ST. CONLETH ’S COLLEGE Junior school Parents’ Association

Issue 4, Summer 2015

Dear Parents,

As this our 75th Anniversary school year, draws to a close, I wish to thank most sincerely our Junior School Parent’s Association, our parents, pupils and staff, who have made this year such a great success.

This is my final contribution to your newsletter as Principal and teacher, as I am retiring at the end of this academic year. I would like to thank most sincerely all the parents and pupils who have been so helpful, kind and supportive over the past twenty years. It has been a pleasure working with you and your sons. I want to wish you all every success in the future.

Finally, may I wish everyone a very happy and restful summer.

Le gach dea-ghuí.

Patrick E. Murphy

Principal Junior School

• Chess Success • Fencing • AIJS Sports and

Table Quiz • Mathlete Athlete • Spelling Bee • Golf • Merrion Cricket • Sports Day • School Trips • Soccer Blitz in

Herbert Park • GAA Launch • Watersports &

Aquatics • Nepal

Fundraiser • Communion &

Confirmation • Growing

Project • 2nd Form Rugby

1995 - 2015

The Junior School is quickly gaining a reputation for high performance in chess circles. The A team finished a very respectable fourth place in the Leinster schools premier division. Sean, Jamie, Eoin and Richard then proceeded to win the ‘Chess For All’ All-Ireland tournament in April.

Sean Hunter (who we’re very proud to have ranked as no.1 in Leinster) is of course a favourite for the in-house chess tournament but nonetheless he faces stiff challenges from some talented fourth formers!

James Moriarty-Smyth (5th Form) has had a great season Fencing in St. Conleth’s for Pembroke Fencing Club. A fencer since 1st form at St Conleth's with The Pembroke Fencing Club has just capped a terrific 5th season by getting selected for the Irish Fencing Squad. He finishes the year with a ranking of No. 3 in Ireland in Under 11’s and No. 4 in Northern Ireland Under 12’s.

His younger brother Myles Moriarty-Smyth (1st form) was also bitten by the fencing bug at St Conleth's and is now ranked No1 in Ireland in the Under 7s and is ranked 6th in NI Under 10 Mixed. Both James and Myles have been competing internationally since 2014 and also have rankings with the British Fencing Federation in Northern

The summer term was busy with boys from third - sixth form participating in the AIJS Athletics meeting in Castle Park. The school hosted the AIJS athletics meeting again this year with over 200 athletes from a host of schools converging on Shoreline Stadium in Greystones in what was another fantastic success.

Two teams from 5th and 6th Class also travelled out to the AIJS Table Quiz held in St. Gerard’s School in Bray, Co. Wicklow. This proved to be another enjoyable afternoon of the St. Conleth’s boys impressing the other competitors, this time with their General Knowledge. The girls schools in attendance were possibly not as impressed as our boys seemed to think but they surely scored full marks for charm.

The sun shone brightly on Kenilworth Square for the first Rugby team event for 2nd form organised by St. Mary’s College Junior School. What they lack in numbers this team of ambitious rugby players make up for with their skill, gutsy tackling and fiery determination. Definitely ones to watch with interest next year as they meet other Dublin schools on their Saturday morning rugby circuit. They weren’t even deterred by cousins on the opposition such was their single minded winning attitude!

On Monday 18th May Junior Infants, Senior Infants and First Form travelled down to Greenan Farm in Co. Wicklow. We went on a lovely nature walk keeping our eyes peeled for any fairy doors in the trees. We saw lots of farm animals like chickens, baby lambs, cows, geese and a big noisy turkey! Our big challenge was to get to the centre of the big hedge maze and then find our way out again. Ms. Redmond got completely lost but luckily the boys were able to get her out safely before the bus left for home! We also explored an old farmhouse and looked at some farming equipment from the past. Luckily we managed to avoid the rain and hailstone showers and got back on the bus nice and dry(ish).

Senior Infants have been working hard on a growing project this term. We planted cress, courgettes and pumpkin seeds and carefully looked after them until they grew too big for their pots! They are going to be moving to Mr. Keenan's allotment soon and hopefully when we come back to school in September we'll be able to harvest our crop of delicious veggies!

We also printed and painted our own fruit pictures, wrote some fruit salad recipes and had a super food challenge in class to help us try new fruit and vegetables every day. To top it all off we made a healthy fruit salad together using pomegranate, mango, grapes, papaya and lots of berries. It was delicious!

