St. Mary’s BNS
Thanks to everyone who supported our fundraiser for the Irish Red Cross who support countries suffering in the world such as the Ukraine. The boys raised €1158.
From left to right, Ted McHugh, Shane Claffey (past-pupil) from the Irish Red Cross, Ruairí Dowling, Adam O’Donnell, Dara Burke, Principal.
St Joseph’s College Lucan
Voice of Poetry: Our English Department held their Annual Voice of Poetry first year competition on Friday last. The students gave a great account of themselves with some very impressive displays. We were delighted to have author Caroline Finnerty with us in school as part of the Judging panel. We will have to wait until awards day until we find out who the winners are.
Transition Year Trip: Our Transition Year group had a wonderful trip to Tayto Park on Friday last. The 120 strong group enjoyed the thrills of the roller-coaster with the Cu Chulainn being the highlight. They also enjoyed all of the tasty treats that were on offer with the famous Tayto Park twisted chip going down a treat.
Special Assemblies: Our Special Assemblies will take place this week for all our Year Groups. These awards are Teacher nominated awards for special contributions by students within subject areas. Well done to all who receive an award this week.
Sports Day: Our annual Sports day is back for all students after a couple of years break. We plan to have our sports day on Thursday the 19th of May (Weather Permitting). All students will take part in team-based games in the morning of the sports day within their tutor groups before moving to the track for the second part of the Sports day. It promises to be great day with a BBQ and ice cream van also planned. Hopefully the weather behaves and we will have a full report on our sports day next week.
2nd Year Stay Awake: Our Cinnire team held a hugely successful stay awake on Friday evening when over 80 2nd years took part in their Pyjama party Theme stay awake event. Well done to all the organisers and to those who supervised on Friday evening from 7-10.
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Coláiste Phádraig
Physics: Our 5th yr students walked the short distance to Willsbrook Park next to the school to take part in an interesting Physics experiment with their teacher Ms. Smith. They were there to investigate the effects of resonance on the N4 footbridge. A bridge can fall down when it is forced to vibrate at its natural frequency. A pedestrian’s natural gait typically corresponds to a frequency of about 2Hz and it has been noted that there is an instinctual tendency for people to synchronise their steps with the bridge motion and with one another.
The students marched across the bridge in unison so that they would transfer their energy at the same frequency. Although the N4 footbridge has a resonance that is close to a frequency that pedestrians typically walk at, the students thankfully managed to avoid collapsing the bridge! (primarily as it would have required a greater number of pedestrians marching across in unison) but they found the experiment to be extremely interesting and thought-provoking.
Geography: Our 5th year Geography students completed their Field Studies recently as part of their Leaving Cert assessment. The class groups carried out their research and assessment on the River Griffeen in Lucan. The students studied various geographical features relevant to their Leaving Cert course such as the river’s cross sectional area, river gradient, valley profile, velocity and bedload analysis. The day was a great success and the students now must follow up by completing a Geographical Investigation Project worth 20% of their overall Leaving Cert mark in the subject. There was a lot of rain in the days leading up to the field trip so this definitely helped the students with their studies.
Trips: Our 1st yr students enjoyed a trip to Tayto Park last week. Based in County Meath, this hugely popular theme park and Zoo has over 100 attractions for all ages so even the teachers were a little excitable and somewhat giddy on the bus last Thursday morning! Once inside, the students had free access to all of the exhilarating rides and attractions and despite some long queues at the most popular attractions, they all a brilliant time.
With speeds of up to 40kmph and reaching heights of up to 68 feet, The Endeavour ride was one of the highlights of the day, especially for the adrenaline junkies among the 1st yrs!
Some of our bravest students loved getting strapped into The Rotator and defying gravity by soaring 31m into the sky for an awe-inspiring and thrilling ride! The Air Race ride was not for the faint hearted as it invited the those willing to risk seeing the lunch they had just consumed make a re-appearance, to soar, twist and spin on a stomach churning aerial adventure!
The Cú Chulainn Coaster is Europe’s largest wooden rollercoaster and reaches speeds of up to 90km/h so naturally the 1st yrs absolutely loved this rocky, thrilling, adventure ride.
Our 1st yrs had an amazing day and they really deserved their fun as they have been an absolute privilege to work with throughout the school year.
Our 6th yr students also got to travel to Tayto Park last Friday and it was a great opportunity for them to take well-earned break from their studies.
