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St. Conleth's College

Senior School Parents’ Association

Newsletter

Updates on Information and Activities | November 2014

Welcome

Welcome New Parents and

Students

Message from Dónal Ó Dúlaing

Dates for your Diary

St. Conleth’s College 75th

Anniversary Celebrations

Parents' Association Committee

Junior & Leaving Cert. results

Update on School Activities

My New School

Update on Sporting

Activities

Christmas Tree Sale

Information Boards

3rd Year Trip to Donegal

Surnames in the School

6th Year Retreat

Our Parents’ Association AGM

New Facebook Group

Buskers’ Corner

Supporting the 75th

Celebrations

Label it or Lose It

Sixth Year Debs

Collection for

Women’s Refuge

New Student

Council

And Finally...

Contents

Welcome

Hello and welcome to our latest edition of the

St. Conleth’s Senior School Parents’

Association Newsletter for this school year.

We hope that you and your family are all enjoying the great

Autumnal weather. It’s hard to believe but there are only a few

short weeks until the end of the first term.

As you probably know this is a very special year

for St. Conleth’s College as the school is

celebrating its 75th anniversary. The celebrations

have already begun with a special whole School

Assembly, a Celebration Mass and the Gala

Dinner. And more events are

planned for the remainder of the year.

At the Parents’ Association AGM we launched

our Facebook group which covers the whole

school (junior and senior) and already we’ve

received some tremendous feedback on this.

So it is very much worth joining if you are a

Facebook user, if you aren’t then maybe this is

the reason to start! Also at the AGM we had a

super talk from John Lonergan on parenting,

he is a very special speaker and everyone

attending had some very wise words to take

away.

Our two objectives for this year as a Parents’

Association are to inform and involve parents

and we’ve joined forces with the Junior School

Parents Association to work on a One School

basis.

We do hope you enjoy the rest of this newsletter and look

forward to catching up with you over the next few weeks.

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To the Parents of New Students

A big welcome to all the parents of new students to our school.

The Parents’ Association extends a warm welcome to your son

or daughter and we hope that they have settled in well. This in-

cludes all of our first year students, the girls who have joined in

5th year and all new students in every year. We hope that this

newsletter helps provide information about our school and if we

can help you in any way, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Dates for your Diary

1st Year Parent

Teacher meeting

Christmas

Exams

Last day of Term

(Happy Christmas!)

First day of new Term

Christmas Fair and

Xmas Tree Sale

Next Parents’

Association

committee meeting

5th Year Parent

Teacher meetings

2nd Year Parent

Teacher meetings

Annual Mass and

Carol Service

Check out the School Calendar

here: www.stconleths.ie/

pages/school-calendar.php

Principal’s Message

It’s hard to believe that we are coming into

December and not far off the halfway mark in

the school year. It has been a busy

beginning for all — between parents, pupils

and teachers. The new First Years have

found their feet and are beginning to make

their mark on school life and the Fifth Year girls have become

part of the 'furniture'.

The school community is all about participation and everyone

making their contribution. The school rugby, basketball, golf and

athletic teams have all competed with much success in October

and November. Debating teams are up and running with

representatives from all years. Many of our talented young

musicians and singers participated in Buskers Corner and at our

assemblies in September and October. Not to mention that all

classes raised over €800 for Goal on Jersey Day.

I would like in particular to thank all the parents, pupils and staff

for their contributions in making our 75th Anniversary Assembly

and Gala Dinner and Mass such wonderful days. All that is great

about our school was on show on those days. I will single out

the school choir for particular mention. For such a small school

they were immense, as were all the boys and girls who gave up

their time on a Saturday evening.

With Christmas not too far off let me be the first to offer all

associated with St. Conleth's College a Happy and Holy

Christmas. Nollaig faoi shéan agus faoi mhaise díobh go léir.

Dónal Ó Dúlaing

Senior School Principal

Final collection day for

Women's Refuge Charity

appeal

School Closed

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St. Conleth’s College 75th Anniversary Celebrations

St. Conleth’s College, started the celebrations for its 75th anniversary in style this

September. Founded in September 1939, on the day after World War II was declared, by

Bernard Sheppard the school was originally located in 17 Clyde Road, but was moved to

its current address of number 28 in 1940.

Ann Sheppard, summed up the achievements of the past 75 years "We are extremely proud of the

school's achievements and contribution to education in Ireland over the past 75 years. We have

produced academics and sporting greats. We have always prided ourselves on being responsible for the

total development of the young adult. It is this vision that my father founded the school on - and it is this

vision that the school remains dedicated to today."