On Monday 23rd March, just in time for Easter, the Preparatory school visited Caffrey's Chocolate Warehouse. As soon as we went in the door we could see a chocolate wonderland and smell the tasty chocolate. We made our way through all the chocolatey goodies and treats and spied the Easter Bunny. He gave us all delicious chocolate eggs and we were able to get our names written on them with more yummy chocolate so nobody could steal them! It was a very tough job to save them all until we got home...

This year's Junior School Tennis team had a very youthful look to it with a 3rd former and two 4th formers featuring throughout.

They claimed a notable scalp in beating our neighbours, St. Mary's Belmont Avenue, in their last fixture.

The individual class tournaments have also been concluded with some familiar faces amongst the medalists again!

Mathlete Challenge Richard Sheahan (4th Form) is the All-Ireland Mathletes Champion! He was presented with a trophy and an iPad from Sean O’Sullivan (of Dragon’s Den fame) and DCU President Brian McGrath at the awards ceremony. 12,6000 students from the across the country took part culminating in the final in DCU on May 2nd. Congratulations!

Eason’s Spelling Bee Ruben Grace represented the Junior School in this year's Eason Spelling Bee. Ruben came 4th out of a huge field of contestants, eventually exiting the stage on 'extemporaneous', which he mistakenly spelled as extemperaneous…

Not a bad guess for a 10 year old and for those of us who still don’t know what it means, it’s another way of saying impromptu! Well done Ruben.

The PA sent home plain white cake boxes with the boys the week before the Annual Cake Sale on February 27th. They all brought back in very artistic and creative boxes for the competition and they were all filled with yummy treats for the sale. Judging was difficult but made easier by the chocolate and cakes that could be consumed while mulling the entries over. Well done to all the winners!

The Senior School Cake Sale, which was organised by Nepal native Ishan Presai and his fellow Transition Year students, was a tremendous success. The event raised €3,445! Ishan, spurred by the plight of relatives and friends back home, was greatly aided by fellow Transition Years Mati Remi, Sean Keane, Dillon Collins, Dean McElree, Sean Petitt, Dara Casey and Cian O'Connor. The rest of the student body eagerly participated by obeying to both their consciences and their taste buds. Thanks to all the students involved and the baker parents and staff who made this event one of the single biggest fundraisers for Nepal in the country.

One very enjoyable new activity has been added to the timetable this year in the form of sailing. In association with Royal St. George yacht club 15 boys from 5th and 6th form travelled to Dun Laoghaire on Friday afternoons during the month of May.

Some of the boys are veteran sailors (Trevor Bolger is ranked 25th in the “National Junior Fleet of Optimist Dinghy Sailors” division and is ranked 5th in the Age 11 category) and some are just finding their sea legs. School staff members are also getting a crash course in meteorology…. Conditions have been uncharacteristically unfavourable this May.

With swimming now part of the P.E. curriculum, we couldn’t help but notice how many excellent swimmers are currently in the Junior School. While Adam O'Reilly's fantastic successes throughout the year are noteworthy (Leinster schools gold medalist), his teammates from 6th Form swept the boards in the AIJS swimming gala. The 3rd Form swim team did likewise in their gala, so there is plenty of talent coming through.

Soccer was on the first Tuesday after Easter. Entire school played. Everyone was a winner in the junior and senior infants blitz. Man city won 1st to 3rd after heart stopping penalty shoot out. Joseph Bergin scored a terrific winner to hand the 4-6th title to pre tournament favourites Barcelona. Thanks to parents for providing refreshments.

Herbert Park is not renowned as a hub of GAA activity but the junior school is doing it's best to change that. 2nd, 3rd and 4th form are getting coached on blanket defences and third mid-fielders on Tuesday afternoons with coaches from Ranelagh Gaels GAA club. Ms. Coleman also lends her expertise!

Our very civilised 5th and 6th form boys returned to Merrion Cricket Club this year for their much anticipated Summer Term sport. Cricket is a great addition the P.E. programme as many of the boys are new to the game and really benefit from the excellent coaches in the club.

A four-man golf team represented the school in the AIJS tournament in Delgany Golf Club. A great day was made even better when the boys were given the opportunity to meet Padraig Harrington.

Word has it, Matthew McKeown has advised Padraig to completely change his swing again on order to reclaim his glory days - that usually works!

A larger group descended on the Stepaside 9-hole course to identify the 2015 Golf Champion.