Snooker: Congratulations to 3rd yr David Farrelly who reached the u16 National Snooker Championship Final last weekend but unfortunately he was beaten by Leone Crowley, the current u18 and u21 National Champion.
David is an exceptional talent himself and regularly plays with his uncle Fergal O’ Brien, who is still competing to a decent level in the professional ranks.
David has also been named on the Republic of Ireland team that will compete in this year’s Celtic Challenge in Wales in July, a hugely prestigious junior International event so we wish him all the best.
Transition Year: Our TY students took part in the Spaghetti and Marshmallow Tower Challenge recently. This is a STEM activity for beginners in design thinking to practice prototyping in testing. The students were given 20 small marshmallows, 20 pieces of spaghetti and 30cm of tape by their science teacher Ms. Smith. They had to work in teams to build the highest free-standing tower and the students took to the task with relish! They had a set time and the marshmallow had to be attached to the top of the structure. It was a great team-work exercise and the students learned how to work together and be creative, innovative and focused.
A couple of the structures were in danger of collapsing due to the weight of the marshmallow but the students managed to refine their efforts and create more stable and higher structures. Implementing new learnings and instant feedback from others into the next prototype is the essence of innovation so it was an educational and fun activity for the students involved.
The TY students were also out on work experience last week in various placements around the city.
Lucan Community College
TY Musical - Report by Ruby Crocker-Dunne
In the theatre world, Monday 16th March 2020 is commonly referred to as “Dark Monday”. It was the night when theatres went dark. Ghost lights were left on in theatres all over the world as a beacon of hope, to let the world know that theatres would re-open. With The Lucan CC Transition Year production of “Little Shop of Horrors” it is clear that the show is back on the road!
The production was a huge success. It had a sell-out run over three nights last week. This is not surprising as an event like this, where current and past students, parents, staff and the wider community come together to experience the amazing talent and work of our students and staff is what we do well and what shows best how we live our school motto Aontas!
Thanks also to Year Head Mr. Grimes, Transition Year coordinator and the entire Transition Year tutor team who encouraged students to get involved with the show. The show also benefited from the help of our caretaking, housekeeping and secretarial staff – Thank You. Thanks Mr. Coogan for your great work on the stage.
The show couldn’t have gone ahead without the sound and lights team, the orchestra, Ms. Freeman and her TY Enterprise class and members of our Parents Association. Thank you to Ms. Birnie, Mr. Brett, Ms. Malone, Ms. Brady and every single member of the staff of Lucan Community College for your help and support.
Of course a script only becomes a performance when the audience is present! There was great feedback from those who saw the show – it even got a mention on Lyric FM! Everyone involved had a great time. The show would never have happened without Ms. Geraghty and Ms. Conway and their amazing organisational, dancing and musical skills. Working as Directors, Music Director and Choreographer they brought out the best of every member of the cast and crew.
Congratulations and well done to all those involved. It was a fantastic first musical back after the long break due to Covid.
Transfer Applications Now Welcome: Lucan Community College now welcomes applications for a place in 2nd to 6th year from September 2022. Details and application form are available on our website:
https://lucancc.ie/policy/admissions/enrolment/
Planning Permission: The entire Lucan CC community was delighted to hear that the latest application for planning permission for the school extension and refurbishment has been approved. We look forward to seeing this project move to Stage 3 and the appointment of contractors.
Gluais Graduation Ceremony - report by Jessica Power
On Monday the 9th of May, the Gluais Graduation Ceremony took place in Coláiste Chillian. This graduation ceremony was held in order to celebrate the achievements throughout the year of the Gluais members from each participating school. Our current Gluais members are Jessica Power, Keelah Sisk, Sarah Mahon, Meabh Egan, Rhian Hawkins, Kate McCaffrey, Eoin O’Sullivan, Jemima Kasisi, Alisha Guy, Clodagh McDonnell and Natasha Roca.
The Gluais team organised many fun activities for the first years throughout the year, including a Secret Santa before the Christmas break and an exciting Easter Egg Hunt before the Easter Holidays!
At the Graduation Ceremony, we all received certificates. It was very exciting when the video that we made a few weeks ago was shown at the Ceremony. In this video members of the Gluais team talk about what Gluais means to each of us. You can watch the video by visiting our school website here.
One piece of advice we have for the new Gluais team is for them to be themselves, and any challenge they may face will be solved if they all work together!!!! Thanks to teachers Ms. Mc Kelvey and Mr. Carey. A special word of thanks to co-operating teacher Ms. Clifford.
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