Whole School Assembly: On September 4th, 2014, the school began the year of celebrations

marking the actual date of the 75th anniversary. Of course, Headmaster Mr. Kevin Kelleher, who joined

the school just a few years into its existence, was on hand to lead the festivities on this date which

included a school concert, speeches, the anniversary cake, and best of all an ice-cream truck!

Celebration Mass: a very special mass was held in St Mary’s on Haddington Road on the same

day as the gala dinner, attended by management and staff from the school, parents, past pupils.

Students also attended and performed a lovely carol service.

Gala Dinner: The school hosted a gala dinner to celebrate its

seventy-fifth anniversary on Saturday 27th

September 2014, and welcomed over 265

guests comprising current and alumni staff,

pupils, parents and friends to the school.

Special guest, and proud parent alumnus Ruairi

Quinn, delivered the keynote speech.

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We would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all of the parents who volunteered and contributed last year and in particular the class representatives. We would also like to welcome our class reps for the coming year: -

1A Ceinwen Reilly

1A Mary Harnett

1B Gina Lenehan

2A Barbara Hughes

2B Rachel McKeown

3A Martina Kelly

3B Grainne Gilleran

4A Philo Hassett

4A Alan Collins

4B Tom O’Connor

5A Cathy Coll

5B Denise Kinsella

6A Paul Allen

6B Bernard Raftery

If you need to contact anyone on the committee the details are available here>>

In addition we would like to pay a big tribute to the outgoing committee members: - Rhona Boylan, Eva Byrne, Lucy McCormack and William Redmond

Your Parents’ Association Junior & Leaving Certificate Results

Congratulations to all students who received their

Junior and Leaving Certificate results. Overall the

results were excellent across the board, with a

large number of very high marks achieved in both

LC and JC. This success reflects both the efforts

and hard work of the students and the dedication of

the teachers in the school.

New Parents’ Association Committee

Taking a quick break from their hard work at the last committee

meeting, the new committee pose for a group photo.

Back: Bernard Raftery, Rachel McKeown, Denise Kinsella, Barbara Hughes, Cathy Coll, Gina Lenehan (treasurer) and Tom O’Connor Front: Mary Harnett, Martina Kelly, Paul Allen (Chairperson), Alan Collins and Grainne Gilleran (Secretary) Absent from Photo: Ceinwen Reilly and Philo Hassett

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Debating: Three St. Conleth's students were part of the extremely successful Team Ireland in the 2014 World Schools' Debating Championships in Thailand this August. Matthew Collins, Christopher Costigan and Daniel Gilligan, along with their other two teammates, progressed through 10 preliminary and knock-out rounds to reach the Semi-Final. They were narrowly defeated by the eventual winners, England. The 76th Session of the St. Conleth's Debating Society has already got off to a triumphant start, with Daniel Gilligan and Conor White winning the UCD L&H Schools' Mace, Simon Pettitt and Harry Mansfield reaching the final of the CCC Junior Mace, and many teams at junior and senior levels progressing through the early rounds of the prepared competitions.

St. Conleth’s India Expedition: The plans for the Expedition to India in June 2015 are progressing well. Ten students took part in the “Training Weekend” at the end of October. They hiked into the Mourne Mountains, pitched tents on the mountain side and prepared lunch and an evening meal before camping overnight. In the morning they made breakfast and then hiked back to the Mourne Lodge Centre to chat about the two days, reviewing what they’d all learned and what could be improved. Everyone agreed that it had been a great workout. Part of the project is to encourage each student to work at raising the money to pay for the cost of their trip to India and so now their minds are focusing on fund-raising. As 2015 begins the planning, preparation and fund-raising will gather pace so keep an eye out in the next newsletter for more news on this exciting project. And there is still time for more students to apply to take part in this trip of a lifetime.

Heartaid Screening: very successful programme offered by the school.

First Year History Trip to Ferrycarrig

Trip to Leisureplex for 85 pupils who assisted with the 75th celebrations

COA talk for sixth year parents and students

UNICEF's 'Day of the Child' celebrated by 2a with an impromptu class concert

Mr. Sheridan led his Second Year Religion class on a trip to the mosque in Clonskeagh

Update on School Activities

My New School

Here’s a short article written by Rian Lawlor in 1st Year on the challenges

of starting in a new school…

Starting Secondary school was very difficult for me. It was hard getting used to

getting your books for your next three classes and getting to know all the teach-

ers. But after a week or two, I started to really enjoy secondary school and

thanks to all the staff of St. Conleth’s that have helped me get used to all

the changes secondary school had in store for me. Now I really enjoy

secondary school and it is no bother to me getting my books

and interacting with the teachers. St Conleth’s College is a

great school and I am very glad I came here.

