the

younger girls to get experience at this level and it seems they enjoyed it.

The girls started really well with Ciara Carroll netting from midfield and Emily Byrne slot-

ting a nice point from a free. It was score for score until half time with Sophie Curran, Laura

Basquel and Megan Carroll doing great work to restrict the opposition to 3-4 in the first half. SMC

went into the break only two points behind and were well in the game. However, Injuries to two

key players including Emily Byrne took the sting out of the SMC attack. It was all to play for until

the last ten minutes when St. Colmcilles flattered the score line with late goals. Our goalkeeper,

Caroline Kane was again excellent, Sarah Lambert performed admirably as did Jade Campbell.

Both Ciara Carroll and Emily Flanagan worked really hard in midfield but the team just lacked a

bit of experience in the forwards with three of the six being in first year. These girls will look for-

ward to at least two more years playing Junior Football.

In the second half, both Ciara and Emily ran from half way on two occasions and scored

magnificent goals; but in truth these were the highlights for the Ballyroan girls. In fairness, SMC

kept going to the end and all agreed it was the best team performance in Gaelic this year so far with

everyone trying their heart out. The girls knew a lot of the St Colmcilles players and this added to

the good natured sporting play from both sides. However unfortunately, it didn’t put any extra

scores on the board and so it ended in slight disappointment for SMC. Having said that, there were

many positives and ending the year like this ensures that this Junior Panel now have something to

build on for next year with almost everyone except the Transition years underage at this grade. Fi-

nal Score was SMC 4-5, St Colmcilles 8-10. Thank you to Katie Murphy, Aoife Soffe and Lisa

Gillen, who were very helpful in preparing for the Game. Everyone is looking forward already to

next year. Most of the first and second years will play in the under 14 competition after Christmas

and there should be a First year blitz to look forward to as well.

Katie Murphy (Sancta Maria Col-

lege and Ballyboden St. Enda's)

who received the Leinster

young player of the year award

at the TG4 O'Neill's Ladies

Football All-Star Awards 2012,

Citywest Hotel, Co. Dublin. Katie

is the Games Captain in Sancta

Maria and plays both football

and camogie for the college.

Sancta Maria College Christmas Fair

‘Twas that time of year again when Sancta Maria College hosted the annual Christmas Fair.

This year the Fair was held on Thursday 13th December from 1-6pm. The students were

busy perfecting their products which included: handmade candles, Jewellery, Headphone Ear

Muffs, Pictures, Cakes, Gift boxes, Sweets and Treats, Books, Christmas Cards, Personalised

Christmas Gifts, Decorations and many more exciting offerings.

We had our Christmas Café selling Hot Chocolate, mince pies, Christmas cakes and lots

of Christmas treats. There were fun activities and games and with an opportunity for a word in

Santa’s ear, this was a fun day for everyone.

Parents and friends of Sancta Maria College were invited to attend and join in the festive

fun. S. Watson.

Transition Year P.E.

Students have been experiencing gym based activities in Tallaght Leisure Centre. Classes

include spinning, body conditioning, kick-boxing and step aerobics. In the school hall each

group has had an opportunity to participate in Shaolin Tai-Chi and learn some basic self-

defence techniques. All fourth Years took part in the Aviva Mile Challenge. We have some

athletes who could threaten for Olympic places in Rio! The runners will receive a colour

coded wrist band indicating the times run by each individual. Sinead Ryan clocked an in-

credible time of just over the four minute mark!

Hey there, Pink Ladies. Fourth year students are performing a rockin’ roll musical

this January: GREASE!!! Our show is taking place on Thursday the 24th,

Friday the 25th and Saturday the 26th of January. The tickets are €5 for a student

and €10 for an adult. You can buy your tickets from early December at the office.

It would be greatly appreciated for all students and staff to support our transition

year musical. This is an event not to be missed. Join Sandy, Danny and all the

gang for the hottest musical of the year. See you there!! Hannah Quinn, Laura Byrnes 4

th year

TRIP TO THE DSPCA On October 15th of this year, the class of 3A2 visited the DSPC as part of their 3rd year

action project.

While there, we learnt about the works of the DSPCA and how their organization is run.

We also learnt about the welfare of animals and how to care for animals. We heard stories

about the animal tenants that live there - some happy and some sad.

At the end of the day we got the opportunity to meet the animals that were currently living

there. We saw cats, dogs, rats, mice, goats a peacock and even a pig, who probably got a lot

more attention from a fellow classmate (who shall not be named ) than he bargained for.

All in all, it was a memorable day and we

were glad to have been able to do it. We'd

highly recommend anyone and everyone to

visit the DSPCA. Maybe you might even get

a new pet while you're there.