Sixth Form Confirmation

Thursday March 26th was a beautiful spring morning for the 6th Form boys to make their Confirm their faith in St. Mary’s Church, Haddington Road with Msgr. Paul Callan. Mr. Sheridan, Ms. Fallon and Mr. Murphy put in an enormous amount of work to prepare the 19 boys in the preceding months. Mr. Murphy ensured the boys were looking their absolute best in the St. Conleth's blazer, Senior School tie and Confirmation rosette and they looked magnificent. 2nd Form First Holy Communion It was the cleanest 2nd form have looked as a group all year and their little faces shone with joy as they received their First Holy Communion in Avila, Donnybrook on Saturday May 16th. Another beautifully arranged ceremony prepared by the very able Ms, Richeal Dillon, accompanied with music played by Mr. Sheridan and of course celebrated by none other than Fr. Michael Collins, a proud Conlethian himself. The 3rd Form parents went to great trouble to prepare a reception in the school afterwards and it was a thoroughly enjoyable affair.

As the boys see the academic finish line in sight, they get a renewed burst of energy so it was no harm to send 4th, 5th and 6th Form to Rathbeggan Lakes for a day of zip-lining, abseiling and rock-climbing as well as various team-building exercises. All the boys had great fun.

2nd & 3rd Form had an altogether more wild adventure in the woods of Sandyford with OWLS where they toasted marshmallows, made base camps and tried to get lost in the small forest. It was survival Bear Grylls style and we are amazed the tribe agreed to return to civilization after the wonderful freedom of the day.

Sports Day was moved to Old Belvedere RFC due to the continued renovation of Irishtown Stadium. The weather was unusually kind and the familiar surrounds of the venue leant a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere to the day.

Bray Wanderers goalkeeper, Gavin Sheridan was helpless as the boys expertly tucked their penalties away.

Spectators at the welly-throw contest once again ignored safety warnings and sixth form parents were determined that they were not going to let their last sports day go by without getting in on some the action themselves!

In conjunction with the school, both of the Parents’ Associations issues a survey in May to get feedback from parents in our children’s eating habits and the catering facilities in the school. The survey was made available via email and the Facebook closed group. The survey was limited to 100 responses as it was a free service and that total was reached in a matter of days. Some feedback was excellent and there were many positive reviews about the facilities on offer. We are currently working with the school to assess the results in more details and aim to produce an action plan to address the most popular suggestions.

Join our Facebook Group

Our Facebook Group is going from strength to strength, we now have over 174 members in the group and people have been posting about all the happenings, fun and excitement that have been going on in St. Conleth’s this term. This newsletter is only a small summary of all that goes on and more dynamic news content can be found through the Facebook page. Just click here (or type this into your web browser) to join http://www.facebook.com/groups/conlethspa/

Our Facebook Groups is closed which means that only members can view the content, which makes it a safe and private place to post comments and upload photos. You don’t have to contribute to the group; you can simply just enjoy reading what others have to say or post.

Healthy Eating Survey

Parents’ Social Event @ RIYC

On March 20th both Parents' Associations held a joint Parents' Social Evening

in the magnificent Royal Irish Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire. This event held in

the school’s 75th anniversary year was the first all-school parents’ social night

and it was hugely successful with the sold-out sign having to be posted before

the event. It was a great night, with parents from across all classes catching

up with old friends and making some new ones.

Golf Classic—Friday 5th June

Calling all Golfers — St. Conleth’s is holding its annual Gold Classic on Friday, June 5th, 2015. There are still tee-times available. The event is being held in Milltown Golf Club and it comprises Singles, Fourballs and Teams of Four, starts at 1.45pm, followed by a Dinner at 7.30pm. The entry fee is €80 per person (which includes dinner). Non-golfers are very welcome to join the dinner at a cost of €30 per person.

Second Hand Uniform Sale: Friday 29th May A sale of second hand uniforms and sports clothing / boots is being organized on Friday 29th May, which is the last day of term. This event, which is being jointly held by the Parents Associations of both the Junior and Senior school, will begin at 8:30am and run until about 10am. Parents are asked to donate any unwanted, good quality school clothing to the school in the week before the sale or, alternatively, bring them along on the day.

Dear Parents Dear Parents, Welcome to our Summer Term Newsletter. I hope you have taken a few moments to sit down with a coffee and savour reading about all the wonderful events our boys have been involved in this term. I would like to thank you all for your continued support and help, without your assistance we couldn’t have done as much for the boys. I would also like to thank Mr. Murphy, Ms. Kelly, all the teachers and the PA Committee for their commitment and support over the past year, the 75th for St. Conleth’s College. It has been a very busy year and so much has been achieved by the parents and the school for the benefit of the boys. I know I speak for all the parents when I say that Pat Murphy will be missed greatly when he retires this year and we wish him and his family a tremendously happy, healthy and prosperous future in the years ahead. Wishing you a happy and safe summer and let’s hope the weather will be as kind to us as last year! Kind regards, Angela Roche Chairperson JSPA