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St. Conleth’s encourages all students to participate in school sports—this is shown with the

amount of students participating in all the sports on offer athletics, tennis, and basketball,

golf, hiking, fencing and rugby.

Hiking: There will be a number of school hikes taking place in the new year over

weekends. It is to prepare the 4th & 5th Year students who are participating in the

expedition to India in June. But these hikes are open to any student that is interested so please keep an eye

out on the school website for more details.

Rugby: Rugby is going strong in the

school this year. 1st years are

progressing well. The JCT started their

cup campaign with an emphatic victory

over St. Macdarras in Old Belvedere RFC

but lost out in a hard fought match in the

2nd round to Mount Temple. The Seniors

Cup team are progressing very well this

year—they have already secured a semi

final spot in section A league, and are in

the quarter final of the cup. They were

the first team to win a schools cup game

on the new surface in Donnybrook defeating St.

Pauls 48 - 22.

Athletics The athletics teams have had several

cross country meets throughout the 1st half of the

year. Tim Leary came fourth in the Blackrock meet

while the junior cross-country team came in 5th.

Basketball : Basketball continues at St. Conleth's

with Shane Byrne and Richard Hogan captaining

U16s and U19s respectively. We had tough, close

losses on the road in the Cup but 16s have made the

Dublin Plate Quarterfinal. And Mark Gilleran is on the

Irish U16 team.

Golf: The Golf team have been taking part in the

Leinster schools golfing championship. They have

competed in the strokes and match play.

Fencing: Fencing takes place after school on Fridays for any

students are interested .

Tennis: Tennis will be starting in the last term of the year.

Update on Sporting Activities

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Christmas Tree Sale

On Saturday 6th December, St. Conleth’s will hold

its annual sale of Christmas Trees. The trees will be

of the best quality ~ Noble and Nordmann trees, in a full

range of sizes from 3ft to 14ft in height. Tree-stands in

three different styles will also be on display and if

required the trees can be cut, drilled to take a stand,

netted for easy transportation and delivered to your

home if required.

In addition, Christmas Wreaths and Poinsettias will be

on offer together with a selection of gifts including Yule

Logs and Christmas Cards. Refreshments including Tea

and Coffee will also be available to warm you.

Most important of all is that every Euro of the proceeds

from the sale of the Trees will be given to the Ugandan

school and community that St. Conleth’s has been

helping to support for several years.

Five years ago, when the sun went down there was no

electricity to light the school and dormitories in Uganda,

so everything came to a stop. Now the solar panels that

St. Conleth’s Christmas Trees helped to provide, light

the darkness and so the children can continue with their

homework and studies. Five years ago, if a big storm

damaged the roads, the teachers could not reach the

school so once again, everything stopped. Now the

house that St. Conleth’s Christmas Trees helped to

build, provides accommodation for four teachers so that

school does not need to close when the weather gets too bad.

And the money we’ve raised through the sale of Christmas Trees has helped to provide Goats to help the local farmers diversify.

The success of the programme has prompted the Ugandan government to provide extra funds for a computer room.

Can there be a better way to spread the Christmas message around the world than by buying your

Christmas Tree from St. Conleth’s this year? We look forward to seeing you there.

Some pictures from last year’s event

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Information Boards

If you’ve been in the school recently you might have noticed the extensive number of information boards all

around the school. These were created for the 75th Anniversary and cover a large range of topics including:

Early Days, Sports, Debating, Past Pupils, Parents Associations, Awards, Music, Rugby, Staff, Trips,

Expeditions, School Buildings, etc.

3rd Year French Trip to Donegal

Third years left the school shortly after 8am on Sunday 12th October and travelled by bus to Donegal. Ms

Crowley and Mr Manners travelled with them. They went to the 'Language & Adventure' school in Bundoran and

stayed in the Donegal

Adventure centre. The

mornings were spent at 3 hours

of French classes which

included understanding the

junior cert oral conversation,

aural and exam format. The

afternoons were spent on

activities such as a climbing

wall and surfing. They returned

home on Tuesday afternoon

having had a good

time and hopefully with

improved French!

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Surnames in the School

We recently created a “Tag Cloud” graphic with the surnames of all senior school students - can you find yours?

The size of the name reflects the number of students.

6th Year Retreat to Avoca

On the 4th November the sixth years journeyed to Wicklow on their overnight retreat. On arrival they undertook the various challenging team building exercises, and then following a hearty lunch, they tackled survival skills followed by a night-time bonfire in the evening. The next day the students tried out archery and the “leap of faith”. It was a very successful team building enjoyed by all.

Thanks to Eliot

Browne 5th year for

the photos

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Parents’ Association Annual General Meeting

Over 60 parents attended the Senior School Parents' Association AGM on Monday 13th October to hear

guest speaker John Lonergan give a fascinating and thought provoking speech on parenting. John

discussed the challenges and rewards of being a parent in modern Ireland. Based on his own experience

as a father and grandfather and on the experience of the many parents and teenagers he has met in his

capacity as governor of Mountjoy, John detailed how parenting is by far the most difficult and complex

task anyone will ever take on, “I know of no other task that an adult will undertake in life that is as

demanding, challenging, responsible, complicated and never-ending as parenting”. John’s message is

hugely positive, compassionate and powerful—he emphasises the importance of communication and

consensus, outlining that good communication allows us to interact positively with our children and will

help us become more successful parents. At John’s request, in lieu of a speaker fee a donation was

made to Grow, who provide support for people recovering from mental illness.

During the brief formal AGM part of the night chairperson Paul Allen spoke about our objectives as a

Parents’ Association. The first objective for the coming year is to inform and involve parents as much as

possible about the varied and exciting events happening in the school. The class representative system

being the cornerstone of our communications—using e-mails, texts, meetings and social gatherings for

each class and year. This is supplemented by the newsletter and at the meeting we formally launched

our new Facebook Group (more in this later in the newsletter). The second major objective for the

coming year is the concept of One School encompassing the junior and senior schools and as a Parents’

Association we are looking to work hand in hand with the Junior School Parents’ Association.

The night concluded with a cheese and wine reception and a lot of interesting feedback and discussions.

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We hope you’re enjoying this newsletter. For anyone that needs a more regular news fix on all things

relevant to parents, guardians and others interested in St. Conleth’s College, why not join our Face-

book Group? Then you won’t miss all the fun (and the useful information too)!

Just click here to join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ConlethsPA/

If you’ve never used Facebook before, maybe this is the reason to start! Here’s a sample

of some recent posts over the past week or so:

The intention of the Group is to share information relevant to parents/guardians associated with the school

and to create a community among these parents/guardians. Membership of the Group is restricted (i.e. it

is a closed Facebook Group) for parents/guardians and others associated with the school (except for stu-

dents). Content is the lifeblood of a Facebook Group – so the more (relevant) content the better,

any member can post or comment. If you have any questions, or have difficulty joining the

group, let your class representative know and they can arrange support.

The St Conleth’s Parents’ Associations

(Junior and Senior school) launch their

new joint Facebook Group

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The role of the Senior School

Parents’ Association is to provide

a forum for the interaction

between pupils, parents and St.

Conleth's College. The

association seeks to "inform and

consult parents regarding school

policy, plans and activities and to

organise and encourage parent

participation in events of

common interest”.

If you need to contact anyone on the committee the details are available here>>

Alternatively just leave a message with the school secretary who will pass it on.

Role of the Parents’

Association

Buskers’ Corner

The talents of the students in St. Conleth’s know no bounds

when it comes to performing, and this is demonstrated on a

monthly basis when buskers corner is held in the school hall.

Music is now firmly ensconced in the hearts of the students and

there is never a shortage of performers—singing, musical

instruments of all kinds, bands, and lots of other performing

skills— who want to show their talents to their teachers and

fellow students.

Thanks to Eliot Browne 5th year for the photos

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Label it or Lose it

The time has come to label our children! Well not our children, but every item of clothing and every piece of equipment that they bring to school. Already this year the school has a big collection of jumpers, trousers and skirts which they can not reunite with their owners as they are not labelled. Labelling is boring, but it will pay off in the end both in time and MONEY. It will also make life easier for parents, children and the school staff. There are couple of methods.

Fabric Markers can be bought at any good art and hobby shop. These have the advantage of permanently recording the child’s name on their garments.

Pre-printed labels can be bought at the shop from which the uniforms are purchased and also from most department stores. The labels are a little time consuming to iron on and can be peeled off but they are handy if you plan to pass the garment on to younger siblings.

You can of course embroider your little darling’s name on all their garments if you have the time and patience.

When it comes to books write the name on a few pages throughout the book. Items like calculators should have your child’s name scratched in to the casing. Lastly, every now and then check your child’s uniform,

books and equipment to ensure that everything actually belongs to them, as it is easy for items to be brought home by accident. Happy Labelling.

Parents Associations Supporting the 75th Celebrations

On your behalf and in conjunction with the Junior School Parents’ Association and the Past Pupils Union

the Senior School Parents’ Association has been contributing to and supporting the 75th celebrations. At

the Special School Assembly a number of celebration cakes were presented to the school and very gladly

consumed by students and everyone present. We also published congratulatory notifications in the Irish

Times during September to ensure that our alumni and others connected with the school were aware of the

occasion and the events planned. To mark the 75th anniversary of the school, we commissioned a portrait

for presentation to Kevin Kelleher and Ann Sheppard.

The picture below was taken photographer Barry Regan of Icon Photography (who also takes all of the

class photos for the school). The result was a beautiful portrait of "Mr Conleth" & "Ms Conleth" (as they

were referred to on the night of the presentation). This picture is now hanging in the school.

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Sixth Year Debs

The 2014 St. Conleth’s College debs was a fantastic and enjoyable night. The class were dressed to the

nines in their black tie tuxedoes and elegant gowns. A standard which I think baffled Mr. Kelleher as well as

some of the parents, seeing us all look so well.

Beginning with a lovely reception in the school hall, the event then moved all of 200 yards to the Hampton

hotel in Donnybrook, where the class

and their dates had a very nice three

course meal. Which then was followed

by a trip down to the Vanilla nightclub

just beneath the hotel. It must be said

credit where credit is due, the night

was organised flawlessly by Anne

Cahill and William Redmond, to whom

we extend our most gracious

thanks. They organised a very

enjoyable event for the whole year."

Submitted by last year’s school

captain, James

Lardner

Collection for Women’s Refuge — by Friday 12 December

The Junior School Parents Association is organising a collection of items for the Wom-

en’s Refuge in Rathmines. They need the following:- new toys, used DVD’s and games

for XBOX etc. in perfect condition, second hand bikes and scooters in very good condi-

tion, toiletries, books, board games. One of the interesting things they mentioned was

that they find it difficult to source items suitable for teenagers. The Rathmines Wom-

en’s Refuge is one of the country’s largest women’s refuges, which houses up to 10

families at any one time, and has been helping victims of domestic violence since 1986.

Please help this good cause.

The unofficial class

photograph!

New Student Council

Congratulations to the new members of the Student Council which represents the interests of students at St.

Conleth's. This is an active students council which is run by the school captain and elected class captains.

Back: Oisín Gilligan (3b); James McEvaddy (5b); Kevin Dolan (5th Yr); Mati Remi (4th Yr); Noah Brabazon (5a); Paul Ralph (3a) Middle: Daniel Gilligan (5th Yr), Hannah Collins (5th Yr); Rory Smith (2b); Front: Stephen Smullen (1b), Daragh O’Connor (school vice captain); Conor White (school captain); Isabelle Connolly (girls captain), Charlie Downes (2a) Also Frank Knowles (1a)

© 2014 St. Conleth’s College Parents’ Association Our postal address: Senior School Parents’ Association, St. Conleth’s College, Clyde Road, Dublin 4, Ireland

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If you have any feedback; would

like to update your details or

include an article in our next

edition then please contact us.

This Newsletter is also available

to read or download online at

stconleths.ie

Suggestion Box

There is lots of information on

the school website and it is

regularly updated. Do check it

regularly

Home page here>>

School News here>>

The School text messaging

service here>>

Transition Year Student blog,

here>>

Useful School Links

Happy Christmas

Although it’s not yet December, our next newsletter will only be

published in February, so we would like to wish all parents,

guardians, students, teachers, school management and school

staff a very Happy Christmas!

Pat McGrath retirement

The Parents’ Association wish Pat McGrath, the very popular and long-time teacher of Biology, Science and Business, the very best to him in his retirement.

75th Commemoration Book

Did you get your 75th Anniversary booklet? They were distributed to the students - one for each family. Enjoy the read!

Parent’s Queries

We love receiving

queries from

parents which we

look to answer or

address with the

school. Please contact your

class rep who will raise the issue

and provide you with the

response. If there is anything of

general interest we will publish it

here in the newsletter.

Get Well Soon Ann

Our best wishes to Ann Sheppard following her re-cent hospital stay. All the best from the senior school parents and we hope to see you back next week.

Nut Free School

Due to a very severe nut allergy, St Conleth’s College is now a nut free zone. Can you please ensure that there are no nut products in lunch boxes and please do ask your children not to purchase nut products at lunchtime and bring them onto the school premises.

And Finally...

Next Newsletter

We’ll be publishing our next edition in February. If you have any articles, photos, or suggestions for content, please send to your class rep.